Feb 2016: The twins are turning 1 and I'm running the Princess Half Marathon! Update 11/5

[skier_pete]

We considered a split stay but ultimately thought it would be better to do a single resort since its our first trip with two 1-yr olds and a 4-yr old in tow.

Understandable. Well, you might still be able to switch over to a 1-bedroom at VWL at 7-months, especially since the busy dates are at the end of your trip. Be interesting to see if you can...

 

[Raenstoirm]

Just logged back into the Dis after a long hiatus. Brian and I have been chatting for months about MD twins since we live just outside DC and our b/g were born on Feb 16th. We are currently thinking of a dec 2015 trip as their first trip to the world and we have a dis cruise booked for march (wanted to make sure they had all their shots before international travel). Since our babies are the same age and you seem a lot more organized, I figure i will watch your planning and steal your ideas!

 

[Reddog1134]

It’s been a while since we updated so I thought I would add something to this PTR. (Man, I don’t know how we’re supposed to keep this interesting for the next 10 months)

DINING​

Once we became DVC members, dining became a much bigger part of the Disney experience for me. During my trips as a child, we always left the park to eat because it was cheaper. During my first few adult trips, I was more concerned about rides than restaurants. But after joining the DVC, I realized I would be making many trips to the World and wanted to explore more that they had to offer.

I decided we should do 3 TS meals this trip. I have no real reason for picking that exact number except that I figured we wouldn’t want to do a lot of them with 2 infants and a toddler in tow. But which restaurants? I mean, how do you pick just 3? Do you go for something new? Or do you revisit an old favorite?

In the past we've eaten at 50's Primetime. Once when we only had Luke and once with the in-laws.

The Plaza Restaurant. It was a last minute decision and we got a table after about 20 minutes as a walk-up.

Le Cellier. Holly and I had a nice quiet lunch while our friend Tom took Luke around World Showcase.

Cape May. For breakfast.

1900 Park Fare. Another character breakfast. This one was for Luke's birthday.

And some others like Sci-Fi Dine-in, Crystal Palace and Yak and Yeti.

For this trip, I had decided early that I wanted to do Whispering Canyon Café since we are trying to get a room at WL. We have never been there but it sounds like a great place. The twins will be too young but I thought Luke might like the antics. The extended family will most likely be joining us and they have a couple young ones too.

My mother-in-law said they were going to Garden Grill. Holly had previously said she wanted to go there on one of our visits. (She’s a sucker for characters in unique outfits) So this seemed like a perfect opportunity to cross it off her list.

So, we had chosen 2 of our 3 restaurants much more easily than I would have expected. Now we just had one more to choose.

Holly mentioned she wanted to return to Sanaa and also was interested in the Ohana breakfast. I want to go to the Ohana dinner but I thought it would be best if I waited for the next trip. I had chosen Via Napoli and Be Our Guest. I presented the choices to Holly and she chose Ohana. We did the 1900 Park Fare breakfast for Luke’s 1st birthday so she thought it would be nice to go to Ohana for the twins birthday.

We haven’t really discussed if we’ll do any meals in the room since we’ll have a full kitchen. I think we’ve only made one “real” meal in-room despite staying in a 1 br on several trips. So, we’ll probably be eating quick service in the parks.

Columbia Harbour House is a tradition for us. The food is good and we love sitting upstairs and people watching. I thought we may also eat at Pinocchio Village Haus and ABC Commissary just so I can cross those off my restaurant list. ABC gets a bad rap but I heard it improved greatly since the menu update a few years ago.

I also want to check out the new restaurant in Adventureland. Details are still scarce but it sounds like it may be TS and it should be open by then.

 

[skier_pete]

It is definitely hard to keep a PTR interesting. The best thing I find to do is just have the updates as they come naturally. Sometimes they might be months apart.

It's funny joining DVC has made us LESS about the dining, but previously we would always travel on free dining, so we eat at 7-8 TS restaurants per trip. We're actually looking forward to less TS meals. I think we have 6 scheduled for our 11 day trip.

We tried Ohana for dinner the first time in 2013. While the food was fine, I didn't care for the overall experience. Some of it was our table, being three people they gave us a table against the outer windows. Because it was dark and rainy out, there was nothing at all to see, so I spent the whole dining experience looking out at pitch black darkness while the show went on behind me. In addition, DD said she wasn't feeling that well, which kind of took away from it also. I would still probably recommend it as a "try it once" experience. We are actually going to go there again in our upcoming trip, because we let DD pick a character meal, and she was excited at the idea of seeing Lilo and Stich for breakfast, plus we are staying at the Poly DVC.

We love doing the same thing as you at CHH - love the food there and sitting by the windows on the 2nd deck bridge is fun. Pinocchio Village Haus is great with little ones if you can get a seat overlooking It's a Small World. When our daughter was little she would sit there and wave at all the boats as they entered the ride. It kept her well entertained. Garden Grill is also great with little ones as they find the rotating restaurant fascinating. DD has finally outgrown it, but the last couple trips that was her first choice for dinner!

