Second star to the right and straight on til morning *TR Started*

[ashw100]

Second star to the right and straight on til morning-a PTR.

Hi and welcome to my second Pre-Trip report. You can read my first attempt at a TR here

First, some introductions, I’m Ashley. I am a 26 year old, mother of three boys. I have been fortunate to be a stay-at-home mom for the past two years and loving every second of it (that is when I am not pulling out my hair). I am a lover of all things Disney and have been since before I can remember. I have been to DL 4 times and WDW twice. Favorites include:

Movie: I honestly love too many but, if you make me choose I say Little Mermaid
Character: Winnie the Pooh

Park: Magic Kingdom

Ride: Tower of Terror and TTA

Trip Details:

When: May 9-16 2015

Where: Caribbean Beach Resort



The Cast:

Me



DH (Joe)



Joe is also 26 and a retail store manager at a sporting goods store. He is the Mickey to my Minnie. We’ve been married for 6 years and he is everything I could hope to have in a husband and father for my children. He did not grow up on Disney like me and therefore, didn’t understand my NEED (yes need) to go to Disney World. I will never forget on our first full day, we were walking out of the hub into Adventureland , he stopped and said to me, “I finally get why you love this so much.” I got him folks! Hook, line, and sinker. If it wasn’t for the pesky detail about money we would have booked a bounceback offer then and there. His favorites are:

Movie: Aladdin

Character: do star wars character count?

Park: DHS

Ride: Rock N Rollercoaster

Connor



Connor is 4-years-old (5 when we travel) and really only knows Disney (what’s a minion?) He is a little dare devil and didn’t shy away from any attraction (except Dinosaur because dinosaurs are scary) that he was tall enough to ride. I still am in disbelief that my little guy (3 at the time of his first trip) rode TOT. He is in preschool and enjoys being the oldest child.

Favorites include:

Movie: Frozen

Character: This changes daily but I’ll go with Jake

Park: Magic Kingdom

Ride: Winnie the Pooh and Peter Pan’s Flight

James



James is 2 and is living up to the terrible twos persona but can also be the sweetest child a minute later. I call him my sidekick and we do everything together. He also only knows Disney and absolutely loves it. I had to hide my Disney World photobook from our last trip because he looked at it so often the binding was coming loose. I am really excited to take him back because he was only 18 months old on our last trip and I know he’ll love it that much more now. Favorites:

Movie: Toy Story

Character: Mickey Mouse and Woody

Ride and Park: Don’t know yet

Nicholas



My little baby is only 4 months old at the time I am writing this. This will technically be his second trip since I was pregnant with him when we went in February. My only hope is that I can at least get him to know who Mickey is before we go.


Chapters
Eating and Sleeping

Getting There

Jedi Mickey and Darth Vader

Birthday Surprise

Must Do's

Discount Day

Ch-ch-changes

Travel Day Plans

May 10 & 11 Plans

May 12 &13

Be Our Guest

Another Trip?

May 14-16 Plans

FP+ Here I come

Fastpass+

DIY Projects

Birthday surprise & SWW plans

Feel the Force

Is this a mistake?

Magicbands

Day 1 Plans (Final)

Day 2 Plans (Final)

Day 3 Plans (Final)

Day 4 Plans (Final)

Day 5 Plans (Final)

Day 6 Plans (Final)

Day 7 Plans (Final)

DIY Projects take 2

One Week to go

4 days left

 

[Gracefulskinny]

Hi there! Looking forward to following along with your plans! Its fun to plan beside someone who has the same dates.

I can't believe that your little one rode TOT at 3 years old. DH is continually trying to convince me that Little Miss will be okay on it If she reaches the Height requirement in time.

 

[ashw100]

First, I feel I must include a little background for this trip. We went on our first family WDW trip in February 2014. I planned for a year, listened to a bazillion podcasts, lurked on Disney community forums, and read travel books and blogs. Planning is really half the fun for me. Joe and I decided that we would try to go to Disney every two years. I kept my Disney obsession fueled with aforementioned obsessions but it became too depressing by March. I put Disney on the back burner and focused on my two little guys and one on the way.

