Newsies: From Scratch - May And September 2024! - UPDATE 4/21

[Newsies]

Two Party, or Not Two Party?
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... That is the question.

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Like every other DISer heading to WDW in September, I'm eagerly awaiting information on the MNSSHP dates. Last year, these dates weren't announced until April, so we have quite a bit of time until tickets go on sale, but I've been scouring MNSSHP threads in the meantime to connect with other future partygoers and stay close to any updates.

One poster wrote this and I've been thinking about it ever since:

We went to two parties last year and it allowed us to do everything we had planned and at a much more relaxed pace.​

As soon as I read it, I thought to myself, "maybe this is a pretty good idea for September."

I loooooove MNSSHP, but I always end up feeling like at the end of the night, I haven't done everything I wanted to do. There are just SOOOOOO MANY PARTY SNACKS. So many treat trail stops. So many characters. So many rides! But mostly so many party snacks.

Given that MNSSHP is already basically subbing for my MK day this September, I'm thinking about 86ing my plan to do a Universal Day and adding another MNSSHP. I've already been thinking about canceling Universal -- I just don't know if I'm comfortable Ubering alone to Universal Studios and back, especially because I'm just not an expert in all things US/IOA like I am with WDW. With the third park opening up in the next few years, I'd love to go back, but potentially for a Universal Trip. Mom and Grace wouldn't be interested, but it could be a fun dad/daughter trip like DLR was!

In a dream world, this would be my perfect September itinerary (based off of historical MNSSHP dates):

• Sunday 09/08: Arrive, Springs Morning/Afternoon, dinner at Jiko
• Monday 09/09: DAK with Yak & Yeti dinner and deluxe evening hours at Epcot
• Tuesday 09/10: Boma breakfast, MNSSHP
• Wednesday, 09/11: Epcot fun & MK deluxe evening hours
• Thursday, 09/12: Hollywood Studios
• Friday, 09/13: Second MNSSHP
• Saturday: 09/14: Fly home

You get the gist of things.

The only problem I can see with doing two MNSSHPs is that if there's a Sunday date versus two weekday dates, it might throw a wrench in that plan. I'm not opposed to doing MNSSHP on my Arrival Day, but I can see a future where I'd want to add a 4th day to my park hopper package if that happens. Otherwise, I'd have to add a rest day to my week. I love the resorts, I love spending time at the pool, and I love spending time at Disney Springs in the day. But when I'm traveling solo, rest days are just not the vibe for me. I just... naturally want to be at the Parks when I'm alone. Especially Epcot, that's my happy place!

I don't know. Not knowing the MNSSHP dates right now are a massive blocker in my September planning, and I can't really move forward with planning this trip until I know them.

Until then... we did the double digit dance for May this weekend!

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Today, we're at 96 days. So we're still ~ a month away from ADRs, but I have a good idea of where we're going to book and my priority level for booking them. I still need to buy a few summer wardrobe staples for this trip, and I'm looking for something nice to wear for Shula's on my birthday! Other than that, the whole family continues to be excited for May.

 

[Counting Stars]

Great pre-trip- terrific writing, love your thinking and your math skills! Very fun watching as your trips take shape! Totally get your approach to trip planning- maximize the fun, Disney math the cost.

 

[Newsies]

Great pre-trip- terrific writing, love your thinking and your math skills! Very fun watching as your trips take shape! Totally get your approach to trip planning- maximize the fun, Disney math the cost.

Hey there, Counting Stars! Thanks so much for the kind words. I'm so glad you understand where I'm coming from The concept of DisneyMath has saved a trip on many an occasion in my family!

 

[Newsies]

Flower & Garden Fun!
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My favorite park? Epcot. I love walking through the World Showcase, just enjoying the sounds, sights, food, shopping, and characters -- plus, I love Frozen Ever After and Remy's Ratatouille Adventure.

My favorite thing to do in Epcot? Exploring Festivals. I have SO many great memories from both programs and multiple family vacations of experiencing everything there is to do at Food & Wine, Flower & Garden, and Festival of the Arts.

