1 Child and 10 Adults--A GG to Celebrate DD's 4th Bday :) TR Link is Posted

[Charlefours]

Sorry I got them mixed up! Hope that didn't offend you. I just know how it is to want to do something a certain way for your family and have "other" opinions on what should be done......

I think doing a breakfast/dinner TS combo on one day would be fine. Especially since you would probably be doing 1900 PF for character interaction mostly (I've heard their food is just "ok"). For your DD the character interaction is probably a big "to do" so eating at those places would get some of that out of the way.

My family has stayed at POR twice.....in '99 and in '06. We stayed in Alligator Bayou in "99 and that is the location where the trundle beds are. In '06 we stayed in Magnolia Bend and I liked AB much better. Our room was VERY close to parking (a plus if you drive....your car will be right there). We had a 60 sec walk to the bus stop (through the bushes)...I will have to look at a map and let you know what building we were in. DTD is only a boat ride away and the boat ride is very relaxing! I was 18 when we went in '99 and I slept on the trundle bed...I don't remember anything bad about it except it was right by the ac unit so I got cold at night (the plus to that was my parents snore.....both of them....loud and the humm from the ac kinda drowned them out!).

I believe that sometime this month reservations move from 90 days out to 180 days out so maybe the park hours will be posted earlier too! You might look at this years September calendar and see when Wishes usually is I wouldn't think they would change things like that around too much year to year it would at least give you a good estimate!

oh no, you did not offend me in the least. Quite the opposite in fact--I was b/c how appropriately it fit both. DGM is not overbearing normally, she just has strong opinions about Disney!

I think the trundle will work out well for DD--I cannot believe you sleep on one when you were 18! I thought they were smaller than a traditional trundle. I forgot about the boat ride--that will be nice!

They are moving back things to 180 days, including supposedly the park calendars. I guess from past experience, I have read that they have played with going back and forth but I am hoping they keep the 180 days. I know there are a couple set days so to speak of things but we are fairly flexible in what we do.

I think I will see if there is a pattern available on the calendars, if not I guess I will just have to wait!

 

[Charlefours]

The great debate: how do we get to WDW? When I first started planning this trip (back in January ), we did not have our minivan. So I began to price out flights and car rentals as we did not have a car big enough to get us there with all of our stuff. It was so expensive to do either but even at this point we were leaning towards driving by renting a mid or full size car.

Well, in June with the announcement of the Chrysler dealers closing up locations all around us, we decided to check out a minivan we came across one of the closing dealer’s website. We did not like it but luckily for us, one that had not even been on the lot for a day was available for us to test drive. It had everything we wanted! It has a built in DVD player, dual climate control, fold down seats—just perfect!! It is technically a little big for day-to-day happenings but it is so nice not to have to borrow a larger vehicle we need it. The first time we went to Ikea to pick something up—we marveled at the space and not having to figure how to get it home!

So, the long story short—we are driving down to WDW from Michigan in our minivan. We will be breaking the drive up into manageable chunks for both DH (he will do most of the driving) and DD so she is not stuck in the car too much.

Tentative Driving Plan :
• Wednesday, September 8th: Drive to my sister’s home in Indianapolis area (DH may take a half day or full day off from work)
• Thursday, September 9th: Leave mid morning to drive down to my Dad’s home in southern Indiana. Stay the evening—go to bed early so we can wake up early!!
• Friday, September 10th: Leave between 5 and 6 a.m. [ugh face] Drive to southern Georgia—we are thinking the Valdosta area is where we would like to stop. From his house, it will take about 9 hours of driving time—so 11 to 12 hours with stops. Does anyone know any nice hotels in this area?
• Saturday, September 11th: Sleep in until 9:00 take off for WDW!!!! I am hoping we can reach POR by 2:00. From Valdosta area it will take about three and half hours. Should be doable to get there by then.

What do you think? Are we crazy? If the above schedule works out, we should only have one long day of driving. Driving straight to my dad’s home would make for two long days back-to-back which we thought would be difficult.

As a side note: we have driven from Michigan to NC several times, which took us about 12 hours or so with stops to get to DBF’s home. DD does really well in the car—as long as she gets one good nap in we should be good.

