Boo to You & Turning 2! Oct 2012 PTR *NEW* 10/30 We're Back! TR Link Posted!!

[khertz]

$115 LAX/SEA!!! Thats awesome!! Glad you scored such a great deal!!

I was SO surprised and SO ecstatic to see such rates!! Because we want to buy DS a seat (even though he can still fly free, the flights were so long I felt like he'd do better in his carseat than having us try to keep him on our laps), airfare for this DL/Seattle trip was getting super expensive. So to come across a steal like that was such a pleasant surprise.

 

[khertz]

Our flight home from Seattle has been plaguing us for several reasons:

1) DH's family lives at least 1.5 hours from the airport. So super early am flights are a big no no for us. We would rather not have to leave for the airport at 3 or 4 am with DS! But that brings us to...

2) The later the flight leaves, the later we land because of the 2 hour time difference. If we are flying back to New Orleans, that still leaves us a 2 hour drive home that night, so the earlier we can get in, the better. And...

3) I am just plain dreading this day because I think it will wreak havoc on all three of us, mostly DS, and because it will be a very LONG day of traveling!

We have come up with two scenarios...

Scenario 1
We fly Seattle to New Orleans. There is one decently timed flight that leaves Seattle at 8:20 am and arrives in New Orleans at 5:57 pm for $185. If we can find someone to pick us up from the airport, it will likely be after 7 pm before we can pick up our car from my mom's house and hit the road to get home. Even if we are unable to find someone to pick us up and end up having our car in the airport lot, we will not be in our own house until probably well after 9 pm.

PROS: We save a lot of money doing it this way! Cost is approximately $630 for this leg of the journey (plane tickets x3, baggage x2, plus a tank of gas in our car)
CONS: We are getting home REALLY late after an already long day of traveling.

Scenario 2
We fly Seattle to our smaller home airport in Lafayette. We came up with this idea the other day, but it is obviously going to be a lot more expensive and require some logistics. There is a flight that leaves also at 8:20 am but arrives in Lafayette at 4:43 pm for $238. Since we'd be arriving at a different airport than we left from, that would mean our car would be stuck in New Orleans. So I searched Priceline and found a 1 way rental for about $50. We could pick it up locally on Sunday and drive in to New Orleans for the night, then drop it off at the New Orleans airport before our flight to LAX.

PROS: Saves us a lot of time traveling, and gets us home so much sooner. We live maybe 20-25 minutes from the airport depending on traffic, so we could be home as early as 5:45-6pm.
CONS: A lot more expensive. I guesstimated about $870 (plane tickets x3, baggage fee x2, one way rental, tank of gas for rental, and $30 cab ride home if we can't find anyone to pick us up).

So my question to you is...

Would you spend almost $250 more for the convenience of getting home sooner?

 

[debrapagliasotti]

Hmm...thats tough. Although I am all about trying to save money, both scenarios make sense in their own way.

I think in the end, I would go with scenario 1.

 

[skier_pete]

Scenario 1
We fly Seattle to New Orleans. There is one decently timed flight that leaves Seattle at 8:20 am and arrives in New Orleans at 5:57 pm for $185. If we can find someone to pick us up from the airport, it will likely be after 7 pm before we can pick up our car from my mom's house and hit the road to get home. Even if we are unable to find someone to pick us up and end up having our car in the airport lot, we will not be in our own house until probably well after 9 pm.

PROS: We save a lot of money doing it this way! Cost is approximately $630 for this leg of the journey (plane tickets x3, baggage x2, plus a tank of gas in our car)
CONS: We are getting home REALLY late after an already long day of traveling.

Scenario 2
We fly Seattle to our smaller home airport in Lafayette. We came up with this idea the other day, but it is obviously going to be a lot more expensive and require some logistics. There is a flight that leaves also at 8:20 am but arrives in Lafayette at 4:43 pm for $238. Since we'd be arriving at a different airport than we left from, that would mean our car would be stuck in New Orleans. So I searched Priceline and found a 1 way rental for about $50. We could pick it up locally on Sunday and drive in to New Orleans for the night, then drop it off at the New Orleans airport before our flight to LAX.