And my favorite Festival? Well, that gets tricky -- Flower & Garden and Food & Wine both have very special places in my heart for very different reasons. So I love both equally, but for the purposes of this update, I think we can say Flower & Garden is my favorite.

Let's take a walk down memory lane with F&G!

In February 2020, I flew down to WDW by myself to start my second Disney College Program. I was excited for everything that was in store for me in the next 7 months, but I was most excited to experience the Flower & Garden Festival for the very first time. The festival started March 5, and on March 8, I got to visit the Festival for the first time with my family, who had surprised me by driving down to WDW for a Spring Break vacation. We spent the day together trying Frushi, playing with butterflies in the garden, and soaking in all of the topiaries.

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We had a lot of fun that day. "Coronavirus" was still a very mild concern -- something that I was told in the breakroom the night before that Disney was monitoring the situation and that Park Ops hadn't been effected, that they'd update us if anything changed, and that we should continue washing our hands whenever possible and taking advantage of some newly installed hand sanitizer stations in the breakroom.
A lot changed in a week. The day after my parents went home, they announced that WDW would follow DLR and also be closing for two weeks. I had a shift at Chef Mickey's where I heard a rumor that the DCP would end for the season and participants would be sent home.

I was off the next day. I was tired and was going to save this day for resting up, doing laundry, and getting groceries, but I had a gut feeling that I should probably spend some time in Epcot in case the rumors ended up being true. So I went back to the Flower & Garden festival. Took some more pictures, tried some more food & drinks, and just soaked in this view. I hadn't done a whole lot more than that, but I was ready to leave. And I remember standing right here and I was hot and sticky and tired and I thought to myself, "if I leave now, am I gonna be satisfied knowing that I might not be back here for a long time? Maybe ever?"

And I just stood there for a second and smelled the flowers and looked up at that gorgeous sky and took a sip out of the Spike the Bee sipper I bought that day and I thought, "Yeah. If my Program ends, at least I had fun at the Flower & Garden Festival."

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Well, I left Epcot, and an hour after I got back to my apartment, we got the email letting us know that our Program was over and we'd have to pack it up.

It was very sad. I'll spare you all of the sad, boring details. But the point is the Program ended and I had some very tender, happy, and bittersweet memories from the Flower & Garden to show for it. Memories that I was happy to recreate when we came back to the Parks for the first time after the lockdown ended! We made our grand return to the Parks in March 2021, just in time for a modified version of Flower & Garden to be up and running.

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That was a weird trip. I remember Grace and I both having lots of mixed feelings about visiting the Parks while COVID was still such a high concern for us. But we masked up and had as much fun as we could -- and I was just happy to be back in Epcot.

That was the last trip I made a full TR for, but we also visited during March 2022 and 2023, so we've been back to Flower & Garden twice since 2021 -- all very pleasant, full of trips to the butterfly garden, photos with topiaries, buying festival merch, and trying different booth offerings.

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When you think about it, 2024 will mark our fifth year in a row attending Flower & Garden! We all love the festival for different things. Mom loves the butterfly garden, Grace loves the topiaries. Dad likes the booth offerings a lot -- I think he prefers F&G to F&W because it incorporates more produce and plant-based options. I don't know if I've mentioned this on this thread before, but he had stomach surgery in 2021 and it changed his lifestyle a lot. He can't eat chicken anymore and in general, has incorporated more plant-based meat substitutes into his diet. So Flower & Garden is really his jam.

And me? I like just about everything Flower & Garden! I love the topiaries, I love Garden Rocks, I love the booths, I love buying Festival merchandise, and I love the earthy, soft "vibes" in general that it brings to Epcot. But most of all-- sometimes, I think I just like reminiscing on that first Flower & Garden Festival I went to back in 2020, and all of the memories, sweet & bittersweet, that I took with me during such a crazy and scary time in the world

Going back to dad and his love of the booths. Yesterday, the full menus were announced for Flower & Garden 2024, and he came home and handed THIS to me:

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Yes... this is his bucket list of Flower & Garden menu must-eats this year! It's a pretty solid list, actually! And I have my own list of Must-Eats as well:

