A Little Less Griswold, A Little More Smolder - A May 2017 PTR

[LaBelleVie]

Hi everyone! Welcome to this PTR

Our last trip was rife with issues (hence the Griswold reference)...car trouble, ER visits, nonstop toddler tantrums...but we're looking forward to spending more time together in the parks (and having breakfast with Flynn Rider...well, I might be looking forward to that a little more than everyone else).

We're keeping our fingers crossed for smoother sailing this time around. I hope you'll join us for this (hopefully much less crazy) ride!

Contents​

1.) Introductions
2.) When We're Going
3.) Where We're Staying
4.) How We're Getting There
5.) Where We're Eating
6.) Resort Update
7.) Day 1 Plans - Arrival Day
8.) Day 2 Plans - Epcot
9.) Day 3 Plans - Hollywood Studios
10.) Day 4 Plans - Disney Springs
11). A Few Updates
12.) Day 4 Plans (For Real This Time) - Animal Kingdom
13.) Day 6 Plans - Magic Kingdom
14.) Day 7 Plans - Magic Kingdom
15.) Day 8 Plans - Departure Day

 

[LaBelleVie]

Introductions
​

I have been obsessed with Disney for a very long time. Like most children, I really wanted to go. My dad always planned on taking us, but unfortunately, he was never able to. However, he had purchased a 1996 guidebook back when he thought the trip would be a reality that year. I can't even begin to tell you how many times I read that book as a kid. I had read it so many times that by the time I got to high school, the spine had broken into three pieces (I did eventually upgrade to newer editions). As I got older, I still desperately wanted to go. I kept reading and doing research. I joked that I knew more about Disney World than anyone else who had never been.

My dream was finally able to come true in May 2015, but due to sad circumstances: the death of my beloved grandmother the previous November. My husband and I were childless at the time, so it was the two of us. He was not obsessed with Disney like I was, but before the Magical Express even made it to POFQ, he was telling me that he wanted to come back every year. We ended up making a last minute trip in November 2015 to see the Osborne Lights before they were gone, but that ended up being our last trip as a couple, because...we became parents in February 2016!

We had become foster parents, and we ended up being a pre-adoptive home for two brothers, who were 2 and 4 at the time. We were able to make our first trip to Disney as a family of four in September 2016. That, unfortunately, was our disaster-riddled trip. It was our first trip driving, and our car broke down in Georgia on a Sunday; we ended up having to have our car towed to an Atlanta suburb (my poor Marshmallow ended up needing a new alternator -- we won't be making the mistake of not renting a car again!), taking an Uber to the airport, and renting a car, finally arriving at All-Star Movies around 12:30am. While preparing to head to the pool the next day, we saw what we thought had been a mosquito bite on our oldest's rib cage appeared to have become infected. We headed to the emergency room (side note: the hospital in Celebration is ridiculously fancy), and found out that he has MRSA, so that was a thing that happened. Thankfully, other than our toddler having constant meltdowns throughout the entire trip, that was the last of the major disasters, and we still were able to enjoy our trip (including experiencing Mickey's Not-So-Scary Halloween Party for the first time!). We only went to Magic Kingdom on that trip, so we're excited to take the boys to all the parks on this next trip!

So who are we?

Tom and I squinting during our November 2015 trip.

Me
I'm Alex, and I'll be turning 29 while we're at Disney! I teach preschool.
Favorite Park: Magic Kingdom (though I love World Showcase just as much!)
Favorite Attraction: Soarin'
Favorite TS: Coral Reef
Favorite QS: Pepper Market
Favorite Character: Belle
Favorite Disney Movie: Tangled and The Aristocats

DH
He's Tom. He's almost 30 (and in denial about it). He works for a chiropractor.
Favorite Park: Magic Kingdom
Favorite Attraction: Muppet*Vision 3D
Favorite TS: Les Chefs de France
Favorite QS: Pizza Planet (as a huge Muppets fan, he's EXTREMELY excited to try PizzeRizzo
Favorite Character: Fozzie Bear
Favorite Disney Movie: The Muppets
​

We have since adopted our sweet boys! They both have pretty significant developmental delays and emotional disabilities, but they definitely don't let that stand in their way! They are huge Disney fans; they're both currently obsessed with Moana and Beauty and the Beast (the animated version) right now!

