A Whole New (Disney) World - January 2017 *Update 2/14 - COMPLETE - Link to Trip Report Added! *

[cosmicmommy]

Can You Keep A Secret?!?
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So far, despite my intensive planning (including leaving the DIS up on my home computer a couple times while at work), none of the kids have figured out the big secret yet. Who would have thought I could keep this trip a secret for 2 weeks, much less 8 months already?!? Ahhhh.... 5 months to go! (Or as my ticker says 4 Months and 22 Days to go!) 4 months until the boys find out about the trip of a lifetime - can I keep this secret that long? My insides are buzzing with excitement... but I got kinda jealous of everyone with their fun countdowns with the families, so I started a #secretcountdown with the boys and they don't even realize it's a countdown, much less what it's counting down to or why I'm doing it. They're just happy to have a new weekly activity and haven't questioned much yet. We're only 1 week in so far, but you know what I mean. Because I have boys, they haven't been as *ahem* exposed to the Disney classics as they should have been. Sure, they love Tangled and Cars and the newer stuff that Disney regularly plays (aka shoves down our throats ), but these kids have never seen the likes of Dumbo or Sleeping Beauty or *hides* Beauty and the Beast. I know, I know - bad Disney momma. Many more they have seen in passing and in pieces. What is a momma to do? Implement mandatory family movie night of course - with Disney movies at the center of the hullabaloo!

It made perfect sense really. I have a home popcorn popper. It's seriously like a miniature theatre popper. And my boys LOVE popcorn! All of my old VHS are packed up and we don't have a VHS player anymore, and I don't have a lot of them on DVD, plus those are packed somewhere too. I think I should be able to mostly DVR them off Disney JR or other channels as we go, especially with the holidays coming up. Our first movie was Mulan, simply because it was on Saturday! The boys both had soccer double-headers and we went swimming that afternoon, but we still managed to make our Mickey pizza, pop some popcorn and enjoy Mulan all the way through - so at least I know they have seen that one in its entirety. They are very familiar with the DIsney JR family of characters (Sofia, Jake, Doc, etc) and are plenty familiar with the Fab 5 and Pooh characters, so I'm going to skip those. I may end up skipping several movies on my list that I know they have seen (Little Mermaid, Tangled, Brave, Frozen, Cars, Tarzan) more than once in favor of movies they either haven't seen at all or only once. I have 21 more weeks until we leave (and for 4 weeks, they'll know WHY we're watching Disney movies), so my hopes are to get access to the following movies to make sure their Disney education is up to date and they will understand and enjoy all the attractions. I would love to get them acquainted with ALL of the classics, but since I have a limited amount of time, I have narrowed it down to about 30 and would love everyone's assistance in choosing 20 because Mickey's Very Merry Christmas is going to be watched on Christmas Eve. The parenthesis is the KIDS' experience with the movie unless otherwise noted. I am also considering cancelling my Ipsy subscription (gasp!) in order to restart my Netflix subscription since they are getting Disney stuff starting in September. Certainly no reason why we can't watch EXTRA Disney, right?

Mulan (Just watched)
Tangled (Seen dozens of times)
Brave (Seen dozens of times)
Toy Story (Seen several times)
Aladdin (Seen pieces)
Beauty and the Beast (Never seen)
Little Mermaid (Seen a couple times)
Snow White (Seen pieces, but they really seemed to love what they saw, plus it's the original princess movie)
Cinderella (Seen pieces)
Sleeping Beauty (Seen pieces)
Frozen (Seen several times)
Inside Out (Seen once)
Up (Never seen)
Tarzan (Seen dozens of times on Disney JR)
Lilo and Stitch (My youngest's favorite Disney character is Stitch and this movie has been viewd dozens of times, but they love it.)
Cars (Seen several times)
Monsters Inc (Seen a couple times)
Finding Nemo (Seen a couple times)
Peter Pan (Never seen)
A Bug's Life (Never seen)
Mickey's Very Merry Christmas (For Christmas Eve, which is the last Saturday before they find out)
Alice in Wonderland (Seen a couple times)
Dumbo (Never seen)
Dinosaur (Yes, I found this and have already DVR'd it. I may do it as a bonus feature though.)
Big Hero 6 (I actually haven't seen this one myself!)
Zootopia (Seen the first half)

 

[cosmicmommy]

