A toddler and a preschooler's first trip! What could go wrong? PTR: 1/30/16 - 2/6/2016

[JReneeW]

Well, I thought in honor of.... DOUBLE DIGIT DAY I should make a post! WOO HOO! 99 days until DISNEY WORLD! (And really, only 98 days until "vacation" since we are spending the night before in a hotel at the airport, that's like a vacation to kids, right?) I told Son 1 it was only 99 days until Disney World this morning and he said "Oh man! That's a LONG time!" Yeah, I guess it is relative, buddy.

On another fun note, last week we got our Magical Express paperwork and tags! I don't ever remember getting them this early, so that was a fun surprise. But I've also never used a Travel Agent before, so maybe that has something to do with it? I also don't remember how early we paid off the balance(s) on prior trips, so maybe that's it? Whatever the reason, IT'S GETTING REAL!

I also got my embroidery hoops for the boys' blankets. They do seem to pull the fabric tight enough to make signatures easier (I'm hoping), even if they're not super easy to put on/adjust. I just need to find a good fabric marker that doesn't "snag" on the uneven flannel. Well, that and I still have to sew Son 2's blanket together. It's still a pile of squares sitting in the laundry room!

Son 2's potty training isn't going so well at daycare (although is going just fine at home) so I'm glad we started early. I'm hoping over the next 99 days he'll be able to get it figured out. (I know you all just love reading about potty training! )

I'm also still trucking through touring plans. It's killing me to keep taking things out of them to make more "down" time, but I think it's what has to happen - we can always "wing it" to put them back in if there's time. And now that Soarin' will be closed, that really opens up Epcot a bit more. Speaking of touring plans - how do you all handle child swap and FP+? Since Son 2 doesn't have a ticket and won't be able to ride a lot of the big rides, can I do this:

Book 7DMT FP+ for DH and Son 1 (Yes, I know they're had to get, but for the sake of this example, humor me and say we got two)
Book Dumbo FP+ for myself

We all go to 7DMT, get child swap pass. DH and Son 1 ride 7DMT. Son 2 and I go ride Dumbo at the same time. Then Son 1 and I could ride 7DMT again while DH and Son 2 do something else? Is that how it works? But if we did that, the whole group couldn't also book a Dumbo FP+, since I already booked one, right (so our Dumbo ride as a family would have to be in standby)? Am I missing something here? Any advice on how to manage it all?

 

[kcpinwdw]

Son 2's potty training isn't going so well at daycare (although is going just fine at home) so I'm glad we started early. I'm hoping over the next 99 days he'll be able to get it figured out. (I know you all just love reading about potty training

Oh I am with you, my daughter is stubborn about the potty! I really hope to be pull up free by January.

Is that how it works?

Yes! That is just how it works. So you get almost an "extra" FP with the child swap, and you definitely can take your little one on something else.

 

[jmccoy18]

When we went with DD1 when she was 2, she was not fully potty trained. She was starting to get it, and would go when we put her on the potty, but would not tell us when she had to go. So, For Disney, I just put her back in diapers and it was on less thing we had to worry about while we were there.

Yay for your ME paperwork and double digits!!

 

[JReneeW]

So, here is our tentative plans by day. I still have to work through the FP+ booking and see how that changes things, but tell me what you all think!

Saturday:
Arrive at MCO around 10:30
Arrive at WL around 12:30
Lunch at Roaring Fork
FP+ for Winnie the Pooh, Jungle Cruise and Meet Mickey. (Yes, I know they aren't super popular rides, but I'm still hoping for a Skipper Canteen ADR Saturday evening, so I'd like to ensure my kids have the references from Jungle Cruise for dinner and Winnie the Pooh for breakfast on Sunday!)

Sunday:
Crystal Palace ADR Pre-Rope drop
Doing more low key rides. Warming them up to the whole "Disney World" thing and also to rides in general, so most of the MK rides shouldn't need FP+ this day.
Head back to hotel around 1:30
Buses to Epcot around 4:00
Biergarten Dinner ADR
FP+ for Spaceship Earth, Test Track and Turtle Talk (? This is probably just a throw away FP+)

Monday:
AK EMH - I know they're frowned upon, but this is the day that seemed to work best for us.
Tusker House Lunch ADR
Bus to Contemporary around 4:30.
I'm thinking we will eat Dinner at Contempo Cafe. I think the boys would like to see the monorail in the Contemporary, so this is a good excuse. Then we can take the boat back to WL. Unless they're tired, then we abandon ship and eat at WL.
FP+ Festival of Lion King, meet Disney Pals and Finding Nemo. I know shows are a "waste" but I don't think we will be riding any of the big stuff here, except for the Safari, which I plan to do first thing.