PROS: Saves us a lot of time traveling, and gets us home so much sooner. We live maybe 20-25 minutes from the airport depending on traffic, so we could be home as early as 5:45-6pm.
CONS: A lot more expensive. I guesstimated about $870 (plane tickets x3, baggage fee x2, one way rental, tank of gas for rental, and $30 cab ride home if we can't find anyone to pick us up).

So my question to you is...

Would you spend almost $250 more for the convenience of getting home sooner?

First off, congrats on the direct flight to LA...nice job when everything falls into place so you get exactly what you want.

As far as the other thing...I guess I don't really get why you would do option two...if you have the time that you could spend driving back and forth the next day to get your car, for less than the $240, couldn't you just get a hotel in NO for the night, or even better stay overnight with someone you know? I get that it's a long day - (1.5 hr to Sea-Tac, arrive at least 1 hour before, plus 7 hour airline, plus 2 hour drive = 12 hours travel) but really with the time change to your (and DS) internal clock, you will be getting into NO at 4 PM, so I am not sure how really tired you will be, it's more keeping Paxton strapped down for so long. If you stay overnight and just drive in the morning, should both save some money vs the $240 and also save someone that round-trip drive. It's even something you could likely decide "on the spot" as long as you have a couple of hotels near the airport picked out ahead of time to choose from. (Wouldn't think they would be sold out on a Saturday night near the airport.)

Just my 2 cents.

 

[MEK]

Well, I'm cheap and I always take a late flight home so I would probably go with scenario #1 to save the money. 9pm is not that late. I always think about what I could do with the extra money so that usually wins out!

Good luck with your decision!

 

[khertz]

Hmm...thats tough. Although I am all about trying to save money, both scenarios make sense in their own way.

I think in the end, I would go with scenario 1.

Thanks for the input. We are going to keep watching the Lafayette flight to see if the price decreases any. And we were having trouble thinking of someone to pick us up from the airport, but then I remembered my cousin who goes to the University out here may be able to do it, so that would get rid of the cab fare. Not much, but every little bit cheaper helps!

First off, congrats on the direct flight to LA...nice job when everything falls into place so you get exactly what you want.

As far as the other thing...I guess I don't really get why you would do option two...if you have the time that you could spend driving back and forth the next day to get your car, for less than the $240, couldn't you just get a hotel in NO for the night, or even better stay overnight with someone you know? I get that it's a long day - (1.5 hr to Sea-Tac, arrive at least 1 hour before, plus 7 hour airline, plus 2 hour drive = 12 hours travel) but really with the time change to your (and DS) internal clock, you will be getting into NO at 4 PM, so I am not sure how really tired you will be, it's more keeping Paxton strapped down for so long. If you stay overnight and just drive in the morning, should both save some money vs the $240 and also save someone that round-trip drive. It's even something you could likely decide "on the spot" as long as you have a couple of hotels near the airport picked out ahead of time to choose from. (Wouldn't think they would be sold out on a Saturday night near the airport.)

Just my 2 cents.

Option 2 only came about because we have made that 2 hour drive MANY many times after flying in, and it never sounds that bad in theory, but it's horrible when we are actually doing it! Plus, like you said, it's keeping Paxton in his carseat for almost the entire day. I suggested staying overnight (no hotel needed, my parents are actually leaving for a cruise the day before so their house will be empty), but DH is hard to sell on that. No matter what the travel time, he ALWAYS just wants to get home. Plus he is planning to go straight back to work the next day. I posed the question with the information available now, but DH at this point doesn't think spending the extra $240 is worth it. We will be watching & hoping the flight decreases before it's really and option. It's kind of funny, because I posed the same question to 2 girls I work out with yesterday afternoon, and they both without hesitation said they would pay more to fly into Lafayette.

