The Lawson's Special Trip-September 22, 2010 through October 3, 2010

[MarriedToAPrince]

Welcome to The Lawson's Halloween Disney Pre-Trip Report for 2010

Cast:
Me: My name is Amie. I turned 29 in August. I am disabled/SAHM. On Halloween 2007 I was in a car accident with my DD, she was 4 weeks, 6 days old, and I fractured my spine. Since then I have had 2 years of lots of doctors appts, injections, therapy, medication, etc, etc, etc. I still live with constant pain which limits a lot of things. I also have problems with my hands which will make this report hard, but I will just take my time. Unfortunately I know that our trip will include lots of pain meds and a scooter rental, but I want to see the joy on my DD's face when she sees the castle for the first time. Prior to my accident and giving birth to my DD I worked in insurance and prior to that banking. I love buying clothes and dressing Chaeli up and she is a Gymboree Girl!

DH: His name is Jeremy. He will be 33 in February. He is a Senior Underwriter for one of the world's largest insurance companies. He works long and hard. He got his love of Disney from me! He also enjoys gardening, riding his ATV, and watching TV. Typical men activities. His favorite Disney character is Goofy.

DD: Her name is Chaeli. She will be 2 this coming Sunday. I cannot believe it! She is an amazing and precious little girl. We had a very long and hard road to have her which spanned years and also involved us losing three babies. All that made us extra thankful for her. She is spoiled but we also make her use manners and all that. She loves Wall-E, Nemo, Donald Duck, Dumbo, and all the Pooh Characters. Hey we trained her well! LOL

Here are some recent pics of us.
(I am not mad, was just trying to get a pic of my haircut and it was late.)

 

[MarriedToAPrince]

Well we are planning on going sometime in October 2010. We haven't set the dates in stone yet but we want to be there for the Halloween celebration and the Halloween Party. I finally convinced DH tonight that we needed to start planning and making lists of all the places we liked so that we can start narrowing down. I want to stay on a Monorail resort but DH says no he doesn't like any of those. I just think it would be easier with a 3 year old.

So the planning begins............

Oh and if anyone has any ideas, suggestions or things that make a trip easier and/or more enjoyable with a newly turned 3 year old, please post! I am always open to ideas.

 

[MarriedToAPrince]

So after reviewing resorts for several hours last night, see I told DH it would take a while to do this planning, we decided that we want to stay at Animal Kingdom Lodge at the Club Level Standard Room overlooking the savannah. We want a queen bed with bunks. We are looking forward to being able to have breakfest and dinner overlooking the savannah and to have access to the lounge and health club. We are both super excited as we have never stayed at a deluxe resort.

We have also decided to skip going to Universal and Harry Potter and staying onsite the entire time so we won't rent a car and use Magic Express.

 

[MarriedToAPrince]

YAY!!! Under a year till our trip!!!

So recently we were looking at costumes for the MNSSHP. DH wants to be the Mad Hatter, so I think I am going to try and find a Queen of Hearts costume that the skirt is short (just above the knee) length instead of the full costume so I am not dying of the heat! I know that will be hard because most of the ones I have found are "sexy" which is totally not my idea of a costume. Of course DD will be Alice in Wonderland. Now of course this could change over the course of a year, but just the fact that DH wants to dress us is amazing on of itself! So here are the pics of the ones we are thinking of getting.


http://www.disneystore.com/adult-costumes-mad-hatter-costume-for-men/p/1250822/13812/

I realize this is long pants and long sleeves but DH says that is what he wants. Who wants to place bets that half way through the night we are buying him shorts and a t-shirt? LOL

http://www.disneystore.com/girl-costumes-alice-in-wonderland-costume-for-girls/p/1250665/13811/

http://www.toysrus.com/product/index.jsp?productId=3263501

 

[MarriedToAPrince]

We might be doing a 9 day 8 night trip in May and changing this October trip to another 9 day 8 night trip!!!! OMG I am so excited!!!!

 

[MarriedToAPrince]

Well we have officially decided to aim for a May 2010 trip. We hope to leave May 15t for 10 days 9 nights. Our good friends are leaving the same day so that is why we are trying to plan for then.

