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Welcome to our last High School Disney trip. Our DD Kayla is a Senior in Band and Choir, so this is our 3rd Disney trip in 4 years, along with one trip this past March with the band doing Universal and Disney while my wife, sister in law and I did Universal only. In the 1st week of December 2012 we went on a Choir trip with the HS Choir and 2 Church Choirs. The Choirs performed in the Candlelight Processional. We were there for 5 full days (Tues-Sat) in the parks and we didn't need a FP until Friday. Saturday 12/6/12 was grand opening day for New Fantasyland so it was busy. Otherwise, it was VERY slow. That was a GREAT trip. 93 days later we went on a Band trip for Spring Break. My wife (Stef P) and I drove our own car, went to Houston Astros Spring Training and stayed for 5 days after the band left. Keep in mind these two trips were in the pre FP+ days.
Which brings us to our current trip. First things first though, we need a little background info. The people planning the trip (the travel company) and the school either didn't know, didn't care or didn't understand that things needed to be done in a timely manner when planning a Disney trip. To make a long story short we made our final payment to the school 30 days prior to departure and the school didn't send the payment to the travel company for almost 3 weeks. We didn't get room assignments or tickets until we got there.
No tickets in hand = No FP+ reservations...I knew making the final payment 30 days prior to departure would put us behind in getting them, but we weren't able to make any at all until we got there. This being our first FP+ trip I did a LOT of research prior to the trip and thankfully it all worked out.
When we do these school trips the logistics are a little different than going on our own, and the band trips are different than the choir trips. The 2013 and 2015 band trips were almost 200 people each trip. The band stayed offsite and did one park a day. This choir trip was 36 people total, 19 HS Students, 1 2nd grader and 16 adult chaperons. We stayed at Pop Century and were in the Parks for 4 days, with park hoppers, Dec 17-20. Each set of chaperons was assigned a group of students to keep up with. We didn't need to tour with them, just make sure we knew where they were. The students toured in 4 groups of 4 and 1 group of 3. Our group of students was Kayla and her 3 best friends. All but one had been to WDW multiple times and Kayla was on her 10th WDW trip overall.
Now for our participants:
Daddio - Me, hoping for the best and preparing for the worst
Stef P - My wife, long time Disney nut, but down on Disney since FP+ was brought online
Kayla (Anvil Head) - The leader of the pack at Disney World. She could be a Disney Travel Agent.
Annie - Like our 2nd daughter. She calls us "other family". There have been summers that she stayed at our house a LOT more than her house.
Bryanna - Has known Kayla the longest. First trip to WDW
Emily - (Blondie) Great kid, actually the oldest one in the group, along for the ride.
This reminds me of how our High School planned there Senior Trip to WDW last Fall. I was the only student who planned the visit to the resort ahead of time. I even educated my Guidance Counselor and some the teachers and even my Principal of my High School about Disney and WDW in general and gave them so tips and advice while they were there.
This reminds me of how our High School planned there Senior Trip to WDW last Fall. I was the only student who planned the visit to the resort ahead of time. I even educated my Guidance Counselor and some the teachers and even my Principal of my High School about Disney and WDW in general and gave them so tips and advice while they were there.
The HS Choir director had been to WDW once previously, but had never planned a trip with the school. There were some knowledgeable people on the trip, and she asked for advice on how to do things once we got there, so it worked out in the end. One of the student's mom is a Disney travel agent and we've traveled with her before, so between us we had answers for most questions that people had. There were several people on this trip that had never been to WDW and didn't know what they were getting into, so we pitched in and helped them figure things out.
Pre-Trip and Getting There. Day 1 will be in the next episode.
Leading up to our last High School Disney trip, knowing that we weren't going to be able to make FP+ reservations, I did a lot of research so that I could help answer any questions that the 1st timers may have. There were things I wasn't sure of because I'd never used the FP+ system, but at least I knew the basic steps even if I wasn't sure how to execute the steps. I talked to the Choir Director on the Sunday prior to departure and got a basic itinerary of the trip so I would know if we needed to be somewhere at a certain time. The things I was most concerned about was arrival, performance time, and when we were leaving to come home.
