4 weeks with Harry, Shamu, Mickey and the gang - too much of a good thing?

[Goseethemouse]

I hate to admit it but follow through is not my strongest suit (witness the dozens of unfinished craft projects cluttering up our house) so I am not sure how far I will get with this ptr (or with the trip report that is to follow). Still, hope springs eternal so I have decided to give it a try.

A quick introduction of the cast of characters:

Me
I am 40, a single mother of two boys and a big Disney fan. I work as a freelancer from home, which works out quite well. Can't really decide on what else to say here. I guess I will sprinkle some additional information around as we get further in this trip report (if I manage to stick with it, that is).

J - DS9 (well, he is still 8 but will turn 9 during the trip)
A wonderfully sweet, creative, loving child with a big streak of stubborness. Not sure if there is such a thing as a "drama king" - if there is, it would fit J pretty well. His favorite ride on the last trip was Peter Pan. He hated "Honey I shrunk the audience" on our first trip as he was convinced that the dog REALLY sneezed on him (major drama ensued).

B - DS6
Just the cutest and sweetest little boy you could imagine (and of course I am completely objective). He is easy going and funny. But watch out if he does decide to be difficult - it is rare but on occasion he can be so stubborn that he could teach his brother (and that is saying something). Last time he loved Spaceship Earth but hated Soaring and The great movie ride (renamed 'The icky movie ride')

I will see about getting a couple of pictures uploaded in the next post - if I can figure out the best way to do so.

Prior trips

My first visit to Disneyland happened when I was 15 and it was just the greatest experience! I visited WDW on my own twice (1991 and 1998 I think). The last two trips were with the boys - one trip in 2007 and 2009. To be honest, the 2007 trip was pretty bad. Don't get me wrong - there were great moments (or we wouldn't have gone again, would we?) but it was just hard work with two little ones. Even worse, I got fairly sick with bronchitis, coughing constantly and running a fever. I was just exhausted after our trip. Our second trip went much better and I am hoping the trend will hold.

Trip plans:

Actually, this isn't so much a WDW-trip as a Florida trip. We are planning to travel from August 9 to September 8 - a pretty long vacation to be sure. The main reason for the length of the trip is that we live overseas and the cost and boredom of the flight/travel are such that it just isn't worth it for less than three weeks (okay, I know we are there for a good four weeks but somehow I just kept adding on a day or two...)

Basically, the trip is divided in three parts:

A) International drive (Aug 9 to Aug 17):
It is a bit embarrassing but in all my trips to Orlando (about 50 days) I haven't visited Universal, Seaworld, or really anything else but Disney. So I decided to stay offsite for a week and FORCE myself to do some other things. I still haven't booked our hotel yet but hope to do so any day now. Actually, I am torn between staying on I-Drive eight nights or cutting it down to six nights and staying two night at a Universal hotel. They looked great and we would really like the exprss pass feature but I am just not sure whether I can justify the extra cost.

B) Pop + ??? (Aug 18 to Sep 3)
We stayed at Pop during the last two trips and really like it. I am a deluxe girl at heart but let's face it - those are EXPENSIVE. Still, Pop will be great fun. We are planning to stay 14 nights with 10 day park hoppers with waterpark feature and DDP. For the next three days we are currently booked at the FW cabins. We stayed there on our last trip and loved, loved, loved it. The boys can't wait to go back. Unfortunately, I am debating on whether we should cancel this part of the trip and rebook at one of the Allstars. The cabins are expensive and I am just not sure whether this is a good idea right now.

C) Offsite
Again, we haven't made a reservation for the last five nights yet. I am thinking Bonnet Creek. This will be the only time when we will have a car (you guessed it, the car isn't reserved yet either). The plan is to explore the area a bit more (e.g. Gatorland, maybe Kennedy Space Center, the beach, etc.)

I guess this is it for now. Please feel free to critique our plans - as you see, most of it is still a bit vague - and there are only about four weeks to go!

Next up - Dining (and I am sure this will be a huge surprise to you but I DO have all our ADRs set)

 

[MPHARJ]

I can't help but laugh at your pretrip report, I'm to the point that I have nothing to do before we leave, so maybe I can make your reservations for you! Oh and I'm not laughing at you with you, I just thought it was funny how you kept saying nothing was booked, except your ADR's.