Tuesday:
MK Rope Drop
BOG Lunch
MId-afternoon Naps at hotel
5:00 WCC ADR
Hoping to make it back for Electrical Parade and Wishes. That should be do-able if we get the FP+, right?
FP+ Splash Mountain, Electrical Parade and Wishes

Wednesday:
Epcot Rope Drop
Lunch at Coral Reef
Afternoon in the World Showcase; hoping for a stroller nap.
CS Dinner
FP+ -Test Track, Meet Disney Pals and Turtle Talk

Thursday:
MK Rope Drop
CS Lunch
Dinner at 'Ohana
This could be a long day. Again, hoping for a stroller nap, but this day could go south quickly.
FP+ Festival of Fantasy Parade, 7DMT and Big Thunder Mountain.

Friday:
HS Rope Drop
Lunch at Sci-Fi
Boat or Walk to Epcot around 3:30 (If I can get a stroller nap in, we may walk just to keep from moving them)
Dinner at Garden Grill
FP+ Toy Story, Frozen Sing Along, ToT for Husband (and get child swap pass) and Disney Jr. for me and the boys.

Saturday:
BOG Breakfast Pre-Rope Drop
Free to repeat whatever the boys liked best
FP+ Anna and Elsa? 7DMT? Splash Mountain? Just guessing what they might like and/or harder to get FP+.
Back to hotel by 12:00-ish.
ME Pick up around 1:30 (I'm guessing)

What do you think? Since Son 1 tends to be afraid of big rides to begin with, we aren't planning to push him much (like Dinosaur or ToT). He isn't tall enough to ride Everest, RnR or Space Mountain, so those are all nixed and since Son 2 will be too short to ride almost anything with a height requirement, we are trying not to repeat too many of the "child swap" rides so he isn't missing out on as much.

Both boys are early risers. We get them up at 6:00 a.m. during the week and they wake on their own by 6:30 most days, so getting up for rope drop shouldn't be an issue.

Oh, I also realize we have more meals than is on the dining plan. I'm okay with that. We'll just have to calculate which meals we pay for OOP once everything is finalized.

 

[JReneeW]

So, I made a very important crafting decision today - how to decorate our Magic Bands! I was talking to Son 1, who told me he wants "an orange band with Mickey Mouse". I also happened to have just ordered some Mickey Mouse Duct Tape to wrap around the handles of our stroller to help identify it more easily. Why not just use an exacto knife to cut out the Mickey Heads from that and put on his band? PEREFECT! I'll probably do the same for Son 2, since I'm sure he won't be asking for anything (Other than maybe Mickey once he sees Son 1s) And while I'm at it, why not buy some lace printed tape for mine? Awesome! Now just to try to track down a template for my magic band pieces.

Any tips on keeping this tape stuck?

 

[kcpinwdw]

Mickey Mouse Duct Tape

Great idea... post pictures please! I did temporary tattoos once and coated them with clear nail polish. I didn't love the result, the tattoos looked too washed out. Duct tape is probably brilliantly colored so that is a good idea. Maybe modge podge would work better as a coating? Probably for the lace idea.

 

[JReneeW]

Great idea... post pictures please! I did temporary tattoos once and coated them with clear nail polish. I didn't love the result, the tattoos looked too washed out. Duct tape is probably brilliantly colored so that is a good idea. Maybe modge podge would work better as a coating? Probably for the lace idea.

I will post once their done! I just wish they came before 30 days so we could work on them when we're home with the boys around Christmas!

I found a template for the magic bands, so I'm going to just do a "cover" for mine with the color still poking out around the edge (since I think I'll probably end up taking the grey off mine). This is the tape I bought for mine:
http://ducttape.scotchbrand.com/wps...e-Lace?N=8702356+3293758372+3294529207&rt=rud

And the tape I bought for the boys' (although I plan to cut all the red out, if possible, so it's just the Mickeys on their bands).
http://www.duckbrand.com/products/duck-tape/licensed/characters-brands/mickey-mouse-188-in-x-10-yd

I think the modge podge is a great idea to seal it! I need to check on that.

