CLOSED: Should I Start A PTR? The Answer Is Always YES!_A January/Feb 2018 PTR

[kclark9830]

Hiya Folks! I've bounced around the idea of starting a PTR for our 2018 trip. The reason I should NOT start? Well, we don't even have our dates nailed down yet. But the reason I should? We know we're definitely going, and besides, it's SO MUCH FUN!!!

So, here I am.

Who am I?



This is me (the adult <wink wink>). I've been to WDW 3 times now and have never seen the nighttime fireworks at MK. Shameful, I know.

Favorite Park? Epcot
Ride? Soarin'
Favorite Character? Belle
Favorite Disney Movie? I really can't say...Finding Dory, Beauty and the Beast, Brave, Tangled...

Also in this picture is Ashlyn. She will be 8 by the time we make our trip. Her first trip was at 1 year old, then again at 4 and 6!

Favorite Park? Epcot
Ride? Spaceship Earth (but she seriously changes her mind every time you ask)
Favorite Character? Cinderella
Favorite Disney Movie? All of them (she also says "all of them" when you ask for her favorite color, so...)

Also going will be...



This is Micheal, husband of (almost) 15 years . He likes Disney. He does not love it, but he likes it.

Favorite Park? Hollywood Studios
Ride? ToT
Character? Geez, your guess is as good as mine
Movie? See the above answer...ha!

AND WE CAN'T FORGET...



Meet Miles. He will be making his Disney debut sometime in 2018 (at least, that's the goal)!

And last will be our oldest daughter Emma, who will only be going in our hearts. This is her on KS at Animal Kingdom in 2014. She was super happy to see the giraffes. Do you think they have giraffes in Heaven?

You may be wondering more about the W's of our trip. Well, so am I.

WHEN: We will either go the first week of May, or the first week of September. I want to go in May simply because I would like to try WDW sometime other than August and September when you practically melt from morning to night. Also, it's sooner than going in September. Buuuutttt prices are generally better in September. So, we will make a determination when the spring discounts are announced and we see what prices will look like in May. (THIS HAS ALL CHANGED AS YOU WILL SEE LATER DOWN! HAHA)

WHERE: Again, we don't know. We're tossing around a few options. Pop is in the running, simply because it's cheap. If we spend less on a hotel, we get to spend more on other things we want to do--like throwing in a couple of dinner shows and other extra goodies. But, we also might try Art of Animation because we're going with my sister and her family (same as our last two trips!), and she really wants to stay there. It looks fun, so, maybe. Our last "maybe" (and this is a big maybe) is Yacht Club or Beach Club. I want to stay here so very badly, and I'm working on talking Micheal into it. No dice yet, but he's definitely interested. I would like being in walking distance of two parks. I want to see Stormalong bay. I want to eat at Beaches and Cream, and Cape May, and Micheal doesn't like going to other resorts just to eat (he says it's too stressful?). So, I'm working on it! We'll see .


That's all I've got for now. I'll be back later so we can chat more .

 

[kclark9830]

***I'M WORKING ON GETTING MY PICS ALL CHANGED OVER, BUT MY NEWER UPDATES FARTHER DOWN ARE ALL WORKING!***

Hi guys. Our trip is slowly evolving, which is fun. It looks like (in spite of my wish to go in May) we are most likely going to be planning a September trip. And instead of it being my family and my sister's family, my parents are also probably coming along, and my older sister, too! My parents went with us in 2014 and it was a lot of fun to be there together, so I'm looking forward to that! My oldest sister hasn't been to WDW since she was 4, so she's excited at the prospect of going as well.

A lot has been happening in the last couple weeks around our house. My mother-in-law got married in March (she's been a widow for 20 years, so this was exciting for all of us). She moved out of her house and into her new hubby's house. This left her house (my husband's childhood home) empty. It's been sitting there ever since. Well, about two weeks ago she asked us if we wanted to buy it for a significantly discounted price. We'd talked about this before but always in a joking way, so when she told us she was serious we said yes! We built our house ourselves ten years ago, and we love it...but we're both very comfortable in her house and it would save us a TON of money in the long run. Selling our house will also give us enough profit to do some remodeling at the new place, which is fun to us. So, we're frantically working to get our house ready to go on the market.

