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

[Mom in Heels]

So glad that you joined in! Love your screen name!

I'm really glad that the TR was helpful to you! If you have any questions please let me know. Hopefully I'll have my next TR done before your trip, and I'll have the most up-to-date princess info that I can!

Thanks! : When I joined my first forum (which feels like a million years ago) I was Puss in Heels...so now that years have passed and these girls have taken over, I thought it was an appropriate change :lol: It's pretty bad - I know I'm going to be an emotional basket case at Disney. Just watching other people's videos of their super-excited kids makes me tear up! I can only imagine what seeing MY girls will do to me. Can't wait to keep reading!

 

[Queenofallthings]

Garage sales are so much work aren't they? My girlfriends and I usually make it a joint effort, we all help each other so it's not so taxing! We have 3 this summer and I'm not one of them so I'm happy about that

Good luck with the house hunting!

 

[Caretames1]

Too bad you have to spend the rummage money on home repairs, but at least it's not coming outta the Disney fund!

This is the first year I'm not having a sale in the last 4 years and I'm so happy! It's just so much hassle to have the house in a uproar, stuff everywhere! Although, once Kadence agrees to let go of her kitchen set, table & chairs, loads of fake food, and larger toys, rummage sale here we come!

We sold her outdoor playhouse, sandbox, and 5 sets of little peoples last year and it was all gone with 30 mins!


Love Maddie's wish, Kadence is so looking forward to 2013 (insert my snicker) she's mapping out rides and such. I can't wait to surprise!


ps. Would you be able to match the color of the heart on the I heart Perry shirt for a skirt? Let me know

 

[katt789]

Yay!!
I also find it funny that our must do's are pretty much the same for us as well! (although we'll definitely be putting tot in there, and I doubt we'll meet Phineas & ferb)

SO EXCITED seriously, all I want to do is be in Disney right now!! Can't wait!a

 

[amandaw]

Ok, I'm all caught up with your trip plans!

I love Target, too! They have really great character clothes there! This past week I bought Reid 2 shirts for this fall. They both have that vintage look to them - one has Star Wars characters & the other has boy Disney characters (Mickey, Donald, Chip, etc. - even Pete!) And they were only $2.70 a piece! I always get all of Reid's vacation shirts from there.

Maddie's outfits are too cute! That Rapunzel dress is gorgeous! And you did a great job on the blue tutu!

All of your plans are sounding great! I'm interested to hear what you think of Hollywood & Vine, Via Napoli & Ohana. I have yet to be able to get a dinner ADR at Ohana. Hopefully, that'll all change tomorrow morning!

 

[marDgreen88]

So glad that you joined in! I've been lurking away on your TR since you started it! I'll have to speak up over there from now on.

I've never gotten Winnie Cooper before-though I would take that as a compliment. I remember most boys my age were in love with her when that show was on! The only celeb I've ever been told I look like is Christina Ricci. That isn't too bad, but often they follow that up with "you know, the one that played Wednesday Adams"

I'm really glad too! And that would be lovely! BUT please don't feel obligated!

It's definitely a compliment! I always thought she was so pretty. I definitely see similarities in you and her! Hahha I guess I can see the Christina Ricci a little bit too, but the 'normal' part, not the Wednesday Adams part hahah.

I hope your house hunting went well! Awww, hahha I love Maddie's wish. HOW EXCITING that you actually get to make her wish come true!

I think your day five plans sound great. SO much good food and you can't really go wrong with a day at DHS!

 

[snookie5605]

i loved your trip report, cant wait for the next one! now that i have a little one, i like reading the reports of people that have little girls so i know what to expect. we arent planning on bringing ours until march of 2014 for her 3rd birthday. im hoping she will love the characters as much as yours did!

 

[shan23877]

Hi everyone! I need your help and expertise. My MiL told us on Sunday that she might now be joining us for our whole trip. I won't know all of the details until tomorrow, but I'm of course panicking already about my ADRs.

