You Mean There Are People Out There Who WANT To Read About My Planning? aka our June 2017 PTR

[jenng1983]

Has anyone read about this Max Pass thing that's coming to DL? I hope it stays away until after June. When we went last year, they were just rolling out the new PhotoPass system and we ended up getting screwed. None of the CM's knew what was happening, and we ended up paying for all of our ride pictures individually, when they would have been included with our purchase later on anyways. There weren't a lot of answers. I don't want to have to deal with that again. It does sound cool, in that you pay $10/person per day and get unlimited PhotoPass downloads from the day, as well as the option to book your Fast Passes on the app. The thing is, DL isn't that big, and I'm not sure it's worth actually paying money to save yourself some walking. Especially considering WDW has more sophisticated technology for free. And that I can get PhotoPass one Week for $79, the cost of 2 days using Max Pass.

What do you all think about it?

 

[Khokhonutt]

Has anyone read about this Max Pass thing that's coming to DL? I hope it stays away until after June. When we went last year, they were just rolling out the new PhotoPass system and we ended up getting screwed. None of the CM's knew what was happening, and we ended up paying for all of our ride pictures individually, when they would have been included with our purchase later on anyways. There weren't a lot of answers. I don't want to have to deal with that again. It does sound cool, in that you pay $10/person per day and get unlimited PhotoPass downloads from the day, as well as the option to book your Fast Passes on the app. The thing is, DL isn't that big, and I'm not sure it's worth actually paying money to save yourself some walking. Especially considering WDW has more sophisticated technology for free. And that I can get PhotoPass one Week for $79, the cost of 2 days using Max Pass.

What do you all think about it?

All I've managed to find on Max Pass is what's been discussed on the forum. There hasn't been anything further from Disney since it was announced, that I know of, so I think we're all waiting for more info.

I'm in the camp that I really hope it either comes out very soon or waits until after we're gone. Just like you said, my biggest concern is they drop it in late May and there's no time to understand the ins and outs of the system before we get there. On the surface, I'd be fine with the electronic fast pass itself. I'm glad they're not planning on the book ahead stuff WDW does. I'm concerned if they implement it right before we get there that the linked parks may throw off plans for using fast pass as it now between the two parks. For me the cost is questionable. For us, we now have 4 of us going for 5 days. At $40 per day times 5 days, I'm not sure I can justify the cost, strictly for electronic fast pass. Personally I really hope they roll out some sort of graduated cost add-on, similar to how the ticket prices work over a 5 day pass. In that case, I'd probably add it just to try it out.

The unique position we're in is that the photopass part of it for this trip won't be a value to us, because we already have photopass purchased. At least I assume we have it to use. Our trip this summer was originally supposed to happen in the summer of 2016. With that I bought one of the last old photopass advanced purchase deals back in November of 2015. It was the $69.95 pre-pay deal that a link showed up for literally on the 30th before that system went away. I've heard since that Disney will still honor that deal. I'm hoping that's still the case and if they do, we'd really just be paying for the fast pass phone options, if that new system comes in before we go.

For now, I'm waiting and watching for any new official word on the system, so we can at least know what we're dealing with.

 

[ClaraOswald]

I hate the way this Max Pass sounds like it will work. It is not worth the money for us since we don't use photopass. I can't justify $150 extra just to save a bit of walking. Because really that sounds like the only benefit the way it's described.

I hope they wait until after our trip but I suspect it will happen around April or May.

I am just thankful we don't have to book FPs months before.

 

[Khokhonutt]

I can see a couple of advantages to electronic fast pass that go beyond just saving some walking. For starters, I remember some of the WDW fast pass kiosks being a bit of a wrestling match to get through. Others were finicky and required a cast member to help get all of the passes for a group. The simple fact you avoid that process would be nice. Hundreds of dollars nice? No. But nice. I'm also not a fan of the tactic some folks like to use of sending a fast pass runner while the rest of the group gets in line, then having the runner join them in line. That's breaking in line, IMHO. I do think it would be a cool option, though, to get into line as a group, then use the phone to grab a fast pass while in line. Again, not hundreds of dollar nice, but still nice.

I 100% agree on the months our booking. We haven't been back to WDW since the implementation of FP+.

 

[Piglet99645]

I love the planning, too! It's half the fun for me.

 

[jenng1983]

Here's my view on it.

I LOVE PhotoPass and we haven't purchased anything yet. I'm bitter about last year, buying one day's plus one picture from another day for $60, when I could have got the whole week (plus ride pics!) for $80. But no one knew that at the time, as it had just been rolled out.

