9/12 great article ! Who am I to say no to going to WDW?

[wlwilliams9]

Ok, I'm done reading! Your plans look great! I've never stayed at CSR, but it does look gorgeous. I love the updates they have made to the rooms. Enjoy that special time with your parents! My mom passed away in Aug. and I regret that she never got to experience WDW with DD.

Can't wait to read more!

I saw you posted on my PTR! I think you can still book Chef Mickey's 180 days out up to June 19th due to the new system change over. Check out this thread. I've been using it to keep up to date with the new ADR system.

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1977770

 

[MeMom]

Maybe I will get up like you and explore! I have to admit you and Jill's CSR visit sticks in my mind.... I am so sad it was not pleasant.


When I picked up the kids my girls and dad were reviewing the maps intently on the floor. It was so sweet to watch listen. Fantasia is the movie of the night at our house. I am trying to work Hannah into it thinking maybe she can tie it to Fantasmic and watch that this year.

Ooooh, I'd love to see some early morning pictures of that beautiful place!

It was just the one girl that got an attitude with Jill. We don't fault the whole place for her one minute of rudeness. Jill was scarred by it a little, because it was directed right at her, and it embarrassed her.

I bet the girls were so cute looking at the maps. Brooklynn gets out the scrapbooks and Birnbaums and maps and points out things. To her, it's 'my Epcot' and 'my Magic Kingdom'.

I hope you do get to see Fantasmic!

 

[punkin413]

It was just the one girl that got an attitude with Jill. We don't fault the whole place for her one minute of rudeness. Jill was scarred by it a little, because it was directed right at her, and it embarrassed her.

remind me again of what happened. i can't remember. they say memory's the first thing to go.

 

[dddisrunner]

Oh, I think you should just stay 12 and not bother dropping four of those nights.

That is exactly what I would do too! Way to go Laura on fanagling your ressie to get what you want!!! LOVE that the family is already planning what movies to bring in the car too! My kind of people!

 

[IluvXU]

Hey there Glad things are working out for you now.

I had a minor glitch this AM on the phone with Disney Dining... oh well!

I haven't gotten throught the whole report yet, but just wanted to say and what a beautiful family you have! We have an Emily too and if we have a boy next, Luke is at the top of our name list!! Looking forward to reading more!

I always loved the name Luke... I had a Luke in my third class and he was just such a great boy.... I loved him dearly and probably have always liked the name since then. Luckily I just called him Luke so did the girls and DH had to give in. We do call him Buddy a lot too.... someday he will probably hate it.

Ok, I'm done reading! Your plans look great! I've never stayed at CSR, but it does look gorgeous. I love the updates they have made to the rooms. Enjoy that special time with your parents! My mom passed away in Aug. and I regret that she never got to experience WDW with DD.

Can't wait to read more!

I saw you posted on my PTR! I think you can still book Chef Mickey's 180 days out up to June 19th due to the new system change over. Check out this thread. I've been using it to keep up to date with the new ADR system.

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1977770

I am sorry about your mom- my mom is my rock, she does so much for us. I am glad they get to see the kids and experience it with them too.
I am actually not having the usual resort doubt I normally have. I am up for trying CSR out.

Thanks for the heads up about Chef Mickeys and CRT.

Ooooh, I'd love to see some early morning pictures of that beautiful place!

It was just the one girl that got an attitude with Jill. We don't fault the whole place for her one minute of rudeness. Jill was scarred by it a little, because it was directed right at her, and it embarrassed her.

I bet the girls were so cute looking at the maps. Brooklynn gets out the scrapbooks and Birnbaums and maps and points out things. To her, it's 'my Epcot' and 'my Magic Kingdom'.

I hope you do get to see Fantasmic!

I am sure MeMom I will not get the # of pictures you do, but I sure plan to take a lot. I also want to make sure that the camera is always with me, and that my mom has hers (not a great one but better than none) so I don't miss anything. I think that is why a photopass CD will be helpful too, in case we are not all together and great pic opportunities arise.

As for the CM and Jill... it just bothers me. You see decade old mugs all the time... come on Disney you make a ton of $$$ off repeat visitors. WHo the heck cares about mugs and where they are bought and when they are bought! Plus making someone feel guilty at WDW is just stinky if you are a CM!

remind me again of what happened. i can't remember. they say memory's the first thing to go.

Jill was caught using her mug at CSR... and I guess they had different ones...

That is exactly what I would do too! Way to go Laura on fanagling your ressie to get what you want!!! LOVE that the family is already planning what movies to bring in the car too! My kind of people!

I am afraid with snow days we will barely be done with school as it is... we started late this year and only have one calamity day left- yikes!

 

[IluvXU]

Seven!!!!