Most of the places I've booked seem to have availability for 4 people, though the times are all much less convenient than the ones I've already booked. Do you think that it would be easier to call Disney Dining and try to change all of my ADRs from 3 to 4 people, or should I just 'play dumb' and show up for them and tell the hostess at each place that we're now 4 and hope that they'll seat all 4 of us since I already have ressies for 3?

I'm so nervous about this! I don't want my MiL to be stuck eating alone, but I don't want to change any of our plans either.

As I said I won't know all of her plans until tomorrow, so I don't know if she'll be doing the DDP, DxDP, or none at all. I don't know if she'll want to join us for only certain meals or what. I assume that she'll want to join us for CRT scared1, SoA, Ohana you know, the biggies.

Any advice that anyone might have would be greatly appreciated!

 

[amandaw]

Just my humble opinion here: I would probably call Disney Dining & just see if the ADRs could be changed to have 4 guests instead of 3. Then, once she tells you if she plans to be on the whole trip or not, you could run the ADRs by her & see if she wants to go to all of them or not. If there are any she doesn't want to go to, then you could call Disney Dining & change that ADR back to 3.

 

[Caretames1]

I'd call Disney and try to get 4 on all the ressies. Most likely all your table are a 4 top already, but some places have a certain number they can have in a place at any given time due to fire codes.

Once your ressies are changed, if she doesn't show, you can then give an excuse like, she's not feeling well or whatever. If you do put her on the CC ones, make sure she goes to avoid charges!

 

[katt789]

Honestly, working in the service industry, an odd number is always treated as the even number rounded up. Example: we pre set buns on the tables, and we put 4 on tables of 3, we also don't take off the extra setting or chair.

THUS, I'd call and just tell them that you have the extra person (as a pre-warning) and then just bring your fourth. I don't see there being a big problem. Then again, Disney could be different.

 

[CandleontheWater]

We ran into a similar problem a few years ago. My youngest brother wasn't planning on joining us for thanksgiving, but then got off at the last minute and flew down for the trip. I had all our adrs set, and we were now going from an odd number to an even. I called Disney dining and they told me I would have to cancel all my reservations, and rebook, that they couldn't modify. Maybe things have changed since then, but I didn't do it because I would have lost everything. There was nothing available last minute for thanksgiving week.

We took our chances and just showed up with one extra guest and had no problems. It was at flying fish, jiko, 50s, and coral reef.

Maybe if you could get adrs. Close in time to what you have for 4, I would change. Otherwise I might just take my chances. You also have to think about the credit card hold, do you want to be on the hook if your mil changes her plans again?

 

[shan23877]

I finally found my way over here!!!!

I cannot believe that you will be in WDW in 3 weeks!!!!!

Hmm, am I a tiny bit jealous???? Why, yes, yes, I am!!!!

So glad you popped over! I can't believe that we'll be there so soon either. Would you believe that I haven't even started making my packing lists for the vacation or for the month after that we'll be semi-homeless?

We're so excited though, can't wait to surprise Maddie!

Garage sales are so much work aren't they? My girlfriends and I usually make it a joint effort, we all help each other so it's not so taxing! We have 3 this summer and I'm not one of them so I'm happy about that

Good luck with the house hunting!

I so wish that I'd had someone to share the work with! I don't know if any more stuff would have fit in the driveway though, Maddie has worn some serious clothes in her lifetime!

I don't know if we'll do it very often, but it was lucrative!

I'll bet you're looking forward to the summer off from it!

Too bad you have to spend the rummage money on home repairs, but at least it's not coming outta the Disney fund!

This is the first year I'm not having a sale in the last 4 years and I'm so happy! It's just so much hassle to have the house in a uproar, stuff everywhere! Although, once Kadence agrees to let go of her kitchen set, table & chairs, loads of fake food, and larger toys, rummage sale here we come!