In August, a family friend asked me to help her plan her February 2015 trip and I was back into planning mode although, not for me. Then my SIL asked for help for her upcoming trip and I got that Disney fever. Suddenly, an idea popped into my head. James would still be free and Nicholas would be too if we went before August 2015. I started doing research on going the week of James’ third birthday. The prices weren’t horrible and I knew that if I cut out splurges like the family suit, dessert party, TS meals, and MM. I could definitely do it. Now, I just had to get Joe on board. As I said, Joe absolutely loved his first trip to Disney and I knew he wanted to go back. But, we are a one income family with three small children and he had a perception that Disney had to be expensive. With my money-saving ideas and paying for it mostly without his income (more on that later) I was ready to present my case.
He immediately shot it down. Apparently, he could go that week because of back to school shopping. His stupid job may pay the bills but they have HUGE block of time he can’t vacation. I would say more than 50% of the year he is not allowed to take time off. I wasn’t about to give up hope yet. I picked August because, it got us in under the wire of James turning three, gave me enough time to earn my money on the side, it’s an inexpensive time to go, and Connor wouldn’t have to miss school. This may sound silly because its preschool but, I feel extremely guilty taking him out of school. Oh well, not enough to ruin my dreams of returning. I picked the second week in May just to price it out and it ended up being the same price as the August trip. I double checked crowd calendars and everything was good there I just needed my $200 and I was good to go.


I have only been planning this trip for 3 months and it has already changed so much from what I originally planned. I have to say I am a big dreamer. As this trip was supposed to be our budget trip, I was trying to do things as economically as possible. We were only going for 5 days but then I saw that Friday could possibly be the first Star wars weekend day, I decided to extend it by one day. Then I realized our first day was mother’s day and we have to do an ADR for that on top of my two must ADRs I wanted to have. Well, at this point we had to get the dining plan, right? As you can see this is slowly starting to snowball. I re-price the trip with all the add-ons and it was still within what I could feasibly do. I decided to would book my dream budget vacation (I realize that sounds silly) and scale back when the time got closer if we couldn’t swing it. Now you may be asking yourself, how is she earning money if she doesn’t work. Well, I do odd things on the side that help me earn cash. I use money-making apps and swagbucks to put towards Disney. While it doesn’t exactly pay for Disney, it does take care of a huge chunk of it. The problem is I just never know exactly how much I can make so that is why I am aiming high but preparing for the worst case. So far I am doing a fairly decent job and have already put $500 down.

Ok now to some details.

Accommodations
Photo Courtesy of Google
I chose Pop based on all the great info I have gotten on it. It is very reasonably priced but slightly better than the All Stars. We will stay here for the first 5 nights. When I originally priced out the vacation it was just for those five nights and when I added on the 6th it was about $300 (this is with the dining plan)for the night. Well, I decided that I really don’t need the dining plan that night and if I was going to spend $300 either way I might as well stay deluxe. I realize this might make no sense to some people but just go with me here. So right now, I have only the first five nights at Pop booked. Once discounts come out I will a)book Yacht Club for one night (ease of access to DHS for Star Wars Weekend) b)book a night at Swalphin (same reasons as above) c)book a RO night at Pop or gasp off site. All this will really depend on what is available and if I can score a RO 30% discount. Only, time will tell with this one.

Dining
Planning my WDW dining is so exciting to me. Joe and I aren’t into really fancy dining, we like simpler cooking, but we do love food. Unfortunately, in order to stretch our dollar more this trip, I won’t be able to try all the yummy places I would like this trip. We are planning all buffet or family-style table service this time. It’s better for the boys because this dining is more entertaining than regular TS with the characters or little games they play. This is also more economical for us because James would have to order his own meal at a normal TS restaurant, he is way too big to be sharing from mommy and daddy's plate at 2 ½ . At a buffet or family-style he could eat “off our plate” and get a full meal. Nicholas won’t matter either way because he’ll still be eating baby food at this point.

