Doing July a Whole New Way...

[tyandskyesmom]

Hi there!

I know I am not done with my Christmas Extravaganza yet but I have stuff I neew to put out there for our next trip. So here we go!

WHO:

Skyler...12, entering 7th grade in August, championship dancer, tumbler, excellent student, Chicken lover, wants to put herself through med school dancing on Broadway...

Tyler...17, entering senior year in August, football player, scholastic bowl competitor, Elephant Lover, AP and Honors student, is happy to work at Little Cesar's so he can earn enough money to buy more video games and then sit on his butt playing them all day...

Cary...42, forklift operator, led a very different kind of life before he met up three and a half years ago but is learning that he loves a clean fun life...

And Me...Sherry...45, mom, HMO collections, taxi driver to dance, the gym, football, you name it, I drive there...and wait for the return call to pick up! I am the photographer most of the time and hate my picture being taken so you wont see a ton of me. My family is the most important thing in the world to me and we've been through a lot in the past 4 years or so, so it's important to me that we all get as much happiness out of the good times as possible! I am also stressing this being Tyler's last year in high school...I HAVE A SENIOR!!!

WHEN:

I initially made plans for over the 4th of July...and then Skyler was scheduled into a dance competition from the 5th to the 7th so that was out!

So I changed it to July 15th thru the 22nd. We would drive from Joliet from when Cary got home from work at about 3am (after showering of course) and arrive at around 8pm that evening. Then we would leave in the afternoon sometime on Friday the 22nd and have Saturday and Sunday to drive home. It was all set.

Then I got to checking flight schedules just because Southwest kept sending me e-mails! And then I started thinking about cost comparison. Driving we would need the rental car (neither of ours can be trusted) and then gas, and then hotels for two nights on the way home, and food for at least the way home (I planned to bring food with us for the way down). If we flew, I could get us flights for $119 each way per person. And we've there in 2.5 hours. So then I started looking at rooms for 2 extra nights because if we could fly we didn't need the two days at the end to drive home.

So we are now booked and paid in full for July 15 - July 24, 2016...that's 9 nights/10 days!

WHERE:

Pop Century. I requested the 60's section and a high floor, although I guess I'm not really worried about that. What I really want is to overlook Hourglass Lake with views and easy access to Art of Animation. However, when I did my online requests I did not notice the "water view" selection...I would have chosen that instead of high floor. I don't really care too much I guess but I do not want to be over by 80's or 90's...been there, done that and we like walking through the resort not the parking lot to get to the food court and busses...and that is a big walk. I just like the center and other side better. So we'll see what we end up with. We got an Annual Pass discount on the room for all nights, even the ones I just booked last week!

HOW:

Well, we're flying Southwest Airlines out of Midway to Orlando and back.

We leave MDW at 5:35am on July 15 and arrive in Orlando at 9:10am. We will use Magical Express to get to Pop Century so expect to arrive there around 10am.

We depart from Orlando at 10:30pm on July 24 so expect to be picked up by Magical Express at about 7:30pm. We arrive home at 12:10am on July 25th. Tyler is the only one that needs to be anywhere early (football at 8am). I took off, Skye has nothing, and Cary isn't due at work until 3pm. So we'll be good!

We purchased Platinum Annual Passes on our Christmas Trip so tickets are done. And passes include the Photo Pass option too so that's done.

We decided to make this trip a more laid back one. No dining plan is the biggest change. The kids and I have not been without the deluxe dining plan since when Tyler was still a "child" so it's been more than 8 years...so this will be different. With both the kids being "adults" at Disney this time, we found that deluxe dining was a lot of food and ADRs. We also found that ADRs with the new way Fast Pass + works, that's a lot of plans! SO we did the high extreme last time and this time we are doing the opposite extreme and then we will be in a better place to decide how to plan in the future. Tyler is the one lamenting the loss the most...he looks forward to ordering a steak at almost every meal. The rest of us are ok with it...I think. There seems to be a lot of newer counter services items we generally do not take part in that look very interesting...so I am looking forward to it...I think!

