Leavin the Husbands & Takin the Kids Pre-Trip Report

[Heatherhy01]

:wave2: Hello everyone,
I am fairly new to this board and usually just surf the threads, but decided that in light of our upcoming trip:banana: , I would test my hand at a pre-trip report!

The Cast:
DMIL, Terri:tinker:
Myself, Heather:tigger:
DD, 10, Alexandra:mickeyjum
DD, 5, Savannah:sulley:

DMIL thought that it would be a great idea to give the girls a Disney trip for Christmas and since Disney had such a great promotion going, we could not resist.:cool1:

Unfortunately DH does not have enough vacation time to go to Disney and take our annual beach summer trip, DMIL said that DFIL had to stay home also. :furious: Thus began the girls only trip. I do not know how the men feel about this, but we are sure excited:dance3:

We have not had a trip to Disney since 2005:scared1: I know, the horror, sometimes, we cannot believe it ourselves!

We booked our flight/room for March 24-March 30. We are staying at POFQ. I have never stayed anywhere besides a value resort, so I am really looking forward to this trip. I am a little nervous about crowds. I have never been to Disney in March.:worried: I am, however, very excited for the Flower & Garden Festival.

The girls had no idea that this was going on until Christmas day, when they found a letter under the tree that read:

A Christmas Riddle:

Think of a place that is warm year round. Where you could meet the most famous mouse in the world. A place where you can visit several countries in a day and go to an Aerosmith concert in the evening, arriving in a limo. You could explore a haunted
hotel and get the most bazaar elevator ride ever?

If you can figure out the riddle,
then you have figured out the biggest Christmas surprise ever.

Good Luck,


DD, 10 got it right away, this will be her third trip.

It took DD, 5 a little longer to figure out the excitement. This will be her second trip.

Up next, the flight info and our plan for our first day....:cheer2:

[Heatherhy01]

:woohoo: Day one, March 24th-

We have yet to figure out how we are getting to the airport:confused3 . We live in Lehigh Valley, Pa and are leaving from Philadelphia, which is an hour from our house. Our choices are:
a. Get a family member to drive us.:worship:
b. Rent a limo for about $250.00 each way.:rotfl:
c. Drive ourselves and pay for airport parking.:sad2:
d. Get a shuttle bus.;)

Our flight leaves at 11:53 am and will arrive to MCO at about 1:29pm. That is one reason why we wanted to go through Philly. For one thing, they were cheaper and for another,they had direct flights.

The plan is to check into our POFQ room and run off to the Magic Kingdom. We always do the MK first and the first ride is always IASW. I made an ADR for Tony's for dinner at 5:30 pm and we plan on having an early night.:thumbsup2

Next up....plan for Day 2.....

[Heatherhy01]

Day two, March 25-


This will be an early day for us.:jumping1: We are going to visit EPCOT and have a reservation for the Akershus princessprincess: breakfast at 8:40 am. We had gone to this breakfast on a previous trip and we really enjoyed it. The food was really good and my MIL got a kick out of how they serve everything in a skillet!

We usually do not spend too much time in EPCOT, I think we actually spend more time in the World Showcase. This will be a lazy day, we get to what we get to. no rush. I would like to try to get to all of the major points of interest, but we shall see.

I, personally, would rather start out early and get the kids on whatever rides they would like to before the park gets too crowded.:crowded:

So, tell me, what is your favorite attraction in EPCOT?? Myn would probably be Soarin, so that is a definate must on our to do list!!

Next up, Day 3......

[Heatherhy01]

Day three, March 26-

Today, we will visit Hollywood Studios.:wizard: This will be my favorite of all four parks. I love all of the attractions. Rockin Roller Coaster, the Muppets 3D!

We have a late lunch scheduled for 2:25 at Hollywood & Vine with the playhouse Disney characters for the youngest DD.

Hopefully, we will be able to stay for Fantasmic, if not, maybe another night.:confused3


Next up...Day four....