DS1
Jamie. 5. Excited for kindergarten, and has a "Maui fish hook" necklace that he shows off to everyone.
Favorite Park: Magic Kingdom
Favorite Attraction: Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin
Favorite TS: Crystal Palace
Favorite QS: Columbia Harbour House
Favorite Character: Buzz Lightyear
Favorite Disney Movie: Toy Story or Moana

DS2
Nolie. 3 1/2. Loves preschool and pretending to be Belle (while making daddy waltz with him as the Beast).
Favorite Park: Magic Kingdom
Favorite Attraction: "it's a small world"
Favorite TS: Crystal Palace
Favorite QS: Cosmic Ray's
Favorite Character: Mickey Mouse
Favorite Disney Movie: Toy Story​

 

[steviethegreat]

Your trip sounds like fun! I'll be following along!

 

[LaBelleVie]

When We're Going​

If I know one thing, it's that as much as I love Disney, I really don't want to go in the summer if I can avoid it.

I teach preschool, and my sons both attend preschool; though we took a week off in September, I didn't want to pull them for another week (or leave my assistant teacher alone with our students for another week!). Since I wanted to avoid summer like the plague, May was the perfect time to go. Tom and I took our first trip in May 2015, so we've already had good Disney experiences in May before. My preschool pretty closely follows the local school district's calendar (my boys' preschool is part of the school district, so they follow it as well), so I decided that the best time to start our trip is the day after my older class's preschool graduation. It works out nicely, because I don't have to miss work, the boys don't have to miss school, and we can celebrate the end of the year in style!

We'll be celebrating quite a few things on this trip. My husband and I will share our 6th anniversary shortly before our trip begins. I will be turning 29 on our first day in the parks (more on that later, but I'm THRILLED to be spending my birthday at my favorite place!!!). And as previously mentioned, we'll be celebrating the adoption of our boys!!!

Additionally, we did book the Kindermoon package, because Jamie will be starting kindergarten in the fall (well, mostly I was into the extra FastPasses, since they're for things they want to do anyway). He is extremely excited; I am extremely emotional. My babies are growing up too fast

 

[cantoine]

Another May Trip! Following along. Congratulations on the adoption of your sons. We adopted 2 teen brothers back in 2013, we fostered them from 2 years prior. It is the greatest feeling in the world once those adoption papers are signed. The adoption took our count from 6 to 8 which sadly, now that the boys are out of the house and living on their own, I find myself missing them dearly. I still get the 2am crisis calls from them which keeps me going as it shows they still need me.The latest call was from the oldest asking me how to cook a hot pocket in the oven since he forgot to pay his electric bill and has no microwave. My initial reaction was my kid has no power. After explaining how to cook the hot pocket, I asked when he got a gas stove? to which he replied what is that? SMDH I finally hung up and called the power company and paid the bill and had his power restored. I received a text saying my lights came back on. It is a miracle. I replied no it was your mother!!! The next day he called and said his younger brother explained to him that I most likely paid his electric bill and that is why the power got turned back on, he asked me if I wanted the 100.00 back. I told him no, but I think he needs to find a girl friend to help him with things like this. They never really grow up.

Can't wait to read more about your trip. I am interested in knowing what is the kindermoon package? please share

 

[Newsies]

Following along! You have a beautiful family

 

[xlsm]

Fellow May traveler, here!

congrats on the adoption of your sons, that's so wonderful!! I love the picture of them with Buzz...cute, cute, cute!