The general plan is to relax as much as possible. Make our fast passes and then play it by ear. If we want to swim, we will. If we want to shop, we can. If we want to nap, we have that option.

I had a difficult time at first...the planner in me wanted to PLAN! I love the whole process of planning ADRs and making them and arranging parks and fast passes. And I was lost. I felt disappointed and there was nothing to do so nothing to get excited about. But I think I'm ok now.

We're 15 days out...and I have been able to do a little planning...

 

[tyandskyesmom]

DINING:

We decided to make an ADR at two places. Via Napoli and Ohana. We did not decide this until June 16th, so 29 days out. And I was able to get them for the exact times I wanted.

Via Napoli
7-21-16 @ 2:30pm

Ohana
7-22-16 @ 3:40pm

We wanted to do Via Napoli because the day we did it on our last trip was our first time and Cary wasn't feeling well so he was back in the room while the kids and I went out. We loved it and he wanted to see what all the hype was about. Plus it's not an outrageously priced table services...and I think they have an annual pass discount for lunch!

Ohana was out Christmas Eve meal on our last trip and it was not a great experience. BUT, it was a very late ADR that we waited about an hour to be seated for. We had been out all day and we were tired. We had an ok waitress but they were out of bread and they were very slow coming around with food. I don't think we got seconds of anything...partially because we were tired and partially because they just never came back around. And in theory, this place should be everything we all can love. Plus, it gets very raving reviews mostly on here. So we really really really want to like it. So we're trying it again. At a time that we should not have to wait to get seated and they should not be out of anything. And they should not be all worn out and frazzled because the dinner rush should have just started! Wish up good dining vibes!

And when I booked Ohana, I thought we'd be leaving for home right after dinner. Now we're not!

Otherwise, we are planning to do counter service and snacks. We are not opposed to table service if we're in the mood and something we want is available but we have no other plans for making ADRs. I feel like we might have good luck getting in as a walk up or an ADR the same day if we want one because it was really easy to get ADRs for the two I got and when I was browsing, I would have been able to get lunch at Cinderella's and Be Our Guest still...so that's promising.

I am thinking that with the heat (the kids and I were there in August the summer before Tyler went into 7th grade so we know the hot!) that we might not be that hungry for a big meal anyway. So lots of sampling and sharing is what we think we are planning.

I did place a Garden Grocer order for the first time. The food is more expensive than if I could bring it from home but it is cheaper than buying it in the World. We ordered 2 cases of water, a 12 pack of Sprite, bananas, blueberry muffins, bagels, tortilla chips and salsa. With delivery it was $61.94. $14.00 of that was delivery so we got $47.94 worth of groceries. I figure water alone for 48 bottles in the park would be at least $144.00 so I'm good with that. We also got mostly breakfast items so we can grab and go on some mornings. I know Skyler will want her share of Mickey Waffles but otherwise we are able to save a little. Cary is not a big breakfast water and I was more worried that we might not feel like eating while all hot and sweaty but once we're back in the room we might be hungry. And at some of those times the food court might be closed. SO I wanted to be able to fight off the munchies in the middle of the night.

 

[tyandskyesmom]

PARK PLAN & FAST PASS PLUS

When we first looked, the schedules were very limited and I was worried...parks should have longer hours. I needn't have worried. They seem to have opened up now.

I do not follow any touring plans and I don't subscribe to the crowd calendars for how crowded it is supposed to be. I like Extra Magic Hours both in the morning and in the evening.

I generally go to the park with the EMH. And of course, that is the RED day always! LOL


Upon arrival we plan to grab breakfast/lunch at Everything Pop and head to the pool! We have FP+ set up for...

