Well I sure hope we LOVE SSR (Now Trip Report!!)

[cyndiloveswalt]

Hi! Just wanted to let you know I have been following along every nail-biting moment and am perched on the edge of my seat wondering if you pulled it off! I hope so! I didn't even know there was a challenge like this. We are DVC members at SSR also and LOVE it!! We go back in 85 days, can't wait! Keep it up, I check back a couple times a day and just hope that your little stinker is napping so you can finish up!
My DH and I also run races, we did the Run or Dye recently, but Ive never heard of a zombie run or whatever it was you called it! What exactly did that entail?

 

[catherines_mama]

You're getting so close! No matter what, looks like y'all definitely had fun with it. DH and I could never do it, he won't do coasters and I can't spin so no way we could both do a couple of the rides.

I'm rooting for ya!

 

[DisneyRegulars]

Hi! Just wanted to let you know I have been following along every nail-biting moment and am perched on the edge of my seat wondering if you pulled it off! I hope so! I didn't even know there was a challenge like this. We are DVC members at SSR also and LOVE it!! We go back in 85 days, can't wait! Keep it up, I check back a couple times a day and just hope that your little stinker is napping so you can finish up!
My DH and I also run races, we did the Run or Dye recently, but Ive never heard of a zombie run or whatever it was you called it! What exactly did that entail?

Glad I'm keeping you on the edge of your seat! I should be able to do another update during lunch hour today, so check back around 1pm. We wanted to do the Color Run up in our city, but it was the same weekend as this trip, so we couldn't make it. The zombie run was awesome though. The race was officially called 'Run for your Lives (http://www.runforyourlives.com/). You could sign up to be a zombie or a runner and it was kind of like tag/capture the flag. As a runner you were given a flag football belt with 3 flags and you had to make it to the end of the course. The zombies, who looked really scary with their professional zombie makeup, had to try and get your flags. We were runners but we both agreed that next year we would like to run the race and then be zombies too. The race itself was supposed to be a 5k run, but in reality turned into a 5k sprint-walk. You had to sprint through areas of zombies, then you kind of recovered between zombie areas by walking. The obstacles along the race were fairly mild, the only one I had trouble with was a wall of giant hay bales because I ran up to it and forgot to jump so I had to back up to get a running start and try again.

Grizzly and I moved our anniversary trip up next year to be in May, and we moved it by chance to the Expedition Everest Challenge weekend, so we are very excited to sign up for that. Our goal is to be able to run a Tough Mudder next summer.

You're getting so close! No matter what, looks like y'all definitely had fun with it. DH and I could never do it, he won't do coasters and I can't spin so no way we could both do a couple of the rides.

I'm rooting for ya!

You're still here! I am getting close, this is the longest trip report for a 4 day trip ever! No coasters and no spinning would make the tour a bit challenging!

 

[DisneyRegulars]

With 13 attractions remaining we powered on for the final 2 hours of our tour. Grizzly was basically doing an exaggerated cowboy hobble now as his feet and legs were giving him problems.

Since we were over in Fantasy Land we decided to check on Voyage of the Little Mermaid again to see if it was up and running. It was!!! We hopped on, enjoyed a nice little under the sea voyage and were back out into the humid night air in just over 8 minutes.

Next on the list was Ariel's Grotto. Prior to Merida this morning I think I have only met a face character one other time. Boy are they AMAZING!! It's so much fun watching them interact with the kids that are in front of you in line. One girl gave Ariel a note, which Ariel read and loved, then she asked her handler to put the note in her treasure box of sorts. The box had a special name that escapes me at present. But I really liked that Ariel had a box where she can put gifts from little kids so that they don't get immediately thrown out. Disney really thinks of everything. Here we are with Ariel, she spoke to us about marriage, I was very concerned I was going to step on her fin:

After Ariel we headed over to Grizzly's park favorite, the People Mover. I'm sure the CM's watching this ride get sick of seeing all the couples kiss in the dark part. There must be night vision cameras right? It appears Grizzly has died, but Grizzly being Grizzly I'm sure he revived himself for the Space Mountain dark part of the tour:

Exiting the People Mover we were at a major crossroads. We could do one more attraction and then go to Wishes, or we could skip Wishes altogether and try to fit more in. It felt weird skipping Wishes on our Ultimate Tour, but we had to sacrifice the fireworks for the sake of getting more attractions done. So instead of seeing wonderful Wishes, we went to see the equally as good Stitch's Great Escape. (Ha! There was heavy sarcasm there in case you missed it.) There is absolutely nothing good about this 'ride'. Nothing. We escaped from Stitch's Great Escape just as Wishes was ending.

