A First timers guide to insanity - May 2012 PTR

[salann]

With most of the planning done, I need something to keep me occupied while I obsess, I mean wait for our May trip. So here we go with my first PTR for my family's First WDW Trip!!

TOC:
Where we are staying
The Surprise
Day One
Day Two
Day Three
Day Four
Day Five

We will get right down to intros

Me: I'm a 33 year old mother of two. I work in the healthcare industry after leaving civil litigation as a legal assistant. I actually HAVE been to the world, when I was 9 my grandparents took our family. We stayed in the RV at the campsites of Ft. Wilderness. I loved it! I think MGM Studios was just opened when we went, so that will tell you how long ago it was. It was and still is one of my best childhood memories, so I am so excited to be able to share this with my kids.

The Hubby: He's a 35 year old Project Manager for a major computer company. He works too much, so this vacation is very needed. He's never been to the world, and is as far from a disney fan as you can get. He luckily adores me and puts up with my OCD and my planning excitement!


The kiddos:

Princess: she's a 7 year old diva in training. she loves animals and princesses. She's into Girl Scouting and softball currently. Her favorite princess is Ariel...it's the red hair connection.

The Ryno: Named after a hall of fame baseball player, he's the light of his mama's eyes. He is in Kindy this year and is playing baseball again. He was Buzz Lightyear for two years in a row, so it's easy to see who his favorite character is!

This trip is a major surprise for the kids. Neither have any inclination we are planning this trip. The boy always says it's his dream to go to Disney. We have the planning CD on loop at the house. lol

 

[salann]

So now that our intros are in order (and the kids are not stalking me) let's get down to the details.

We will be boarding a plane from Austin to Orlando on May 30th and staying until June 5th. I keep saying a May trip but really it's obviously a mainly June trip but that sounds too far away. With both kids being in school we are waiting until the school year is done. My husband is a stickler for attendance and the kids both have perfect attendance and he wouldn't ever consider taking them out for a vacation.

I'm hoping that the crowds won't be too nutty. lol we will see, right?

So where are we staying?

That's right, we are going deluxe with this trip and staying at the Contemporary. We are staying in the Garden Wing because the tower would have pushed my husband off the ledge with the cost! hahaha

I am so excited for this resort. like I said as a child I stayed at Ft. Wilderness so the CR is a longtime dream of mine.

I did look into the Gran Floridian and the Poly but the allure of the CR spoke to me, plus the fact it's a short walk to the MK really sealed the deal for the hubby.

 

[PixieMama]

Joining in!

That's awesome you're surprising your kids (who are adorable, btw!) I wanted to surprise my DDs when we went on our 2010 trip, but alas, I could not keep the secret. Once DH and I decided for sure we were going, I think I held the secret for about 48 hours, LOL!

 

[salann]

Thanks! I have no idea how I've been able to hold this secret since December when we booked!! If I can keep this secret for 6 months I can do anything!!

 

[DLB]

joining in... I have always wanted to stay deluxe, so I will live it through you!!!

 

[SnowWhite607]

Subscribing!

 

[lmillercrew]

Joining in on your PTR! I surprised my DD12 last year for her birthday. It was well worth the wait. She started crying when I told her. I can't wait to hear your plans!!

 

[salann]

Thanks everyone for joining in!!

ok, so until I learn how to do a Table of Contents, I'll have to just update as I go.


Here's the surprise details:

We leave May 30th, so I am planning on telling the kids May 29th. The right, the day before! Why? Well honestly, because I cannot stand to be asked a million questions every day

I made a puzzle that reads "Surprise we are going to Walt Disney World" So I will have the kids do a scavenger hunt and collect the puzzle pieces. Then they will put the puzzle together. I'm curious to see how long it will take them to realize what's going on.

Once they figure it out I will hand them their goodie bags. Thanks to the wonderful people at the DISigns thread I have some pretty fun things for the kids.

Here's a picture of the bags and the puzzle

Inside the goodie bags are pins on a lanyard, a welcome letter from their favorite characters, a coupon for free ears, a personalized autograph book and a tshirt (still to be made) with some extra goodies I keep tossing in.

Here's a closer look of the bags

 

[bvkramer]

So now that our intros are in order (and the kids are not stalking me) let's get down to the details.

