Dec 2011: We Planned In LESS Than 48 Hours! Update!!! 8/10!!!

[DsnyMama]

Welcome!!


Welcome to our trip report!! This was such a magical trip and I can't wait to share the details!! We celebrated an anniversary, a birthday, a first trip, and a job change! It was a surprise trip, we didn't even know we were going to WDW until 48 hours before we left, and we didn't tell our kids until we were getting in the car to leave! Word of warning! If you don't like tons and tons of pictures, this may not be the right trip report for you




The Details​

The Background: We had planned to take a trip to WDW in 2013 after I graduate as a graduation present (I'm in nursing school) and we had planned to stay at the new Art of Animation Resort with myself, my husband, my mom, and our two children. Disney decided to come a little early for us though! My husband is changing jobs and will be gone 8-10 weeks for intensive training. He's had the idea of a Disney trip before he leaves brewing in his head for about a month but didn't mention it to me because he knew I'd go crazy! I had saw where he had been researching package prices and got suspicious! On November 25th I mentioned to him that I thought he might have something Disney related up his sleeve and he confessed! We looked at packages that night and decided to do it! We had to plan before he left for training on December 12th, so we had to leave soon! I also had to plan around my final exam schedule at school - so our dates were narrowed down to November 28-December 4! We were leaving in less than 48 hours! So much to do and plan in so little time!


Past Disney Trips: January 2008 we honeymooned at Animal Kingdom Lodge! At age 20 and 21, this was both of our first trips to WDW! We had an amazing time. In March of 2009, we went again and took Ava who was only 11 weeks old! We had a great time and WDW was easy-peasy with a tiny baby!


The Cast:
Me - Amber - 23 I am the main Disney lover and planner! If Orlando was closer to South Carolina, I'd live there and work at Disney World as a parade girl! Sadly WDW is 510 miles from my house and I'd miss my mama too much!!




DH - Richard - 24 He is a thrill-lover so he loves Expedition Everest, Rockin' Rollercoaster, Tower of Terror, and the like. He doesn't really fully "get" Disney (at least until this trip!!), but goes along with it and enjoys himself!




DD - Ava - 2 (few days shy of 3 during our trip!!) Ava is a total princesses lover! She adores "hinnerhella" the most and talks all the time about going to see where hinnerhella lives. She was at Disney for her first time when she was 11 weeks old, but of course doesn't remember a thing.




DS - Levi - 16 months at the time of our trip! Levi is still a little young to fully enjoy Disney, but he loves Mickey Mouse Clubhouse and I knew he'd have a blast!

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The Plans: We had actually planned on going the week between Christmas and New Years, but with the crowd calender showing straight 10's for every park for every day, I just couldn't fathom doing that alone, much less with two small children! We've gone in really slow times before - mid-January and the first week in March before Spring Break crowds! So we decided to leave immediately with crowd levels ranging between 1-4! Because we booked less than 48 hours in advance, we had to do a room-only reservation for November 28th and then booked a package for November 29-December 4. The only thing available in the Value category for all of those dates was a POP Century Preferred room - so that is what we booked! For the package we added 6 day base tickets and the Disney Dining Plan. Both previous trips to WDW we flew from Charlotte, NC - once for $209 round trip and once for $189 round trip. Unfortunately, the cheapest airfare I could find was $429 round trip each Needless to say, driving was our only option! 510 miles and almost 9 hours with two kids under two.... Could we do it? The very thought was daunting...


Special Celebrations: We were celebrating several things this trip! DH's new career change (from corrections officer to transportation carrier at a trucking company), our upcoming 4 year anniversary, Levi's 1st trip, and Ava's upcoming 3rd birthday!

