An obsessive planner's 2nd annual Once-in-a-lifetime trip CANCELLED :( 3/22

[-Hope-]

So, I spent the afternoon at Karen's yesterday and we were both just itching to talk about Disney. I brought my planning folder in- I almost left it in the car and thought I'd get it later so she wouldn't think that was the only reason I'd come over but it was cold so I sheepishly brought it in. She laughed when she saw it and told me that she was waiting to get hers out because she didn't want me to think that was the only reason she wanted me to come over.

We were both really antsy to know when homeschool days would be so she called to try to pump them for info- and what a good job she did! Of course he wouldn't give her a definite date but he said the beginning of Ocotber so the first week is looking good. Even if they do it the second week we can still use the tickets during the first week so that is the plan at this point.

I came home last night and worked on our itinerary. It's starting to feel more "official" since I have word documents with tables and bulleted lists going. So without further ado our itinerary (and a few gratuitous pics from our last trip)...

Saturday October 1:
Travel day- I still haven't figured out where we'll try to stop along the way. It's a 17 hour drive w/o stops so probably 19-20 with breaks for meals, gas, bathroom, etc. I'd like to get about 14 hours done on our first day. I want to go as far as possible and since we've driven 14 hours as a family before I know this is probably our limit.

Sunday October 2:
Travel the rest of the way to Orlando- try to be at the hotel by about 2PM. I figure we will get checked in, rest, swim, relax for a bit and then head to DTD.

And finally we'll be ready to see the parks!!

Monday: Epcot, hop to MK in evening for Wishes/EP

Tuesday: Magic Kingdom

Wednesday: Hollywood Studios, dinner on Boardwalk

Thursday: Animal Kingdom, hop to Epcot for Illuminations

We could always choose to hop to Epcot on Wednesday as well, depending on what time we finish at DHS. And so far Tuesday isn't a party day so we'll just stay at MK until we're ready to leave. If they add a party we have the option to hop to Epcot (the other parks close too early) but can also just choose to have an early night and get some rest if we want. I'm actually leaning more toward CS dining at a resort (AKL or Poly) if there's a party. I learned a lot from my last trip and I'll still plan like crazy but the plans will be more flexible so we can relax and go with the flow.

Friday October 7:
We'll probably spend some more time at DTD before starting our drive back home. We'll stay in the same place as we did on the way down so we won't be doing the bulk of our travel on this day so we can take our time and enjoy DTD.

Saturday October 8:
Travel home

 

[Twoboysnmygirl]

WOOT!!!!!!! I can't believe you have your itinerary posted before me! I was trying to show some RESTRAINT, but hell, if you are going to post yours 8 months in advance, I may have to as well!

 

[-Hope-]

Umm... what is this restraint you speak of??

 

[-Hope-]

Oh, and you can play all innocent and pretend to have restraint here on the dis but my email inbox is full this morning!

 

[Twoboysnmygirl]

Oh, and you can play all innocent and pretend to have restraint here on the dis but my email inbox is full this morning!

Who me???? LOL, you should see my house, it's TRASHED...but I have the itinerary perfect! Had to hurry up, I might run out of time, it's only 8 months!

 

[Victoriasmom98]

Oh, and you can play all innocent and pretend to have restraint here on the dis but my email inbox is full this morning!

Oh, so now she's pushing where we all can't see her??? Hope, you just let us know if we need to "take care of her" for you.......

 

[Twoboysnmygirl]

 

[-Hope-]

Oh, Ann- you have no idea! It's okay though, if I didn't have a bunch of Disney related emails on a daily basis I might think she was mad at me.

 

[-Hope-]

I really should be sleeping but I'm a bit of an insomniac so here I am. Don't be alarmed when you see me posting at all hours- it just means I can't sleep so I might as well DIS.

Tonight I really should be sleeping since I have to leave the house at 6AM tomorrow to get my brother-in-law to the airport. He'll be driving on the way in though so I'll have a few cups of coffee in me before I have to make the 2 hour drive back home.

Anyway, I figured since I was up I'd go ahead and fill you in on the latest developments in the mom related news- she's not coming with us, at least not to Disney. A bit of background...

We're doing several mini-trips this year; a three day weekend in Arkansas for Robbie's family reunion sometime in the summer, 4-5 in Chicago in July, Disney in October and finally 4 days in Kansas City in December. Robbie had to use his vacation time for the year already because his dad passed away a few weeks ago. The family reunion is at the request of Robbie's aunt, his dad's only remaining sibling, so he'll take a day off w/o pay for that but the rest of the trips will be just me and the kids.