The dining is getting a little confusing because I really want to do the Star Wars dining but or course they haven't announced this yet. This would be two credits so for now I have to book an extra dining in case we don't get this. I made my ADRs on November 11 and got everything I wanted and then some Here is what I have for now:

5/10 1900 Park Fare Dinner & TTDP for Connor and I (this is my Mother's Day gift)
Photo Courtesy of Google
5/11 pre-rd Crystal Palace & BOG dinner (not sure I will keep this one. Hopefully, I can get a lunch FP then, I will cancel.)


5/12 The Garden Grill dinner
Photo Courtesy of Google
5/13 Mama Melrose F! package

5/14 Ohana
Photo Courtesy of Google
5/15 lunch at H&V & Beaches N Cream for dessert after dinner

Photo Courtesy of Google
5/16 late breakfast at Chef Mickey's on departure day

 

[Gracefulskinny]

Good DIning choices. I see we have some that are similar but on different days.

 

[ashw100]

Hi there! Looking forward to following along with your plans! Its fun to plan beside someone who has the same dates.

I can't believe that your little one rode TOT at 3 years old. DH is continually trying to convince me that Little Miss will be okay on it If she reaches the Height requirement in time.

Thanks for joining. I was pretty shocked about TOT myself. My oldest is a thrill seeker and wanted to do everything. As a mom, its scary but I knew he would be safe and worst case he would be scared and wouldn't ride again.

Good DIning choices. I see we have some that are similar but on different days.

Thanks, I am pretty excited about a few of them.

 

[ashw100]

Seeing as this is supposed to be a budget trip, the only logical way to travel is by car. I was not super excited at this prospect. It is 20 hours to WDW and even if we did a bulk of the driving at night, we would still have about 6 hours to go once the boys woke up. I never considered flying because I knew this would kill my budget. I had budgeted $700 for gas, food, and a possible 2 hotel stays. When Southwest released their April/May flights I had to book for the 5 of us to go to Texas to visit my parents during spring break. This made me really want to see if I could get a flight to Orlando. I remembered that my husband had miles with Delta. His miles would cover most of the fees but, we would have to pay $500 out of pocket. This was a huge deal. Not only were we saving money but, saving a bunch of time as well. After discussing it with Joe, I went to book the trip. I sat on the computer for an hour picking the best flight options and re-calaculating. When I went to book, it wouldn’t let me use the miles. I read the rules on using miles and our trip was in line with that, there were no blackout dates, and before I went to purchase it told me how many miles I could use. I was so frustrated and it was midnight and I had to be up in 5 ½ hours for our ADR day. I decided to check Southwest just for fun and saw that they had flights to Tampa for $768. That just seemed too good to pass up, and I have found some amazing deals for a rental car under $200. To me it is definitely worth it to pay an extra $268 dollars and cut off hours of driving and add hours to our Disney vacation.

Joe is not too happy about having to fly. He hates to fly with the kids. They are pretty good on flights but it is definitely more stressful. We had a hard time navigating the airports with 4 suitcases, one car seat, and stroller, and a toddler for our trip last February. Now we have to add another child and car seat to the mix. There really is no easy way to travel with small children and, I think of all the options this is the easiest all things considered. We have a 6:05 flight out of Midway airport on Sunday, May 10. We live in Michigan so we will actually drive to Chicago the night before and stay at my in laws and have them drive us to the airport. Our flight gets in at 9:45. It will be an hour drive to Disney but, I built in cushion time. I hope to be at the resort by 12:30. Our flight out is not until 5:15 so we will have the early afternoon to spend at Magic Kingdom on departure day which, I hadn't counted on before I chose to fly.

 

[Gracefulskinny]

Yay for more Disney time!

Glad you could find a price that worked for you. I understand the gripes of an airport but 20 hours in car is rough. I think in your shoes I would make the same call.

 

[ursalita]

Hi there!

Congrats on booking a flight! What a timesaver.

Ooh, I love podcasts. That's one thing Disney-related that I haven't tried. Do you have any favorites you can recommend?

 

[ashw100]

Yay for more Disney time!