Well, I'm cheap and I always take a late flight home so I would probably go with scenario #1 to save the money. 9pm is not that late. I always think about what I could do with the extra money so that usually wins out!

Good luck with your decision!

Just last night DH and I were in bed watching TV and winding down for the night at 8:30 pm, so that may give some insight into why we are not excited about getting home after 9 pm! DS typically goes to bed around 7:30, and then we kind of shut down the living room and head into the bedroom to watch tv until we fall asleep. We suddenly became elderly when DS was born! In the end, I think we will end up going with #1 to save money anyway, but the idea for #2 occurred to us and sounded great before we actually totaled it up. I'm sure saving money will win out in the end just because it IS quite a bit of savings.

 

[jenny105]

I think I'd go with scenario 1. It's a long day of traveling but I think it's worth it to save $250! Put that toward your Disney World trip

 

[MEK]

Just last night DH and I were in bed watching TV and winding down for the night at 8:30 pm, so that may give some insight into why we are not excited about getting home after 9 pm! DS typically goes to bed around 7:30, and then we kind of shut down the living room and head into the bedroom to watch tv until we fall asleep.

OMG! I did the same thing last night!

When you have little ones its normal to fall into their sleeping patterns. Problem is, you'll still be there when they are teens and sleeping till noon.

 

[skier_pete]

Just last night DH and I were in bed watching TV and winding down for the night at 8:30 pm, so that may give some insight into why we are not excited about getting home after 9 pm! DS typically goes to bed around 7:30, and then we kind of shut down the living room and head into the bedroom to watch tv until we fall asleep. We suddenly became elderly when DS was born! In the end, I think we will end up going with #1 to save money anyway, but the idea for #2 occurred to us and sounded great before we actually totaled it up. I'm sure saving money will win out in the end just because it IS quite a bit of savings.

I used to have trouble falling asleep, but since having a child, that is no more an issue. I am generally too exhausted by bed-time to have any trouble at all. (I still wake early sometimes as you can see by my post.)

I do get the 2-hour drive feeling really long after all that travel. I just think for $250 I personally couldn't justify the expense...especially if it meant I had to drive 4 hours the next day to get my car.

 

[Imagineer5]

What are the flights like? I would choose the best flight scenario. I don't think you said how many segments there were for each of them / whether the Seattle-new orleans flights is nonstop?

It is quite the price difference though, and I would probably choose the cheaper scenario, because getting home at 9 doesn't sound THAT bad. I wouldn't work the next day, but if your dh is okay with that, then that's his prerogative.

 

[ariel1025]

Jumping on board for your planning We are also doing a WDW and DL trip, but in the opposite order of you guys

Regarding flights, I personally would do whatever I felt would be the easiest on DS, but I understand wanting to save all the extra money. Kiddos are expensive

 

[tofubeast]

I am subbing!! My daughter is 1 day younger than your son! I am looking forward to hearing your experience (and planning) in bringing a 2 yo to WDW. Can't wait to hear how things go on rides etc! We are taking my then 26month old to WDW this December.

Your son is adorable!!

 

[khertz]

I think I'd go with scenario 1. It's a long day of traveling but I think it's worth it to save $250! Put that toward your Disney World trip

That is a good point! I know for $250 more, DH is not on board. If we can catch a lower price on the flight, it might be worth it to spend a little more for the convenience of getting home sooner. I will just keep checking Kayak multiple times a day and hoping for a cheaper flight!!

OMG! I did the same thing last night!

When you have little ones its normal to fall into their sleeping patterns. Problem is, you'll still be there when they are teens and sleeping till noon.

For everyone who tells me you get no sleep once you have a baby, I always say that I get more sleep now than I ever did before he was around because I'm always so tired!!

I used to have trouble falling asleep, but since having a child, that is no more an issue. I am generally too exhausted by bed-time to have any trouble at all. (I still wake early sometimes as you can see by my post.)

I do get the 2-hour drive feeling really long after all that travel. I just think for $250 I personally couldn't justify the expense...especially if it meant I had to drive 4 hours the next day to get my car.