We sold her outdoor playhouse, sandbox, and 5 sets of little peoples last year and it was all gone with 30 mins!


Love Maddie's wish, Kadence is so looking forward to 2013 (insert my snicker) she's mapping out rides and such. I can't wait to surprise!


ps. Would you be able to match the color of the heart on the I heart Perry shirt for a skirt? Let me know

Thank goodness it wasn't the Disney money!!

Maddie has so much of the 'big toys' too. 2 kitchens, barbie beach house, 2 castles. When she's outgrown those, maybe we'll do it again

I literally had women swarming me 30 minutes before we actually 'opened' for business. 1/2 the money we made, we made in the first hour!

I'll bet you're having so much fun planning the next surprise. Do you just want to start giggling every time she talks about 2013? I would.

I'm sure I could match the pinks. Just let me know what type of skirt you're after.

Yay!!
I also find it funny that our must do's are pretty much the same for us as well! (although we'll definitely be putting tot in there, and I doubt we'll meet Phineas & ferb)

SO EXCITED seriously, all I want to do is be in Disney right now!! Can't wait!a

No Phineas and Ferb for you guys? I wish I thought Maddie would let us skip it!

We have very, very similar trips planned!

Ok, I'm all caught up with your trip plans!

I love Target, too! They have really great character clothes there! This past week I bought Reid 2 shirts for this fall. They both have that vintage look to them - one has Star Wars characters & the other has boy Disney characters (Mickey, Donald, Chip, etc. - even Pete!) And they were only $2.70 a piece! I always get all of Reid's vacation shirts from there.

Maddie's outfits are too cute! That Rapunzel dress is gorgeous! And you did a great job on the blue tutu!

All of your plans are sounding great! I'm interested to hear what you think of Hollywood & Vine, Via Napoli & Ohana. I have yet to be able to get a dinner ADR at Ohana. Hopefully, that'll all change tomorrow morning!

Target really does have such cute stuff. I love the vintage looking shirts. I find a lot of them at Old Navy as well. That's an awesome price!

Thanks! We'll find out this weekend if the Rapunzel dress is too long or not. I sure hope that I don't have to hem it before the trip-I know that she'll want to wear it at WDW.

I'm so excited for those ADRs in particular. I wasn't ever able to get 'Ohana before either. I can't wait for that one. The pizza at Via Napoli looks insanely good, and I think Mads will really love the Disney Jr. breakfast. I'll let you know how we liked them--I hope that you got the ADRS!!!!

 

[shan23877]

I'm really glad too! And that would be lovely! BUT please don't feel obligated!

It's definitely a compliment! I always thought she was so pretty. I definitely see similarities in you and her! Hahha I guess I can see the Christina Ricci a little bit too, but the 'normal' part, not the Wednesday Adams part hahah.

I hope your house hunting went well! Awww, hahha I love Maddie's wish. HOW EXCITING that you actually get to make her wish come true!

I think your day five plans sound great. SO much good food and you can't really go wrong with a day at DHS!

I will certainly de-lurk on your TR. I usually don't speak up if I don't know someone, but now we're old friends!

Thanks again for the nice compliment!

House hunting went pretty well. We're cautiously optimistic!

The DxDP will be tons of food, but we're really excited! I can't wait to try 50s Prime Time. I think that DHS might be the one park we'll actually see more attractions than characters

i loved your trip report, cant wait for the next one! now that i have a little one, i like reading the reports of people that have little girls so i know what to expect. we arent planning on bringing ours until march of 2014 for her 3rd birthday. im hoping she will love the characters as much as yours did!

Thank you so much for joining in! I'll bet you can't wait to take your little princess! Maddie's first trip was so magical. There's nothing like seeing the joy on their faces!

 

[shan23877]

Just my humble opinion here: I would probably call Disney Dining & just see if the ADRs could be changed to have 4 guests instead of 3. Then, once she tells you if she plans to be on the whole trip or not, you could run the ADRs by her & see if she wants to go to all of them or not. If there are any she doesn't want to go to, then you could call Disney Dining & change that ADR back to 3.