So, getting all Photopass pictures for the day plus the electronic Fast Passes for $10 is GREAT. For one person. Maybe 2. But with 4 of us, that's $40/day. So, even for 2 days, it's worth it since I'd be buying PhotoPass One Week anyways. But we're going for 3 days. Is the Max Pass going to be worth the extra $40 we'd be spending? I don't know. Also, I don't know yet if the Photo Pass pictures included in the Max Pass includes ride pics, like PhotoPass One Week does. So I'm still up in the air on it.

We're at 88 days until we leave! I'm getting very excited and nervous that we won't have the budget we'd originally planned. Turns out my dog needs some dental surgery that's going to cost a pretty penny and that money is coming straight out of our Disney budget. But it is what it is. We may end up staying at the Grand Legacy instead of spending the extra $200 for the Park Vue after all. We'll deal with the breakfast issue and hopefully the bad reviews are exaggerating.

 

[jenng1983]

82 days!! ​

I'm getting very excited. We have our reservation at PVI booked... first night's room charge was $80 extra with the USD to CAD conversion. But, it is what it is and I'm trying to not let it bother me too much.

I've decided to book our lunch at Ariel's Grotto for DD's birthday on our first day. Why? Because then we get to meet a ton of princesses right off the bat and then we know we don't have to wait around for or chase down any of them. There are some princesses she really wants to meet this time that we didn't get to last time, and I've heard those ones are often at Ariel's Grotto. Makes sense to get all that done on the first day rather than waste time looking for and waiting for them, and then end up meeting them there.

 

[jenng1983]

And now, because it's too late to do a TR from last year, and who doesn't love looking at pictures... here are some pictures from our road trip to Disneyland last February!!

The Painted Ladies
IMG_8271 by jennifer.gilkes, on Flickr

The Golden Gate Bridge!
IMG_8306 by jennifer.gilkes, on Flickr

Ok, so these were on the way home... semantics.

 

[jenng1983]

Aladdin
IMG_8199 by jennifer.gilkes, on Flickr

Corona del Mar beach
IMG_8104 by jennifer.gilkes, on Flickr

I love this... I got it printed as 11X14 and it hangs in my hallway
IMG_8054 by jennifer.gilkes, on Flickr

This was the most magical moment of our trip. I cried. We were on our way to find Rapunzel and Aurora was walking the opposite direction. She took DD's hand, asked her to walk with her, and together they walked through the castle and to the wishing well. It blew my mind. She still talks about it
IMG_7922 (2) by jennifer.gilkes, on Flickr

Santa Monica! I want to go back!
IMG_7545 by jennifer.gilkes, on Flickr

Love this castle
IMG_7217 by jennifer.gilkes, on Flickr

It all started with a mouse
IMG_7025 by jennifer.gilkes, on Flickr

 

[jenng1983]

51 days left!! I'm getting really excited. I can hardly focus on anything else but I have this thing called a job which is paying for this trip, so I must push Disney to the back of my mind (blasphemy!) 5 days a week to focus on that. All other thoughts and conversations involve Disney somehow. Even my sullen 15 year old son is getting excited.

Things are booked!! The new hotel reservations are made, and I've booked our Princess lunch at Ariel's Grotto for DD's birthday. We decided to do it on day 1 instead of her actual birthday (day 3) so that we can meet a bunch of princesses right off the bat and then know which ones we need to seek out in the park later.

Day 2 I have booked an Elsa makeover at Anna & Elsa's Boutique. I also may have booked lunch at Blue Bayou even though we decided it was outside of our budget. Maybe, maybe not, I won't tell. We wanted to eat there last year when we discovered it while we were on POTC, but there were no openings. We had decided against it this year. So we're definitely not going.

Here's a rundown of our trip plans:

Sunday - Arrival day aka the happiest day of the year - Arrive in Anaheim around lunch time. Check in to our hotel (hopefully, if the room is ready. If not, beg them to hold our luggage. Or leave it in the car. whatever), go to DTD to spend way more money than we plan to, have lunch (I'll use a coupon to offset the shopping costs), go back to the hotel for swimming, find some dinner somewhere (maybe order pizza - there's more $$ savings!) and watch the fireworks from the hotel.

