ashw100
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Jan 2, 2014
- Messages
- 1,420
Okay, I am starting to feel better about this trip. I have rearranged our plans for some days to better accommodate the behaviors I saw last week and to try and head off any potential meltdown makers before they start. Now there is literally nothing to do but wait and then pack. I feel lost with nothing to plan so, I decided to take a page from gracefullyskinny and Dugette and post our finalized plans. I am shooting for a post a day for the week we will be gone. It will probably be a little dry but, it will keep me busy for the time being. Why do the last weeks have to drag by so slowly? In other news, I got Mickey Mail today 
. Our TA sent us a package with our luggage tags and package booklet. She also included park maps, little board books for each kid, a coloring book, WDW growth chart, and Hidden Mickey book. It was so unexpected but I am so thankful I have used a TA.
Travel days
We will technically have two travel days even though we are flying. On Friday, May 8 we will leave after Joe gets off of work. Hopefully, he can scoot out a little early at 4. We will drive the hour down to Grand Rapids and stop and get dinner there. This is our tradition whenever we drive to IL (which is a lot) because we don't have many food options in our little town. I will most definitely be getting Chipotle, yum! After dinner, we will have another 3 or so hours until we get to Chicago. We have booked a room at the Holiday Inn Express near the airport. It provides parking for up to 14 days and has a free shuttle. We did this last week for Texas and it worked out nicely. The boys will be hard to get to bed after a long car ride but hopefully they will cooperate.
Saturday, I would like to have to boys sleep until 7 (8 east coast time) if possible and go down to eat breakfast. A continental breakfast is also included so that will be a nice way to start the day. We will take the 8am shuttle to Midway Airport and hopefully have enough time get through security and grab some food before our 10:20 flight. We will be keeping the boys on East Coast time wince we will only be in Central for a little over 12 hours. I plan to buy lunch, probably Potbelly, to eat on the plane. I have ipads and coloring books for the boys and will also pack some goldfish and m&ms for the flight. The flight is always the thing I stress out about the most but, this will be our 3rd round trip flight this year and every time they have all done great. Let's hope this trend continues.
Barring any delays we should arrive at MCO at 2:00. I have given us two hours to get from the airport to CBR. We have rented a minivan and I decided we will all ride together. I was thinking about taking DME and having Joe take the rental that way Disney can handle the luggage but, I would really like us all to arrive together and James will most likely have a meltdown if he is separated from either one of us
. It's better to just do it this way and thankfully we are with Alamo so, it is just a short walk over to the car. We should have a text about our room and be able to go straight to it. I want to unpack and get everything set up for our home for the next seven nights. Possibly put James or Nicholas down for a nap if they need it. We will have dinner at Old Port Royale, they have those cute sand bucket meals for the kids so I think we will get that. After, dinner we will drive to MK. I know it is not recommended to drive here but I want to avoid the long lines and crowded buses after wishes even if it means a longer commute.
My goal is to be inside MK by 7. Connor told me a long time ago that he was disappointed James and I met Donald at MK without him while he rode the Barnstomer (even though he did meet Donald at Chef Mickey's
). He said this was his must do m&g and it had to be the first one. So we will head right back to the Donald and Goofy m&g and possibly ride Dumbo, I have always wanted to do this one at night. We have a FP+ for talking Mickey. Last time we did this twice because I thought it was so awesome but the boys were a little freaked out by talking Mickey, we'll see how they do this time. We will grab some ice cream at the Plaza Ice Cream parlor and then find our seats for the MSEP with our FPs. I got the boys some glow sticks and light up toys that Tinkerbell will give them. After MSEP will find our spots for Wishes in the FP area. We will leave right after Wishes since we have an early morning the next day.
. Our TA sent us a package with our luggage tags and package booklet. She also included park maps, little board books for each kid, a coloring book, WDW growth chart, and Hidden Mickey book. It was so unexpected but I am so thankful I have used a TA.
Travel days
We will technically have two travel days even though we are flying. On Friday, May 8 we will leave after Joe gets off of work. Hopefully, he can scoot out a little early at 4. We will drive the hour down to Grand Rapids and stop and get dinner there. This is our tradition whenever we drive to IL (which is a lot) because we don't have many food options in our little town. I will most definitely be getting Chipotle, yum! After dinner, we will have another 3 or so hours until we get to Chicago. We have booked a room at the Holiday Inn Express near the airport. It provides parking for up to 14 days and has a free shuttle. We did this last week for Texas and it worked out nicely. The boys will be hard to get to bed after a long car ride but hopefully they will cooperate.