In the meantime, I did some shopping. Sigh. I'm not a big spender. I like saving money rather than spending it. But when I got an email about the 25% off coupon for the Disney Store, well, it'd been too long since I did any Disney shopping and I splurged. A lot. I thought I'd share some of my buys with you...

First up is a D&B satchel. If you've read my last TR you know that Tinkerbell, Peter Pan, and Neverland hold a special place in my heart. So, when I saw this I really had to have it. I absolutely love it!

And then I bought a backpack for Ashlyn because school is about to start back. She loves emoji's so this was perfect.

And lastly, I bought Miles a bunch of clothes because no Disney baby is complete without a Sleepy sleeper, right?!

That's it for today. Ashlyn and I have been watching WDW resort video tours on YouTube to help us decide which resorts really catch our eye. She is a big vote for AoA after we watched that video. And I decided that POR is almost definitely out for me. The theme looks exactly like the town we live in...and while it's beautiful and stately, well, I get enough of that at home! LOL

Also, we're making a list of rides and restaurants we want to experience this time around. We've decided we want to try doing lots of things we haven't done yet (Test Track, Tiki Room, etc). On my next post I'll share these lists! TTFN (ta ta for now!)

 

[kclark9830]

So, I see my photos aren't working. Grrr. I will try to work on that later. For now, I want to talk about dates. We are almost certain we will be going...

WHEN? September 1-8! I'm very excited to have something a little more concrete. The where is still up for debate. Pop Century is still a strong contender. AoA is almost certainly out, and so is YC or BC.

But! We've been looking into renting DVC points and we're leaning towards maybe doing a Boardwalk Villa, mainly because it's on the cheaper end. Micheal did tell me we could stay at the Grand Floridian...but only if I'd stop talking to him about WDW. Ha! Fat chance. But also possible is that we could stay at the BW and my sister and rest of the family might stay at Pop. I guess we all have to decide the way we want to spend our money. Micheal wants to spend more time at the resort, and I don't want to lounge around the value resorts. They're just not conducive to relaxation, IMO. So, I'm leaning heavily toward renting points. The rest of the family wants to stay on the cheaper side and spend the extra money on MNSSHP. I honestly haven't decided on that one. We were going to attend last year but changed our minds at the last minute. I don't know that we'd enjoy it (I feel crazy just saying that, but it's true).

Anyway, this is the place we're at in the planning stage. Anyone rented points before? I'd love to hear tips (use a broker, or an individual?).

And then I have a non-WDW question.



This little guy has been naughty, as we spent the last week in the children's hospital (NOT my favorite place...to be honest there were a few times I thought I might have a nervous breakdown ). He has something called SVT, which is a heart condition that makes his heart beat 300 times a minute. This is his 3rd hospital stay for it, and he's now on 2 meds to help control it. SVT is not life threatening, if I understand correctly. One of his meds CAN be life threatening. So I'm just really considering talking to the doc about refusing that med. I would love to hear from anyone who has svt experience, particularly in babies.

That's all for now. I'm still working on my lists of things we've never done but want to. I'll share it once it's done! TTFN!

 

[kclark9830]

Posting here to bump to the top...will be back in a bit with news!!! (And hopefully pictures )

 

[Araminta18]

I saw Sept 2018 in your title and immediately clicked! We just booked for Sept 2018, renting points to stay at Boardwalk, and I'm pretty much over the moon. I'm excited to read more about your trip! And I'm sorry about your son--no fun being in the hospital, especially with a heart condition. Hopefully you hear from someone with SVT experience!

 

[kclark9830]

I saw Sept 2018 in your title and immediately clicked! We just booked for Sept 2018, renting points to stay at Boardwalk, and I'm pretty much over the moon. I'm excited to read more about your trip! And I'm sorry about your son--no fun being in the hospital, especially with a heart condition. Hopefully you hear from someone with SVT experience!

