Can't Plan for Baby? Better Plan for Disney! -- PTR

[annmarieda]

I think planning to wait for a trip to WDW until baby is 11 months old is perfect. That is how old my dd was roughly when we went to DL with her for the first time. It was a lot of fun... and not as much work as some would think. I bf her... so no bottles. We packed toys, but it was not at all necessary since well, DL is a big toy all in itself.

I understand you worry... 6 weeks was a rough one for me to get past too. You said your numbers are good though (I assume they have been doubling and such) so I am sure you will see 6 weeks come and go..then 7... 8..9 etc...

I can't wait to read all about how next friday goes!!! So am I praying for just one baby? Or two? Definitely not more thought right.

 

[cindianne320]

I also wanted to send you lots of hugs- I know how scary early pregnancy is- I've had 3 losses, and have never looked at pregnancy quite the same.

 

[ronnmel]

Good luck on the ultrasound! Hope there is one healthy baby in there for you.

I too think it's wise to wait several months before going with baby. Even when DH and I dream about winning the lottery and what our plans would be, we can't conceive going to WDW any earlier than when Peanut will be 6 months old. I want to use those first few months to rest (or at least try to!), and get to know baby.

 

[teekathepony]

Best of luck with your upcoming ultrasound! I think that when the baby arrives and is an infant, you might be glad you put off the trip, that way when things seem hectic you don't have to worry about the trip too. Disney with an 11 month old will be awesome!

 

[jenny105]

Good luck with your ultrasound!

 

[pinkxray]

I can't believe I missed your exciting news.

Congratulations!!!!

 

[monkey30]

Congrats.... I joined the PTR a while ago and just been lurking reading and hoping for you!

This is great news and I will be watching today to see how the ultrasound went!
GL, and something tells me u may have more then 1 in there, its a gut feeling, I have been wrong before though so don't count on strange little me!!

 

[MinnieLovesMickey]

I've been lurking your PTR for a couple of weeks but wasn't paying attention! I just saw your ticker on ash n brensmom's PTR, congratulations! My family will be arriving on October 30, it seems everyone will be there the week before us.

 

[oboedm]

I think planning to wait for a trip to WDW until baby is 11 months old is perfect. That is how old my dd was roughly when we went to DL with her for the first time. It was a lot of fun... and not as much work as some would think. I bf her... so no bottles. We packed toys, but it was not at all necessary since well, DL is a big toy all in itself.

I understand you worry... 6 weeks was a rough one for me to get past too. You said your numbers are good though (I assume they have been doubling and such) so I am sure you will see 6 weeks come and go..then 7... 8..9 etc...

I can't wait to read all about how next friday goes!!! So am I praying for just one baby? Or two? Definitely not more thought right.

Yup! Not more than that! Yes, my numbers are doubling. At four weeks 2 days it was 310, then two days later it was 842, then a week after that it was over 9000! I was glad it was only 9,000. That is a little more than doubling every 48 hours, so YAY!

I also wanted to send you lots of hugs- I know how scary early pregnancy is- I've had 3 losses, and have never looked at pregnancy quite the same.

Thanks for your support! I am definitely a bit worried, but feeling more confident as the days go on! I am actually feeling nauseous today and take that as a good sign!

Good luck on the ultrasound! Hope there is one healthy baby in there for you.

I too think it's wise to wait several months before going with baby. Even when DH and I dream about winning the lottery and what our plans would be, we can't conceive going to WDW any earlier than when Peanut will be 6 months old. I want to use those first few months to rest (or at least try to!), and get to know baby.

Thanks! I do think I would be okay taking a younger infant, but DH was apprehensive. He has been around babies, and is comfortable with them, but hasn't been around them 24/7 before. He is definitely excited about taking an 11 month old and "preparing" the kid (like taking him/her/them to restaurants, outings, etc).

Best of luck with your upcoming ultrasound! I think that when the baby arrives and is an infant, you might be glad you put off the trip, that way when things seem hectic you don't have to worry about the trip too. Disney with an 11 month old will be awesome!

Agreed! It will definitely be much less stressful, and it won't cut into my DH's vacation time like time-after-baby's-birth + WDW-trip would do. HE will still have a couple of weeks after he takes time off for the baby, so he will have plenty of time to take if/when the kid gets sick, etc.

Good luck with your ultrasound!

Thanks! I can't wait! T-minus 5 days!

I can't believe I missed your exciting news.

Congratulations!!!!

Congrats.... I joined the PTR a while ago and just been lurking reading and hoping for you!

This is great news and I will be watching today to see how the ultrasound went!
GL, and something tells me u may have more then 1 in there, its a gut feeling, I have been wrong before though so don't count on strange little me!!

Ha! I will keep your gut feeling in mind-- that way I won't be surprised if it is more than one come Friday, LOL!

I've been lurking your PTR for a couple of weeks but wasn't paying attention! I just saw your ticker on ash n brensmom's PTR, congratulations! My family will be arriving on October 30, it seems everyone will be there the week before us.

Thanks! October/November seems like a great time to visit WDW!

 

[oboedm]

Starting to Plan for 2013!

I am super excited to be planning a WDW and planning for a baby at the same time!

I was talking to Evan the other day about his vehement reaction to staying off property. He said that he had been thinking about it, and that he was now open the idea.

I have no idea what the budget for this trip is. I want a quality trip, so I don’t want to skimp out on too much. However, we can’t go “all out,” as it would cost too much money. We will have four adults and seven (or eight) kids in our party. Even a $4 snack per person, per day = $44. Eeek!

We know that we will be there during the kids’ fall break. This is usually the second or third week in October (either the 7th-11th or 14th-18th).

I really want to go for two weeks so that we can have plenty of time in the parks, plenty of rest days, etc. I think that my sister is okay with taking the kids out for another week. Sometimes the kids have a half day and a full day off the week before break. Other times they have two half days the next week for parent-teacher conferences. So in theory they will only miss 3 or 4 days.

Two weeks may be too long, especially when it comes to the budget. If we were going this year, touring plans estimates the crowd levels during their fall break anywhere from the 2s to the 10s. Most of the days are 5s and 6s. The week after that is definitely slower. I am more inclined to choose whichever week (before or after the break) with the lower crowds-- that way we have a good chance of seeing all of our “must dos” and maybe even a few more.

I think I will plan for a two week trip. We can always shorten it if the budget does not allow. =)

Here would be the tentative plan if we were to go for 14 days:

Travel: 2 days
Magic Kingdom: 3 days
Epcot: 3 days
Animal Kingdom: 2 days
Hollywood Studios: 2 days
Rest days: 2 (after three park days in a row)

We could also go for 10 days:

Travel: 2 days
Magic Kingdom: 2 days
Epcot: 2 days
Animal Kingdom: 1 day
Hollywood Studios: 1 day
Rest days: 2 (after two park days in a row)

Ideally, we would also like to go to the Wizarding World of Harry Potter one day. My sister loves Harry Potter and I really want to take her there. However, they are building a WWoHP in Universal Studios Hollywood, which is only six hours away. We could do a simple weekend trip over there once it is built. I am thinking that another rest day will be important for the kids, and they won’t be too interested in WWoHP and IoA in general.

If we stay for two weeks, we may consider a WWoHP trip, maybe deleting one of the MK days and using the MNSSHP as the third “day.” We would do MNSSHP on a “rest” day, I think. We would still be able to sleep in and bum around the resort and we wouldn’t be using a park ticket that day.

In order to cut down on costs, I probably won’t buy Park Hoppers or Water Fun ‘n’ More tickets. $55 per option x 2 options x 9 people = $990. I would much rather spend that money on MNSSHP.

