1st ever PTR- May 09-Updated 3/11 - Our ADR's are set, NO more changes!

[msce2]

Hi All,

Well I figured since I obsess about this 24/7 I might as well put it in writing. So to give you a little background I am 29 years old. Will be turning the big 3-0 this year. (not while we're in Disney tho ) DH is 31. We have been married for 11 years. Yes, we got married 8 days after my 18th birthday. Can tell you the parents weren't too thrilled about that one. We have 3 great kids. DS(Mike) is 9, DD(Bri) is 5 and the baby DS (Nate) is 2 1/2. Here are a few picks of us. Please forgive the pics, not exactly the best, but all I could find.

DS - Mike

DD - Bri

DS - Nate

DH and DS - Nate at Hershey Park last year

DD and I at the Philly Zoo

Did I mention that I babysit a 17mos old and a 4mos old. Usually 3-4 days a week although the hours vary. DH works in Acctg in Philly. Usually gone from 6am-7pm Mon-Fri. It has been awhile since we have had a vacation so we are really excited about going. Well I am off to feed the 4mos old, she is slowly waking up from her nap. In the next installment I will introduce you to the other players in our group. We will be a party of 14.

 

[msce2]

Ok, well finally have a "free" moment to update this (DK are watching Saturday morning cartoons and DH is at the gym (where I badly need to be as I'm trying to lose 25lbs before we go)).

My Aunt and Uncle (we will call them AC and UD) who are not really "into" the WDW experience but come to see the look on the kids faces. And will join us for 2 character meals. We will also stay at their time share (Off Property) when we first arrive in FLA.

My other Aunt and Uncle and their DD who are DVC members. Their DD is an only child and is thrilled to spend time with our 3. It can get pretty crazy when the kids are all together.

Ok, and finally the people who make this all possible. The woman who instilled the love of all things Mickey. My Mom and Dad. They are DVC members as well. It is my DMom's dream to retire to work at WDW. (Not sure Dad is 100% on this, but if he's close enough to water to go fishing regularly he just might agree). You have to love the dedication.

My 2 DSis's will also be joining us. I have to say that even though we didn't always get along as kids, we really, really get along as adults. I guess the whole not living under the same roof thing does wonders for relationships. They are both in graduate school, and are looking forward to the break.

Ok, so that's the 14 of us!

Finally got through the Who......

Up next - on to the where, when and how.

Thank you for taking the time to read!!!!

 

[SoScary'09]

Great family & cute kids Hope you'll keep us updated!~

 

[msce2]

Great family & cute kids Hope you'll keep us updated!~

Awww thanks! I only hope I don't post too much!

 

[msce2]

So as promised, here are the rest of the details. (Ok well as many as I can fit without making this way too long) I'm SO excited!!!!

We are leaving around 4am on Friday May 15th. We will be stopping in Florence SC for the night. Arriving in FL on Saturday evening. We will be staying with AC and UD at their timeshare. Bright and early on Sunday May 17th we will check into BCV. Still not sure whether we will have a ded 2 bdrm or a 1bdrm/studio lock off. Really really hoping for the same view we had 6 years ago. Amazing balcony with a view of the Epcot fireworks! Can life get any better???? We will be leaving Saturday May 23rd in the morning.

I cannot wait to swim in Stormalong Bay. Somehow when we were there in 2003 we never made it to the pool. So that is a must do this time!!!

We are planning to eat at the following. Although until they post the hours, I can't make any ADR's.

TS
Chef Mickey's - prob dinner
Crystal Palace - late breakfast/early lunch
1900 Park Fare - late breakfast
Boma's - dinner

CS
Cosmic Rays
Sunshine Seasons
Toy Story Pizza planet
Beaches and Cream

I'm thinking about adding 1 more meal that will just be the 5 of us. I don't mind it being a group of 14. I kinda figure the more the merrier , however DH did not grow up that way and tends to get a bit overwhelmed with everyone. But that all depends on the budget, and tax refund. So stay tuned.