Prior to being tortured by Stitch we hit the Club 626 Dance Party as a bonus attraction. This was actually pretty cool. Goofy,Chip and Dale were out dancing in the crowd. There were lots of people dancing and generally having a good time. I would say if you have a kid that likes to dance, stop by for a few minutes. They may get to dance with a character. Here we are trying to get Goofy in the background but we failed miserably, I swear he is in the crowd somewhere:

Hour 13 was pretty successful with 5 attractions completed. With one hour remaining we have 8 possible attractions left to do (Wishes and A Pirate Tutorial are now impossible in case you are looking at the totals down below going 'BUT 53-43 is 10 not 8!!!!'). We're almost done. Almost. Stay tuned for the final moments of the tour.

Standings after Hour 13:

• Core Attractions: 43/53
• Bonus Attractions: 3/ 24
• Time Remaining: 1 Hour

 

[DisneyJo]

You are doing so well but poor Grizzly, the things we do for some Disney magic huh

 

[DisneyRegulars]

You are doing so well but poor Grizzly, the things we do for some Disney magic huh

Poor poor Grizzly. He was not a happy camper on Sunday on account of his feet.

 

[DisneyRegulars]

You made it! If you're still following along you have finally made it to the last hour of the Ultimate Tour. So without further ado.....

During the previous hour we came to terms with the fact that there was just not enough time for us to complete all the attractions. We opted to forgo 2 of the evening shows in favor of getting more attractions in. Leaving Stitch we made one final loop back around through Fantasy Land to enjoy our final attractions. We started with a quick trip around the Tomorrowland Speedway. It was so nice to have Grizzly in the car with me so that I didn't have to push down the gas pedal the whole time. I usually get out after driving with my son with my leg on fire. I was so focused on getting the attraction done and off our list I didn't even hit the rails once. (Well okay, maybe once)

After the Speedway we found the line to Enchanted Tales with Belle tolerable, so we went to that. By tolerable what I really meant was we barely had enough people to fill all the roles in the play. I wasn't sure what the official ultimate tour rules were on waiting until everyone and their cousin got a picture with Belle, so we stuck it out through all the pictures. Thank goodness it was a small crew in there, that felt like it took forever. Also on this visit we figured out how Lumiere worked which was kind of sad. I preferred it being mystical. Here we are, a cast member insisted on taking our picture for us:

After Belle we 'ran' as fast as Grizzly could move over to Mickey's Philharmagic. We caught the last show at 10:47pm. Again a cast member insisted on taking our picture when she noticed our awkward selfie attempts. Apparently I don't know how to wear glasses straight:

We emerged from Philharmagic at 11:01. Went as quickly as possible to the hub and awaited the Main Street Electrical Parade. Since the parade had not reached the Hub yet we slowly walked down Main Street towards the exit. This was the very first time I had seen this entire parade. I have caught glimpses of it in the past, but I've never stood to appreciate the whole parade. It was okay I guess. I really liked the Pete's Dragon float. So here we are with the last float, we made it all the way to the end of the day. Looks like Grizzly is holding the camera in this one, and turns out he's not much better at the selfie than I am, I promise you I'm happily smiling:

We ended up seeing 47 core attractions (there may actually be only 52 core attractions) and 3 bonus attractions for a grand total of 50 attractions. People have made honorable mention with lesser feats.
To put our day in a bit more perspective, perhaps it is better to list the things we missed. Of all the attractions in the Magic Kingdom we failed to do the following:

• Walt Disney World Rail Road
• Tinkerbelle's Magical Nook (Oh how we hate this nook)
• Captain Jack Sparrow's Pirate Tutorial (Last showing cancelled by rain)
• Wishes (Just ran out of time)
• Celebrate the Magic (Ran out of time)

Despite our not officially completing an ultimate tour we still had a fantastic time. It really was a lot of fun, and even more importantly we had fun doing it together. We can't wait to do it again, and may make it a yearly anniversary trip tradition. I used Google Earth to tally up how many miles we walked, and it turns out it was only about 8.5 miles. It definitely felt like much more than this.

I'm still monitoring the Hall of Fame website, we're not listed there yet, so I may pester the touring plans people in a bit to see if they have reviewed my evidence yet.

