Fairy Godmother waves her magic wand... Jan 2019 PTR (Update 12/31)

[mdsouth]

I am all caught up! Your plans are coming together! WOW! Great job of getting all your ADRs! I loved how you shared your plans for each day with photos of the areas. I might have to use this idea too, when I get to finally plan a real trip instead of all my virtual trips I have planned over the years.

Your boys are so stinkin' cute! It will be so much fun to take them to Disney. I agree with the double stroller. I think you will be surprised how much time they spend in it and it will really help you out in that they will be less cranky and tired with the use of one.

You really did a great job of snatching up the bargain t-shirts! Way to go!

Looking forward to reading more about your plans.

 

[cinderaimee]

We just did our week at the Jersey shore, and it was many things, but relaxing wasn't one of them. It is getting easier every year, with less baby/toddler stuff to pack and more independent kids, but it's still a lot. We were doing two loads of laundry a day and still came home to 6 loads needing to be done! Maybe I'll get to relax at the shore once the kids can feed themselves and do their own laundry

Yes, between SIL's family and mine, it seemed like we were doing laundry all day every day at the beach! I did manage to bring home a suitcase full of clean, folded laundry so I felt sort of accomplished for that. "Relaxing" is definitely not a word I would ever use to describe being at the beach with kids.

I am all caught up! Your plans are coming together! WOW! Great job of getting all your ADRs! I loved how you shared your plans for each day with photos of the areas. I might have to use this idea too, when I get to finally plan a real trip instead of all my virtual trips I have planned over the years.

Your boys are so stinkin' cute! It will be so much fun to take them to Disney. I agree with the double stroller. I think you will be surprised how much time they spend in it and it will really help you out in that they will be less cranky and tired with the use of one.

You really did a great job of snatching up the bargain t-shirts! Way to go!

Looking forward to reading more about your plans.

Thanks for all your nice comments! I've been having a lot of fun planning this trip and hopefully the work will be worth it. DH and I have talked about the stroller thing a few times and I think we are just going to end up renting the double. The intent is not to have them both riding in it at the same time for regular walking around (especially since their combined weights are well over the limit of the stroller, but also pushing 130 pounds worth of kids plus gear is not a great time), so we'll probably have them take turns or only ride when they need to, but we just think it will be better to have it just in case, especially if we're trying to do anything late at night, it will be nice to have the option for both of them to be able to ride.

 

[cinderaimee]

Update - 108 days to go

A few things came together this weekend so I thought I owed my PTR a little update!

Update #1 - So I said in my introduction post that my goal of this trip was to have it paid for ahead of time with none of it going on a credit card or coming out of our regular budget. I've been doing freelance work since last December and saving everything I earn on Disney gift cards. I have the 3 night package booked at CBR with the DDP for those three nights and 8 day park tickets, which came out to around $3,000.
Well as of today, that bill is paid off!

I'm going to continue taking freelance jobs to try save up to add the dining plan to the 6 nights at WL, we'll see if I get there, it's a bit over $1200. It's a nice to have at this point, but not necessary. If we decide not to go with the dining plan, then at least I'll have the money on a gift card and we can pay for meals using that.

Update #2- Flight home booked!

Last night after I realized I had enough gift cards to pay off the Disney balance, I impulsively checked on the flights I had been watching on Southwest and lo and behold, one had dropped in price enough that I had enough points to cover the whole thing so I booked that baby up and we are ready to roll.

It's a big weight off having those two things checked off the list. It's like, paying for the trip and having the flights booked are essential parts of actually going. Everything else is just extra, so it's like I guess we are really going now!

Our flight home is around 6:00 PM, so that opens up another half day or so to plan. Right now I'm thinking lunch and some shopping at Disney Springs? Or maybe lunch at a resort? There are so many options outside of the parks to think about!

 

[SaraSpringsIsHome]

Well as of today, that bill is paid off!

What a great feeling!!!

one had dropped in price enough that I had enough points to cover the whole thing so I booked that baby up and we are ready to roll.