Saturday, I would like to have to boys sleep until 7 (8 east coast time) if possible and go down to eat breakfast. A continental breakfast is also included so that will be a nice way to start the day. We will take the 8am shuttle to Midway Airport and hopefully have enough time get through security and grab some food before our 10:20 flight. We will be keeping the boys on East Coast time wince we will only be in Central for a little over 12 hours. I plan to buy lunch, probably Potbelly, to eat on the plane. I have ipads and coloring books for the boys and will also pack some goldfish and m&ms for the flight. The flight is always the thing I stress out about the most but, this will be our 3rd round trip flight this year and every time they have all done great. Let's hope this trend continues.
Barring any delays we should arrive at MCO at 2:00. I have given us two hours to get from the airport to CBR. We have rented a minivan and I decided we will all ride together. I was thinking about taking DME and having Joe take the rental that way Disney can handle the luggage but, I would really like us all to arrive together and James will most likely have a meltdown if he is separated from either one of us
. It's better to just do it this way and thankfully we are with Alamo so, it is just a short walk over to the car. We should have a text about our room and be able to go straight to it. I want to unpack and get everything set up for our home for the next seven nights. Possibly put James or Nicholas down for a nap if they need it. We will have dinner at Old Port Royale, they have those cute sand bucket meals for the kids so I think we will get that. After, dinner we will drive to MK. I know it is not recommended to drive here but I want to avoid the long lines and crowded buses after wishes even if it means a longer commute. My goal is to be inside MK by 7. Connor told me a long time ago that he was disappointed James and I met Donald at MK without him while he rode the Barnstomer (even though he did meet Donald at Chef Mickey's
). He said this was his must do m&g and it had to be the first one. So we will head right back to the Donald and Goofy m&g and possibly ride Dumbo, I have always wanted to do this one at night. We have a FP+ for talking Mickey. Last time we did this twice because I thought it was so awesome but the boys were a little freaked out by talking Mickey, we'll see how they do this time. We will grab some ice cream at the Plaza Ice Cream parlor and then find our seats for the MSEP with our FPs. I got the boys some glow sticks and light up toys that Tinkerbell will give them. After MSEP will find our spots for Wishes in the FP area. We will leave right after Wishes since we have an early morning the next day. 
. 
). I am very excited about this as I have heard good things about this breakfast and I love Winnie the Pooh. Hopefully, we will be out of there and on to BTMRR by 9. We will get a riderswap which I will use later with Connor. At this point Nicholas will probably need a nap so I hope to find a quiet, out of the way place to nurse him without having to go back to the baby center otherwise he will get a bottle. I hate nursing in public and he hates a cover so I think we will probably go the bottle route. After, BTMRR Joe and Connor will do Splash again with me getting a riderswap for later. After these rides, we will hit PotC and Jungle Cruise and possibly the Aladdin m&g. 
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)
. With our earlier ADR we will be able to make it to Animal Kingdom for rope drop. Right now, I don't have my fastpasses and won't be able to get them for this park until I get down there. Hopefully, I can secure one for KS 9-10, EE 10-11, and Mickey and Minnie M&G 11-12. We will rd EE and riderswap so both Joe and I can ride. Then we will ride KS and finish out with FotLK. If the boys are doing okay will use our last two fastpasses and be out of AK by11:30. It actually really pains me to leave this early but, it is just what is going to work best for us this time. I expect James and Nicholas to fall asleep as we drive over to Epcot. We will have them sleep for an hour even if that means aimlessly driving around on property or sitting in the Epcot parking lot. 
. We will go to the Smokehouse booth in America , Hanami in Japan, Taste of Marrakesh & Botanas Botanico in Morocco, and Fluer de Lys in France. Now get ready to rool as I post pictures, courtesy of Disney Food Blog of what we plan to eat. 
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I know! 
Wow that's quite the stash from the TA! 
Thanks for coming by. I am really excited to try all the different food and breaking it up into two afternoons should mean we can try everything on our list without completely stuffing ourselves. I will definitely keep an eye for you guys that day. Who knows, if the line is super crazy maybe James and Izzie could entertain each other, they are only 1 month apart.
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on the forecast for three days next week 
. I just put all the winter stuff away 
. I can't wait for that warm Florida weather. 
. If I had a girl, I know 100% I would drop the cash to have her dress like a princess so why shouldn’t it be the same for my boys. Luckily, I was able to get one on sale at Disneystore.com.
