A Mom and a Little Lady Off On Our Dream Vacation PTR

[rubberbootbunny]

http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=51645887&postcount=18http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=51645887&postcount=18This is a first for me so so bear with me if I screw it up a bit. Never having done a PTR before, I am sure that I will leave out a million things but I'll give it a whirl.
Let me start with introductions. I would be know as the Mom. It's just me and my little lady (DD 12) Jess .

Jessica's picture

If the picture works this is my wonder girl in 2011 on her first trip to WDW. She is at that point where half of the time she loves the princesses and the other half she pretends that she's above them.
I am somewhat of a freek (as many of us here are) and I am an obsessive planner. It makes me happy. My planning document is an excel spreadsheet with 8 tabs and growing. With graphs.
This trip has been a long time coming. It started out as a B2B in August of 2012 and I have had to move it twice and it has morfed into a 4 night stay at WDW and a 3NB DCL to the Bahamas. This trip is going to be our first time ever as just the two of us and we can hardly wait.
As we get going I will link my posts back to this one.

When to go and why land and sea. post 3
So we know when we go. But where? post 4
how will we get there, & will your father let you? Post7
Where will we eat? Post 9
where will we eat? Part 2 post 11
the Coaster Kid rides again post 14
the reservations have been made post 15
Just a quick note post 18

 

[quigs3]

Count me in! Mother daughter trips are the best! I can't wait to read more!

 

[rubberbootbunny]

When to go. And why land and sea.

As I I mentioned in the first post this was originally a B2B cruise (Booked in 2012 for Aug 2013). When my former DBF decided not to join us for those cruises, I split them. I decided that I needed a little more time to pay for my daughter and I without his help. It was so disappointing. But at least he let me keep both reservations and the deposits.
At that time I picked a 4 night Bahamas for September 2014, and moved the three night out as far as possible. Which happened to be the 3 night Bahama first week of Dec 2014. That way I didn't loose my OBB discount and OBC.
So one night I am sitting around talking about the cruise with one of my BFF'S, and out of nowhere I say " you should come with us". And that was that. She was on board. So now it's the three of us girls off on a Disney Cruise.
Now as we are planning she mentioned to me that with all the times she has been to Florida, she's never been to WDW. (I'm sure that you can all agree that this is a situation that HAD to be rectified; and quickly)
Soooo... Woo hoo! we are now planing a land and sea trip.
Now with the two of us splitting costs and her never having gone to WDW we decided to take stay at the Contemporary. Park View. The whole nine yards. Because of how she had to take time off from work, the longest we could finagle was fly in 4 days before the cruise. This would allow us to have three days in the parks and a half day at DTD.
So I booked it with the 3 day base base pass, add on DDP, and the photo pass, and pay the deposit.
Time passes, and I have paid for mine and Jessica's share of the cruise ,and a little bit of the WDW portion, when the bottom drops out.
My BFF is sick. Very sick. Three months off work sick. There is no way that she can afford it. So I hmm, and I haa, and I plot. And I can't make it work. There's just no way it is close but I just couldn't make the numbers work out.
So I make the call to DCL. And take the BFF'S name off the booking, and move to the Dec 5th booking, planning that I will move it later when I am not so heart broken.
But wait, there's good news. By moving to the shorter cruise, and an outside unobstructed instead of a veranda (the smoking policy has changed, my cruise was paid in full and I had money leftover for a bigger OBC.
So the date is set. And I call WDW to change the date. I figure that I will have to pick a more affordable hotel, but that could keep for a little bit longer.

 

[rubberbootbunny]

