What I learned today!

[wdwmom0f3]

I hope that you and your family have the most magical vacation ever. I am also looking forward to your trip report!!

Tell Mickey I'll see him in 20 days!!

 

[pilferk]

I remember when you STARTED this thread!!!

I can't believe your trip is FINALLY HERE! Have a great time, I'll DEFINITELY be following the excitement on twitter. Can't wait to read/see how the kids react. I know how OUR 3 reacted when we've surprised THEM with trips. It's SOOO much fun.

Tell Mickey the Norway's say "Hi", and we'll see him in a few weeks, ourselves!

 

[kidsrfun]

In Less than 24 Hours we will be on a plane bound for Orlando Florida and The Most Magical Place on Earth!

I can't believe it is here! Today is bittersweet. No more waiting while at the same time something that has become a big part of my life is no longer necessary. The kids still don't really have a clue what we are up to. They see the flurry of activity and I am sure they are wondering what is up. I have been dropping hints for months now. We go on Disney's website every couple of days and Sophie sees Cinderella's Castle and I ask her if she would like to go there someday. She of course would love to! Well tomorrow her dream comes true! Noah and I have spent countless hours on youtube watching fireworks and the different rides and shows and he already has some favorites.

There isn't really a tip today. It's too late for all that. We have made our lists and checked them twice. I have constructed and reconstructed hundreds of touring plans. We have made and cancelled no less that 20 different ADR's and have settled on our seven. I have measured each of them probably 100 times and it is clear that they are going to have a problem with there respective height challenges (Sophie 40" and Noah 44") We will try a few I guess but I just don't see it happening. I need to run and get some new socks, I know, beware of that. Anything new that has to do with the feet prior to the marathon walk that is Disney World is probably a bad idea. But my months old socks are less than form fitting these days and I think new ones will actually be better for the tootsies.

My post today is the most sincere Thank You I Can Muster to everyone that helped get my head straight and helped me plan this trip. Without all of you we would be just be lemmings wondering around a strange place, waiting in lines, and melting in a sweltering heat. Like I said when I started this thread, I wanted to add value to the board, I hope that this thread has done that. I hate to say it but when we get back life will return to "normal" and aside from posting our trip report and maybe some reviews of the experiences I will probably not be around much until the next go round.

So to my disboard friends I again say Thank You and I hope that we get to do this all over again in the near future.

P.S. Don't forget if you are interested to check out my tweets. www.twitter.com/jamieguffey I will be twitpic'ing all week or until I ruin my phone by forgetting to put it in the baggy before we go on splash mountain.

Thank you for all of your tips!! It's been great following... especially since we'll be in Disney in less than 24 hours also!! I can't believe it!! We leave for CT today, stay overnight, and our plane takes off from BDL at 650am!! Ahhhh!!

I'll also be twittering from the parks! I'll send updates when I can. I'm mslaurieshouse. I'm not sure how to put a pic on twitpic, but i'm going to give it a try!

 

[Piglets Mommy]

Jamie, Have a MAGICAL time!!!

 

[lexmelinda]

Have a wonderful time, Jamie!

Thanks again for compiling all this info. I have sent all my first-timer friends a link to the thread. It's a must-read in my opinion.

See you on Twitter!

 

[Mom2Elliot]

I have so enjoyed reading your tips and I hope you and your family have a wonderful first trip!!

 

[jennyraye]

Have your kids take a deep breath when they are being measured--tends to make them stand up a little taller--from what I hear.

We're heading out for our youngest's first trip in less than a month (driving). He doesn't know yet (he's 6) but has been talking about it for months! I've so appreciated all your tips!

Looking forward to hearing how it went.

Here's wishing all the magic in The World for your family!

 

[PrncessA]

Have a great time!!!

 

[qcmommy]

Have a safe and magical trip

 

[DisneyLiz44]

I have enjoyed reading your tips. Thank you! Have a great vacation!

 

[Marquibiri]

Have a wonderful trip! I am looking over all of your tips for my December trip.

Marquibiri

 

[mrstomrice]

Have a great time! You have prepared yourself, as well as countless others, well for this trip! At least you won't ask the following questions that I was asked during my visit last week: How much are fast passes, how far ahead do I need to make reservations for Ohana/Crystal Palace/Le Cellier (one smart CM saud "90 days"), and my favorite MK question....where are all of the rides?
Can't wait for the trip report...please post here when you return!
PS...not sure if it is in your plans...stop by the barber shop for your Mickey head...such a hit this trip! Your son will love it!