I am hoping we will make the rope drop at MK our 1st day there. DMom has this thing about doing all 4 parks the first day. So as we speak I am trying to figure out the schedule (Gotta love excel). I also found out that AC and UD have decided to join us in the park for 1 day. DMom and I discussed and decided that we think AK would probably be best. There are plenty of shows and things that we can do together as a group. We will also do Boma's this night.

Up next.......DMom and DDad got back from WDW and brought us??????

 

[msce2]

As I explained earlier DMom is the #1 fan. She and DDad just got back from the world. They stayed at AKV. Can't wait to see the pics! They stopped by on Friday and dropped off some gifts for us. The kids and I were ecstatic!

I got a small tray and the kids got the expanding wash cloths. They are so colorful with 2009, Buzz Lightyear, Nemo, Goofy, Pluto, Mickey and Minnie on them. Too cute!

We got a beautiful blanket. It has Cinderella's castle with Tink in the corner and Mickey and Minnie sitting together. It is so soft, and warm!

There were a few gifts that the kids did not get to see. These will be going in their Easter baskets. Plus they'd probably get written in, lost and destroyed (not necessarily in that order) by the time our trip came around.

For our princess

For DS (9)

Hoping maybe he can document some of the trip too!

And DS (2.5)

Also DMom was so awesome (as usual) and picked up some postcards so that I can send them to the kids as we get a little closer.

I'm still trying to find a way to countdown our trip. I've read some ideas about using hershey kisses (I'm afraid we'd have too many trips to the dentist) and the paint cards with the different Mickey colors(I would feel guilty about doing this - just my personal issues). So I'm looking for some other creative ways to do this. However as DH can tell you, creative I am not. If anyone has any ideas, I'd be happy to hear them!!!!

 

[msce2]

On Thursday DD (5) and DS (2.5) and I cut out 112 rings out of construction paper to create the world's longest chain. It stretched from the kitchen through the dining room into the living room down the hallway and back into the kitchen. It was a ton of fun to do, and I finally found a place to hang it where hopefully no one will get into it.

Of course the fight now is who gets to tear off the rings. I thought we could alternate, but that's not working out so well with DD and DS (2.5). So I'm leaning towards letting each one tear a little bit off so all 3 get to participate.

DMom and I were discussing the postings here about the 2 hour wait for Fantasmic and we are now thinking about doing the dinner pkg so that we are guaranteed a seat. DMom and DSis will be back again in June, but the for us 5 it may be another 6 years. We discussed the options which for us are limited to Hollywood & Vine and Mama Melrose. DSis voted for Mama Melrose and since the reviews seem to favor Mama Melrose that's the direction we're headed.

The other thing were discussing is adding the CS in Morocco. DSis really recommended the food there, and I read good reviews about it here.

Here is the new and updated list of restaurants:

Cosmic Rays - CS Lunch
Beaches and Cream - CS Lunch
Crystal Palace - TS Late Breakfast/Lunch
Flame Tree BBQ - CS Lunch
Boma - TS Dinner
1900 PF - TS Breakfast
Mama Melrose - TS Dinner
Tangierine Cafe - CS Dinner?
Yorkshire County Fish Shop - CS Dinner/Lunch

Snack Places -
Starring Rolls Cafe
Boulangerie Patisserie
Aunt Polly's
Main St Bake Shop


Up next: DMom gave me a cd of pics from our last trip in 2003.

 

[msce2]

So unfortunately just learned the hard way that if you "organize" your pics in photobucket after posting them on dis, they disappear. So I just spent a few minutes fixing all my missing pics.

So a week or so ago I found on the official Disney site customizable maps. I thought this was so cool! (Again I'm such a :nerd And it's free. Anyway, so I made our maps and sent away for them. It usually takes about 6 weeks, and well from the posts on the boards here, most people agreed they got theirs in 6 weeks. Well lo and behold I go to the mailbox on Monday and what do I find? Our maps. They are amazing! Here are a few pics.

