The Trip that Won't Stop Changing! Now a Sept 2017 Birthday Visit. *Updated 8/28/2017

MissMaryQC

DIS Veteran
Joined
Sep 6, 2013
*As you can see I fell pray to the Photobucket scam. Newer updates here have photos, but I haven't the patience, nor the time, to change all these pics.

Hello Friends!



Welcome to the PTR I've waited my entire life for! This PTR is a HUGE first for my family, as this will be the first time I plan a trip for my darling baby girl!!


I am over the moon excited to be planning a trip for my family once again, and this time it will be filled with firsts. I will need lots of help from the veteran planners here on the DIS as I have never planned a trip for a toddler. I've actually only been on trips with a toddler twice, and one of those times I was the toddler...


But I'm getting ahead of myself. Let's start simply; Who? When? Where? and Why?
Who:

Well, I'll be there! My name is Mary.


I am a Disney girl through and through, and also a giant goofball. I am a working mama, which can be hard, but it's what's best for my clan.

My partner in crime is my fella, Guido (yes that's his real name).


He's a great guy, very kind, loving and funny. He has some serious anxiety issues that started to surface last year (it was a rough one), but he has handled his treatment very well and is back to his goofy self again! He is not a Disney fan, but DD has opened his heart enough that what she loves, he also loves, and DD LOVES Disney...

And the most important person in this trip is our baby girl, Miss Elora Darling (Eedie for short)


She is a rambunctious little 18 month old, who talks more than her chatty mama; even our pediatrician is impressed with how great her verbal skills are for her age. Elora has loved Disney since she was born (yes, I saw to that, with some fight from her papa). He first Disney love was Pooh Bear, although one of her first words was Stitch. Now she has become a princess fan, asking to read or watch "Apunzel" "Pincess Fog" "Bibbity-Boppitty" and many others. I would say her absolute favorite is "Jack a Punkin King" we listen to the sound track in the car all the time. Dad has no problem with that one as he is a big Danny Elfman fan, but I digress.

When:

This was a big decision when we started actually talking about it. Daddy wanted to go end of January, but it's so stinking cold (I'm a South Floridian so 73 is cold), I wanted to go again in the fall, but it was rainy and that's a rough time of year for dad's business. We finally settled on April 2017; Eedie will be 2 1/2 then. While no reservations have been made yet we have chosen Saturday April 22, 2017-Friday April 28, 2017. I know the dance summit is the weekend after we leave and Easter is the Sunday before we arrive so I'm hoping the crowds won't be too bad. Plus leaving on a Friday means we will have two days to recover at home
*EDIT: We are now looking at a trip in early May 2017, likely May 5 or 6-May 12*

Where:

We actually decided this just yesterday! We went back and forth between Wilderness Lodge and a Royal Room at Port Orleans Riverside. I would have loved for Eedie to stay in a Princess room, but daddy won out a very tough game of rock, paper, scissors and we will be staying here:


Thank you Google for the images
Wilderness Lodge! None of us has stayed here, although I have eaten there. After seeing the pictures from my trip with mom and sis in September the fella was just really into it, and wanted to give it a try. Plus he loved the boats to and from the Magic Kingdom. I do hope the construction is mostly finished by next year...

Why:

Why the heck not?!? Haha! I have been trying to get my daughter into WDW since she was born, but her papa wanted to wait until "she's old enough to enjoy it." Ugh, non-Disney people, am I right? Any who, after losing the battle to celebrate her 2nd birthday (this September) in the MK he finally caved and said we could take her in 2017!!



And so the planning has begun! We already have a few ideas, and a ton of questions, so please chime in with some suggestions on how we should spend this trip!

Thanks for following along folks.

TTFN!

UPDATE: As you can see from the title of this report we are now planning a September trip! Feel free to read through the whole PTR to learn when that change came to be, or simply click the link be low titled "Then they cancelled Wishes" and read about what we're planning in September!

Thanks for following along!

*Note: this trip has been changed, a lot! If you'd like to go through it Ll, as I did follow along through the contents below. If you just wanna see how plans finally solidified in a September 2017 trip jump to post #202 Officially Official


And thanks for reading!


 
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I've actually only been on trips with a toddler twice, and one of those times I was the toddler...
Well then, you're as prepared as you need to be for this one! :rolleyes1

Elora has loved Disney since she was born (yes, I saw to that, with some fight from her papa).
What?? Surely you didn't try to sway her!