For anyone considering trying this, here are my final thoughts:

• If you are looking for something that's a cross between The Amazing Race and a marathon, then the Ultimate Tour is totally for you.
• Don't plan to watch the last of any show that has multiple showings, always save at least one for if something goes wrong with your planned viewing. (Learned this the hard way with our rained out last showing of the Pirate Tutorial)
• Wear comfortable well fitting shoes.
• Each person should carry their own water bottle. It should be a bottle, the collapsible yet sexy zebra print one was hard to fill at the water fountains.
• Go in with a plan.
• Take an extra battery or charger for your phone
• Having paper copies of everything, though archaic, was very helpful
• Bring lots of snacks
• At least one teammate should wear a watch.
• Don't get discouraged if after 5 hours if feels like you will never make it.
• Last but not least, be prepared to make mistakes. We made lots of them. Do not blame your partner for making a sub-optimal decision, just move on and have fun.

Up next, our last day before heading home and trip report wrap up. Then I officially get to start my next report because we leave in 18 days!!!!!! And we will be testing the Magic Bands!

Final Standings after 14 Hours of Fun

• Core Attractions: 47
• Bonus Attractions: 3
• Time Remaining: 242 days until we try again next May

 

[sherylcin]

This was such a fun, inspiring trip report! I, of course, am a huge Disney fan but I also love watching the Amazing Race so this quest was immensely entertaining for me! Thanks so much for sharing it! I'm totally impressed with your and Grizzly's efforts.............you weren't far from completing your mission at all! Can't wait to read next year's report! I'll bet the planning has already begun!

 

[DisneyHeather]

I'm so glad to see how close you guys came Looks like you had a blast trying. I enjoyed reading your trip report.

 

[teacherlisa1978]

Great report! I'm also Mama to a 3 year old and the chance to go and do this with my husband would be incredible! Can't wait to read about next year's attempt!

Sent from my iPhone using DISBoards

 

[DisneyRegulars]

This was such a fun, inspiring trip report! I, of course, am a huge Disney fan but I also love watching the Amazing Race so this quest was immensely entertaining for me! Thanks so much for sharing it! I'm totally impressed with your and Grizzly's efforts.............you weren't far from completing your mission at all! Can't wait to read next year's report! I'll bet the planning has already begun!

We are a little bit obsessed with the Amazing Race ourselves! Glad you enjoyed following along.

I'm so glad to see how close you guys came Looks like you had a blast trying. I enjoyed reading your trip report.

Thank you.

Great report! I'm also Mama to a 3 year old and the chance to go and do this with my husband would be incredible! Can't wait to read about next year's attempt!

We are blessed to have a set of grandparents that live 1/2 a mile from us that are willing to watch our beast. It was lots of fun. I must say, however, that now that are beast is older I thought about him way more this trip than our previous anniversary trip. Everything we rode or looked at I would think about whether our beasty would like it or not, and how excited he would be about it.

 

[DisneyRegulars]

I just wanted to take a second while my beast is missing to wrap this trip report up. After all, how will you know if I got home safe and sound if I don't give you the gory details?

Well this trip started off as a mission to see if we would like to buy an SSR resale DVC contract. (We ended up closing during this trip!). We spent our last day primarily finishing off our SSR recon. We started by grabbing a bite to eat at the main counter service place. We both had the ham,egg and cheese croissant sandwich. The place was packed and we had to sit around the corner from the restaurant by the pool table. After breakfast we sort of waffled for about an hour trying to figure out what we wanted to do with our last day. For some reason with late flights I always just want to leave in the morning, and wish I had booked an earlier flight. After finally deciding to go to downtown Disney halfway there in the car I changed my mind and we headed back to go hang by the pool. We left most our stuff in the car, and we tried out the changing rooms by the main pool. It worked out great to change into our suits and I used the free lockers to lock up our bag while we were swimming. It was a very nice system. We spent the $14.95 for a new bottle of Coppertone sunblock and enjoyed our afternoon away, alternating between the Paddock Pool and the Main Pool. I even played a game of bingo while in the Paddock Pool. Poor Grizzly's feet were killing him today, the pads being completely covered in blisters. Every time we walked between pools he had to put his shoes on. When it was time to go we each showered in the changing room (there was soap and shampoo!) and then we stuck our suits in the dryer while we grabbed lunch. Neither of us liked lunch , I got the lobster roll I think and Grizzly got the vegetable sandwich, but his sandwich wasn't nearly as yummy as the one he had had at the Paddock Pool a few days earlier.

Overall we absolutely loved the resort. We can't wait to bring our son to let him play in the Paddock Pool area. We loved the proximity to Downtown Disney, and the few times we took buses they arrived quickly. The room was also in nice shape too. After staying at SSR I'm really not sure why it gets a bad rap, we loved it, and are happy that we can enjoy many more vacations here in the future.

Now off to start my next report. We leave in 2 weeks!! I've been busily making costumes for our MNSSHP night. I can't wait.

Thanks for joining along everyone. It's always nice to hear from readers.

 

[DisneyJo]

You did a fabulous job on your Ultimate Plan - well done!!