So we know when we are planning to go. December 1st, 2014 to the 5th for WDW and the 5th to the 8th on the DCL cruise. But the question remains, where should we stay?
We had originally planned to stay at the Contemporary but that was off the table. The last two times we have stayed at POP, but after being so excited about the Contemporary, I just wanted to find a middle ground. So I started looking at the moderate resorts. And then I remembered the Royal Rooms. So I showed them to Jess and she was amazed. "Oh Mommy, could we really? " (I don't know about you, but that little face with all that sparkling hope, it makes me want to move mountains. ) So after looking at the numbers again. I realized that a pool view Royal Room was still less than half of what I was booked for the Contemporary room. And so with it now being me and Jess, that difference would work. I would be paying less than what my share used to be. We could go.
And not only that, it was cheaper, and I for one love to save money.
I should probably take a second to tell you a little bit more about me. I am a single mom with a somewhat problematic former husband. I have been a stay at home mom for most of jess' life, but I am trying to return to the working world. My mother whom I cared for in her home passed away 2 years ago after a prolonged struggle with multiple illnesses, culminating in an 11 months battle with cancer. So money at our house is tight. Like most of us we need to carefully consider which extras and treats we choose. But I really wanted this trip to happen. I felt like my mom would have wanted me to find a way (and so did I), so I did. I don't use credit cards, and
I like it that way. There's just too much temptation for me otherwise. I am a much bigger Disney junkie than my daughter, and a life long coaster kid.
In my next post I think that I will move on to getting permission for Jess to travel with me to the USA, and the joys of buying airline tickets in cash, without a car, and traveling with a scooter. .

 

[quigs3]

I'm sorry about your mother's passing! I'm a single parent too, and it can be so hard sacrificing to take trips like these - but they're WORTH IT!

My daughter and I have stayed in the royal room at POR, and we loved it! It was already one of our favorite resorts, and staying in the royal room just made it perfect!

I hope your friend is feeling better!

 

[rubberbootbunny]

Yes my friend is doing better. And I have never stayed at a moderate resort. I have been haunting the POR threads. I really hope that I haven't built it up in my my head too much. I am just so excited about this.
Thank you for the kind words about my mom. She was fiercely loved, but it was time.

 

[rubberbootbunny]

Let me start off by saying that I don't currently own a car. Well that's not entirely true. I do own one, I just don't drive it.
As part of my budgeting for the trip I realized that if I took the car off the road, even with the cost of buses and taxis, I could almost pay the outstanding balance of the trip. So I changed the insurance and make do. But that combined with the fact that if I don't pay for something with cash (or occasionally prepaid visa) I don't buy it, well it can cause some interesting problems.
For instance, how do most people buy air line tickets? That's right with a credit card. Now I can pay cash but the nearest airport to me is 50 minutes away by car. So that was pretty much off the options list. Well I looked into it, and I found this air line had that price, and so on untill I finally found the right price on the right days, that would let my scooter fly free. Oh and I wanted a direct flight that would not land too late in the day. Talk about a pain. But as I said I did finally find one. It was Westjet. Now up here in Canada westjet is notorious for selling out of its sale seats early. So I knew that I had to jump on it lickity quick.
The first hurdle was Jess' Dad. While he and I try to work things out so they go smoothly for our daughter, he has a tendency to demand his way regardless of the impact on my life. But I am sure most people will say that about their former spouses, so... Anyway, the agreement we have in place states that neither one of us may take Jess out of the country without the other parents permission. Now he has never said no, but he has delayed, and complained, and questioned the necessity, and generally been difficult in the past, so I was prepared for a battle royal.
It didn't happen. For the first time ever. He said yes in the first phone call. I was floored. I couldn't figure it out. But then I remembered that 2 weeks earlier the other kids at his house told my daughter all about the WDW vacation that they are taking this year. ( but jess isn't invited. A fact he didn't mention to her, but then messaged me after dropping our girl back home, asking me to tell her.) So I guess he see this as a way to make it up to her. Whatever, as long as she gets to go with me.
So I have found the tickets, and got permission, now all I have to do is buy the tickets.
At first I was stymied, then I had a eureka moment (don't get too excited, they don't happen that often.)
A travel agent! So after looking and calling around I find one that I like not too far from home. But wait. I still can't buy them yet. Why you ask? Because I need 24 hours to take money out of my account. (I can only use my debit card for so much per day and the tickets were over that). So the first day I take out some of the money and the next day I can pay the rest. So I finally have all my ducks in a row go to buy the tickets and the debit machine is down. ARRGH!
So I wait. And I wait. And still I wait. And finally 2 hours and 41 minutes later I have the tickets!

Join us next time for the continuing saga, where will we eat.

 

[rubberbootbunny]

This post is not really part of my PTR.
HOWEVER. It was written just after my last DCL cruise. And it will show you what is going through my head the whole time I am picking the flights.
I hope that you find a chuckle.