Seven is a lot of park days for us. I cannot remember ever going to WDW and doing seven park days. Our last couple of trips included 5 park days and 3 park days. While this is exciting it calls for a different touring plan than we have done before with the girls. We typically did long days and then had a day off or went two days and had a day off. We enjoy the pools and DTD and dining when we are not park touring. So I am a bit lost.

Here are the thoughts at this point

1 day for sure at HS, AK, EPCOT. 2 days for sure at MK. That still leaves us with two more touring days. I would like to hit all four parks and then decide which park to return to, but this is hard with ADRS and non-hopping tickets. It leads me to plan a sit down at a resort, which I am fine with. One of the extra days will probably become a MK day.

At first I leaned towards EPCOT for two days, but last trip EPCOT was the only park we visited other than MK. So we have experienced more there the past two trips. The heat always does us in at AK, but there is a lot we have not done there. Since our hotel is closer to AK I am hoping on our AK day to return in the evening for some more fun.'

HS is my dad's favorite park. My parents really don't care... the planning is up to me, but I keep this in mind. However Hannah is not a fan. I hope Toy Story Mania will help change her mind and we will probably get her on Tower of Terror. Plus with all the shows it can be hard to fit in everything in one day!

I cannot wait for Park Hours and TGM's information so I can set our days more up and decide dining. Our arrival day we hope to get to the hotel by noon for a lot of swimming. I would like to get to DTD that night for dinner perhaps and to get Luke his first Disney trip ornament too!

We will get up on check out day and do some swimming before the long ride home. We will start parks on our check in of package day!

I truly welcome any advice from every day park tour families- we are entering a new type of trip!

 

[Happy Elf]

Seven!!!!
I cannot wait for Park Hours and TGM's information so I can set our days more up and decide dining. Our arrival day we hope to get to the hotel by noon for a lot of swimming. I would like to get to DTD that night for dinner perhaps and to get Luke his first Disney trip ornament too!

I agree! Makes planning hard when you don't know what the park hours are!
Have fun playing around with the 7 days! We have 5 park days.

The first Disney trip ornament sounds cute!

 

[Disneyfan71]

Trying to make plans w/o park hours is very hard. But I've been seeing a trend where MK closes around 11pm and Epcot closes around 10pm (World Showcase and Future World closes at 7pm) But again this is what I've seen when we're going--it could change by then!! If you're going in May it's more than likely MK will be open pretty late..as far as AK and DHS...not sure.

 

[MeMom]

remind me again of what happened. i can't remember. they say memory's the first thing to go.

Jill filled her mug up, thinking the new rule was that it could be at any of the resort drink islands. I believe that is how the sign read when we got them that time. We didn't realize that didn't include CSR. Instead of the lady saying nicely and quietly that she wasn't supposed to do that, she got an attitude and did the whole body shake hand wave thing and told Jill she needed to put that back!
Jill did.
She dumped the whole Coke, so either way, CSR lost out. I would gladly have paid the two bucks for the drink and just let Jill have it in the mug instead of the paper cup it would have come in if that lady had been nice and let us do that.

It embarrassed Jill, needless to say.

It's still a beautiful resort, and I have no problem visiting there to take pictures. I know that was a one moment in time incident, and I don't take it out on the whole resort. I imagine there have been less-than-friendly CMs at every resort that have traumatized other guests. It's just going to happen here and there.

Seven!!!!

Seven is a lot of park days for us. I cannot remember ever going to WDW and doing seven park days. Our last couple of trips included 5 park days and 3 park days. While this is exciting it calls for a different touring plan than we have done before with the girls. We typically did long days and then had a day off or went two days and had a day off. We enjoy the pools and DTD and dining when we are not park touring. So I am a bit lost.

Here are the thoughts at this point

1 day for sure at HS, AK, EPCOT. 2 days for sure at MK. That still leaves us with two more touring days. I would like to hit all four parks and then decide which park to return to, but this is hard with ADRS and non-hopping tickets. It leads me to plan a sit down at a resort, which I am fine with. One of the extra days will probably become a MK day.


HS is my dad's favorite park. My parents really don't care... the planning is up to me, but I keep this in mind. However Hannah is not a fan. I hope Toy Story Mania will help change her mind and we will probably get her on Tower of Terror. Plus with all the shows it can be hard to fit in everything in one day!


I truly welcome any advice from every day park tour families- we are entering a new type of trip!

It's hard to give other people advice, since everyone tours differently and has different tastes. It's kind of a good dilemma, though, to have park days to fill!

With the little ones, I'd go for three of the seven to be MK spread out a day or so apart. If you've done lots of Epcot, keep one for that. Personally, I'd go for Animal Kingdom, but I love that park!