The others in the GG:
• MIL, FIL and BIL will be traveling down together—also driving down. They plan to take two days, stopping around Kentucky and then meeting up with us in southern Georgia so we can travel together on Saturday.
• DGM, DGP will be flying down Saturday morning from Ohio and DBF and her DH will be flying down from NC.

So there you have it, 11 people’s traveling plans to get to WDW. Hmm, are the plans going to change or will they stay the same? Only time is going to tell…

Up Next: Extra expenses? Whatcha talking about?

 

[longing2Batdisney]

Sounds like a very good plan! Congrats on the minivan! we drove straight through in May! what should have taken us about 9/10 hrs (we thought 10.5/11 hrs)took us 12 hrs...(but, Danny forgot his wallet and added 2 hrs to our travel time). we stopped at all the BIG rest areas for Ashton to run around! we had his DVD player and several easy to play with toys!!! HE did great!!! (the year before we went to Gatlinburg 10 hr ride--he was horrible--no DVD player and was still nursing at the time--HE HATED IT!). Anyway, if you have entertainment and stops to stretch and run she should do wonderful!

 

[Charlefours]

I must be really boring since hardly no one is reading or commenting on my PTR, but I am going to keep posting anyways. It is serving as a way to get thoughts of my head, otherwise I am up way too late or consumed by them. I will be adding a posting here shortly about extra expenses (shh--they are gifts!) and then also a character sighting list that I am hoping to catch while we are there.

See you in a bit...

 

[Lamping3]

I am still here! I usually catch up on my subscribed threads on my Iphone at my lunchtime. But it is such a pain to post I wait until I get some time on the actual computer....which ends up being about once a week!

Seriously get that "The Next Exit" book I told you about earlier! It will help you find a hotel in Valdosta. You can look at the exit and see what else is located there and kinda figure out if it will be a nice area or not. (Someone gave me a tip somewhere that if there is a Starbucks at the exit that it is probably a pretty safe area!) If you can't find it at your local Barnes and Noble...google it and it brings up their website that you can order the book directly from.

I think we had planned on staying at the Laquinta in Valdosta at one time.....our plans changed so much while we were still driving. I don't remember if it was a decent location or not...I will look into it and get back to you!

 

[Charlefours]

I am still here! I usually catch up on my subscribed threads on my Iphone at my lunchtime. But it is such a pain to post I wait until I get some time on the actual computer....which ends up being about once a week!

Seriously get that "The Next Exit" book I told you about earlier! It will help you find a hotel in Valdosta. You can look at the exit and see what else is located there and kinda figure out if it will be a nice area or not. (Someone gave me a tip somewhere that if there is a Starbucks at the exit that it is probably a pretty safe area!) If you can't find it at your local Barnes and Noble...google it and it brings up their website that you can order the book directly from.

I think we had planned on staying at the Laquinta in Valdosta at one time.....our plans changed so much while we were still driving. I don't remember if it was a decent location or not...I will look into it and get back to you!

I am planning to head up to Barnes and Nobles on Friday for some study time but I think I will take a break to see if I can find The Next Exit. Yay! I am so glad you are still reading.

 

[Charlefours]

I am not sure how it started—probably a suggestion of mine! As a thank you gift for our family who have decided to make the trip with us—we are giving them a few things and then they are getting a big treat (at least in my opinion).

For the ladies of the trip: Lilian absolutely LOVES dolls. As my treat to the ladies and Lilian, we will be going to the My Disney Girls Perfectly Princess Tea Party. I think it will be a great time! No one has done it before so it is going to a first experience for everyone . DD loves dressing up and having “tea parties” so I think this will be adorable. Has anyone done this before?? I hear the package that the girls get is phenomenal.

For the gentlemen of the trip: Allyn is taking them golfing—something we did the first time we went to Disney. Allyn had a great time even though he does not get to go golfing too often. I think for the holidays, I would like to get him a driving range pass so we can practice and then we can go mini golfing when it warms back up to practice putting. Not the same I know, but still lots of fun!