 

[LaBelleVie]

Another May Trip! Following along. Congratulations on the adoption of your sons. We adopted 2 teen brothers back in 2013, we fostered them from 2 years prior. It is the greatest feeling in the world once those adoption papers are signed. The adoption took our count from 6 to 8 which sadly, now that the boys are out of the house and living on their own, I find myself missing them dearly. I still get the 2am crisis calls from them which keeps me going as it shows they still need me.The latest call was from the oldest asking me how to cook a hot pocket in the oven since he forgot to pay his electric bill and has no microwave. My initial reaction was my kid has no power. After explaining how to cook the hot pocket, I asked when he got a gas stove? to which he replied what is that? SMDH I finally hung up and called the power company and paid the bill and had his power restored. I received a text saying my lights came back on. It is a miracle. I replied no it was your mother!!! The next day he called and said his younger brother explained to him that I most likely paid his electric bill and that is why the power got turned back on, he asked me if I wanted the 100.00 back. I told him no, but I think he needs to find a girl friend to help him with things like this. They never really grow up.

Can't wait to read more about your trip. I am interested in knowing what is the kindermoon package? please share

I hope my kids still need me that much when they're grown!

I don't think the Kindermoon package is available anymore, but it was a package they were offering under the premise of it being your last big family vacation before your child starts kindergarten (since many families are reluctant to pull their kids out of school). It was the same price as the Fun & Sun package, but it comes with a fastpasses for each person for the Disney Junior show and a fastpass for each person that can be used at either Dumbo, Mickey's PhilharMagic, Monsters Inc. Laugh Floor, or the Little Mermaid ride.

Following along! You have a beautiful family

Thank you! My kids are insanely adorable, but the problem is that they know it, and they try to use it to their advantage (especially the youngest).

Fellow May traveler, here!

congrats on the adoption of your sons, that's so wonderful!! I love the picture of them with Buzz...cute, cute, cute!

Thank you! We feel pretty blessed

 

[LaBelleVie]

Where We're Staying
​

On our two trips before kids, we had stayed at Moderate resorts (POFQ and CSR). On our third trip, we were trying to keep things pretty cheap, but still a lot of fun and Disney magic for the kids, so we stayed at All-Star Movies. For this trip, we had more money to play around with thanks to our tax refund, but I'm still kind of cheap, and I figured that as much as I would love to stay at Wilderness Lodge, there were other things we could use the extra money for, so I decided we'd go with a Value again (I figure we might as well do it while the kids are small, because I'm sure it will become much more cramped as they get older). I had wanted a Little Mermaid room at AoA, because I thought they'd love the theming, but unfortunately, there weren't any rooms available for our last night (if we would have shortened our trip a day, it could have worked, but I would rather pick a different resort than shorten our trip).

Since we did an All-Star last time, I decided on Pop Century. We haven't been to Pop or AoA before (though we've visited almost all of the other resorts), so it's something new, and I liked that we could walk across the lake to check out AoA and try the food court. I'm not sure the kids will like it quite as much as they liked ASMo (they went INSANE over the Toy Story section, where we stayed...that's a huge part of the reason they came back from the trip obsessed with Buzz and Woody), but I think they'll definitely get a kick out of Mr. Potato Head and the giant Big Wheel!

I would have gotten a preferred room, but there weren't any available for our stay. I haven't started the check-in process yet, because I'm not sure which section I want to request. Any suggestions are greatly welcome! I'm kind of leaning towards the 50s section, but that's just because I've always been a bit obsessed with the 50s.

 

[cantoine]

I know they are doing room renovations in the 90's section until May and in the 80's section until June. I would recommend the 70's building to get the lake view. Plus the 70's building is close enough walk to the main building and the main pool. AOA is absolutely awesome. We stayed there a couple of years ago in the Nemo Suites. My kids loved it. We walked over to POP and walked around. It was a nice resort. AOA's food court is so busy, we walked over to POP to eat because it was so busy.

 

[Newsies]

The 50s section is awesome- it's right next to the main building. The 60s section is also TONS of fun! You're going to have a blast!

 

[LaBelleVie]

How We're Getting There
​

We had originally planned on driving again (though absolutely renting a car -- Marshmallow is going to stay much closer to home from now on), because flight prices were ridiculous. Southwest was always fairly affordable for us in the past, but when I checked prices, Southwest would have cost the four of us $1300 to fly out of Indianapolis, which seemed ridiculous to me. Even flying on American out of O'Hare would have been cheaper! Flying out of Midway would have been the cheapest option, but we would have had to leave our house insanely earlier to get to the airport, and parking was expensive there. I wouldn't necessarily mind flying out of Chicago, but we prefer Indianapolis (it's closer, parking is cheaper, and it's close to family if we have some sort of issue pop up).