Great to have you along! Our dates have actually changed, though, as you'll see. But I hope you'll stick around anyway . I will definitely be checking out your PTR in a bit!

 

[kclark9830]

Hi everyone! I'm happy to be back in the planning stages of my trip. And guess what? Everything about our trip has changed. Ha! (well, not the WHO, but the WHEN and WHERE)

So, without further ado...

WHEN? January 26th-February 2nd! That's right, we switched it up to a winter trip. Why? Because our 15th wedding anniversary is in February, and hubby wanted new golf clubs. He figured if he gave me a Disney trip for our anniversary I wouldn't fuss about the clubs. Well, he happened to be right!



And the WHERE?

​

All Star Sports. Um, not my favorite place. And no, not romantic AT ALL for an anniversary. I know, y'all, I know. But my sister and her husband and kids wanted to come, and they have no desire to stay at a nicer place . I don't understand it, either. When push comes to shove, though, I would rather us all be together than to split up. There's always next time.

Priorities. At least, that's what I keep telling myself. In the end we will still be at Disney World! We'll be staying a Friday to a Friday, in a Preferred Room.

This trip was just decided upon two weeks ago. So I have been furiously scrambling to get dining reservations and make other decisions. I will be back soon with an update on those things!

 

[Araminta18]

Oooh, an anniversary trip! That will be so much fun! Bummer about Sports, but like you said--you're still at Disney! Hopefully you're able to get all your ADRs and everything!!

 

[kclark9830]

DINING!​

I'm really super dee dooper excited for our dining plans this go around (I always say that). I was able to get every ADR I wanted, mostly at times I wanted (though I'm still playing with a couple of them for better times). So, here are our plans.

Friday--arrival night--we'll be getting in late so we won't be doing any table service
Saturday--Ohana!!! for an early dinner

​

Sunday--CHEF MICKEY'S for supper. This one is at the request of my sister. Her little boy LOVES Mickey, and we've never done this particular meal before. We both want to see the Contemporary up close, so this was a great opportunity.

​

Monday--Sci Fi Dine In Theater--this one was really good last year when we went, but I wouldn't necessarily choose to do it again except Ashlyn LOVED it. She recently saw a commercial for WDW on TV, and they had a shot of this place in the commercial. She immediately said it was her favorite restaurant in Disney. So, we're doing it again.

Tuesday--Chefs de France--I loved this place. I have to eat here again.
Wednesday--we currently have an ADR for Crystal Palace on this day, but that's one that might get changed around.
Thursday--Tusker House for lunch (one that might get changed around), and another one for Thursday night that I'm very excited for. Ready?!?!

......................

HOOP DEE DOO MUSICAL REVUE! OK, maybe it's not worth that much excitement, but I'm excited for it.

​

So, that's it for our current dining plans.

I've also got a few other things to share about this trip.

#1, it's a surprise for Ashlyn. Her birthday is the week before our trip. We're going to let her open the Magic Bands for her birthday!

and speaking of Magic Bands...

#2, I customized our magic bands, which I think are super cute this go around. Again, our family has a slightly unhealthy obsession with Neverland. Sigh. Nevertheless, I love them .

 

[ariane37]

Hey there, I'm so glad I saw this!!! I just asked you on my report how Miles was doing, he's so adorable I hate that he has the heart condition but I'm glad it's not life-threatening. Wish I had advice about the medication; all I can offer is to do what you feel your gut tells you is the right thing. That's really all us parents can do I was going to offer some info. on renting points but clearly you don't need that now lol!

WHEN? January 26th-February 2nd! That's right, we switched it up to a winter trip. Why? Because our 15th wedding anniversary is in February, and hubby wanted new golf clubs. He figured if he gave me a Disney trip for our anniversary I wouldn't fuss about the clubs. Well, he happened to be right!

