A Mother/Daughter Birthday Trip! Our first with no boys! 10/27-11/1/16

[misssullyinc]

Hey all! I'm Taylor and a complete Disney nerd. So much so, I worked for the mouse doing the Disney College Program from Jan. 2015-July 2015. I've had Post Disney Depression for months now and so we're starting planning for the trip we've been dreaming of for awhile now...

Our first mother/daughter trip! I'll turn 21 in May and my mom will be turning 50 in October 2016, so both of us are hitting milestone years. It'll be the perfect time. We plan at staying at Port Orleans Riverside, attending Food and Wine as well as Mickey's Not So Scary. We also plan on having dinner at Ohana's on Oct. 30th, 2016, as that's my mom's official birthday and she's never been to Ohana's nor has she been in Disney on her birthday. I got to spend my 20th in Magic Kingdom, so I want her to experience a Disney birthday. Her favorite park is Animal Kingdom, so we'll be spending the day there but no other plans.

Meet us!

I'm Taylor. 20 years old, anxiously waiting for that 21st birthday! My favorite Disney characters are Simba, Tinkerbell....and STITCH! I love all of these characters, but I relate so much to Lilo and Stitch, I have Stitch everything. This is me in my Disney Alumni tee.

This is my mom, my best friend. She loves Disney (though isn't a nerd about it like me). She's a hardworking woman. We do everything together for the most part. In the past, she's paid for the trip with my dad but this time around, all I'm asking her to pay for is plane tickets and Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween party passes. She deserves a nice vacation. She's a mom of two, myself and my 17 year old brother who will be away at college at the time of our trip. We'll be leaving my dad at home. The boys constantly go to NASCAR races alone, so we figure this is our time. Her favorite Disney characters are
Pinocchio and Captain Hook! On our first trip as a family, he chased her around and she loved it!

And this is us together seeing Tyler Perry in Madea On The Run (not Disney related but the only Disney photo I have of us right now is blurry).

If you have any tips or any must dos for a ladies only trip, please let me know. I worked for Disney, like I said, but we've never done a trip just us! I'm super excited, even though it's over a year away! I also just put down the deposit for our resort and tickets yesterday and will be telling her on her birthday next week. If you have any ideas on how to do that, please let me know!

 

[misssullyinc]

I'll share my plan for budgeting.

This is my second time planning a trip to Disney, but my first time actually paying for it mostly on my own. I already worked out a budget.

Right now, I have two jobs. I answer phone, enter invoices and do other secretarial tasks at my father's mechanic shop (while also planning my Disney trip in my quiet moments haha), currently 5 days a week but that'll change, because I just got a job at a big box retailer. Though The store told me up front that they can only give me a few days a week, which is fine. I also return to school in January but I've always been good at balancing both.

Anyway...here was the breakdown for costs....

We'll be staying 5 days, 4 nights at Port Orleans Riverside, which is the resort we wanted. I actually wanted to stay there when they came down to visit me when I was doing the DCP, but my mom really wanted to stay at AK Lodge and I got a good discount. So there we go.


The price, including park tickets: $1862 and change. I had to put down the $200 deposit. Now for the math on how to pay the rest...I plan on setting aside $50/week after I get my paychecks. By the time we reach time for our trip, I will be well over what we need for our grand total...at $2400. So, plenty of spending money along with anything else we may decide to splurge on.

My mom has her own home daycare (which I also help out at, when I can) and liked my budgeting idea. She plans on doing the same but I have no idea on how much she plans on putting aside a week.

 

[misssullyinc]

Meet the rest of our family!


This is my dad. He had been to Disney a couple of times before I was born (including going there for part of his honeymoon with my mom) and has been on every family trip we've done. He likes Disney, but I don't think he's too disappointed about missing out on this trip...especially since he won't be paying for any part of it! He's not one for big lines and is into the more classic stuff (Carousel of Progress is his favorite thing to do). I can never see him doing a dudes only trip with my brother. Though he loves watching Once Upon A Time (more than I do really haha). His favorite Disney character is Mickey Mouse. This is him at 1900 Park Fare on our last trip, having the gummy bears with his fruit...

