A seasoned family's trip of many firsts! October 2014 *UPDATE 2/16*

[disneygirl2785]

1) This is my FIRST PTR!
2) This will be our DD(9 1/2 months now), Camryn's FIRST trip!
3) This will be our FIRST trip as a family of 3!
4) This will be our FIRST F&W Festival!
5) This will be our first stay at VWL!

Hey everyone! My name is Amanda, I have been a lurker since 2012 and started a PJ (Planning Journal, for those of you not familiar with the Wedding board!) for our Dec 9, 2012 DFTW, but never finished! Our wedding was perfect though!

Now that we're a family of 3, our up coming trip is going to be so different than trips of the past! For that reason, even though I have been to The World more times than I can remember and DH's first trip was when he was 2, I not only want a place to run our ideas by y'all, but also a document of Camryn's first trip!

Here is Caleb & Camryn:

So, without further ado, the who, what, when, where, why!

WHO
Me
DH=Caleb
DD=Camryn
Grammy=Janice, My mom
Papaw=Bob, My dad
Granny=Jackie, Caleb's mom
Pa-Pa=Mike, Caleb's dad
Auntie=Catherine, Caleb's sister
Uncle #1=Colton, Caleb's brother
Uncle #2=Cody, Caleb's brother

Yes, we're all going! I would love for my aunt and uncle, cousins, and their families to go, too (We're a close family, I'm an only child and my cousins are like my big sisters) but they usually go over Christmas and New Years, which is when we always went growing up.

What
WDW vacation, of course!

When
7 nights October 2014, specific dates TBD, we're DVC not staying at home resort, so we can't book yet! (Our home is BLT, but we stayed there for the wedding, so we want to enjoy some other resorts, too!)

Where
Villas at Wilderness Lodge!!! Caleb is especially excited about this, being the outdoorsman that he is! And we just really love the resort, but haven't stayed there! I think it will be perfect due to the boat to MK, we'll be spending lots of time there with little miss! We will have a studio and my parents will have a studio, too. We're trying to get Caleb's parents to rent points and get a 1BR for their family so that we'll all be at the same resort. But that has not been decided on yet.

Why
Camryn's first trip, of course ...and F&W for mommy and daddy!!!


Basically, Do you agree that WL will be a great place to stay for an 18mo first visit? I know BLT would be even more convenient, but we've already been there and WL is SO our style!

I've already got a mental list of ADRs we want...anyone know if there is a spreadsheet template anywhere on the boards? My plan is to be uber organized for this trip. I had put SOOO much planning into the wedding last time (that was our last trip) that we kinda just winged the honeymoon (we did have ADRs). I enjoyed doing that, that is definitely DHs style, and totally opposite from my mom's style and what I grew up with. I just know we aren't going to be able to go, go, go with a 18mo...

Anyway, if you made it this far, Thanks! And I hope you hang around awhile!

Chapters
Post #2
Post #3: Schedule #1

 

[YouCanFly09]

This looks great!! Your little girl is so cute! I am extremely jealous that you are staying at VWL! I love WL we stayed their our last two trips, im not sure I can enjoy POP this year, I have been spoiled!!

 

[THiiNKTiiNKx0]

Joining in! I am jealous of where you're staying as well. My family and I are going in December and would love to stay at WL or Poly nut we cant swing it We do love POR though so until we can afford a deluxe, thats where we'll be. We will have a 6 month old when we go so im interested to see what and how you plan.

 

[THiiNKTiiNKx0]

Joining in! I am jealous of where you're staying as well. My family and I are going in December and would love to stay at WL or Poly but we cant swing it We do love POR though so until we can afford a deluxe, thats where we'll be. We will have a 6 month old when we go so im interested to see what and how you plan.

 

[THiiNKTiiNKx0]

Joining in! I am jealous of where you're staying as well. My family and I are going in December and would love to stay at WL or Poly but we cant swing it We do love POR though so until we can afford a deluxe, thats where we'll be. We will have a 6 month old when we go so im interested to see what and how you plan.

 

[THiiNKTiiNKx0]

Sorry!!! Didn't mean to post it so many times. My phone is being weird lol

 

[BellesLibrary]

We both commented on another PTR about going with 18-month-olds, and I HAD to come check out yours! Camryn is beautiful (look at those gorgeous blue eyes!), and I bet she's going to have a BLAST!

I love that you've got a big crowd going. Those trips can be so much fun if everyone gets along.

Can't wait to see what you're going to plan!

 

[disneygirl2785]

This looks great!! Your little girl is so cute! I am extremely jealous that you are staying at VWL! I love WL we stayed their our last two trips, im not sure I can enjoy POP this year, I have been spoiled!!

