Daddy, Mommy, 2 Princesses, and a Miracle Baby: PTR Jan 2011

[dmoore718]

Well, let me introduce the cast of characters...
Me: Danielle: Social Worker, Mom
Tom, my adorable husband, a hard working firefighter
We got engaged in Epcot Center in May 2003, after a lovely dinner at Le Cellier and Illuminations........It was a magical night

Maria, 4 (will be 5 in December) Belle is her favorite Princess but anything Disney makes her light up. She is so excited to go back when she is 5, we hear about it all day.

Sophia, 3 (will have her 4th Birthday in Disney) She turned 2 during our first family trip in Jan. 2009. To be honest Prince Charming is her favorite but she also loves Pirates and Buzz Lightyear, Jessie and Bullseye are a close second


Isabella, almost 1 (will be 18 mo. during her 1st Disney Trip) She is our miracle baby. She was born with severe anemia at 32 weeks (4lbs 1 oz) ( her hemoglobin was 2.2...I know,all of you medical professionals are saying "that can't be right?" Well, it is, they checked it, and rechecked it. She needed 4 blood transfusions the first day she was born, but she responded quickly to the treatment and after 3 weeks in the NICU we brought her home!! So, this trip is EXTRA Special for us and I can't wait for her to experience all the magic of Disney with her big sisters

Here are some photos of our family...

3 sisters

This is me with Sophia in Epcot Jan 2009
Minnie's House

Maria and her Fav Belle
We have made some decisions about this trip...It will be Jan. 26-Feb 3 2011. Sophia will turn 4 on Feb 1 We are staying at POP since it will be our last time for 1 room at a Value and we have heard GREAT things about it. I toyed around with staying at Poly if we get the 4/3 deal, but it looks like we are probably taking a group family cruise in August 2011 so a value it is...we have lots of trips in our future to try other resorts.

We also decided to do the QSDP again. It works well for us since we have 3 little ones who may not be up for TS everyday. We will do one special meal for Sophia's birthday, toying around with this idea, more on that later.

I'm hoping for a deal but we are going, no matter what. We work hard and save hard so we need to play hard, right?

I'm so excited to plan this trip, I have been thinking about it everyday and have lots of ideas...Looking forward to sharing them with you!!

 

[dmoore718]

Day 1: arrival day, flight lands around 9AM: Check in at POP and go directly to MK....Maria will be expecting to see Cindarella's castle as soon as we get there, so no other park will do!! Have Lunch at Cosmic Rays and see the Princesses and Parades. We usually then check out the attractions with wait times under 30 min. and get fastpasses for some others. We never wait longer than 30 min. for anything with the little ones. Although, last time we did wait 40 min to see Ariel....but it had to be done!

Day 2: Full day at MK...we try to avoid MK on the weekend days so I want to get at least 2 days in before and 1 after the weekend. Maybe lunch at the Harbour House. More princesses, Pirates, and Parades !!!!

Day 3: Hollywood Studios: We always take a relaxed approach to this park. We will be sure to see Ariel, we will try our best to get there for rope drop so we have a chance at going on TSM, we missed it last time due to the wait times. More Parades, etc. Lunch at Starring Rolls.

Day 4: Epcot: We spend most of our time in Epcot at the Seas. My kids LOVE Nemo and Turtle Talk with Crush was a big hit They also loved touring the aquarium, etc. Now, the older ones are finally tall enough for Soarin so off we will go, baby swap, and take the girls......I expect at least one of them may chicken out at the last minute, probably Maria, so I'll send her with Daddy Poor Guy!! At least with the swap, we can each ride this time. We didn't even try last time because no one wanted to wait alone with the 2 girls....but we are pros at this now Hopefully having lunch in Morocco as I have heard great things about the food there and Tom LOVES Lamb...so off we will go...trying to keep the burgers to a minimum this trip. Thanks to all the DISers, I now know it can be done!!

Day 5: Animal Kingdom: again, a pretty relaxed plan. There is usually plenty of time for us to see and do all the things the kids like. We may skip Bugs Life...Maria is still traumatized by that show They love Kilamnjaro Safari, Nemo and Lion King Shows, and Dinoland. Not to mention the characters...and, of course.....more princesses! Probably lunch at Flametree BBQ

Day 6: Back to MK we go More Magical fun for the girls, need another non Burger QS lunch idea!! More touring, any attractions we missed the other days.......same idea, no long wait times, fastpasses, etc.

Day 7: SOPHIA's 4th BIRTHDAY!!! I am thinking of going back to AK and having a character breakfast at Tusker House. I wish they still had the Donald's Safari breakfast because that menu looked AWESOME, but Tusker House is a close second!! Last trip we did dinner at 1900 Park Fare and the girls loved it but they were EXHAUSTED, so this time we are trying breakfast for our 1 TS meal of the trip to celebrate!! If we decide not to go back to AK, then we may do a resort character breakfast.