SO I went on a trip. A big trip. With my daughter, and my boyfriend. And it went great. The trip was amazing, and we have already booked again for next year. The best time ever.
How ever…Now first let me say I love my boyfriend and I can’t imagine life without him, that he is the dearest kindest, most supportive, patient guy in the whole world, and I have no idea what I did to deserve him.All that being said OMG! Next time I swear I am going to ask him to meet us at the cruise ship because traveling through the airport with him is an exercise in frustration.
You know how when you travel, there is always “that guy” ahead of you that makes you want to pull your hair out, the one you look at and think “for Christ sakes buddy, get it together. Come on!” My boyfriend, he’s “that Guy”.
Ok, hang on, let me back up… For those of you who have been living under rocks for the last decade or so, airport security is a pain, you are required to submit to screenings, to remove your shoes, and your belts, to having your bags x-rayed, and if you are flying into the States from another country you will need to show your passport at least three or four times sometimes more. In light of all of these security measures that may or may not actually help keep the flying public safe, (the jury is still out on that one), Passengers on international flights are asked to arrive at the airport three hours before their flight. Ok I can handle that. So for my 10:30 am flight I need to be there around 7:30 in the morning. So I drive the hour to the boyfriends the night before and spend the night so his family can drive us in the morning. They are only 20 minutes from the airport so great I can leave at 7:00 am. Get a good nights rest and have an easy start to the trip right?
Wrong. The BF turns into paranoia guy and thinks we should leave at 6 am. To which I reply “No, I will leave no earlier than quarter to seven, I would prefer to leave at 7:15 but I will compromise and we can leave at 7:00”So we get that part worked out, (after I pointed out that the check in counter doesn’t even open until 7:30) and we get to the airport at 7:32. So I think great, we are away to the races.
But wait, I spoke to soon. Now to be fair I packed a lot, for me and my daughter there are two LARGE suitcases, two of the largest carry-ons permissible and a small carry on (the BF has one suitcase and one small carry-on) and I figure that I will get a cart, but no, paranoia guy thinks that we should just do it ourselves and I figure that is not worth the fight but then, once we are in line he does nothing to help move any of the luggage I am left to move most of it myself as my daughter is still to small to really be of much help. And so we are standing in line, we step up to the ticket counter to check in and that’s when the fun really starts.
I hand the lady the passports, at least I hand her mine and my daughters, the BF feels better if he is in charge of his own, so then we wait for him to get his passport out, and he does. He takes it out of his carry-on and passes it to the agent. Who then says “no you have to take it out of the holder” so BF takes the passport out of the holder and passes it to the agent. Now the agent swipes it, checks us in and hands back the three passports to me and says, you will need to keep these handy. Then before we can move, BF asks for his back. I think ok and pass it back, and then he proceeds to put it back in the holder and then the holder back in his carry on bag and zips it up. So finally we get moving, all of 30 ft, where we come to the next check. And again, two passports followed by Bf opening the carry on, taking out the holder, trying to pass the security guy the holder, being told “no, you have to take it out” then taking the passport out of the holder and then handing it to the agent, who again passes me all three. And says you will need these again inside. And again Bf wants his back. (Can you guess what is coming next?) You guessed it! That’s right folks the passport goes back in to the holder, than the carry on is opened, the passport goes in the carry-on ant the carry on gets reclosed. Six passport checks. Six, and every time it was exactly the same.
Now in retrospect, this is funny I do get that, but during the screening process? Not so funny. And besides, I general find it wise not to make the airport screeners unhappy, they are the ones who can decide that you get to miss your flight. (And it is not like this should be a new process for him; he has flown before, last year in fact.)
As if all the passport fun wasn’t enough, BF just couldn’t seem to get the physical screening part.Let’s see if I can sum this part up for you, In the interest of brevity, I will just list the screener’s comments:
“Sir you need to remove your shoes first"
“Sir your shoes, need to X-rayed first before you can put them back on”
“Sir you need to remove your belt”
“Sir the belt needs to go in the tray”
“Did you empty your pockets?”
“Back up, are you wearing a watch?”
“Put the watch in the tray, and try again”
“Don’t touch the sides of the machine, Try again”
“Do you have anything in your pockets? Put it in a tray”
“Don’t touch the sides of the machine, Try again”
“Don’t touch the sides of the machine, Try again”
“Have a nice flight”

So I think maybe next time, I’ll just meet him at the ship.