 

[DsnyMama]

*~* Table of Contents *~*
​

Introduction
Table of Contents
The Surprise 3am Reveal!
We are here! POP Century Check-In & Some Pixie Dust!
Our Room, Pizza & Mickey Ears!
Downtown Disney, A Nap & A Rainstorm!
Dinner at 'Ohana!
Magic Kingdom - Day 1 - Part 1 - Main Street USA & Princess Meet and Greet
Magic Kingdom - Day 1 - Part 2 - Adventureland, Frontierland & Liberty Square
Magic Kingdom - Day 1 - Part 3 - Lunch at the Crystal Palace
Magic Kingdom - Day 1 - Part 3 - Fantasyland
Magic Kingdom - Day 1 - Part 4 - MVMCP
Hollywood Studios - Day 2 - Part 1 - Hollywood & Vine Character Breakfast
Hollywood Studios - Day 2 Part 2 - Ride Time & The Most Horrifying Thing I've Ever Seen At WDW!!
Hollywood Studios - Day 2 - Part 3 - Countdown to Fun Parade & More Rides!
Hollywood Studios - Day 2 - Part 4 - Ava & Levi's 1st Mickey Ice-Cream Bar!
Hollywood Studios Day 2 - Part 5 - ToT, RnR, and Rosie's All American Cafe
Hollywood Studios Day 2 - Part 6 - Pixar Pals Countdown to Fun Parade
Hollywood Studios Day 2 - Part 7 - Osborne Family Lights

 

[DsnyMama]

Because we only booked this trip 48 hours in advance, of course Ava had absolutely no idea! She's been asking lately about Disney World and seeing "hinnerhella's" castle, but we just keep telling her we are saving up because Disney costs alot of money and we will be going in two more years (we have a 2013 trip planned). So once we officially booked, we saw no reason to tell her until the morning we left!

The day before we left was busy, busy, busy and she asked a few questions when she saw luggage being packed and loaded up, but I rocked the diversions and she had no clue. Our alarm went off bright and early on November 28th at 3:00 in the morning! Both DH and I hit a quick shower, had a cup of coffee and loaded the last few items in the car. I got Ava up about 3:15am and Grammy joined us for the big reveal! Ava was so sleepy, but such a good sport!

The day before I stocked up on some Disney fuzzy posters & markers for her to color, a minnie coloring book and Disney princess crayons, a foam Disney puzzle, Cinderella PEZ, Tangled stickers, and a few other Disney treats! I gave her the bag and told her it was an early birthday present. She pulled each item out one by one - so excited but so unaware!

After she had opened up all of the gifts, I asked her where all of those people lived - she said they lived in Cinderella's Castle. I asked her where Cinderella's Castle was and she said at Disney World!

We asked her would she like to go see them and she said yes, but it would be a long time because we had to save up a lot of money. She also told us that she was filling up her piggy bank too! I told her we had a huge surprise for her and that our piggy banks had magically become full and we were going to see Minnie and Cinderella at Disney World today - that we were leaving right NOW!!

She was so, so, so excited!! Words can't even express the joy on her face! Our adventure was about to begin!!

 

[dstevens]

Subing. Hey am i 1st??
Anxiously awaiting your report. My wife and i were down the same time you were so i want to read your experiences. And i like lots of pictures

 

[DsnyMama]

Subing. Hey am i 1st??
Anxiously awaiting your report. My wife and i were down the same time you were so i want to read your experiences. And i like lots of pictures

You are first indeed! Welcome aboard! First installment coming up today!

 

[DsnyMama]

.....and so our trip began!!


We loaded up the SUV and set out for WDW. On our two previous trips to Disney, we flew out of Charlotte,NC. The flight between Charlotte and Orlando is about 1.5 hours - a total piece of cake! The drive was calculated as 8 hours and 13 minutes - 510 miles to POP Century's doorstep! Typically it wouldn't be a big deal, but with two kids under two? I was worried! We decided to leave super early in hopes of the kiddos sleeping at least a few hours. Ava of course was awake and talking a mile a minutes after her big surprise was just revealed! Levi however was still sleeping soundly in his bed. I was able to transfer him from the bed to the carseat with him only barely waking and he drifted back to a sound sleep within 2 minutes. Ava played with her special Disney surprises that were in the bag she was just given and decided to fall asleep around Columbia, SC - about an hour into the ride. We stopped to fill up on gas + coffee + egg mcmuffin + more coffee and we were on the road! I had stayed up until about 1:30am working on a final for school and got up at 3:00am that morning, so I was exhausted! I napped off and on while the hubster drove. We made excellent time and the kiddos didn't wake up until we were in Jacksonville, FL! Hooray! They slept for nearly 5 hours of a 8 hour trip! Jacksonville was our first stop and we refilled on gas and food - let the kids stretch a bit - and we were on our way again! It was easy peasy to get to WDW from there! We left our house at 3:45am and arrived at WDW at 12:15pm. Soon we saw....