Friday, 7-15-16
Toy Story Mania! 5:30 PM - 6:30 PM (got a week ago)
Star Tours – The Adventures Continue 6:30 PM - 7:30 PM (got a week ago)
Voyage of The Little Mermaid 7:45 PM - 8:00 PM (Changed from Fantasmic a week ago)

Saturday, 7-16-16
Seven Dwarfs Mine Train 9:00 AM - 10:00 AM
Haunted Mansion 10:50 AM - 11:50 AM
Big Thunder Mountain Railroad 12:35 PM - 1:35 PM

Sunday, 7-17-16
Toy Story Mania! 9:35 AM - 10:35 AM
Star Tours – The Adventures Continue 10:35 AM - 11:35 AM
For the First Time in Forever: A Frozen Sing-Along Celebration 12:00 PM - 12:15 PM

Monday, 7-18-16
Expedition Everest - Legend of the Forbidden Mountain 9:30 AM - 10:30 AM
Kilimanjaro Safaris 11:50 AM - 12:50 PM
The Jungle Book: Alive with Magic 8:25 PM - 8:45 PM

Tuesday, 7-19-16
Turtle Talk With Crush 9:55 AM - 10:55 AM
Mission: SPACE 11:25 AM - 12:25 PM
Frozen Ever After 1:15 PM - 2:15 PM

Wednesday, 7-20-16
Seven Dwarfs Mine Train 9:35 AM - 10:35 AM
Splash Mountain 10:35 AM - 11:35 AM
Big Thunder Mountain Railroad 11:50 AM - 12:50 PM

Thursday, 7-21-16
Soarin' 10:00 AM - 11:00 AM
Spaceship Earth 11:10 AM - 12:10 PM
Journey Into Imagination With Figment 12:15 PM - 1:15 PM

Friday, 7-22-16
Big Thunder Mountain Railroad 10:00 AM - 11:00 AM
Seven Dwarfs Mine Train 11:55 AM - 12:55 PM
Space Mountain 1:25 PM - 2:25 PM (Cary & Sherry, although when I told Skye I got her and Ty fast passes for Buzz she complained that she wanted to ride Space Mountain...she got all the way up to loading last time before chickening out so I don't know) (split out a week ago)
Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin 2:15 PM - 3:15 PM (Tyler & Skyler)

Saturday, 7-23-16
Kali River Rapids 6:20 PM - 7:20 PM (got a week ago)
Expedition Everest - Legend of the Forbidden Mountain 8:00 PM - 9:00 PM (got a week ago)
Kilimanjaro Safaris 9:10 PM - 10:10 PM (got a week ago)

Sunday, 7-24-16
Rock 'n' Roller Coaster Starring Aerosmith 1:20 PM - 2:20 PM (Cary & Sherry) (got a week ago)
Toy Story Mania! 1:25 PM - 2:25 PM (Tyler & Skyler) (got a week ago)
Star Tours – The Adventures Continue 3:15 PM - 4:15 PM (got a week ago)

I know we have a lot of the same things at Magic Kingdom but those are the things that we know we want to ride and that will have the longest line we think. I am hoping that since additional days at Pop with an AP discount were easy to get, ADRs were easy to get, and fast pass + was easy to get that means that the crowds will be lower than usual for July. We know we will have to play with the new way to get Fast Pass + but I am hoping that means we finish the third and get a fourth and so on... And we plan to get our early at EMH or rope drop to hit some of the other things we want to ride that we don't have fast passes for. After our fast passes are done, we will decide what we want to do...stay in the park, go back to Pop and swim, Disney Springs, explore other hotels...plus we will just decide where to eat when we want to. This is a planners nightmare!

 

[TristiK]

I'm currently reading and loving your December report, excited for this new one! I must've missed your hometown in that one - we lived in Romeoville for 8 years before moving back to our hometown in northern Illinois. Where does your daughter dance? My daughter danced for IDA before we moved.

 

[tyandskyesmom]

I'm currently reading and loving your December report, excited for this new one! I must've missed your hometown in that one - we lived in Romeoville for 8 years before moving back to our hometown in northern Illinois. Where does your daughter dance? My daughter danced for IDA before we moved.

Thank you...