Some pics from 2003.

 

[msce2]

Woohooo! DH and Dkids thought I was absolutely crazy when I went running and screaming around the house yesterday. I had been faithfully checking the hours, and was totally not expecting them to be there! So excited to see them!!!!! Spent the rest of the day planning. The 2nd best thing to actually being in Disney is to be planning for it.

So here's where we're at so far. I'm sure there will be changes, especially since we don't have the full details about "Wishes" but so thankful we finally have the hours.

Sun 5/17
AM - MK
Lunch at Cosmic Rays
EP
MGM
PM - MK for EMH til Midnight

Mon 5/18
EMH - AK
Lunch - Flame Tree BBQ
Dinner - Boma's
PM - MK (Spectromagic)

Tues 5/19
EMH - EP FW
Lunch - Tangierine Cafe
Late Dinner at Beaches And Cream

Wed 5/20
NO EMH this day
DHS
Mama Melrose Fantasmic Pkg

Thurs 5/21
EMH - MK
Late Breakfast - 1900 Park Fare
PM - Epcot - Illuminations

Fri 5/22
AM - MK
Late Breakfast - Crystal Palace
Afternoon - AK
PM - EP
Dinner - Yorkshire Cty Fish Shop
Illuminations

Sat 5/23 - Leave

 

[msce2]

I would definitely have to say that one of the bad things about having 3 months until our trip, is having 3 months to change the trip. I started thinking about our plans, and our choices of ADR's, and a little help from DS (9) who said that one of the things he was most looking forward to doing was dinner at Chef Mickey's. Was originally on our list, but then taken off due to all the poor reviews . So of course now I'm feeling guilty. Rearranged the whole spreadsheet and sent it to DMom for her thoughts. Got shot down. She liked the original better. Her opinion was it's always good to save something for next time.

Then DH says that he wants to set aside some "family time" while at WDW. So after much debating. Ok well down and out fighting And some great advice from the wonderful Disers I finally agreed and sat down to carve out some time. Of course I sent DH the spreadsheet and asked if he gave the green light, and so far no response. Don't know if that's good or bad. Also let DMom know what was up. She seemed to be ok with it.

Called 407-WDW-Dine to see when we could officially make ADR's was given the date of 2/16/09. So DMom and I are hopefully going to sit down this Friday and go over our plans. What times we ideally want etc. I will be making the phone call Hoping to call bright and early around 7am.

My DAunt who is supposed to be joining us with DUncle and DCousin is in the hospital. So I will go ahead and make the ressies, and when she is feeling better, if they want to make other plans I can call back and adjust the #'s. I figure it will probably be easier to subtract people then try to add them later.

We are officially 92 days out. And counting. Our chain of rings is getting shorter and shorter. Starting to panic a tad bit since I feel like there is a lot to buy, organize and pack, but I have to keep reminding myself that there is still plenty of time left. Although we have NEVER done a car trip like this.

If you got this far, I give you a huge and . This was a pretty long rambling without any pictures to help.

 

[msce2]

We are officially 89 days away!!!!

Made my first ADR today! So exciting! Unfortunately due to the really weird 90/180 day thing, well and that we just decided to add Chef Mickey's to the list, I wasn't able to get my first choice. So with a little rearranging in my trusty excel spreadsheet and a 2nd call for a new day/new time, I was able to get what we wanted. So the schedule looks like this:

May 15th - Leave PA

May 16th - arrive FL

May 17th - Rope drop MK (Adventureland)
11am ressie - CM's breakfast
Hop to EP
Hop to MGM
Check in BCV
End at MK for Wishes

May 18th - EMH at AK
Early lunch at Flame Tree BBQ
Dinner at Boma

May 19th - EMH at EP
Lunch at Tangierine Cafe
Back to BCV for dinner
End at EP for Illuminations

May 20th - Rope drop MGM (sorry DHS )
Fantasmic Pkg at Mama Melrose

May 21st - EMH at MK
Late breakfast at 1900 PF
Back to MK for Dreams
Hop to Epcot - Illuminations
Dinner at Sunshine Seasons

May 22nd - Rope drop MK
Late Breakfast at Crystal Palace
Back to BCV
Hop to Epcot
End at MK for Spectro & Wishes

ADR'S TO MAKE FIRST THING MONDAY MORNING!!!
Boma
Mama Melrose
1900 PF
Crystal Palace

 

[mommymeg]

Boy do we sound alot alike!!!