Oh! And I found these for autographs on the blankets. They are PERFECT! They roll smoothly and don't catch on the texture of the flannel. The smudge a bit if you rub on it right away, but it's pretty dry within a minute, I'd say. I didn't try to wash/dry it, though. Maybe I should do that...

http://www.pentel.com/store/gel-roller-for-fabric

 

[jmccoy18]

I love that lace duct tape!

 

[JReneeW]

After scouring the Magic bands post, I decided to buy a base coat nail polish to coat the bands, then I'll do a layer of acrylic glow in the dark paint, followed by the duct tape (which I cut out a couple of weeks ago - I think it's going to turn out cute! Hopefully they come back off the paper, if not, I'll have more cutting to do!) and a final layer of base coat to keep it all on. I just wish the bands came more than 30 days in advance! We'll have Christmas, New Years and Son 2's birthday all within those last 30-40 days! Yikes!

I've also made a couple of small tweaks to our schedule - I'm swapping HS from Friday morning to Wednesday Morning, so we'll do Epcot/Garden Grill Wednesday afternoon and Epcot all day Friday instead. I knew Friday wasn't the best day for HS, but after I saw Touring Plans updated crowd calendar, I decided to make the switch. Our Garden Grill ADR is a smidge earlier than I'd prefer, so I'm going to keep stalking the website, but it should work if I can't find anything better. I also decided to go for FP+ at MK on Sunday morning instead of at Epcot Sunday night. I don't think we'll have a ton of extra time at Epcot, so it seems silly to waste 3 we could use at MK for 1 we'd use at Epcot (and we'll be at Epcot twice more by the end of the trip). So, I think that gets us all set for making our FP+ reservations - that will be in just two short weeks! I'm very anxious about it since we haven't been to Disney World since they got rid of the legacy Fast Passes, so I'm not sure what to expect and hope I don't screw it up!

 

[JReneeW]

Well, last night was FP+ night. On the upside, we got nearly everything we wanted. I was foolishly (or overly optimistically?) hoping to get Anna and Elsa on our second day - not so much. I was able to get it at a reasonable time for our last day. The jury is still out if the boys even want to meet them. Son 1 says that Elsa is scary because she freezes everything. So, maybe we'll end up canceling it and some lucky person will be able to find a last minute FP+. Who knows? I'm kind of planning on letting that last day be a "whatever you want to do again" day. I just booked some FP+ ahead of time so at least we have SOMETHING.

Start to finish, it took me about 30 minutes to book all of our fastpasses. The downside is that since I was awake for 30 minutes, it took me another two hours to fall back asleep. I guess I should have thought about taking today off work!

I measured Son 1 with his shoes on this morning and it looks like he is only 39.75". So he needs to grow another .25-.5" in the next 60 days otherwise I may have some FP+ issues to try to resolve. Fingers crossed he just grows and I don't have to worry about it!

Other updates: I've finished the little blanket for Son 2, so they should both be set now. The Disney Store tricked me on Cyber Monday and I ended up buying the boys both a pair of pajamas and a "costume tee" of Buzz and Woody as their "welcome gifts". I also bought two zip up hoodies - one Pirates and one from the Good Dinosaur. They'll probably be Christmas presents.

Other than that, I think we're just in a holding pattern now. I probably should do on-line check in at some point. I suppose that could be done soon. I plan to make a "count down" chain with the boys while we are home around Christmas. I'm stalking a few minor, minor details to see if I can get things just right (but no problem with how things are now) and still stalking/waiting/wishing for a Skipper Canteen ADR. Then all that's left is decorating the magic bands once they come and packing. Woo hoo!

 

[Trixie15]

I'm hoping for a Skipper Canteen ADR, too! Checking in every day here to see if there is any news. Our trips are coming up fast!

 

[kcpinwdw]

Awesome on the FPs! One thing I noticed with my little ones was there is a BIG difference in different pairs of shoes. I'd measure him in a few different pairs!

I am on the lookout for a Skipper Canteen reservation too. I check every morning!

 

[JReneeW]

I'm hoping for a Skipper Canteen ADR, too! Checking in every day here to see if there is any news. Our trips are coming up fast!