I would suggest staying at a US hotel for at least a night or two for the FOTL access, it is wonderful, we loved it last year and will be staying onsite again this year for that. If you won't want to keep the nights at the cabins, what about ASSports if your boys like sports or just stay at Pop. I do envy your length of the trip, I do understand coming from overseas, I only wish when I can afford to travel overseas that I could stay for a month.

Have fun planning everything out and I hope you come back and keep us posted. I must admit I am horrible at trip reports or anything that requires me to remember something from more than 5 minutes ago, and jsut finding the time to write about it.

 

[Goseethemouse]

Thanks, MPHARJ. I actually have all the hotels planned out - it is paying for them that is the problem. This trip is turning out rather expensive (not surprising given the length) and I am just not sure I can justify booking the hotels I would like (and yes, that does include two nights at a Universal hotel). Our family doesn't believe in spending more money than we have - on the other hand I am hoping to sell some real estate that I inherited last year. If the sale goes through, we will definitely splurge a bit but for now I am just a bit uncertain.

If I cancel the Cabins I would probably choose one of the All Star hotels (love Pop but 14 nights should be enough) but I would really like to keep FW. We loved it there last time and the boys are begging to go back. Most likely we would largely do resort activities during that time - we have HDDR booked and wanted to go to the Campfire singalong etc. I know you can do this if staying at another hotel but it would just be so convenient to be right there.

 

[MPHARJ]

Yes it does get expensive, even for me, I booked a 2 bedroom at OKW for most of our stay since my daughters boyfriend is comiong and I don't want to have to share beds the entire 15 days we will be there and odn't think it is fair for my son to have to share with him even though he will have to for the first 7 nights of the trip. I tend to book seeral months out so that I can pay a bit each month but I am right there with you about not spending more than I have.

Good luck and I hope you get everything worked out! You will actually be there when we are there, for a little while at least!

 

[ZFamily5]

Joining in! Can't wait to hear more about your plans!

 

[Goseethemouse]

Well, we don't know yet where we will sleep, but we sure know where we will eat (rather strange, isn't it?). Actually, I made our ADRs months ago - luckily, as we pretty much got everything we wanted.

A bit more info about our eating preferences:

I (still need to come up with a catchy name for all of us) like most food. Especially enjoy pasta, salads, spicy foods, steaks, seafood... Not too crazy about fish (though I eat it occasionally) and I don't really care for most main dishes with fruit flavours. I kind of feel sweet is sweet and savory is savory but make a bit of an exception for Chinese food.
Anyway, finding something I like on the menu is usually not hard. The only problem will be the Florida heat - looking at the menus before our last trip I had everything picked out but when I got to the restaurants in Aug/Sep the idea of steaks and other "meaty" foods just didn't appeal. Consequently, I haven't much looked at the menus this time - I will just wait and see (kind of the motto of this trip it seems).

DS9 - Loves cereal (with milk), pizza, pasta, vegetables... Has lately started to eat more meat (e.g. hamburgers, chicken strips) so the kid's menus should work fairly well for him this year. Does not care for cheese and only likes potatoes in some forms.

DS6 - Now I have mentiond that DS6 is so easygoing and at home he really is not at all hard to cook for. He eats most everything (especially healthy foods like vegetables and fruit) but he does not eat cheese, milk, or much meat. He does eat meat in certain forms (e.g. chicken in tomato sauce, pepperoni on pizza, etc.) but really not too often. That pretty much puts paid to the kids menus. Maccaroni and cheese is definitely out, hamburgers/cheeseburgers, chicken nuggets and fish are not much better.
Consequently, we have booked a fair number of buffets where it will be easier to find something that he likes. For the rest, he will probably subsist on french fries and pizza.

 

[Goseethemouse]

Okay, now we are getting to the actual reservations. In previous years I made detailed touring plans but we usually didn't stick to them. So this year I have decided not to do so ("we'll just go with the flow"). WDW shouldn't be too busy during our visit, I do know my way around the parks, and as we probably won't even do many of the main attractions (more about that later), it shouldn't be a problem to get everything done in 10 days of park visits.