 

[rubberbootbunny]

So now that the dates are figured out, the big question becomes where will we eat.
The last time we went we ate at Marracesh (sp?) And Akerhuas and the Crystal Palace. And jess has specifically asked to go back to them. So I said sure we can try for that.
She is also asking for BOG and CRT. I am interested in a candle light processional and breakfast at the GF the last morning. Jess also wants to see fantasmtic. And we are looking at the Brown Derby for that. We have also tentatively agreed to 50's Prime Time and tusker house. Which would use all 12 of our table service credits per person.
The big problem comes in the fact that we end up with 3 1/2 days in the parks. And with us having tickets for MVMCP on the Thursday. Things get very tight.
I am hoping to do CRT on the 1st. It should be pm magic hours then epcot the next day and DHS the 3rd. That leaves us with the morning for AK, the mid day at the resort and MVMCP after 4 on out last full day. On the first day the earliest I can get to the park would be around 2:30. And given those restrictions I just cant figure out how to get the three MK restaurants in.
Any suggestions?

 

[quigs3]

Wow! You'll be taking on a lot in a short amount of time if you try to squeeze in all of your dining plans along with the party! I would try to do BOG first. We've been lucky to eat there for dinner, and I managed to get reservations again for our trip at the end of this month. You just can't beat the atmosphere there!

 

[rubberbootbunny]

Sorry it took so long to get back to this, I am out of data on my phone and needed to hit a wifi zone.
Ok

For my land section of my trip, I think I have finally nailed it.
19 days out from my ADR date, and I think that I have managed to plan the meals we wanted. After 14 drafts, I think that I have it.
3 1/2 days, 4 parks, 1 MVMCP, no park hopper, and 9 TS meals that will use all 12 dining credits per person.
Right now I feel like a "rock star".
Now I just hope that the pixie dust is working over time on my behalf and that I actually get the ADRs I want.
they are (1 ts = 1 table service credit, CD= character dinning)

Day 1 -half day MK
Crystal Palace 1ts CD
CRT 2 ts CD

DAY 2 EPCOT
Norway 1 ts CD
Morroco (Fantasmtic! Dinner) 2 ts reserved space for show

Day 3 DHS
50's Prime Time 1ts
The Brown Derby (Candlelight Processional package) 2 ts reserved space for the show

Day 4 AK & MVMCP
Tusker House 1 ts CD
BOG 1ts

Departure Day (for cruise) GF
1900's Park Fair 1 ts CD

Now I know that this is a phenomenal amount of dinning. But it is what Jess likes to do. She really loves having a fancy sit down meal so that is what I have planned.
We have a very short time in AK because the only reason we are going is so that Jess can meet Pocahontas and I can ride Everest.
This plan will use all of our meal credits, but for us, I think that we have nailed it. We are now 14 days out from our ADR's and the plan has stayed the same for 5 days. Maybe I should should rename the thread a Mom and a Little Lady eat their way through WDW.

 

[rubberbootbunny]

Oops. A quick correction to the last post. I do know that fantasmtic is in DHS and that the candlelight processional is at EPCOT. I got the restaurants correct but the show names backwards.

 

[rubberbootbunny]

So now that I know where we want to eat, what order show I try when booking ADR's? I am assuming that BOG should be first, but then what?

 

[rubberbootbunny]

So in addition to eating our way across WDW my goal for this trip (pm Dec 1st to am Dec 5th) Is to ride all of the roller coasters in WDW.
We have pm of day 1 and day 4 MVMCP at MK with Magic Hours -probably a full day at both EPCOT and DHS. With the morning of the 4th in AK.
Do you think that I can pull it off?
And have I missed any from this list
SPaM
BTM
SPshM
MatHrn
EE
Mine
ArwSmth

Thanks

Next I have to start figuring out which FP+ to go with.
And did I happen to mention that I can start making my ADR's in less than 7 days, 11 hours and 17minutes?

 

[rubberbootbunny]

Well I made my reservations this morning and I've been fine tuning ever since. the final- at this point, result is

December 1st Magic Kingdom
Cinderella's royal table 8:10 p.m.