School Itinerary:
Wed 12/16 - Leave the school no later than 5:30pm Central time
Thu 12/17 - Arrive at Pop Century at 8:00am Eastern time. Receive magic bands, park tickets, and dining cards. Go to any park. Meet back at resort at time to be determined to unload Charter bus. Room check 1:00am
Fri 12/18 - Hollywood Studios from open until 2:00pm, meet the tour guide at the gate, board the bus for Disney Springs, Choir Christmas program performance 4pm. Go to any park. Room Check 12:00am. (Later changed to 1:00am)
Sat 12/19 - No plans. Room check 1:00am
Sun 12/20 - Check out of room and load bus at 7:00am. Ride Charter bus to TTC. Go to any park. Meet Charter Bus at TTC at 10:00pm to go home. Leave Disney no later that 11:00pm
Mon 12/21 - Arrive at school at 1:00 Central time
Using the school itinerary I came up with a touring plan for me and Stef P. I figured with FP+ I would have to modify the plan as we went along, but I like having at least a rough draft of where we're going everyday.
Our Plan:
Thu 12/17 - Arrive at MK hopefully by 9:00am. Move to Epcot at approx. 6:00pm. Watch Illuminations. Back to Resort
Fri 12/18 - HS for rope drop. Disney Springs 2:00pm. Back to a park after performance and shopping.
Sat 12/19 - AK/MK
Sun 12/20 - Epcot
Once I got the itinerary I decided to see if I could get a dining reservation anywhere now that I had a plan. We eat mostly counter service at theme parks but we usually do 1 or 2 sit down meals a trip. I started by looking on Thursday at MK for lunch and a 2:00 at BOG popped up. HOLY CRAP!!! A reservation for BOG was there 4 days before arrival!!!! Needless to say I snatched it up. There were NO reservations for BOG anytime I had looked over the last few months, but there it was. I took that as a good omen for the trip, looked for a Tusker House breakfast reservation, didn't see one, and decided I would look again later.
On Wednesday 12/16 I was already packed. I stayed up late the night before, got up early and went to work for 1/2 a day. After lunch we made final preparations, waited until 3:30, bought snacks, and went to the school. After loading our bags under the bus, Stef P realizing her earbuds were still at home, me going back to get them, waiting for everyone else to get there, loading in and getting settled, we left at 5:20pm Central Time. Disney is a long drive from Texas and even longer on a charter bus that is required to stop every 3 hours, but after watching Tangled, The Lion King, and something called Spirt: Stallion of Something or Other, listening to the Dis Unplugged shows I had saved for the trip and getting some sleep, we got to the Florida Turnpike. As we got close to the 429 toll road I began to suspect our driver wasn't exactly sure how to get there. My policy is that if I don't have to get on I-4 I don't. During rush hour I avoid it like the plague. Our Driver not only went all the way to I-4, down to Hwy 192 and onto World Drive, once we were on property he started heading to the All Star Resorts. He wouldn't listen to me until we got to the McDonalds. Then, and only then did he follow Directions to Pop Century. I'd say he added 45 unnecessary minutes to the trip. Prior to that we were about an hour ahead of schedule. After getting him and us to Pop Century at 8:15am, we met the Travel Company tour guide, got our tickets, magic bands(room key only), and dining cards, and headed to the Pop bus stop. The reservation was made by the travel company and the rooms weren't in our own names, so we couldn't link our magic bands to our tickets. As part of the package, everyone received a $100.00 dining card. I'm looking forward to our next trip and being able to link everything together.
Next episode: Day 1 (How did I get 2 MDE profiles?)
After arriving at Pop, getting our magic bands, tickets, and dining cards, and making plans to meet back at Pop at midnight for room assignments and to unload the bus, we headed to the Pop Century bus stop to wait for the MK bus. While we were waiting, I took pictures of our ticket numbers and linked my and Stef P's tickets to my MDE with the QR code on the back. The next thing I did was make FP+ reservations for Stef P and I. We ended up with HM, The Jingle Cruise, and Splash Mtn. After I made them I figured out that my BOG reservation wasn't on the MDE app, so I called Disney after we got on the bus and figured out I had two MDE profiles. I'm still not sure how I got two profiles but the nice lady on the other end of the phone linked everything together. I had no other problems the rest of the week.