I am exactly the same way. I used to have trouble falling asleep and staying asleep. And forget naps, that just meant I'd be wide awake at bedtime. Not anymore! I'll take any and all sleep when I can get it, thank you very much.

Yeah, we are both kind of feeling that at $250 it's not worth it, but if we can get the price down to something reasonable, it may be a more viable option. But part of the $250 was a one way rental from home to New Orleans so that we would not be leaving our own car there. So no hassle of trying to get the car home!

What are the flights like? I would choose the best flight scenario. I don't think you said how many segments there were for each of them / whether the Seattle-new orleans flights is nonstop?

It is quite the price difference though, and I would probably choose the cheaper scenario, because getting home at 9 doesn't sound THAT bad. I wouldn't work the next day, but if your dh is okay with that, then that's his prerogative.

I couldn't find any airlines with direct flights from Seattle to New Orleans, so the flight schedules are about the same. One longer flight from Seattle to Houston, and a short flight from Houston to Lafayette or New Orleans. The flight to NOLA would be longer travel time due to the length of the layover and that the flight is just the slightest bit longer there than to Lafayette.

I was actually only going to take off the next day (Tuesday) and work Wednesday & Thursday when I first emailed by boss the vacation request. But then I thought about it and decided I had accrued more than enough paid time off to take Wednesday off too! I think Paxton & I will both need the recoup time. I personally think he's crazy for going back to work the very next day but he's not sure he'd be able to get more than a week off.

 

[khertz]

Jumping on board for your planning We are also doing a WDW and DL trip, but in the opposite order of you guys

Regarding flights, I personally would do whatever I felt would be the easiest on DS, but I understand wanting to save all the extra money. Kiddos are expensive

Happy to have you along!!

I'm so excited to be visiting both parks in 1 year, especially since I thought it'd be SO much longer before I ever got to visit DL! When are your trips planned for?

I think that is exactly what has me swaying back and forth. As much as I'd love to save the money, I just dread trying to keep Paxton happy in his carseat for that many hours of travel in 1 day. I may never get him to sit in it again after that!! Hopefully the price will come down or we can come up with other solutions to bring the cost down to make it worth it for us to spend the extra money for the convenience factor.

I am subbing!! My daughter is 1 day younger than your son! I am looking forward to hearing your experience (and planning) in bringing a 2 yo to WDW. Can't wait to hear how things go on rides etc! We are taking my then 26month old to WDW this December.

Your son is adorable!!

Yay 2 new followers!!

And yay for October babies! How cute that they are only 1 day apart. I am hoping that bringing a 2 year old is just as fun and magical and easy as bringing a 1 year old, but I guess they don't call them the terrible twos for nothing! He is a very easygoing child though, so I think he will do great.

You will LOVE December if you have never been during the holidays before. I just love the parks all dressed up for Christmas! Since we went in November on our last trip we got to see the beginnings of the holiday events, and DS had a blast seeing the Osborne Lights. Hopefully your DD will love it too!

And thank you!

I'm just getting home from work and wanted to sneak in some replies before I get ready for bed, but I'll be sure to check out your PTR tomorrow during Paxton's nap.

 

[afwdwfan]

This is a tough call. I'm kind of like your DH from the aspect that I just want to get home... especially if I'm within 2 hours of being home. It would be very difficult to go to work the next day after such a long day of traveling and getting in so late. I'd definitely keep checking on the prices into Lafayette. Who knows, you might luck out and catch a lower fare there sometimes. I don't know what the dollar value would be, but I'd probably be willing to pay extra to be home a few hours earlier if I had to go back to work the next day.

 

[khertz]

This is a tough call. I'm kind of like your DH from the aspect that I just want to get home... especially if I'm within 2 hours of being home. It would be very difficult to go to work the next day after such a long day of traveling and getting in so late. I'd definitely keep checking on the prices into Lafayette. Who knows, you might luck out and catch a lower fare there sometimes. I don't know what the dollar value would be, but I'd probably be willing to pay extra to be home a few hours earlier if I had to go back to work the next day.