We have pretty much decided we want to stay at Coronado Springs and make use of the $500 GC they are offering. We haven't booked yet because we need to settle my case from the car accident but we are picking everything out because it should happen pretty quickly.

On non Disney planning notes, we have starting potty training. It would be awesome for Chaeli to be out of diapers for the trip. Keep your fingers crossed! The holidays were amazing with her and she completely understood what was going on. She was spoiled greatly by everyone. We had to rearrange the living room to make room for all her new toys! LOL

 

[MarriedToAPrince]

So I found out today you don't have to have your trip booked to book your ADR's, which is awesome!!! So Jeremy and I are going to start picking them out to get them booked.

So far I am thinking that on Day 1 we will not do any parks and maybe swim/nap if the room is ready and then head to DD and hit the dinosaur restaurant for some food and let Chaeli build a dino. She loves dinos, especially with the new PBS show called Dinosaur Train. After that I think we will just wander and hit some shops.

So for restaurants the only ones I know I definietly want are Crystal Palace and Le Cellier, well actually Jeremy wants Le Cellier, I can take it or leave it. I am not a big meat eater.

 

[cmp1111]

Great beginnings!

I'm just going to pop this over to the pre-trip board. Once you've gone, I can merge or move it back!

I'm sure your DD will be SO happy!

 

[MarriedToAPrince]

Great beginnings!

I'm just going to pop this over to the pre-trip board. Once you've gone, I can merge or move it back!

I'm sure your DD will be SO happy!

Thanks so much! Sorry I started it in the wrong area.

 

[cmp1111]

Thanks so much! Sorry I started it in the wrong area.

Not a problem at all!

Good luck with the potty training. I have twins - one got it immediately and one required major bribing so that he could actually attend preschool. If she "gets" it, you should be on the right track!

 

[MarriedToAPrince]

Not a problem at all!

Good luck with the potty training. I have twins - one got it immediately and one required major bribing so that he could actually attend preschool. If she "gets" it, you should be on the right track!

Thanks! So far she is doing great! It's crazy how twins can be so different.

 

[MarriedToAPrince]

So we have made some ADR's and started the itinerary. I LOVE the online booking!!! OMG that is awesome.

So far we are going to
Yak & Yeti
The Crystal Palace
Donald's Safari Breakfast
50's Prime Time Cafe
Maya Grill
Le Cellier
T'Rex

We might not even book anything else and just play it by ear since these are the only places we really want to eat, but we will see.

I am so excited for Chaeli to have some character dining experiences....I just hope she isn't afraid of them!

 

[MarriedToAPrince]

Okay we had to make some changes. Unfortunately our financial situation hasn't gone as hoped so we won't be able to go until this fall, but that is okay because that means a longer trip, a deluxe villa and Chaeli's 3rd birthday!!!

So we are going to go September 22, 2010 through October 3, 2010. We are planning on staying at a studio villa at the Beach Club Resort.

We are going to leave after Chaeli gets out of school on the 22nd. She starts preschool this fall and it is a private preschool that we are paying for so we don't want her to miss too much. The flight we are planning on taking leaves at 3:10pm and we arrive in Orlando after 6pm so we don't want to plan anything for that evening.

We have already made ADR's for 9/23 at Playhouse Disney’s Play n’ Dine at Hollywood & Vine in Hollywood Studios. We are going to do lunch. We also have ADR's at Les Chef de France in Epcot for dinner on 9/24. Can't make more ADR's until tomorrow. I am making them right away to get the place and time we want.

We are getting more and more excited with each passing day. I cannot wait to take our little princess to Disney!

Oh and she is such a Disney nut that at 2 1/2 years old she can read Disney and Walt Disney World! No hiding anything from her!

 

[MarriedToAPrince]

We now have T-Rex, BBB, and Crystal Palace booked! I am so excited to be taking my little princess to BBB for her birthday!! She is going to have so much fun! I booked the Castle Package so she can get her dress and accessories too,