This was a big decision when we started actually talking about it. Daddy wanted to go end of January, but it's so stinking cold (I'm a South Floridian so 73 is cold),
:eek: :rotfl2::rotfl::lmao: I'd go for 73 degree temps at the end of January any time!

Eedie will be 2 1/2 then
So it really doesn't matter what time of year you're going, this is the perfect time. Old enough to really enjoy it and understand what is going on, yet still young enough to cut your costs by nearly 1/3. :faint:

We actually decided this just yesterday! We went back and forth between Wilderness Lodge and a Royal Room at Port Orleans Riverside. I would have loved for Eedie to stay in a Princess room, but daddy won out a very tough game of rock, paper, scissors and we will be staying here:
Honestly, you really can't go wrong with either. I've stayed in both and really loved them both. But WL is probably my absolute favorite Disney World resort so I definitely think you made a great choice with this one. :thumbsup2

Plus he loved the boats to and from the Magic Kingdom
::yes:: ::yes:: When you're pushing a sleeping toddler out of MK at the end of the day in a stroller, you'll come to appreciate them even more than you might imagine. It is so much easier to push a stroller onto the boat than to take a sleeping child out of a stroller and fold it up to go on a bus.
 
Hi :flower1: joining in for the PTR! I just finished up your secret to September TR and thought I would join in! We are planning a big Family trip in 2017 also! It seems so far away! Luckily I have another girls only trip planned for November!

Wilderness Lodge! None of us has stayed here, although I have eaten there. After seeing the pictures from my trip with mom and sis in September the fella was just really into it, and wanted to give it a try. Plus he loved the boats to and from the Magic Kingdom. I do hope the construction is mostly finished by next year...
We LOVE:love: Wilderness Lodge. We stayed back in 2011 and we loved it so much we are strongly considering it again for our family trip. We always have said we would like to stay at the Poly or BLT/Contemporary but after staying at WL we just can't decide. The lobby is amazing! The only tip I would have is if you will be traveling to the MK a lot and want to use the boat service is to request a room close to the boat dock. We stayed in the Villas and it was a ridiculous walk from the dock to the room after a long day in the park. Not sure how the construction is going but hopefully they will be finishing it up by then.


 


Joining in. We went for my daughter's first birthday in December and had a BLAST!!! Our next trip will be Spring 2017 with our then 2 year old. DH and I so so badly want to stay at WL, but we normally end up at SSR because we transfer RCI into DVC and that is all that is available:( It's good though... because really... we are at Disney after all!!
 
Well then, you're as prepared as you need to be for this one! :rolleyes1

:laughing: I just hope we can keep the trip fun and relaxed at the same time; avoid as many melt downs as possible...

What?? Surely you didn't try to sway her!

Me? Sway my young child into loving the thing I love most? NEVER!

:eek: :rotfl2::rotfl::lmao: I'd go for 73 degree temps at the end of January any time!

I know, I have nothing to complain about weather wise. My blood is thin from living in South Florida so long!

So it really doesn't matter what time of year you're going, this is the perfect time. Old enough to really enjoy it and understand what is going on, yet still young enough to cut your costs by nearly 1/3. :faint:

My sentiments exactly! Explaining to the hubs that DD is FREE under 3 years of age definitely helped my case in going sooner rather than later; he originally wanted to take her when she was 5...:confused3

Honestly, you really can't go wrong with either. I've stayed in both and really loved them both. But WL is probably my absolute favorite Disney World resort so I definitely think you made a great choice with this one. :thumbsup2

Sweet! I'm glad to know we're making good choice so far! WL just looked so gorgeous and cool from the little we saw in September, it wasn't a hard sell at all.

::yes:: ::yes:: When you're pushing a sleeping toddler out of MK at the end of the day in a stroller, you'll come to appreciate them even more than you might imagine. It is so much easier to push a stroller onto the boat than to take a sleeping child out of a stroller and fold it up to go on a bus.

Oh yes. We really wanted to try for a monorail resort, but the cost was just too much, even considering it's likely we will nab a room discount. I'm looking forward ro stroller her onto and off of the boat!

Hi :flower1: joining in for the PTR! I just finished up your secret to September TR and thought I would join in! We are planning a big Family trip in 2017 also! It seems so far away! Luckily I have another girls only trip planned for November!

:welcome:

Thanks for popping on over! I love planning Disney trips; near or far! But you're super lucky to have a trip before 2017, cause it really does seem just so far away!


