An OCD Planners Dream: First Trip, MNSSHP, and Free Dining!! A September PTR

[kmartin555]

Hi! Welcome to my PTR for our FIRST Disney trip. I am so excited and have done so much planning, that I had to share it all with people who share my Disney obsession!

Let's start at the beginning: I'm Kristen. I'm 31 and I am a Social Worker. I also went back to school about 3 years ago, and I'm about a year and a half away from my B.S. in Psychology. Going to Disney World has been the biggest goal of mine since I was in 7th grade and read “The Babysitter's Club Vacation” (in which the BSC vacations in - you guessed it - Disney World!). I'm a bit...um...OCD. I like lists and planning, and I like to have a schedule and a plan. Sometimes this works for my family. Sometimes, not so much!

DH is Jimmy. He turns 31 October 1st. DH and I were high school sweethearts! He worked in the oil field for years, but his shop closed and he was laid off a couple of months ago. He is wanting something more stable than the oil industry, so he is starting a year-long HVAC training program in August. He has a job waiting for him at the University of Oklahoma as soon as it's completed. (GO SOONERS! ) Jimmy had a hard life growing up, and before he met me he had never been out of Oklahoma! Since we have been married we have of course visited our surrounding states, and we went on a family trip with my parents to Washington, D.C. for 10 days (although for my mom and I it was a working trip!). But this will be our first big family vacation. I am BURSTING with enthusiam, but Jim is a laid back kind of guy, so his excitement level is hard to read sometimes!

Sadly, I only have a couple of pics of us together. I HATE having my photo taken! So here's the one I have handy, which is sad since it is also my profile pic!



Okay, onto the girls. Oldest DD is Menley. She is 10 going on 16. She loves sports and is mostly excited about visiting Epcot and Disney Quest. She is really looking forward to the trip, but thinks my crazy planning is a little over the top (esp. when we were 140 days out!)



DD7 is Maci. She loves princesses and anything girly. She is excited about every part of the trip, especially autographs and pin trading. She LOVES planning for Disney. She made her own version of a planning binder, and the Disney book for kids that I bought her has almost every page flagged with little post its!



Our little family struggled for a while when we started out, but we managed to pay off a mountain of debt last year and bought our first house! We absolutely love it, but the icing on the cake is the first time home buyer credit! We closed on New Years Eve, which qualified us to get the credit THIS year instead of next. Yay!! We did the responsible thing with most of the money, but the second I saw the amount listed on the tax return, I knew we were finally going to Disney!

So here's the basic plan. I'll post details later! Our trip dates are September 18-27. Another thing my poor family (other than me) hasn't ever experienced is SWIMMING IN THE OCEAN! I just couldn't stand that, so we are flying into Daytona on the 18th. We will spend the night, all day of the 19th, and the night of the 19th in Daytona, then on the 20th we will get up early and check into Disney! We will stay at Disney for 6 nights, then head back to Daytona on the night of the 26th. We'll spend the night there so we can get up and be at the Daytona airport to fly home for our 11:00 am flight. Whew! There you have it, our basic agenda.

Next up: the nitty gritty details.

[rentayenta]

What an awesome trip of firsts you'll have!!!!

[kmartin555]

Originally Posted by rentayenta

What an awesome trip of firsts you'll have!!!!

Yay! My first response! Thanks so much. We are really looking forward to it! And thanks for the pixie dust!

[kmartin555]

I'm back! I thought I should give you some basic info before I lay out the plans:

We are staying at POP Century. We started out at AS Movies. After reading up about hotels on the DIS, I wanted to move to POP, but the rooms were booked up for our dates. We got the PIN code for the upgrade a few weeks ago and I was SOOO excited! Well, we missed out on the upgrade, BUT we were able to make the switch to POP.

We have 6 days MYW tickets with the Waterparks and More option. We had already planned to go to Disney Quest and one of the waterparks, so this option was a no-brainer. Has anyone experienced the waterparks in September?

We also have tickets to MNSSHP on September 22nd! Halloween is my absolute FAVORITE holiday, so when I realized the party would be happening during our stay, I bought tickets immediately! First day they went on sale! I am sooo exited about this party, especially seeing the villians.