Monday - Disney Day 1 aka the day I wake my family up much earlier than they'd like - Spending most of this day in DCA. Not DL because we seriously neglected DCA last year and we realize now hoe much we missed there! In an effort to burn us all out on Day 1, and make my family hate me, I hope to accomplish the following lofty goals before lunch: Meet A&E, get FPs for WOC and Soarin, ride TSMM, Ride Soarin, get RSR FPs and meet Olaf. Then on to Ariel's Grotto at 1pm. This will hopefully cut it for a mid afternoon break and hopefully we aren't all snapping at each other. We shouldn't be... yet. Last year it took a full 3 days before we fought in the Happiest Place on Earth and I left my kids sitting on the ground by Space Mountain and took a walk with my husband. Wait, what? Anywho... If we are on the verge of a family brawl, we'll go to the hotel for a swim, then head back and do some more stuff with shorter waits in DCA, watch WOC and maybe get more FPs for RSR for the evening. I'd love to ride it at night.

Tuesday - LA Day aka the day I'm not overly looking forward to cause I'd rather be in Disney but will probably have fun while I'm there - Leave EARLY to beat traffic. Hopefully. Who wants to sit in traffic to go somewhere that isn't Disney?? Hit up the La Brea Tar Pits. Joy Go to the farmer's market, have lunch there and do some shopping. Yep, spend more money. :lol: After that, head over to check out some of the Walk of Fame, see a movie at The El Capitan Theatre, (yay! Disney! ) check out Hollywood Blvd, get ice cream at Ghiradelli's, and head back to Anaheim after 6 (again, to hopefully avoid traffic and not be routed through Inglewood again).

Wednesday - Beach Day aka the day we will actually feel like we are on vacation aka an actual relaxation day - Yeah, another day not at Disney. I'll be biting at the chomp to go back to my Happy Place but this one should be relaxing and low key. Thinking of Newport Beach. We'd like to check out Balboa island (I hear there's a Princess Party company that sometimes does public events there!) and possibly rent a Duffy Boat. But only I can drink while on it.

Thursday - Disney Day 2 aka the previous 2 days weren't Disney so why did we do them? day - Rope Drop Magic Morning! I told my family I will NOT miss MM rope drop again because of them. If they want to be lazy and sleep, that's fine, I'll head over without them and they can join me later. During that MM, we'd like to get the big attractions done (Matterhorn, Space Mountain, POTC, Haunted Mansion) but that's only if they're with me. If I get the glory to be by myself, I will browse some shops, grab a coffee and sit on Main Street and people watch, and take in all the details. Maybe go ride Peter Pan by myself because my family must not be related to me as they don't like it!! Then when they can finally roll their butts out of bed to join me, we'll do as many of the big rides as we can then spend the rest of the morning wandering. Reservation for A&E's Boutique is at 12, so we'll head to DTD for that, and then back into DL for our regular, run of the mill, NOT Blue Bayou reservations at 1:50. I really don't know how I'm going to tell them WHY we need to go back into DL and not have lunch in DTD like we'd planned... any ideas? I may order a cake for DD for that one. After lunch, possibly back to the hotel for a break/swim. If DD goes under water after her Elsa makeover I'll disown her. Anyways, then we'd like to catch Soundsational, then spend the rest of the day just wandering and being spontaneous before fireworks & MSEP at night - hoping to make it to the 2nd viewing of that if my family can keep going!

Friday - Disney Day 3 aka DD's Birthday aka our last Disney day aka the day I'm going to cry entering and leaving the park, and probably a few more times during the day - We have NO solid plans for this day. We will wrap up whatever else we didn't get done in the first 2 days and play it by ear If we didn't manage to watch Soundsational Thursday, we'll watch it today.

Saturday - drive home aka the most depressing day of the year - no explanation necessary. Which is good, cause I don't want to talk about it

Ok, so maybe I'm a bit of an overplanner. My husband likes it because I like to research. I get anxiety over the thought of standing in line. The thought of a possible meltdown while in line (the kids... it's totally the kids I'm worried about melting down. I swear) is too much for me. And believe it or not, I hate both the heat and crowds but will face both for Disney. So I research. A lot. And figure out the best way to do things with the least amount of waiting (go against the crowds) so the standing around wallowing in the heat is minimal. My husband doesn't like to do those things. He likes to be told what he's doing and enjoy the experience, much like when planning our wedding. So he appreciates that I plan, but don't plan out every minute and leave wiggle room in there. So it works out. My kids, howeve, don't appreciate a well laid plan and just want to do what they want to do NOW. They must think Disney is for kids or something.

DH actually told me that before our last trip, he thought I was crazy for all the planning I was doing, but after the trip, he was so thankful that all my hard work (yes, folks, reading about Disneyland is hard work I tell ya) paid off as we had an almost perfect first visit (with NO family fighting ) thanks to me I love him so much!

