1st family WDW trip EVER! June 2018

[VandVsmama]

You might want to check out the Candy Cane Inn. It's our favorite. You pay a little bit more for the rooms, BUT parking is free (for as long as you want on check in/out days and they have an awesome free breakfast (so many choices!). This was a recent as September, btw.

We've never stayed at Howard Johnson's or Best Western, but have stayed at several others on Harbor and Candy Cane in really great.

I've often thought about staying at the Candy Cane Inn! It always gets such good reviews!

 

[VandVsmama]

Alrighty people, I think that we may just need to do one of those MK fireworks dessert parties. I'm thinking of doing the one where you get the Plaza Garden Viewing location. Looks like it's $59/adult and since both of the kids will be considered as adults on this trip, it'll cost us $236 (not including tax). I think that YDD would enjoy the create your own cookie part of this. Can we just stake out a fireworks viewing spot way ahead of time? Most definitely!

 

[VandVsmama]

Holy cow everybody! These past 2 weeks have been pretty darn busy in our household. We are in the process of selling our house and the closing is this Friday (and today is Tuesday), so my DH has spent the past 2 days moving boxes and furniture. Tomorrow, the notary arrives to have us sign the closing papers. Last weekend, we were at Disneyland with my sister. We had an AMAZING TIME!

And a week before that, I injured my 2nd toe on my left foot when I dropped a tree branch on it. Tried to tough it out on Friday at Disneyland and out of desperation, I asked at the Disneyland Hotel (which is where we were staying) if they had any wheelchairs or scooters for rental there. Why yes, they did! The wonderful CM at the concierge desk helped me rent one right there on the spot through Deckert's medical supply. OMG that was a life saver.

And I discovered earlier today why my toe was still hurting so much after it being almost a week and a half after the palo verde tree branch fell on it. A little twig piece impaled my toe! OMG!!!! After soaking my foot multiple times (and I'm on prescription strength ibuprofen and antibiotics, too), it came out. I had no idea it was in there and it did not show up on an x-ray (they showed me the x-ray pics). It was disgusting. I am so grossed out.

Needless to say, I am finally now on the mend. My toe is significantly better now a mere few hours after the baby tree limb decided to extract itself from my insides.

So today's life lesson? Don't do yard work in your flip flops!

Last night, I was checking WDW hotel prices because we still haven't booked our hotel for our last night's stay. And what do you know? There is a hotel room sale going on. 20% off! This now puts Contemporary Resort back on the possibility list. I even thought about reserving a pool cabana there but after talking with DH, we nixed that idea because DH doesn't want to spend the $$ on that. Ok, so now I'm looking at....

1. Animal Kingdom Lodge standard room - $297/night. $99 off!
2. Animal Kingdom Lodge pool view - $339/night. $113 off!
3. AKL savannah view - $433/night. $145 off!
4. AKL savannah view club level access - $483/night. $161 off!

I won't be reserving anything until this weekend because, frankly, there's just too many other things going on between now and then in our regular daily lives. I even looked up whether a club level room is available for 2 nights, but it's not. And it doesn't make sense to pay for 2 nights when we'll already have a free hotel room for Thurs night anyway. The $400-$500 we'd pay for that can go toward other extras like the MK fireworks dessert party. Or going to the Hoop Dee Doo dinner show. Or maybe the kids and I will do 1 of Princess Tiana's ice cream parties one afternoon.

I talked to DH and I think that we'll pay the $50 extra/night for club level access. Mostly because on check out day, we'll be at the resort until about 4pm and DH won't want to sit outside at the pool for 4 hours. He's going to want to hang out indoors for awhile relaxing.

On check out day, I think we'll do 1 of the breakfast buffets at AKL and spend the rest of the day at the pool before we leave around 4 pm for the airport.

 

[VandVsmama]

I made our 1st ADRs! Decided to go with Boma on Friday evening. There were only 2 options for a dinner reservation: 7:05 or 7:35 pm, so I went to 7:05 pm. I'd love to try Jiko or Sanaa, but there's hardly anything on those 2 menus that my picky YDD would eat. However, Boma has YDD's comfort food AND it has more exotic foods that DH & I (and perhaps ODD) will enjoy trying.

I also made an ADR for lunch in Epcot on Monday at Via Napoli for the kids & I. Earliest lunch time slot available was 1:20 pm. Not great, but I'll take what I can get!

 

[VandVsmama]

Woot! Woot! ADR updates! Here's the latest...

1. moved our Mon 1:20 pm Via Napoli reservation to 11:35 am. I checked this evening on WDW's website and that earlier time slot was available. That will work out well because that's usually when my kids are hungry for lunch anyway.
2. cancelled the 1:20 pm Via Napoli reservation for obvious reasons.
3. at first, I'd scheduled a Liberty Tree Tavern reservation for Tuesday, but I snagged a 12:05 pm reservation for Sunday and DH will be with us in the park for the morning. I think we'll leave MK after lunch since DH will need to go to the convention center to pick up his convention gear.

