A trip 3 years in the making PTR

[JoanneDisFan]

Yes these plans have been in the works for 3 years. Actually about 8 months more than that. You see when we found out we were expecting our 2nd child we immediately said we would have to celebrate his or her (at that time) 3rd birthday in Disney World. So when Daniel joined us on Sept 16th, 2010 we started tentatively planning this trip.

Our cast for this great trip is:

Me JoanneDisFan. Crazy fanatic about Disney. I even have a mickey head tattoo. Wish we could go more often, but we only go once we have saved up the money. I'm a stay at home mom, but busy volunteering with karate, MOPS,and other church activities. Oh and I homeschooled our oldest this year as well.

DH Dave. My great husband who also loves Disney. Not sure he's quite as crazy about it as me, but he does go for matching mickey tie dye shirts and says yes we can go, as long as we have the money.

DD Jessica. She will be turning 14, 3 days after we get home from Disney. Going into grade 8 at a new local charter school and probably the last chance we can to pull her from school for a week before she graduates. Also loves Disney, especially Tinkerbell and the Fairies.

DS Daniel. Turns 3 during our trip. Very active handful of joy. We are working on potty training. One of our goals is to be potty trained before Disney. Has a Mickey themed room and loves his sisters Pal Mickey. Yes we have one and he will travel with us to Disney.

The Plan so Far

We were beginning to think this trip wouldn't happen. The money just wasn't there and DH was concerned about pulling DD from school for a week. But with Free Dining and being willing to drive we can afford it. Stay at All Star Movies Preferred Sept 14 to 21, 6 day Park hopper tickets, and dining plan upgrade. MNSSHP on Sept 20th. Still hoping we might score some cheap flights, but driving is also okay.

Stay tuned for more details.

 

[JoanneDisFan]

Table of Contents
Resort Changes
ADR's
Our Plans take 1 & ADR changes
Our Plans take 2

 

[wiigirl]

In for your PTR...

 

[JoanneDisFan]

So on disboards today I heard about the refurbishment of the AS Sport's food court. At first I was willing to just stick with my choice, but after thinking about how it would effect crowds at the food court and crowds at the bus lines, well I thought it was time to price out an upgrade. With the dining already upgraded it was only a $95 difference. So talked to DH and he agreed it would be a good choice.

So I looked over all the choices. We stayed at Coronado Springs Resort last time, but thought we should try something new. So we are staying Caribbean Beach Resort. Loved the pool and kids play area.

Now I will also need to change at least 1 dining reservation to take advantage of being able to eat right at the resort. Probably arrival night.

 

[JoanneDisFan]

In for your PTR...

Thanks. Can't wait to get back to Disney.

 

[Katmat75]

I'm in for your trip report! And we are staying at CBR too! It is our favorite resort!

 

[JoanneDisFan]

So I completely missed the 180 mark since we waited till we were sure Free Dining was happening, but I still managed to get a good mix of ADR's. At the moment I have 8 ADR's as I added one on our arrival night. I'll probably drop either Yak & Yeti or Rainforest Cafe DTD. I'm also trying to decide between keeping it to all new restaurants or switch some to give us more character meals. I'm sure I'll end up changing things a lot between now and when we arrive. So here's what I have so far.

Sept 14th 7:05 pm Shutter's @ CBR (This may be changed depending on if we fly or drive and our ETA)
Sept 15th 6:30 pm 50's Prime Time Cafe
Sept 16th 6:15 pm Chef Mickey's (This is DS's 3rd Birthday)
Sept 17th 12:30 pm Yak & Yeti
Sept 17th 7:30 pm Rainforest Cafe DTD
Sept 18th 12:50 pm Crystal Palace
Sept 19th 6:30 pm Nine Dragons
Sept 20th 11:45 am Tutto Itallia

We only have 2 character meals. Last trip DS was scared of the characters, but he was also only 13 months old. This time I think he will love them. We have eaten at the following Character meals on previous trips, CRT, LTT(Back when they did characters), GG, Ohana, Akershus, and Tusker House. So not much we haven't tried in character meals. Hollywood & Vine (Ate there non-character and really didn't like it), Cape May Cafe, and 1900 Park Fare. We also would rather not have to get up extra early for breakfast and prefer lunches and dinners. So I'm still trying to figure everything out. We have enjoyed every character meal we have done before, so repeating wouldn't be that bad, I just wanted to give some other restaurants a chance as well.