We have ADRs to the following restaurants:

'Ohana
Sci-Fi Dine In
Akershus Princess Breakfast
Whispering Canyon Cafe
Hoop De Doo Revue
Safari Breakfast at Tusker House

Lastly, the rental car. Sigh. I was researching ways to get from Daytona to Orlando. There are many shuttles, etc, but the cheapest way by far was to just rent a car. Since we arrive on a Friday, I found a weekend rate that allowed us to get a car from Fri-Sun for only $20 a day! We will be able to return it in DTD. Then, on the 26th, we can pick up a rental car from DTD and keep it for one day and return it to the airport for $50. So all in all, rental car will run about $110. Pretty good deal! Except now, I really want to keep the rental for our whole trip! The best deal I can find right now for the whole trip is $300. So unless some crazy discounts come out between now and then, we will be using Disney transportation.


Now for the day by day itinerary:

On the 18th we will get up suuuuper early and head down to DFW Airport (about 3 hours from us). We do have a local airport here of course, but the flights were triple the cost out of OKC than Dallas. So, my wonderful father has agreed to drive us all down to Dallas so that we don't have to store our car for 10 days. ANYWAY, we hop on a flight at DFW, and after a 3 ½ HOUR layover in Atlanta, we arrive in Daytona. We will pick up our rental car at the airport and head to Inn on the Beach (It's right on the water!). I figure that first night we will be exhausted from travel, so we will just order pizza to the room. My girls love doing that!

The next day, Saturday, we will spend the day lounging around in the ocean, just enjoying the beach. DH will drive down to see the racetrack at some point. That night we are planning on going to TGIFriday's for dinner. My family LOOOVES this place and we don't have one too close to us so I like to fit it in on trips when I can. We are also planning on going to the local WalMart to get supplies for the room at Disney. I wasn't able to get a spot in a fridge swap. I am in a dilemma about whether it is worth the money just to go ahead and pay Disney for one, or just try to make an ice chest work. Thoughts, anyone? We do plan to eat breakfast in the room most mornings. I don't know if an ice chest will be too much trouble?

So on Sunday the 20th, we plan to get up early and head to the World! Here is our plan for the first day. After writing it all down it seems a bit ambitious...let me know what you all think!

The plan is to get up early and check out of our hotel. We will head to Disney and get breakfast on the way. Once we get to Pop Century, we will go ahead and check in and leave our belongings until the room is ready. Now here's the part I am not sure about. The girls and I love waterparks. DH is NOT a fan. He really loves to play golf. We didn't want to head straight into a park on the first day, so here's the plan: when we check in, we will get our KTTW cards. The girls and I will head to Typhoon Lagoon for a few hours. Jimmy will drop off the rental car in DTD and head to an 11:30 tee time at Oak Trail Golf Course. Once he is done, the room should be ready. He will go move us in, and the girls and I will meet up with him to get ready for our 6:45 reservation at the Whispering Canyon Cafe. I plan to bus over to the MK and then catch a boat to WL. After dinner we will go back to the room and get some rest. What do you all think? My only concern is splitting up on the first day. I really think we will be fine, I have read enough on the DIS to feel like I can get around on the busses okay.

Monday, we will get up early and head to Epcot! We have an 8:00 reservation for The Princess Storybook Breakfast. Maci is sooo excited about this! We will spend the day at Epcot, taking a long afternoon break and returning for Illuminations.

Tuesday is MNSSHP! We are going to get to the park for rope drop and spend a few hours, then we will take a break for 4 hours or so. We plan to close down MNSSHP, so I don't want to push too hard in the morning! We will get back to the park about 4:30ish, and have dinner somewhere CS. I can't wait for this day!

Wednesday is our sleep in day. I expect to be at MK until midnight, so I figure it will be after 1:00 am when we finally get to bed! We are going to head to DTD once we wake up, and hit the Wolfgang Puck Cafe. Then we are heading to Disney Quest! (Can anyone tell me the approx. distance between the two?) Jimmy and Menley are super excited about this place and plan to spend all day here. Maci and I will hang out here for a while, then go explore some more of DTD and do some shopping! Jimmy and I made a deal with the girls that they would bring their own souvenir money. Between allowance and birthday money, they each already have over $100! I am very proud of them for saving so diligently. Maci will see 1,000 things that she just has to have, so this way she will choose her treasures more carefully. Then we will head to Hoop De Doo Revue! We have Cat 3 seating for the 7:15 show. Anyone have an idea how much time we should leave to get from DTD to Hoop? We plan to explore the resort a little after, then head back to the room to try to get to bed reasonably early.