1. Frozen Desert Violet Lemonade (Pineapple Promenade)​
2. DOLE Whip topped with Sōmrus Mango Cream Liqueur (Pineapple Promenade)
3. Vanilla Soft-serve with Cantaloupe Liqueur (Swirled Showcase)
4. Beef Tenderloin Tips with mushroom bordelaise sauce, whipped potatoes, and garden vegetables (Northern Bloom)
5. Chocolate Maple Whisky Cake (Nothern Bloom)
6. Toasted Pretzel Bread topped with black forest ham and melted cheese (Bauernmarkt: Farmer’s Market)
7. Warm Cheese Strudel with berry compote (Bauernmarkt: Farmer’s Market)
8. Frushi (Hanami)
9. Parmentier de Canard A L’Orange: Pulled Duck Confit with Orange Sauce and Garlic-Rosemary Mashed Potatoes (Fleur de Lys)
10. Beignet Caramélisé, Fourré Crème Vanille, Glacé au Caramel Fleur de Sel: Caramelized Beignet filled with Vanilla Cream and glazed with Caramel Fleur de Sel (Fleur de Lys)

Now to be honest... my family doesn't always get everything on our bucket list. In fact, we sometimes fail when it comes to trying all of the great things that this festival has to offer. I think we got 3 booth options total last year But sometimes, it's fun to just dream and talk about all of the great things we're excited to try!

At the end of the day, we're just excited to return to Flower & Garden.

Long post Sorry! And thanks for reading. I'd love to know if you guys are going to Flower & Garden this year and how you feel about the menus that were posted!

 

[disneyAndi14]

Love your PTR and all the memories and updates!
We love F&G best festival in my opinion!
I will be at Beach Club with my 2 sisters in late April 4/28-5/4 and Andi, Kait, and I will be at Boardwalk in early September! Our dates are 9/6-9/11 and 9/11-9/14 at USO for HHN! Our dates in September will overlap some!
I love your Disney math and yay for AKL stay! We love it there!

 

[keh422]

I just love reading about your plans and past trips. We're going to miss F&G by two days this year. TWO. We've been to all of the festivals now, and that one has a special place in my heart because it's the first one we ever experienced. It's hard to beat the gorgeous flowers everywhere. I look forward to reading all about your experiences this year.

 

[Newsies]

Love your PTR and all the memories and updates!
We love F&G best festival in my opinion!
I will be at Beach Club with my 2 sisters in late April 4/28-5/4 and Andi, Kait, and I will be at Boardwalk in early September! Our dates are 9/6-9/11 and 9/11-9/14 at USO for HHN! Our dates in September will overlap some!
I love your Disney math and yay for AKL stay! We love it there!

Hey hey Caroline!!! Thanks for jumping in!

I love F&G too! It's a really special time of year in Epcot. So much love goes into the topiaries!

Oh my gosh, I wonder if we'll run into each other in Sept!!! There's definitely a few days of overlap! Do you think you'll do MNSSHP if the dates line up for your party?

YAY FOR AKL!!! I can't wait to explore it!

I just love reading about your plans and past trips. We're going to miss F&G by two days this year. TWO. We've been to all of the festivals now, and that one has a special place in my heart because it's the first one we ever experienced. It's hard to beat the gorgeous flowers everywhere. I look forward to reading all about your experiences this year.

Hi keh!! Thank you so much for jumping in

I'm so sorry you're missing F&G this year and by such a short window! That stinks They cut the length of this festival soooo drastically this year and feels like on such short notice, too! I'm so sad it won't work out for you this year, but I hope you have an absolutely wonderful trip regardless!

 

[SimplyGoofy]

What lovely reminiscing about your Flower & Garden experiences! Congratulations on making it five years in a row and I hope you love everything about it this year. I'm glad your plans for your May trip are coming together and I LOVE your Dad's F&G food list!

Darn Disney and their ending F&G in late May- why did they end the festival so much earlier the year we're going?! I'm going to shuffle our schedule so we can make it over to Epcot before F&G is done. I've only been to F&G once but I'd love to show my daughters all the topiaries and the butterfly house (and I'd love the food) so I'm going to shuffle our schedule to make it work.

