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I will never go to WDW pushing a stroller! - Nov/Dec 2011 PTR, Final? Itinerary 11/18

:welcome:Welcome to my first effort at writing a PTR. We will be taking our first family vacation with just me, DW and DS this fall the week after Thanksgiving. We plan to drive on Friday and Saturday to St. Pete Beach where we will spend 2 nights, then drive on to Wilderness Lodge where we'll stay 5 nights before heading back home.

Here is our agenda for the trip:

Nov 25: Drive to St. Pete Beach
Nov 26-27: Spend some time relaxing by the water
Nov 28: Eat a late (11:20) breakfast at Chef Mickey's and check in at WL
Nov 29-Dec 2 Spend 4 full days at the parks (Detailed plans to follow)
Dec 3 Check out and spend a few hours at the parks
Dec 3-4 Return home

Now a little bit about us:

Me: My name is Andy. I'm the Dad and a proud member of the DIS Dads Club. This will be my 7th trip to WDW.

My favorite park is MK
My favorite ride is Rockin Rollercoaster
My favorite character is Goofy
My favorite Disney movie is Peter Pan

DW: This will be her 4th trip to WDW. She likes it, but is nowhere near as addicted as I am.:sad2:

Her favorite park is MK
Her favorite ride is Rockin Rollercoaster
Her favorite character is Eeyore
Her favorite Disney movie is all of the Pixar movies

DS: Well, he will be 22 months when we go... therefore it looks like I will be pushing a stroller:rolleyes1 (watch your ankles:rotfl:). This will be his first trip and I'm not sure who his favorite character is, but he loves Mickey Mouse Clubhouse.

We know it will be hard to do everything having a 22 month old with us, but we are planning accordingly. There is a slight chance that we could be going back in 2012 with my parents so we won't feel the need to do it all. We're going to take a laid back approach to things and take it easy. I tend to be the commando type personality that wants to be in the parks from Rope Drop to closing time. DW always wants to sleep in and relax. I've already been given permission to go to morning EMH solo and hit the big kid rides as long as I promise to come back and get them to go to whatever park we're visiting that day.:thumbsup2

Since we're going to try to stay flexible and not overplan, we're going to use the Quick Service Dining Plan this time. We're going to do a few table service meals as well, but I haven't decided which ones we'll do. We love Italian food and in 2008 the Italian pavillion in WS was under renovation and I don't think the restaurant was open. We're going to have to visit at least one of those. We're also going to plan a character meal but haven't decided which one yet, although I'm leaning toward Chef Mickey's. As you can see we still have a lot of details to iron out, but a lot of time to do it.

This is a bit of an introduction for now. I'll post some more background information about how this trip came to be later.

Thanks for reading!

Table of Contents
How This trip came to be
A Little bit of Disney Magic
There's something to Celebrate
Where do we want to eat?
Will our Timing Work?
Prelminary pre-ADR plans
180 Days to go!
Can we make it 2 years in a row???
Tweaking some ADRs
Independence Day Weekend
Kings Island - Part 1
Kings Island - The Waiting Game
Kings Island - Snake Bit
Lessons Learned and a Change in Plans
Can we fit in Beaches & Cream?
The Update About Nothing
Can we still add someone to the reservation?
Harvest time update
Final???? Itinerary

Hey, look what I found! Time to make someone else the butt of the jokes for a change... :stir:

Sounds like the planning is fully underway! :thumbsup2

Jumping over here from my PTR! Hope you don't mind the addition of a teenage girl to your DIS Dad's Club party!:laughing:

Quote:

Originally Posted by Captain_Oblivious (Post 40037198)

Hey, look what I found! Time to make someone else the butt of the jokes for a change... :stir:

Sounds like the planning is fully underway! :thumbsup2

Well, I usually am the butt of the joke so I guess I'm just resuming my normal role. Thanks for stopping by and welcome.

Quote:

Originally Posted by ZFamily5 (Post 40038064)

Jumping over here from my PTR! Hope you don't mind the addition of a teenage girl to your DIS Dad's Club party!:laughing:

Everybody's welcome, glad you stopped by. I'd been meaning to start a PTR for a few weeks now. Turns out a slow day at work and reading a few others today was what I needed to get me going.

Make sure you put a nice heavy duty brush guard on the front of the stroller. It helps "persuade" people to stay out of your way.
Oh, and big spikes coming out of the hub of the wheels, like in those Bugs Bunny Chariot races. :thumbsup2

Quote:

Originally Posted by FreezinRafiki (Post 40044167)

Also, airhorns work wonders to clear a path.

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I'm in, looking forward to hearing about your planning and eventual trip.

Quote:

Originally Posted by FreezinRafiki (Post 40044167)

Quote:

Originally Posted by BigTex71 (Post 40044603)

Also, airhorns work wonders to clear a path.

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I'm in, looking forward to hearing about your planning and eventual trip.

You guys have some really good ideas. That should help to part the crowds. :rotfl2: I think I might have to put some bigger tires on it too so that the brush guard knocks them forward instead of catching them in the back of the knee and making them fall back on the stroller.:rolleyes1

Welcome and thanks for stopping by!

I'm in too! Can't wait to see how it goes! :cool1:

Quote:

Originally Posted by FreezinRafiki (Post 40044167)

Quote:

Originally Posted by BigTex71 (Post 40044603)

Also, airhorns work wonders to clear a path.