The Only Thing Constant is Change​

It has been a LONG while since I updated, so I thought I would drop by and say hello. With the vacation fully excused, all ADR reservations made to my liking (including a rescheduled Fantasmic! Lunch at Hollywood & Vine) and still too early for my FastPass window, there isn't much to report. Of course, with the revelation that WDW Railroad will down for refurbishment, I have gone back to the drawing board for my Magic Kingdom days to rework them AGAIN, since I was relying on the Railroad to skip across the park. With the loss of Woody/Jessie at Magic Kingdom, that also opened up some time and I have reworked the plans to allow the Move It, Shake It, Dance It, Play It Street Party that I had previously intended to skip. These changes also forced a bit of reworking for my FastPass times, which is good to do NOW before I actually schedule them. Right now, here's my updated itinerary for our first Magic Kingdom day, which will be a half day due to late arrival. This is of course subject to further refurbishment announcements. Since Big Thunder, Splash and Haunted Mansion have recently or will go under short refurbishments this year, I am optimistically hopeful they will be open for our trip.

Magic Kingdom – Day 1 – Late Arrival

10:00 AM: DAS Pass/ Sorcerers of the Magic Kingdom/ Funnel Cakes to Go @ Sleepy Hollow

10:30 AM: Mickey’s Royal Friendship Faire @ The Hub *15 Minutes*

11:00 AM: Move It! Shake It! Dance It! Play It! Street Party @ The Hub *35 Minutes*

11:45 AM: Pirates of the Caribbean (11:30 AM FastPass)*7.5 Minutes*

12:30 PM: Captain Jack Sparrow’s Pirate Tutorial *25 Minutes*

1:00 PM: A Pirates’ Adventure – Treasure of the Seven Seas

1:30 PM : Big Thunder Mountain Railroad (1:00 PM FastPass)*7 Minutes*

2:00 PM: Splash Mountain *18 Minutes*

2:30 PM: Hot Dogs at Casey’s Corner

3:00 PM: Festival of Fantasy Parade *25 Minutes*

3:30 PM: Mickey’s Kitchen Sink Ice Cream Sundae @ The Plaza Ice Cream Parlor

4:00 PM: Jungle Cruise (4:00 PM FastPass) *8 Minutes*

4:30 PM: Agrabah Character Experience (Aladdin/Jasmine)

5:00 PM: Magic Carpets of Aladdin *1.5 Minutes*

5:30 PM: Haunted Mansion 5:00 PM Additional FastPass) *10 Minutes*

6:00 PM: Park Close

 

[cosmicmommy]

It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas... Not Really...
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Since the boys are finding out on Christmas morning, I thought it would be fun to include a little DVD in their luggage for them to watch to familiarize them with what Disney World is. They know all about Disney and can name every character, but haven't been exposed much to the concept of Disney as a theme park. However, I couldn't find ANY announcement videos and the planning DVDs were jam packed with stuff we aren't going to do. So what is a crafty momma to do? Make my own of course! Wait...what? I don't know how to use video editing software and where in the world am I going to find the resources and/or time to do this project?? Turns out, I'm actually pretty handy with video editing software. I made a nearly 9 minute video that offers a cursory glance at what Disney World is... and reveals the surprise to the boys at the end. Here is the video that they will be watching on Christmas morning to find out that their Christmas present isn't really just luggage...

​

 

[ariane37]

Joining in a little late! Love the video and I really love the whole plan you have for the Christmas morning surprise We never surprised our boys on their first couple trips and now that ship has sailed.........we were there last Jan. from the 20th-25th. Crowds were great! It was a little colder than normal for Jan. in Florida but I would definitely go again.

 

[cosmicmommy]

It's Finally Real...
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The reality of the trip is starting to sink in and the nerves are kicking in. We are now 56 days away from the trip of a lifetime and what is likely going to be on of my biggest parenting challenges. Yes, that means FastPasses are in the bag - mostly what I wanted. There has been a HUGE snag in my plans - my child with sensory processing disorder has decided (and proven!) that fireworks are now suddenly his favorite thing in the world. I took the boys to see the Blue Angels homecoming airshow on Veterans Day and suddenly, he was obsessed with everything loud. He is also obsessed with fast and scary. I think he is testing his boundaries and learning how to cope with sudden sensory changes. He wants to do and see everything scary as of late and I see it as him pushing his senses to the brink and forcing himself into over stimulation in order to numb himself. I recognize so much of my younger self in him and I know this exploration is key to his future adaptation to an overwhelming world, but I wish he would have decided he likes fireworks a little sooner - like before I purposefully booked most of our meals during fireworks in order to avoid them. I do think he will be happy enough with Fantasmic! and won't feel the necessity to see every single fireworks show - at least I hope. I am banking on him not realizing he's missing something and hoping he just doesn't notice. We should be able to see some of Wishes on our 2nd Magic Kingdom night and I trying to get a dinner reservation for Be Our Guest (yes, even though we're eating breakfast there that morning) in order to meet the Beast and enjoy some grey stuff during Wishes. If it doesn't work out (and so far I have missed out on THREE reservation notifications!), then I might consider doing the Wishes dessert party instead since we will be in the Tomorrowland vicinity at the end of the night if we have no reason to return to Fantasyland. Until then, here's our FastPass list. Some of the bigger attractions aren't listed and there's any number of reasons for that. For some, my youngest is too short, so we just can't do it unless someone joins us on our trip (Rock N Rollercoaster). For some, we are rope-dropping (Seven Dwarfs Mine Train and Forzen Ever After). For the others, we are going to be utilizing my son's DAS pass to wait virtually (Small World, Princess Fairytale Hall, Splash Mountain, etc.)