If your dad loves Hollywood, there's a lot to be said for letting someone else have their favorite. Maybe you can just tell Hannah that it's Grandpa's day, and that's the one he likes best.

You don't have to stay the whole day, if you choose HS, and maybe the grandparents might want to stay to see Fantasmic or just stroll the streets of Hollywood while you guys go back to the resort, DTD, or to see a new resort.

Or they might want to just keep Emily with them at HS (if she likes it) and spend some special time with her. Mom or Dad could take Hannah to do something special with her, and the other one of you could spend time with just Luke. I never much thought about the splitting up idea, since we just have Brooklynn, but the janloz family did that with their two kids, and it seemed like it was nice for each kid to have a special time with parents and grandparents.

I think it is something I will keep in mind when I do have more than one grandchild going.

 

[Charleston Princess]

I am lost without June hours right now. I am not used to waiting this long for them.

You have two park days unaccounted for? How about you do resort dining, like you said, for those two days, and that way you can go to whichever park you feel like spending more time in -- that might be the best way to approach it.

 

[punkin413]

i would think epcot or HS would be best for you guys. i think epcot needs 2 days to fully tour. and if your dad likes DHS, that would be good too, especially since there's so many shows there and it's hard to get it all in one day. AK can be done in one day easy. and i think resort dining is a good choice at either epcot or HS. you've got lots to choose from in that area: spoodles, ESPN club, big river, beaches & cream, cape may cafe and then the nice 2TS restaurants, flying fish and yachtmen steakhouse. if you chose one of those you could choose either epcot or HS on those extra days and not commit to anything specific.

Jill filled her mug up, thinking the new rule was that it could be at any of the resort drink islands. I believe that is how the sign read when we got them that time. We didn't realize that didn't include CSR. Instead of the lady saying nicely and quietly that she wasn't supposed to do that, she got an attitude and did the whole body shake hand wave thing and told Jill she needed to put that back!
Jill did.
She dumped the whole Coke, so either way, CSR lost out. I would gladly have paid the two bucks for the drink and just let Jill have it in the mug instead of the paper cup it would have come in if that lady had been nice and let us do that.

It embarrassed Jill, needless to say.

yeah, that seems completely unnecessary and i probably would've told the CM that. but my mouth is sometimes uncontrollable and it's one of my admitted faults.

 

[cjackearl]

Hi, I lurked on your last TR and thought your family was just adorable. I also have two little girls (not so little anymore, I guess ) and a little boy. We're going to Disney in June also, staying at BC, and will be driving for the first time. Following your TR will hopefully help me stay focused with the planning. We haven't been since '05, so I've been planning forever! I need a second wind now. Thanks for sharing your darling family and your plans.
Christine

 

[MegansMom]

Hey Sweetie---so glad that the CSR info helped out!!!

As far as trying to figure out what to do with your touring dilemmas--I would probably make some resort dining ressies so that you can be more flexible with those two days and where you want to go.

If you are going to be going all 7 days, I would just really try to take it in stride still---try to get there always at park opening, stay until lunch or so, head back for swimming or naps, and then head back in the evening---it will help you feel like you are still getting some down time. Good luck with the planning!

 

[IluvXU]

I agree! Makes planning hard when you don't know what the park hours are!
Have fun playing around with the 7 days! We have 5 park days.

The first Disney trip ornament sounds cute!

I just want the May hours out so then I know mine are next. I know I can make my ADRs on March 15 so I have until then if necessary. But I want TGM charts done too, so we will see!

Both the girls have personalized ornaments from our first trip - Hannah has a pink minnie on an ornament and Emily has the mouse ears one- hers never made it to the three this year, it is on a shelf in her room. Who knows what Luke will end up with?

Trying to make plans w/o park hours is very hard. But I've been seeing a trend where MK closes around 11pm and Epcot closes around 10pm (World Showcase and Future World closes at 7pm) But again this is what I've seen when we're going--it could change by then!! If you're going in May it's more than likely MK will be open pretty late..as far as AK and DHS...not sure.

I doubt late hours makes much difference...we won't be out too late. I am more concerned with where the extra hours are and that schedule.

It's hard to give other people advice, since everyone tours differently and has different tastes. It's kind of a good dilemma, though, to have park days to fill!

With the little ones, I'd go for three of the seven to be MK spread out a day or so apart. If you've done lots of Epcot, keep one for that. Personally, I'd go for Animal Kingdom, but I love that park!

If your dad loves Hollywood, there's a lot to be said for letting someone else have their favorite. Maybe you can just tell Hannah that it's Grandpa's day, and that's the one he likes best.

You don't have to stay the whole day, if you choose HS, and maybe the grandparents might want to stay to see Fantasmic or just stroll the streets of Hollywood while you guys go back to the resort, DTD, or to see a new resort.