Glad you could find a price that worked for you. I understand the gripes of an airport but 20 hours in car is rough. I think in your shoes I would make the same call.

Thanks, it is so hard to decide what would be best. But less time traveling is always going to win out in my book. Husband, not so much, but with family living far away its something we have gotten used to.

Hi there!

Congrats on booking a flight! What a timesaver.

Ooh, I love podcasts. That's one thing Disney-related that I haven't tried. Do you have any favorites you can recommend?

Hi and welcome! Thanks I am super excited to not have to drive. I have to admit I listen to a ton of podcast. I started out with WDW Today which is my favorite. Other ones that I find informative, up-to-date, or humorous are Dis unplugged, WDW Radio, and Be our Guest. Be our Guest is a new one for me but they have trip reports every Monday which I really enjoy.

 

[ashw100]

Just a quick update today. My oldest has been very sick since Sunday, Dr. thinks he has mono . One thing that cheered me up was Star Wars dining opened for our trip. I have been really counting on getting this and jumped on the phone as soon as I heard. I replaced our Mama Melrose F! ADR with the Jedi Mickey F! package. I know Connor and Joe will just love this and I am so happy I was able to get it. I then excitedly told Joe about it and the Galactic breakfast and of course he wants to do that now. I booked the breakfast for May 15. I am not to sure about this one. It is really expensive for breakfast and I know that you can meet these characters out and about. Does anyone have an opinion about this? I know that we don't like waiting for characters and this would allow us to meet the big ones with no wait and, it also frees up time to meet some other characters. I am leaning towards keeping it but I just don't know.

I have also thrown out any idea of this being a budget trip. It is okay because I am just going to pare back the trip I was always planning to do in 2016. Two moderate trips are better than just the one big one I had planned for originally. I am just grateful to get to be going so much. I have many more plans to add to this PTR but this will have to do for now. Got to go take a temperature for the 500th time this week.

 

[Gracefulskinny]

Sorry to here about the sickie in the house! Sending well wishes his way.


As far as the breakfast goes I can only tell you why DH and I opted out of it.

First of all when we tried Sci- FI for lunch back in '13 we had a HORRIBLE time and both ended up sick afterwards. Neither of us are truly wanting to rush back and give them another chance.

Secondly and more relevant to the meal itself, Sci-fi is VERY dark inside. This makes it very hard to get the pictures with the characters. The only trip reports that I saw with halfway decent photos from that character breakfast last year were people with near professional level photography skills.

Add in that its about $50 a head for breakfast and DH and I both decided there were better ways to spend our time and money.

 

[ashw100]

Thanks he's on the mend do that's good. We seem to have the same thoughts about Sci-Fi. The one plroblem I have is that DH asked to do it. He so rarely requests someything and is happy to just go along with whatever anyone else wants. I would feel bad canceling the one thing he asked for so, after much thought I am going to keep it. It might not be the best but, I think he and Connor will enjoy it nonetheless. I just hope we don't get food poisoning

 

[ashw100]

Whew, it has been a week. Poor Connor came down with a nasty virus that kept him in bed for 4 days. That on top of a teething baby has made for one tired momma. The hightlight of the week was being able to score the Star Wars dining experiences.

I have been putting a lot of thought into how we are going to tell the boys about this trip. Last time, they had no concept of Disney World so, I told them we were going and introduced them to what exactly we were going to do. Now that the two oldest know what Disney World is and want to go back, I have decided to surprise them with this trip. I have also been considered incorporating birthdays into the trip. This trip will take place one month after Connor's fifth birthday, one month before Nicholas' first birthday, and three months before James' third. I contemplated celebrating all three but, Nicholas wouldn't know what is going on and James will be too far removed from his actual day so he won't get it either. Then, I got a bright idea we could celebrate Connor's birthday at WDW and give it to him as a surprise on his actual birthday. It kills two birds with one stone and it will be really special for Connor. Being the oldest and most independent child he sometimes receives the least attention. This trip will give us a chance to really focus on him for a change.