Day 8: Going Home Our flight is about 5pm so probably a quick stop somewhere, maybe downtown Disney, maybe another park, we will play this day by ear.

We will eat most breakfast and dinners at the resort, but I am going to make it to DTD one night for dinner at Wolfgang Puck's Express. I wouldn't mind going twice for another great meal, again, no burgers!! I also can't wait for the kids to see DTD!!

Anyway, that's the plan, I would love to know what you think? !

 

[irishsharon]

Your plan sound great!My DH and our boys 4&8 are planning Feb.20-27 so I can't wait to hear more of your plans.Your Princesses are beautiful!!!

 

[dmoore718]

Your plan sound great!My DH and our boys 4&8 are planning Feb.20-27 so I can't wait to hear more of your plans.Your Princesses are beautiful!!!

Thanks!! So glad I'm not talking to myself...hahahaha! I can't wait.

 

[irishsharon]

Thanks!! So glad I'm not talking to myself...hahahaha! I can't wait.

So ? what do you pack that time of year,winter coats or sunblock? By the way my brothers little guy was born 30wks and was exactly 3lbs he is now one and walking and into everything! Look forward to hearing more as you continue to plan :

 

[dmoore718]

So ? what do you pack that time of year,winter coats or sunblock? By the way my brothers little guy was born 30wks and was exactly 3lbs he is now one and walking and into everything! Look forward to hearing more as you continue to plan :

We packed perfectly last time we went, jan 2009. We packed a little of everything. warm clothes, summer clothes, sunscreen and most importantly........rain jackets!!!!! They came in very handy. We did need to wash the warm clothes midway because we wore them more often. It was in the 70's the firsrt 2 days, 50's and 60's next few days, and 40's last 2 days. Hoping its a little warmer this time. The kids would love to swim!!

 

[dmoore718]

So, others think I'm nuts, but I have begun my pre-trip shopping
The first purchase was 3 matching Jasmine Tee's at the Disney store for the girls $4.99!!!

Next, I found Disney princess rain slickers at the grocery store for $10

I bought Isabella a Minnie costume for Halloween, and of course, DISNEY, on sale disneystore.com $14.99 plus free shipping.

3 matching Minnie Mouse capri sets for the girls $10 Disney store.

I am a bargain shopper and always find the deals so stay tuned for more Disney shopping adventures

Next on the hunt: Belle and Cindarella costumes for the big sisters!!

 

[magickingdom]

Subbing!! I love your plans so far. We will be going down late dec into jan and I have started buying clothes too!! I think I may have gotten the same minnie outfit for my daughter from disneyshopping. Can't wait to hear more!!
Kammie

 

[dmoore718]

Subbing!! I love your plans so far. We will be going down late dec into jan and I have started buying clothes too!! I think I may have gotten the same minnie outfit for my daughter from disneyshopping. Can't wait to hear more!!
Kammie

Thanks for joining in Kammie!! This is so much fun. I can hardly get any work done!!! LOL!!!

 

[irishsharon]

Just wanted to share disneystore.com is offering free personalization! Also I know the disney store by us does buy one get one free on almost everything right before Christmas and the end of Aug. P.S It's never to early too shop!!!!!

 

[dmoore718]

Thanks!!!

Disney shopping is almost as fun as Disney planning!

 

[irishsharon]

In your plans you had some ideas on where you would have lunch what about dinner? Also what do you do for breakfast?

 

[dmoore718]

So excited!!!
We are booked at POP 1/26-2/2
FREE QSDP
Airfare through Southwest is booked...they opened up yesterday through March 2011...I think I was the first to buy tix on those flights
I paid the extra $80 total roundtrip to have priority boarding to ensure that we can all sit together...I don't think anyone wants to sit with my 5 and 4 y.o. on the plane.

I also made 2 ADR's. One is for Crystal Palace 1/27 at 9AM for breakfast and one is for 1/28 at Epcot Storybook Princess lunch in Norway 12PM. We think the girls will appreciate the Princess lunch more so we will probaly stick with that one for sure.

We are paying OOP for these and I actually will probably cancel the CP meal and just stick with the Princess lunch. My parents are going to get us Disney gift cards for Christmas to help pay for this meal....but since all the rest are FREE...it's no big deal.

This is what we did last time with the QSDP and it worked out well. We use a snack credit for breakfast and get a bagel with cream cheese, a danish, or cereal and milk...all for a snack credit..you can't beat it!!