We LOVE:love: Wilderness Lodge. We stayed back in 2011 and we loved it so much we are strongly considering it again for our family trip. We always have said we would like to stay at the Poly or BLT/Contemporary but after staying at WL we just can't decide. The lobby is amazing! The only tip I would have is if you will be traveling to the MK a lot and want to use the boat service is to request a room close to the boat dock. We stayed in the Villas and it was a ridiculous walk from the dock to the room after a long day in the park. Not sure how the construction is going but hopefully they will be finishing it up by then.


Thanks for the advice! we will be sure to put that in our room request.
I need to get on the WL page and follow the construction, I do hope it'll be complete by then...


Joining in. We went for my daughter's first birthday in December and had a BLAST!!! Our next trip will be Spring 2017 with our then 2 year old. DH and I so so badly want to stay at WL, but we normally end up at SSR because we transfer RCI into DVC and that is all that is available:( It's good though... because really... we are at Disney after all!!


FUN! We will be there about the same time, with kids about the same age!! Sometimes when it comes down to dollars and cents you gotta go with the money smart option; I know that is a big factor for us too! Being able to stay on site is such a great advantage for us, on all counts, no matter where!
 
A Few Details

Daddy has decided that while he wants a say in the details of this trip, he doesn't want to know every tiny detail. To me that means I can plan to my heart’s content!

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We have talked over a few details, and this will be an interesting trip to plan. Let me explain.

Before we decided where and when we would go, DH wanted to go over resort options. The problem with him looking at resorts is that he will go to the web site, find the cheapest resort and select that one. While that strategy can be a good one, sometimes it's not. So, I graciously offered to show him some options, ya know, so he wouldn't have to take the time to look.

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I made an awesome PowerPoint presentation to go over our options. While we were talking a few things were decided:

This trip should be a relaxed one; DD will go many times in her life so there is no need to try and do everything this time. Plus, mommy and daddy want some relaxing time.






Probably not gonna happen with a toddler, but we can dream!

With that in mind we decided that we would go from Saturday to Friday: 2 travel days (no parks), 4 park days and 1 rest/off day. This decision brought on a discussion about which parks we should visit. We agreed we wanted 2 days at MK and we wanted to do AK too. With HS likely still to be under construction we figured we could skip it this time. Epcot? Well, DD does love Frozen and by then I'm fairly certain Epcot will be the place to see Anna and Elsa. But other than that we don't have a ton of interest in the park, so we will be skipping that one as well.

So that leaves us with two MK days and two AK days; pretty awesome if you ask me!

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DH and I also crunched some numbers and we are seriously considering the Dining Plan. We figure there will be enough food to feed the three of us (plus a few nibbles we’ll bring with us) and we will have the added convenience of paying in advance. Not to mention I am thus guaranteed to have 6 TS selections to make!

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And this is where I am:

WHERE DO WE EAT?!

I’d like to do mostly TS dinners; it's just the better value.

DH wants to do T-Rex and BoG

We both agree DD would like CP with Pooh, but we’ll make that a pre-park open breakfast.
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I was thinking about Chef Mickey’s, but I keep hearing the food is just ok, so maybe we’ll go to ‘Ohana dinner instead.

Tucker House is a must; LOVED that meal in September. Maybe we can get a RoL viewing package! Do the characters meet for dinner too…?


So that's 5… Maybe Cape May? Any suggestions are welcomed!

Since we have over a year to plan this bad boy, posts may not be so frequent, but I thank all of you for following along, and for your input!

TTFN!

 


To me that means I can plan to my heart’s content!
Woohooo!

Probably not gonna happen with a toddler, but we can dream!
Yeah... dream on!

With that in mind we decided that we would go from Saturday to Friday: 2 travel days (no parks), 4 park days and 1 rest/off day. This decision brought on a discussion about which parks we should visit. We agreed we wanted 2 days at MK and we wanted to do AK too. With HS likely still to be under construction we figured we could skip it this time. Epcot? Well, DD does love Frozen and by then I'm fairly certain Epcot will be the place to see Anna and Elsa. But other than that we don't have a ton of interest in the park, so we will be skipping that one as well.