There is NO way we would be able to afford Deluxe resorts with out DVC. We joined DVC on a Disney cruise that I payed $3,000 for, for my parents and I. (As a thank you to them for supporting me for so long after getting my first "real job" after college. That single trip was 1/5 of what we're paying for DVC, and We knew we would be doing more than 5 more Disney vacations in our life! So it made sense for us! The points paid for a 1BR for 9 days over our wedding/honeymoon, including a 1BR for Caleb and his boys for 2 nights before the wedding. My parents have also gone on a Disney cruise. All that was only 3 years of points. Anyway, if you are planning to go to Disney ALOT, cruises included, its so worth it! Members also get AMAZING discounts at the parks, resorts, etc.

Joining in! I am jealous of where you're staying as well. My family and I are going in December and would love to stay at WL or Poly nut we cant swing it We do love POR though so until we can afford a deluxe, thats where we'll be. We will have a 6 month old when we go so im interested to see what and how you plan.

Thanks for following! POR was one of our resorts for family and friends during the wedding! I love that its on the river and has a boat to DTD!

We both commented on another PTR about going with 18-month-olds, and I HAD to come check out yours! Camryn is beautiful (look at those gorgeous blue eyes!), and I bet she's going to have a BLAST!

I love that you've got a big crowd going. Those trips can be so much fun if everyone gets along.

Can't wait to see what you're going to plan!

YAY! I was hoping you would come join! I love hearing from moms and families with babies the same age as Camryn! This is such an exciting time! We do have a big crowd going, but I think Caleb's family is going to go down just a couple days before us and our trips will just overlap. We own a family business and its really had for Mike, Caleb, and me to all be gone for a long period of time, all at the same time. It really stresses his grandfather out. SO, we shall see what really goes down, lol!

 

[wiigirl]

Following along!

 

[disneygirl2785]

Following along!

Thank you, Thank you!

 

[disneygirl2785]

Hey everyone! It's a foggy Sunday morning here north of Dallas! Caleb went out to "the yard" this morning to work on the lights of one truck and make sure the rest of the rigs are ready to go for the week. Our family business is shipping horses all over the country with semi trucks and big horse trailer vans and the yard is what we call the area of our business where the semi truck horse vans are parked and worked on. Yes, we have horses! I've had horses since I was 12, I think, and Caleb has had them his whole life. His grandfather has always had horses and he is the one that started the family business 28 years ago! I'm just blessed to have married into this awesome family!

Anyway...here is Camryn and Bailey this morning! Bailey is a Cowboy Corgi (Corgi x Blue Heeler). She is SO awesome with Camryn! They are buds!

I had briefly mentioned in a comment reply that we're probably going to end up staggering our stay with Caleb's parents because of the business. My parents are retired, so they will probably stay the same time as us.
This has a couple advantages:
1) We're not all gone from work at the same time.
2) Caleb's family gets a couple days at The World to do what they want without the demands of a 18mo!
3)We'll get a couple days at The World to do what we want without the demands of teenagers!

I'm thinking that they can leave Texas on a Wednesday morning, we'll leave on Thursday evening. That gives us Friday together at MK, probably saturday at the resort, and sunday Mike will probably definitely leave to be back at work Monday and if Jackie and the kids want to stay longer, they *might* have that option, but before anyone leaves Sunday we'll probably go to AK. Then we'll stay until at least Wednesday or Thursday. (As I write this, I sure wish we could stay longer than a week, it already doesn't seem like enough time )

 

[disneygirl2785]

So, the other day I sat down and started working on a schedule for our trip, this is what I've got so far...

Friday
RD @ MK
Ride stand-by while crowds are low during the morning
If Camryn doing well: QS Lunch @ MK + one more attraction
If Camryn cranky: QS Lunch @ WL
Nap/relax at resort for afternoon
TS Dinner at BOG
2x FP+
MSEP/Wishes
1x FP+

Saturday
WL Resort Day
QS Lunch @?
Evening at DTD
TS Dinner @ Ragland Road

Sunday
RD @ AK
1x FP+
TS Lunch @Tusker House?
2x FP+
Nap in stroller
Back to resort early/5pm
Dinner @Chef Mickey’s (if no TS @ lunch)

Monday
Pre-Park opening Breakfast @ Akershus
FW until F&W opens
2x FP+
F&W snacks for Lunch
Relax @ splash pad at BC (legal?)
1x FP+
QS/F&W dinner/Illuminations

Tuesday
RD @ DHS
TS @ Brown Derby w/Fantasmic
Go back to resort Nap/Relax
QS @ ?
Go back to DHS for Fantasmic

...This is as far as I've gotten! and a pretty rough draft. But I think I'm off to a good start! I can't decided what to do on our AK Sunday. We want to try Tusker House and we also want to do Chef Mickey's and I'm not sure I'll be able to fit it in, guess I'll just have to keep playing with it. DH and I also want to do a date night at Cali Grill and have my parents keep Camryn for the evening, and I'm not sure where that's going to go either...We REALLY need to set our dates! FIL thinks we'll be too busy with work for us all to be gone at the same time in Oct, but I thought that's why we're staggering our time off He has since mentioned going the first couple weeks of Dec or even Jan '15 ...THAT'S TOO FAR AWAY!!!!