We have only been in Joliet for about 4 years now...before that we were in Burbank so she danced with Hickory Hills Park District. We are usually the only ones that are park district at "real" competitions (ie. Starbound, Legacy, etc...) so we hold our own. So when we moved to Joliet Skyler's main concern was that she'd have to stop dancing at HHPD...she'd been there since she was 3! So we drive about 45 minutes one way to take her there. We could probably send her to a dance studio closer for about what we end up paying when you factor in gas for the car and all the meals we eat out on the run but then she'd have to give up the "studio" she loves and some classes. This year that she's finishing up she had 11 classes and was a helper in 6 or 7. She is in three competition group dances and she is doing her first solo...we usually don't have anything other than groups competing. She took overall high point for her solo in the senior division for a park district comp and the park district State Comp this year so we can't wait to see how she does in a "real" competition against kids who dance at a real studio! We'll know next week!!!

I work in Bolingbrook so Romeoville is one of the areas we sort of look for for when we decide to buy a home when we get tired of renting!

 

[tyandskyesmom]

10 more days!!!!

And we received our Magical Express info in the mail over the long weekend...I was thinking that wouldn't happen because of how late we decided to fly. Not that it would have been a huge deal if they didn't get here but Mickey Mail is always fun to get!

 

[tyandskyesmom]

ONE WEEK FROM RIGHT NOW WE WILL BE JUST ABOUT LANDING IN ORLANDO!!!!

It has been a crazy week! Skyler had her Regional and National Competitions the last three days and we are exhausted!

At Regionals (Tuesday evening) her Lion King and Malificent dances (Senior Open and Teen Lyrical in the Competitive Division) took Gold on a scale of Elite Gold, High Gold, Gold, High Silver, Silver. House of Mouse (11-12 year old Jazz in the Intermediate Division) took a High Gold. And her solo (God Help the Outcasts for an 11-12 year old Lyrical in the Competitive Division) took a very high point High Gold! She was super excited!

At Nationals (early evening on Wednesday) House of Mouse took a Gold.

At Nationals (late Wednesday night) Lion King and Malificent took Gold again.

And at Nationals (Thursday morning) her Solo took a High Gold...and as close as we can figure from knowing what the Overall 9th and 10th place winners scores were (but obviously no one else's except hers) she may have been 11th overall in the Competitive Division!!!!! And there were A LOT of Gold awards given out for the 11-12 year olds in the Competitive Division so she beat A LOT of Studio dancers!!!! This is a huge thing because we are park district...we are usually the ONLY park district at these kinds of competitions. We don't have mandatory class attendance or anything really. So what these girls do is on such a less intense scale that the Studio Dancers and she is so proud of herself that she can hang with them!

So it was a good three days but very long and very tiring...she passed out the second we got home last night and is still out!

Dance season is over until mid-September now but Nutcracker Auditions is in a month...she is very much looking forwards to that and is crossing her fingers for Clara!!!

 

[tyandskyesmom]

Just pulled A47, 48, 49, and 50 for flight tomorrow morning....this time in 24 hours we will be in the air about half way to Disney World!!!

 

[TristiK]

I hear you on the time commitment! This was DD's first year on the competition team (4 year old did rec classes this year). I felt like I lived in the studio! Both girls are doing comp next year, so at least their classes will be on the same night!

We really liked Romeoville. We only left to go back to our hometown to be closer to our families. We lived just down from the Walmart on Airport, it was a great area.

Were you in Indy for nationals? DD's studio was there last week.

Have fun on your trip, can't wait to read about it!

 

[Mousefan mom]

I noticed you placed an order with Garden Grocer. I am thinking of doing the same. We mostly just want water, maybe a few in room snacks. Does anyone know if you have to actually be present when they deliver, or will they leave it with the front desk, assuming you don't order anything that needs to be kept cold, etc.?

Also, hugs on the senior part! My oldest is 13, and already I feel it coming! He also just wants to play video games all day...uuggh..except at Disney. Its magic there.

 

[scooch1021]

I'm so excited for you! We are heading down in October during the Food and Wine festival and I'm already counting down the days! Hope you have an amazing trip and I'll be following!

 

[vleeth]

Joining!