[All7OfUs]

I'll join you for the ride, Heather! It's fun to watch plans develop and live vicariously through you lucky-ducks who get to go sooner than me ! :rotfl:

I don't have time to post a comment tonight, but I'll look over your plans tomorrow and see what looks fun (like anything at WDW wouldn't be fun!? :rotfl2:

Talk to you soon,

[All7OfUs]

Your plan for Day 1 looks good, except you my only get a few hours in the park. I think you might not get there until 3:30 at the earliest, then you'll only have 2 hours until dinner, then a couple of hours afterwards. I didn't check to see if it's an EMH day or not, so don't know what the crowds will be like or if you can stay later if you end up wanting to.

Day 2- I'm sure you'll LOVE the Princess breakfast! Just the girls at a Princess breakfast! Too fun! No having to hurry through because you know the guys are "just enduring it" for your sake. You won't feel rushed, so points for you!

Our favorite ride it Soarin', but we're weird too. We actually like The Land, and we LOVE Imagination with Figment. The kids adored talking to Crush as well. Test Track is a take or leave for me, but there are some nice Hidden Mickeys in there to find, if you look for them. Our favorite thing though, is slowly walking through WS and taking all the details in. Do you have your meals picked out for lunch and dinner yet??

Day 3- DHS is fun! TSM opened about 1 month after we were there in April, we were sad sad, sad! Can't wait to finally try it out next time. We missed Fantasmic too, but only because we were just too pooped out to stay. We WON'T miss it next time! Sounds like you're planning on more than one day here, right?

Well, looking forward to seeing more!

[Heatherhy01]

Your plan for Day 1 looks good, except you my only get a few hours in the park. I think you might not get there until 3:30 at the earliest, then you'll only have 2 hours until dinner, then a couple of hours afterwards. I didn't check to see if it's an EMH day or not, so don't know what the crowds will be like or if you can stay later if you end up wanting to.

I know that we may not have much time to explore the MK, but this is our tradition. To go to MK when we get there and try to do as much as we can that night.

Day 2- I'm sure you'll LOVE the Princess breakfast! Just the girls at a Princess breakfast! Too fun! No having to hurry through because you know the guys are "just enduring it" for your sake. You won't feel rushed, so points for you!

We have done this breakfast before and LOVED it! We are looking forward to it again.


Sorry it took so long for me to reply, my family and I have been ill. Hopefully, that is out of our systems and overwith!

[Heatherhy01]

Today is our lazy do whatever it is that we want day. We do not have any ressies for this day, but will probably just eat at DTD. I would love to use this time to hotel hop and maybe check out the boardwalk. We have never been to the boardwalk or seen any other hotels besides the Contemporary. Maybe this would be a good time to take a horse & buggy ride at PORiverside? Or the kids can go to the Campground campfire sing along in the evening. I would really like to get them to do different things that we have not done before. I want to show them that there is more to Disney than just the parks.:rolleyes1




Next up day 5.....

[littleboss]

I've never been to Disney before but I hear the Boardwalk is nice in the evening with jugglers, and magicans. I would like to check it out. Resort hopping sounds like fun!!:cool1:

[Heatherhy01]

I've never been to Disney before but I hear the Boardwalk is nice in the evening with jugglers, and magicans. I would like to check it out. Resort hopping sounds like fun!!:cool1:

This sounds like so much fun. You will have a great time on your first trip. It will be here before you know it! Thanks for reading!!!

[Heatherhy01]

March 28, Day 5....

On this date, we will be going to the AK. This is not our favorite park. We usually have this done in a few hours. We like to do dinasour, Its a bugs life, the Safari and usually the Lion King. I could do without the Lion King this time. My oldest will reallyu want to go on Expedition Everest:scared1: , I am not a big fan of roller coasters, but I will probably "suck it up" so she can ride it once. I may even like it:confused3 who knows? I love RNR, but I really do not like the big hills.

We have a reservation for Chef Mickeys for 5:10. I like Chef Mickeys because then the kids can see Mickey and Minnie and we do not have to wait in a long line to do so.

Next up......Day 6 will be full of royalty!!!princess:

[Heatherhy01]

March 29, Day 6....