 

[Newsies]

What lovely reminiscing about your Flower & Garden experiences! Congratulations on making it five years in a row and I hope you love everything about it this year. I'm glad your plans for your May trip are coming together and I LOVE your Dad's F&G food list!

Darn Disney and their ending F&G in late May- why did they end the festival so much earlier the year we're going?! I'm going to shuffle our schedule so we can make it over to Epcot before F&G is done. I've only been to F&G once but I'd love to show my daughters all the topiaries and the butterfly house (and I'd love the food) so I'm going to shuffle our schedule to make it work.

Hi Jenny!!!! Thanks for checking in here, it's really great to see you! Appreciate the well wishes for a good time at F&G!

They definitely threw us for a loop this year! So crazy how they scaled back the Festival dates this year -- I wonder why they did it? I hope you're able to shuffle things around and pull off a fun Festival trip this year!

 

[Newsies]

May 2024: Locked & Loaded​

Good Wednesday morning! I don't know how many of you all are based in NJ like I am, but this weather has been so ugly -- just gray and rainy, if not finally warming up a little bit. While we were stuck in the house on Saturday morning and eagerly counting the days until our May trip, mom expressed that she wanted to add the DDP to our trip, so I cancelled both of our waitlist requests and got the Disney Dining Plan added to our package for the first time in 5 years.

I said we'd wait until April to buy the DDP when our waitlist requests expired, but honestly, I don't think availability is going to pop up, so I just cancelled the two waitlists requests we had so that we wouldn't have to worry about buying the DDP, having a waitlist request pull through, and then having to wait for the original DDP to be refunded so we could buy it again. I can't say I'm shocked that our pie-in-the-sky Beach Club request didn't get pulled, but I am a little shocked that our Riviera request didn't come through for us -- it was super easy to book Riviera at our 7 month window for our Spring Break trip last year.

Either way: Newsies Family at the Polynesian - Round 5 incoming!

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Even though we were hoping to save some points this trip, I'm really excited to stay at one of the renovated DVC studios at the Poly for the first time! They finally replaced the sofa bed with a Murphy bed and I'm so happy I could cry. That sofa bed was rough and lead to many sleepless nights for me -- I definitely prefer the Murphy bed that I got to enjoy when we stayed at Riviera!

In many ways, actually, I'm hoping that this is going to be a redemption trip for the Polynesian for me. Our last time staying at the Poly was in 2021 and the vibes were not good -- monorail closed, lobby scent missing, 'Ohana was a huge disappointment, wear-and-tear in our Studio. It turned me off from the Poly for a bit, but I'm more hopeful now that we're returning 3 years later.

Short update today -- swamped with work rn and going through some lifestyle changes that require more of my attention but felt like I needed to post something. I did buy more clothes for my trip this week, though, including a cute bodysuit for my birthday dinner that I can pair with a nice pair of pants and some flats or sandals. The vision I have is really cute! And-- I was able to use my rebate from my contact lenses to help pay for my September trip! Because it was coming back to me in the form of a prepaid Mastercard, I didn't think Disney was going to accept it as a payment method, but I tried it and it shockingly worked! So far, I've saved $550 between gift cards and Disney Reward Dollars on this September trip... not too shabby!

Next up: I have a hunch that I'll have my hands full with Disney for the next two weeks. Two weeks from today is our ADR day, and I have a gut feeling that we're getting close to Disney dropping itineraries for Summer 2025 cruises. We can't wait to explore our options for next summer soon!

 

[Paulaparm]

I love all your plans for both trips!
I fantasize about a solo trip

 

[Newsies]

I love all your plans for both trips!
I fantasize about a solo trip

Thanks so much for following along, Paula! Appreciate this so much ... it's so much fun to dream about solo trips!

 

[Newsies]

Big Week Ahead & Final Pass at May Planning
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I have a huuuuuuge week ahead, to the point where I'm already looking forward to sleeping in next Saturday. Reader: today is Saturday. I have a dr appt, several meetings at work where I'm presenting out, and on Wednesday and Thursday: I'm up at 5:30 back-to-back for two different Disney things.