I had read that the best time to book a flight was around 54 days before your trip, so I kept checking back daily, and eventually (around 58 days before, I think), I found an excellent deal -- we could fly Southwest out of Indy for around $700! It was only around $100 more than we would have been paying for car rental, gas, and hotels on the way up and down. The only downside is we won't arrive in Orlando until 6:20pm, so we had to cancel our arrival day ADR, but it's worth it to me to need to get to the airport around 1-2pm rather than 4-5am with small children.

We're excited for the boys to get to experience their first plane ride (my husband and I were both adults before we took our first flights), and we're excited that they'll get to ride on the Magical Express; I know a lot of people don't like it, but we think it helps set the mood for Disney!

 

[LaBelleVie]

Where We're Eating
​

We did end up getting the dining plan. We've done it once with and twice without, and I definitely prefer it with the plan. The convenience factor is great for reducing my vacation stress. We didn't get it on our last trip because we were trying to keep it as cheap as possible, and then with all the money we had to spend after our car trouble (over $1000), we had to cancel all but one ADR (the kids were looking forward to eating with Pooh, so I made sure they got to go to Crystal Palace). I didn't want to deal with that this time. I booked the regular Disney Dining Plan, with 1 QS, 1 TS, and 2 snacks per day. We usually tend to eat breakfast in our room, but we do have a few breakfast meals planned.

We will be enjoying several character meals, but I'll admit, some of our ADRs were booked more with mommy in mind than the kids. We do try to experience new restaurants every time we go; as of right now, we only have plans to eat meals at one restaurant we've eaten at before.

Originally, when we were going to drive, we were going to kick off our vacation with a 6:30pm dinner at Whispering Canyon Cafe, but since our flight arrives at 6:20, that wasn't doable anymore, so I maneuvered things around a bit (and may still move some more things, depending on what pops up).

As of right now, though subject to change, our plans are:

Arrival Day

• No ADRs; we'll probably grab dinner at Everything Pop

Day 1 - Epcot

• Bon Voyage Adventure Breakfast at Trattoria al Forno (not going to lie...this is more for me than for the kids. It will be my birthday, and I love Flynn Rider -- this is where the "more smolder" comes in, lol)
• We'll probably snack around World Showcase throughout the afternoon (school bread is a necessity for me)
• We're planning on a QS dinner somewhere at WS, but have yet to decide between Yorkshire County Fish Shop, Katsura Grill, and Tangierine Cafe (if I can get my picky husband to try it!)

Day 2 - Hollywood Studios

• We'll probably have an early lunch at PizzeRizzo (my husband is a HUGE Muppets fan, so there's no way we're not going)
• We have early dinner reservations for the Fantasmic! package at Hollywood & Vine

Day 3 - Animal Kingdom (we actually have never eaten at AK, so this will be a totally new experience!)

• We'll probably have an early QS lunch, maybe at Flame Tree or Restaurantosaurus.
• We have early dinner reservations for the Rivers of Light package at Tusker House

Day 4 - Disney Springs/Resort Hopping

• We have a lunch reservation at Homecomin', which I am very excited about; I've wanted to eat there since I first heard about it!
• We'll probably go over to AoA that night to eat dinner at Landscape of Flavors.

Day 5 - Magic Kingdom

• As of right now, our plan is to have lunch at Pecos Bill's
• We're having dinner at Liberty Tree Tavern

Day 6 - Magic Kingdom

• We have a breakfast reservation at Be Our Guest. I'm constantly checking back for a dinner reservation, because Jamie is obsessed with the Beast, but I haven't found anything yet. I'm hoping he enjoys just eating in his castle.
• We'll be leaving MK for lunch at Whispering Canyon Cafe.
• Dinner plans are TBD

Departure Day

• Breakfast at 'Ohana
• Lunch TBD (our flight leaves around 7, so our ME will probably leave around 4)

Jamie did tell me yesterday that he wants to eat with Pooh again, so I might change things up a bit and sub something out for a Crystal Palace dinner (maybe LTT, though my husband was looking forward to the menu) or a 1900 Park Fare breakfast (possibly 'Ohana, though Nolie would rather eat with Stitch).

