Always Let Your (Preschooler) Be Your Guide. My First Trip Report! COMPLETE

[dara00]

I enjoyed reading this! Maddie is adorable and it looks like you all had such a great time. I wish I could have the leisure to let my kids lead our trip - maybe next time!

 

[shan23877]

Hi everyone! I know that I haven't properly finished up this TR, but I took the holidays off from the DIS. Life was a little over-whelming from Thanksgiving through the New Year, and something had to give. Sadly, it was the DIS.

While I am not back to finish this baby up once and for all, I do have news!

DH and I aren't 100% sure that we'll be able to swing a trip this year. (It's a long story involving a new job for DH, moving, mortgage brokers, vacation time accrued, down payments, and house profits in a crap housing market). However, we do know that if we can go to WDW we'll do it April 15-April 22 ( I loosened up my 'no taking the little one out of school' rule since we're probably moving) and we've decided that we'll be doing DEEEEluxe Dining. Since my one worry with booking so late was getting ressies, I made them anyway! And, I got all of the ones I wanted!! I still have to book CRT and SOA, since I wasn't willing to pay for them yet if I'm not 100% sure we're going. All the rest are booked though!! Here's what we have:

Day 1

Arrival Day
lunch-food court OOP
dinner- 1900 Park Fare

Some of you may remember my husband's scathing review of this establishment--but what can I say, the characters were GREAT!

Day 2

breakfast-Tusker House
lunch-Yak and Yeti
dinner-Ohana

Ohana is the reservation that I simply couldn't get for the last trip, so I'm really pumped that I got it this time

Day 3

breakfast will be spent at the BBB
lunch-Tony's Town Square
dinner-CRT (fingers crossed, several ressies were available when I booked the others)

Day 4
breakfast-1900 Park Fare (for Alice this time)
lunch- EoS at DTD (seems a waste of a credit, but DH is in love with EoS, and it's really important to him that we go)
dinner- SoA show

Day 5

breakfast-H&V (DD might be a little old for this, but Jake is there now, and she LOVES him, plus it gets us a jump on the TSM crowds)
lunch-50s Prime Time
dinner-Cape May

Day 6

breakfast-Akershus (please let there be salami )
lunch-Via Napoli (this is the other one I'm really excited to try)
dinner- California Grill (!!!!) I think DD is ready to brave a signature

Day 7

breakfast-Crystal Palace
Lunch-WCC ( this is the one that I'm not sold on. I thought it might be nice to see another resort, and since we'll be at MK, a boat ride is appealing, but I'm open to suggestions for another TS to try)
dinner- Chef Mickey --DH wants this to be our traditional last meal, so there you go.

Hope everyone had a wonderful holiday and a Happy New Year.

Is anyone else's house a mini Toys-R-Us these days? and DD's birthday is in 1 month. God help me.

 

[Bethislucy]

However, we do know that if we can go to WDW we'll do it April 15-April 22 (

We are looking at doing a mini trip and the dates are march 24 - 28 or April 21 - 25 so if it's the 2nd dates our trips will overlap. Hope both of our trips work out.

 

[jonesephus]

Just wanted to say thank you for sharing your trip report-- it was a great read today!
We are taking my 5 and 2.5 yo DD's in 5 weeks-- AHHHH!!! So much to do, so little time! I slacked off during the holidays!

 

[Caretames1]

Love the new plans! I want to come along!! Deeeluxe dining looks like a lot of food, but I could do it!


I hope your New Year will go well, I hate moving so I feel for you.

 

[TanzUnited99]

Loving the plans and I hope you get to go to Disney World in April!

Congrats on DH getting a new job and to you for securing the O'hana reservation!

 

[shan23877]

We are looking at doing a mini trip and the dates are march 24 - 28 or April 21 - 25 so if it's the 2nd dates our trips will overlap. Hope both of our trips work out.

sounds like a nice getaway! I'm going to update again about our trip, not looking like we'll be there at the same time

Just wanted to say thank you for sharing your trip report-- it was a great read today!
We are taking my 5 and 2.5 yo DD's in 5 weeks-- AHHHH!!! So much to do, so little time! I slacked off during the holidays!