On a side note, does anyone know where I can find a schedule of events for WL and FW? I am interested in the Chip n Dale Campfire Singalong!

Thursday is Hollywood Studios day. This is the only park that we don't plan to take an afternoon break, due to the show schedule. Hope we will make it! We have a 1:00 reservation at the Sci-Fi. Maci is really looking forward to this one!

Friday we are headed back to the MK. We will get there at rope drop and head to Pixie Hollow as soon as they open up at 9:45! Again, we will take a break (shorter this time due to the early closing). After MK closes, we have a 8:50 ADR at 'Ohana. Anyone have any ideas on what we can do to keep us busy between the 7:00 park closing and our ADR time? Hopefully if we time things right we can watch Hallowishes from 'Ohana or the Poly Beach.

Saturday will be our last Disney day! We will get up early to make our 8:05 ADR at the Tusker House. Then we will hit AK for a few hours, have lunch at the Flame Tree BBQ, and head out. We plan on spending a couple of hours at Blizzard Beach before we head back to Daytona! We will grab some fast food on the way back, then check back into Inn on the Beach for one last night. Sunday morning we will head to the airport by 10:00 am. Then our trip will be officially over!

Here are the things I am unsure about:

Actual travel times from POP to the parks and to our ADRs.

One of these ADRs will be paid OOP. Should this be the Tusker House breakfast or the Sci Fi lunch? At the lunch we plan on burgers and shakes.

I am using TGMike's recommended park days. All green! I am also using Ridemax for park touring. It seems like it will be pretty easy to get everything done that we want to see in the mornings if we stick to the plan, which will leave evenings open to re-visit things we enjoyed or just to explore the parks. Does anyone have experience doing this?

SpectroMagic parade. Our current plans do not include this! I just couldn't fit it in. Will we regret it?


Next up: my planning bible!

[SilverL]

Hey, your trip overlaps with ours! We'll be at staying at Pop and going to MNSSHP on the 22nd too! I'll probably be sticking lime green mickeys on my bag or something. If you see us, say hello!

As far as the fridge goes:

We would've really liked one as well. DH and I have finally decided just to do breakfast in the room instead of trying to split breakfast and lunch, and that left me in a bit of a quandary about fridges. We may get water and breakfast food shipped to our resort. But since breakfast food for us consists of granola bars, we don't think it's worth it to get a fridge, esp. for 8 nights. If we had milk or something like that that HAD to be refrigerated, I would get one. DH and I are very paranoid about food safety. So think about what you will actually be putting in the fridge. If you just want cold water because it would be nice, use an ice bucket.

[kmartin555]

Originally Posted by SilverL

Hey, your trip overlaps with ours! We'll be at staying at Pop and going to MNSSHP on the 22nd too! I'll probably be sticking lime green mickeys on my bag or something. If you see us, say hello!

As far as the fridge goes:

We would've really liked one as well. DH and I have finally decided just to do breakfast in the room instead of trying to split breakfast and lunch, and that left me in a bit of a quandary about fridges. We may get water and breakfast food shipped to our resort. But since breakfast food for us consists of granola bars, we don't think it's worth it to get a fridge, esp. for 8 nights. If we had milk or something like that that HAD to be refrigerated, I would get one. DH and I are very paranoid about food safety. So think about what you will actually be putting in the fridge. If you just want cold water because it would be nice, use an ice bucket.

I will definitely look for you at POP and at MNSSHP! We are really looking forward to this party. The girls will dress up, of course, but I think I will just wear a t-shirt with a MNSSHP disign on it! DH would never dress up in a million years.

I think I agree with you about the fridge. I was wavering on that when it was just $10, now I heard that it has gone up, and I definitely don't feel like it's worth it! We will just have some cheese sticks for Maci and some drinks, so I think we will go the route of the Styrofoam cooler. Thanks for the advice!

