18 days away and a newbie writing a PTR - Will it survive?

[Jenvenza]

Probably not - but I am going to give it a shot anyway!

So, this will be my first attempt of a trip report. PRE-trip report would be more accurate. I love reading trip reports (especially food reports) so there will be a little bit of everything in here.

As a child, my parents took us to either WDW or DL every year for the first 6 years of my life. I don't remember much, but luckily my Dad decided to get a video camera - you know those ones from the early 80's? I think he had to rent a stroller to actually push the thing around in because it was so heavy! So, I have hours of video to look at and show my daughter when she gets older.

This will be our daughter's first Disney trip - except for when I was still pregnant! And it will be my husband's first time to Animal Kingdom and Epcot!

Things have gotten a bit crazy over the past week with this whole Disney trip - that I decided we all needed to take this year! It was supposed to be myself, husband, DD, sister, BIL and my nephew. Now, myself and my sister are Disney addicts. Thanks Dad! Now, BIL is another story. My DH will go along with it and be happy as he can be when we get there. BIL has been acting like he didnt really want to go since we booked it. We booked different hotels just I didnt have to wait on him every morning to get up and get to the parks.They were staying in POR and us in POP.

Well, a few weeks ago, he says he can no longer go and they have to cancel. We are all very sad for a number of reasons! Do I need to cancel all of our ADR's I made in April?? Will I be able to get the same restaurants??? Am I going to have to ride EE by myself??? My mom, who is a travel agent and Disney lover as well, says she wishes she could come with us to help out. This is a BRILLIANT idea! So, to make a long story a bit shorter - my sister keeps her reservations and my mom is able to call Disney and change the names and split the cost with my sister and just take my BIL's place! Woohoo!!!

Now the only problem is, I want them to stay at POP with us. No such luck, because we have free dining and they wont let us switch resorts. But I have faith in my mom. If anyone can do it, she can! So yesterday I get a call and they were able to change over to POP! I am so excited! She called right after someone else cancelled, so it worked out perfectly!

Up next - The Cast....

 

[Jenvenza]

Okay - It is slowing moving to the bottom of the page - not surviving too well yet, so I figured it was time to add some pictures and introduce you to the cast!


Me (29) - Disney addict! I love anything and everything Disney. I dont get to go as much as I would like, but I manage. I hadnt been to Disney since 1984 and finally went again in 2005. I have been to either WDW or DL every year since. I have a wonderful daughter who just turned 1!! She is everything to me. I love animals and our two cats. I love food, but do not eat poultry, red meat, pork - well, you get the point. I do eat seafood though!

Can I tell I am happy to be in Disney?

DH (31) - Pretty laid back guy. We met in Court Reporting School and have been together 4 years. We have been married for a year and a half and honeymooned in DL. DD is his princess and he told me he will have to wear sunglasses the whole time we are in WDW, because he will be crying tears of happiness seeing her experience everything!

Wedding day!

DD - (1) The best little girl in the whole world! Yes, I am a bit biased, and she is our only child, but I tell you - she is wonderful! Funny, silly, always laughing and wanting you to laugh. Very loving. She loves to give her stuffed animals kisses. We couldnt be happier or ask for anything else.

Trying to make me laugh - it worked!

My Mom - She is the best. The sweetest person you will ever meet. Doesnt have an enemy in the world. She loves her grandbabies more than anything in the world and will be happy to just sit with them in WDW and let them see everything. She owns a travel agancy, so Disney can be a cheap vacation for her and my dad! They go every year.

Sister - Disney addict and stay-at-home-mom. She has an adorable little boy who is almost 8 months old. My only nephew! She just recently moved back to Texas from California, where she was a mere 30 miles from DL! She is my best friend and I love going to Disney with her!

My mom, sister and I in DTD

Nephew (8months)- Sweet, and quiet. Growing like a weed. He got down to under 5 pounds after he was born! Now is a chunky monkey and healthy as ever!

 

[AshleyMWC]

Yay, am I first? You were kind enouh to hop aboard my PTR, so I am heading over here to read yours. Your DD is so beautiful, and that face cracked me up! I can't wait to hear abotu all your FREE dining plans!!