We will be boarding a plane from Austin to Orlando on May 30th and staying until June 5th. I keep saying a May trip but really it's obviously a mainly June trip but that sounds too far away. With both kids being in school we are waiting until the school year is done. My husband is a stickler for attendance and the kids both have perfect attendance and he wouldn't ever consider taking them out for a vacation.

I'm hoping that the crowds won't be too nutty. lol we will see, right?

So where are we staying?

That's right, we are going deluxe with this trip and staying at the Contemporary. We are staying in the Garden Wing because the tower would have pushed my husband off the ledge with the cost! hahaha

I am so excited for this resort. like I said as a child I stayed at Ft. Wilderness so the CR is a longtime dream of mine.

I did look into the Gran Floridian and the Poly but the allure of the CR spoke to me, plus the fact it's a short walk to the MK really sealed the deal for the hubby.

Another Texan here! We're going May 28-June 5 staying 7 nights at VWL and our last night at AKV-Kidani. We are flying Austin-Orlando too so maybe we'll see you on the flight back lol!

 

[salann]

Another Texan here! We're going May 28-June 5 staying 7 nights at VWL and our last night at AKV-Kidani. We are flying Austin-Orlando too so maybe we'll see you on the flight back lol!

I'll be the mom sitting half a plane away from her kids and husband enjoying a cocktail or two!

 

[salann]

Day One:
We fly out of Austin at 9am!! Thankfully we found a nonstop flight to Orlando!

Once we land we will head over to DME for the trip to the Resort

I'm hoping we are able to check in and get our room at this time, but if not then we will explore the Contemporary Resort for a while, maybe hope on the Monorail for a ride around. I'm going to keep a bag handy in case the kids decide it's time to hit the pool!

DH and I decided to not go to the park since it will be mid afternoon by the time we even get to the resort. So we plan on keeping things low key on arrival day.

For dinner I have booked us at:

OHANA!!! I am so excited, I think this is a great kick off to the vacation. My husband LOVES this sort of meal...

After dinner we will explore the Poly and hopefully (if the kids haven't had a complete meltdown by this time) watch Wishes from the Poly Beach. The kids will need their rest because Day Two is the MAGIC KINGDOM!!

 

[bvkramer]

I'll be the mom sitting half a plane away from her kids and husband enjoying a cocktail or two!

Lol. I'll be the big pregnant whale wishing I could have a cocktail with the screaming almost 3 year old.

Are you flying JetBlue?

 

[salann]

Lol. I'll be the big pregnant whale wishing I could have a cocktail with the screaming almost 3 year old.

Are you flying JetBlue?

Oh wow you are brave!! We are flying SWA this time around.

 

[salann]

double post..oops

 

[MHTeacher]

Joining in! We'll be at Disney May 27-June 2.

Your kids are precious, and I think it's so great that you are making this a surprise trip!

 

[Desiree]

Subscribing! Oh how I've dreamed of staying at the CR! Can't wait to read all about it!

 

[Disneychix]

Great job on the 'surprise' bags! How did you make the puzzle? It's very cool!

I can sympathize/relate to a little boy who loves Buzz. DS has been Buzz for 2 years and already has the costume lined up for Halloween 2012!

 

[Elleshoodat]

I'm in! I followed you over from the May DISers Facebook page.

I have to say, I LOVE how you are surprising your kids. DS will only be 18 months when we go, so he doesn't really get it anyway, but I so want to do something like that when our kid(s) get older. How fun!

 

[salann]

Great job on the 'surprise' bags! How did you make the puzzle? It's very cool!

I can sympathize/relate to a little boy who loves Buzz. DS has been Buzz for 2 years and already has the costume lined up for Halloween 2012!

The puzzle was tricky because I didn't want something that had a lot of pieces and I wasn't able to find anything online that I liked. So I went to Hobby Lobby and they had a Make Your Own Puzzle kit for kids to color. I then took a label sheet and removed the labels so I just had the slick paper to use and printed the words driectly onto the paper. Then I took packing tape and placed it on the words and lifted the ink off the paper and placed the tape on the puzzle pieces. Then I took an exacto knife to conform the tape to the puzzle pieces.

lol that sounds much more complicated than it was.

 

[cinderella crazy]

Joining in! Love reading about surprise trips because I could never do it. I like to give presents to people early so I don't have to keep it a secret any longer...

Love the bags you're giving the kids! That's giving me some ideas...

Can't wait to read more!