Then we will get lunch at the parks...all the great places people mention on here..Starring Rolls, Columbia Harbour House, Flametree BBQ, Cosmic Rays, etc.

Dinner at the resort, usually, unless we are going comando and staying all day, which we have done on several days last trip and the kids just napped in the stroller late in the afternoon...they are not the kind of kids that would nap mid-day back at the room, and since it's not too hot in January, this usually works out well. I do want to go to DTD this time, probably one night after leaving AK, since they close at 5pm!!

My parents LOVE my kids to pieces but I know that they can't afford, nor could they physically do a week at Disney, but they are going to go the same time as us and stay with my Aunt in Melbourne, about an hour away and come to the park one day with us!! My kids will be so excited to see them at Disney and we will be happy to have some extra hands, even if it's just for one day!

This FREE dining is saving us about $700 and I'm THRILLED!!

 

[ccgirl]

Yeah!!! Your trip sounds great. You are going one month after us. We are trying the QSDP for the first time this trip and paying 2 meals OOP for each of my children's bdays too.

 

[dmoore718]

Yeah!!! Your trip sounds great. You are going one month after us. We are trying the QSDP for the first time this trip and paying 2 meals OOP for each of my children's bdays too.

Thanks!! We are very excited!! We love the QSDP, no wasting time with so much to see...as they get older we will probably do the DDP because then they will appreciate the rest time, the characters, and the whole meal experience. But for now, one lunch with the princesses will be plenty of excitement for them regarding meal time!!

Enjoy your trip planning as well

 

[dmoore718]

Well, after much planning (obsessing), subbing to Touringplans, and more obsessing......I think we have a good plan going...let me know what you think Disers!

Day 1:Wed. 1/26 arrival: Our flight lands around 9AM: Hop on ME To POP and then off to MK, of course, we can't start the trip without the castle.......the girls would flip out!!!
Day 2:Thurs 1/27: Full day at MK
Day 3: Fri 1/28: Hollywood Studios/Downtown Disney for dinner and fun!
Day 4: Sat 1/29: AK with my parents, Aunt and Uncle. Aunt and Uncle live near Orlando. My parents are dying to see the kids at Disney but I don't think they can manage a whole week, as well as keep up with us So, they are planning to fly into MCO on this day, My Aunt and Uncle will pick them up at the airport and they will meet us at AK. I made an ADR for O'hana (6:40pm so we can all just head over after park closing at 5pm: we'll just explore Poly if we are really early) for 9 ppl so we can relax and enjoy the company. My aunt has never met my kids so this is exciting for me!! Also, can't wait to eat at O'hana!!
Day 5: Sun 1/30: My friend is driving up from FLL to meet us at Epcot!! I can't wait. She joined us for one day last trip and we had a great time. I made a 12pm ADR at Akershus to celebrate DD 4th birthday She's my Tomboy but she is still excited to meet the princesses for lunch. I was very excited to be able to add my friend to our 12pm ADR with no problem...she thinks it's nuts to make a reservation so early.......amateur :
Day 6: Mon. 1/31: Back to MK!!
Day 7: Tues. 2/1: last full day..........I'm actually leaving this day open!! Go figure. We will avoid Epcot, per TP recs ,but play it by ear...I know, I can't believe it myself!
Day 8: Wed. 2/2 Fly home at 3pm probably just relax around the resort until ME picks us up probably at 12pm.

 

[2princesses2princes]

Love your plans so far. How exciting to get to spend time with your little girl on her b-day at the most magical place on earth. I can't wait to hear more of your plans and what not.

We are taking our 4 kids to Disney Feb 11-18/19. I can't wait to see my 2yr olds reaction, as she's never been but loves princesses and Mickey.

You will love POP, we stayed there twice, our first time every which was our honeymoon and then in 07 with 3 kids with one being 18mos. Now unfortunately we have outgrown them, and are taking advantage of one last shot at a moderate as well with one under 3 we can have 6 in our room, thank goodness.

 

[ccgirl]

Look great! So glad you will be able to spend so much time with family/friends. Funny how different kids can be. My DD would not go to Disney without going to Epcot. That is her favorite park. I wouldn't think it woud be busy at all that time of year. Have fun!

 

[dalgal101]

Isn't the breakfast at Tusker House still the Donald's Safari Breakfast? We went Jan '08 and ate at Tusker House and it was the Safari Breakfast. Looking at the menu it appears to be the same thing now.

We will be arriving on the 21st and DS will turn 9 on the 22nd. We have a ressie for Tusker House breakfast on the 26th.

Good luck with the planning!!!

 

[2princesses2princes]

Yeah, Donald's Safari Breakfast is still at the Tusker House. I remember our first time there it was at Restaurantosaurus and it was Donald's Prehistoric Breakfast or something like that.