So that leaves us with two MK days and two AK days; pretty awesome if you ask me!
I totally understand what you're saying and why you're doing what you are. It makes sense and we all have different taste in parks. But I find it kind of funny that you're spending 2 days in AK and I've yet to manage to spend 1 entire day there. :rotfl2: Our trip in January was 3 days and we had 2 days planned in MK and 1 day planned to be split between EPCOT and DHS while skipping AK. Pretty much the total opposite of everything you're planning. :rotfl:

I’d like to do mostly TS dinners; it's just the better value.
::yes::

I was thinking about Chef Mickey’s, but I keep hearing the food is just ok, so maybe we’ll go to ‘Ohana dinner instead.
I might be the rare voice of dissent, but I've been to Chef Mickey's 3 times and I really have no complaints. The characters are good and the buffet isn't bad at all. I really can't say that there's any kind of a signature dish that they do exceptionally well, but I love the variety in that buffet. There's plenty to choose from and the dessert buffet is probably the biggest one I've seen on property. I always leave Chef Mickey's feeling sick because I ate way too much. Mostly because I have to hit up the self serve ice cream topped with sprinkles, M&Ms and all that good stuff. Then follow it up with some pie, a brownie, some cookies... well, you get the point.

You really can't go wrong with Ohana though. Both would be a good choice.

So that's 5… Maybe Cape May? Any suggestions are welcomed!
I have to say it... Whispering Canyon. You're already going to be at WL, and WCC is one of my favorite meals on property. If you like BBQ, and appreciate the antics of servers kind of like you might find at 50's Prime Time it is definitely worth checking it out.



And I just thought of this... obviously if you eat at WCC you won't need to do much in the way of transportation, but if you eat at Chef Mickey's you can take the boat between Contemporary and WL without having to transfer anywhere. You just might have to swing past Fort Wilderness going one way or the other.
 
Woohooo!

RIGHT?! I will soon be in spread sheet heaven!

Yeah... dream on!

I know we're dreaming. I mean life with a toddler is anything but relaxing, what would make us (mostly him) think that vacation would be relaxing?!

I totally understand what you're saying and why you're doing what you are. It makes sense and we all have different taste in parks. But I find it kind of funny that you're spending 2 days in AK and I've yet to manage to spend 1 entire day there. :rotfl2: Our trip in January was 3 days and we had 2 days planned in MK and 1 day planned to be split between EPCOT and DHS while skipping AK. Pretty much the total opposite of everything you're planning. :rotfl:

We love AK so much; it's actually DH's favorite park. I know a ton of folks consider it a half day park, but we really enjoyed just strolling through the animal sanctuaries and taking our time. It's nice! I think we'd be planning differently if DD was a bit taller, or if HS wasn't under a total remodel.

::yes::

Yep! gotta make that dollar hollar!

I might be the rare voice of dissent, but I've been to Chef Mickey's 3 times and I really have no complaints. The characters are good and the buffet isn't bad at all. I really can't say that there's any kind of a signature dish that they do exceptionally well, but I love the variety in that buffet. There's plenty to choose from and the dessert buffet is probably the biggest one I've seen on property. I always leave Chef Mickey's feeling sick because I ate way too much. Mostly because I have to hit up the self serve ice cream topped with sprinkles, M&Ms and all that good stuff. Then follow it up with some pie, a brownie, some cookies... well, you get the point.

You really can't go wrong with Ohana though. Both would be a good choice.

I've not heard bad things about it, per-say, just ok things. I can guarantee DH would love it though; anything with a dessert bar and he is ALL about it. But DD is a weird kid and not super into "kid" food; mac and cheese, nuggets, pizza, etc. I some how have managed to raise a veggie curry loving child...? BUT I do love the idea of meeting the Fab 5 at dinner and I know 'Ohana is only a character meal at breakfast... Decisions, decisions...

I have to say it... Whispering Canyon. You're already going to be at WL, and WCC is one of my favorite meals on property. If you like BBQ, and appreciate the antics of servers kind of like you might find at 50's Prime Time it is definitely worth checking it out.



And I just thought of this... obviously if you eat at WCC you won't need to do much in the way of transportation, but if you eat at Chef Mickey's you can take the boat between Contemporary and WL without having to transfer anywhere. You just might have to swing past Fort Wilderness going one way or the other.