Yay for a very soon trip! Values are not our preference either but right now we're booked at Pop for spring break. The deal was too good to pass up with my TA discount. We'll see if it sticks, but I really don't mind trying out a value! Other than a few nights at AoA in 2014 we haven't stayed in one. Were you able to get the promotion when you booked?

I was able to get every ADR I wanted, mostly at times I wanted (though I'm still playing with a couple of them for better times).

I need to get moving on our March ADR's, I've only made one so far lol.

HOOP DEE DOO MUSICAL REVUE! OK, maybe it's not worth that much excitement, but I'm excited for it.

Have you ever done this? We did it in 2014, the boys were 12 and 9, we all loved it! So cheesy you gotta love it

Looking forward to reading more!

 

[kclark9830]

Were you able to get the promotion when you booked?


I need to get moving on our March ADR's, I've only made one so far lol.


Have you ever done this? We did it in 2014, the boys were 12 and 9, we all loved it! So cheesy you gotta love it

Looking forward to reading more!

Hi!!! Yes, we're booked on Play, Stay, and Dine. I wanted to do AKL with the 35% off visa offer, but it would come to around $1000 more and my sister didn't want to spend that much more. Oh well!

And no, we've never been to Hoop dee doo. I can't wait!!!

 

[kclark9830]

Slower paces?
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I'm preparing myself now for having a slower than normal pace on this trip. Our first trip to WDW, Ashlyn was 1 1/2 years old. We didn't actually spend an enormous amount of time in the parks. But that was our first trip and we didn't really know our options. This time, Miles will be 8 months old. I'm nervous to take a little one when it'll be potentially pretty chilly or downright cold.

I bought a wool stroller muffler thing that'll zip around baby to keep him warm. I'm pretty proud because this thing is normally over $100 at Babies R Us, and I got it at Kohls for $50.

Anyways, back to our slower pace. The plan right now is to do a lot of things Miles can do too. So, in MK we've got IASW, PP, Under the Sea, COP, Tiki Room, Country Bears, ETwB, the Laugh Floor.

Last year when we did Laugh Floor, the screen picked Micheal to do a silly dance. It was pretty gall darn hilarious, and Ashlyn still talks about it.

In Epcot, we'll do LwtL, SE, the Three Cabellaros (I'm betting I butchered that spelling), FEA. We also want to do the movies and performances in WS that we've never seen. This includes the America, France, and China pavillions.

I would have preferred to skip HS this trip, but it's Micheal's favorite so...we'll do the shows we haven't done (which is a lot). Frozen sing along, Muppets, Indiana Jones. And also TSMM, and I'm sure Micheal will want to do ToT and Rockin' Roller Coaster.

At AK, pretty much all I care about is FoP. I'm planning to schedule this on our last day in hopes of getting a FP. I'd also like to catch the FotLK and the Nemo show.

Any big tips for taking a baby in the winter months?

 

[ariane37]

Well no tips on baby, Chris was just shy of a year on his first trip and 14 months on his 2nd. We had a great first trip; the only difficult thing was getting him to sleep at night lol! But you're right, January can be cold. We were there the end of Jan. 2016. We're from NY so used to cold but......we were FREEZING! 45 degrees during the day is much different when you're walking in it for 6-8 hours than when you're simply walking in and out of it! So everything you can bring to keep Miles warm and even gloves/hats for yourselves. I had brought gloves but ended up buying a hat in AK that covered my ears.

In Epcot, we'll do LwtL, SE, the Three Cabellaros (I'm betting I butchered that spelling), FEA.

The Pixar shorts are really cute, too! Although 3D, but Miles might still enjoy them. If not it's easy enough for someone to walk him out. And Figment!

At AK, pretty much all I care about is FoP. I'm planning to schedule this on our last day in hopes of getting a FP. I'd also like to catch the FotLK and the Nemo show.

Oh definitely do FOTLK Now AK isn't my favorite park but I think there are a couple other things Miles would enjoy Playing in the Digsite, walking the trails and seeing the animals? Definitely use a FP for FOP but if you can get on Na'Vi with a short wait, it's boring but very pretty, calm, and has lots of bright colors so he'd probably like looking at them.