So the ADRs are the only "Touring Plans" we have - at least we know which park to go to that day. All in all, I am really happy with our ADRs. There are a couple I am not too sure about as some of our general vacation plans have changed since I originally made the reservations.

I will note the ones I am not sure about below and would love any input to help me decide.

Now finally, may I present:

Aug 18 Breakfast at Chef Mickey

This one I am not at all certain about. Originally I thought we would arrive in Orlando on 8/17 and I made an ADR for 7:15 am. I figured a very early breakfast would be a great idea as the boys were bound to be up before 5 am, raring to go (and this is not the funnest time of day at WDW as I know from experience). This would have worked but we now arrive in Florida already on the 9th and by the 18th we hopefully should be over any jetlag which makes 7:15 painfully early. So I am now thinking of canceling this ADR. Doesn't matter to much to me (I liked Chef Mickey on our last trip but it wasn't my favorite meal), but the boys really want to go

Aug 19 Early lunch at Le Cellier

Still sounds good and we will go to Epcot that day

Aug 20 Late lunch at Sci-Fi-Dine In

This will be a new restaurant for us this trip. I am considering paying out of pocket for this meal as the prices are rather reasonable, freeing up one of our credits for another day. I am a bit worried that the film clips might prove to spooky for the boys (doesn't take much) but I think this year they are old enough to give it a shot.

Aug 21 Lunch at CRT

Our first day at MK (unless we can't wait and go there on the 18th). This is DS 9th birthday and CRT is his choice. DS6 is all excited about it too as he really LOVED getting the sword last year (sure hope they are still doing that or the day will not go well).

Aug 22 Very early dinner at Boma

We might go to AK that day or more likely take a day off from the main parks and relax at the pool or go to one of the water parks. I love the food at Boma, the boys should be able to find something they like, and it is always fun to visit AKL.

Aug 23 Afternoon meal at Teppan Edo

We had a great time there last year. Our ADR is at a rather inconvenient time but you can't have everything. I am thinking we will do World Showcase that afternoon/evening.

Aug 24 Afternoon meal at Crystal Palace

A bit of a family tradition. I really like the food there and the boys enjoy it as well. And you can never spend too much time in the MK, can you?

Aug 25 No ADR yet

Aug 26 Dinner at Kouzzina

A new restaurant for us. The plan is to explore the Boardwalk area that evening. Not sure yet about which park we might go to (depends on how much we stuck to our previous plans).

Aug 27 Dinner at San Angel Inn

I ate here on my first two trips to WDW and enjoyed it a lot. In 2007 we skipped it as ds (then 5) was worried about the vulcano etc. However, last trip we went and everyone liked it.

Aug 28 Fantasmic package at HBD

Okay, this one I am not at all certain about. I used to go to HBD on my solo trips and loved it. But I am not so sure whether it will be special for the boys and I am not at all sure about using up two dining credits. I definitely wouldn't for a regular meal but maybe the Fantasmic package makes it worth it? What does everyone think?

Aug 29 Dinner at Ohana

Loved this last trip and was happy to manage to get an ADR again this time.

Aug 30 Dinner at Garden Grill

One of our favorites. Characters, entertainment, a variety of food without having to get it yourself - what more could you want?

Aug 31 5 pm show at HDDR

Did this last year and had a blast (well, ds 6 was a bit nervous about it but has said he is willing to try it again). I will have to look into getting some food arranged for ds6 though as he didn't eat anything there.

Okay, that's it as far as our dining and touring plans are concerned for now. The reservations I am thinking of cancelling are Chef Mickey (due to the early hour) and HBD (because of the two credit cost). Possible alternatives are Mama Melrose (liked it on our first visit but not so much on the second), Coral Reef (also liked better the first time around), Whispering Canyon (visited once before and was just okay). Any other ideas would be welcome too!

 

[Goseethemouse]

Seems I am on a roll here - who knows how long this will last so I figured I would try to upload a picture or two to give you an idea who you are reading about. I have never uploaded a picture on here before, so let's see if I can get it to work:

Our first trip in 2007 when boys were not-quite-3 and 5

Boys at Garden Grill in 2009

 

[ZFamily5]

Your ADRs look great! We liked Hollywood and Vine at Studios and Les Chefs de France at EPCOT, which have some options I think your boys might be okay with.