 

[Dis_Yoda]

My husband & I are running the Glass Slipper Challenge, so I'm in!

I ran the Rebel Challenge & Glass Slipper this year (although I just did the trip report for the Rebel & a dining report for Princess) My husband did the Rebel Challenge & is running Wine & Dine this year.

Running the Princess Half Marathon is a great goal to have, especially after having twins!

Hopefully you can get VWL at 7 Months! I decided to not deal with the windows this time & just book at AKV as point wise, it is actually the cheapest option anyway (we're planning on Aulani for my 30th that July)

I think having the kitchen will be a good choice for you all - especially for breakfast before all that running or well after it all.

 

[kayemgi]

Popped over because I saw the link in your DH's signature... I saw "2016" and had to check it out, as I'm also planning a 2016 trip this far in advance! We are planning to go in September 2016 just before DD turns two (she is only six months now, soooo muuuch waaaaiting). So I was delighted to read that you'd been on several trips with your young DS (I'm going to have to go through your history and read about those!) and that you have two more recently added to the fold! Congratulations, your twins are adorable and I love the names you chose for them. I'm looking forward to following along on your planning!

 

[BudgieMama]

Hooray! I'm not the only person with a 2016 PTR! Although my trip is even further away than yours! Just thought I'd say hello, as I'd stopped by!

 

[holleypie]

Just logged back into the Dis after a long hiatus. Brian and I have been chatting for months about MD twins since we live just outside DC and our b/g were born on Feb 16th. We are currently thinking of a dec 2015 trip as their first trip to the world and we have a dis cruise booked for march (wanted to make sure they had all their shots before international travel). Since our babies are the same age and you seem a lot more organized, I figure i will watch your planning and steal your ideas!

Congrats on your twins! How many weeks were you? I remember Brian mentioning that we were close.

I really want to take the kids on a Disney cruise but I'm so crazy, I have to wait until they're all old enough that I'm not worried about them falling overboard. So, probably when the twins are seven or eight, haha. You're going to have so much fun!

It's funny joining DVC has made us LESS about the dining, but previously we would always travel on free dining, so we eat at 7-8 TS restaurants per trip. We're actually looking forward to less TS meals. I think we have 6 scheduled for our 11 day trip.

I love the idea of having a kitchen and eating lots of meals in the room, but we always seem to be out and about at meal time. I suspect that now that we have so many kids, we'll be taking more breaks, though.

My husband & I are running the Glass Slipper Challenge, so I'm in!

I ran the Rebel Challenge & Glass Slipper this year (although I just did the trip report for the Rebel & a dining report for Princess) My husband did the Rebel Challenge & is running Wine & Dine this year.

I thought about doing the Glass Slipper Challenge, but then I had sticker shock. I'll definitely be reading your Rebel Challenge TR. I wish they did that one at Disney World--maybe I could convince Brian to run with me.

Popped over because I saw the link in your DH's signature... I saw "2016" and had to check it out, as I'm also planning a 2016 trip this far in advance! We are planning to go in September 2016 just before DD turns two (she is only six months now, soooo muuuch waaaaiting). So I was delighted to read that you'd been on several trips with your young DS (I'm going to have to go through your history and read about those!) and that you have two more recently added to the fold! Congratulations, your twins are adorable and I love the names you chose for them. I'm looking forward to following along on your planning!

Thanks for reading! Luke was a lot of fun just before he turned 2. He was old enough to know some of the characters and have preferences and enjoy the rides. And the pictures were soooo cute.

Hooray! I'm not the only person with a 2016 PTR! Although my trip is even further away than yours! Just thought I'd say hello, as I'd stopped by!

Thanks for reading! 2016 doesn't seem far away at all anymore. I can't wait!

 

[Raenstoirm]

Congrats on your twins! How many weeks were you? I remember Brian mentioning that we were close.

I really want to take the kids on a Disney cruise but I'm so crazy, I have to wait until they're all old enough that I'm not worried about them falling overboard. So, probably when the twins are seven or eight, haha. You're going to have so much fun!

38.1. My C/S was scheduled for friday, but my blood pressure spiked on monday at my weekly OB appointment. My doc said there was no reason to wait till friday and risk Pre-e. They are 10 weeks today.

 

[Ismo]

The babies are here!

I just start reading this, congrats to you both!!! And also, your lovely twins share mine and my brother's birthday! Can't wait to see how your first trip with 3 little ones goes.

 

[holleypie]

38.1. My C/S was scheduled for friday, but my blood pressure spiked on monday at my weekly OB appointment. My doc said there was no reason to wait till friday and risk Pre-e. They are 10 weeks today.

Oh my gosh, could they be any cuter?

I just start reading this, congrats to you both!!! And also, your lovely twins share mine and my brother's birthday! Can't wait to see how your first trip with 3 little ones goes.

Thank you! That's awesome. It's definitely going to be interesting...especially depending on how mobile they are. Luke wasn't walking yet by his 1st birthday but I'm already picturing these two running off in different directions.