That's awesome, I'm glad you were able to book your return flights

 

[cosmicmommy]

Dropping it to read along. We'll be there a little after you and you plan like I do. If I'm NOT planning, I feel like I'm failing...

 

[musicalgirl2010]

Congratulations on getting your trip paid off!

 

[cinderaimee]

Congratulations on getting your trip paid off!

Thanks!! I ending up dragging my feet a bit because I was being lazy about combining all the gift cards together, and then the Disney planner that booked my CBR package sent me a message that she had gotten the January discount that was released last week applied to my package and saved me a little bit of money! So, even better that I waited a couple extra days. But I went ahead and combined my gift cards and actually officially paid off the balance, which is such a great feeling.

 

[cinderaimee]

5 days to FP Day!

Somehow it seems like the month of October flew by!

We've had a lot of fun this fall - DS1 and I went to the Maryland Renaissance Festival with my parents and sisters. DS1 got a cool facepaint, was totally spoiled as the only kid in our group, and naturally complained about anything he could find to complain about



My SIL needed a break from the kids, so we took an adults trip to Hershey Park (about a 2 hour drive for us), on a sunny but chilly day a few weekends before Halloween and basically had the park to ourselves. This was the line for one of the biggest roller coasters:



Can't beat that! We were in the park for about 6 hours and rode all the roller coasters, had a nice lunch, did some shopping and headed home before dark, all without having to push around a stroller or fuss at a child. So peaceful.

For Halloween, the boys were Harry Potter and a pumpkin.

(These glasses are fake, but we found out DS1 actually does need glasses and this is the style I'm pushing for, he looks so cute!)



Fairy Godmother sent the boys these Mickey pumpkins three years ago and we use them every Halloween, although we do bring a bigger bag for trick or treat to empty them into since they don't actually hold very much.

I got this pumpkin costume for DS2 last year and when I asked him what he wanted to be for Halloween this year he said "a pumpkin again!" Okay kid, you got it, done.

Otherwise, we've just been enjoying fall and trying to get outside before it's too cold!



But enough about all that, let's talk Disney planning!

I was actually kind of surprised to look at my calendar and realize I am quickly approaching my FP date! I went through my planning spreadsheet and added my goal FP+ times.






Some changes since my initial ADR date: I updated our Tusker House ADR to the ROL package, which changed it to more of a late lunch time so I had to kind of rethink my FP plans for that day.

I also booked our flight home for about 6:00, which is later than I had originally thought about, so now I'm thinking we will check out at WL and then head to Disney Springs for lunch and shopping. I had a WCC ADR and cancelled it and booked brunch at Homecomin' instead because it just looks amazing, but I've been second-guessing that, especially if we end up booking HDDR and using two TS credits there, I could see us having a lot of QS credits left for lunch on our last day.

I am not actually expecting to be able to get FOP or SDD for our first two days in the parks so Navi River and Alien Saucers are my back-up FP picks, and then I'll try to get FOP and SDD for the second day in both of those parks.

I'm also trying to avoid planning to be in the park from open to close every day, so I have a few days scheduled for us to sleep in, and then the days we plan to rope drop to be done in the parks by lunchtime so we can get some time in at the resort and DS and just feel less rushed. I know my kids would love to swim, so fingers crossed for at least a days warm enough for the pool.

 

[cinderaimee]

FastPass picks!

I was going to just write this post and say I was able to get everything I wanted, but then I thought people who have FP dates coming up might want to see what was available, so here's what I have right now. I've already fiddled a few of the times, so I doubt this is the final version.