So what are your thoughts. Add more Character Meals as the turning 3 yr old would enjoy them more?

 

[JoanneDisFan]

So on past trips I have made some sort of plans. At least used the crowd calendar's to try and find lower crowds. We don't do big crowds. That's why we go in Sept if at all possible. First trip we used UOG, second trip TGM, and third trip UOG. This time I'm using EasyWDW since it's free. We like to park hop and plan a half day in DTD and just hanging at the resort. So here are our plans.

Sept 13th - Leave after DD gets out of school and drive down. (This will change if we can find cheap flights)
Sept 14th - Arrive at CBR. Relax, Swim, Shutters.
Sept 15th - AK, Break, HS, 50's Prime Time Cafe.
Sept 16th - EP, Break, Chef Mickey's, MK for fireworks.
Sept 17th - AK, Tusker House, Break, DTD, DQ
Sept 18th - MK, Crystal Palace, Go till we get tired, Back to resort
Sept 19th - HS, Break, EP, Garden Grill
Sept 20th - EP, Tutto Itallia, Break, MK, MNSSHP
Sept 21st - Head Home

I also have Pirates League booked for DS on the 20th at 1:15 pm, but hope to get a time closer to the Party (4-5pm)

Also you might notice some ADR's have changed. I dropped the Rainforest cafe in favor of Shutters on arrival day. Changed Yak & Yeti to Tusker House. Changed Nine Dragons to Garden Grill. I will also be probably be changing Tutto Itallia to Tepan Edo at my DD's request.

I'm still contemplating changing my MNSSHP party dates to the 17th. But that will change our other plans as well. Here is what it would look like.

Sept 15th AK/HS
Sept 16th EP/MK
Sept 17th AK/MK MNSSHP
Sept 18th Resort/DTD
Sept 19th HS/EP
Sept 20th MK/EP

Right now I like the idea of the party ending our time at Disney before we head home. But I also know that Friday's might have more people than the Tuesday.

So that's where things are at for now. As my DH pointed out, things will probably change more between now and Disney.

 

[JoanneDisFan]

I'm in for your trip report! And we are staying at CBR too! It is our favorite resort!

Thanks for joining my PTR.

 

[Sylkie31]

So on past trips I have made some sort of plans. At least used the crowd calendar's to try and find lower crowds. We don't do big crowds. That's why we go in Sept if at all possible. First trip we used UOG, second trip TGM, and third trip UOG. This time I'm using EasyWDW since it's free. We like to park hop and plan a half day in DTD and just hanging at the resort. So here are our plans.

Sept 13th - Leave after DD gets out of school and drive down. (This will change if we can find cheap flights)
Sept 14th - Arrive at CBR. Relax, Swim, Shutters.
Sept 15th - AK, Break, HS, 50's Prime Time Cafe.
Sept 16th - EP, Break, Chef Mickey's, MK for fireworks.
Sept 17th - AK, Tusker House, Break, DTD, DQ
Sept 18th - MK, Crystal Palace, Go till we get tired, Back to resort
Sept 19th - HS, Break, EP, Garden Grill
Sept 20th - EP, Tutto Itallia, Break, MK, MNSSHP
Sept 21st - Head Home

I also have Pirates League booked for DS on the 20th at 1:15 pm, but hope to get a time closer to the Party (4-5pm)

Also you might notice some ADR's have changed. I dropped the Rainforest cafe in favor of Shutters on arrival day. Changed Yak & Yeti to Tusker House. Changed Nine Dragons to Garden Grill. I will also be probably be changing Tutto Itallia to Tepan Edo at my DD's request.