It sounds like you had a wonderful lazy last day and congrats on the DVC

 

[mumto3girls]

I had never heard of anything like this and loved following along. You guys did great--looking forward to the next one. Enjoy your upcoming trip!

 

[ZehnJahren]

How AWESOME! I was contemplating doing the Ultimate Tour when I go in November, and now I'm thinking there might not be a chance for me to make it with the shortened hours (though I might have an advantage being alone). I loved reading along on yours, though, and will be going to check out your other TRs!!

 

[DisneyRegulars]

How AWESOME! I was contemplating doing the Ultimate Tour when I go in November, and now I'm thinking there might not be a chance for me to make it with the shortened hours (though I might have an advantage being alone). I loved reading along on yours, though, and will be going to check out your other TRs!!

But with shortened hours come smaller crowds. Our day was a 6.8 according to Touring Plans. I think it would be a great thing to try alone. Let me know how you do.

 

[CRSNDSNY]

just found your TR! What a fun trip for the two of you.

We've owned SSR since 2003 and had our first stay during opening week in 2004. We continue to find many reasons to love SSR and I think you will too over the years.

Regarding the gift card debacle at the beginning of your trip, we had the same issue during our trip this past June/July. They need you to have a balance on your account before you can apply the cards. So before they have a chance to charge your account before checking out, you can go down and use your gift cards to do so. It ended up being a bit of a pain, but in the end worked out well for us. We will do that again next trip, as well.

 

[DisneyRegulars]

just found your TR! What a fun trip for the two of you.

We've owned SSR since 2003 and had our first stay during opening week in 2004. We continue to find many reasons to love SSR and I think you will too over the years.

Thanks for reading! We ended up loving it so much we switched our September trip over to SSR at the very last minute. We are there now and are loving it.

 

[CRSNDSNY]

That's awesome! I hope you all continue to enjoy your trip.

Thanks for reading! We ended up loving it so much we switched our September trip over to SSR at the very last minute. We are there now and are loving it.

 

[eporter66]

just found your TR! What a fun trip for the two of you.

We've owned SSR since 2003 and had our first stay during opening week in 2004. We continue to find many reasons to love SSR and I think you will too over the years.

Wow - I think we must have bought and stayed at the same time. My DW and I bought in November of 2003 at SSR. We went on our usual October vacation and stayed at Wilderness Lodge. We had a great vacation, and we were in the process of adopting our DD, so we knew WDW was a place we would love to come back to again and again. We decided to buy into DVC on the day we left. Although we didnt tour SSR, we got to see one of the villas at WL, and we loved it. Our final vacation with no kids was in May of 2004, and I believe that was the first week SSR was open. It will be 10 years this fall, and we have no regrets. We have had a number of great vacations, and have had both family and friends with us on many visits, and it is great to share with them!

We love SSR. We have stayed at OKW, AKV (our daughters favorite), BWV (love the location) and SSR as DVC'ers. We love SSR, it is a great resort, and just beautiful as they all are. It is even more special to us as we are residents of Saratoga NY. We love all the reminders of home. I am a golfer, so it is great to LBV right there, and my wife and I are both runners, and it is a great resort to go out for a 3-5 mile run. We walk over to DTD all the time to grab a sandwich at the Earl or just walk around.

I understand how people have favorites, but I don't get the dislike of SSR. I would be happy staying there every time. We plan to hit them all someday, but we will be back in a few weeks for our second year in a row!!

It has been a tough year for our family, and I cant tell you how much I am looking forward to this vacation. We have a special dinner planned the night of our arrival, we will be doing MNSSHP again this year, and of course our favorite the F&W Fest. That is probably my favorite event at WDW, and I look forward to that day of our vacation most of all. We have a few days planned for just relaxing. We arrive Saturday the 19th at 10:30 at the airport, and we will make that a pool afternoon and then head out to dinner. Sunday will be my girls at the pool and golf for me. The only park we have planned so far is 10/24 for the Halloween party, but we will hit them all, we just have to plan the day. I want to get two days of golf in, and we have a late flight the following Saturday (10/26).

My wife is going back in January to do the WDW Marathon with my sister, so she will get two more park days out of that. And, I am hoping to go visit my parents in March and get my spring training baseball fix along with a day or two at WDW.

As much as I want our vacation to get here.....it always goes by so fast! As nice as it is to get home, I always suffer from post vacation depression. Last year when I got back to work, I admit to a little day dreaming while at my desk. I would look at the clock and think, geez, last Tuesday I was on the Safari ride at the Animal Kingdom That happens for a few weeks....

Love reading all the reports, and hope to have a good one for all you upon our return.

Eric