Both of us agreed we'd be willing to pay extra, but we too haven't nailed down in our minds exactly how much "extra" is okay. I guess we will know it when we see it? I have been checking Kayak religiously to see if there was any drop in the price and so far it has only gone UP by $5. Although, I did find a flight that gets into New Orleans a little earlier, and my mom said they would be able to get our car to the airport for us the day before we fly back in, so at the least, we could save a little time by having our car available as soon as we come off of the flight rather than having to find someone to pick us up and take us to it at my mom's house 30 minutes away.

Thanks for your input!

 

[khertz]

Even though I'm planning 2 trips at the moment, and one of them is only 2 months away, I still don't have official park hours for either trip!! But that didn't stop me from sitting down with the Touring Plans crowd calendar and their predictions for the park hours and MNSSHP schedule and coming up with a rough itinerary right now.

I am open to critique, because I'm definitely not 100% satisfied with this as is at the moment but it is the best I can come up with right now until I start playing with it some more.

Sunday October 21st

• Arrival day!
• Depart New Orleans at 10:30 am
• Arrive Orlando 1:10 pm
• Pick up rental car/Mears shuttle? (still not sure if we will get our own rental or just share one vehicle with my parents once they arrive)
• Check-in Wyndham Bonnet Creek
• Lunch at resort
• If room ready - get in & unpacked
• Head to MK! Dinner at Columbia Harbour House
• DTD in evening when Nonni & Poppi arrive?

Monday October 22nd

• Epcot for Rope Drop (? Not sure if we need RD...we might just get there in time for WS to open and spend the morning there)
• Explore World Showcase when open
• Lunch at Via Napoli
• Visa Meet & Greet
• Break at resort
• DHS/park of choice in evening
• Possibly see Fantasmic 7:30 pm

Tuesday October 23rd

• DHS for Rope Drop/TSM
• Lunch at Pizza Planet
• Break at resort
• Epcot in evening? (It is listed as a park to avoid, but we would be sticking with the smaller attractions in FW anyway)
• DTD for dinner instead?

Wednesday October 24th

• Paxton's 2nd Birthday!
• Breakfast at Crystal Palace before park opening
• Counter service lunch
• Explore park until mid afternoon
• Pick up birthday cake from Contemporary Bakery before going back to resort
• Cook dinner at resort
• Sing Happy Birthday & have some cake and ice cream!

Thursday October 25th

• Nonni & Poppi going to Islands of Advenuture for the day
• Animal Kingdom for Rope Drop
• Stay until lunch at Pizzafari
• Leave soon after lunch for long break/nap at resort
• MNSSHP (?? Not sure if we are going to attend or not. DH is adamant about having matching costumes if we are going to go, but more on that in another post. My parents would want to join us for the party if we end up going.)

Friday October 26th

• Sleep in morning!
• Mid-morning breakfast at 'Ohana
• Pool/relax at resort through lunch
• Epcot mid-afternoon/evening (Stick with FW since it's a F&W Friday night) or head back to AK for a few hours if we want to do more there.

Saturday October 27th

• Nonni & Poppi driving home this day
• Magic Kingdom for Rope Drop
• Counter service lunch
• Break early afternoon at resort
• Back to MK in evening?
• MSEP 8 pm, Wishes 9 pm (? Just a prediction at this point).
• Possibly another park instead if we want more time somewhere else.

Sunday October 28th

• MK for Rope Drop
• Lunch in park
• Leave park by 3 pm
• Get to MCO by 4 pm
• Dinner at airport
• Depart for New Orleans 6:40 pm

A few things bothering me...

1. Not lots of DHS time! However, I'm doing this on purpose because we didn't find much for us to do there with DS since he wouldn't sit through longer shows. We may attempt them this time, and if he liked a couple, that might prompt us to adjust the schedule on the fly to spend more time there. Although I planned it that way, it's tough for me because DH and I enjoy it there so much!

2. Too much MK toward the end of the week? I think there is just so much more that DS can do in MK that I don't think there could ever be too much time in MK, but on paper, it looks like too much! I'm sure it won't end up actually being an issue seeing the MK opening show 2 days in a row though!

3. MNSSHP? We are still debating even doing the party. On the one hand, I think it would be best to do it now while DS gets in free rather than having to pay for his admission for him to sleep through most of it in the stroller. On the other hand, I'm wondering if it's even worth the money at all when we probably won't be staying until midnight? Maybe if DS is doing really great sleeping in the stroller, we can take turns riding the coasters and watching DS. We are really hoping there will be an AP discounted night available while we are there, but I'm guessing that's not as frequent as it gets closer to Halloween? Regardless, DH doesn't want to go unless we have matching costumes, as I mentioned earlier, and we are still brainstorming!

4. No dedicated rest day. Instead of doing one day away from the parks, I tried instead to make it to where we had one day that we get back from the parks early for the afternoon to rest, and one day that we don't get to the parks until mid-afternoon and take it easy in the morning. I'm hoping this strategy will work! If not, we can always change it up as needed according to DS's needs.

So if you see anything glaring or ridiculous that I included or did not include in the itinerary or you have any other advice whatsoever, let me have it! I kind of like to post the itinerary so early in the PTR so that I can see how it evolves over the course of the planning process.

Off topic: We are headed to New Orleans for the night tomorrow so that we can go to the St. Patrick's Day parade on Sunday, and I'm really excited! We got Paxton a Kermit the Frog t-shirt so that it could serve the dual purpose of wearing green for the parade, and a shirt he can wear on our DL trip. Since this parade is in Metairie in a more residential area than the Uptown Mardi Gras parades, we will bringing his wagon (which he LOVES!) and a stepladder for him to stand on, so no having to use the carrier this time. And bonus, we will be parking and walking from FIL's friend's house, so we always have a bathroom within walking distance!! Is it sad that this is what I'm most excited about?? Anyway, hopefully I can post some pictures from the parade on Monday.

What is everyone else's plans this weekend? Whatever the plans, hope you enjoy it!

 

[MEK]

This weekend I am marching in a St Patrick's Day parade. I am in a marching band. It's going to be cold here, but I love the St. Pattie's parades because they are so festive and everyone is in a good mood or drunk or both.

Love your plans. I am actually there Oct 17th to Oct 23rd, so perhaps our paths will cross. My trip is a girl's trip with all DISers I met here on the boards. It will also be my first trip to F&W.

As far as the party.....Is there a chance that you can go to the party without Paxton? Can Nonni and poppi watch him? I think the party is great. I've been to it twice and the parade is amazing. The way the park is decorated is also so cool. Well worth seeing once IMHO. I think you would all enjoy the party and I think there is one on October 23rd. I am going on October 19th. It will be my third.

 

[tofubeast]

I love looking at people's touring plans!!! I know it is a rough draft, till you get a calendar etc. I also rec you check out the crowd calendar on easywdw.

Sunday October 21st

Arrival day!
Depart New Orleans at 10:30 am
Arrive Orlando 1:10 pm
Pick up rental car/Mears shuttle? (still not sure if we will get our own rental or just share one vehicle with my parents once they arrive)
Check-in Wyndham Bonnet Creek
Lunch at resort
If room ready - get in & unpacked
Head to MK! Dinner at Columbia Harbour House
DTD in evening when Nonni & Poppi arrive?

(This looks like a LONG day. I would cut out DTD.)

Monday October 22nd

Epcot for Rope Drop (? Not sure if we need RD...we might just get there in time for WS to open and spend the morning there)
Explore World Showcase when open
Lunch at Via Napoli
Visa Meet & Greet
Break at resort
DHS/park of choice in evening
Possibly see Fantasmic 7:30 pm

(looks good--sure you don't want to ride/fastpass Soarin' and such?)

Tuesday October 23rd

DHS for Rope Drop/TSM
Lunch at Pizza Planet
Break at resort
Epcot in evening? (It is listed as a park to avoid, but we would be sticking with the smaller attractions in FW anyway)
DTD for dinner instead?
(If you do small stuff in FW at night, you should be fine. Just make sure to note closing time of those things.)

Wednesday October 24th

Paxton's 2nd Birthday!
Breakfast at Crystal Palace before park opening
Counter service lunch
Explore park until mid afternoon
Pick up birthday cake from Contemporary Bakery before going back to resort
Cook dinner at resort
Sing Happy Birthday & have some cake and ice cream!
(Yay!!! Can you believe our babies will be two? wah. Have you seen the cake thread on the restaurants board? So many amazing cakes!! I would maybe suggest having lunch at CR for change of scenery...or Poly)

Thursday October 25th

Nonni & Poppi going to Islands of Advenuture for the day
Animal Kingdom for Rope Drop
Stay until lunch at Pizzafari
Leave soon after lunch for long break/nap at resort
MNSSHP (?? Not sure if we are going to attend or not. DH is adamant about having matching costumes if we are going to go, but more on that in another post. My parents would want to join us for the party if we end up going.)
(I agree with PP. See if parents will babysit. I personally think we are not going to Xmas party because I want to wait till DD is older to be awake and appreciate it.)

Friday October 26th

Sleep in morning!
Mid-morning breakfast at 'Ohana
Pool/relax at resort through lunch
Epcot mid-afternoon/evening (Stick with FW since it's a F&W Friday night) or head back to AK for a few hours if we want to do more there.
(Make sure you guys enjoy F&W too!! It's awesome.)


Saturday October 27th

Nonni & Poppi driving home this day
Magic Kingdom for Rope Drop
Counter service lunch
Break early afternoon at resort
Back to MK in evening?
MSEP 8 pm, Wishes 9 pm (? Just a prediction at this point).
Possibly another park instead if we want more time somewhere else.
(What about DTD during day?)

Sunday October 28th

MK for Rope Drop
Lunch in park
Leave park by 3 pm
Get to MCO by 4 pm
Dinner at airport
Depart for New Orleans 6:40 pm
(I think you are cutting it close w/ getting to airport if using Dis transportation)

 

[khertz]

This weekend I am marching in a St Patrick's Day parade. I am in a marching band. It's going to be cold here, but I love the St. Pattie's parades because they are so festive and everyone is in a good mood or drunk or both.

Love your plans. I am actually there Oct 17th to Oct 23rd, so perhaps our paths will cross. My trip is a girl's trip with all DISers I met here on the boards. It will also be my first trip to F&W.

As far as the party.....Is there a chance that you can go to the party without Paxton? Can Nonni and poppi watch him? I think the party is great. I've been to it twice and the parade is amazing. The way the park is decorated is also so cool. Well worth seeing once IMHO. I think you would all enjoy the party and I think there is one on October 23rd. I am going on October 19th. It will be my third.

Have fun marching in the parade! We are pretty excited to take Paxton since he actually seemed to have fun at Mardi Gras this year.

The best night for the party for us would probably actually be the one on the Friday night the 26th, but a Friday party will most likely be more crowded, so we are going for the Thursday night one (assuming the predicted dates are correct, that is). The one on the 23rd wouldn't work because I have my heart set on the super early breakfast on his birthday, and that's just not going to happen if we do a party the night before! We are still undecided on doing the party at all this year, but my parents expressed interest in doing the party themselves, so them watching Paxton while we go wouldn't work. I'm thinking if we don't do it this year, we may be in a better position to try again next year when he is older.

I love looking at people's touring plans!!! I know it is a rough draft, till you get a calendar etc. I also rec you check out the crowd calendar on easywdw.