Since Robbie won't be joining us I invited my mom along on any/all of the other trips she'd like to join in on. We knew right away that she wouldn't be able to come to KC because she works at a small bank with few employees so no one is allowed to take off in December. So that left Chigago and Disney. She told me tonight that she can't do both because of other obligations for days off and she'd rather go to Chicago than Disney.

So, this Disney trip is going to be just the three of us (and some overlapping days with Karen and hopefully our friend Summer). There are good and bad things about this. On the downside it would have been nice to have someone to help out when the kids didn't want to do the same things and I was kind of looking forward to some adult conversation and splitting some expenses. On the plus side I'm going to get to spend some amazing quality time with the kids, plus families that live in the same household just have a rhythm and it will definately be easier not to put someone else into that mix. And we'll have no time constraints since no one has to get back to work or school so our only limitations will be financial. So now it's time to save save save and make this an amazing trip!!

 

[-Hope-]

I GOT A PIN CODE FOR 35% OFF AT VALUES!!!


We are now booked at Pop for a mere $20 more than it would have cost us to stay off site! (when I factor in what I'd have to pay for parking when staying off site)

 

[Twoboysnmygirl]

 

[Victoriasmom98]

I GOT A PIN CODE FOR 35% OFF AT VALUES!!!


We are now booked at Pop for a mere $20 more than it would have cost us to stay off site! (when I factor in what I'd have to pay for parking when staying off site)

That's awesome, Hope!!! I'm very, very happy for you!!!!!

 

[lovegrumpy]

Thats great.

 

[ronnmel]

Congrats on scoring that great PIN code!!

 

[-Hope-]

Thanks for celebrating with me ladies! I've spent the better part of the afternoon pouring over the dis, allears, and the disney website for pics adn info about POP. I'm very excited!

 

[lledman]

Awesome news!!! I love the theme at Pop!!!

 

[-Hope-]

Awesome news!!! I love the theme at Pop!!!

Thanks! I'm VERY excited!

 

[-Hope-]

So, I'm thinking that I'd like to do at least one TS meal OOP if I can save up enough. I've been pouring over menus to see what meals will offer something to satisfy both of the kids and offer an experience they will both enjoy without breaking the bank.

I've got it narrowed down to a few choices:

Sci-fi Diner (lunch)
Rose and Crown (dinner/Illuminations)
Rainforest Café (lunch or Dinner)
T-Rex (lunch or dinner)
Planet Hollywood (lunch or dinner)
Cape May Clam Bake (dinner)

I've tried to stay away from character dining because of price and because there's really no character dining that Jace is really interested in.

So, what do you guys think? Any experiences at these restaurants you want to share? And, if you could pick only one TS meal from the above list which would you choose and why?

 

[Twoboysnmygirl]

Well you KNEW I would have opinions, right???

Sci-fi=GREAT atmosphere/experience, but lam-o food. To me it was CS on a regular plate with a really cool looking atmosphere. I'm glad we went once, but glad my MIL paid for it and won't do it again.

RFC=cool atmosphere, better food (imo than sci-fi) but a chain that you could possible go to another time (KS?). BUT...if you would do the darn Mypoints, you could get enough points for giftcards and that meal would be FREE!

T-REX-from what I've heard, this would be the best atmosphere and food. I think your kids would love it and it would be great fun! Never been there though, so I can't comment on the food.

Rose & Crown would be very cool for eating/watching illuminations! I have that on my list for Rey & my adult trip. Not sure about the food choices for your kids tho or if they would enjoy more than one of the other places with more atmosphere.

Planet Hollywood or Cape May...MEH.

 

[-Hope-]

The ONLY reason I included Rose and Crown was because I thought it would be a way to make sure we see Illuminations. There's food on the menu for the kids (they both like fish and chips).

We can possibly do RFC in Chicago and T-Rex in KC so that's definately something to keep in mind. And I can use the My Points card at any RFC right??

If it were just me I'd do Crystal Palace for breakfast but Kya isn't a big breakfast eater so I think I'd fork out all that cash and she wouldn't eat anything.

Any other opinions out there??? Anyone who's eaten at Cape May with an opinion about the seafood?