Wednesday is finally ADR day for May!!! I feel like time has been moving so slowly for May! I just redid my pass at May plans this morning after realizing I probably should have taken a look at Park Hours and planned around Deluxe EEH. So I'll get to that a little bit down post, but bottom line: I'm making ADRs on Wednesday. I have a love/hate relationship with ADR day... as in I love making ADRs, but I hate waking up at 5:30 in the morning.

Thursday morning I wake up early again and head to my office an hour early so I can be in at 8, lock myself in my favorite conference room, and call the DCL hotline to book our first ever Disney Cruise!

Summer 2025 itineraries were finally released this week and we're locked in on a mid-August 5-night Bahamian cruise on the Magic. I honestly though that the Treasure and the Wish would be the only ships sailing out of Port Canaveral this summer, so my excitement was through the roof when I heard that a smaller, older, potentially cheaper-to-sail-on ship would be taking over 5 day itineraries and stopping at both private islands. We're going to book two staterooms and I'm fairly confident which category we want to book as well.

Booking over the phone as a newbie will be an interesting experience for sure, so I'll definitely be documenting it. Speaking of which -- new PTR just dropped! I thought about just turning this into the Perpetual PTR of All Perpetual Disney Trips Forever and Ever, but then I decided it would probably be better if I moved my DCL adventures over to the DCL board. You can follow my cruise PTR here: Cruisey Newsie: A WDW Vet's First Dip on DCL - August 2025 Magic PTR

Before we can book our little cruisey-cruise, we still have an early morning of ADR making on Wednesday. I just -- literally, not even 15 minutes before pulling up this PTR -- just redid everything. I realized I had accidentally booked our pool day over Magic Kingdom DxEEH and that was it for me, had to redo almost the entire trip with the exception of our Epcot days. The final pass at planning is:

Sun 05/19
Arrival Day/DHS

Fantasmic Dining Package
50's Prime Time Cafe dinner

Mon 05/20
Magic Kingdom Morning, Epcot DxEEH at night

Steakhouse 71 dinner

Tue 05/21
Epcot

Akershus breakfast (as early as possible)

Shula's Dinner - 7:30 PM
Booked already on OpenTable

Wed 05/22
Hollywood Studios afternoon, MK DxEEH at night

Oga's Cantina
12 PM

Woody's Rodeo Roundup
3 PM

Thur 05/23
Pool Day/Disney Springs

Raglan Road Dinner - 07:15 PM
Booked already on OpenTable

Fri 05/24
Epcot

Garden Rocks Package
Biergarten Dinner

05/25
Magic Kingdom (potentially DAK in the morning)

Boma Breakfast​

 

[Mollydolly334]

Great list of ADRs!! I’ll be sending you good vibes on your ADR morning In general, I’m finding ADRs to be way less stressful to book than in the past! Lots more times available for a variety of restaurants. I saw so much availability for previously hard-to-get reservations like Sci-Fi, Chef Mickey’s, BOG, etc!

AHHHH congrats on booking (soon) your first Disney cruise!!! Jake and I have been SO back and forth on taking a cruise. We seriously considered switching our October DLR vacation to a Wish Bahamian cruise. We are still VERY much considering doing a Mediterranean cruise in the next year (DCL itineraries aren’t the best for these, so we’re looking at Celebrity). Neither of us have cruised before and are kind of nervous about it! So I’m really eager to read all about that planning and learn the ropes- it seems like such a different beast than WDW!!

 

[Paulaparm]

Pixie dust coming your way for getting your ADR’s and booking the cruise! And a busy work week!

 

[Newsies]

Great list of ADRs!! I’ll be sending you good vibes on your ADR morning In general, I’m finding ADRs to be way less stressful to book than in the past! Lots more times available for a variety of restaurants. I saw so much availability for previously hard-to-get reservations like Sci-Fi, Chef Mickey’s, BOG, etc!

Thank you thank you! Not to spoil my own PTR but I completely agree with you: ADRs have been so much easier to get for the past year or so and I can't understand why if the Parks are now busier than ever Not that I'm complaining!