Sunday October 21st

Arrival day!
Depart New Orleans at 10:30 am
Arrive Orlando 1:10 pm
Pick up rental car/Mears shuttle? (still not sure if we will get our own rental or just share one vehicle with my parents once they arrive)
Check-in Wyndham Bonnet Creek
Lunch at resort
If room ready - get in & unpacked
Head to MK! Dinner at Columbia Harbour House
DTD in evening when Nonni & Poppi arrive?

(This looks like a LONG day. I would cut out DTD.)

Yeah, I just kind of threw DTD on there, but I seriously doubt it. We will only be spending a couple hours in MK, probably just to eat and ride HM again like we did on Paxton's first trip. Definitely not trying to go hard our first day! My parents will probably be tired from driving all day anyway.

Monday October 22nd

Epcot for Rope Drop (? Not sure if we need RD...we might just get there in time for WS to open and spend the morning there)
Explore World Showcase when open
Lunch at Via Napoli
Visa Meet & Greet
Break at resort
DHS/park of choice in evening
Possibly see Fantasmic 7:30 pm

(looks good--sure you don't want to ride/fastpass Soarin' and such?)

DH and I are kind of "eh" over Soarin', so I doubt it. And we didn't feel like we missed out on much last time. We didn't ride anything in Epcot that DS couldn't ride, and I'm sure we'll do the same this time so RD is probably not a necessity. We are usually up and moving early, so we may make it in time for RD anyway, but not a priority for Epcot.

Tuesday October 23rd

DHS for Rope Drop/TSM
Lunch at Pizza Planet
Break at resort
Epcot in evening? (It is listed as a park to avoid, but we would be sticking with the smaller attractions in FW anyway)
DTD for dinner instead?
(If you do small stuff in FW at night, you should be fine. Just make sure to note closing time of those things.)

Wednesday October 24th

Paxton's 2nd Birthday!
Breakfast at Crystal Palace before park opening
Counter service lunch
Explore park until mid afternoon
Pick up birthday cake from Contemporary Bakery before going back to resort
Cook dinner at resort
Sing Happy Birthday & have some cake and ice cream!
(Yay!!! Can you believe our babies will be two? wah. Have you seen the cake thread on the restaurants board? So many amazing cakes!! I would maybe suggest having lunch at CR for change of scenery...or Poly)

No, I canNOT believe I am planning his 2nd birthday already! It seems like I'm in a time warp...it is just going by SO fast!!

Thursday October 25th

Nonni & Poppi going to Islands of Advenuture for the day
Animal Kingdom for Rope Drop
Stay until lunch at Pizzafari
Leave soon after lunch for long break/nap at resort
MNSSHP (?? Not sure if we are going to attend or not. DH is adamant about having matching costumes if we are going to go, but more on that in another post. My parents would want to join us for the party if we end up going.)
(I agree with PP. See if parents will babysit. I personally think we are not going to Xmas party because I want to wait till DD is older to be awake and appreciate it.)

Friday October 26th

Sleep in morning!
Mid-morning breakfast at 'Ohana
Pool/relax at resort through lunch
Epcot mid-afternoon/evening (Stick with FW since it's a F&W Friday night) or head back to AK for a few hours if we want to do more there.
(Make sure you guys enjoy F&W too!! It's awesome.)


Saturday October 27th

Nonni & Poppi driving home this day
Magic Kingdom for Rope Drop
Counter service lunch
Break early afternoon at resort
Back to MK in evening?
MSEP 8 pm, Wishes 9 pm (? Just a prediction at this point).
Possibly another park instead if we want more time somewhere else.
(What about DTD during day?)

Good idea! That's definitely a possibility. I know DH will want to get down there at some point to check out D Street.

Sunday October 28th

MK for Rope Drop
Lunch in park
Leave park by 3 pm
Get to MCO by 4 pm
Dinner at airport
Depart for New Orleans 6:40 pm
(I think you are cutting it close w/ getting to airport if using Dis transportation)

We won't be taking any form of transportation, we will have our rental car. So we just leave straight from the MK parking lot to the airport! Shouldn't take more than 45 minutes tops. And since it's Sunday, no weekday traffic!

Thanks for the suggestions!!