This is my brother, Noah. We're 2 years, 9 months and 8 days apart (it all matters, I was an only child for that long! lol). He's not a Disney nerd like I am. He likes it and has fun there, but he definitely feels a little awkward there. He is a tad disappointed about missing out on this trip, though my next trip idea is for just us to go together. He's in his senior year of high school and will be applying to college soon. He plans on becoming a police officer. His favorite character is Buzz Lightyear! This is him meeting Piglet on our last trip (Crystal Palace). He had asked Piglet "Are you a boy or a girl?" Total face palm moment!

Also, him meeting the Mad Hatter at 1900 Park Fare. My brother RARELY smiles in photos, so it just goes to show Disney brings out everyone's funny side. At home, he definitely resembles the Mad Hatter.

Our family on Splash Mountain. Mom and Dad do not enjoy "fast rides". To me Splash is sooo tame so I convinced them to go on it (I make them do it every trip). But we all had fun.

Finally, we have two dogs! We don't really do anything Disney with them and they don't have Disney names (though one almost did!).

This is Jacob Marley (who just goes by Jacob but my mom insisted on adding the Marley after The Christmas Carol, after I decided his name), our pitbull lab mix. We adopted him when he was only about six weeks old. We didn't think we'd be able to bring him home that night but the foster home he was in allowed us to do so. His mom was found pregnant on the side of the road so the nice people took her in. He'll be 6 on March 10th, 2016 which is so crazy to me. He can be very hyper, but I believe he has a lot of anxiety. He gets stressed or upset easily and just likes to lay next to you and cuddle. And people say pits are vicious...

This is Twix Michael (my brother named him Twix, I added the Michael since Jacob had a middle name lol), our plothound lab mix. He was born on a puppy mill in Georgia on March 16th, 2010 (we find it so weird him and Jacob are 6 days apart and we didn't even get them from the same place). He had a rough start, they neutered him at 6 weeks-a big no-no, and had to fight to get his food. He was rescued by an organization who brought him up to us, we adopted him when he was about 3 months old. Despite his beginnings, he's such a loving dog. He will lick you and jump all over you, he just loves attention. He still has some problems with food, he fears it'll get taken away so he eats all of it, so he's a tad chubby (he weighs the same as Jacob who is on track for his height). But he's still a good dog. He's not one to just sit down and relax, he has to run around and let everyone know that he's there. I originally wanted to name him Scar (from The Lion King) but I had named Jacob, so Noah got to name him. Twix fits him, definitely. It's better than the name the farm gave him, "Butch". He's definitely no Butch.

And I can't find any pictures of them together. It's weird because Jacob was first, but Twix is not a huge fan of his. Normally their "play" is rough housing. But hey, that's what brothers do right?

 

[misssullyinc]

Saved for table of contents.

 

[misssullyinc]

And I cannot keep a secret.

So after work today (which was slow so I spent most of it reading other trip reports and doing more thinking), I had to babysit for two little girls, ages 2 and 7. And guess what they wanted to watch?

Yeah so on top of everything, I was bursting with Disney when I got home. I was sitting with my mom and I just blurted out....
"I booked the resort and our tickets! It's official!"

At first I felt bad, because I was gonna tell her on her birthday. She knew we were going, but I was trying to plan it out and I just couldn't wait another week. But she was so happy. Apparently she had a bad day and it really cheered her up. And we started talking some. So no harm, no foul.

We started planning things out. Nothing firm yet. But here is our loose plan....

Thursday:
Arrive, check-in and go to Disney Springs to have dinner (table service, not sure where yet) and shop a bit.

Friday:
EPCOT for Food and Wine. We will not have any TS that day. Food and Wine will have tons of booths and if that's not enough, we can go somewhere for QS.