AHHHH congrats on booking (soon) your first Disney cruise!!! Jake and I have been SO back and forth on taking a cruise. We seriously considered switching our October DLR vacation to a Wish Bahamian cruise. We are still VERY much considering doing a Mediterranean cruise in the next year (DCL itineraries aren’t the best for these, so we’re looking at Celebrity). Neither of us have cruised before and are kind of nervous about it! So I’m really eager to read all about that planning and learn the ropes- it seems like such a different beast than WDW!!

Thank you very much!!! Totally hear you on wanting a Mediterranean cruise, that sounds like a dream come true! We've only cruised once or twice before and I was really little -- definitely a little nervous and a bit overwhelming to plan everything but we're soooo excited to finally get on a Disney ship. Booking on Thursday was... a brand new experience for me But we were able to get cabins that I would argue are better than what I originally wanted, so I'm really thrilled for what next year has in store for us! Let me know if you ever need a sounding board for planning, we can always talk through things together as I learn the ropes myself!

Pixie dust coming your way for getting your ADR’s and booking the cruise! And a busy work week!

Thank you very much Paula! Your Pixie Dust was well received Wednesday morning and Thursday evening! It was a busy week, but we got everything done!

 

[Newsies]

Our May 2024 ADRs!
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We are really in the final countdown for May now! Wednesday was our ADR day. So of course, I was up at 5:45 and dragged myself downstairs to crack open my laptop in case the app didn't want to work for me.

I'll echo what others have said -- ADRs have been marginally easier to book for the past year or so. And I don't just mean that availability has been getting better. I mean that technical glitches have been far and few in between, with the app and web browser both working perfectly at lightning speed to get exactly what I needed. It's an anomaly, really: Parks are busier than ever, but somehow, finding dining times are also easier than ever.

I'd bet that I probably didn't have to wake up at 5:45 to book these. I probably could have mulled them over with some coffee at 7 and been fine. But I did wake up at 5:45, and now you're going to get to hear what we've booked for this trip!

Sun 05/19
Arrival Day/DHS

1900 Park Fare Dinner

This was our one and only "wild card" of the morning. I 86'd the Fant dining package plan the night before because I just didn't want to run back and forth between DHS and the Poly for our arrival day, especially since we'll be up at 3:30/4:00 in the morning to get to the Mouse House. So now the plan is to have a chill morning at DHS, head back to the resort for some unpacking and potentially pool time, dinner at 1900 PF, and maybe capping the evening off at Magic Kingdom!

We were big fans of 1900 Park Fare for breakfast before COVID and we know this has been a hot ADR lately, so this is what I sprung for versus 'Ohana or Chef Mickey's. I'm really excited to have Strawberry Soup again!


Mon 05/20
Magic Kingdom Morning, Epcot DxEEH at night

Steakhouse 71 Dinner
6:35 PM

Tue 05/21
Epcot

Akershus Breakfast
10:25 AM

Shula's Dinner
7:30 PM

Wed 05/22
Hollywood Studios afternoon, MK DxEEH at night

Savi's Workshop
10:45 AM

I may have told the DIS before that there's nothing Dad loves more than souvenirs that light up, and he's been begging to build a lightsaber since the Workshop opened. We made the BB-bots a few years ago, so mom asked me to book this for him today so he could finally get his lightsaber.

Again, this is a good indicator of the current state of all Disney reservations -- today was 57 days out from our trip and there were plenty of Savi reservations open this AM when I booked this.

Oga's Cantina
12:05 PM

Woody's Rodeo Roundup
3:00 PM

Thur 05/23
Pool Day/Disney Springs

Raglan Road Dinner
07:15 PM

Fri 05/24
Epcot

Garden Rocks Package
Biergarten Dinner
4:00 PM Dinner
6:45 PM Show

05/25
Magic Kingdom (potentially DAK in the morning)

Boma Breakfast
10:45 AM
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WE ARE SO EXCITED!!!!

In news less relevant to May 2024, we also have our August 2025 cruise booked as of this week and we're VERY EXCITED to be on the Disney Magic headed to Nassau, Castaway Cay, and Lookout Cay next year! We were able to book our staterooms on Thursday, though in true Newsies fashion, it didn't come and go without chaos -- I'll link the very long post talking about our booking experience here.