 

[teekathepony]

Wowwwwww 4 weeks!? What an incredible vacation. Love the ADRs and the hotel plans, hope everything works out for you!

 

[Goseethemouse]

We had our first ever Disney Theme Night (thanks to all the great ideas I found on this board) last week with the Lion King. It was kind of a last minute thing so wasn't elaborate at all (basically we just watched the movie with popcorn) and the boys were a tiny bit disappointed though they still had a good time. Also, the Lion King was a bit more intense than at least DS6 liked.

Today, we tried again with Peter Pan. This went quite a bit better though it still was far from elaborate. We still had some decorations (paper cups/plates/napkins) from DS 6th birthday which had a pirate theme. So we used these. We watched the movie (with popcorn), had a fairly piratey meal - I had found some ready-made tomato soup with pirate-themed noodles, followed by pizza boats. For dessert we had vanilla pudding. I bought a big box of gummy bears in various shapes and colors which hopefully should work for several theme nights. Today, we put little bears and butterflies on the pudding. Sorry, no pictures this time but I will try to get some next week.

For an activity, the boys colored in a Peter Pan picture and then we had a short treasure hunt with a shiny marble as the price. All in all, nothing too fancy but quite enjoyable.

Plans for the remaining weeks up to our trip include Aladdin, Dumbo, and Snow White.

I really am looking forward to this and I get the feeling that the boys will like this more and more!

 

[ZFamily5]

We had our first ever Disney Theme Night (thanks to all the great ideas I found on this board) last week with the Lion King. It was kind of a last minute thing so wasn't elaborate at all (basically we just watched the movie with popcorn) and the boys were a tiny bit disappointed though they still had a good time. Also, the Lion King was a bit more intense than at least DS6 liked.

Today, we tried again with Peter Pan. This went quite a bit better though it still was far from elaborate. We still had some decorations (paper cups/plates/napkins) from DS 6th birthday which had a pirate theme. So we used these. We watched the movie (with popcorn), had a fairly piratey meal - I had found some ready-made tomato soup with pirate-themed noodles, followed by pizza boats. For dessert we had vanilla pudding. I bought a big box of gummy bears in various shapes and colors which hopefully should work for several theme nights. Today, we put little bears and butterflies on the pudding. Sorry, no pictures this time but I will try to get some next week.

For an activity, the boys colored in a Peter Pan picture and then we had a short treasure hunt with a shiny marble as the price. All in all, nothing too fancy but quite enjoyable.

Plans for the remaining weeks up to our trip include Aladdin, Dumbo, and Snow White.

I really am looking forward to this and I get the feeling that the boys will like this more and more!

My sisters love when we have Disney Movie Nights! Our last one was Bug's Life. We were going to make bugs out of pipe cleaners, but after the movie we were too tired! For our snacks we had watermelon, Hopper's crunchy leaves (chips) and Dot's Dirt Cups (chocolate pudding, crushed oreo cakesters and M&M's to look like flowers blooming). The movie nights really get you into the Disney spirit!

 

[Goseethemouse]

Sorry that it has been a while since the last update but really nothing has happened here - at least as far as trip planning is concerned. That's right - only three weeks until our vacation and we STILL haven't got a hotel reservation for the first part. On the other hand, I have managed to sell our car this week which will definitely help with finances so watch this spot. There should be an update soon with final hotel plans.

Still unsure about our ADRs. I really want to cancel Chef Mickey (as I don't care for the early time) but boys insist that they want to go. We'll see.

Today was our next Disney theme night. We chose Aladdin which was a lot of fun. We watched the movie (with popcorn) and had an "Arabic" dinner (vegetable and fruit kabobs as well as a casserole with couscous). After that we played a board game we have that has a theme that goes with Aladdin. Basically, you put different colored rugs on a board and try to cover more squares than your opponent. Rather fun. Unfortunately, we misjudged the time and it got to late to do the crafts project I had planned (decorating little rugs). We will have to start earlier next week - or maybe we should make it a "theme day" instead of a "theme night".

 

[Goseethemouse]

Yikes! I am so stuck as far as making reservations is concerned. I can't believe we leave in less than three weeks and I STILL HAVEN'T MADE HOTEL RESERVATIONS for the most part. That is so not me!