 

[cuches]

Holy COW this was great advice! Just found this board and thread and so far one of the bestest!!! I have about 3 weeks to go and wish I had known about this for last years trip.

 

[jamieguffey]

Even though I am a seasoned Disney visitor, I have been following your tips and found them very helpful! I hope you have a wonderful trip.

Completely off the track question...I see you have a son named Noah and we are considering that name for our child but can't find a middle name we like. Does he have one and what is it if you don't mind me asking?

Noah James (after his grandpa or daddy). Just name him after the DH and it is easy.

 

[run4me]

Great information, Have a great trip

 

[DianaLeslie]

The Fast Pass machines were still in AK on Sunday(8/22).

Ds and I walked pass them.


Get the Fast Passes for Toy Story Mania first thing DHS morning. Do not wait, do not pass go. Hell leave the wife and kids at bag inspection and RUN.

Ds and I got over to the TSM FP not 10 minutes after park opening and our return time was almost 1.


**

My tip is if you are ready to eat and your ADR isn't for a while yet to just try checking in early anyway. We checked in early for all but two restaurants. And were seated early at all of them, which was lovely ( cause a few times we were starved). Only one got snippy with the girls showing up 20 minutes early and told them they could only check in 10 minutes before their time. (We checked in with Ohana almost an hour in advance and were still seated right away.)

 

[lexmelinda]

Is anybody besides me wondering how this trip turned out?

 

[PrncessA]

Is anybody besides me wondering how this trip turned out?

Yep

 

[joy13]

He posted his Twitter earlier in the thread and it looks like he did twitter on his trip:

http://twitter.com/jamieguffey

 

[jamieguffey]

Day 1-Travel Day-Saturday 8/22/09


As you might have read I was up until around 3am Friday Night. The juices were flowing and I was way too excited to go to sleep...Not to mention I work Third Shift and it is next to impossible to get to sleep anyway. Unfortunately, Just about the time I dosed into full on REM sleep it was time to wake up. The good news is one beep on the alarm (my wife telling me to get up) was all it took and I was up and at 'em! Our plane left at 8:00am for Orlando so we needed to be at the airport by 6:30am. The car was all loaded up (another good thing about the insomnia from the night before). We dressed the kids while they slept and put them in the car. From that point forward everything went perfectly! We got to the airport, got our bags checked, got on the plane and it left about 15 minutes early! When we landed everything could not have been more simple. Magical Express was truly magical. I had my little blue book of vouchers so there was no checking in at the desk it was straight into line. We waited a total of maybe 20 minutes and we were on the bus to the resort. Once again everything was perfect! It was before 12pm and the room was already available. We took our checked bags up to the room and settled in. As expected the room at the All Star Movies was small but clean! The only complaint I really had was that the bed was barely big enough to be consider a FULL. Being NFL Offensive Lineman sized my feet hung off the end and Sophie just fit in the space that was left over.

The size of the bed did not however stop me from passing out the minute I put my head on the pillow. Understanding my need for a brief nap my DW put the kids in their bathing suits and took them to the pool. Which in retrospect was a GREAT way to welcome them to Disney World. According to the unofficial guide around 80% of children say the best thing about going to Disney World was swimming at the pool and my kids certainly would agree with that statement. Two hours later (some "nap") I was awoke by a knock at the door. It was our luggage arriving right on schedule. After receiving our luggage I passed out again for another "nap". This one actually qualified. The family returned from the pool about 30 minutes later and my wife had our Garden Grocer order with her. We unpacked the groceries, got the kids ready and headed out to Magic Kingdom!

It was EVERYTHING I had imagined. Main St. was beautiful and the Castle was amazing. We jumped on the WDW RR took a trip around to Mickey's Toontown Fair. We didn't have a whole lot of time (daddy slept it all away) so we looked around Minnie and Mickey's house and browsed a couple of shops. Sophie got to be in a celebration parade and it was time to head out for Dinner.

Trails End was nothing special really. The food was good not great and the atmosphere was exactly as described on allears.net. The plan was to stick around after dinner and do the campfire and the EWP but it was clear that the family was done for the night. (They didn't get a 3 hour nap during the day.) I wasn't complaining even with my nap I was working off of 5 hours sleep over the course of two days so I was done as well.

We headed back to the room and I cleaned up for bed by taking a quick dip in the pool. (I was born in Ohio but the roots are all redneck!)

Summing up our first day, I would have to say it went even better than planned. All of the advice, everything I learned on here, on the web, and in the guidebooks was EXACTLY right on! There wasn't one surprise anywhere! (Except for my surprise siesta!)