Still have the Fri 7:05 pm Boma reservation. I'm not going to do any other ADRs during our trip. I don't want to be overscheduled and we'll do QS meals for our other park days. I plan on using the mobile ordering feature on the MDE app for when we eat at certain QS locations.

 

[VandVsmama]

Well, shucks, the MK fireworks dessert party is all sold out for every night of our trip. Oh well! Better luck next time. We'll just go on rides instead during the fireworks. Or maybe we'll watch the fireworks from the beach at the Polynesian resort one evening.

 

[VandVsmama]

I did some snooping last night on WDW's website after I figured out that there are no more fireworks dessert parties available for our trip dates. But I stumbled across this Night Safari at AKL!

https://disneyworld.disney.go.com/events-tours/animal-kingdom/night-safari/

$74.17/person. It's every evening from 10:00 - 11:00 pm. You have to call 407-WDW-TOUR in order to reserve it and it looks like you check in at Sanaa.

So....(thinking 'out loud' here)....we have a dinner reservation at Boma for Fri night at 7:05 pm. The kids would LOVE this Night Safari thing. DH would like it because you get to wear night vision goggles. We're going to spend the earlier part of the day at Animal Kingdom. Originally, I thought that we'd go back to AK after a hotel break. But I know my DH and he's going to be wiped out from an entire week's worth of conference stuff. I think that our family will probably not go back to AK park in the evening and instead opt for a nice dinner at Boma followed by a night time safari!

I also thought of spending extra on the $249/person early Saturday morning animal experience (with breakfast) at AKL. It's about 3-4 hours and starts at 6:45 am. BUT that means that we basically won't get to experience the whole "sit on your balcony and watch the animals go by" thing at AKL. AND $1000 is a lot to spend on a 4 hour thing. So I nixed that idea.

 

[VandVsmama]

Hm, ok, maybe something weird was going on last night with ADRs on the WDW website because today, now I can see MK fireworks dessert party availability!

 

[VandVsmama]

It’s been a busy morning, people!! Today I...

• Booked our 1 night stay at the AKL. Savannah view club level room!
• Bought our park tickets.
• Made and paid for a reservation for dinner on Sun 6/10 at the Hoop Dee Doo at Fort Wilderness!
• Made and paid for a Magic Kingdom fireworks dessert party with garden viewing location for Thurs 6/14.

I am so excited.

 

[VandVsmama]

Here's what we have now for our vacation plans!

Sat:

• Fly PHX --> MCO w/1 stop in Raleigh. Arrive in Orlando 9:00 pm
• breakfast @ home
• lunch on plane (I'll have to pack food since we're on Southwest Airlines)
• dinner soon after we get off the plane
• pick up rental car, check into convention hotel

Sun:

• donuts & juice for breakfast in the hotel room. The hotel only has free breakfast buffet Mon-Thurs.
• morning @ Magic Kingdom
• Lunch: Liberty Tree Tavern ADR
• Leave MK early afternoon. I take kids to hotel pool. DH goes to convention center to check in and pick up his convention swag.
• Dinner @ Hoop Dee Doo Review at Fort Wilderness. We'll need to get there by ~ 5 pm, I think, for the 6:15 pm show since the WDW website says to allow for 30 min from the time you park to getting to Pioneer Hall. And we'll need to pick up the tickets from the ticket booth there.

Mon:

• 1st all day of convention for DH
• Kids & head to Epcot
• Breakfast: free hotel breakfast buffet w/make your own waffle station!
• Lunch: Via Napoli @ 11:35 am
• Dinner: no ADRs, no plans. We'll play it by ear. If DH needs time to study for his certification test, the kids & I will head back to Epcot after dinner. Otherwise, DH will join us at Epcot for the evening.

Tues:

• Another Magic Kingdom day!
• 2nd full day of convention for DH
• Breakfast: at hotel
• Lunch: QS in the park. I plan on taking advantage of the mobile ordering feature on MDE!
• Dinner: No ADRs, no plans. Will play it by ear again w/DH.

Wed:

• no park time today. Day 3 of convention for DH. Kids & I rest & swim. Maybe we'll go to the movies at Disney Springs. I've nixed the plans to go see Cape Canaveral. The kids will be wiped after 3 days in WDW parks. We will need a day of rest.
• no ADRs right now for dinner, but that might change.

Thurs:

• half day for DH at convention.
• Breakfast: free hotel breakfast again.
• Kids & I go to Magic Kingdom again.
• Lunch: QS in the park.
• Dinner: QS in the park.
• Fireworks dessert party in the garden viewing area

Fri:

• Animal Kingdom day. Check out of convention hotel. Check into Animal Kingdom Lodge.
• Breakfast: I'll get some groceries for breakfast earlier in the week. The hotel has no free breakfast on Fri mornings.
• Lunch: QS in AK.
• Dinner: 7:05 pm ADR at Boma at AKL. We're going to skip Rivers of Light in AK unless we end up with evening FPs for FOP.
• Maybe we'll do the 10 pm night time safari at AKL!

Sat:

• check out by 11:00 am.
• hang out at the pool.
• leave ~ 4pm for airport. Plane departs around 7 pm.