Of course I know what the problem is. I do know where I would like to stay (though I do go back and forth about it a bit) but just don't know whether it is a good idea financially (of course a four week vacation might not have been very wise financially to start with). Unfortunately, I just can't get excited about a less "fancy" version and I keep thinking that we already spend so much on flights, etc. that it would be silly to skimp over a couple hundred dollars if they might make the whole trip so much more magical.

I did manage to sell our car last week which gives us a bit of financial leeway and I hope to sell my late father's apartment which we inherited last year soon. This will not only give us a somewhat comfortable financial cushion but it will stop being a major expense every month (we have been paying upkeep for two apartments over the last year and it has been rather expensive). Still, it is rather difficult emotionally (we moved into that apartment when I was five and it is hard to give it away to strangers) which is why I have been procrastinating about it. It is just hard!

 

[Goseethemouse]

Really sorry - it has been a little while since my last update. Can you believe we will be in Florida in just 9 days? And we still haven't made reservations for the first part of the trip (Pop is all booked though). But let's face it - it can't be much longer (obviously) so there should be an update with our final plans soon!

Anyway, we had a Snow White Theme Night today and it went quite well. We were going to bop for apples but ran out of time. Mostly we just ate and watched the movie (well, the boys also colored in a picture/did a maze that I had printed out from the internet).

For food we had homemade spaetzle with chicken in tomato sauce. I had never made spaetzle myself before and not sure if they were the way they were supposed to be but both boys really liked them. Quite surprising as ds8 does not care for the store bought variety. Then we had Snow White Cake which turned out really well.

So the food was a success. The movie a bit mixed. I love it and the boys seemed to enjoy it for the most part. However, afterwards they confided that it was "too scary". Pretty much what they say after each movie (other than last week's Dumbo). Let's hope the WDW attractions won't be too scary for them this time around!

 

[Goseethemouse]

Two updates in one day can only mean one thing - you guessed it: We have a reservation!!!!

Now, still not everything is booked but I did reserve six nights (8/9 to 8/15) at Sheraton Vistana Villages. Really excited about this! You may remember that we are NOT planning on visiting Disney during this week. The plan is to adjust to the time change, visit Seaworld, Universal, maybe a waterpark, go to the mall and do some other low key activities (e.g. miniature golf).

Vistana Villages seems really nice so I am getting excited for this trip! Only 9 more day (and a horribly long flight) and we will be there!

 

[teekathepony]

That's great! I'm so glad you got a reservation!

 

[ZFamily5]

Yay for getting a reservation!!

 

[Goseethemouse]

Thanks ZFamily5 and teekathepony - I am excited too. I have been hoping to book Vistana Villages for a while but just been hesitant about spending the money. There certainly are less expensive places on I-drive but hopefully we can save some money by eating in the room. Also, given the length of the trip it will be nice to have some additional space!

 

[Goseethemouse]

Yeah, we got another reservation...

Actually, I had been hoping on this hotel for a while but really felt bad every time I looked at the price. Yesterday I decided to just go for it but it seemed I had waited too long. The hotel was "on request" only so I had to wait until today to see if they would still be able to accomodate us.

We were lucky and now have a reservation at Universal's Royal Pacific Resort from 8/15 to 8/17! This is pretty much exactly the hotel line-up I had been hoping for (told you it wasn't really a question of not knowing what I wanted).

Now the only hotel reservation I am still missing is for the end of our vacation (9/3 to 9/8) but that isn't quite so urgent yet.

Anyway, the plan now is to concentrate on visiting I-drive sights during the first part of the trip (8/9 to 8/14) - mostly Seaworld and lesser attraction and maybe one day at Universal. We will then concentrate on Universal while staying at RPR (8/15 to 8/17) before moving to Pop and visiting WDW. Ideally, I would like to get the Orlando Flex ticket but still thinking whether it would be worth it to get separate tickets and save some money. Honestly, given the front of the line perk we would probably be okay with a two day ticket for Universal. The boys are NOT daredevils (AT ALL) and a lot of the bigger Universal attractions will have to be skipped. I think I will have to take a closer look at the pricing. Unlimited visits to Aquatica/Wet n Wild seem nice but given that both the Universal hotels and Vistana Villages seem to have pretty nice pools it might not be necessary. What does everyone think?