This will probably be the girls most fun day! We have a ressie at BBB for each of them at 8:30 am. We will probably just use our snack for breakfast that morning at the hotel prior to leaving for MK. Then we have a ressie for CRT at 12:10 for lunch with Cinderella & friends. The girls missed Cindy on our last trip and we wanted to make it a priority for them to see her this year!!! My youngest will be the most excited. She loves to dress up and the fact that she could be a princess will be priceless! I am so excited to see what dresses they pick and what hairstyle. princess:

We will use the rest of this day to explore MK some more and do a table service meal for dinner. I need to check out some of the table service places, I never really checked into them. The only one that I am familiar with is the Electric Umbrella in Epcot. Most of our quick services are used at the hotel.popcorn::



Next up....Day 7....

[Heatherhy01]

I just got off the phone with Disney and I have made 2 reservations for our "lazy day" on the 27th. The first is to have breakfast at O'hanas:thumbsup2 , I have never been to the Polynesian so I am very excited to see this resort. Breakfast is from 8-11 and our ressie is for 10:50, I hope that Lilo & Stitch will still be there. I'm glad that it is so late though because then we can sleep in and not be in such a hurry in the morning! The second ressie is to take a horse and carriage ride at POR. Our appointment is at 8:00. This sounds like a unique activity to Disney and the girls will love it. Has anyone else ever done this???:confused3

[Heatherhy01]

I changed another reservation. I had decided to go with 1900 Park Fair for our Cinderella dinner instead of Cindy's Royal Table. We were not crazy about the food the last time we were there and now we will only use one table service instead of 2. Also, The girls will get to meet Prince Charming!!! That is a plus!:cheer2:

[Heatherhy01]

March 30, Day 7.....

Today will be our last full day at Disney. We will grab a quick service meal for breakfast at the hotel and run off to EPCOT. We will explore the world showcase today. We have an ADR for 5:30 at the Cape May Cafe. Everyone is excited for the clambake! My kids LOVE clams. After dinner, we will venture back to the Magic Kingdom and try to get on whatever we had missed or take one last spin on any rides that we had wanted to do just one more time!:sad1:

Next up, Day 8 and our return home....

[Heatherhy01]

March 31, Day 8.....

Today is the day that we will leave to go home:(:sad2: . Our flight times keep changing, but as of right now, we will fly out of MCO at 11:20 AM and arrive in Philadelphia at 1:44 PM. We will get an early breakfast this am at the hotel and then check out and wait for the magical express bus to take us to MCO.

Our flight time changed for the 24th when we are suppose to leave twice! I am getting a little nervous because I hope they do not make it any earlier. Right now, we are departing at 9:00 AM and arriving at MCO at 11:27AM. Which is perfect, it gives us a little more time in the day to enjoy the MK. We just still have not figured out how we are getting to the airport!

I just reserved our stroller for my youngest through Orlando Stroller Rentals. This service is wonderful!pixiedust: They drop off the stroller to the luggage room of your resort by 12 noon on your arrival date, then you deliver it back to the same place on your departing date and it only is costing $70 plus tax = to about $75. Which is cheaper than renting a stroller in the park every day. I just got a single, but the have a few different kinds. Their website is http://www.orlandostrollerrentals.com/

This is our plan so far and I will keep filling you all in as we get closer. Only 1 month, 3 weeks and 2 days left!

[Heatherhy01]

I spoke to the Disney Florist today. I really wanted to get an item that will be waiting for the girls when they arrive at Disney. I ordered the Disney Family Treat Tote. They will deliver it to my hotel the day before we arrive. There is also a note on it to present it to us upon check in. The card says "Welcome, We hope you have a great time!" Love Nummy & Mommy Nummy, is my mother in law, that is what the kids call her. For anyone who does not know, the Family Treat Tote is a Disney tote bag filled with goodies for the room, chips, pretzels, fruit. With tax and delivery charge, it came out to $70. I wanted something that the kids will enjoy and we could always take some snacks with us to the park to munch on. The website for the :flower3: Disney Florist is:
http://www.disneyflorist.com/

[Heatherhy01]

We are still unsure about how we will get to the airport?:confused3

I had called AAA and priced a park & fly package, where you stay over at a hotel the night before your departing flight, then the hotel will shuttle you to the airport and you can keep your car parked at the hotel for free. Upon your return, you will get picked up at the airport and get shuttled back to the hotel to pick up your car. This option will cost $184.00 for the hotel.

