Can't Wait to Go is Soon To Be Gone= PTR of Our September Trip

[serene56]

Ok, so we still have 103 more days---but if you knew how long I have been planning this trip you would understand how Our almost here is soon to be gone.

I have been planning this trip since my grand daughter, Jadalynn was born in December 2005. She is the first girl. I am the oldest and only girl in a family of 4 with 3 brothers under me. I have three sons and a gaggle of nephews.

I have a honey named Joe and 3 sons who do not like Disney for one reason or another--but mostly because they think its for little kids and they forget that its ok to be a kid at times.

So when Jada was born-- I went to the hospital to see her for the first time, took off her clothes to see what a little girl looked like---and make sure that no one was pulling a fast one on me... and I told her the year she was turning 5 is the year I will introduce her to the other Princesses in the World.
I swear she smiled but that nurse told me it was only gas---yeah==what does she know about Princesses anyhow.

Well, this is the year Jada turns 5. And we spent the last 4.1/2 years practicing Princess stuff.. Like making our Princess faces.

Allow me to introduce you to Jadalynn. (she is 2 1/2 years old here)

 

[serene56]

I knew we wanted to go in 2010 but need to figure out when.
I weeded out the times I didnt want to go or couldnt go. Would love to go in December to see the decorations and the resorts all decked out for the holidays but PopPop Joe is a retail manager and can not take off from Thanksgiving til New Years. I dont want to go during Easter, spring break or summer family holiday traveling season.
I started reading the Disboards to see when would be the perfect time for us.

Free Dining sure would save us a bunch of money. The more we were talking about it the more people wanted to go. Afterall, they would have a few years to save for it. Ok, so we decided to go during Free Dining.
Crowds are low, Heat is a factor. MNSSHP would need to fit in there too.
My birthday is August 30th and PopPop Joe, his birthday is September 24th.

I wonder if a month makes a different heatwise.

My past Disney experience has been August-- both times. 1986 in August, 15th and 2001 August 30th for my birthday. Lets go for Joe's birthday this time.

I could spend forever in Disney- but logically we can spend one week. Joe threw in his two cents and said Monday through Friday-- well that wont work since we would spend 2 of those days traveling. If I can only get here once for her 5th year-- I want to do it right..
People work on Saturday so we can only go Sunday to Sunday.
woo hoo- I got a plan now. Disney World from September 19th thru the 26th.


Ok the dates are set--- now to pick a place to stay.

 

[Daddy_of_Princesses]

Lovely picture. She is the spitting image of Cinderella as a little girl I think.

 

[Sweetpeamd]

I'm in!

 

[serene56]

I spent considerable amount of time-- (OK it really was many months)
reading about the various on site hotels- (found they are called resorts)
I really want to stay onsite this time- no renting cars as it would be quite expensive-plus parking.

We stayed offsite the last two times-

I knew we could not afford the deluxes but I read about them anyways.

Compared in great detail the moderates. and after pricing those out I came to to conclusion we can afford the Values at 82.00 per night. (sigh)
After much comparing I figured PopCentury had our name on it. With going for Joe's Birthday I wanted the 60's building since he was born in the 60's

I really wanted the Coronda Sping Resort with the huge queen beds, but at almost 600 more per room for the stay--just wasnt worth it for me.

I started pricing out our vacation about 2 years ago to get a grip on prices. I didnt do to bad-- figuring it will cost about 850.pp total for everything.
Will give the people time to save and plan.

Ok- I got it down to we were going for Joes Birthday in Sept, we are staying at Pop Century.

Going from Sunday to Sunday=
MNSSHP on a Tuesday.

6 day park tickets is what I will need.

 

[serene56]

I'm in!

thanks Sweetpea. Basically I am typing it all out and seeing what my plans are then base it on the reality of what is going on
seeing how good I am with planning a disney vacation.

Lovely picture. She is the spitting image of Cinderella as a little girl I think.

We tell her she looks like Cruella

 

[Daddy_of_Princesses]

I spent considerable amount of time-- (OK it really was many months)
reading about the various on site hotels- (found they are called resorts)
I really want to stay onsite this time- no renting cars as it would be quite expensive-plus parking.