December 2nd Epcot
Norway 12:10
Morocco 5 pm

December 3rd Hollywood studios
Brown Derby fantasmic package 12 noon
50's primetime 7:50 pm

December 4th (this is the big day)
Animal Kingdom
Tusker house 8:15 a.m.
Grand Floridian
1900 Park fare 430
Magic Kingdom
Crystal Palace 6:25 p.m.

December 5th Grand Floridian 1900 Park fare 8:05 a.m.

Yes I know that this is an insane amount of eating. Yes I realize that I have 3 buffets in one day. Yes I am aware the the 4:30 Park fare and 6:25 Crystal Palace is awfully tight and difficult to do. This is what works for my daughter and I and besides there's no rule that says you need to eat everything in sight at a buffet.
I did tell her that at the breakfast at tusker house I won't complain if she eats nothing but bacon. I figure there are enough other opportunities to eat other foods that day.
The only thing I have left to do with my dining plan is change Morocco to a Candlelight processional package when they open up.

I am proud to say my dining plan has 5 character meals, 2 dining packages, a floor show, and 4 buffets
It is 9 table service meals and uses 12 credits covering four parks a resort and Mickey's very Merry Christmas party. And we're doing it in basically three and a half days. maybe we really should think about changing our trip name to Eat our Way Across Disney World.
We are only doing GF at 4:30 for the characters and the Crystal Palace is a special request for my daughter
But I know it's a lot. I will probably split my dinner that day. ie apps and something small at GF and a small serving of entrée and desert at CP
Besides, Jess really likes to eat in restaurants. We don't do it a lot at home. She doesn't want to ride a thousand rides, and she doesn't want to see a thousand shows she just wants to meet the characters and have nice meals.
So that is what I managed to plan. It has taken 6 phone calls a phone app and my best friend on a real computer (thank God for a best friend willing to wake up at 5:45 a.m.- we are at 35 years and counting), today alone but it's done.
Now I just have to figure out what to plan next.

 

[quigs3]

Sorry for the late response! It's been a crazy few weeks. My daughter turned 18, then graduated from HS the next night, and we left the following morning for a 10 day trip to Disney! We just returned, and I'm slowly getting caught up on the boards.

You are going to have a wonderful time, and you'll eat like royalty for sure!!!! You have fabulous reservations, and you're daughter will enjoy every minute if it!!!!!

 

[jewels1916]

Hi Lesley! Popping over from our December FB group to follow along! Even though we've discussed some plans over there!

Courtney

 

[rubberbootbunny]

I have run out of battery so i will edit this later
first of all thank you to jewel and quigs for leaving comments. It's nice to know that somebody really is reading it.

now I think I'm in something of a holding pattern. I can't plan anything else. Every time I try the system says I can't do that. I can't add things to my days I can't look at when things are open I can't figure out which character to meet when. So I'm in a holding pattern and so frustrated because we're already pre picked all kind of things we want to do, but we can't really choose which ones were going to do until the update the site. The y said I would love the my Disney experience but I just find it frustrating. I hate it they say oh yeah you're going to start planning it out how many days yeah I'd planned my dining that's it they won't let me do anything else I find it incredibly frustratingI was however looking at my dining again and I'm still desperately trying to move the Crystal Palace later in the day because frankly I don't know when I will enjoy to the phase at one time this region to give both of themI got everything bought to make the cross question I have my guess now I just have to motivate myself enough to actually make them

 

[quigs3]

I can see why you are frustrated, but don't quit trying. I'm sure things will start coming together for you as you get closer. Maybe you could work on other Disney planing items in the meantime, like making matching t-shirts for you and your daughter. We had so much fun doing that on our trip, and the cast members loved it! We received so many compliments!

 

[rubberbootbunny]

Since the i last checked in i have made a lot of changes. First I decided to add a couple of extra days; my girlfriend is going on the cruise and I would like to spend a couple of days in the magic kingdom with her and her family. So I look into it and it turns out I can change my flight for less than 40 dollars. the question becomes where do i stay?
i've got it our old standby pop century. So I make new reservations and I'm excited, I add more tickets and dining plans.
but wait there's a sale for Canadians!
so I call Disney World again and talk to them and it turns out that I can move up to a moderate and still get money back. Coranodo Springs her I come!
Well 3 days pass and I hmmm and haaa and decide I'll just look in to a deluxe.
Well to make a long story short, we are now on a split stay between POR and the Yacht Club. With the cruise in the middle.