Saturday:
Magic Kingdom and MNSSHP. One TS, unknown.

Sunday:
Mom's birthday!!!!

Animal Kingdom during the day. Ohana's for dinner!

Monday:

Hollywood Studios. TS, unknown. Possibly Mama Melrose, we loved it last time. Fantasmic will be a must.

Tuesday:
Whichever park we feel we didn't see enough of, will leave that afternoon. Will do a TS breakfast.

This will obviously change as time goes on. We may switch it around. I'm not sure if I want to be in MK for Halloween, if it'll be too crowded or not. Animal Kingdom and Ohana's are the only things we are banking on. Hopefully Ohana's will have something open. One day we will also have two table services (we're doing the dining plan and since we're not doing a sit down on our EPCOT day, we'll have to make up for it.)

 

[sunshinemelody]

Oh gosh, I am loving your PTR right now. I love how you blurt out your plans. That's how I felt with my boyfriend. "I BOOKED IT HOPE U DUN MIND" I felt all sorts of happy.

That's soooo darn exciting that you're taking your mother for her 50th birthday! Last year, that was my plan for my mother, but it got completely fudged as a friend of hers decided to be a total ... boob and ruin my plans by wanting to take her on a cruise (which he never did!) the same week I was planning to take her. And he knew in advance, too. Will never understand people who are totally selfish.

Anyway, I am going to read the rest of it, as I'm in between this and work. But I really love it so far! Excited for you!

YAY STITCH.

 

[misssullyinc]

Oh gosh, I am loving your PTR right now. I love how you blurt out your plans. That's how I felt with my boyfriend. "I BOOKED IT HOPE U DUN MIND" I felt all sorts of happy.

That's soooo darn exciting that you're taking your mother for her 50th birthday! Last year, that was my plan for my mother, but it got completely fudged as a friend of hers decided to be a total ... boob and ruin my plans by wanting to take her on a cruise (which he never did!) the same week I was planning to take her. And he knew in advance, too. Will never understand people who are totally selfish.

Anyway, I am going to read the rest of it, as I'm in between this and work. But I really love it so far! Excited for you!

YAY STITCH.

Thank you for joining in! And lol yeah, I tried, I really did. I even told her she wasn't supposed to know yet but she doesn't care. That sucks about your mom! Especially since she didn't even get to go!

And yes STITCH!

 

[sunshinemelody]

Thank you for joining in! And lol yeah, I tried, I really did. I even told her she wasn't supposed to know yet but she doesn't care. That sucks about your mom! Especially since she didn't even get to go!

And yes STITCH!

Yeah, she's never been and since a friend had "forcibly" taken me on my first trip out there, I needed her to feel the magic as well. But it's all good. One year. Maybe 55. Who knows.

 

[miceli20]

Excited to continue reading about your trip. I'm also the recipient of a mother/daughters trip this year. My daughter is also a college student and is taking me and her older sister, who has autism, in December.

 

[misssullyinc]

Excited to continue reading about your trip. I'm also the recipient of a mother/daughters trip this year. My daughter is also a college student and is taking me and her older sister, who has autism, in December.

That is so cool! I hope you guys have a blast.

 

[misssullyinc]

Since our trip is so far off, I've joined a few Facebook groups and am getting super excited. No trip updates but here are some countdowns...
369 days til we check in!
189 days til I can make dining reservations!
309 days til I can make FP+ reservations!


And I find myself listening to Disney music every day!

 

[misssullyinc]

Happy Halloween everyone!

So exciting to think in 1 year from today we will be in actual Disney World! Squeeee!

This year, we're not doing anything. We didn't buy candy, just getting Outback takeout and watching some movies. We're pretty much homebodies.

 

[misssullyinc]

No updates since we still have so far to go! But at least we're under a year!