And a flamethrower! :thumbsup2

Quote:

Originally Posted by DisDadDoc (Post 40046695)

I'm in too! Can't wait to see how it goes! :cool1:

Welcome! Glad you stopped by. It will probably go slow though... I've got 9 months to kill before we leave. I thought it would be fun to try a PTR, and if it doesn't completely crash and burn, a TR after the trip.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Captain_Oblivious (Post 40048938)

And a flamethrower! :thumbsup2

That is a great idea!!!! :idea: It would have to be compact and easy to remove from the stroller though. No point taking a flamethrower if I can't mount it onto the front of a boat in a certain attraction.:rolleyes1
I love the smell of napalm in the morning.:rotfl2::lmao:

How this trip and the PTR title came to be:

I've always enjoyed Disney World and looked forward to the day that I could take my children to enjoy it with me. Over the course of my trips to Disney World, I’ve seen parents juggling with strollers and diaper bags and I knew I had no interest in doing that. I was 4 (almost 5) when I first visited Walt Disney World in 1985. I was old enough that my parents didn’t have to take a stroller and be loaded down with a bag full of diapers, extra clothes, etc. I had it set in my mind that my kids were going to have to wait until they were that age to go to Disney World also. I have always been very adamant about the fact that I don’t want to have to deal with pushing a stroller around Disney World. I hate maneuvering the stroller through any crowds at all. I’ve actually only used that thing 1 or 2 times in the past year because I find it easier to just carry him if it is at all possible. It has worked out very well for me that DS loves being higher than everybody else and is always content to ride on my shoulders. Right now he only weighs 20 pounds so that has been working out well for us until Dad forgets to duck under a doorway.:headache::rolleyes1 It has only happened once... at church... in front of a crowd.:guilty:

Anyway, DW and I decided we needed a vacation with just us and our DS in 2011. In 2008 we vacationed with my parents at WDW. In 2009 she was pregnant and we were both saving our vacation days to take time off when DS was born. In 2010 we vacationed with DW’s family. 2011 is going to be our first family vacation. Our expectations for this trip rival those of a trip planned by Clark W. Griswold. This trip is going to be EPIC… or at least as epic as it can be with a toddler a couple of months shy of 2 years old.

DW wanted to go to the beach. I love the beach... for about 2 hours. After that I start to get just a little bit bored. I think the sand and water is beautiful and I love the sound of waves crashing on the beach, but one day of that every year or two and I'm good. DW loves sitting on the beach just relaxing and reading. I guess my problem is that I just don't do well sitting in one place doing nothing for very long. If I'm not doing something I'm thinking about what I have back at home that I should be doing and that just isn't relaxing. Unfortunately, she was very set on the idea of spending a week at St. Pete Beach and I was unable to put together an argument to convince her otherwise.

Next update: How Disney helped me negotiate a compromise

Love the idea of the flamethrower! :rotfl2:

popcorn::

Checkin IN!!!! I gotta run but I'll be back later to read all the plans!:thumbsup2

Quote:

Originally Posted by afwdwfan (Post 40050151)

I love the smell of napalm in the morning.:rotfl2::lmao:

Are you giving out points in this TR? :rolleyes1

Quote:

Originally Posted by afwdwfan (Post 40050365)

I’ve actually only used that thing 1 or 2 times in the past year because I find it easier to just carry him if it is at all possible. It has worked out very well for me that DS loves being higher than everybody else and is always content to ride on my shoulders. Right now he only weighs 20 pounds so that has been working out well for us until Dad forgets to duck under a doorway.:headache::rolleyes1 It has only happened once... at church... in front of a crowd.:guilty:

:lmao::rotfl2::rotfl:

Quote:

Originally Posted by afwdwfan (Post 40050365)

2011 is going to be our first family vacation. Our expectations for this trip rival those of a trip planned by Clark W. Griswold. This trip is going to be EPIC… or at least as epic as it can be with a toddler a couple of months shy of 2 years old.

Uh oh. Expectations are a dangerous thing...

Quote:

Originally Posted by afwdwfan (Post 40050365)

I love the beach... for about 2 hours. After that I start to get just a little bit bored. I think the sand and water is beautiful and I love the sound of waves crashing on the beach, but one day of that every year or two and I'm good.

Yeah, I can understand that. I like the beach a lot more when I'm swimming. I can do that for a while. Sitting on the sand gets old pretty quick. It helps when you can spend time playing with your kids.

Quote:

Originally Posted by ZFamily5 (Post 40051976)

Love the idea of the flamethrower! :rotfl2:

popcorn::

What's not to like about mindless destruction? :confused3

Quote:

Originally Posted by that's nice (Post 40059432)

Checkin IN!!!! I gotta run but I'll be back later to read all the plans!:thumbsup2

Good to have you here! Thanks for stopping by.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Captain_Oblivious (Post 40062686)

Are you giving out points in this TR? :rolleyes1

It would be a crime if that quote wasn't mentioned when flamethrower discussion began. I can't steal your idea... well I could, but I have too much class for that. I'm going to quote works of literature in my TR.
Not really, but I might try to come up with something original between now and December. The contests in your TR were really a lot of fun.:thumbsup2

Quote:

Originally Posted by Captain_Oblivious (Post 40062686)

Uh oh. Expectations are a dangerous thing...

:lmao::rotfl2: Yeah, I always expect the unexpected. I have to spice this thing up a little bit and build some suspense if I expect to have any readers left by the time I actually get to a TR. popcorn::

That, and I'm always looking for an excuse to reference one of the greatest fathers in American cinema.