Our other option is to get a limo and a driver, which will cost us $185 each way!!!!

Or, we can get someone to take us and pick us up.

I think that the hotel will be the best way to go, but the mother in law does not want to stay away from home another night. Hopefully, we can get this resolved soon!!! We leave in 42 days!!!!!!!

The girls are VERY excited and DD, 5 gets the giggles every time she sees the disney world commercial on tv. I can't wait either!!!

[LAH LAH]

You must be soooo excited!!!! If I drive you to the airport can I come with you? :)

[Heatherhy01]

You must be soooo excited!!!! If I drive you to the airport can I come with you? :)

We are very excited. I just read your trip report and I listened to the song that you had recorded for your family at Christmas and no wonder you had won the first few rounds of AI. Your voice is amazing!!!

[Heatherhy01]

We have 34 days left:yay: until we leave on our big Girls Get-a-way!!! We still have not figured out how we will get to the airport.:car: I am hoping that we can just stay in a hotel and start our "girls only" vacation a day early!!!!

I just made another new reservation. This one is for the AAA Storytelling experience. I just found this out that when you book through AAA, you can reserve this.:tinker: I have reserved it for March 30th at 4:30PM.

Since I have this reserved, I had to push back on my Cape May Cafe to 7:00.

I have made t-shirts for the four of us. :dancer: The front says "Girls Only" Disney Vacation with the main characters, the back says NO BOYS ALLOWED!!! They are ok, I used the print out iron on sheets. They did not come out as wonderful as I had hoped they would. I will take pictures and try to load them here. I have never tried that before so I cannot guarantee that they will get posted.

I also tried my hand at the mickey tye dye t-shirts.:hippie: The one for my oldest came out pretty cool. On the back it looks like there is a silhouette of Tink! The one that I had made for my youngest came out the best because her shirt was 100% cotton. The others look o.k. and the colors are vibrant, but next to the 100% cotton one, the others look like they had been washed 100 times already! We will still wear them proudly.

I will update again soon!!!!

[Heatherhy01]

OUR DOCUMENTS ARE IN!!!!!!!! 27 days to go!!!

[Heatherhy01]

Hello Everyone,
We finally have figured out how we are getting to the airport....FINALLY!!!!:cool1:
We will leave Monday evening right after work and drive down to Philly to check into the Four Points hotel. I have booked a park and fly package through AAA. The cost was approx. $160.00 for the night and the parking. We will eat dinner and hang out in the room and relax for the evening. Then we will get up early and the hotel will shuttle us to the airport. When we arrive back home, they will shuttle us back to pick up our car. :woohoo:
20 days to go and counting!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!:dance3:

[Heatherhy01]

11 MORE DAYS!!!!! until I see.....
::MinnieMo ::MickeyMo pluto: :tinker: pooh: :simba: :donald: :stitch: :dumbo: :sulley: :tigger: :eeyore: :figment: :goofy: :hmghost: and until I eat...... :mickeybar
We are getting more excited as the days get closer. I am almost finished packing, I only have to pack a few more items, then DONE!!!!!

[Heatherhy01]

:cool1: 4 more days!!!!
I purchased the girls pearl cages from ebay for the Pick a pearl in Japan. DD5 got Cinderella's pumpkin carriage and DD10 got a royal crown cage. The total price with shipping and the snake chains came to $12.50. They are only white gold plated, but perfect for the kids. I put in the search of pearl cages on ebay and they came up.

[Heatherhy01]

Tomorrow is the date!!!!!

I will not be checking in until I return, so have a great week everyone and I will have a full report upon my return!!!:cool1::banana::love::wizard::dance3::che er2::flower3:princess: