April 08 PTR 'Veterans, Newbies and everything inbetween! ** Pictures added

[disneynewman]

Okay here goes my first attempt at a PTR. I was going to put off doing this for another month or so but I see others start them even earlier then me so let the fun begin!

The basics: We will be in the World from April 23rd - 29th staying at OKW (I am so excited to be staying at a DVC ) We have 7 day MYW tickets with park hopper. We did not book the DDP because we are at OKW and have a kitchen so it didn't make much sense especially with the 2008 changes.

Cast of Characters:

Me, Christine, 30. Before I met my DH I had been to DL once when I was in the 4th grade with my DM and DB and WDW once in the 8th grade with my aunt and her family.

DH, Neil, 33. Neil was born and raised in Ft. Lauderdale so he had been to the World countless time before he met me. Once we began dating and up until we got married an moved back up north we had annual passes and went on weekend trips about every 6 weeks or so.

DS, Brian, 5. This will be Brian's 5th trip. He loves Disney and watches the planning videos almost daily. He even found an old VHS version from 2000 that he likes to watch. When Brian was 2.5 years old he was diagnosed with autism so our plans at Disney are subject to how he is doing on that day but we try to stick to somewhat of a plan.

Here he is w/ Alice the Mad Hatter and a kiss from Snow White

DD, Gabrielle, 2. She already knows about 80% of the Disney characters and can identify parks by thier icons. She has been well trained by her brother and parents This will be her 3rd trip. Also we leave the World on her 3rd birthday (had to get in one last trip where we didn't pay for her ticket )

Here she is with Pooh, the first character she interected with about 3 days into our trip

And here is the whole gang October 07

For the entire length of the trip we will also have my parents with us. They will both be 57 for the trip and neither have NEVER been to WDW I think I am most excited about taking them, I LOVE taking newbies to the World!

We decided to go with the 2 bedroom villa to have space for all of us, plus, in February I will be flying to Oregon to get DS's service dog. We have been waiting a long time for this dog and I can't wait to experience the trip with him/her. This should greatly help DS with his fears and meltdows.

From Thurs night until Mon night my DB, Sean, 33 will be driving up from Miami to spend time with us, I think this will be his 3rd trip, one in High School and he spent 2 days with us in the World during our last trip in October of 06.

Also from Friday until Sunday we will have some of my in-laws driving up from Ft. Lauderdale. DSIL Julie with her DH and DS who will be about 18 months old at the time, this will be her DH's and DS's first time there. My MIL and FIL will also be there and they have been many times as well. While they enjoy going with us, they are not the Disney nuts that we are, they just like spending time with the kids

Okay, that's all I have time for now, up next, the tentative itinerary and ADRs!

 

[disneynewman]

So first a bit more background on the family.

DH and I both LOVE going to WDW. We keep saying that 'next year' we should try something new and for his 30th b-day we did actually take a cruise and that was great but we went on Royal Carribean, our next cruise will be Disney for sure! Anyway I don't have the problem that some Disers have of talking their SO into going to WDW again. We are always up for it. The kids love it, we love it, we are always so relaxed and get along so well, I feel like we are dating again when we go to Disney

Now my dad is a different story! He is pretty much being forced into going. Both of my parents were supposed to go on our trip in December of 05 but my dad had major surgery that September and couldn't take the vacation time, my mom was still going to go and even had her plane ticket but then got a new job and so she didn't go either. This time I will do everything in my power to make sure they go! Come hell or high water they will be there and my dad will like it! My mom is very happy to be going, my dad just doesn't think he will have fun...can you imagine, how could someone NOT have fun in Disney! So my one main mission this trip is to prove him wrong and make sure that he has a great time. And I know he will, he LOVES my kids and always want to do stuff with them so I am sure his inner child will come out.

How our plans have already changed:

The plan was to go April 19-26 for DS school break. I called AAA as soon as I was able to book for '08 and got us in our 1st choice of OKW. Then I had to wait for Southwest to open up there schedule. Unfortunately that is the only airline that flies direct from Manchester NH to Orlando, other wise we have to either drive 2 hours to Boston or change planes, both are a nightmare for us so we are at the mercy of SW
So on Thursday November 8th, I sat in front of the computer and waited...........finally at 11am 'DING' I could book!
But alas, to fly the dates I wanted was going to be over $300 a person
So I frantically called my DH and DM to figure out what we should do. We finally decided to go Wednesday to Tuesday, this way the tickets were only about $200 each.
Now DS will miss an extra 2 days of school, granted it's only Kindergarten but he also receives all his service in school, Speech, OT, etc. I told his teacher who thought I was crazy for worrying about it so I feel a little better.

 

[disneynewman]

Is anyone else as interested in my life as I am? Oh well, I like to watch myself type as much as I like to listen to myslef talk so here is more:

After collecting park hours and parade times, figuring out how many people would be at each ADR and spending lots of time on the phone with very patient CM who had to note each ressy that there will be a service dog with us and we need to sit near the back if at all possible...I think my itinerary is all set

The itinerary...so far

Wednesday
Flight arrives at 1:30pm , get rental van and drive to OKW as fast as possible without getting pulled over by FHP
Leave 2 adults with DS and DD and the other 2 adults head to the grocery store to stock up for the week.
Eat a quick dinner and head to either AK or MGM (I refuse to accept that name change) since MGM is open until 10 and AK has evening EMH.

Thursday
Epcot for the morning, futureworld only, back to the hotel for lunch and a break then off to MK
5:30 ADR for O'Hana We have never eaten here before I am so excited! By now DB should be with us, traffic permitting
I am hoping our afternoon break will be enough for the kids to stay up for Spectromagic at 9pm, they have never seen this before.

Friday
MGM for the whole day
we have an ADR for 50's Prime Time for lunch, I think my parents will get a kick out of this since they will feel transported back to thier childhood.
8:30 Fantasmic if everyone is still awake

Saturday
Now we also have the inlaws so our party size is now at 12
Back to MK for the entire day, no ADRs, too many freakin people!!
I do hope to book the Illuminations cruise this night as a surprise for everyone , MK closes at 7pm for Grad night so it works out great.

Sunday
One more day with 12 people! All day at AK
We have 5:00 a ADR at Boma, another first for us. MIL and FIL opted not to join us and might take my nephew with them so only 9 or 10 people for dinner

Monday
DSIL and her family leave do our group is down to 9
We've left this day completely open to go back and do what this kids enjoyed the most or maybe hit World showcase or DTD. The inlaws hit the road by lunch time
5:00 ADR at 1900 Park Fare another new one I can't wait to get pics of my dad with the evil stepsisters!

Tuesday
Last day
8:25 Chef Mickey's for DD's 3rd Birthday breakfast

Get over to MK and stay until we have to leave for the airport

Wednesday...start planning next trip

OKay next will be...
All the things we say we want to do in the world but never do but this time we really will!

 

[Jacklynn]

I'll be reading! Our trip isn't until May 2008, but I went ahead and started my first pre-trip report, mostly so I can get some of my stuff in order

 

[disneynewman]

All the extra's we want to cram in.
For some reason this trip is already seeming shorter than it is and I'm not sure we'll get all this in but these are the things we either didn't have time to do on previouse trips or the kids were to small.
1. Potato head at DTD. I plan to pack 2 potato heads from home so that we can go there and just cram the box with the extra parts .
2. Kidcot fun stops. I'm still not sure if DS will have any interest in this but DD should have a ball.
3. Spend more time in WS. We always just breeze through the countires and have not wandered back into most so I really want to explore more of that.
3. Nemo the musical and Monster's laugh floor were not open on our last trip so I hope they are not too overstimmulating for DS and we can experience both.
4. Minigolf. DH and I have been to fantasia gardens but that was about 6 or 7 years ago so we would like to get to Winter summer land this time.
5. Try to find time to explore Fortwilderness a little bit many take the kids for a pony ride.

I don't think I can fit in much more than that...but that's what the next trip is for right?