Another few turns and this sign appeared!!

And finally - here we are!

Ava immediately started pointing out all the cool icons - the bowling pins, ect... We parked and headed in to see if it was possible to check in early. I'll stop here and make a confession.... We were actually really, REALLY nervous about staying in a value resort. Our first trip to WDW we stayed Savannah view at Animal Kingdom Lodge and swore nothing could ever compare! Our next trip we downgraded to a moderate and stayed at Coronado Springs and didn't care for it at all. We didn't care for our room and it was just so spread out! So we were a little worried about what the values would hold. I have to say - we were VERY impressed!


Nice lobby with lots of really nice Christmas decorations!

Back to check-in.... The line wasn't too long - but each other time we've been (January and early Match) there hasn't been *any* line - took about 30-35 minutes to make it through the check-in line.

During check-in the CM noticed our reservation had a note that mentioned we were celebrating a first visit (Levi), an anniversary (me & DH of course), and a birthday (Ava)! He of course took time to dole out buttons! Anniversary buttons for me & DH, First Visit buttons for both kids (even though Ava had been at 11 weeks old, the CM said it was her REAL first visit) and a special Birthday button for Ava! She was so proud of her buttons!

Levi tried to stuff his button up under the counter....

Levi started getting a little board at this point, so I took Levi & Ava both over to the little kid's play/TV area. They both enjoyed that and made quick friends with a few other little one's playing around in there.

And of course mommy made them sit together in the big chair in front of the HUGE tree for a picture!

We weren't expecting our room to be ready since check in wasn't for another three hours, but our first bout of pixie dust was sprinkled and our room was ready! Even better - we got the building we requested, the floor we requested, and the specific area of the building we requested! We were in the 1960's section, on the 4th floor, a corner room - overlooking the pool, in the building right beside Mowgli & Baloo! It was perfect! The magic had already begun and we weren't even to our room yet!





* Stay tuned! More from POP Century, our room, Downtown Disney, and dinner at 'Ohana coming up next!

 

[GrammyJudy]

Great report so far and your kids are adorable!

 

[Moodyzblu]

Great start !! Your kids are A-dorable !!

Can't wait to hear more !!

 

[DsnyMama]

Great report so far and your kids are adorable!

Great start !! Your kids are A-dorable !!

Can't wait to hear more !!

Welcome aboard and thank you both!


Next installment being written up right now!

 

[DsnyMama]

...so with pixie dust in our pockets, we headed off to our room!


We made a quick pit stop to our car to get all of our luggage, stroller, cooler, ect... Another handy use of a huge double jogger stroller? A luggage cart!! We loaded everything up on the stroller and walked the pathways to our room. I was quite nervous as to what our room would look like, but I had hoped we'd have adequate space (remember, we'd only done deluxe and mod and we didn't like the mod...). We arrived to our building, up the elevator, and down the hall to our room.

I will say we had a great view from our room!

We opened the door and we were pleasantly surprised!! It isn't at all what I had expected and was actually quite large!! The bathroom was nice too! My only two complaints from the room were that the door doesn't open wide enough between the door and the bed to allow us to push the double stroller in the room - so we had to unload the kids outside + unload the shopping bags, diaper bag, ect - collapse the stroller and then enter the room. Also three dresser drawers wasn't exactly adequate and we ended up with clothes stashed in various places which I wasn't crazy about since I'm an organizational freak! These were super minor though and overall we were super impressed with the room!

I snapped a quick picture once we had unpacked mostly.

We took about two hours to unpack everything and decided it was time for some lunch! Since we were only on a room-only reservation and no dining plan yet, we decided to send the hubs to the food court and grab a large pepperoni pizza. He was back in a flash and the pizza was hot, cheese was gooey, and it was delish! Totally hit the spot after such a long drive! Ava was hollering for mickey ears by now, so we hit up the Pop Century gift shop to check out the ear selection!

Levi loved chip (or maybe dale?) but it was way too big for his tiny head! He settled on the light blue "baby" Mickey ears. Ava tried on about 40 different pairs and finally decided on the hot pink Disney Princess ears with the tiara! With mouse ears adorning the kiddos heads, we were off to Downtown Disney and then dinner at 'Ohana!