So now that I've written a novel, I'm going to go get my oil changed before my car explodes and I have to use Disney money to fix it.

 

[VandVsmama]

I love your trip report!

By the way, only Tomorrowland and Fantasyland are open during MM. You won't be able to go on Pirates or HM during MM.

Your DH and my DH must be cut from the same cloth because **MY** DH reacts the same way to my obsessive Disneyland trip planning. I ask him for his opinions on where he wants to eat, rides he wants to go on, but I quickly burn him out with all of that and he gets frustrated and doesn't want to talk about it. And then we actually go on the trip. And when we are ON the trip and we're using the obsessive RideMax itineraries that I've obsessively put together for almost every day we're in the parks, DH about halfway through the first day at Disneyland will say, "Huh, you know what? We haven't waited more than 20 minutes to get on a ride all day! This is WAY better than when I came here as a kid! We go on more rides in the morning than I'd get to go on ALL DAY LONG when I came here as a kid. What does RideMax say we're supposed to do next?"

We don't always stick to the RideMax itinerary. We change it up if the wind blows us in other directions. But it's really been THE #1 reason why my family has such a great time. It's the reason we don't wait in long lines for popular rides, but we still get to go on our favorite popular rides. It's the reason we don't feel obligated to be at the parks from opening to closing all day long (we take breaks at the hotel). It's a godsend and I happily hand over my $$ for the cheap online subscription every year.

And I am RIGHT THERE WITH YOU on the MM thing! I have actually almost left my family in the hotel room and gone to DL for rope drop by myself before. They all moved pretty quickly when they started complaining about being tired and wanting to sleep in and I said, "Ok! That's totally fine! You guys stay here and rest and just come over to the park when you're ready. I'm leaving right now for rope drop." They all protested and said, "WAIT! YOU'RE GOING TO LEAVE WITHOUT US?!" I said, "Um yes, I am, unless the 3 of you can all be dressed and ready to go in 10 minutes. And I'm serious about the 10 minutes. I'm not waiting."

I really have never seen my DH get dressed quicker in the morning. EVER!

 

[jenng1983]

By the way, only Tomorrowland and Fantasyland are open during MM. You won't be able to go on Pirates or HM during MM.

Oh right, I forgot about that! That's ok. We can be first in line for regular park opening for Pirates.

I've never heard of RideMax... must check it out!!

 

[jenng1983]

38 days until we leave! This trip is coming up fast. I'm happy it is, we've had a sad few weeks here at home. We had to put our 12 year old pup down on Monday. She was going senile and was often getting confused, scared, not knowing where she was etc. It was a tough few weeks watching her decline like that. It was a hard decision but one that unfortunately has to be made when you're a pet owner. It was one of the hardest days of my life. This trip already being planned and being so close has been a godsend. I'm still reeling from the loss, but Disney thoughts (and my younger dog, Mickey) are saving me.

Our Canadian dollar dropped again yesterday, thanks to something to do with Trump's Canadian lumber trade... I have no idea, I don't follow politics/trades/stocks... all I know is that it's costing more to convert my money. It came back up slightly today so I'm going to exchange another chunk in case it drops again. After today, I'll just need another $700 ($1000 CAD ) or so before my budget is complete!!! It's been a long year saving for this, and the instability of the Canadian dollar has been wearing on my nerves but it's all going to be so worth it (when is Disney NOT worth it?).

Today I'm off to do some Disney shopping for a Disney group gift exchange I'm in... deadline is Friday so I've gotta get on that! There's nothing left to do as far as trip planning goes, I don't think... the waiting game begins!

 

[jenng1983]

One month until we're there! I'm getting ridiculously excited now.

We've had a tiny change of plans. My fellow Disney loving friend is coming with us!! She was supposed to go with a group of friends at the same time as us, but they all backed out and she was super bummed... so DH suggested she just tag along for the ride. We changed our room from a One Queen One Bunk room (which does not allow rollaways) to a 2 Queen room with a rollaway. I'm excited to have her with us, she's the one who has fueled my Disney love from the beginning.

 

[jenng1983]

3 more weeks. It's getting real!

 

[jenng1983]

So we're down to 11 days. I just realized that NEXT WEEK we leave. I've got majority of the shopping done, except for snacks and drinks for the trip, which I'll get the day we leave. DD's suitcase is 99% packed, just need her Moana costume to be thrown in there (last minute) and she's good. DS now has all the clothes he needs (he was seriously lacking summer clothes). All my lists are printed and colour coded. I've gotta do some stuff for work in the next few days, and then I set my sights on getting everything together.