 

[LaBelleVie]

Resort Update
​

I went ahead and completed online check-in a couple of days ago. Rather than requesting a specific section at Pop, I just requested a lake view room on the highest floor. We've had parking lot views 2.5/3 trips (our last trip it was a bit of greenery with a bit of parking lot to the side), so I'm excited to see if we actually get to look at something prettier than asphalt this time!

 

[LaBelleVie]

Day 1 Plans - Arrival Day
​

We'll be arriving in Orlando in the evening. As previously mentioned, we'll be taking Magical Express to Pop. I'm not sure what other resorts Pop shares a ME bus with (I'm assuming at least AoA), but hopefully we won't arrive at the resort too late. Since I've already checked in, we'll probably drop our stuff off at the room and head to Everything Pop for dinner; after looking at the menu, I'm really impressed with the kids' menu options! I will say I think I might miss the taco salad at World Premiere though; it was filling, tasty, and a surprisingly good value for Disney.

After dinner, we might check out the resort for a bit to get oriented, but I don't think we'll be out too late, because we've got an early start the next morning!

 

[LaBelleVie]

Day 2 Plans - Epcot
​

Our first day in the parks is also my 29th birthday! I can't imagine a better place to spend it than my favorite place in the world

We have an 8:05 reservation for the Bon Voyage Breakfast at Trattoria al Forno. I will admit that although my children enjoy meeting characters, I absolutely booked this for myself. As far as Disney guys go, Flynn Rider will always be #1 for me (Li Shang is #2, with Naveen and Prince Eric tied for #3), so obviously I couldn't pass up the chance to meet him. Even if it means I will be totally flustered the entire time and pretend that I'm just in it for my kids. I might have a problem.

After breakfast, we will be walking over to Epcot to kick off our time in the parks. We'll be starting in Future World, obviously, though by the time we get there, the lines for a lot of attractions will probably be more lengthy than we would prefer. Currently, our first fastpass is for Turtle Talk with Crush, so we'll probably start with the Nemo ride and work our way to Crush. Our next fastpass is for the Epcot Character Spot, but I'm debating whether to drop it. As of a few weeks ago, I'm a Disney Rewards Visa holder, so we have access to the private character meet 'n' greet, however, I'm sure they'd like to meet Joy, Sadness, and especially Baymax, who I'm assuming are not part of that one. I've heard they're popular, so I got the fastpass. We definitely want to do Soarin', but we'll probably save it for later in the day when the standby line is shorter, because I chose to get a fastpass for Frozen Ever After instead (I figured it would be the busier of the two). Depending on what time we finish things up there, we might do Ellen's Energy Adventure (if it's still open) since it's a great chance to rest in the AC.

We'll head over to World Showcase, which hopefully they will enjoy (I LOVE it, so it would break my heart if they're bored to death). We'll ride Frozen, and maybe the Gran Fiesta Tour if there's time. We'll probably see The American Adventure (another good opportunity to rest). We'll eat some snacks (like my beloved school bread), meet some characters, and probably get a quick service dinner (location TBD). We'll probably head back to future world in the evening for Soarin' and Spaceship Earth, and end with Illuminations if the boys aren't completely worn out (they handled open to fireworks at MK with some breaks built in without much issue, so hopefully that will still be the case now).

 

[xlsm]

I'm sure they'd like to meet Joy, Sadness, and especially Baymax, who I'm assuming are not part of that one. I've heard they're popular, so I got the fastpass.

I wanted to pull this out and comment on it first, because Joy/Sadness and Baymax do not have the fast pass. That is only for the "regular" character spot with Mickey, Minnie, and Goofy. The Joy and Sadness and Baymax meet and greet is in the building across the walkway from the Mickey and friends Character Spot. It's also called the Character Spot, which is annoying and confusing! The line grows pretty fast. We had a PPO breakfast at Garden Grill in December, and made that our first stop. Guests were allowed into the park and allowed to line up prior to scheduled park opening, so even though we had a "head start", we still were not first in line. By the time they opened the line officially (we did Joy and Sadness first), we were about 10 people back and the line had about a 25 minute wait for new people joining. They take a lot of time with each group, and it's an awesome meet and greet!