Friday, 1/11
Dinosaur 10:55
EE 12:45
FOP 4:55 (pretty good availability of evening FOP times)

Saturday, 1/12
Alien Saucers 9:50
Star Tours 11:10
ToT 12:30
(SDD available in the afternoon, lots of TSM available)

Sunday, 1/13
BTMRR 9:55
Splash 11:10
7DMT 1:30 (plenty of times available)

Monday, 1/14
Soarin' 12:25
Nemo 1:25
SE 2:25

Tuesday, 1/15
SDD 10:00
ToT 11:20
RRC 12:20 (will probably try to modify this to TSM after we check in to SDD, probably too intense for the kids)

Wednesday, 1/16
TT 1:30
Mission Space 2:30
SE 3:50 (hopefully modify to FEA after TT)

Thursday, 1/17
7DMT 9:40
Space 10:45
Buzz 11:55

Friday, 1/18
FOP 9:20 (plenty of morning times at 60+8)
KS 10:20
EE 11:20

That's where we are now! I'll do a detailed day by day plan as it gets closer, but I can't believe we're 60 days out now! Seems like just yesterday I was making my ADR's!

 

[TheOneWithTheTriplets]

Tuesday, 1/15
SDD 10:00
ToT 11:20
RRC 12:20 (will probably try to modify this to TSM after we check in to SDD, probably too intense for the kids)

Wednesday, 1/16
TT 1:30
Mission Space 2:30
SE 3:50 (hopefully modify to FEA after TT)

FYI, you can't modify to a tier 1 in the same park until you've used or expired two tier 2s. If you want to try for a 2nd tier 1 right away, you need to book easy tier 2s just to tap into them so they system shows them being used.

If you want to use ToT and Mission Space, but not your 3rd tier 2s, your best bet is to book 9am tier 2s in either park, even if you don't intend to use them, so that they expire. Then, as soon as you tap into your 2nd tier 2, you can start refreshing for your 2nd tier 1.

 

[cinderaimee]

FYI, you can't modify to a tier 1 in the same park until you've used or expired two tier 2s. If you want to try for a 2nd tier 1 right away, you need to book easy tier 2s just to tap into them so they system shows them being used.

If you want to use ToT and Mission Space, but not your 3rd tier 2s, your best bet is to book 9am tier 2s in either park, even if you don't intend to use them, so that they expire. Then, as soon as you tap into your 2nd tier 2, you can start refreshing for your 2nd tier 1.

Just when I think I have a handle on this planning thing...

Thanks for letting me know, changing those FP's around now!

 

[cinderaimee]

Now that Thanksgiving is just a few days away, it feels like this trip is really coming up quick! 51 days! I need to hurry up and make some decisions about the stroller situation and adding the dining plan to the WL portion of our trip (hoping Santa comes through with some gift cards to take a chunk out of that )

Just wanted to share some finds from Kohl's I ordered. they have some really great Black Friday deals going on already!

I realized I've been buying all short sleeve shirts for the boys to wear, but thought they will probably need some warmer clothes too, so picked up these shirts for each of them:

Also saw this and couldn't resist getting it for myself:

(yeah, it's a men's shirt - I'll make it work!) Definitely check out Kohl's if you're looking for Disney clothes!

I hope everyone has a lovely Thanksgiving!

 

[cinderaimee]

Real Life Update

Here's an update I never imagined I'd write. A week after Thanksgiving, my mom very unexpectedly passed away. My heart is broken and I miss her so much. She was my best friend, we talked nearly every day, and she helped watch my kids after school. My boys and I are getting through the best we can, but it has been a very tough few weeks for all of us. I have done a very poor job of doing anything Christmas related, Disney is still on, we know that much (lord knows I need a break from real life), but planning has taken a bit of a backseat to deal with everything else going on.

I will be back to update on the trip soon, it's always nice to have a distraction.



<3

 

[TheOneWithTheTriplets]

Oh no! I'm so sorry for your loss.

 

[rideswithchrist]

I am so very sorry for your loss. Have a Merry Christmas with your kiddos while you grieve and heal.

 

[Suejacken]

Real Life Update August 11, 2018.

Nothing new to report on the Disney planning unless you count refreshing the Southwest page constantly looking to see if any prices dropped so I figured I’d do a quick RL update.