By the way, Camryn went to her first birthday party today for two of her friends from my Mom's group! They recently turned 1 and had a joint party at Gymboree! She had a blast! She loves music so she was just really having a good time! Her favorite thing was pulling her down the wedge mat on parachute material! Everyone was commenting on her big cheesy smile the whole time! When she smiles big, she smiles with her whole face! Agh, LoVe that little girl! And I can't wait to see her at Disney, that's why I want to go SOON!!!

Let me know wha-cha thnk of my plans, I need some interaction here!

<3

 

[ryansstitch]

That's so awesome you married into a family doing work you love! That's just beautiful!! Ok, back to your PTR...our baby is only 2 months, so perhaps my perspective is off, but having one TS per day is a good limit. With all the random surprises that babies bring throughout the day, I think having more than one or two scheduled events in the day would make the trip stressful. Are you and Caleb doing any special events for F&w?

 

[Imagineer5]

So, the other day I sat down and started working on a schedule for our trip, this is what I've got so far...

Friday
RD @ MK
Ride stand-by while crowds are low during the morning
If Camryn doing well: QS Lunch @ MK + one more attraction
If Camryn cranky: QS Lunch @ WL
Nap/relax at resort for afternoon
TS Dinner at BOG
2x FP+
MSEP/Wishes
1x FP+

Saturday
WL Resort Day
QS Lunch @?
Evening at DTD
TS Dinner @ Ragland Road

Sunday
RD @ AK
1x FP+
TS Lunch @Tusker House?
2x FP+
Nap in stroller
Back to resort early/5pm
Dinner @Chef Mickey’s (if no TS @ lunch)

Monday
Pre-Park opening Breakfast @ Akershus
FW until F&W opens
2x FP+
F&W snacks for Lunch
Relax @ splash pad at BC (legal?)
1x FP+
QS/F&W dinner/Illuminations

Tuesday
RD @ DHS
TS @ Brown Derby w/Fantasmic
Go back to resort Nap/Relax
QS @ ?
Go back to DHS for Fantasmic

...This is as far as I've gotten! and a pretty rough draft. But I think I'm off to a good start! I can't decided what to do on our AK Sunday. We want to try Tusker House and we also want to do Chef Mickey's and I'm not sure I'll be able to fit it in, guess I'll just have to keep playing with it. DH and I also want to do a date night at Cali Grill and have my parents keep Camryn for the evening, and I'm not sure where that's going to go either...We REALLY need to set our dates! FIL thinks we'll be too busy with work for us all to be gone at the same time in Oct, but I thought that's why we're staggering our time off He has since mentioned going the first couple weeks of Dec or even Jan '15 ...THAT'S TOO FAR AWAY!!!!

By the way, Camryn went to her first birthday party today for two of her friends from my Mom's group! They recently turned 1 and had a joint party at Gymboree! She had a blast! She loves music so she was just really having a good time! Her favorite thing was pulling her down the wedge mat on parachute material! Everyone was commenting on her big cheesy smile the whole time! When she smiles big, she smiles with her whole face! Agh, LoVe that little girl! And I can't wait to see her at Disney, that's why I want to go SOON!!!

Let me know wha-cha thnk of my plans, I need some interaction here!

<3

HI!! finally stopping by!! So when are you going to call at the 7-month mark?? It would be neat to overlap our trips!

As for your plans - Friday I would definitely do a FP+ for MSEP but just stay where you are for wishes, no need to get a 2nd FP+ for it. Instead, use the other two FP+ for either rides w/ Camryn (Peter Pan, Tomorrowland Speedway, etc) OR to get 4 rides on Space, Splash, etc and use rider swap as well.

Saturday looks relaxing

Sunday looks great too! Instead of a TS lunch at Tusker you could do a before-park breakfast at Tusker house, then dinner at chef mickeys?

Monday no you can't go to the BC no pool hopping there even for DVC members. EPCOT looks great and love AKershus before park opens!

Tuesday sounds awesome! F! will be fun.


You got a lot covered!! My only critque might be that you want more time at MK? Esp w/ Camryn. But other than that it is going to be a fun family trip!