We are hoping we can get these two events to overlap together. I am anticipating for Wednesday morning to be this. The girls will get to sleep in and dress up than head over to the GF for the tea party. The guys can get up early and go play golf and eat lunch together, probably at the clubhouse. I am planning (tentatively) for us to meet back up at the hotel and then head off to park in the afternoon. It should be a great way to spend the morning/lunchtime!!

Other gifts I am considering:
• Mickey ears with their relationship to DD on them (i.e. Mommy, Daddy, etc) as a special treat to remember the trip with—a visual reminder besides pictures
• I am also considering one of the reusable shopping totes. I think it would be a cute and fun way for them to package up any purchases they might make to take home. We have one and it is great! They are nice and sturdy and can be cleaned if something spills on it (or in it).

So those are the extra expenses. They have been added to the budget so we are planning on them.

Up Next: You Whooo, Where are you? Characters we will be on the hunt to see.

 

[PixieDustPrincess05]

I finally made it over to your PTR!!! Wow your plans sound really exciting!!!! I think that is great that you are doing a GG with your family. I have never stayed at POR or POFQ- although I am did stay a CBR back in 1990- I do not remember too much of it though. We usually do the value resorts because we do spend most of our time in the parks. But any of the PO resorts sound great- then again, any place on WDW property is great!!!

We are also sooooooo hoping for free dining- it will determine how many days we go for. If it is not offered, we will only be staying for 4 days/3 nights-however, if it is offered, we will be staying for 6 days/5 nights. We used the regular DDP last August, and we liked it (the QSDP was not out yet- I used that this past June on my short girls getaway to wdw and loved it), but I did not like being tied down to reservations. So, when we go back, we will be using the QSDP.

Can't wait to hear more.......

 

[longing2Batdisney]

I really like the idea of the tea party and the golfing morning/lunch that sounds like a great deal of fun!!!
the gifts sound like a great idea too; I really like the bag! I bought one for the little girl I watch for her bday its great!!!
Have a great weekend!

 

[Lamping3]

I have read about the tea party and it sounds lovely! I do think the girls get a lot of loot there. I can't wait until Amelia is old enough to do things like that!

The packages for the ears are on Disneyfloral.com. As I said in my PTR everything is a little pricey. I am sure if you called Disney directly you could get them sent to you beforehand and make up your own baskets and then just have the hotel put them in the rooms.

 

[Charlefours]

I finally made it over to your PTR!!! Wow your plans sound really exciting!!!! I think that is great that you are doing a GG with your family.

We are also sooooooo hoping for free dining- it will determine how many days we go for. So, when we go back, we will be using the QSDP.

Can't wait to hear more.......

I am glad you made it over to my little PTR. We are excited to go--I think the planning is almost as fun as being there! I actually got DH to discuss it some last night--shocking!

I will have to let you know if the GG is great Right now I think it is going to be stressful, but I am trying to keep in mind that I am planning the trip for DD not everyone else.

I am curious about the QSDP--shhh....don't tell DH but I think I want to go back in May and stay at value with QSDP before I begin my PhD program. I am waiting to spring that trip on him after we see how DD does in September.

I really like the idea of the tea party and the golfing morning/lunch that sounds like a great deal of fun!!!
the gifts sound like a great idea too; I really like the bag! I bought one for the little girl I watch for her bday its great!!!
Have a great weekend!

Thanks!! I think the tea party will be such a great time. DD LOVES playing tea party. I like the bags too but DH thinks we should probably drop them. I guess we will wait and see. Those are the things that I can hold off on (unless I get some amazing offer via email from Disney store ). For now, they are in the budget but we can take them out because no one knows about them but us!!

I have read about the tea party and it sounds lovely! I do think the girls get a lot of loot there. I can't wait until Amelia is old enough to do things like that!

The packages for the ears are on Disneyfloral.com. As I said in my PTR everything is a little pricey. I am sure if you called Disney directly you could get them sent to you beforehand and make up your own baskets and then just have the hotel put them in the rooms.

