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

[wlwilliams9]

Where have I been, I just realized you had a PTR!! Your DD is beautiful!

I read through the links on your 1st post and your plan looks great...except for the driving from Michigan part!! I've done that and vowed to NEVER do it again! It's a LONG and boring drive even with stops along the way! What part of Michigan are you in? We're in Canton!

You are so organized! I guess with your schedule, you have to be!! I love all of your Disney store purchases! The store closest to me just closed so now I have to drive an hour if I want to Disney shop or I can always go online, but that's not as fun as the Disney Store!!


Looking forward to more!

 

[lbuzz52]

okay, so i finally read this over the course of a couple days, so i've forgotten most of what i wanted to comment on

I had the UG, so i used that site to get the crowd predictions. I also used that to get a general idea of how long i thought we would spend for each ride/attraction. (both for waiting and for the actual ride). I then used the suggestions as to which areas or specific rides got really busy and just went on my own from there, trying to minimize backtracking. I took my list of must-do's and hope-to-do's and actually threw them in a schedule.

dumbo 9
tea cups 945
philharmagic 1015
snow white 1100

that sort of thing. i did my best to have a want mixed in every few items. i basically did this so that i could somewhat know where i stood throughout the day. i didn't stick to an order, really more stuck to an area. but that way, if it was 1100 and i was just now getting started in fantasyland, i would know to skip snow white if i was going to make it to lunch and the parade.
when we went in oct/nov, the crowds were low- and it was MNSSHP and free dining and F&W. for the most part each ride or attraction took no where near my guestimates- but that extra time allowed for character visits, a million potty breaks, etc.

i haven't heard you mention this, but i hope that you are bringing a stroller for your sweet dd. maya was 4 last year when we went, and we would basically force her into the stroller any time we had a good walk. i promise it made all the difference in the world in her being able to handle all those long days.

maelstrom- as a child (7-10yrs) this was a ride that freaked me out. it wasn't because of the troll, there was little dip, and it was dark so you couldn't anticipate it, and it always freaked me out. now my kids had no problem with it, so i don't know.

now for my top ten.....

1. MAKING A RESERVATION!!! (most important, because although dh agrees
to go back, we haven't agreed on when yet- no time is too soon for me)
2. exploring the parks as a family (when we went it was with extended family- while fun, it will just be different just us)
3. Riding TOT with Maya- my mom talked her out of it and i can't wait to
ride it with her.
4. everything with James- it was great to see what amazed him as an infant,
but i also can't wait to see what is now important as a toddler to him-
especially since he'll probably remember it this time LOL
5. redo of arrival day- after missing the whole arrival day last time, i can't
wait to do what i was going to do that day. stuff myself silly at Ohana's
and watch wishes from the Poly beach
6. Minnie's bake shop cookies. ooohhh, i dream about these things. they are
big enough for the whole family to share one. and oh that chocolately
goodness. i forget the name of my favorite flavor, but at the very end
they even throw on a few sugar crystals.
7. food & wine/ MNSSHP. no clue when ew are going back, but i know i want
to do both of these again.
8. Space mountain- i have never ridden this- i was scared of this as a child,
last year it was closed.
9. shopping! need i say more
10. the parades. these are the kids absolute faves, so i can't wait to see
them again.

 

[wlwilliams9]

Ooh, I almost forget, I wanted to recommend this Disney book for your DD. My DD loves this guide book, it gas great pictures and descriptions of the rides. She's not old enough to fill out the journal parts, but it's one of her favorite books to look at when she's in bed!

http://www.guidetothemagic.com/shopping.htm#kids

 

[Charlefours]

I like the concept of the touring plans but I didn't find it worked well for us. The kids would see a ride or a character and they're too young to understand the plan. I don't really care how many rides we experience, as long as everyone is having fun! One of the things that I really love about Disney is that the whole place is magical. I could have a fabulous trip without every going on a ride! September will be a wonderful time to go and I doubt you'll need to stick to a rigid plan. It'll be awesome in every way!!!

Amanda

I think Lilian will be too young to understand a plan too. I think I am going to work on having a strategy because I really do not want to crisscross the park bouncing too much because there are some in the larger group that won't be able to handle that because of medical issues.