First things first...I too am from the Philly area.. about to turn 32 (aaaaah) and have been married to my hubby since I was 18... We've got 3 great kids also and are heading to Disney in May.. (6-13) darn... I'm completely obsessed with this Disney planning and really love checking the boards numerous time a day for updates and tips.. I'm just planning for the 5 of us.. if I had to plan a trip for 14 I think I'd have to quit my part time job!!!.. I would have to agree with your hubby and say that carving out family time for just the 5 of you is very important... I would love for my mom and sisters to come with us on our trip, but I would still definitally want some private time to enjoy the magic with just my hubby and kids..
Your PTR is really interesting and I'll be following along! Although May seems like forever away...I keep telling myself that it will be here before I know it.. and in the meantime I'm gonna keep planning until every little detail is in place... first off I want to head over and order my customized maps.. good thinking on your part!
Have fun!

 

[msce2]

Boy do we sound alot alike!!!

First things first...I too am from the Philly area.. about to turn 32 (aaaaah) and have been married to my hubby since I was 18... We've got 3 great kids also and are heading to Disney in May.. (6-13) darn... I'm completely obsessed with this Disney planning and really love checking the boards numerous time a day for updates and tips.. I'm just planning for the 5 of us.. if I had to plan a trip for 14 I think I'd have to quit my part time job!!!.. I would have to agree with your hubby and say that carving out family time for just the 5 of you is very important... I would love for my mom and sisters to come with us on our trip, but I would still definitally want some private time to enjoy the magic with just my hubby and kids..
Your PTR is really interesting and I'll be following along! Although May seems like forever away...I keep telling myself that it will be here before I know it.. and in the meantime I'm gonna keep planning until every little detail is in place... first off I want to head over and order my customized maps.. good thinking on your part!
Have fun!

We do sound a lot alike!!!!! I can honestly say that I haven't met too many people who have gotten married at 18, not to mention that live in our area, and have 3 kids too! I can't believe we're only a week apart in our vaca dates too! How old are your kids?

Luckily planning it hasn't been too bad. Actually for the most part it's been so much fun. I love the disboards and spend a lot of time (prob too much) looking at the dining reviews, and TR. Basically I've only gotten feedback from my Mom and one of My Aunts. My Sisters are great that way and will just follow along wherever we have planned. It will be interesting once we're in the park bc I've read a lot of TR's and people have said how hard it is to keep a huge group together. But it cannot diminish my excitement. I can't wait!!!

May does seem a long way off, but with counting down each day, it helps the kids and I to see that it is getting closer one day at a time. As silly as that sounds!

The maps are so nice! I can't believe they do it for free. It takes a little bit of time to personalize the attractions you're interested in doing, but definitelhy worth it when you see the finished product. My kids loved looking at it. The other thing I did was order the vacation planning dvd. It's free, and it really helped the kids get more involved.

Do you have a PTR? Where are you staying? Have you booked your ADR's?

 

[mommymeg]

Thanks for the comment!

My kids are DD(12), DD(8) and DS(4)... They keep me busy most of the time, and since my hubby works swing shift, sometimes I'm on my own, but they help the days leading up to Disney fly by!!! My husband and I were high school sweethearts and have pretty much defied the odds cause we're still crazy about each other and happy that we decided to start our family so young...that way we'll still be young enough to enjoy ourselves when they're grown!!!