We stayed offsite the last two times-

I knew we could not afford the deluxes but I read about them anyways.

Compared in great detail the moderates. and after pricing those out I came to to conclusion we can afford the Values at 82.00 per night. (sigh)
After much comparing I figured PopCentury had our name on it. With going for Joe's Birthday I wanted the 60's building since he was born in the 60's

I really wanted the Coronda Sping Resort with the huge queen beds, but at almost 600 more per room for the stay--just wasnt worth it for me.

I started pricing out our vacation about 2 years ago to get a grip on prices. I didnt do to bad-- figuring it will cost about 850.pp total for everything.
Will give the people time to save and plan.

Ok- I got it down to we were going for Joes Birthday in Sept, we are staying at Pop Century.

Going from Sunday to Sunday=
MNSSHP on a Tuesday.

6 day park tickets is what I will need.

Since you are staying at a Disney Resort you don't pay for parking at the parks. It should be free at the hotel as well unless you use the valet.

When we went in 2007 I decided I could only afford the Value resort as well. We drove down to save on airfare as well. This time I went nuts, we are flying and I am staying at the Deluxe hotels. (many thanks to that 40% of code I got)

 

[serene56]

Since you are staying at a Disney Resort you don't pay for parking at the parks. It should be free at the hotel as well unless you use the valet.

When we went in 2007 I decided I could only afford the Value resort as well. We drove down to save on airfare as well. This time I went nuts, we are flying and I am staying at the Deluxe hotels. (many thanks to that 40% of code I got)

Did you rent cars either time? (I am kinda leary about the buses- like it must be a mad house at night time when things are jsut getting over--like the fireworks or spectro? Whats it like with sleepy kids waiting for the buses?

 

[Daddy_of_Princesses]

Did you rent cars either time? (I am kinda leary about the buses- like it must be a mad house at night time when things are jsut getting over--like the fireworks or spectro? Whats it like with sleepy kids waiting for the buses?

I didn't need to rent a car last time since I drove the van down, and I'm not planning on renting this time either. We used the Disney transportation and it wasn't too bad. You may have to wait a while for the bus, especially if you get stuck behind the crowd. Ally wasn't too bad when she was four, and would fall asleep on the bus, so we had to carry her when we go to the resort. Since I am doing a split stay this time, we will be going to the parks closest to the resort we are at, so the first 3 days will be AKL and HS, the final four will be AK and Epcot.

 

[serene56]

you drove with two little kids??? WOW
I took the train when my two oldest were 4 and 6-- i said never again with that.

I did the comparison with the airfare.
USAir vs Airtran vs Southwest.
I could not believe the price difference for Southwest-- even with factoring in the cost of luggage. (and buying the early bird seats)

I was so disappointed that southwest was the highest. Air tran did not have good flights- seemed they were all stop overs-- and layover with kids just dont cut it. We got roundtrip tickets for less then 200 total. (still gotta pay for the bags yet but we have seats all together.

Now when I look at southwest their fares are as cheap as USAIR- they were not that cheap up to a month ago. If you can be patient if the fare is not low-- WAIT it out.

 

[Daddy_of_Princesses]

Had a portable DVD player. Big help. Ally just watched movies until it was night time, then everyone pretty much slept while I drove. It's only a 15 hour drive if you are only stopping for gas, and a dinner. Took about an hour nap in Ft. Lauderdale.

I can wait a little while on the airfare, but won't go too long. My luck the prices will go up.

 

[serene56]

Double Digits today- to think I was waiting almost a life time and its almost here.

I booked my USAir flights back in November when I was comfortable enough with the price. Like I said-- I priced out AirTran, Southwest and USAir.

USair had the best times with the best price even with factoring in the luggage fees.

I booked a departure on Sunday, September 19th at 7am arriving MCO at 9:30 (with a ME getting us to the hotel with checking in we might be able to get to the parks by noon)

I also booked us coming home on Sunday, September 26th at 2pm. Which allows us to sleep in- finish packing and Jada can get her last swim in for the week. (ME will probably pick us up by 11am.)