I am looking forward to taking Lilian to the tea party! I will definitely report about it in my TR. I priced out the ears through just the Disney store since you can order them online too. DH is thinking we should ditch those for everyone but the three of us or DD herself. I have not specifically looked at the ears on Disneyfloral but I know they are super expensive from your PTR and just browsing myself. I really want to get balloons delivered for her birthday--but they are pretty expensive.

Just now thinking about it some more, I like the idea of ditching the ears because no one would even wear them while we were down there and probably just toss them aside when they get home. I now like the idea of just holding off and letting DD (and me since I do not have a pair yet ) pick them out the first day since we are planning on hitting up MK our first afternoon/night. It would drop $200 off our budget so I would probably keep the bags (they are relatively inexpensive) with the shirts. What do you all think?

everyone for reading my PTR!! It is nice having people to chat with about our mutual obsession with Disney

 

[Charlefours]

One of the biggest things I am looking forward (among the many ) is having Lilian meet her favorite characters for the first time. She has seen many pictures here on DIS to see that the characters are larger-than-life to a small person such as her. I keep reassuring there is no reason to be afraid of the characters—they will love her. I am planning on trying to pull videos on YouTube but I may not because she is really interested in seeing the pictures from the TRs. (a future DISer in the making). I will be carrying a master list of all characters we are interested in meeting with me in the parks. The plan would be for me to check off when we meet one so I will not have to constantly flip back through the autographs if exhaustion sets in by the end of the week and I cannot remember whom we have met. Here is the working list thus far:

• Princesses (and their Princes if possible)

o Cinderella​

o Sleeping Beauty (aka Beauty according to my DD)​

o Belle​

o Jasmine​

o Mulan​

o Pocahontas—is she even out anymore?​

o Fairy Godmother​

o Tiana, as I anticipate she will make an appearance at the parks once her movie is released​

• Tinkerbelle and the other fairies

• Mickey and the Gang

o Mickey ​

o Minnie ​

o Daisy​

o Donald ​

o Goofy ​

o Pluto ​

o Professor Von Drake—which I am pretty sure he is not out, but DD does mention him​

o Chip and Dale​

o Pete​

• Playhouse Disney besides MMC

o My Friends Tigger and Pooh​

o Pooh ​

o Darby (and Buster)—DD would flip at the chance to meet her, is she even out?​

o Tigger​

o Piglet​

o Eeyore​

o Handy Manny (and tools?)​

o Little Einsteins​

o Leo​

o Annie​

o Quincy​

o June​

• Other characters

o Mary Poppins​

o Marie from Aristocats--are any of the others out?​

o Sorcerer Mickey—DHs favorite! ​

o Alice​

o Cars characters​

o Possibly Woody and Buzz, though she has not seen Toy Story yet​

Throughout the trip we will also be on the lookout for Hidden Mickeys. I like to hunt for them as does several of the other adults on the trip. DD will not be looking for them though, but hidden…..Toodles!! She LOVES seeing what we would think of the famous mouse’s head silhouette, but instead calls out look its Toodles!! So we will be on the lookout for Toodles too.

Up Next: Yummy in my Tummy--Eating while at Disney

 

[leamom2princesses]

Hi there! Followed you over from another thread. You've got a great PTR started. Your DD is too cute!

We have 2 princesses and have done BBB 4 times. If you have any questions just let me know. My girls absolutely love it. Unfortunately my oldest is starting to outgrow it. I will still be able to experience it through the little one though. BTW, she turned four on Sept. 26 so our DD's are really close in age.

We've stayed at CBR twice now and enjoyed it both times-what a beautiful resort. We also stayed at POFQ but not POR. Some friends travelling with us stayed at POR and they really liked it if that helps...well it probably didn't...

 

[Charlefours]

Hi there! Followed you over from another thread. You've got a great PTR started. Your DD is too cute!

to my little PTR! Thank you


We have 2 princesses and have done BBB 4 times. If you have any questions just let me know. My girls absolutely love it. Unfortunately my oldest is starting to outgrow it. I will still be able to experience it through the little one though. BTW, she turned four on Sept. 26 so our DD's are really close in age.