Yeah, we won't be following a rigid plan--not us! We are more go with the flow. I want to have an idea of attractions we would like to experience (ie Dumbo, POC BTMRR) and characters we would like to meet. I know September is busier now but it is still not where near as bad as summer, spring break and winter vacations.

I saw this last night posted by Karen and I was up til 2am racking my Disney crazy mind

I'M SO EXCITED!!!!!!

So am I!!!

 

[Charlefours]

Enjoying reading your PTR.

to my PTR!! I am glad you are enjoying it. I still have a lot to go through so I am glad people are willing to stick with me for the long haul.

 

[Charlefours]

Where have I been, I just realized you had a PTR!! Your DD is beautiful!

I read through the links on your 1st post and your plan looks great...except for the driving from Michigan part!! I've done that and vowed to NEVER do it again! It's a LONG and boring drive even with stops along the way! What part of Michigan are you in? We're in Canton!

You are so organized! I guess with your schedule, you have to be!! I love all of your Disney store purchases! The store closest to me just closed so now I have to drive an hour if I want to Disney shop or I can always go online, but that's not as fun as the Disney Store!!


Looking forward to more!

Wendy to my PTR!! Thank you--I think she is pretty cute myself.

We are looking forward to the drive as INSANE as that sounds. We are trying to look at it as part of the adventure. We will actually be driving through Indiana, stay the night with my Dad. Then drive to Valdosta, GA. Helps to break up a bit more than two incredibly long days. You are going to laugh at this but we are in Canton too!! It really is such a small world.

Yup, we have to either to up to Port Huron now or Toledo to get an actual Disney store. I actually never visited the one that just closed until January when I popped into it with a friend.

I hope you keep reading!!

 

[Charlefours]

okay, so i finally read this over the course of a couple days, so i've forgotten most of what i wanted to comment on

I had the UG, so i used that site to get the crowd predictions. I also used that to get a general idea of how long i thought we would spend for each ride/attraction. (both for waiting and for the actual ride). I then used the suggestions as to which areas or specific rides got really busy and just went on my own from there, trying to minimize backtracking. I took my list of must-do's and hope-to-do's and actually threw them in a schedule.

dumbo 9
tea cups 945
philharmagic 1015
snow white 1100

that sort of thing. i did my best to have a want mixed in every few items. i basically did this so that i could somewhat know where i stood throughout the day. i didn't stick to an order, really more stuck to an area. but that way, if it was 1100 and i was just now getting started in fantasyland, i would know to skip snow white if i was going to make it to lunch and the parade.
when we went in oct/nov, the crowds were low- and it was MNSSHP and free dining and F&W. for the most part each ride or attraction took no where near my guestimates- but that extra time allowed for character visits, a million potty breaks, etc.

i haven't heard you mention this, but i hope that you are bringing a stroller for your sweet dd. maya was 4 last year when we went, and we would basically force her into the stroller any time we had a good walk. i promise it made all the difference in the world in her being able to handle all those long days.

maelstrom- as a child (7-10yrs) this was a ride that freaked me out. it wasn't because of the troll, there was little dip, and it was dark so you couldn't anticipate it, and it always freaked me out. now my kids had no problem with it, so i don't know.

now for my top ten.....

1. MAKING A RESERVATION!!! (most important, because although dh agrees
to go back, we haven't agreed on when yet- no time is too soon for me)
2. exploring the parks as a family (when we went it was with extended family- while fun, it will just be different just us)
3. Riding TOT with Maya- my mom talked her out of it and i can't wait to
ride it with her.
4. everything with James- it was great to see what amazed him as an infant,
but i also can't wait to see what is now important as a toddler to him-
especially since he'll probably remember it this time LOL
5. redo of arrival day- after missing the whole arrival day last time, i can't
wait to do what i was going to do that day. stuff myself silly at Ohana's
and watch wishes from the Poly beach
6. Minnie's bake shop cookies. ooohhh, i dream about these things. they are
big enough for the whole family to share one. and oh that chocolately
goodness. i forget the name of my favorite flavor, but at the very end
they even throw on a few sugar crystals.
7. food & wine/ MNSSHP. no clue when ew are going back, but i know i want
to do both of these again.
8. Space mountain- i have never ridden this- i was scared of this as a child,
last year it was closed.
9. shopping! need i say more
10. the parades. these are the kids absolute faves, so i can't wait to see
them again.