Thanks so much! I'm glad you enjoyed it!

You'll have so much fun! Will you be princess stalkers like us?

You'll get it all done, the holidays can be rough. We always seem to find time for Disney planning don't we?

Love the new plans! I want to come along!! Deeeluxe dining looks like a lot of food, but I could do it!

Thanks! I'm really excited about the trip, I hope it works out! Deeeeluxe will be tons of food, but DH and I really like an opportunity to sit and recharge, plus this allows us lots of character breakfasts and a few "special" meals that we wouldn't do otherwise. I am so excited!

I hope your New Year will go well, I hate moving so I feel for you.

I am glad the holidays are over, I may have over-extended myself. The moving thing is so super stressful. I am really dreading it. Hence the trip before had to treat ourselves

Loving the plans and I hope you get to go to Disney World in April!

Congrats on DH getting a new job and to you for securing the O'hana reservation!

I so hope it works out! It's looking good so far though.

DH is really excited about the new opportunity, and I'm really excited about Ohana!

 

[shan23877]

Exactly one week ago, I plotted, planned, and secured all of our ADRs for the possible upcoming trip.

Yesterday, DH called and told me that he has mandatory regional meetings the week we were planning to go!

So... I cancelled and rebooked ALL of the ADRs for one week later and called to get Maddie a BBB appointment. It was slow work, but I got it done. The only thing that changed is that we'll now do Crystal Palace for breakfast on Day 3 and be at the BBB during lunch (I'm thinking a late lunch OOP at Casey's)

DH really wanted to try Tony's so we're doing that for lunch on Day 7, and WCC will have to be saved for another trip.

We also decided on a resort. We want to take advantage of the Spring Room Discounts, so I was looking into Coronado, Caribbean Beach, and PO Riverside. I was leaning towards Riverside since we enjoyed FQ so much, but...

We've decided to try Caribbean Beach! I've never stayed there before, and we usuallly stay at smaller resorts (BWI, POFQ) so it's a little daunting. DH doesn't want to pay for a preferred building, so I'm a little nervous that we'll have a 30 minute hike to fill our mugs .

Since the ADRs are mostly done though, it'll be nice having a new resort to obsess over.

 

[TanzUnited99]

Oh no on having to reshuffle everything and rebook all your ADRs! I'm glad you managed to get everything sorted.

Ooh am looking forward to seeing how you enjoy Caribbean Beach! I have read about that long hike to/from the main building but hopefully you'll be lucky with your room location

 

[Bethislucy]

Lisa aka mickeystoontown here on the boards has some great info on CBR in her trip reports. It may help make you feel a little better reading them.

 

[Caretames1]

Wouldn't you know, once you got everything settled, something comes up!

We looked at CB as a "maybe" for the future, now I can see more when you go!

Mickeystoontown does have lots of info as she stays there everytime they go. I have read in others TRs that it can be quite a hike depending on where you are .

 

[shan23877]

Wouldn't you know, once you got everything settled, something comes up!

We looked at CB as a "maybe" for the future, now I can see more when you go!

Mickeystoontown does have lots of info as she stays there everytime they go. I have read in others TRs that it can be quite a hike depending on where you are .

It's always something isn't it!

I was feeling pretty lukewarm about CBR at first, but I re-read the beginning of Lisa's report, and asked a few questions, and now I'm really excited about trying it out!

So far the trip is looking like a go, but we have about a million things up in the air with this potential move looming....

DH was offered a great position with a great company about 2 months ago, but we're still waiting for the company to come back with their official offer. So, we know we'll probably move, but without a salary to take to the mortgage brokers, we can't really move forward with househunting. It's so frustrating for a Type A planner like myself

I'm sure it will all work out fine, as long as we go to Disney first!