What is your gut feel? Do you think ADRs will open up soon? In time for our trips? I'm starting to become pessimistic about it.

 

[JReneeW]

Awesome on the FPs! One thing I noticed with my little ones was there is a BIG difference in different pairs of shoes. I'd measure him in a few different pairs!

I am on the lookout for a Skipper Canteen reservation too. I check every morning!

That's a good idea about the shoes! Son 1 is 4, so I don't worry about him sitting properly or anything like that on rides - it's just that last .25 of an inch!

Hopefully we can all get a jump on it and snag some for our trips! I'm starting to come to terms with our trip how it's planned now, though.

 

[jmccoy18]

You are getting so close!!!!

 

[JReneeW]

So, with less than 60 days to go, I'm trying to wrap up whatever "last minute" purchases and things we need to check off the list. Things I've bought in the last week or so:

- Thinner winter hats (as opposed to thick, lined hats) for the boys and a winter headband for myself.
- Thin gloves for everyone (stocking stuffers for the boys)
- Single Serve snacks because we don't want anyone getting hangry.
- Foam ear plugs just in case the boys don't do well with the fireworks.

Things I still need to buy:
- Ponchos
- Travel hand sanitizer

What else am I missing that I might not think of? I want to be sure to pack ibuprofen for the boys (and ourselves), since you never know when something might come up. I'm trying to think of what things might help "save the day" but don't take up a ton of space in case they don't end up being needed (like ear plugs).

The only things left on our "to do" list are things that we can't do yet since we've done FP+ and online check in already but can't do the following:
- Stalk Skipper Canteen Posts in hopes of getting an ADR
- Decorate Magic Bands
- Pack

 

[JReneeW]

I'm just going to put this here so I don't forget - After going on a day trip with my toddler this weekend, I've learned he will not go near a hand dryer. No way, no how. So I think I'm going to take some paper towel off the roll, fold them up one by one and pack them. Then I can slip a few in a plastic bag each day to take to the parks for hand drying after using the restroom (or whatever else that might come up).

 

[JReneeW]

I can't stop tweaking our touring plans, and then tweaking our FP+ accordingly. I thought I'd book them and be done, but oh no. It doesn't help I've found out about a few closures I wasn't expecting (like Magic Carpets and Flights of Wonder). While the closures aren't things we had Fastpasses for, they do affect our touring plans, which then in turn had an effect on the Fastpasses we did have booked. Overall, I think (hope?) it should work out pretty well. It's a new experience with the FP+, both good and bad. I like that they're pre-planned, so it should save us from running around the park trying to collect fastpasses for later use. However, it does worry me a bit to lose the flexibility that the legacy system gave you by not enforcing the return times, and with two little guys, I'm trying to figure out how to get as much flexibility built in as possible (but all while avoiding the thing where you stand around and say "What do you want to do next? Oh gosh... I don't know.... How about this one thing that has a really long wait?")

Update on my to do list from my prior post:

Things I still need to buy:
- Ponchos - CHECK
- Travel hand sanitizer- CHECK
- Headache medicine
- Lotion sunscreen for faces
- Cold medicine, because you never know

The only things left on our "to do" list are things that we can't do yet since we've done FP+ and online check in already but can't do the following:
- Stalk Skipper Canteen Posts in hopes of getting an ADR - Given up on this since the reviews seem so-so and they don't take ADRs. It was fun stalking it's opening, anyway.
- Decorate Magic Bands - See below! So excited!
- Pack - I won't start on this until a week or so before.

Today is our last day to customize Magic Bands and I am SO excited! I've started doing some work to get ready to decorate them. Son1 wants "An orange band with Mickey" so that's what I'm hoping to give him. After what I've done so far, I'm hopeful that it's going to turn out. I'm still not sure how I'm going to do mine - cover the whole thing? Use thinner "bands" so there's still a color outline around them? I'm just not sure. I'm hoping that once I have them and can play around with them a bit, I'll have a better idea of what I like. Here is what I've done so far, a sneak preview of sorts, I guess!

 

[kcpinwdw]

Looks great! I can't wait to see the finished products!

 

[JReneeW]

SO EXCITED!


Even though he hasn't been saying much to me about it, apparently Son1 has been talking to my husband about our countdown chain fairly often, so I'm glad that was a worthwhile project!