 

[mdsouth]

Wow!! So much has happened since I last checked in with you. I wish I had kept up all along! Fantastic news that your trip was approved by the principal. Nice!
I am AMAZED at your video! It is wonderful. MUCH BETTER than Disney's planning DVD itself for actually showing the parks. And I loved the music you paired with each park.

Today is December 26th, so I am staying tuned to hear all about the boys reactions to their big Christmas surprise! The trip is so close now!

 

[cosmicmommy]

I'm Losing My Mind... ​

26 days to go! Our MagicBands have shipped, the boys know about the trip, they are starting to fill their lanyards with pins and the reality is setting in that this is really happening... and NOW is when I decide to make changes? What the heck am I thinking?!? Thankfully, it's nothing crazy like switching parks - just some minor changes. The biggest change by far is that park hours were extended on both our arrival day AND our Hollywood Studios day. Arrival day extension doesn't change too much about my original plan, but does offer 2 extra hours to potentially pick up some extra activities. Things are probably going to largely stay the same and we may just use the extra time to shop for souvenirs. My oldest has fallen in love with Princess Elena, though, so we may just have to attempt to meet her and Cinderella, HOWEVER, we have a 7:55 PM reservation for Be Our Guest with an 8 o'clock closing for dessert! Yes, I scored one finally - and it wasn't even with notification from Touring Plans! I just happened to check and got super lucky - my heart was pounding furiously the entire time I was confirming the reservation! But it's there and we shall have some grey stuff and hopefully meet the Beast.

Another big change involves the extension of the hours at Hollywood, but moreso the addition of the Star Wars Galactic Spectacular. My children are absolute Star Wars NUTS. My oldest's 4th birthday was Star Wars themed and my youngest's birthday THIS upcoming year will be Sith themed. Yes, my little one is obsessed with the bad guys. His favorite Disney characters are Stitch and Darth Vader. Troublemaker in the making, I tell ya. This puts a bit of a kink in my original plan because we have the Disney, JR Fantasmic! package booked at Hollywood and Vine for an early lunch. The meal isn't negotiable - it was booked for the characters. However, I now have to decide if I want to keep the Fantasmic! vouchers or change my reservation. I will likely keep them and then give away the vouchers since I have been informed that there are no names on them. And since my middle boy is now obsessed with fireworks AND loves Star Wars, it's a no-brainer that we will be attending the Star Wars fireworks instead of Fantasmic! unless they extend the hours again and add a second showing of Fantasmic! - then we will do both.

The last changes is to Epcot. I had debated dropping one of ADRs and actually eating dinner at our Be Our Guest reservation, but have just been unable to part with both... actually, with either. The boys do love Frozen and Akershus gets us such a good jump on Frozen Ever After that it would be crazy to release an 8 AM ADR - it's just such good timing and we wanted to do World Showcase early that day. And I just can't part with Garden Grill either! The food sounds amazing and I love the whole concept of the restaurant, plus it seems like a nice way to unwind after a week in Disney - BUT our ADR is DURING IllumiNations... and I did that on purpose originally. With little man's new found love of fireworks though, I don't really want to miss it, so I searched and got lucky and found an ADR for 30 minutes earlier that should have us out of the restaurant by 8:30 - just in time to head back into World Showcase to find a spot for IllumiNations.