I would LOVE to know someone's experience with BBB. Which package have you gotten in the past? We are excited to take our DD down for her first visit. What does your three year old think of it?


We've stayed at CBR twice now and enjoyed it both times-what a beautiful resort. We also stayed at POFQ but not POR. Some friends travelling with us stayed at POR and they really liked it if that helps...well it probably didn't...

I think we will be ok at POR. I still sometimes wish I stuck to my guns and booked us at CBR but that's ok--there is always another trip! We liked POFQ too so hopefully we will feel the same about POR. Secretly, I am wishing for a pin code to upgrade us to WL but I highly doubt that is going to happen! I can always dream though!

I am off to see your PTR though it may not happen until tomorrow!

 

[leamom2princesses]

I think we will be ok at POR. I still sometimes wish I stuck to my guns and booked us at CBR but that's ok--there is always another trip! We liked POFQ too so hopefully we will feel the same about POR. Secretly, I am wishing for a pin code to upgrade us to WL but I highly doubt that is going to happen! I can always dream though!

I am off to see your PTR though it may not happen until tomorrow!

We've done the castle package all four times. Some people bring their own dress and get the hair and make up which would totally be fine also. I loved watching my 3 year old's eyes light up when they opened the fitting room door and her shoes, dress, and wand were lying there. The pictures have always turned out nicely too so to me it's worth the extra $$. We've used the dresses again at princess birthday parties and Halloween so we definitely get our $$ worth out of them. Josie ( my youngest) loved it and is already chatting about doing it again...which we will.

I'll keep my fingers crossed that you get a pin code. I got one last week and have been really excited as we are staying at the Poly (40%). They Poly is my dream resort.

 

[Charlefours]

We've done the castle package all four times. Some people bring their own dress and get the hair and make up which would totally be fine also. I loved watching my 3 year old's eyes light up when they opened the fitting room door and her shoes, dress, and wand were lying there. The pictures have always turned out nicely too so to me it's worth the extra $$. We've used the dresses again at princess birthday parties and Halloween so we definitely get our $$ worth out of them. Josie ( my youngest) loved it and is already chatting about doing it again...which we will.

I'll keep my fingers crossed that you get a pin code. I got one last week and have been really excited as we are staying at the Poly (40%). They Poly is my dream resort.

Woo-hoo about the pin code!! You give me hope--I will be fine staying at POR but I would LOVE to stay at a deluxe.

We are planning on doing the whole kit and kaboodle with DD. I think it will be really special. She loves playing dress up here at home so it would be used for that and Halloween afterwards.

 

[Charlefours]

Instead of doing a really long post, I have decided to break this up in three parts, so please stick around for the other parts!

Post name comes from DD—she loves saying yummy in my tummy while rubbing it when she is excited about what she is eating. So cute!

A little background: Our first trip to Disney world was amazing. We were lucky because we ate some of the better restaurants when we went on our first trip. We had a few ho hum meals—nothing to write home about but overall they were great! So needless to say, with our first trip being so great food wise, we have a lot of expectations for this time around too. This, however, was before the advent of the DDP.

I have to say I am excited about the prospects of using the DDP because we can essentially prepay for the bulk of our food so that is good. I am a little weary because I know the ADRs can be hard to come by now with the DDP being so incredibly popular PLUS traditionally, the time period we are going they offer the free DDP making ADRs that much harder to get. However, we will be planning meals with DD in mind. She is not a picky eater overall but she definitely has her favorite foods.

I am also considering the fact that we are a GG and there is a possibility (probably a BIG one) that we will be eating together once a day. I should also mention that everyone is on the DDP. As such, I want to consider buffets because they would allow everyone to appease their palate and appetite hopefully. Am I crazy wrong in thinking this? I also want to do several character meals with DD because the next time we come we may be more inclined to do the QSDP for something different and not be SO dependent on ADRs and specific times to be somewhere to eat.