[SilverL]

We have a collapsible cooler I might bring. It takes up less space than a Styrofoam one.

I'm rather upset that they charge you each night for internet access as well. I'm a major internet addict, and if they weren't changing I would definitely be on Dis doing live updates while DH was in the shower in the AM or something. But I refuse to spend the $$

[kmartin555]

OK, so now you are about to find out what a planner I really am! My family thinks I am crazy, so it is good to know that there are people like you guys on the DIS that understand!

I got many ideas from other binder posts on the DIS. I can't remember whose I looked at (about a million!) so if I got some ideas from one of you, THANKS!

Here's the front:



I have it separated into a million categories, since we are staying in more than one city/hotel:

Travel - Flight & rental car info

Hotels - Info on the Daytona hotel as well as lots of info about Pop! Plus all of my confirmations

Budget - A basic budget breakdown, plus a clear pocket insert for receipts

Dining - ADR Info, Conf #s, menus, etc.

Plans - Day by day detailed itinerary. Yes, I know it's too structured. I am totally willing to go with the flow, and I promise not to freak out if things don't go as planned. Well, not too bad anyway. I just figure it's better to have an idea of what we're gonna be doing and when.

MNSSHP - Info about the party! Tips, etc. plus a credit card pocket thing that is holding our tickets

Maps - Disney park maps, plus Google Map directions to the hotel from the airport, to WalMart, etc.

Parks - A page for each park, with tips and other info

Mousellaneous - Other random info

Then I have a clear pocket in the back to hold other random odds and ends. And of course a to-do list and shopping list at the end.

OK! When I list it out like that it's a lot! And yes, I do have a life. As I mentioned before, Maci is also a little planner and loves art, so this is something we have worked on together over a few weekends. Also, I am the type who will totally put 100% into planning something, but once it's over, it's over! I intend to do a trip report, but I will never get around to actually scrapbooking or anything after the trip, so this will serve as a memory book also. I will just insert some photopass pics in here and there and call it an album!

One of the plan days:


My dividers (this is the front of the travel page):


One of these is in every one of my park info sections. I totally stole this idea from someone and I can't remember who. Thank you, whoever you are, fellow DISer!


One of my park info sections:


OK, that's it! Thanks for checking out my trip binder!

[kmartin555]

As long as I am posting pics about planning, I figured I would go ahead and post some of the other things that we have gotten done so far!

Our countdown calendar:


The girls had a blast making this! Menley did the artwork (it cracks me up!), Maci did the stickers and wrote the numbers. Each mickey head has something written on the back, so each day when we pull it off it has something different that we are looking forward to on our trip! We love it, and it keeps us excited and talking about the trip as a family every night.

I have also been shopping like a crazy person for about 4 months now. I got these to surprise the girls on our arrival day at Disney. Minnie for Maci, Crush for Menley. They are leaning on one of my new suitcases!



I ordered some pins off of ebay for the girls to trade. I got 30 pins for $35!!! Some are cute, and some are, well, interesting. I mean, a DDP pin? Seriously?! But that's cool with me, the stranger they are the more the girls won't mind trading them off!



Here's my lovely new Baggalini. First Disney purchase! I think I will love this bag. Inside it is a list of things that would be ideal to pack each day.



Also on ebay, I got the girls these super cute autograph books with matching bags. I love these! The books have their names and trip dates on the front. The matching bags are super lightweight, and the books fit perfectly. There is a sewn in pocket on the side and they came with matching big markers. The strap is long enough for them to wear crosswise across their chests, and the strap is lanyard material for pins. Yay for multipurpose items that the girls can carry themselves!



The seller had a million to choose from, I just ended up letting the girls choose their faves.

Oh yeah, and here are the luggage tags I made. Thanks to Kellybell for the disign! She also made me a ton of GORGEOUS disigns that I will be making shirts with, as well as bags for MNSSHP. I'll post pics of those projects soon!



Hope everyone is having a great week so far!

[MICKEY4EVER!]

I'm here! I'm loving all the merchandise you've got there! I especially love those luggage tags. I'm so excited for your Disney vacation! You have a lovely family and your girls are just beautiful.

Just think, you'll be there in no time at all!