And my last update for the day - the reveal was a major bust. So much so, that this momma cried on Christmas Day. They were largely confused and just didn't grasp what they were being told. They acted excited, but right after I stopped recording, my oldest goes, "Wait, what is Disney World?" My Disney soul died a little that day... but they are excited now and my littlest thinks every time we leave the house we are going to Disney World to eat. Is it January yet?!? I thought me keeping it a secret for a year was hard, but I think surviving 3 more weeks before the trip is going to be harder! I am going to be making a list of all attractions/shows/etc available in each park and having the boys choose their favorites and we will finalize our touring plans from there, including everyone's top 3 (including mine) and then filling in any gaps. I have a feeling things won't change much - I know them pretty well after all...

I should mention that every gift given between the boys to each other was Star Wars, LOL. For your viewing pleasure, here's a couple pictures of my kids from Christmas with their Disney/Star Wars swag... (and please forgive the dirty door... I clean it, they get it dirty...)

​

 

[cosmicmommy]

Finally... Something Concrete...​

My plans are now finalized - at least as finalized as they're ever going to be. Disney has added a bunch of hours and we actually picked up an entire extra day! Nothing in the parks, but we will now be driving down overnight Saturday and spending Sunday with my MIL who is going to be in Orlando through Sunday. Gives me an extra night to rest and prepare and we can actually make Rope Drop on our first day in the World which now means our first Magic Kingdom day has expanded from 10:30 AM-6PM to now being 9 AM-8PM. You won't hear any complaints from me and it's a good thing too because when I asked the kids what they wanted to do, they threw me some curveballs. Country Bear Jamboree? Swiss Family Treehouse? The Riverboat? What?!? Not what I expected to get from them, but with the extra time we had, I think I'll be able to accommodate their unexpected "must-dos." So naturally, I had to switch around some stuff, which included switching around Fast Passes. I hated to drop ANYTHING this close to our trip, but luckily I was able to alter most since we generally kept the same rides. The only Fast Pass I fully dropped was Jungle Cruise to swap it for Haunted Mansion since Jungle Cruise is now happening at ROPE DROP! I might be the only parent in the World that day racing to Jungle Cruise and Aladdin's Magic Carpets... I swear, I have the weirdest kids!

Meeting up with 'Grandma' in Orlando has also shifted our Animal Kingdom plans much later in the week. Another must-do for the chirrens is the Campfire with Chip and Dale. Originally, I had planned to do it on our first MK day, but then Disney extended the hours and one does not just walk away from 2 extra hours in the Magic Kingdom. So, I had swapped it over to our Animal Kingdom day. With no Rivers of Light (is that EVER going to happen?!?) and it getting dark by 6, I figured we'd hop over to Fort Wilderness that night and hang out with everyone's favorite chipmunks. And did I mention my kids LOVE S'mores? However, it meant dropping one of MY favorite - It's Tough to Be a Bug. Since we are now doing the Campfire with grandma on Sunday, we can stay until close in the Animal Kingdom! Yay! I get my bugs! And we'll be able to fully enjoy the Tree of Life Awakenings. I really think my kids are going to like that a lot. However, I have a feeling their favorite for the day is going to be the one attraction that won't confirm its hours - The Boneyard. I put it in our itinerary in a place where we could play for 30 minutes before it closes - but Disney and the touring plans websites all list different times for closing. Please let it be 6:30 like Disney says... please?

All dining is finalized. I am not changing any of our ADRs any further. We have coveted reservations everywhere we wanted - all 8 AM breakfasts and park close dinners, unless we wanted it earlier. I moved our Garden Grill earlier so we can see IllumiNations. Usually though, we're grabbing Quick Service for dinner because my foodie kids are breakfast foodies. Except the little one - he hates eggs and potatoes, but can eat his weight in "pan-a-cakes." Time to introduce the kid to Mickey Waffles. I think they'll become good friends. Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique is scheduled for their Knight makeovers. Disney Funny Money is printed so they can "pay" for their souvenirs (by giving it to me, so I can charge it to the Disney Visa via MagicBand). Mousekeeping tip envelopes will be printed later on today... journals are printed are ready to go. All of my DISigns coupons are printed and in envelopes with their Funny Money (Don't worry, it looks nothing like real Disney dollars - or any other dollars for that matter. Just a way for me to keep up with how much they've spent.) Pin lanyards are getting full (they pick a pin a day to put on their lanyards for trading) and THEIR suitcases are nearly packed. Waiting on one more set of shirts from Aunt Manny to complete their packing... and now comes the hard part... realizing these next 10 days are going to both drag by and fly by and before I know it, me and the three will be in the Most Magical Place on Earth! But first... my oldest has a project due on a famous American. And who did his teacher give him? Mr. Walt Disney himself, of course. I think that was on purpose - so one more thing to get done/enjoy/countdown to Disney with!