 

[kmedina]

We have stayed at CBR twice, and I love it there. You will more than likely love it as well. The first stay was far from OPR (food court), so we did not get there often. On the second, we were upgraded (for free for no reason other than Disney magic) to a preferred room. That did not even help us get there more often. It was because we spent a lot of time away from our hotel. When you are on the deluxe plan, the mugs are just not used as much.

On our most recent trip to the GF, we did not even get our mugs until the day before we checked out on an 8 day, 7 night stay. We mostly drank bottled water and only ordered soda during our meals. They even upgraded us to club level (a special treat), and we did not make it to the clubs until the day before we checked out either. The deluxe plan has a lot of food.

You will love the deluxe plan. We mostly did a one credit breakfast and two credit dinner on our most recent trip, but did three sit down meals for most meals the trip before that. It does help break up the day, and is a nice break for the little ones. Our last trip was shorter than the one before that, so I wanted more park time than a three sit down meal day would have given.

 

[appleorchard]

Thanks for your trip report! We go to Disney twice a year, but March is my first trip with my 4 year old granddaughter who is also a big princess fan. Characters and character meals are going to figure prominently in our plans, so it was interesting to read about how you managed characters but still got in plenty of rides. J is tiny for her age and I'm not sure she's going to hit 40" by the time we leave, although my daughter is convinced she's now 39 1/2 " and will grow just enough before we leave!
My DH and are going back by ourselves April 19, so this trip is ALL about J! And your report was a big help!

 

[shan23877]

We have stayed at CBR twice, and I love it there. You will more than likely love it as well. The first stay was far from OPR (food court), so we did not get there often. On the second, we were upgraded (for free for no reason other than Disney magic) to a preferred room. That did not even help us get there more often. It was because we spent a lot of time away from our hotel. When you are on the deluxe plan, the mugs are just not used as much.

On our most recent trip to the GF, we did not even get our mugs until the day before we checked out on an 8 day, 7 night stay. We mostly drank bottled water and only ordered soda during our meals. They even upgraded us to club level (a special treat), and we did not make it to the clubs until the day before we checked out either. The deluxe plan has a lot of food.

You will love the deluxe plan. We mostly did a one credit breakfast and two credit dinner on our most recent trip, but did three sit down meals for most meals the trip before that. It does help break up the day, and is a nice break for the little ones. Our last trip was shorter than the one before that, so I wanted more park time than a three sit down meal day would have given.

So glad you're back on the DIS!!

The more real the possibility of the April trip becomes, the more excited I'm getting about CBR. It looks so pretty, and to me vacation = beach, so it would be perfect!

We'll know for sure on Feb. 16 if the trip is going to happen, that's the day we meet with our mortgage broker about the (for sure now) up-coming move.

I've made all of our ADRs except CRT and SOA so far. We're mostly doing Character breakfasts, and sprinkling some 2 credit dinners in -CRT, SOA, Cali Grill.

I am worried that I'll end up wanting more park time, may even see if I can tinker with our dates and add a day to the beginning. Since it's F&G I know I'll want more Epcot time than I currently have allotted.

We are big soda drinkers (no coffee) so I do think that we'll use the mugs, but DH offered to do the hiking if we're far away. Mickeystoontown clocked the trip to 2 parks at 15 mins total, and that seems really reasonable.

I am getting so excited! It will be really disappointing if we can't go, but DH has already expressed interest in going to WDW for Christmas, so maybe we'll make that our goal.

Can't wait for your TR!

Thanks for your trip report! We go to Disney twice a year, but March is my first trip with my 4 year old granddaughter who is also a big princess fan. Characters and character meals are going to figure prominently in our plans, so it was interesting to read about how you managed characters but still got in plenty of rides. J is tiny for her age and I'm not sure she's going to hit 40" by the time we leave, although my daughter is convinced she's now 39 1/2 " and will grow just enough before we leave!
My DH and are going back by ourselves April 19, so this trip is ALL about J! And your report was a big help!