I watch these flights every Monday for changes. A few weeks ago I see that the Sunday, September 19th was changed to a 11am flight and would play havoc with my plans-- so I was able to change that flight to the night before and we are taking the last flight out of the night at 8:45pm with arrival at MCO by 11:11pm.

I keep checking these flights because for some reason they change our seats all the time. THey keep putting Jada in a row all by herself. I think I will call them today to find out why.

Even with arriving this late at night my plans for the SUnday can still be the same--- we can sleep in and head to the parks by noon.

 

[serene56]

I subscribe to Touring plans and Tour guide mike.
Both are good for different things. I like touring plans because they give you actual plans and I use that--take out what we dont want or need and take it fromthere.
Tour guide mike gives you the best days to visit each park and tells you why- which is good when I tell my family this is what we are doing-- at least I have the why to back me up.

Using tourguide mikes site --and after a lot of park hour changes. back and forth with Disney changin MNSSHP for certain dates. adding times, taking away parades--- this is what we have:

Sunday: Magic Kingdom (late arrival) with a 2:30 lunch at Crystal Palace with Winnie the pooh and Friends.

Monday: Disney Hollywood Studios (RD arrival) with a 1:30 lunch at Sci-FI
(to catch the 3pm parade to dance with the Monster Inc. characters)
back to the hotel for a much need rest.
Hop to Magic Kingdom to see Spectro and wishes.


Tuesday: We have a 10:15 Breakfast at Ohana with Lilo and Stitch
but will head to the Magic Kingdom before our breakfast reservations so we can all enter the park and our runner can go gt FPs for Space Mountain.

After breakfast our runner will go back in the park and get another set of FPs for Buzz lightyear. (We will then have at least 2 rides to hit when we enter the park for the MNSSHP- which we will start in Tomorrowland.

Wednesday= sleep in day and hit Epcot World Showcase. Have a 4:30 reservation at LeCellier.

Thursday: Rope Drop at Epcot Future WOrld- Runner will get FP for soaring while we go visit the Seas with Nemo and see Turtle Talk with Crush. We have a 10: 30 reservation for Storybook Princesses in Norway and will get a FP for Test Track before we head over. This gives us two rides to do after the Princess breakfast.

We will tour the innoventions places until we had enough. Again we are park hopping here to the Studios to see Fantasmic. Depending on the naps we may want to see things that we had to miss on Monday. Not a lot we can do in the Studios from 9am til 1pm. but it still will be a busy day.

Friday is PopPop Joe's birthday. and a day that Jada helps me plan.
Its our animal kingdom day with Safari Breakfast with Donald and friends at Tusker House for 10:30. Getting a FP for Safari before we head in there.
We also have a 6:40 reservation at Ohana this evening.

Saturday is RD at Magic Kingdom to hit the rides in Fantasyland as we have been avoiding that part of the park all week. I want to sqeeze in the fairies here too.
Jada has a BBB appointment at noon and a 4:30 reservation at Park Fair to dine with Cinderella and Prince Charming.

Sunday our flight leaves at 2pm so we pack up, let Jada swim in the morning.
Breakfast is at Pop FOod court.

Im exhausted just typing it all out--

 

[serene56]

CAST OF CHARACTERS

After much consideration we decided to tell everyone that wanted to go that we are going to keep it as family members only. For us it would be easier to make reservations for dining--and to move about the park with the 7 of us.

Allow me to introduce you to our Disney Vacation Cast Members.

This is Jada-

She knows we are going to Disney World for PopPops birthday. She spends weekends with us and we look at yourtube a lot. (basically show her that there is nothing to be scared of since it is all Mickey Magic.) She cant wait to go on the Gorilla ride. (for those that need to know where the Gorilla ride-- its Expedidition Everest. She thinks the Yeti is a gorilla.

We told her she needs to be 44 inches tall and in order to be that tall she needs to eat her vegetables. So she takes a bite-- then goes and gets measures. Takes bite and gets measured-- we are practicing standing tall so the CM will measure her. She stands a tad over 43. --

This is Stephanie---Jada's Mommy.