Lauren to my PTR!!

Thank you for the info on how you do your touring plan--now that hours have come out and we have what we think is going our overall schedule, I would like to begin to think of touring schedules. I still have two more Our Wishes, No Thank Yous and Sprinkles list to do yet. After that point, I think I will be ready to take those and consider touring plans. Plus, I need to see what ADRs we end up with and whether we have to do a slight change. We will that one week from today!!

We are planning a stroller this go around. DD is not overly fond of it but we take it with us to the zoo so she does not have to constantly walk if she does not. She is getting too big to carry comfortably over long distances so the stroller it is! Thanks for checking though--I don't think I had mentioned that we are taking our stroller.

Maelstrom--with having a few parks visited by the time we go to EP-WS, I will see how DD does in MK and DHS before we decide if she is ready to handle Maelstrom.

GREAT TOP Ten!! Where do you get these Minnie Bake Cookies? Main Street Bakery? DD LOVES cookies and I do not mind one every so often either. Nope, just the word Shopping is enough!!

Hope you will continue to follow along

 

[Charlefours]

Ooh, I almost forget, I wanted to recommend this Disney book for your DD. My DD loves this guide book, it gas great pictures and descriptions of the rides. She's not old enough to fill out the journal parts, but it's one of her favorite books to look at when she's in bed!

http://www.guidetothemagic.com/shopping.htm#kids

Thanks for the suggestion--I will check it out. I have the Birnbaum's Guide to Walt Disney World for Kids 2010 to use when we are talking about our trip. I will have to look into this one as well.

 

[Charlefours]

Back in January, I decided I wanted to get a custom dress done for Lilian for BBB. She has several princess dresses here at home, both through Disney store and Target. Sometimes they do not irritate her and other times they do because she has atopic dermatitis. She takes after her Daddy in that regards. So, instead of shelling out money at BBB for a dress that she may or may not leave on for very long, we decided to explore a custom from Etsy. I looked at several options and narrowed it down to one that was a Minnie inspired dress. I emailed the seller and asked her if she would be willing to do a custom. She agreed! : She sent a pictures to me of the swatches we could choose from and Lilian settled on a French Blue ala Cinderella.

Well, I am excited to say it has arrived! I think it is going to be great—so light and airy which will be good on a hot September day. We still need to separate the layer of it better than we did before we put it on her. It is slightly big but that will allow her growing room! The halter tie allows us to adjust the height of the top. After we separate and fluff it we will need to see if we need to get a slip for it both for her comfort and to make sure nothing is visible (top is fine but we did not fluff out all the bottom so we do not want any unmentionables to show through). Part of the issue is how dry and static-y it is here in the house (humidifiers are not helping this winter unfortunately) so it should actually lay down instead of taking flight (which you can really see in the last picture)!

Here are couple more pictures of Lilian in her dress:

Despite her face, she LOVES it and did not want to take it off!! I cannot wait to see how it looks on her in August with it straightened and ready to go!!

 

[lbuzz52]

Lauren to my PTR!!

Thank you for the info on how you do your touring plan--now that hours have come out and we have what we think is going our overall schedule, I would like to begin to think of touring schedules. I still have two more Our Wishes, No Thank Yous and Sprinkles list to do yet. After that point, I think I will be ready to take those and consider touring plans. Plus, I need to see what ADRs we end up with and whether we have to do a slight change. We will that one week from today!!

We are planning a stroller this go around. DD is not overly fond of it but we take it with us to the zoo so she does not have to constantly walk if she does not. She is getting too big to carry comfortably over long distances so the stroller it is! Thanks for checking though--I don't think I had mentioned that we are taking our stroller.

Maelstrom--with having a few parks visited by the time we go to EP-WS, I will see how DD does in MK and DHS before we decide if she is ready to handle Maelstrom.

GREAT TOP Ten!! Where do you get these Minnie Bake Cookies? Main Street Bakery? DD LOVES cookies and I do not mind one every so often either. Nope, just the word Shopping is enough!!