You just made my day! I'm so glad that you found the report helpful!

You'll have the BEST time with your DGD! Maddie's first trip was amazing, seeing Disney through their eyes is priceless.

I hope that she can go on some rides! Maybe her shoes will help

I hope you'll preorder the PhotoPass CD. I came home with about 1000 photos from PP, so to me it was well worth the price.

If you have any questions about the character meals or meets, feel free to ask. I'd love to help, plus- I'm planning another trip around the characters for April

 

[TheNextBelle]

Just got done reading your trip report! And loved it!!!

We (my husband and I) are planning a trip in late March with my sister, her fiance and my 4 year old niece (who takes after me....Disney Nut).

I'm trying to plan right for her.....we have an almost 13 year old, who will not be with us on this trip....he doesn't enjoy Disney at all. But anyway.....I was kinda lost with the planning because in the past we have not done the standing in line and meeting the characters...I have twice in Epcot for Mary Poppins and Alice and only had to wait 5 minutes each....and we just happened to walk upon them.

And My sister not being familiar with Disney......I am planning this whole trip for the 5 of us.

And we are doing the free dining with QS.....but with a ressie at the CRT and her appointment at the BBB.

I'm just worried about her meeting the characters.....but reading through your report....you have helped me alot!!! I just wanted to thank you for your trip report and sharing your experience with all of us!!!!

Thanks again
Lori

 

[shan23877]

Just got done reading your trip report! And loved it!!!

We (my husband and I) are planning a trip in late March with my sister, her fiance and my 4 year old niece (who takes after me....Disney Nut).

I'm trying to plan right for her.....we have an almost 13 year old, who will not be with us on this trip....he doesn't enjoy Disney at all. But anyway.....I was kinda lost with the planning because in the past we have not done the standing in line and meeting the characters...I have twice in Epcot for Mary Poppins and Alice and only had to wait 5 minutes each....and we just happened to walk upon them.

And My sister not being familiar with Disney......I am planning this whole trip for the 5 of us.

And we are doing the free dining with QS.....but with a ressie at the CRT and her appointment at the BBB.

I'm just worried about her meeting the characters.....but reading through your report....you have helped me alot!!! I just wanted to thank you for your trip report and sharing your experience with all of us!!!!

Thanks again
Lori

Sounds like an awesome trip! You guys will have a ball!

BBB is fantastic! You'll be amazed at how much the adults will enjoy watching the little princess be treated like royalty.

I'm so glad that you found the TR helpful! If you have any questions, please let me know. We found the Times Guides to be our best friends, and found that it didn't matter how many character meals we did, DD still wanted to meet them in all the parks

We also found the Photo Pass CD to be a great value for us. We had over 1000 pics on it after adding the borders and such.

Let me know if I can help any more! Enjoy the planning, it's such fun!

 

[kmedina]

Good luck with the mortgage broker. I hope everything works out. No matter when you go next, you will have a great time. There is never a bad time to go. If everything goes well for us, we are still hoping to get to Dl in June this year (depending on DH's new job) and back to WDW in October 2013. Here's hoping for both of us.

 

[katt789]

Gah!! I have somehow kind of missed your new trip news!! I knew you were planning on going again in Spring, but weren't sure when. WELL, I am very much considering an annual pass of sorts that would keep me going down. I was planning a late May trip to the world, and an early March trip to DLR, but am considering around different times. Who knows, we could end up there the same week!

 

[shan23877]

Well, today was the big day with the mortgage guy and...


We got great news!!!

And so, I wasted no time in booking the April trip at Caribbean Beach!

We are for sure doing a 7 day trip April 22-29, with Deluxe Dining

If anyone's interested, I may do a pre-trip on this thread. I am so excited that we get to take the Diva back so soon! And, it'll be really nice to get away for a week in the middle of all of the packing/showing the house/house hunting/end of school year craziness!