 

[misssullyinc]

While preparing for our trip, we looked back at our very first trip as a family to Disney. We stayed at All Star Movies. My mom and I when we arrived.

My brother and I meeting Villians, Evil Queen from Snow White (the one that is super dark) and Queen Of Hearts

And me posing in front of Tangierine Cafe in EPCOT.

 

[misssullyinc]

So not an update for this trip, but a big possibility I'll be able to visit Disney in Feburary/March 2016!

Let us backtrack a tad...

So as I said in my first post, I did the Disney College Program, which is an internship for college students/recent college grads to work for Disney. You can work in various places in the park. You also live in apartments they provide and have roommates. I had 5 roommates. 6 girls in one apartment was um, interesting.

Alright, so that gif is exagarrating. MOST of us got along. There were just a few bad apples. But I ended up making two super close best friends.

We did it all together. Went to the parks, takeout movie nights at home, going to Waffle House, OUR JAM!

And then one of them had to go home, her program ended.

But there was still two of us!

We had so much fun, while missing our other bestie. And then Disney laid it on me....I couldn't extend my program due to them overfilling the apartments...

Which meant another sad goodbye. It was ten times worse this time, though.

And since I've been home, I've felt like a piece of me was missing, more like two pieces.

And then today...on a cold, dreary, CT day...

I get a text from my bestie who still lives in Florida, asking me when I could visit her.

And I gave her dates that would work...

And I said well if we meet up, then our other bestie has to come...

To which I got an immediate YES!

And...

A REUNION IS IN THE WORKS!

Nothing official yet! But it's still SOOOO exciting! It will mean a day or two in Disney and us being reunited with our favorite place of all time....

It was our go-to hangout spot!

I won't do a trip report until it's all final but I am so freaking excited!

A pic of me and the girls, just to show you how much I miss them:

 

[misssullyinc]

IT'S MAIL TIME, IT'S MAIL TIME

IT'S MAILLLLL TIMEEEEE!

But why so many days until we can do anything?

Nothing else new to update on but we are SUPER excited to get the mail!!!

More and more we're debating on what to do in terms of dining. We're getting the dining plan, but one day we will not be doing a TS since we're doing F&W. Which means we'll have two TS credits left over each. So we have two options, doing a TS breakfast and TS dinner in one day....

OR doing a place that is worth 2 TS credits.

We still have no clue, we have time to choose. But I don't know.

I'm also adding Be Our Guest to my list of "Must Dos" if we can get it. My mom has never eaten there but I had breakfast on Easter back when I worked there. We probably won't do dinner there, but I loved breakfast and I'm sure lunch would be fab. I'll be breaking my computer when I can FINALLY make my ADRs!

What's new in your lives? Anything exciting?

I've had troubles with obtaining a job. I got one and they haven't given me hours in weeeks. BUT I had a job interview today with another retail store and they said as long as I pass my drug test, we should be good. And the only drug I'm on is that Disney Magic!!! (Bad joke haha)

I am so excited but there's just too much time in between!

 

[sunshinemelody]

Woohoo!

I'd definitely do a 2 credit meal! Might give you an option of going someplace super fancy that you and your mom have never been to? Could be an option!

For BOG, lunch was decent. I don't recommend the Croque Monsieur (I didn't like it at all), but that's just me! I wish there was a volume button for that place, though! Also, I hope you get that job! Stinks about your current job; maybe nudge them and ask what's up with that!

 

[misssullyinc]

Well we have our ADRs selected...if only we could book them now!

But we have a loose idea of our plan! I'm so happy to just have it all figured out! Some things have changed from the original plan, as you will see. But hey, it's for the better!