That's all I got!

 

[kclark9830]

Oh, I forgot about the Pixar shorts! I bet we'd like that. And the Navi ride is another good one he can do. I guess I was thinking waits are still long for that.

 

[Araminta18]

Oh, I forgot about the Pixar shorts! I bet we'd like that. And the Navi ride is another good one he can do. I guess I was thinking waits are still long for that.

The Pixar shorts are more fun than you'd expect--a great break to be off your feet for a bit, and Pixar is amazing of course.

 

[kclark9830]

Daily Plans
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So, I've been looking at daily crowd calendars and park hours. I did this as I picked ADR's, of course. I thought I'd share more of a breakdown of what we'll be doing each day. Here's the tentative plan.

Friday - arrival day. Our flight will be getting in late, so all we'll do is grab our bags, hop on the ME, and get to our hotel.

Saturday - this will be a non park day. We've never done one of those before, and to be honest I feel twitchy just thinking about it.

But, I know this will help Micheal enjoy the trip a lot more. He'll be working all day the day before, and with the late flight this will give him time to sleep in and relax. We'll get over to Disney Springs at some point, and then we'll have our first ADR that night.

Ohana, at 4:15PM!!! This will at least give us a view of the castle .

Sunday - we plan to go to church at Celebration Church at the 8AM service. We'll use Uber. Usually, we don't do church when we go, but I always HATE missing church. Maybe not everyone understands those feelings, but after losing Emma last summer I promise you I would be stark raving mad (rather than just plain mad) if it wasn't for the hope I have in my faith. So, church it is!

After the early service we will head over to Magic Kingdom!!! We have a 5:30'ish (can't remember the exact time) rez at Chef Mickey's. So, we'll have a pretty relaxed day at MK before heading to the Contemporary for supper. I guess we'll all see how we feel before deciding what to do after.

Monday - Hollywood Studios. This is Micheal's favorite park. We have a 3:50PM ADR for Sci Fi Dine In Theater. I've been trying to move this around for either earlier or later, but so far no dice.

Tuesday - Epcot! I love Epcot. I wish I could have 2 days here this trip. If we DO decide to head into a park on Saturday, this will be the park we do. We have a noon ADR at Chefs De France. I plan to hit up France, America, China, and Mexico.

Also, Epcot has EMH this night, so they're open until 11pm. I'm hoping we can stay out late this one night to make up for having only one day here.

Wednesday - Magic Kingdom day 2. We've got a lunch ADR at Crystal Palace, but I don't think we'll keep it. Besides Chef Mickey's I think we might try to avoid character meals this trip. Maybe we'll do Liberty Tree Tavern?

MK has EMH this night, so we might stay later. We'll see.

Thursday - Animal Kingdom. My big hope for this day is FP for FOP. Everything else will have to work around that. Well, except we'll be leaving around 3pm this day because we have reservations for Hoop dee doo at 4PM! So, fingers crossed I can get FP for earlier than that!

I'm excited for Hoop dee doo. We've never done it, and this is another thing I'm sure Micheal will enjoy (I'm trying to grow his love for Disney ).

This will be our last activity of the evening. Our flights leave out at 6AM, so we'll have to be on the ME very early. Boo!

So, that's it for today!

 

[Araminta18]

Sounds like a fun, not too crazy trip. Hopefully you're able to get FoP fastpasses, though you got to figure eventually it'll be easier to get those fastpasses at 60 days out! And I can definitely understand going crazy with a "no park" day, but hey, at least 'Ohana!

 

[kclark9830]

I thought I'd start off by giving a few real life updates. Miles went to his heart specialist yesterday and got a great report! They have begun weaning his meds and he should be completely off of one by the week after our trip, and off the other by his first birthday. Fingers crossed everything works out!!! Also, we've moved into our new house (our house sold in 10 days!). It's a work in progress as we're doing a bunch of renovations. Maybe sometime I'll post some pics of that. We're all living in Miles's bedroom right now, as the master bath is being completely gutted. We don't have any doors on our cabinets in the kitchen. But we do have a door on our hallway bathroom now (yay! haha). And floors. Floors are good.