I might try that. I'm just worried that we won't be able to change them. I really don't want to loose any of these ADRs! She said she'd call me tomorrow late morning (and I have to work before that anyway) so I'll probably try to call once I know more. Thanks for weighing in! I really appreciate it!

I'd call Disney and try to get 4 on all the ressies. Most likely all your table are a 4 top already, but some places have a certain number they can have in a place at any given time due to fire codes.

Once your ressies are changed, if she doesn't show, you can then give an excuse like, she's not feeling well or whatever. If you do put her on the CC ones, make sure she goes to avoid charges!

I assumed that we'd likely be taking a 4 top anyway, but I'm nervous! At CRT last year we were seated at a 2 top with a chair pulled up. I hope that that's not the norm!

So many of ours have a CC hold, so that's part of what's worrying me!

Thanks for the advice!

Honestly, working in the service industry, an odd number is always treated as the even number rounded up. Example: we pre set buns on the tables, and we put 4 on tables of 3, we also don't take off the extra setting or chair.

THUS, I'd call and just tell them that you have the extra person (as a pre-warning) and then just bring your fourth. I don't see there being a big problem. Then again, Disney could be different.

See, that's what I was thinking too. There's no 3 tops, just an empty chair at a 4.

I did mention to the gal at Dining that we might have 4 last time I called, and she advised me to change all the ressies then (it was 3 weeks ago)

Hopefully my MiL will call tomorrow like we've planned and I can get some more info from her.

Thanks for the help!

We ran into a similar problem a few years ago. My youngest brother wasn't planning on joining us for thanksgiving, but then got off at the last minute and flew down for the trip. I had all our adrs set, and we were now going from an odd number to an even. I called Disney dining and they told me I would have to cancel all my reservations, and rebook, that they couldn't modify. Maybe things have changed since then, but I didn't do it because I would have lost everything. There was nothing available last minute for thanksgiving week.

We took our chances and just showed up with one extra guest and had no problems. It was at flying fish, jiko, 50s, and coral reef.

Maybe if you could get adrs. Close in time to what you have for 4, I would change. Otherwise I might just take my chances. You also have to think about the credit card hold, do you want to be on the hook if your mil changes her plans again?

I already looked into booking ressies at the same places for 4 people (online) and the times were all about 3 hours earlier or later than the ones I have, so that's made me nervous.

Your story makes me feel so much better. If MiL isn't doing the DDP, that's probably what we'll do. If she is doing DDp though, I would feel terrible if she couldn't use up her credits.

You're exactly right-with all that she's had going on at work, she may book the trip, have me change everything around, and then not be able to go at all! (or flake out...)

Thanks for your help!

I'll try to update everyone tomorrow on what's going on with her. Things were going too smoothly...

 

[marDgreen88]

I would definitely call and try to make it four, I think most likely it wouldn't be too difficult for them to fit one more person in. And, if she doesn't end up coming along (on the trip, or to the meals) you can just say that one person couldn't make it. Though, if you couldn't get the extra person put onto the reservation, she would understand, right? Goodness, I understand why you're nervous. I hope that everything works out!

 

[Caretames1]

I'll bet you're having so much fun planning the next surprise. Do you just want to start giggling every time she talks about 2013? I would.

I'm sure I could match the pinks. Just let me know what type of skirt you're after.

We do smile right over her head ever time something is mentioned about the "Nov 2013" trip! She's is kinda sad that trip is so far away. I really think this time will be such a bigger surprise than the first time!



If you can match the pinks, I would like a skirt just like Maddie's. Let me know, it that's possible!. thanks!