Favorite foods of the primary cast:

• DD: Pasta, pancakes, eggs, macaroni and cheese, meatloaf muffins, chicken nuggets, fruit--strawberries, apples, bananas, grapes, peaches, pears—she likes them all, roast, chicken, mashed potatoes and breadsticks with dipping sauce. She likes pizza too but it depends on what kind and if we order out, where we order it. She also LOVES sweets—ice cream, cake (mainly the frosting though it depends on the cake), cool whip, pudding and chocolate. We will eat a sweet treat maybe once a week so eating out with dessert included on the DDP will definitely be a BIG treat for her.

• DH: Seafood, steak, waffles, chinese and subs. He likes sweets but mainly pie and cake are his favorite though he has never been known to turn down fresh cookies either!

• Me: Chicken, salads, pasta but my absolute favorites are soups and stews. Yummy! My favorite sweets: cheesecake and Tiramisu. Overall I am not a huge sweet eater but I do like them occasionally (what girl doesn’t?).

The next part will give the listing of the Character Meals and TS restaurants we are looking at wanting to get ADRs at while at Disney.

 

[Charlefours]

With all that build up, without further ado, here is the tentative list we are considering:

Character Meals:

*Crystal Palace (I really like the idea of trying for a before-the-park-opens breakfast ADR so we can almost empty Main Street shots.

*Tusker House has crept up on my radar after reading several TRs’ glowing review, specifically Donald’s Safari Breakfast.

*Akershus--breakfast with the princesses, DD will be in heaven!

*1900 Park Fare--dinner on DD’s birthday in which we will have a cake delivered there for us all to enjoy. [dancing icon] I definitely want everyone to come to this since it is her official birthday dinner of the trip.

*Hollywood and Vine, the Play N Dine seems like it would be a good choice. I am thinking an early lunch for this place.

**All the above are new places for us. I think our first trip we ate at LTT and it was a character meal still then—but I do not really remember interacting with the characters during it.**

TS Meals:

*Coral Reef—DH’s request b/ we love it the first go around.

*Rose N Crown another favorite from our first trip. We are thinking perhaps to consider the pub for lunch since it is a CS.

*Le Cellier: side note is my dad loves steak so we thought we would really appreciate this place. We have been here before.

*Tony’s because we might need another TS at MK. We have not eaten here.

*Liberty Tree Tavern again, mainly because we might need another TS in MK.

*Tutto Italia: we are intrigued by this new restaurant.

Obviously we have WAY too many choices for TS restaurants. How many character meals should we do too? This trip is for DD so this one time I am willing to go a bit crazy on character meals. Who knows, if we do try many of them perhaps we will find a favorite one in which we could do on future trips. However, I do not want to go crazy during the process.

Up Next: Part three, CS and Snacks along with questions/criticisms/concerns.

 

[Charlefours]

So we move onto CS and Snacks in part three:

CS Meals:

*Pizzafari or Pizza Planet—which one is better?

*Flame Tree BBQ, though I am not a big BBQ fan.

*Earl of Sandwich I hear this place is great!

*Backlot Express

*Sunshine Season, I believe we ate here last time but I think they have redesigned it since.

Snacks:

*Goofy’s Candy Company—I hear the fudge is fabulous!!

*Mickey Head Ice Cream Sandwiches, I believe these are available all over the place?

*Main Street Bakery

*Boulangerie Patisserie, yummy treats and croissants (need I say more?)

*Dole Whips, where do we get them and are they really that good?

I would love feedback/suggestions/criticisms over all these places. Is there someplace on the list that you would definitely NOT eat at? What CS do you just love and have to eat at when you go to Disney? Lastly, snacks—what do you like?

Last time, we always went to EP for meals because we did not mind hopping around. I am not so sure I want to do this time. In fact, we are considering dropping park hoppers off our tickets because we are not sure we will use them but we will not be making that decision until closer to leaving.

Up Next: SHOPPING!!! It helps to spread out the cost.

 

[Lamping3]

I am no help yet....we didn't eat anywhere fancy on our last trip. But wait until I come back in December and I will have loads of info for you!!!!

I agree Buffets seem to be the best bet...then you will have loads for everyone to choose from.

I have also heard that Boma at AKL is great....we plan on doing a breakfast but they say dinner is good too. That way you get to see the great splendor of the lodge!!!