Epcot Changes
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Now, as you'd all expect, some changes have been made. Ha! I was never happy with our last table service credit. We had made ADR's for Crystal Palace and Tusker House, but I didn't really want either of those. The more I thought about Epcot and wanting more time there, and the fact that Epcot will have evening EMH the day we're there...well, an idea came to me. I asked my sister if she'd want to do a kid swap. So, Micheal and I could leave our kids with them while we do a "date night" at Epcot, and a different night she could leave her kids with me. She agreed!

So, on our Epcot night we've made evening ADR's for only Micheal and I at Rose and Crown Pub, and Tutto Italia. We haven't decided which one of those we really want, so we'll drop one when we decide. I'm super excited about this! A night at Epcot without the children? I seriously don't know what I'll do with myself. I don't know which day my sister will want to do a date night with her hubby--she's still considering the options.

Another possible change is instead of eating at Chefs de France for lunch that day, we've also snagged a lunch ADR for Akershus. This is because we started feeling guilty about not doing a princess meal for Ashlyn. Seriously, I don't know why we let this false guilt creep in. The kid has done every princess meal there is on property (well, except that new breakfast at the Boardwalk, but...). And we know she'll have an awesome time even without a princess meal. Why am I letting myself feel bad about this?! I don't know. And I hate Akershus. We ate there in 2014, and yuck! So, that one will probably get cancelled when I get over my guilt.

And yes, I know I'm hoarding ADR's. I promise I will let them go soon. (bye bye ADR's)

I thought I'd leave you all with a few pics of the stroller muffler I got for Miles. It works really well!

​

 

[Araminta18]

I thought I'd start off by giving a few real life updates. Miles went to his heart specialist yesterday and got a great report! They have begun weaning his meds and he should be completely off of one by the week after our trip, and off the other by his first birthday. Fingers crossed everything works out!!! Also, we've moved into our new house (our house sold in 10 days!). It's a work in progress as we're doing a bunch of renovations. Maybe sometime I'll post some pics of that. We're all living in Miles's bedroom right now, as the master bath is being completely gutted. We don't have any doors on our cabinets in the kitchen. But we do have a door on our hallway bathroom now (yay! haha). And floors. Floors are good.

​

Whew, exciting stuff going! Glad Miles is doing great--crossing my fingers for you that all works off with the weaning of the meds. And yay for floors! Have fun

So, on our Epcot night we've made evening ADR's for only Micheal and I at Rose and Crown Pub, and Tutto Italia. We haven't decided which one of those we really want, so we'll drop one when we decide. I'm super excited about this! A night at Epcot without the children? I seriously don't know what I'll do with myself. I don't know which day my sister will want to do a date night with her hubby--she's still considering the options.

Yay! That's awesome. You could do both...drinks/appetizer at the Rose and Crown and then dinner at Tutto Italia--a progressive dinner of sorts? Either way, that's a brilliant idea to do a kid swap with your sister.

 

[ariane37]

Saturday - this will be a non park day. We've never done one of those before, and to be honest I feel twitchy just thinking about it.

Ha ha that's how I feel about non-park days! But I understand why you're doing it

Maybe we'll do Liberty Tree Tavern?

We loved LTT lunch when we did it in March, and I'm thinking of doing it again next March.

Miles went to his heart specialist yesterday and got a great report! They have begun weaning his meds and he should be completely off of one by the week after our trip, and off the other by his first birthday. Fingers crossed everything works out!!!

Awesome news, very happy for you!!!

And yes, I know I'm hoarding ADR's. I promise I will let them go soon. (bye bye ADR's)

No worries as far as I'm concerned! I've been known to do this and I'm not shy about it. Sometimes you just gotta!