 

[tyandskyesmom]

I'm starting to load my pictures into Photobucket...I'm nearing the end of my Christmas Trip Report...getting ready to start here!

 

[Grumpy's Wife]

Hi joining in. I enjoyed reading your Christmas report and I'm sure this one will be great too.

 

[momplus3]

Joining in! I have been reading your December report and loving it!
I also had a senior in high school - he's also 17 and I am also freaking out about it! DS17 is a plays soccer and also has 5 AP classes this year. It seems as if our boys have things in common!

Look forward to hearing more!

 

[tyandskyesmom]

momplus3, we seem to have a lot in common there!

 

[tyandskyesmom]

I just finished my Christmas Trip and Dining reports so I am planning on starting here soon. I do not have my photopass pictures sorted and ordered but I figure I will just post them in a separate post when I get them rather than hold this one up...

This was a very different kind of trip for us. Cary had asked to do a trip with no dining plan. He thinks that we would enjoy ourselves more with out being tired to all those ADRs and all that food. So that is how this trip was planned. Tyler was lamenting the loss of a steak for every meal and Skye was on the fence if it would be good or not. We like to eat out at home and don't do it very often.

We were looking forward to hot weather and swimming a lot and relaxing more than last time.

This ended up being a longer trip than originally planned and that was great for all of us.

I can't wait to compare our Christmas trip to our July trip...they were both pretty different.

 

[mbvisitor]

Can't wait to read more. Your Christmas trip report was great! Curious to get your thoughts on the QS vs TS!

 

[tyandskyesmom]

So let's recap...

Southwest Airlines out of Midway at 5:35am on Friday, July 15, 2016 and arriving in Orlando at 9:10am. Departing Orlando on July 24, 2016 at 10:30pm and arriving at Midway at 12:10am on July 25, 2016. We were driving ourselves to the airport and may parents (who live about 10 minutes from Midway) were going to pick it up, keep it at their house until the 24th in the evening when they would return it to approximately the same place we left it and then we'd drive ourselves home. We expected an approximate pick up time for the Tragical Express at about 7:30pm on the 24th.

Pop Century for 9 nights, 10 days in a standard room. I requested 60's building on a high floor. What I really wanted was to be facing Hourglass Lake and Art of Animation near the Generation Gap bridge.

We placed a Garden Grocer order for the first time ever. We ordered two 24 packs of water, an 8 pack of Sprite bottles, 6 count of bagels, 4 count of blueberry muffins, ten bananas, a far of salsa, and a bag of tortilla chips. I was a little nervous about this and it was a little more expensive than these things would have been at home but I was not going to try to fly them in or mail them to ourselves and I figured if we bought water in the parks, even one bootle a day for each of us to refill, we probably would have spent more. So, we'll see what happens!

We made two ADRs...Via Napoli at 2:30pm on Thursday, July 21, 2016
Ohana at 3:40pm on Friday, July 22, 2016 (which was our original departure day when we thought we were
driving)
Otherwise we are paying out of pocket and expecting to be doing all counter services and snacks for the first time in over 8 years!

We had three fast passes per day (except the last one because there really wasn't anything else we wanted or needed to do at that point).

And there you have it, in a nutshell. Follow along to see how we fared in July with our new dining experiment...

 

[tyandskyesmom]

On July 14, 2016 Tyler had football practice 8am - 12pm and then work from 4pm - 10pm. Cary had to work 3pm - 1:45am. I took off and Skye nothing for a change! So Skye and I packed up everything, ran to the store for last minute things, ran to the bank, straightened up the house, made the yellow Magical Express tags were on all the check in bags, weighed all the bags, put all the bags in the car except our couple of carry ons, set out everyone's clothes for the morning, and picked up the boy from work...then the three of us went to bed.

My alarm went off at 1am and I jumped in the shower, then Skye, and then Ty with the knowledge that he needed to be out by the time Cary got home form work around 2am..he likes to enjoy long leisurely showers...well, I was very surprised this morning...I didn't even have to tell him again...see, we do need to go to Mickey's House every day...it would save s much arguing in the mornings! Cary got home right about 2am and jumped in the shower. We packed all of the last, last minute things and headed out to the car. We left home at 2:40am and arrived at Midway Airport at 3:25am...and that took a little longer than it should have because I am used to coming at the airport from the south side of it...when we got off the expressway we were on the north side of it...so we had to do a little turning around.