So, I'm definitally the planner and have been obsessing over our trip since we booked back in November... The last time we were at the world I was pregnant with DS, and told them that we would return when their brother was 4... So we're heading down again... staying in a family suite at ASMu.. I was debating a moderate, or two rooms at a value, but someone infomed me about the suites, with 2 bathrooms and a kitchenette.. I thought this would be our best bet (especially since DD(12) is taking as much time to get ready in the morning as I am...aaaaaah!)... We are a get up and go type of family and didn't spend much time in our room last trip, I'm expecting that to be the case this time around too... Last time we only went for 5 days, this time I increased it to 8...but I still feel like it's not enough time to see and do everything... so a planning I will be!!!

I just ordered our maps today...it was alot of fun to choose all the attractions and I cannot wait to get them in the mail!!!
So... our ADR's (which by the way I made at exactly 7am on our 90 day mark...)...I'm a spaz...
5/6- Crystal Palace early dinner 4pm.. (this is our arrival day and what better way to do it!!!)
5/7- Boma 5pm dinner
5/8- Coral Reef 5pm
5/9- 50's Prime 5pm
5/10- Mother's Day! Dinner at Chef Mickey's!!! 5pm
5/11- Tusker House Breakfast 8am
5/12- Garden Grill Dinner-5pm

There were a few other restaurants that I wanted to try, but I'm very "frugal" and don't want to spend much oop... Most of our ADR's are at buffets..my kids are picky..

I did do a PTR, I'm just not sure how to link it.. but it basically covers everything I've just told you...

I'm just about ready to start shopping and packing... hubby thinks I'm nuts, but I am really gonna have to pace myself!! I plan on bringing some snacks and breakfast items so I've already got a box set aside for that... Not to mention clothing, shoes and all the incidentals we'll need... I don't know what I'm gonna do with myself once our trip is over!!!!
Happy planning and I'll be checking in!!

 

[Leleluvsdis]

Can't wait to hear more! We will be there May 8th-16th!!!

Be sure to check out my PTR... link in siggy!

 

[msce2]

Called this morning to make ADR's. 1st call CM told me that I wasn't able to make ADR's today. I would have to wait tomorrow. Which I knew wasn't true bc of the 90+10 day rule, and I had talked to various CM's who had all given me the date of 2/16 TODAY! So I called back and spoke to a very nice man who was able to make all but 1 of the ressie's for me. I honestly was suprised by how FEW choices there were. I wasn't able to get any of the times I wanted. Most of them were close, but the CM told me the MM Fantasmic pkg was completely booked. I did have to be transferred to "group dining" for our party of 14. Although it was funny because they told me there wasn't a table in the restaurant that would seat all of us. So they had to give us 2 Tables anyway. Not sure why it required being transferred to someone else for them to tell me that. But the ADR's are made!!!!

I found 2 cute Disney outfits (T-shirts and shorts) at Babies R Us yesterday. And at buy 1 get 1 half off (9.99/4.99) not a bad deal.

DS(2) will be wearing this on our last day when we go to Crystal Palace.

Not sure about this one yet. Either AK or Epcot probably.

I'm still struggling with the stroller issue. I can't figure out which ones to bring. We have a double stroller, a regular sized stroller, a mini-stroller with basket and then the umbrella stroller (minus the umbrella). DMom wants me to bring the mini (DS2) and the umbrella (DD5) but I'm not sure that DD5 will really fit in the umbrella, and it's not my favorite. I'd like to bring the double, but it can be tough to push at times. Doesn't turn real well. That leaves the regular stroller and possibly the mini, but that would prob take up too much room in the car.

Another discussion has been DH wants to put a huge carrier thing on top of the van. My thought is that it will decrease our gas mileage, and well I have nightmares from childhood where ours flew open on the NJ Tpk and our belongings scattered all over the road. DDad was forced to pull over and dodge cars to pick everything up.

Well now the real task begins. The packing. And yes, I realize we still have 88 days, but my list is really long (sorry Mom).