Hope you will continue to follow along

i was just like you, i didn't want to be stuck to anything, especially with a large group and the fact that crowds were supposed to be light. but i felt so much better having a basic idea of what part of the park we would in, and having something if the crowds did get crazy.
other than the dhs day, i'd say we did very little back tracking. and that day was just so we could make the various shows we wanted. well, maybe MNSSHP too, but i didn't really have a real plan for that- at least not one we stuck to- but that's my next update...

i originally found the cookie as a snack credit at county bounty in toon town.
i saved it and the next day woke maya up and told her we were having a cookie for breakfast! (dont shun me- it was a first time- very special vacation only thing. she the idea, and it got her moving quick!) i later went back for another and they were out of that flavor- i wish i could remember the name- i know it had chocolate chips and chocolate chunks and i can't remember if it had nuts or not. anyway, i eventually found them at i think the bakery- is that across the street from the emporium- next to the hat shop?
oh my, three months and i'm already forgetting all the names.

 

[BabyEeyore]

That dress is absolutely beautiful!

 

[wlwilliams9]

Wendy to my PTR!! Thank you--I think she is pretty cute myself.

We are looking forward to the drive as INSANE as that sounds. We are trying to look at it as part of the adventure. We will actually be driving through Indiana, stay the night with my Dad. Then drive to Valdosta, GA. Helps to break up a bit more than two incredibly long days. You are going to laugh at this but we are in Canton too!! It really is such a small world.

Yup, we have to either to up to Port Huron now or Toledo to get an actual Disney store. I actually never visited the one that just closed until January when I popped into it with a friend.

I hope you keep reading!!

OMG!! How funny, it is a small world!! I've probably seen you all over town and never knew!! Too cool!!

I think the Disney Store at Great Lakes Crossing is still open. I grew up in Clarkston and some of my family still lives there so I'll have to stop there next time I am visiting family or when I visit Disney on Ice at the Palace!

 

[Cory's Gal]

Completely adorable!! I LOVE LOVE LOVE that dress!! Lillian looks so cute in it and she shouldn't get too hot for September! I finally got all caught up and all your plans look great!!!

YEAH for being only a week away from making ADR's!!! That will be a big relief when you can get all those booked!!

Here are my Top 10 (in no particular order):
1. Being warm (it's been a chilly winter here this year)
2. Watching the kids do EVERYTHING!!
3. Smelling the aroma from the Main Street Bakery
4. Swimming outside in April
5. Riding TSM with the kiddos (especially Gabe our TS fan)!!
6. Seeing Beauty and the Beast with my mom, we love this show!!
7. Watching Wishes and hopefully seeing Tinkerbell fly!
8. Getting a nice family picture with Mickey!
9. Being able to get away with the family and enjoy all of our new experiences together!
10. Watching the kids get immersed in the "Magic"!!!

 

[Charlefours]

i was just like you, i didn't want to be stuck to anything, especially with a large group and the fact that crowds were supposed to be light. but i felt so much better having a basic idea of what part of the park we would in, and having something if the crowds did get crazy.
other than the dhs day, i'd say we did very little back tracking. and that day was just so we could make the various shows we wanted. well, maybe MNSSHP too, but i didn't really have a real plan for that- at least not one we stuck to- but that's my next update...

i originally found the cookie as a snack credit at county bounty in toon town.
i saved it and the next day woke maya up and told her we were having a cookie for breakfast! (dont shun me- it was a first time- very special vacation only thing. she the idea, and it got her moving quick!) i later went back for another and they were out of that flavor- i wish i could remember the name- i know it had chocolate chips and chocolate chunks and i can't remember if it had nuts or not. anyway, i eventually found them at i think the bakery- is that across the street from the emporium- next to the hat shop?
oh my, three months and i'm already forgetting all the names.

Heck, I would never shun you!! It is vacation, the time for special treats!! Now if you fed your child nothing but candy, than you might get a friendly hey what about some vegetables from me!

Thanks for the head's up--I will write it down as something to be on the lookout for while in Toontown as well as what sounds like to me Main Street Bakery. Maybe I will get Lilian one for her birthday breakfast.

 

[DrMomof3]

That dress is awesome!!!! I'm glad my DD isn't looking over my shoulder or she'd be begging for one.