Another thing I have been considering is a resort change. I read a TR awhile back and it was family of five with three small children. I saw that they stayed at POP and it didn't look to bad. Obviously, when this was a "budget" trip POP was a good option. However, after seeing pictures of the rooms I just do not think we will be comfortable for 6 nights like that. The boys sleep with us at hotels and I don't think I'll get a very good night's sleep being crammed on the bed with Nicholas and James even as small as they are. I would ultimately love to stay in a room with a murphy bed. This leaves POR or CBR. I am having a hard time deciding which is better. Both seem to have similar problems as far as possible walking distance to main area and chance of no elevator. I have done CBR and so I would like to try something new but, I just don't know. Any feedback would be gratefully appreciated. I don't plan on changing anything until after discounts come out so I have some time to think about it.

I also bit the bullet and bought memory maker. I absolutely loved having it last time and think it is worth the money. I was originally going to do a share or do my own if they have the same package deal with MM free again. I did a share in October and it turned out to be a complete disaster. I just don't want to have to deal with thousands or picture from other people to get to mine. Thankfully, I purchased it the day before the price increase.

That's all for now folks

 

[Gracefulskinny]

I totally get the logic behind keeping the breakfast. I want to believe that the food issues were a fluke. And I never heard a horrible (food wise) review from the breakfast experience last year so maybe you'll luck out! We can only hope right?

Sounds like a rough week in Mommydom this past week. Gotta love when teething and an illness overlap. Kudos for still being able to hunt down ADRs while dealing with all that!

I love the idea of treating the trip as a birthday gift for Connor.

As far as the resorts go...We went with CBR because the beach is just an extra touch of magic and with the reno finishing up in early 2015 the rooms will be that much fresher. How funny if we end up at the same resort at the same time! Though you can't go wrong with either really. Both are beautiful resorts. The two stand out differences to me between them would be the brand new rooms and decor at CBR vs. The boat to DTD at POR.

For me I am just not a fan of the rustic vibe of the Alligator Bayou section at POR and the Overall look of the new rooms at CBR have me excited.

 

[ashw100]

Its like we share the same mind. I would love to try somewhere new but CBR is calling my name. The one thing I am nervous about is the renovation will not be complete and I will be stuck in a double bed room with the same problem as POP and I have to pay more. I think it may come down to a game of eeny meeny miney moe at this point. I would like the decision to be made by the first week of January when hopefully, discounts will be out. Thanks again for your input. It is nice to bounce ideas off another person. DH doesn't even know there are resorts called POR or CBR .

 

[Gracefulskinny]

Its like we share the same mind. I would love to try somewhere new but CBR is calling my name. The one thing I am nervous about is the renovation will not be complete and I will be stuck in a double bed room with the same problem as POP and I have to pay more. I think it may come down to a game of eeny meeny miney moe at this point. I would like the decision to be made by the first week of January when hopefully, discounts will be out. Thanks again for your input. It is nice to bounce ideas off another person. DH doesn't even know there are resorts called POR or CBR .

I was nervous too but apparently they are moving very quick with the reno. Apparently they are moving really quickly. From the reports I've been reading they are 75% done already. I don't think there will be any issue with the rooms not being done. If your worried you could put a request in for a newly referbed room with that many rooms already done they should be able to grant the request.

Here is the FAQ thread with a bunch a pics and info: http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=3348628

I totally understand. My DH tries to be helpful with his input but he's only useful once I've narrowed things down to 2-3 options with the clear pros and cons and my mind almost made up.

 

[yeheyprincex2]

hello, Just read your post and I have two boys 2&4 so we live very similar lives. I'm also a SAHM. I know the drama of plane travel with kids can be daunting, taking the car seats out, putting them in the rental but so worth it right?!
My boys have the travel bug like their parents so the love being on planes, staying in Hotels and going to new places.

I tried getting my DH to take a budget trip any time before December 2015 but he said no and now I have to wait a whole year before a next trip to WDW.

Sounds like you have done a lot of planning which of course we know cant be avoided, Star Wars week looks like a great time to be there.