I started and stopped this post so many times this morning but I really have to go now -- a few of my cousins and I are seeing Joey Fatone and AJ McLean tonight at NJPAC, so it's time for me to start getting ready. Hope you all enjoyed reading about our ADRs! We can't wait!

 

[Newsies]

Read All About It: Some Trip Reporting Musings
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Good Tuesday evening everyone. We're getting close to MNSSHP dates, and even closer to the announcement of opening day for Tiana's Bayou Adventure ... I can feel both in my bones.

Over the weekend, I went to my second concert of 2024 -- Olivia Rodrigo at Madison Square Garden. It was epic. I've seen her once before about two years ago, when she brought her first tour to Radio City Music Hall. She's an amazing performer, and this tour was so elevated in terms of visuals, choreography, and staging. Really just an awesome time.

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But enough about Liv -- you guys aren't here for that, you're here for a PTR!

It's very funny to me how it feels like so little planning is involved in post-COVID trips to Walt Disney World. And really -- the only thing that feels like it's impacting that is the removal of FP+. This PTR just feels so much lighter and like I have so much less to say than I did when I was in high school/college writing these PTRs that had 45 updates and 19-20 pages of posts. I tried (keyword: tried) to look back at an old PTR of mine to see if anything else had changed or if I had forgotten to update this PTR with, but couldn't get through more than 2 or 3 pages before I had to x out of the tab. Omg. I was such a yapper. Like why did I run to DISboards to tell everyone that a Chic-Fil-A opened in my neighborhood and I had a test that week and I bought a windbreaker at the Disney store??? That's why my PTRs were so long. Not because I was actively planning... because I liked yapping.

Kind of like how I'm doing right now.

Anyway.

I liked yapping, but I also like reporting, which is where I'm headed with today's update. Getting back into the groove of PTRing and TRing means having to put myself in the shoes of the 19-year-old Kait inside of me, who loved writing TRs and religiously prepared for making my reports. It came in two parts: photos and, of course, writing.

Photos were (and continue to be) my biggest obstacle for so many reasons. Way back when I was committed to writing these, I had a Canon Rebel that I brought to the parks so I could take the best photos possible. I was not the most gifted photographer in the world, nor was I truly the best at handling the camera, but I liked that it was able to show the world through a lens that was slightly better than my phone camera could show you all. Here are some of the shots I found on Shutterfly from years past:

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I was a huge fan of those tight shots that showed the details of everything! I think I just liked having the camera on my hand and walking around slowly and stopping to capture all of the little things. I brought it on our 2021 trip but truthfully didn't use it much, so I left it at home during my 2022-2023 trips, including Disneyland, which was very stupid of me.

I just hated that it felt so heavy and like yet another thing I had to lug around! I'm a big fan of packing as light as possible for the parks with my cute little hip packs (I'll have to do a what's-in-my-park-bag update soon) nowadays, so there's physically no room in my park bag to carry a camera like this around unless I bring a Loungefly.

I toyed around with the idea of buying a smaller digital camera for trip reporting, but the good quality ones are still $xxx and I just don't know if I'm that committed to the idea of buying a second camera that I use maybe 10 days out of the year.

I think I will bring my Canon this year, on both trips. I just don't know how much use I'm going to get out of it. I might have to resort to photos on my iPhone, which is now 4 years old and slowing down and reaching potato-level quality photography.


The other part of my trip reporting is, obviously, the writing. This requires copious note-taking when I'm at WDW, which I have sincerely been lacking on since we started touring the parks post-COVID. Back in the day, I had this cute travel journal from Erin Condren that I lived and died by when I visited WDW:

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Setting it up was a bit of a PITA, but I'm almost tempted to try this again ahead of our May trip. It was nice to have a tangible notebook/journal to look back on at the end of every trip, but it was also a huuuuge burden to upkeep in the middle of the week and my note-taking got lazy as the week progressed and I got more and more fatigued from the Parks at the end of the day.

Another option I'm looking into is the new Journal app that was released as part of a recent iOS update for iPhone. DFB actually put me onto this app and described how it would be good for TRs because you could take notes and add photos in real time -- seems like a step up from the usual Notes app notes most people take. Has anyone used the Journal app for TRs before? Did you like it?