We arrived at MK at 9am sharp. Considering the fact that our charter bus driver took the scenic route and we had to meet with the tour guide, we got to MK a lot faster than I thought we would. We headed straight to Seven Dwarfs Mine Train. This ride was a deal breaker for me. We went 3 times while New Fantasyland was being built, and we had ridden everything except the Mine Train. Needless to say there were no FP's available so we knew this would be our best chance to ride. I used both the MDE and WDW Lines apps to check posted wait times and they were pretty accurate. The Mine Train was posted 55 minutes with an actual expected wait of 30 minutes on WDW Lines. This was the only touring we did with the girls all week. While we waited I got the girls all set up on Kayla's MDE so they could get FP's together. As far as I know they had no problems with the app all week. I avoided watching Mine Train videos for almost 3 years because I didn't want to see the ride before I rode it. It was worth the wait. The animatronic were great. The ride was short but really cool. The swinging cars adds another dimension to the ride. I really enjoyed it. After that we split from the girls and the rest of our week was as relaxing as a mid December Disney World trip can be. One of the advantages to having been there a lot and knowing that we're going back is that if we don't ride something or see a show this trip we'll see it next time. We kept that attitude for the whole trip. After riding the Mine Train, we did IASW, Hall of Presidents, used our first FP+ for the Jingle Cruise (which was a cute overlay), we split chicken strips at Columbia Harbour House to tide us over until our ADR, rode HM twice, once with our FP and then once in the regular line. After that we did a little browsing before heading to BOG.
BOG was spectacular. The food was really good but the restaurant itself is the star of the show. We sat in the room on the right in a booth under the dancing Belle and Beast. Stef P had the Carved Prime Chuck Roast Beef Sandwich - served warm on a baguette with horseradish sour cream and Pomme Frites $12.49 and I had the Braised Pork - slow-cooked pork with vegetables and bacon served with mashed potatoes and green beans jardiniere $12.99. After eating Stef P rested while I toured the restaurant and took pictures. It wasn't overly busy so we stayed well over an hour, drank coffee and relaxed. After BOG we watched The Mine Train for a while, and then rode Under The Sea, or as Stef P put it, we went to see my girlfriend. Once we finished that and had a look at the shop next to Gaston's Tavern, we went to see Philharmagic, made our way to Pirates (back row thankfully), spent way too long in the Pirates gift shop, and then I rode Splash Mtn. I LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE Splash Mtn. Front row baby!!!! I got just wet enough to know I was on Splash.
After Splash we headed for the exit by browsing our way from Casey's through the Emporium to the exit. As we got to the end of the emporium we headed out to Main St USA and caught a little bit of Celebrate the Magic. We knew we were coming back to MK later in the week so we made our way to the Monorail to go to Epcot. This was an MVMCP night so it was a little after 6 when we got to the Monorail.
After getting on the Monorail to the TTC, Stef P looked at me and said "We have to walk down and back up don't we?" I honestly couldn't remember. I knew we had walked down and back up before but I couldn't remember which way we were going. Thankfully after being on a Charter bus for 13ish hours and then walking through MK for 8 hours we got off the Monorail and walked straight across to the Epcot line. I decided then and there if we went the other way on this trip we would take the Ferry across to MK. Walking 10-15 miles a day is okay, but I want to walk uphill as little as possible.
Upon arrival at Epcot, there were no FP's available for Soarin' or TT, and the lines were pretty long, so we headed to SSE which was posted 10 minutes. 6 minutes later we were smiling for the camera and on our way. We LOVE LOVE LOVE SSE. I could ride it 10 times a day and not get bored. After we arrived back at the present time decided we were hungry. We hadn't eaten at the Electric Umbrella since 2007, and it wasn't very good the last time we had it, but our daughter eats there every time she goes to Epcot, and likes it. We decided it was time to give it another try. We split a French Dip Burger - 1/3 lb Angus Burger, Brisket, Crispy Onions, and Muenster Cheese with choice of Grapes or French Fries $10.99. It was surprisingly good, which was a theme for the week. We didn't eat anything that we didn't like. Nothing was 5 star gourmet, but it was all good.
When we finished eating and resting, it was close to 8pm, so we decided to browse Mouse Gears and go find a spot for Illuminations ROE. I’m pretty sure I remember someone on the Dis Unplugged, maybe Craig, talk about the Carpet at Mouse Gears and how it smelled. The new floor, or at least I think it’s new, looks good. I love Mouse Gears. It’s my favorite one of the big, we sell everything, stores. We were just browsing on this night because we knew we would be back on Sunday. It was 8:30 and time to stake out a spot for Illuminations.