Thursday:
We hope to have a flight that's not too early but not too late either. We live in CT, so it's about a 2.5-3 hour plane ride. On top of an hour ride to the airport (if not longer). We're hoping to land around 1PM, get to the resort by 2ish. Check-in and then....head to EPCOT! So originally we planned to do Disney Springs today but decided since we'll have the ticket, we should use it. We won't do the full F&W expierence that day. We'll get snacky items, some drinks and get a gist of what we want to get on our first EPCOT day. Then we'll be having dinner at...VIA NAPOLI! So I joined the Disney Foodie Facebook group and all they do is rave over this place. Supposedly the best pizza you'll ever eat. My bestie Sara says it's great, too. We don't know how late we'll stay.

Friday:
Magic Kingdom day! We'll head into the parks early because we want to try Be Our Guest for breakfast! I ate there on Easter Sunday this year and LOVED it! My mom is excited to try it. Then we'll do the MK thing. We plan on getting tickets to Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party. Around 4, we'll head back to our resort and have dinner at Boatwright's. Then we'll go back to MK for the party. Get some candy, go on more rides, walk around, see the parades, should be lots of fun. We plan on dressing up as Thelma and Louise. It's one of our favorite movies. We hope people will get the refrence!

Saturday:
Hollywood Studios, my alltime favorite park. Unfortanately, my mom doesn't find much to do there. She is not a fan of roller coasters so stuff like Rockin Roller Coaster (my alltime favorite ride!) is out. BUT, HS is doing a lot of rennovations. Hopefully they'll add more. Now, as I said last time, we were conflicted on what to do with our extra TS dining credit. And my mom has always wanted to eat at Hollywood Brown Derby. So, that's what we'll be doing. I am going to have to get up super early on April 30th to pull these ADRs off but I don't care. It'll be worth it! Then of course time for my FAVORITE Disney show...FANTASMIC! After that, we'll head back to our resort.

Sunday:
Mom's birthday! The big 5-0! We'll be heading down to Animal Kingdom-her favorite park. We'll look at the animals, do the safari, etc. Avatar World is supposed to be open by then but uh...don't mention that to my mom. She HATES Avatar. I'm not a fan either. So we'll probably skip that. We'll head back to our resort, relax, explore. Then we'll take the boat down to Disney Springs...only to hop on a bus to go to the Polynesian for a late Ohana reservation! I've eaten there before, for a friend's birthday, Mom's never been. I want to eat there during Wishes. For one, if we decide to skip it on our MK night to do something else, we'll still see it. And if not, we'll see it twice in one trip! Can't go wrong with that!

Monday:
EPCOT once again! This time we'll be doing the full F&W expierence. At this point, we'll trade in any QS credits we haven't used for snack credits to use towards the booths (I believe you get 3 snack credits for every 1 QS credit. We always have at least 1 QS credit left per person, so we'll see. We're definitely going to have at least 2 QS we're not using, on our first and last day, so that's 6 more snack credits right there.) We won't do ANY sit downs on this day. We're not big on the rides at EPCOT. We like Soarin', Spaceship Earth, Figment and the Nemo show. So a lot of it will be spent walking around the countries. Who knows how late we'll stay, depends on the weather and how packed it in. This will be Halloween, so we're hoping people flock to MK and stay there so it'll be slow. If not, we'll still have fun.

Tuesday:
Our leaving day. We got sad as we debated how to spend it because we're planning our last day before we even get there! Ahhh! I'm sure it'll come super quick too. But hey, this is a happy update! No tears! We'll wake up, check out, travel around our resort and then take something to get to Disney Springs...only to take a bus to the Boardwalk! We'll have lunch at Big River Grille & Brewing Works. Then we'll look around the Boardwalk, shop, spend those last snack credits if we have any left. Then we'll head back to the resort and hope on that Magical Express and head home.

So there we have it! I am so happy to have it all planned out. Now we just have 329 days until we can do this fun stuff! To those reading along still, thanks for patiently waiting for updates. For those that are new, introduce yourself! Welcome!

 

[momabaarjo]

I am following along! Such a great thing you are doing with your mom!

 

[misssullyinc]

I am following along! Such a great thing you are doing with your mom!

Sorry for the late reply but welcome aboard!