 

[msce2]

So since we still have 84 days until we leave for vacation, I have decided to give the kids an edumacation in Disney movies. So far we have watched......

WALL-E - great movie, we saw it in the theater and enjoyed it so much, we bought it.

- One of DD's absolute favorites. We've had to buy it 2x.

- DS(2) favorite, favorite movie. He can quote lines from it.

- The Kids really enjoyed this one, however it is based off Disneyland instead of Disney world. Wish they did one for the world too.

We still have a few on the list we have yet to watch.

The Horse in the Gray Flannel Suit
Freaky Friday
Gus
Darby O'Gill and the Little People
Blackbeard's Ghost

 

[msce2]

We are now in the double 7's!!!!

Did a little shopping this weekend, and picked up a few things on THE list. For the most part it was tough to find summer stuff, but Old Navy had a pretty good sale on flip flops. 2 pairs for $5. DH said he didn't need any. DS(2) already got to wear his, he was so excited!

I had started a grocery bag for WDW stuff, but now it's overflowing. I'm debating whether to just bite the bullet and get out a suitcase, or just keep filling up grocery bags. DH is going to be so mad . He would much rather pack the night before, but I like to be prepared. (If you can't tell ) I also find that things tend to disappear in our house. Not sure if this happens to everyone or just us. Shoes happen to be a big one. I can usually only find 1, sometimes for months.

Our chain of rings is getting so much shorter. I can't believe how the days have just flown by. I had to take it down and reorganize since the kids couldn't reach the rings anymore. I apologize in advance, but my camera refused to cooperate.

I'm also evaluating our lunch plans and thinking that maybe we will do Y&Y instead of FTB at AK. It seems like there are a few more choices and if we're not that hungry we could just get eggrolls instead. I'll have to poll our crew and see what people are more interested in. Worst case scenario, we could always decide when we are there .

I did change the schedule to head back to EP on Tuesday for Illuminations. It doesn't make sense not to go since we'll be at BCV we can just walk over. Although if the little ones are sleepy maybe we'll have to draw straws to see who stays.

Coming up........Time to make a stroller decision!

 

[msce2]

So what happens when you have 2 1/2 months until WDW? You add more people! Just found out my other Aunt and Uncle and 3 adult cousins are going the same week. So we are now at 19 yes, 19 PEOPLE!!!!! I sent them our excel color coded schedule. (I'm sure they think I'm insane) So we are trying to organize a meetup. They are getting park hoppers too so that should make it a little easier.

I also had a nightmare last night that poor DD did not get to meet any of the princesses . She has been faithfully watching all the movies, and has talked about meeting them and what she will wear when she meets them. I sat down and thought about it this morning and realized that we don't have any meals planned with them, and I had NOT planned on waiting in line to meet them. So started texting DMom at 7:45am asking what she thought about just us girls doing Akershus. She thought it sounded great! We decided on doing the Princess Storybook breakfast!!! So after 2 phone calls to WDW Dine we have ADR's for Tuesday!!!

So our ADR's look like this:

Sunday May 17th - Late Breakfast - Chef Mickeys
Monday May 18th - Dinner - Boma's
Tuesday May 19th - Late Breakfast - Akershus Princess Storybook
Wednesday May 20th - Early Dinner - Mama Melrose (Fantasmic Pkg)
Thursday May 21st - Late Breakfast - 1900 Park Fare
Friday May 22nd - Late Breakfast - Crystal Palace

I'm going to look and make sure it isn't worth it to do a Dining Plan. I don't think so, but I want to make sure we aren't missing out.

 

[msce2]

WE'RE ADDING THE DDP!!!!!!

After sitting down today to take a look at the comparison, spending ALL day pricing everything out, WE'RE ADDING THE DDP!!! I had a really difficult time finding the prices, and once I did realized that the price for a child per day is the same cost of 1 buffet or less. So the kids are basically eating a free CS and snack. So will probably spend tomorrow changing EVERYTHING! Oh this is so much fun!!!