We found an empty bench next to the smoking section just before you reach the Cantina de San Angel and took a seat. We're not smokers but an empty bench is an empty bench. They weren’t the best seats but we could see the globe so we were good. It didn’t start until 9:30. I think this was the first time we’ve ever been there that it didn’t start at 9pm. It was definitely worth the wait. Illuminations is easily our favorite fireworks show, and the holiday add on was the best thing I’ve ever seen in a fireworks show. They lit up the entire sky. It was stunning...just beautiful.
As soon as it was over our daughter called to tell us that the TT single riders line was 10 minutes. We hurried over there but we weren’t fast enough. By the time we got there the ride was down. It wouldn't be the last time on this trip. We needed to meet our party back at the hotel at midnight for room assignments and to unload the bus, so we headed to the bus stop.
The end of the night is the only time I really miss having my car at WDW. Pop Century is the last bus stop everywhere, and the line was crazy long. I’m glad we went when we did because it only got worse after we got there. It took 6 buses before we got on. An hour and 40 minutes later we got back to Pop Century. At 12:10am Cole (the choir director’s husband) and I decided it would be easier to unload the luggage under the bus and place it all on the rail outside of our rooms. Luckily, we had 9 rooms in a row in one the 50’s buildings, so it was easy for everyone to find their luggage. We were in room 1242. After taking showers and winding down, we finally went to sleep at about 2am. I called the front desk and asked them to tell Mickey that I needed a 6:30am wake up call. After all, who needs sleep? We’ve got a big day ahead of us tomorrow.
Next Episode: Day 2 – Star Wars and Christmas Carols.
We didn't see it either, but we've seen it a bunch of times. We were only there 4 days on this trip and there were a lot of things we didn't see or ride. The good news is we're going back in September.
Like I said in our last episode, who needs sleep?? We’ll sleep when we go back to work…lol Baymax from Big Hero 6 woke us up and we were off and running…after coffee of course. Today we start at Hollywood Studios, meet the Charter bus at 2 and head to Disney Springs so the Bridge City High School Cardinal Singers can perform their Christmas Show at 4pm.
We were at the bus stop by 7:40 and we made it to HS at 8:20 for a 9am opening. After being pulled and sent through the metal detector (yay me!!!) we were let in at 8:30 and walked to the promenade in front of TGMR. The crowd was part TSMM riders and part Star Wars Launch Bay goers. At 8:50 we started the walk to TSMM and were on within 10 minutes. By the time we got done the Standby line was 90 minutes. I’m glad we went straight to it. There were no FP+’s for it the entire week. After seeing Buzz, Woody and the rest of the gang, we made our way around to Muppets 3D because we had a 10:15am FP+ for Star Tours. The preshow has been changed to include Constantine Frog since we last saw it in March 2013. I didn’t find the added footage very funny. It wasn’t terrible, just sort of unnecessary. The show was funny, as usual. I keep hoping Disney will update the attraction and maybe even add more Muppet attractions since they own them, but I’ve lost all hope. With all the Star Wars and Toy Story coming, I’m afraid we’ll end up with less Muppets, not more. After killing some time at the Muppet store, we headed for Star Tours for our FP+. Unfortunately the ride was down. The CM told me our FP would be good the rest of the day and sure enough, it changed in the MDE app. It was at this point we decided we would come back to HS after we left Disney Springs. We were going to make time for the Osbourne Lights and tonight seemed like a good night to see them.
I had TOT and RnRC FP+’s at 11:40 and 1:00. In the meantime we went to Star Wars Launch Bay. We saw the meet and greet entrance on the left and another door to the right of that. People were walking in that door so we followed thinking that was the new Star Wars store. It was full of life size props that were all for sale and WAY out of my price range. After looking around in there we followed the crowd through the door to the back and finally figured out that the people in the meet and greet line were coming this way after seeing Darth and Chewie.
When we walked out to head for Sunset Blvd it was raining. A good hard steady rain, so since Stef P doesn’t do ToT or RnRC she decided to go see Voyage of the Little Mermaid while I was using the FP+’s. I stayed under cover as much as I could and I was still soaked. The good news is I would swim to get to ToT, so it was worth it. ToT is one of my 5 favorite theme park attractions anywhere. I love everything about it. After ToT I was still 35 minutes from my RnRC FP window, but the single rider’s line was posted 30 minutes. 21 minutes later we got the green light and we were gone. Short but sweet, and the takeoff makes the wait worth it.