We parked in a nearly empty parking garage, unloaded and headed in. We parked right where the Southwest desks are so we just had to go up the elevator and we were right there. We already had out boarding passes so we just needed to show IDs and check in our luggage. Everything made it and we were on our way to gate A16. Which is the absolute end of the terminal! There was a little line for security check but it was moving and the TSA agents working were all very nice and actually looked happy! They asked the kids their names and asked Tyler how old he was and Skyler where she was going. When we get to our gate it was pretty empty...which by this time looked like a good thing. We sat there for a few minutes getting comfy...

...when at about 4:05am someone came down to get a passenger in a wheel chair and just happened to ask if we were all (there were a couple of other families there also) waiting for flight 878 to Orlando. We all were. He then told us that the gate had changed...to B3...we've not even in the end of the same terminal!!! If there hadn't been a wheel chair person waiting there, would we ever have been told??? There was nothing up as far as signage, we had looked at board when we walked through and the person at the luggage counter had JUST given us our gate number. And the weirder thing was that by the time we got to B3, all the seats were full...so someone was given the correct gate! I mean, it wasn't a huge deal, because it worked out, but what if that wheelchair hadn't been there???

When we got there our plane as there and waiting...there was no plane at the other terminal, which I had mentioned I though was weird as we were the first flight out for the day and in general Midway does not get Southwest flights much past midnight so our plane should have been there waiting. Cary was getting nervous. He had only ever flown once before and it was a long time ago.

We all used the rest room and then the kids sat on the floor along the windows near our number in line and Cary and I ran next door to...

Let Then Eat Cake

We got a Café Americano for Cary...which he said tasted like hot water, a bottle of Coke for Tyler and a Ginger Ale for Skye and I to share. Cary got a Strawberry Croissant...that he said was "eh", since Tyler is a Cinnamon Roll freak, that's what we got him and Skye for a glazed donut. Skye wanted to trade halfsies with Tyler and he refused. Well, her donut was apparently REALLY good and his Cinnamon Roll, not so much...he said " I should have traded her!". She's a nice sister though and ended up giving him some of hers.

The total there was about $15.00. Overall, it's a tiny storefront without a lot of room to move and we waited in line a while. The ladies helping did not speak much English so it was hard to understand what was going on and there were not very informative about how the line moved...like we had to wait for Cary's hot water and no one even said anything about that when they took our money. It was crowded in there and not run very well. But we got our food and that would hold us over until we arrived at Mickey's House in few hours.


At 5:05am they started boarding. We got in line where we belonged and headed on the plane. We ended up on the wing. Cary got the window, me in the middle, and Skye next to me...Tyler across the isle from her. He ended up with two other men flying alone next to him.

At 5:39am we pushed back for departure. Cary was getting scared. At 5:42am we were cleared for take off. Cary is wanting to watch out the window and not wanting to watch out the window. Doing that nervous leg shaking thing. LOL. And Tyler is asleep shortly after take off! Not unusual for him... he will still fall asleep immediately after getting in the car after work for the five minute ride home...but usually he falls asleep as soon as we are in the clouds...guess this time he didn't make it.

Cary, Skye, and I played Uno for a little while and the Cary wanted to try to get some sleep so Skye and I did a find a word puzzle.

At about 6:32am we were about 550 miles outside of Orlando and the served slightly salted peanuts and Cinnamon Airplane Cookies and drinks...Apple Juice for Skye, Coke for Cary, and tomato juice for me, Tyler passed on all...he was still sleeping.

After snacks were served, Cary fell asleep, Skye colored, and I found more words.

At 7:30am we were 150 miles from the runway, so the pilot said 25 more minutes. At 7:38am we started our descent. At 9am, we were at our gate IN ORLANDO!!!!!!