 

[Jenvenza]

Yay, am I first? You were kind enouh to hop aboard my PTR, so I am heading over here to read yours. Your DD is so beautiful, and that face cracked me up! I can't wait to hear abotu all your FREE dining plans!!

Yay! I have one reader now! Enough incentive to keep me going for a little while longer!

It is surviving! At least a little!

 

[Jenvenza]

On to day 1!

We leave for MCO at 7:30am and have a direct flight to Orlando from Houston. I hate to fly, but I hate driving 18 hours more.

We are staying at POP, and I am not expecting our room to be ready when we get there, but a girl can always dream, right? We are going to be in the most magical place in the world, so anything could happen!

The plan for the day is to head to POP and then head on over to Epcot for the remainder of the day. We all love Epcot and DH has never been, so he is really looking forward to it. Hopefully the babies wont be too cranky and will be ready for our fun-filled day as well! I have a few things planned, but we will really have to see how late we get there and if there are lines for anything. We might end up spending the first day in WS. I can stay there all day!

So, where to eat? We had initially all picked a restaurant we wanted to try - and since I am a big seafood eater and DD LOVES to look at the fish swimming by, I picked Coral Reef.

We ADR's for 7:30pm. I know there are mixes reviews on the DIS about Coral Reef, but I like to check things out for myself. I figure, at least the atmosphere will be great. And the desserts look quite good as well! My only concern about Coral Reef right now is whether to pick the catfish or the Mahi Mahi.

Or the Chocolate Wave or the Key Lime Tart??

I cant wait to take pictures and make this into a food report as well!

 

[The Marsons]

lol! Don't worry i'm in, will you find my PR also?? I only have one reader too!!

Your little girl is gorgeous, she had me laughing too!

 

[The Marsons]

Forgot to say we took our children in early 2007, my daughter Madeline was one at the time . You will make some amazing memories with your daughter. I'm not surprised your DH will need glasses to cover up the crying, our first character encounter of the trip was at Chef Mickeys and our children were so happy i sat there crying too!

 

[TxRabbit]

I recognized your name from my ptr so I came to read about your plans. Keep posting...you've got a great start!

 

[Jenvenza]

lol! Don't worry i'm in, will you find my PR also?? I only have one reader too!!

Your little girl is gorgeous, she had me laughing too!

I am on my way to try to find your PTR! I will bump it up for you as soon as I do!

Thanks for the comment about my little girl - she was 6 months in that picture and a little over a year now! Time flies!

 

[Jenvenza]

Forgot to say we took our children in early 2007, my daughter Madeline was one at the time . You will make some amazing memories with your daughter. I'm not surprised your DH will need glasses to cover up the crying, our first character encounter of the trip was at Chef Mickeys and our children were so happy i sat there crying too!

We cannot wait to take our DD! Some people thought she might be too young, but I really think it will be a great age for her and for us! And I will be crying right along with my husband. We are both such saps!

 

[Jenvenza]

I recognized your name from my ptr so I came to read about your plans. Keep posting...you've got a great start!

And thank you!

 

[DexLabDeeDee]

Hello! I am really glad that your mom was able to go instead of your BIL. What a fun trip you'll have!

 

[Jenvenza]

Now that I have 3 readers, I will add some more to my PTR! It is keeping its head above water! Hopefully it can for the next 23 days, so I have something to think about, other than work!

Now, I am the planner of this trip. My Ddad is normally the planner of all trips, but he is not able to come on this trip since he and my mom are taking a cruise around Europe a week after we get back and his job wouldnt give him that much time off. He is a lover of all things Disney and so fun to go with, so he will be greatly missed on this trip!

So, onto day 2 of our trip! I have planned for us to eat breakfast - pay OOP - at Everything POP food court this morning and then make our way over to HS.

Why dont I throw in a picture of me from our last trip to Disney - It was still MGM then and I had been picked to be in the Indiana Jones Show - I am in the orange AK shirt.