While waiting for RnRC I changed our FP+ to TGMR at 7:00pm. After meeting up with Stef P we sat outside, people watched and drank coffee at the Trolley Car Cafe Starbucks for a while and then made our way towards the exit by browsing our way down Hollywood Blvd.
After meeting up with the rest of our group we boarded our Charter Bus for Downtown Disney. We arrived in time to do some shopping at WOD and look around the new Marvel and Star Wars stores before the Cardinal Singers took the stage. I grabbed popcorn and a drink while Stef P found us a seat. The Cardinal Singers were spectacular, like they always are. Kayla and Annie have been Cardinal Singers all 4 years of High School. I’m sad to see it come to an end, but now we’re on to bigger and better things. Watching them sing made the fund raising, bus riding and working overtime worth it. Bridge City High School is blessed to have Mrs. Howerton as Choir Director. I hope they know that. She is wonderful with those kids and they love her.
After the performance we made our way to the charter bus to go back to HS. Be warned, if you are ever involved with a Disney Springs show. The Disney performing arts group is great to work with. We all enjoyed our interaction with them, but the charter bus was parked on the OTHER SIDE of Saratoga Springs. We walked, and walked, and walked, and walked, and walked, and walked, and walked, and walked. At this point we were about halfway there, so we walked, and walked, and walked, and walked, and walked, and walked, and walked, and walked some more. It was ridiculous. After finally getting back to the bus, we made our way back to HS. The one good thing about having a charter bus is we were able to leave our purchases on the bus. They were there when we got on the bus to come home.
We arrived back at HS at 6:10 and went back to Star Wars Launch Bay. We waited 12 minutes for Chewie and 23 minutes for Darth, who tried to recruit me to the Dark Side. He wasn’t amused with my R2D2 Mickey ears beanie. Next up was TGMR. We had FP’s but we let people go ahead of us because we wanted to see the new preshow and have a look around. Stef P loves TGMR and we really enjoyed the new preshow and post show films.
It was definitely time for food. We decided to eat at the ABC Commissary and then make our way to the Osbourne Lights. The food was surprisingly good. I wasn’t sure what to expect. Stef P had the Seafood Platter - shrimp & fish- served with choice of fresh steamed broccoli, apple slices or fries $9.99 and I had the New York Strip Steak - with herb butter, steamed broccoli and french fries $11.99. It wasn’t fine dining but it was a LOT better than I expected. As I was getting my food one of the CM’s brought me a gingerbread cupcake. She said the manager told her to give it to me. Maybe she liked my R2D2 beanie. I’m not sure. The cupcake was delicious. While we were sitting there I decided to check MDE for breakfast reservations the next day. A Tusker House reservation for 8:10 am was staring me in the face. YAY ME!!!!! We love Tusker House.
Now it was time for the Osbourne Lights for one last time. We stayed for an hour walking up and down the Streets of America, taking pictures and enjoying the music. I’m really glad we got to see it one more time. Next up was Star Tours. I did it twice. The Jakku add on was the same as the movie trailer footage so it didn’t give away any plot points in the movie. I don’t know who all had seen the movie by the time I Star Tours, but it was the day the movie opened so not everyone had seen it. The add on was at the beginning and then after that the ride is different each time. I don’t know how long the Jakku add on will be on every tour before it moves into the rotation of other planets. Hopefully they’ll leave it there for a while.
After dealing with the Epcot buses last night we decided to skip the Star Wars fireworks. We were worn out from travel and lack of sleep. Maybe we’ll see it next time. The bus stop was almost as busy as the night but thankfully they moved much quicker.
Next Episode - Lions, Tigers, and Castles...OH MY!!!
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Once we finished that and had a look at the shop next to Gaston's Tavern, we went to see Philharmagic, made our way to Pirates (back row thankfully), spent way too long in the Pirates gift shop, and then I rode Splash Mtn. I LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE Splash Mtn. Front row baby!!!! I got just wet enough to know I was on Splash. 
YAY ME!!!!! We love Tusker House. 