 

[PirateKate]

We once had an ADR for four people at Crystal Palace and a couple hours beforehand, I found out my mom was going to join us. We were already in the park, so I stopped by Crystal Palace and told them we were going to have five instead of four, and they acted like it was no problem at all. They didn't even write it down or ask our names, they just said it was fine. And it was.

House hunting is fun! You can always paint the pink walls.

 

[RGirl]

Hi everyone! I need your help and expertise. My MiL told us on Sunday that she might now be joining us for our whole trip. I won't know all of the details until tomorrow, but I'm of course panicking already about my ADRs.

Most of the places I've booked seem to have availability for 4 people, though the times are all much less convenient than the ones I've already booked. Do you think that it would be easier to call Disney Dining and try to change all of my ADRs from 3 to 4 people, or should I just 'play dumb' and show up for them and tell the hostess at each place that we're now 4 and hope that they'll seat all 4 of us since I already have ressies for 3?

I'm so nervous about this! I don't want my MiL to be stuck eating alone, but I don't want to change any of our plans either.

As I said I won't know all of her plans until tomorrow, so I don't know if she'll be doing the DDP, DxDP, or none at all. I don't know if she'll want to join us for only certain meals or what. I assume that she'll want to join us for CRT scared1, SoA, Ohana you know, the biggies.

Any advice that anyone might have would be greatly appreciated!

Okay, I would definitely call and change any ADRs that you can. It will be much less stressful for you if you have it done and squared away. For any that you can't change (and, by "can't," I mean without a noticeable change in the time), just show up and ask with the understanding (hopefully, your MIL is the kind of person who can understand this) that, if they can't do it, MIL will eat somewhere else - have a great CS idea planned out in advance.

When we went on our first trip, my friend joined us after all the ADRs were made. I was able to change all of them but Ohana. We planned to show up and ask, but at the same time, I had told my friend about the Poly, about shopping there, about the beach, and about how she could order the adult grilled cheese at the CS. Well, by the time that night came around, she didn't even want to try to come with us - she was really excited about a couple of hours on her own to explore the resort, and she LOVED the adult grilled cheese (thank you, DIS boards!).

 

[shan23877]

We once had an ADR for four people at Crystal Palace and a couple hours beforehand, I found out my mom was going to join us. We were already in the park, so I stopped by Crystal Palace and told them we were going to have five instead of four, and they acted like it was no problem at all. They didn't even write it down or ask our names, they just said it was fine. And it was.

House hunting is fun! You can always paint the pink walls.

Thanks for you help! I am hoping that we can add her at the last minute, because as of now I still don't know if she's going!!!

House hunting is fun, but I'm feeling a lot of pressure to find something quickly. Oh boy, the pink walled house. Those walls were the least of it's problems. Such a shame because the house was simply gorgeous from the outside.

Okay, I would definitely call and change any ADRs that you can. It will be much less stressful for you if you have it done and squared away. For any that you can't change (and, by "can't," I mean without a noticeable change in the time), just show up and ask with the understanding (hopefully, your MIL is the kind of person who can understand this) that, if they can't do it, MIL will eat somewhere else - have a great CS idea planned out in advance.

When we went on our first trip, my friend joined us after all the ADRs were made. I was able to change all of them but Ohana. We planned to show up and ask, but at the same time, I had told my friend about the Poly, about shopping there, about the beach, and about how she could order the adult grilled cheese at the CS. Well, by the time that night came around, she didn't even want to try to come with us - she was really excited about a couple of hours on her own to explore the resort, and she LOVED the adult grilled cheese (thank you, DIS boards!).

Thanks for weighing in! I'm going to give MiL until Monday to give me concrete days. I'm not sure that I want to go to all of the trouble of changing all the ADRs is she's just going to flake out. If she plans to do DxDP though, I'd feel obligated to try to change them. I wouldn't want her to have credits she couldn't use. GRRRRR.

I don't think that MiL would have a hard time entertaining herself though--in fact she already mentioned that she'd be spending more time at Epcot than we are. So I think we'll all get some needed separation.