Toy Story Mania is first on our list and then we will hit ToT and Rock 'n' Roller Coaster - which hubby has never rode. We are also going to go to Voyage of the Little Mermaid, Backlot Tour - maybe Playhouse Disney.

I am not sure which counter service lunch we will have - I havent heard much good things about CS at HS, but we will find something!

I figure we will head back over to POP after lunch and let the kids nap or get in the pool - even though I am not a public pool person! Then we are heading over to MK for Extra Magic Evening Hours and a character dinner!

 

[Jenvenza]

Hello! I am really glad that your mom was able to go instead of your BIL. What a fun trip you'll have!

I am SO glad she is coming instead of my BIL, too. Things will be much better and so much more fun!

 

[Jenvenza]

So, we head back over to POP for a rest - hopefully the kiddos will take a nap, and I can get one in too if I need it. Because we have a busy night ahead of us!

We are off to Magic Kingdom now! Yay!! I cannot wait to see my daughter's face here, taking in all the surroundings and the magic of it all. I am teary thinking about it! There wont be a dry eye among us when we get there!

Now, I wont bore all four of you with specific details of our every move while in MK, but today is going to be geared towards the kids. With the possibility of Splash Mountain thrown in somewhere.

At 7:30 we ADR's at Crystal Palace for dinner. I wasnt too sure where to eat at MK, but knew I wanted to do one character dining experience. My sister and I did Crystal Palace in DL 2 years ago for breakfast and we LOVED it. It was the highlight of our day.

Now for a few quick pictures of our experience there. I hope everyone likes pictures, because they are always my favorite part of any TR!

My sister with Minnie

Me getting ready to eat and meet some characters

Look how cute he is!

Now after reading a lot of reviews about CP, I am very happy I made this choice. I think the food and atmosphere will be great! And I will get lots of great photos of DD with the characters!

This is an extra magic hours night, so we are going to make the most of it and ride ALL the kiddie rides. Or at least all that we can or all that the kids will stay awake for. Wish us luck! I have never done EMH's for MK, but I have high hopes and hopefully it wont be too horribly busy!

 

[TxRabbit]

We loved CP! Been there for lunch and dinner. Both were wonderful. The characters, the food, all great. What worked well for us was to always pick up an FP before we headed over to our ADR. That's when I would grab an FP for Splash Mountain, so you ride it after your meal. Then you could easily take turns too. There can be a lot of entertainment around that area for the kiddos to enjoy while you ride.

You are going to have such a great time! I wish we were going sooner. I keep looking at Thanksgiving dates and wondering. I found some cheapish airfare on Southwest...

 

[Jenvenza]

We loved CP! Been there for lunch and dinner. Both were wonderful. The characters, the food, all great. What worked well for us was to always pick up an FP before we headed over to our ADR. That's when I would grab an FP for Splash Mountain, so you ride it after your meal. Then you could easily take turns too. There can be a lot of entertainment around that area for the kiddos to enjoy while you ride.

You are going to have such a great time! I wish we were going sooner. I keep looking at Thanksgiving dates and wondering. I found some cheapish airfare on Southwest...

That is a great idea about getting the FP's and then going to our ADR. I think we will actually do that now.

Our trip seemed so far off and now it is only 3 weeks away! Crazy! Yours will be here before you know it!

 

[AshleyMWC]

We also love Crystal Palace! I have been for both breakfast and dinner and I really enjoyed both. The food is awesome and the character interaction is great as well. And I love the parade they do around the restaurant- I wish I had a little kid so I could join in the parade

Congrats on your PTR staying afloat. Mine seems to not be doing as well- but I will still contonue it for the lurkers out there.

Can't wait to hear more!

 

[Jenvenza]

We also love Crystal Palace! I have been for both breakfast and dinner and I really enjoyed both. The food is awesome and the character interaction is great as well. And I love the parade they do around the restaurant- I wish I had a little kid so I could join in the parade

Congrats on your PTR staying afloat. Mine seems to not be doing as well- but I will still contonue it for the lurkers out there.

Can't wait to hear more!

I was back reading your PTR today! Mine is only staying afloat because I am making all the comments!

I will definitely be joining in the parade at CP with our little girl! I cant wait!