Almost forgot to mention - the boys all got haircuts for Disney and now I have my own little set of Dapper Dans.

 

[mdsouth]

Wow oh Wow! Have you been busy and I am sure crazed at times with all the changes going on with your schedule! I am posting this on Wednesday, the 18th so by my calculations you will be leaving and arriving in Disney THIS WEEKEND!


I can understand your total letdown with the kids reactions to learning they were going to Disney World. I think as adults we are so super excited ourselves that we kind of forget that young kids that have never been before do not fully grasp what an AWESOME place it is until they are there themselves. BUT just wait until you are actually there and heading to their first ride. It will be then that you can actually see them start to realize how much fun they are going to get to have and that it is not just lots of rides for one day but you will be there for an extended time! I expect they will all be !

Take lots of photos and have a blast! I will be here and waiting for you to relive every moment of the trip with me upon your return! And MAY THE FORCE BE WITH YOU!

 

[cosmicmommy]

Oh crap...
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We leave in two days... my inner overplanner is FREAKING out right now. The kids are all packed and ready to go - suitcases with outfits planned for each day in their own Ziploc bags, extra shoes, travel totes loaded with games and snacks, car cleaned out, all ADRs finalized, both sets of MagicBands ready to go, online check-in completed for BOTH hotels... then there's my suitcase - it's planned, but not packed. Heck, half the clothes I plan to wear aren't even at my house yet! Eep! Some are waiting to be picked up at the mall and I will snag them tomorrow, while the rest (a super last minute online order of extra colors) will arrive on departure day - thank goodness I know they will fit! I just gotta throw them in my suitcase, zip her up and go.

And drive all night... with severe weather at my back the whole time. Thankfully the kids will be sleeping (planned it that way), but I hate racing weather - I feel like I can't even stop to pee! There is a 4 hour window between when the storms in my hometown stop and when they pick up again, but I should be able to get out ahead of them enough to avoid being caught in anything too terrible, but they will catch up to me in Orlando that night, so I am going to eyeing the radar constantly to insure we are in our room before it turns nasty in Orlando. Unless the weather changes... again... It looks like my park days will be spared anything too rough and we have ponchos packed, but my sensory kids don't like thunder. Ear plugs it is!

Speaking of sensory issues, I am still working out how we are going to handle the potential meltdown attractions. So far, I know we are requesting to skip the preshows of Tower of Terror and Haunted Mansion due to the sardine-situation since my 7 year old will absolutely lose his mind if he is crammed in with a hundred strangers with no escape. Kid loves his thrills - the faster and scarier the ride, the better. But you better not touch him if he doesn't know you. This could get interesting - thankfully we will have the DAS pass to avoid lines longer than 20 or 30 minutes and we will have a stroller for him to escape into for the shorter waits if he gets triggered.

Here's hoping that my go with the flow on a carefully planned schedule works out...

 

[mdsouth]

Just take some long deep breaths! I am sorry that the weather is hampering your trip and will give you added stress. I know what it is like to travel in bad weather -- it is stressful enough. One trip I recall was when my DH and I traveled to WDW in late March and it was the year of the great ice storm and blizzard in the south. Interstates closed. We even had to make a huge route change in the middle of our trip to avoid going through the mountains and avoid a lot of the interstate closures. It was truly an eerie experience as we traveled through downtown Birmingham, Alabama in the middle of a weekday and there were no one there -- the roads were about two feet deep in snow and had not been plowed - No plows.

Crazy and deeply stressful at the time. But we finally arrived a day behind schedule but it all worked out in the end. So as Dory would say, "Just keep swimming!"

I get a sense that you will be great about adapting your plans as you go since you have done so so many times already with your planning. So, I have confidence in you and that you and your boys will have an amazing time!

I am glad you have a DAS card and will ask to skip the crowded areas of some of rides. The opening area you described about Haunted Mansion is one of my least areas to wait in too, that and the Muppet Show in Hollywood Studios come to mind. But you already have a plan to avoid it and so all should go well.

 

[cosmicmommy]

Our trip is done! Anybody want a trip report? I jotted everything down each night in the hotel room...

 

[mdsouth]

Our trip is done! Anybody want a trip report? I jotted everything down each night in the hotel room...

Do I want a trip report? Silly question! Of course I want a trip report! I can't wait to hear how the boys loved it!

Once you start it in the TR threads, just post your link here and I will follow along!

 

[cosmicmommy]

Trip Report can be found here!