[kmartin555]

Originally Posted by MICKEY4EVER!

I'm here! I'm loving all the merchandise you've got there! I especially love those luggage tags. I'm so excited for your Disney vacation! You have a lovely family and your girls are just beautiful.

Just think, you'll be there in no time at all!

Thanks so much for the nice comments about my family, and for checking out my PTR!! Yes, I have been a shopping queen ever since I booked this trip! DH doesn't know quite how much I have been spending... If you spend it before u get there, it doesn't count, right??

I remember in your trip report you said something about it being surreal that it was finally time to leave for Disney - I imagine that will be me! I have been planning for so long, and then I look at the countdown calendar and think "Holy Crap! We're really going to Disney!"

[disneygirlinnj]

I'm in! Great planning for your first time, very impressive! I have to run to work but hopefully I'll get back here today and comment on some questions you have!

[MICKEY4EVER!]

Originally Posted by kmartin555

Thanks so much for the nice comments about my family, and for checking out my PTR!! Yes, I have been a shopping queen ever since I booked this trip! DH doesn't know quite how much I have been spending... If you spend it before u get there, it doesn't count, right??

I remember in your trip report you said something about it being surreal that it was finally time to leave for Disney - I imagine that will be me! I have been planning for so long, and then I look at the countdown calendar and think "Holy Crap! We're really going to Disney!"

You're absolutely right - it doesn't count if you spend it before you get there! Also, that kind of stuff is double what you paid for it at the parks. Think of it this way - YOU GOT A DEAL!

It is a surreal feeling when the day you've been dreaming of finally arrives. I'm excited for you guys and can't wait to hear all of your plans and then the TR to follow!

[DevonsDisneyMom]

Great report!!! We will be there the same time as you and staying at POP as well!! we will be at MNSSHP on 9/25! It is by far my favorite event! As for travel times to the parks from POP, no park takes longer then 20 minutes to get to! Now, from POP to your ADR's, I would budget at least an hour.travel time. For example, to get to Ohana from POP, you would have to take the bus to MK then transfer to the monorail to get to the POLY. While it most likely woun't take an hour, I rather be safe then miss my ADR time. Enjoy!

[kmartin555]

Thanks for joining in everyone! A PTR is so much more fun when you have readers!

Originally Posted by disneygirlinnj

I'm in! Great planning for your first time, very impressive! I have to run to work but hopefully I'll get back here today and comment on some questions you have!

Thanks! So glad you are joining us!

Originally Posted by MICKEY4EVER!

You're absolutely right - it doesn't count if you spend it before you get there! Also, that kind of stuff is double what you paid for it at the parks. Think of it this way - YOU GOT A DEAL!

That's what I keep telling Jimmy! I joke about it, but luckily I take care of the money in our household and he believes in a "don't ask, don't tell" policy. I knew I married him for a reason!

It is a surreal feeling when the day you've been dreaming of finally arrives. I'm excited for you guys and can't wait to hear all of your plans and then the TR to follow!

Thanks so much! Can't wait til I have a TR to write! I would like to do it like yours, and get it all done quickly while it is still fresh. Hopefully I won't have to much work to catch up on when I get back and I can get it done there...

Originally Posted by DevonsDisneyMom

Great report!!! We will be there the same time as you and staying at POP as well!! we will be at MNSSHP on 9/25! It is by far my favorite event! As for travel times to the parks from POP, no park takes longer then 20 minutes to get to! Now, from POP to your ADR's, I would budget at least an hour.travel time. For example, to get to Ohana from POP, you would have to take the bus to MK then transfer to the monorail to get to the POLY. While it most likely woun't take an hour, I rather be safe then miss my ADR time. Enjoy!

Hi and welcome! Be sure to look for us at POP! I cannot wait until MNSSHP. Are you dressing up? I am just going to put a MNSSHP disign on a shirt for me I think. DH wouldn't dress up if I paid him to! The girls are in a quandary about what to dress up as. I want them to dress in something comfy that won't be too hot (and won't take up too much luggage space!). Thanks also for the travel time advice. I'm so glad to hear that I won't have to allow an hour for park travel time. I want to do rope drops, and it is going to be hard enough to get my family up as it is!