This is Robert-- Jada's Daddy

This is Geri- Jada refers to her as my other one mom mom or MY mommom Geri. (she is also Steph's Mom)

This is Uncle Brian (Rob's brother) he started taking Jada into spookey houses when she was 18 months old.

This is PopPop Joe- To this day we swear that Jada thinks he is her little friend. He is the one that gets down and plays all the games etc with her.

and this is me-- Cheryl - (I used to be mommom shirl) but a few months ago she asked if she can call me granny since she doesnt have one of those-) (of course she can but I do groan when she calls me Granny. - I envision The Clampetts and BeveryHillbillies-- Granny---(LOL)

 

[Daddy_of_Princesses]

but a few months ago she asked if she can call me granny since she doesnt have one of those-) (of course she can but I do groan when she calls me Granny. - I envision The Clampetts and BeveryHillbillies-- Granny---(LOL)

Granny - HAH! I can't wait until the next time I see you. No more Cheryl, it's now Granny.

 

[serene56]

Yep, can you imagine-- its granny.
She tried to changed Joes name to Grandpop but he said no.
she was ok with that. But she does have a mom mom. and a grandmom. and of course my mom was GGmom.
and my dad--PopPop Pew. (because of those nasty cigars)

 

[serene56]

I have been working on this day for quite a while- maybe its time to put it away for a bit.
No matter what it is I do to refresh the day I will have to watch the time.
Watching the clock seems like too much work. This is the only park that i will have to watch the time.

Arrive at RD.
FPV will get to TSM.
We will meet him at the ride.
VotlM at 9:45
Animation Place until 10:15 (which doesnt give us much time)
Half of us will get over to Tot for FP and ride RnR while the other half is at
PHD at 10:30
BatB at 11:00
(ride Tot? with FP)
Muppets.

Lunch at Sci Fi at 1:30
head to the American Idol place to view the parade-- (she wants to dance with the Monsters, Inc.
leave.

(do you see what I mean by watching the time all day.)

seeing the Voyage of the Mermaid and Playhouse Disney-- are these shows MUSTS?? I think she may be better off with characters. I cant decide.

 

[Daddy_of_Princesses]

We didn't do the Playhouse disney show the last time we were there in 2007, but we did do the Voyage of the Little Mermaid. It's a cute show, and if it's hot it gives you a break for a little while, but I wouldn't really consider it a must see. If we have time, and we should with an 8-day park hopper pass, we will see it again, but I won't be going out of my way to see it.

 

[serene56]

There is a LOT we are not seeing in the Studios- I cant fit it in.

Indiana Jones-- she never saw the movie.
Lights, Motor Action- what does she care how movies are made.
Sounds Dangerous is closed.
Great Movie Ride (??)

there seems to be a ton of characters at this park=- BUT schools are back and it makes me wonder if the characters will be in abundance in September as they are in June/July.

Let me ask you this-- did you nap during the day or should I ask if the kids napped---(LOL)

This is the night I want to hop to Magic Kingdom to see Spectro and Wishes.
I may be trying to push too much stuff. it is afterall only the second day

 

[Daddy_of_Princesses]

If the kids fell asleep in the stroller, we let them sleep for a little while, but we didn't go back to the room and make them take a nap. Ally was too excited at being at Disney to take a nap anyway, and Olivia, now 4 doesn't take a nap on most days, so I don't see the point of forcing them. Funny thing is, even with the 8 day pass, I am trying to figure out how to fit everything. I like doing the character meals since you have to eat, and this way you see the characters and don't have to wait in line for them, so that actually saves some time I guess.

Hollywood Studios is kind of a weird park. I think with older kids you can see alot of stuff, but I agree, Indiana Jones, the stunt show and stuff like that isn't appealing to young kids, so it limits what there is to see. I would definitly recomend the Muppets 3D show and Beauty and the Beast on stage. They select a child to give the beast a flower or something, I don't remember exactly, but when we saw it, it was the first child in line, unfortunately we were second.