I had considered WCC; we had a great meal there in September; such good food, and so much fun! My concern was DH's anxiety. He gets a little uncomfortable with antics like those at 50's PT (we went in 2012 and he liked the food but wasn't a fan of our server...:rolleyes1). I have read, however that you can ask for a more traditional dining experience. If that's the case, I think we'd love WCC. And it would surely be an added bonus to not have to leave the hotel! :thumbsup2
 
I had considered WCC; we had a great meal there in September; such good food, and so much fun! My concern was DH's anxiety. He gets a little uncomfortable with antics like those at 50's PT (we went in 2012 and he liked the food but wasn't a fan of our server...:rolleyes1). I have read, however that you can ask for a more traditional dining experience. If that's the case, I think we'd love WCC. And it would surely be an added bonus to not have to leave the hotel! :thumbsup2
Ah... definitely makes sense why you might want to avoid it. I'll say that in our experience, the servers are very receptive as to what kind of experience you want. We kind of enjoy the antics, but we really don't like the over the top stuff. And they've really done a good job of reading that and accommodating. During our last meal there, one of the first things our server did was ask us whether we wanted to be in on the antics or if we just wanted a regular dining experience.
 
Following!! Hi :wave:
I'm so excited to be following your PTR. I am in the process of planning our March 2017 trip for my DD2's first trip to Disney (there is a link in my signature to my PTR.) We took DD1 when she turned 2 for her first trip and it was so much fun! Your DD is going to have a blast, and you will too.
 
Ah... definitely makes sense why you might want to avoid it. I'll say that in our experience, the servers are very receptive as to what kind of experience you want. We kind of enjoy the antics, but we really don't like the over the top stuff. And they've really done a good job of reading that and accommodating. During our last meal there, one of the first things our server did was ask us whether we wanted to be in on the antics or if we just wanted a regular dining experience.

I do love the antics, but DH isn't always into them; sometimes he gets uncomfortable and embarrassed. BUT I do like hearing that we could get a more regular dining experience. When I went with sis and mama we LOVED the food at WCC. Even after eating too much that day we stuffed ourselves at dinner when we went there. Yum, yum!

Following!! Hi :wave:
I'm so excited to be following your PTR. I am in the process of planning our March 2017 trip for my DD2's first trip to Disney (there is a link in my signature to my PTR.) We took DD1 when she turned 2 for her first trip and it was so much fun! Your DD is going to have a blast, and you will too.

:welcome: Thanks so much for following along! Any and all advice is welcomed; I have no clue what I'm doing here! I'm jumping over to you PTR now!
 
Question about the strollers and boats...can you roll the stroller right on to the boat? I keep seeing online that the kids have to get out of stroller and that often times they need to be folded. We're considering wilderness for our next stay but the stroller thing is huge for us.
 
Question about the strollers and boats...can you roll the stroller right on to the boat? I keep seeing online that the kids have to get out of stroller and that often times they need to be folded. We're considering wilderness for our next stay but the stroller thing is huge for us.

That's what I'm told! I know that on the buses you have to remove the child and fold up the stroller, but on the monorail and the boats you can just wheel the stroller on board. Very convenient for nap times.
 
Crap! I posted this and then got impatient and called resort since website indicated they needed to be folded. The front desk said you have to fold them
now. :( I'm hoping this is what they say but not what they do. Anyone stay at wilderness recently that can comment on what they actually enforce with regard to strollers?
 
Crap! I posted this and then got impatient and called resort since website indicated they needed to be folded. The front desk said you have to fold them
now. :( I'm hoping this is what they say but not what they do. Anyone stay at wilderness recently that can comment on what they actually enforce with regard to strollers?
Folding on the ferry, not the monorail, right?
 
Crap! I posted this and then got impatient and called resort since website indicated they needed to be folded. The front desk said you have to fold them
now. :( I'm hoping this is what they say but not what they do. Anyone stay at wilderness recently that can comment on what they actually enforce with regard to strollers?

OH NO! that is not good news. I'm gonna hold on hope and ask on the WL boards on here. I've been told that sometimes calling the resort can give mis-information; those calls are actually routed to a call center and sometimes they don't really know what the situation is. HOPEFULLY that is true here, but I'll post once I've done some more research.

I'd be super bummed if we had to fold for the boat to MK; that was a big perk for us!
 
I posted on another thread and he's the response I got back "If you get one of the smaller boats, yes, you need to fold them up as there just isn't any room to leave them open anywhere. If you get one of the larger boats (enclosed) they typically allow guests to just leave them open.". Hope this helps with your planning.
 
I posted on another thread and he's the response I got back "If you get one of the smaller boats, yes, you need to fold them up as there just isn't any room to leave them open anywhere. If you get one of the larger boats (enclosed) they typically allow guests to just leave them open.". Hope this helps with your planning.

It sure does! Thanks for the info! :disrocks:
 

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