Anyway, these are just some of the thoughts that have been spiraling in my head as I gear up to return to the Trip Reports board. Hope you all enjoyed the photos and you're having a lovely week. 40 days until I'm back in my happy place!

 

[Newsies]

First-Time Experiences I'm Excited For
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Good afternoon and happy Saturday!

Want to give a quick shout-out to a poster who we haven't seen in a hot minute. In my last post I mentioned how I was trying to look back at past PTRs and think about different posts I'd make for them, and why I feel such a disturbing lack of updates in this PTR. Well, for inspiration this morning, I went on a binge of one of my all-time favorite PTR/TR writers and read through a couple of her PTRs. @Elevationist, I know you're no longer active on these boards, but I hope you're doing well! Thanks for all of the writing, wisdom, and laughter throughout the years -- you inspired me to travel solo!

Anyway, inspired by her amazing updates where she'd go into detail about all of the different foods and experiences she was excited to try, I want to make sure I was documenting everything I'm most excited to try on this next trip! I love that even though I've traveled to WDW so many times, there's always something new for me to try every time I visit.

Starting off strong, my "big ticket" souvenir item/birthday gift to myself this trip is going to be an Engraved Perfume Bottle from Epcot.

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This is something I didn't know you could get until very recently! This is a free service that they offer in France and Italy over the weekends. Well, free with your purchase of a pretty expensive bottle of perfume. This is just such a Kait souvenir. It's giving Sabrina-Carpenter-coquette-girl realness in the best possible way. I really want to take home a bottle of Miss Dior with a cute little sketch and my name on it!

Speaking of Kait-ified items... do I need any more tote bags? No. Am I going to get my name embroidered on a tote bag in Magic Kingdom? You bet your behind I am. I have yet to embed a TikTok in a post, but I hope this works:

https://www.tiktok.com/video/7329235249693576490

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This is another Disney hack that's new to me and I am absolutely ooooobsessed with the idea of getting one of those classic Mickey totes embroidered with my name on it!!!

We're almost done with the personalized tchotchkes. Promise. Just one more, a pair of these baddies:

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Now, I'm no expert on having a birthday in Walt Disney World (though I am an expert in a Disneyland birthday), but I believe it's mandatory to head to Ye Olde Christmas Shoppe to get a pair of ears customized with your name and your birth date. This is an experience I knew Disney offered, and we've personalized many an-ornament at Ye Olde Christmas Shoppe, but I've just never gotten around to personalizing a pair of ears. Hoping to get these done on our first Magic Kingdom morning!

I'm also excited to stop at Basin ahead of our 1900 Park Fare dinner to make a candle that smells like different resort lobbies!

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While I'm not new to the world of character meet and greets, I really want to meet Ariel from the Live Action Story at Hollywood Studios in a few weeks. She's just so sweet!

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I also saw Wish for the first time this week, and while I was lowkey not impressed with it, I love Asha. So relatable. We will be meeting Asha in World Showcase Plaza before Disney nukes all evidence of Wish's existence from all of their theme parks.

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While we're in Epcot, I'm hoping we can make it to Cava del Tequila for the first time for some chips and drinks. This is just something that's been evading our radar for the past few years. I <3 a good chip, guac, and tequila sitchy-ation! You can ask anyone who works at my local Uncle Julio's.

Other than the tons and tons of new food dishes I'm excited to try (methinks I'll need to put them in a different post), these are the top things I'm excited to try that I haven't done yet at WDW this trip! Am I missing anything? Please let me know! I'd love to hear about some things you guys have done in your recent trips that was new to you!

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[Paulaparm]

I like the travel journal that you used. Just enough room to jot down a few things to help you remember the day. Also glad you mentioned the new journal app for iPhone. That may come in handy for taking notes on the fly!
I used to use Passporter (which you are most likely way too young to know about, lol)
I really like a planner in which I can keep everything together in one place; printouts of reservations(for the trip down as well as while we’re there), receipts, etc., and I just can’t find anything that I like as much as I liked PassPorter. Heck, I can’t find much of anything at all!
So I’m thinking of just using some white out and reusing my PassPorter