I really want to weigh all of our options with regard to hotels, rental cars, Disney transportation, DDP, etc.

For the first few planning posts, I am going to investigate the costs of renting a car for 10 days and 14 days, the cost of the DDP vs. paying OOP, etc. These numbers will all be based on 2012 numbers, of course.

The posts after that will be about the resorts I am investigating. I am seriously considering every option, from values to renting DVC points and staying off site. I can then add the dining and transportation options, as needed, to the hotel costs and figure out the cost of each “package.”

At that point we can then start determining how much we can save, which option seems most do-able, etc. The only resort option I won’t look into is non-DVC deluxe on-property resorts. Sure, a discount could come out, but I don’t want to get my sights set on something I can’t afford without a discount. That means no Poly, even though transportation wise, it would be AWESOME!

But first—another update from our trip last February! Stay tuned!

 

[francis6306]

Either plan sounds good! It will be very hard to wait this long, but it will be a lot of fun in the end!!

How are you feeling? Have you hit the "I cannot stay awake another second" stage???

 

[teekathepony]

Sounds like good plans to me! I know personally I've found two week trips too long. As much as I love Disney, I'm a homebody and I get home sick after 10 days! lol

 

[monkey30]

I agree 10 days sounds great!

We have done both the 2 week and 1 week trips, 2 weeks was a little to long. We got bored with going to the parks. We did a lot of other stuff as well (drove out to cocao beach and port canveral) but with all those people you have, won't be as easy to get around.

Have fun with your planning

 

[jenny105]

I wish I could afford a 2 week trip to Disney World! Maybe some day. Your plans look good so far!

 

[suorkaterina]

I havn't gone back to read, but did anyone mention the new family suites at the new Art of Animation resort? The kids would love those I bet. I was watching the new promotional video and I almost wanted to stay there! So vibrant and they look really spacious too.

 

[ronnmel]

As I replied to you in my TR, one of our biggest mistake with regards to park days was to go to water parks every time. So since you won't be doing that, you'll probably get better results. I will have to say though, the later it gets in your trip, the harder it is to do three full park days in a row.

Oh, and I think 2 weeks is great. Gives you more flexibility, and allows you to take the parks at a more relaxed pace.

 

[annmarieda]

I convinced dh to stay on property a couple years back instead of off site. I had an excellent rate at a DTD area hotel. ($29/night) When I crunched the numbers though, between the need for a rental car for 2 weeks, the food for 2 weeks and park tickets... even with such a low rate, we saved (even paying for the dp) by staying on property. As you noted, snacks add up quick. I think for us... the rental car became the thing that really sent our total over. Normally, we would rent a car for a week... not 2 and I could not find a rental for a reasonable price. I really can't wait to hear how your number crunching works out!

I think I am in a different camp than the others. 2 weeks for me works... mostly cause I too have 2 travel days. I won't have enough time to go for 2 weeks in the fall... but I really wish I did. We will have 10 days total (two of which are those travel days) I am just not sure how to fit everything in that we want to do. Your 10 day looks good. I normally do not park hop. I think one park in a day is plenty to schedule... and I always see where that money can go toward.

 

[JennisSilly]

First- congratulations!!!! I just found your trip report and am SO happy for you! I also live in AZ and work for a large University here. We ran into Trouble TTC (I have PCOS) and when we were ready to venture to IF treatments our daughter found us through the gift of adoption.

Wishing you a very happy and healthy 9 months (or we 32ish more weeks)!

 

[JennisSilly]

Oh and PS: we love our Ergo! The Moby was great for the first few weeks- then we ditched it. With our next baby I intend on getting a ring sling!

If you're I'm the Phoenix-Metro area check out Zoolikins in Old Town Scottsdale! They have a wide selection of wraps/carriers/slings that you can test/play with!

 

[annmarieda]

Today was the day, right? I am praying all went well. You have me worried though. Please post soon and let us know how you are doing!