Amanda

 

[Charlefours]

That dress is absolutely beautiful!

Thank you!!

OMG!! How funny, it is a small world!! I've probably seen you all over town and never knew!! Too cool!!

I think the Disney Store at Great Lakes Crossing is still open. I grew up in Clarkston and some of my family still lives there so I'll have to stop there next time I am visiting family or when I visit Disney on Ice at the Palace!

Are you going to the Disney on Ice this weekend? We thought about going but we just have too much going on right now. Hopefully it or Disney Live will come into the area. We hope before we go down to Disney.

Probably have and not knowing it. We go down to the Toledo Zoo since we have a membership so I will probably just run by there soon or when I am on my way back home from going down to campus. They are having some great sales online right now.

 

[Charlefours]

Completely adorable!! I LOVE LOVE LOVE that dress!! Lillian looks so cute in it and she shouldn't get too hot for September! I finally got all caught up and all your plans look great!!!

YEAH for being only a week away from making ADR's!!! That will be a big relief when you can get all those booked!!

Here are my Top 10 (in no particular order):
1. Being warm (it's been a chilly winter here this year)
2. Watching the kids do EVERYTHING!!
3. Smelling the aroma from the Main Street Bakery
4. Swimming outside in April
5. Riding TSM with the kiddos (especially Gabe our TS fan)!!
6. Seeing Beauty and the Beast with my mom, we love this show!!
7. Watching Wishes and hopefully seeing Tinkerbell fly!
8. Getting a nice family picture with Mickey!
9. Being able to get away with the family and enjoy all of our new experiences together!
10. Watching the kids get immersed in the "Magic"!!!

Beth!

The dress is so light and airy--one of the other big reasons we wanted to look at a different dress for her birthday morning. The BBB and princess dresses can be pretty warm!

The plans: made a few changes, mostly just shifting around things with the hours being released. I am trying to decide if I want to post about the changes now or if I should do it after I make ADRs on Friday--which makes it seem very real!

Love your top ten!! Seeing the magic on our children's faces--priceless!! That is what I am looking forward to more than anything.

 

[mousescrapper]

What do you think about TGM? Is it worth the cost?

I used for 08 since we had not been since 05 and wanted to have more of good insider plan vs I think I know what I am doing and wing it plan...we didn't wing it in 05 but felt w/ some of that inside help 08 went smoother.

The cost is not horrible if you consider it like another guidebook...but if all you want is the best park days and you have another insider info like UG giving you something comparable...then maybe not worth the extra $

like I say I hope to consult it, I can come up w/ a fairy good touring plan w/ the knowledge I have and 3 trips w/ kids under my belt...but since I am going pre-thanksgiving week it will be VERY CROWDED...so any other thoughts I can get to help will be good.

I should have a pretty good idea of how everything will flow later in May after hours out and prior to making the ADRs' to give you a better idea how I work it if that will help.

PS love the dress

 

[Charlefours]

since I am going pre-thanksgiving week it will be VERY CROWDED...so any other thoughts I can get to help will be good.

PS love the dress

I can only imagine how busy it will be that week!! I would be using TGM or RideMax.

Thanks!!

 

[cdotla]

OMG - I adore Lillian's custom dress! It is beautiful. Perfect for BBB and September weather!

As for TGM....I used it for the 1st time in 2007, which was the first WDW trip I took with my kids (then ages 2 and 4). I found it invaluable!!!

He really tells you how to tour and the order in which you should do things in the Parks, as well as the rationale for doing so. However....personally I find the service has gone downhill in the past 2 years as a result of failing to timely update his site. Given the amount of revenue he is likely pulling in with subscriptions, I find it really inexcusable that he is not updating it on a consistent and regular basis.

However, he will likely have the recommended park touring strategies for your trip within 5 months or so before your trip (within 1 month of the Park schedules being posted) and this information will be invaluable to you as you plan your family's 1st trip.

Just be aware that some of the park touring strategies will be quite outdated. For instance, he does not mention Toy Story Mania at all, which has been around for what, going on 2 years now!

That said, much of the touring information on the site is still very useful, and his recommended park touring charts will be very helpful to you. Given the detail to which you are involved in planning this trip, I think it would be one of the best investments you could make. In the end, I think it would be money very well spent!