We did Baymax next, and his line was not as long. We only had to wait for one or two families before going up, but he can't interact much, so it's just a hug, pose, snap a picture and leave.

I just wanted you to be prepared for that! And I apologize if I read it wrong and you already knew that, but I panicked and wanted to comment quickly, lol!!

I hope your Trattoria breakfast is awesome! I've read a few reviews and it looks like so far so good. I love the frying pan of pastries!

I'll bet the boys won't be bored in the World Showcase, there's so much to see! I'll bet they'd get a kick out of some of the performers and the kidcot stations.

This sounds like a really fun Epcot day!!

 

[LaBelleVie]

I just wanted you to be prepared for that! And I apologize if I read it wrong and you already knew that, but I panicked and wanted to comment quickly, lol!!

No, I'm glad you said something, because I had no idea! I thought it was all at the same place. In that case, I'll drop that fastpass, and probably replace it with Spaceship Earth.

Thank you so much!

 

[LaBelleVie]

Day 3 Plans - Hollywood Studios
​

On our second day in the parks, we'll be heading over to DHS, which my husband is especially looking forward to. I know most people would probably disagree with our plans, but we're going to begin our park day in late morning, heading to our Toy Story Mania! fastpass. After, we'll probably grab a very light brunch-ish meal at PizzeRizzo, because my husband would never forgive me if we didn't (we have a 3:45 reservation at Hollywood & Vine, so we wouldn't want to eat too much). We'll see Muppet*Vision 3D before heading to our next fastpass (the Frozen sing-along). Our third fastpass is for shortly before our H&V reservation, but I'm not sure if I'm keeping it; it's for Star Tours, which my kids would like, but my youngest is just under the height requirement, and I'm not sure if he'll be tall enough by the time we go. I know we could do child swap, but I don't think he'd take too kindly to it.

Other attractions we plan on experiencing throughout the day: the Launch Bay, Voyage of the Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast, the Disney Junior meet 'n' greets, and Disney Junior Live On Stage (which we have a fastpass for because of the Kindermoon package). If we have time, I'd like to take them to the Indiana Jones show, but it's a bit lower on our list because they have no idea who Indiana Jones is, but they are all about the animated characters.

We did book the Fantasmic! package at Hollywood & Vine. On our first trip, the line for Fantasmic! was so large so quickly that even lining up almost an hour in advance, we almost didn't make it into the theater. The show was amazing (it's the best thing at Disney, IMHO), but the line was miserable, and Tom vowed that we would never do the standby line again. On our second trip, we booked the dining package, and it was a much better experience (with much better seats!). We ate at Mama Melrose's, which wasn't awful, but it wasn't that great either (I enjoyed the appetizer and desserts, but my entree was very underwhelming; I loved the ambience though!). Since we had a good experience last time and wanted a Toy Story fastpass, we booked the package again. We decided on Hollywood & Vine because we thought the kids would love the character interaction; I've heard not-so-great things about the food, but I'm willing to give it a try (I've heard mostly negative things about Coral Reef too, but we went anyway and ended up loving it!).

We might be able to catch a bit of the fireworks on our way out of Fantasmic!, but if we can't, it's not the end of the world.

 

[LaBelleVie]

Day 4 Plans - Disney Springs
​

It may sound odd, but I'm looking forward to this rest day! We try to always build in at least one.

Depending on the weather, of course, we'll start with a morning swim before we head to Disney Springs for lunch. We have a lunch reservation at Homecomin', and it might be the meal I'm looking forward to the most; I've been wanting to go since I first heard about it! I'm hoping that we'll be able to thoroughly explore Disney Springs on this trip; we planned on it on our last trip, but we only made it to Earl of Sandwich and World of Disney before the toddler tantrums were so out of control that we needed to leave.

This will probably also be the night we do the Electrical Water Pageant. We usually go to the Poly, grab some food at Captain Cook's, and watch from the beach. It's one of my favorite Disney traditions!