Or they might want to just keep Emily with them at HS (if she likes it) and spend some special time with her. Mom or Dad could take Hannah to do something special with her, and the other one of you could spend time with just Luke. I never much thought about the splitting up idea, since we just have Brooklynn, but the janloz family did that with their two kids, and it seemed like it was nice for each kid to have a special time with parents and grandparents.

I think it is something I will keep in mind when I do have more than one grandchild going.

I think we will for sure do MK three days. If things work out I will leave the unknown day till Tuesday- I know our last day I want to be at MK! I have a feeling there will be some splitting up and I am okay with that. With three kids who can ride different things and 4 adults I can do it. I just want to make sure that I am everywhere... I hate to miss out!

I am lost without June hours right now. I am not used to waiting this long for them.

You have two park days unaccounted for? How about you do resort dining, like you said, for those two days, and that way you can go to whichever park you feel like spending more time in -- that might be the best way to approach it.

I think we are going to over book our ADRS by at least one and cancel what we don't use. I just need to decide what meals are still in the running ....

 

[Disneyfan71]

That's what makes going to the parks even harder. You see EMH's at say AK and then MK on the same day..or Epcot and MK on the same day. I do know when we're there Epcot has early EMH's and MK has late EMH's At least it's a little harder for us. But it does help in planning your ADR's

 

[IluvXU]

i would think epcot or HS would be best for you guys. i think epcot needs 2 days to fully tour. and if your dad likes DHS, that would be good too, especially since there's so many shows there and it's hard to get it all in one day. AK can be done in one day easy. and i think resort dining is a good choice at either epcot or HS. you've got lots to choose from in that area: spoodles, ESPN club, big river, beaches & cream, cape may cafe and then the nice 2TS restaurants, flying fish and yachtmen steakhouse. if you chose one of those you could choose either epcot or HS on those extra days and not commit to anything specific.

There is a lot on that list I have not tried.... I would love to do two days at AK but I think it will be just so darn hot there. I have almost committed to not having a set plan for that day. I also think three days at MK will be so great... we can take it slower and do what we want a couple of times. Plus someday it won't be the park that my kids really love, so we need to spend the time there now!

Hi, I lurked on your last TR and thought your family was just adorable. I also have two little girls (not so little anymore, I guess ) and a little boy. We're going to Disney in June also, staying at BC, and will be driving for the first time. Following your TR will hopefully help me stay focused with the planning. We haven't been since '05, so I've been planning forever! I need a second wind now. Thanks for sharing your darling family and your plans.
Christine

Beach Club- how fun! What a fantastic pool area! I would rather be driving with your age kids than mine... I try to block that out of my mind!

Hey Sweetie---so glad that the CSR info helped out!!!

As far as trying to figure out what to do with your touring dilemmas--I would probably make some resort dining ressies so that you can be more flexible with those two days and where you want to go.

If you are going to be going all 7 days, I would just really try to take it in stride still---try to get there always at park opening, stay until lunch or so, head back for swimming or naps, and then head back in the evening---it will help you feel like you are still getting some down time. Good luck with the planning!

How Jen did you use your seven days last summer-- what was the breakdown. Just curious!

I for sure want to take breaks and enjoy the pool and get some naps in the ac for Luke. I used your list for my requests and will take it with me so that if we check in and it is not what I want I have ideas on where I want to be!

 

[IluvXU]

Anniversary! The 24th of June, our last park day is our 9th anniversary! I hope to do something special since we are back at WDW. I doubt we will leave the kids with my parents for a special meal since well, 3 will be a handful. However I want to try to plan something special! Ideas?

 

[MegansMom]

Breakdown from June 2008 trip:

Arrival day (Sat)--pool and DTD
Sunday---AK
Monday---MK
Tuesday---EP
Wednesday--MK
Thursday---DHS
Friday---MK
Saturday---MK

This worked out really well for us!!!

 

[punkin413]

whatever restaurant you eat at that day, be sure to tell them that it's your anniversary. you might get a little surprise (like a personalized dessert or table decorations). also, tell the hotel that it's your anniversary and you may get a card/balloon from a character and also get free happy anniversary pins from the front desk at the hotel or at guest services at the parks. the CMs really notice it and will continue to congratulate you guys all day!

 

[tinkgurl]

Anniversary! The 24th of June, our last park day is our 9th anniversary! I hope to do something special since we are back at WDW. I doubt we will leave the kids with my parents for a special meal since well, 3 will be a handful. However I want to try to plan something special! Ideas?

That would be funny if we ended up at the same park that day! I think maybe try the Coral Reef and make a personalized menu for your anniversary?