 

[ashw100]

I was nervous too but apparently they are moving very quick with the reno. Apparently they are moving really quickly. From the reports I've been reading they are 75% done already. I don't think there will be any issue with the rooms not being done. If your worried you could put a request in for a newly referbed room with that many rooms already done they should be able to grant the request.

Here is the FAQ thread with a bunch a pics and info: http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=3348628

I totally understand. My DH tries to be helpful with his input but he's only useful once I've narrowed things down to 2-3 options with the clear pros and cons and my mind almost made up.

Thanks for the information. I spent a lot of time perusing the resorts boards. I still don't know. Ugh I guess this is a good problem to have.

hello, Just read your post and I have two boys 2&4 so we live very similar lives. I'm also a SAHM. I know the drama of plane travel with kids can be daunting, taking the car seats out, putting them in the rental but so worth it right?!
My boys have the travel bug like their parents so the love being on planes, staying in Hotels and going to new places.

I tried getting my DH to take a budget trip any time before December 2015 but he said no and now I have to wait a whole year before a next trip to WDW.

Sounds like you have done a lot of planning which of course we know cant be avoided, Star Wars week looks like a great time to be there.

Hi! Thanks for stopping by. Have you tried the free under three thing. My husband said no until I showed him much better it would be to have two for free. Of course, he still thinks this is a budget trip I am excited about SWW and the end of F&G should be a good time to visit.

 

[ashw100]

We're into week two of sickness at our house; this time its James. James has only wanted to lay in bed and cuddle with me so I have had lots of time to read TRs and think about our trip. I have noticed that some people make bucket lists for their trip and also some things on their TRs that I would like to do. Here is my list of top ten must do's for our trip.

1.) Ride every roller coaster
This is probably a no-brainer for some of you but, its important for me. There are two I haven't ridden yet, Barnstormer (don't laugh) and EE. Also, this might actually be a challenge as it requires the little boys sitting idle while we try to accomplish this.

2.) Eat a Dole Whip
I didn't have a must do list last time but, I had really wanted to try this. It just never happened so, I am making this a priority this time.

3.) Get an infamous alcoholic drink or two or three
The only times I have been to WDW I couldn't drink. First, only 13, second pregnant, and third one night for MNSSHP, no drinks to be had there. I have read all about the lapu lapu, Grand Marnier slush, and La Cava margaritas along with some others. I am not a big drinker but, I must try one of these or a drink from Trader Sam's if, that is open when we go.

4.) Ride the Magic Kingdom Railroad around the entire park.
Again, this might seem silly but, I love just being able to soak in the atmosphere of the park. This is a big reason TTA is one of my favorite rides. The train doesn't get much love but, I can't wait to sit back, relax and, view the Magic Kingdom from the perspective.

5.)View Wishes from Fantasyland.
Wishes is one of my favorite things, crowds are not. I have heard great things about seeing the fireworks from this perspective. I will miss the perfectly framed fireworks in front of the castle but, I am excited to try this.

6.) See Yeeha Bob
I have heard great things about his show and since I might stay at POR. this would be an excellent time to do this.

7.) Try a new food item, I wouldn't get at home.
I am not a very adventurous eater and if I want to try something new I am afraid I will waste money on something I hate. The great thing about having a million buffet restaurants booked, is that I will have an opportunity to try something at no additional cost to me. This food item will probably be something seafood related as, I don't eat much of it but, everything I have tried, I have enjoyed.

8.)Meet Gaston
The Gaston meet and greets I've heard about sound fantastic. I am a little weird about m&gs because I am an adult but, gosh darn I want to meet that guy.

9.) Get a picture of the boys facing partners statue or castle
I have seen this photo of other people's kids and it is adorable. Now, if only the boys will cooperate.

10.) Pin Trade
I think I will get some pins and lanyards for me and Connor and try to do some pin trading. Nothing serious, really just for fun.

There you have it, my Disney must do's. We'll see how many I accomplish. I am kind of excited at giving myself a little challenge for this trip.

 

[Gracefulskinny]

I am so with you on 2,4,5,8,10!

And we have joined you in the sick house department. DH is battling the Flu. I think we all need some pixie dust to get everyone well again. Tis the season I suppose.