After three years of being completely obsessed with Hamilton I finally saw it at the Kennedy Center last night and it was AMAZING! Absolutely everything I thought it would be and more.

And who did I see this wonderful production with? Well that would be me, myself, and I.

View attachment 343153

There were a few reasons I went on my own. I had originally planned on seeing it with my husband but the day the tickets went on sale didn’t go very smoothly. The way buying tickets worked was the day they went on sale, you could log in to this virtual waiting room and at 8:00 am everyone in the waiting room was randomly assigned a spot in line.

How did I do?
View attachment 343156

Yep, in line behind 59,000 people. Not counting the people buying in person or over the phone.

Watching the numbers crawl by felt like this:

To add on to the stress of trying to get tickets, long before the sale date had been announced, I had scheduled a complicated dental procedure that I just could not put off any longer. I checked my place in the queue before I got in the chair and I thought I would be okay.

View attachment 343160

The appointment was scheduled for two hours and ended up taking over three hours. I had infected bone scraped out of my jaw, a root canal, a bone implant to keep it all in place, and stitches in my gums and roof of my mouth. I was also completely awake for all of it with what seemed like 25 shots of novocaine. By time the dentist finished I felt like I had been hit in the face with a shovel.


To add insult to injury, I left the dentist and checked my phone and saw that I had missed my turn at the front of the line.

I literally sat in the car and cried. I was in so much pain and so disappointed. I had waited years and I failed at getting tickets. I joined the queue again at the end of the line and was assigned a new number that was over 100,000, I didn't think I had any chance left at tickets but the queue was still open so I figured I had to at least try.

Finally around 11:00 PM (15 hours after the queue opened, for anyone counting) my new number came up and there were still seats available!

The catch was they were all either very very expensive box seats or single seats. I talked to MH about getting seats at the same show, but it made more sense for me to just go on my own if we had to sit apart anyway - my office is only a handful of Metro stops away from the Kennedy Center so it was easy to just go there after work. H works closer to our house in the suburbs so it would have been more of an ordeal for him to get downtown, plus with him staying home we didn’t have to worry about getting a babysitter.

A few people thought it was weird that I was going by myself but I was honestly fine with it and maybe even slightly preferred it that way. Going on my own I could totally focus on the show and not worry about whether or not H was enjoying the show.

So, back to the night of the show. I stayed at my office a little later than usual, and headed over to the theater.

View attachment 343152

It was a bit awkward being by myself waiting around, but I found the drink stand and everything was fine after that.

At the Kennedy Center, if you want to bring a drink into the actual theater, you have to buy a souvenir cup with a lid. The lady in front of me orders her drink and asks the bartender if he can fit two glasses of wine in the souvenir cup.

I was up next and ordered the same thing. Then the lady behind me said “I would also like two glasses of wine in one cup”

Wine in hand, I found my seat. The usher at the door told me no pictures of the stage and even though I saw other people taking pictures anyway, I didn’t want to risk getting kicked out or something, so you’ll have to settle for a picture of my program.

View attachment 343166

So how was the show? It was incredible. The whole production was just wonderful, especially the actors that played Burr and Eliza, they were just fantastic. I basically ugly cried through the second act. I didn't even know it was possible, but I love the show even more now that I've seen it in person. It was so emotional, it was surreal actually being there, one of the best days of my life for sure.

So there's my Hamilton experience! Hopefully I'll have more Disney updates soon

That’s awesome. I am going to see Hamilton on Broadway in April. I can’t wait

 

[sheri18]

So sorry for you loss...

 

[Cloe Colton]

I'm just joining in and I am so sorry for your loss. I just can't even imagine - prayers to you and your family

 

[Malyficent]

Just joining as well and I'm so sorry for your loss.

 

[chunkymonkey]

I am so so sorry for your loss. Losing a parent is so difficult. I hope this trip brings your family the much needed break and healing.
We had done very little Christmasy stuff too. But it is understandable. I hope you are able to find peace.