I'm still contemplating changing my MNSSHP party dates to the 17th. But that will change our other plans as well. Here is what it would look like.

Sept 15th AK/HS
Sept 16th EP/MK
Sept 17th AK/MK MNSSHP
Sept 18th Resort/DTD
Sept 19th HS/EP
Sept 20th MK/EP

Right now I like the idea of the party ending our time at Disney before we head home. But I also know that Friday's might have more people than the Tuesday.

So that's where things are at for now. As my DH pointed out, things will probably change more between now and Disney.

We're planning on going to MNSSHP on Sep 17th as well. Hope to see you there (if you don't switch to Friday night instead).

 

[happybelle]

Joining in.

 

[JoanneDisFan]

We're planning on going to MNSSHP on Sep 17th as well. Hope to see you there (if you don't switch to Friday night instead).

Joining in.

Thanks for joining my PTR.

Real life update: Less than a month till we head north to Montreal, Canada for a family vacation with my side of the family. I finally get to meet my new nephew born back in Dec. So I got my suitcases down from the attic. So technically they are down for Disney as well. We are also in the middle of potty training the toddler. Hope to be diaper free by Disney. Had one good day this week where he was dry the whole day, then the next day had mostly accidents. Oh well that's life. Had a crazy dream last night that had us canceling our trip. At least it was only a dream.

 

[katt789]

I’m here to read along! It looks like we’ve gotten some overlap days too! We’re down in Disney from the 11-19th!

Your family is adorable! Love the costumes, little Peter Pan’s are always the cutest! We loved CBR when we stayed there, thought it was just the right size, the bus system was great and the beach and hammocks, perfect! Love it!

Oh the 15th we’ll be over at AK too! Probably from around 11am til close, it is our sleep in day haha. And we’re at Epcot on the same day too!

We’ll be at the party on the 17th!! I did two last year and definitely noticed an increase in crowds on Friday’s party too!

 

[JoanneDisFan]

I’m here to read along! It looks like we’ve gotten some overlap days too! We’re down in Disney from the 11-19th!

Your family is adorable! Love the costumes, little Peter Pan’s are always the cutest! We loved CBR when we stayed there, thought it was just the right size, the bus system was great and the beach and hammocks, perfect! Love it!

Oh the 15th we’ll be over at AK too! Probably from around 11am til close, it is our sleep in day haha. And we’re at Epcot on the same day too!

We’ll be at the party on the 17th!! I did two last year and definitely noticed an increase in crowds on Friday’s party too!

Thanks. I have to admit my family is pretty special.

Good to know that tues is smaller than fri, even in Sept. Our last trip we went over Columbus Day Weekend & week. Had to pay rack rates and too many people for my tastes. So this year we are pulling DD from school to take advantage of free dining.

Looks like I may be changing around some of our plans. I heard about the AKL culinary tour and I think DD would love to go and do that. DH also wants to eat at Boma. I'm not sure if we would do that arrival day or on our DTD day. Also starting to really lean towards the Tur MNSSHP, but I'm waiting to buy tickets till much closer. I'm sure I will change things a million times between now and Disney. I'm also kind of waiting till our Montreal trip is over, so I know how much leftover $ I can apply towards flights.

 

[JoanneDisFan]

So touring plans came out with a crowd calendar for the MNSSHP and it showed that the party on the 17th would be significantly less crowded, and the whole tue vs fri crowds. So I switched our party dates. Most of our plans will actually stay the same with just a few changes. I also changed a few ADR's to fit the new plans.

Sept 14th - I convinced DH we should fly but haven't bought tickets yet. Hope to arrive about noon at MCO, but depends on flights. Depending on arrival time we may go down to DTD and DQ either before or after our ADR. Switched our ADR to Boma at 4:30pm. The reason behind this is I found out about the culinary tour at 4pm at AKL and I know DD would love it. So we will do the tour and have dinner there are well.

Sept 15th- No Change :AK, break, HS, ADR at 50's Prime Time Cafe, Fantasmic!