 

[VandVsmama]

I also selected the colors for our Magic Bands this evening! ODD wants pink. YDD is getting purple. I'm getting blue and DH is green. Woot woot!

 

[jhoannam]

Your trip sounds awesome! Can’t wait to read the trip report, you are going to write a trip report, right?

 

[VandVsmama]

Your trip sounds awesome! Can’t wait to read the trip report, you are going to write a trip report, right?

Of course!

so at the beginning of this PTR, I said that we wouldn't be doing ADRs. Now I have been fully baptized into the wonder of WDW planning, of course I have now thrown that declaration out the window. And this evening, I made another ADR. I listened to the recent podcast where they did a review of California Grill. I'm interested in trying that filet of beef that they were raving about. We'd want to go on Wednesday, but I don't want to have dinner at 5:10 or 9:30 pm. Those are the only 2 times available right now. I think that I will just keep checking daily to see if an alternate time slot opens up. DH's convention stuff won't end until about 5 pm that day, so there's no way we'll make a 5:10 reservation.

So for now, I made a reservation at Homecomin' for 6:30 pm instead!

 

[VandVsmama]

OMG I need to stop looking at menus. I just changed my mind to Raglan Road. DH & the kids have some Irish blood in them, so I think it would be fun for all of us to have dinner there instead. It looks like the music & Irish dancing is fun to watch!

 

[VandVsmama]

You know what I'm surprised at so far? By and large, I haven't had any problems getting ADRs (with the exception of the CA Grill one). However, I am NOT trying for any super popular character meals. Nor are we jones'ing for a Be Our Guest reservation. I looked at the menu there and none of the food will appeal to my kids. In fact, it doesn't really appeal to me either and I'm a pretty adventurous eater.

I changed my mind last night about Raglan Road and I kept the Homecomin' reservation. But now I am second guessing that yet again and I'm considering making a reservation for Morimoto's instead. DH will love love LOVE the food. There's something on the menu even for picky YDD. Ages ago when we lived in the SF Bay Area, we discovered the Japanese Iron Chef show on a local cable access channel late one Saturday night. The show was IN Japan and entirely in Japanese. Morimoto was 1 of the iron chefs. He was amazing. Ever since then, DH talks once in awhile about eating at 1 of that guy's restaurants some day.

Ok, after reading that paragraph, I'd be a fool not to switch our Wed dinner to Morimoto's.

 

[VandVsmama]

69 days and counting! That means 9 more days until I can make FP reservations! I've decided to work backwards from our last park day. Here's what I'm thinking so far:

Fri 6/15:
- FOP or Navi River Journey
- Kilimanjaro Safari
- Kali River Rapids or Lion King musical

Thurs 6/14:
- 7DMT
- Pirates
- Enchanted Tales w/Belle

Tues 6/13:
- Peter Pan
- Splash Mtn
- HM

Mon 6/12:
- Frozen Ever After or Test Track
- Spaceship Earth
- meet Disney pals @ Epcot character spot

Sun 6/11:
- Tomorrowland Speedway
- BTMRR
- Splash Mtn

 

[VandVsmama]

The kids had today off of school. Took them to the mall for some much-needed spring/summer clothes. Both kids got 2 pairs of shorts. ODD got a tshirt as well. Tried to convince both kids to get Teva sandals for our trip, but I could only convince ODD to take my offer of new shoes. If they'd come in glittery purple, YDD would have been all over it.

I bought myself a pair of Teva sandals, too. ODD and I both tried on some Chaco sandals and OMG, those were really uncomfortable. No thanks! I also picked up some Body Glide, which we will need for our feet and anywhere else that's prone to chafing in hot weather.

 

[VandVsmama]

Well, I changed my mind again. I cancelled the Morimoto dinner ADR for Wed. We'll have dinner somewhere cheaper! Still looking and hoping for a CA Grill possibility for Wed night. Hope springs eternal! LOL!

I also bought a subscription to Touring Plans and put together some possible itineraries. And even without using any FPs, the wait times aren't bad. It helps that we'll be doing popular stuff early in the day. And we're avoiding parks altogether in the busiest and hottest parts of the day. Only about 2 more months and we'll be there!!!

 

[jhoannam]

Well, I changed my mind again. I cancelled the Morimoto dinner ADR for Wed. We'll have dinner somewhere cheaper! Still looking and hoping for a CA Grill possibility for Wed night. Hope springs eternal! LOL!

I also bought a subscription to Touring Plans and put together some possible itineraries. And even without using any FPs, the wait times aren't bad. It helps that we'll be doing popular stuff early in the day. And we're avoiding parks altogether in the busiest and hottest parts of the day. Only about 2 more months and we'll be there!!!

I keep making a canceling reservations too. It’s so much fun to plan!

 

[VandVsmama]

I just called AKL and darn it, they only have 3 open slots available for the nighttime safari. Oh well, we'll pass and we'll just have to do it next time! I also changed our Fri night dinner reservation from Boma to Jiko. YDD is a picky eater, but she loves a good steak and it looks like they have a pretty good one there. DH's birthday is the day after we fly home, so we'll make this DH's birthday dinner.