Next Installment: DTD and Dinner at 'Ohana!

 

[sjs314]

Great Start to your TR. Having never stayed at any of the Value Resorts either, I often wondered about their Christmas Decor. Thanks for posting pics. Anxious to read more.

 

[Moodyzblu]

Great report so far !! Your kids are precious.

(Levi is holding Dale )

Can't wait for more !

 

[DsnyMama]

Great Start to your TR. Having never stayed at any of the Value Resorts either, I often wondered about their Christmas Decor. Thanks for posting picks. Anxious to read more.

Great report so far !! Your kids are precious.

(Levi is holding Dale )

Can't wait for more !

Thanks for joining along!

The Christmas decor was really nice but not as "out there" as it's done at the Deluxe hotels for sure! I expected that of course!

Dale - ah yes, thanks!

Working on the next installment now!

 

[DsnyMama]

....off to Downtown Disney we went!


There were less than 10 people waiting for the DTD bus and it arrived very quickly after we arrived at the bus stop!

Our very first Mickey Bus trip and the kiddos were a little freaked out. Levi was upset because he couldn't run around while we were moving and Ava was upset because she wasn't in a carseat (super safety conscious little girl!).

Thankfully they settled down and all our other Mickey Bus trips were a big success!

The first thing we headed to after unloading from the bus was the Lego store! The kiddos needed a distraction from the bus ride and I knew the building tables would work like a charm! We snapped a few pictures along the entrance - I always love these "sculptures" from legos - they amaze me!

As I expected the lego tables were the perfect distraction from the "horrible" bus ride experience. The kids loved them!

After they played for nearly an hour with the lego table we decided to venture forward, but not without the classic family picture with the lego family (minus mommy since I was snapping the pic!)

The kiddos really loved the lego dogs!

We stopped for a few pictures with the Princess statues.

We moved along to the World of Disney store to pick up some autograph books, an antenna topper for my car, and a few other odds and ends! Levi decided it was a good time for a nap!

After the WoD store, we decided to sit down for a quick break and decide what t bdo next! I was graced with some lovely princess snuggles!

Because we didn't have a dinner reservation at 'Ohana until 9:55pm (BIG mistake with 2 under 2, but it's the ONLY reservation they had the entire time we were there and we it there), we decided to walk around the shops a bit more. The DTD Christmas decorations are beautiful! All the lights began twinkling around dusk!

After a few more shops, Ava decided she was ready for a nap and crawled in the stroller and went right to sleep!

It was nice to stroll DTW with the hubs while the kiddos were sleeping. Unfortunately the "niceness" wore off when a killer, COLD rainstorm came on us. It literally poured for a solid two hours. We went in and out of shops as quick as we could - but got totally soaked. Thankfully the large canopy kept the kids dry! We decided to head to the bus stop since the rain wasn't letting up at all. Once on the bus, we decided to head to the monorail resorts so that we could maybe ride the monorail for a bit and then head to the Poly for our dinner at 'Ohana! The first bus to arrive took us to the Contemporary, so we decided to hop on that one. Once at the Contemporary we looked around a bit - though this resort has never been my cup of tea, so we weren't there long. We hopped the monorail and took it around a bit and to the Poly!



* Next installment - dinner at 'Ohana!

 

[Moodyzblu]

Darn rain !

Love the pics .. stroller naps are always nice.

 

[sjs314]

You kids are so cute. Don't you just love how kids can nap just about anywhere? Rain on vacation, I have some memories like that too. Can not wait to read about 'Ohana

 

[DsnyMama]

You kids are so cute. Don't you just love how kids can nap just about anywhere? Rain on vacation, I have some memories like that too. Can not wait to read about 'Ohana

Oh the rain was ROUGH and sooo cold! Thankfully it was the only day it rained!

 

[archdandy]

I'm in! A trip planned in 48 hours?! You are very brave!

 

[DsnyMama]

I'm in! A trip planned in 48 hours?! You are very brave!

<<< me for 48 hours



It was awesome though! Spur of the moment trip - it was definitely a first!

 

[gabzee]

I'm in! Your children are SO cute! I agree with PP regarding the 48 hour planning time! I don't know if I am brave enough to do that either! Keep the updates coming!