Sept 16th- Plans pretty much stayed the same EP, break, ADR Chef Mickey's. But after dinner we will let our DS pick if we go to a park for a bit or go back to our resort. We may even go check out EMH, who knows.

Sept 17th -AK, ADR Tusker House, Break, MK for MNSSHP

Sept 18th- Sleep in then head to MK, ADR Crystal Palace. Stay till we get tired and go back and enjoy the resort. (I have briefly considered trying to get a Wishes Desert Party Reservation this night but worried it might be to many late nights for the little one)

Sept 19th- No change: HS, break, EP ADR Garden Grill

Sept 20th- Switched our parks around MK, Break, EP, ADR Tutto Itallia. Still might change this ADR. We will be celebrating DD's birthday this day and I think she would like this restaurant.

Sept 21st- Since we are flying it all depends on what time our flights are. We may just hang at the resort, or we might do another trip to DTD.

So right now I'm really waiting on flights. I'm checking websites daily to see if prices have come down. Everything says expect prices to drop so I'm trying to be patient.

But in the mean time I'm finalizing all my plans for our Montreal trip in less than a month. I made matching shirts for everyone including my little nephew. We wear our matching shirts when we fly so it's easy to find each other in a crowd and it's easy to identify the little one if he wanders off. I'm not sure how much the rest of the family will like them, but at least it's a little way to remember our trip.

 

[starann]

Just read through!

Have fun in Montreal!

 

[klacey1]

I followed you here from the FB group-- subscribing!!

 

[JoanneDisFan]

Taking a deep breath and trying not to panic. I found out some info this past week that might change our dates for Disney. We would probably just move it up a week. So at least i know I'm still going, but knowing we might have to change dates freaks me out as to changing all our adr's, figuring out best parks again, etc. I'm sure you all can understand this stress.

So now for the whole story. For the past year I have home schooled DD. She's like me in that she's good with math. She finished up Pre-Algebra and asked to start Algebra 1 and try and get it done over summer. I said go for it. It's really up to her. I'm not pushing her and if she doesn't get it done it solves my problem all together. Which is the EOC exam. We don't do the standardized EOC exam as homeschoolers. So they might just review her final exam and use that, the school might do their own testing, or they might make her take the standardized EOC exam. That's where the problem comes in. The next dates for the EOC exam are midweek our Disney week. ACK!!! Deep breath!

So I'm waiting to hear back from the school as to what they will likely do. But that in itself might be impossible as they are a brand new school, as in building still being built and teachers still being hired. So I sit here waiting and I wish I had the answers, but I'm stuck waiting, and I hate to wait.

REAL LIFE UPDATE

DD had her Irish Dance competition in Branson on Saturday and got 3 2nd places. Moves her up to Novice in 2 more dances. Yay! I'm so proud of her. She's only been dancing just over 2 years.

 

[JoanneDisFan]

So It's officially been 2 weeks since I emailed the school about the whole situation and have not heard back yet. Grrrrr. Don't they know I have Disney planning to do. Actually they don't. I'm waiting till closer to school starts to tell them. But still come one, they could at least email me and say they are looking into the situation.

So this has me second guessing the whole putting DD back into public school. Homeschooling her could work with some small changes. Then she can go as fast as she wants through math. But on the other side I already ordered uniforms.

 

[JoanneDisFan]

All this wondering and waiting was getting to me, so today I called the school. They forwarded my email onto the Headmaster and by afternoon I had my answer. They will do their own assessment of where she is at. If she is ready for Algebra 2 they will arrange for her to do it online as they won't have a Algebra 2 class. So no more worries about EOC exams during our vacation. YAY!!!!!

Only 8 days till Montreal. I've been doing some Disney prep as well. I'll use the stroller tag for both trips if I can get it laminated. A friend has a laminator I've used before, so I should be good there. I also made some luggage tags for this trip as my old Disney ones are finally falling apart. Made them simple black mickey heads on white cardstock.

Can't wait till June 30th, once we are back from Montreal it will be full ahead on Disney. I'm still looking for cheap flights but no luck so far.