 

[holleypie]

Registration for the Princess Half Marathon opened this week and then quickly sold out. Fortunately I did early registration (thanks DVC!) two weeks ago. I also ordered a commemorative pin because why not.

Our trip is now seven months away, and if you're a DVC member you know what that means...resort switching time!

Because we're totally insane, we decided to do a split stay. So we'll be staying at two new resorts on this trip.

For our first three nights, we'll be staying in a studio at the Polynesian.

And then we're moving over to a one-bedroom at the Wilderness Lodge.

Preliminary park hours also came out last week, so we've started to put together a tentative itinerary. Looking at the calendar really emphasized that we're going during a SUPER BUSY WEEK in an otherwise not very busy month. We already knew that, and we already knew that we were going to be doing two foolish things. We want to go to Magic Kingdom for my brother's birthday and the twins' birthday...which will be President's Day Monday, and the following Saturday. We knew both days will be packed and Not Recommended.

The park hours now are fairly conservative, but when you look at the final hours for the same week THIS February, Magic Kingdom was regularly open until 1am, and the rest of the parks had later hours too.

We're going to be at Disney for eight full days, so Brian and I decided to go with 7-day park hoppers, and have one "rest" day.

Here's what our week is looking like so far. When I say "my family" I mean my parents, my aunt, and my four siblings. "We" will generally refer to me, Brian, and our kids. "All of us" will mean...well, you can probably guess.

Saturday the 13th: Travel Day! All of us all driving down from Baltimore, which is about 13 hours--without stops. But oh, there will be stops. My family plans to leave at 3am and arrive at 8pm. Brian and I haven't decided on our timeline. Brian mentioned a caravan...but no, I don't think that's a good idea.

Sunday the 14th (Valentine's Day): My family will be going to Animal Kingdom. It's recommended that day, and it will be a nice low-key start to the trip, so I thought Animal Kingdom sounded good today too. My mom offered to keep Luke this night and let him sleep over in their camper, and then we would just meet up at Magic Kingdom the next morning. But...this is likely going to be the first Disney trip Luke remembers, and he's old enough now to understand where he is and be excited about it. So I want to be there when he walks into MK for the first time this trip!

I prefer to start and end the trip at MK when possible, and I thought that wouldn't happen this trip because we're already going to MK on the 2nd and 2nd to last days of our trip. But if we have park hoppers, why not? So on Sunday we could do Magic Kingdom in the morning, have lunch, hop over to Animal Kingdom in the afternoon, Luke goes off with my parents, and Brian and I explore the Polynesian with Lex and Lily.

I would also love to get a breakfast reservation at Ohana this morning. I originally wanted to do Ohana for the twins' birthday (we went to 1900 Park Fare for Luke's 1st birthday). But if we're going to be STAYING at the Polynesian, it would be silly to NOT do the breakfast while we're already there.

Monday the 15th (Matt's Birthday/President's Day): All of us are going to Magic Kingdom. There will be cake/cupcakes/some form of baked good at some point, and maybe a group dinner at a counter service, but we don't have definitive plans yet.

Tuesday the 16th: We're checking out of the Polynesian and moving over to the Wilderness Lodge. Then all of us are going to Epcot. And we're going to EAT. We hope to start the day with a breakfast reservation at Akershus. We went there for dinner in 2011--I loved it, Brian didn't. But Lily needs to meet princesses! That night, we want to have dinner at Garden Grill with everyone. Mickey in overalls? Yes!

Wednesday the 17th: A rest/resort day. My family plans to hang around the campground for the day (they rented golf carts. Apparently that's a thing.) We're all going to try to get a breakfast reservation at Whispering Canyon Cafe, and then all go to the Hoop De Doo that night for dinner. In between, who knows what Brian and I and the kids will end up doing. Maybe Downtown Disney? Maybe a nap?

Thursday the 18th: My family is going to Islands of Adventure. We are not. I would LOVE to, but it would be smarter to wait until the kids are older and bigger. They're also going to a pirate dinner show and we are not, so we'll probably spend this whole day apart. As for us, it looks like we might go to Hollywood Studios this day. Also, I have to go to the race expo at WWOS today or Friday to pick up my race packet.

Friday the 19th: My family is going to DHS. We might split the day between Epcot and Animal Kingdom.

Saturday the 20th (Lex and Lily's birthday!): Everyone's going to Magic Kingdom, then we'll all probably just go back to our room at the Wilderness Lodge for cake. For Luke's 1st birthday we ordered a cake from Publix, and we got a free smash cake. I'm hoping to do the same thing, and get an extra smash cake so the babies can each have their own. Maybe pizza from Flippers if the family wants to do dinner with us? Not sure yet.

Sunday the 21st (Princess Half Marathon!): My family is leaving early today, so we won't see them. I have to get up absurdly early for the race. It starts at 5:30, so I'm assuming I'll be finished and back to the resort well before noon. If we didn't get pizza the night before, I want pizza for lunch today. Also I would like to go to MK tonight.

Monday the 22nd: Trip's over, go home!

Now, here are some bonus pictures of my silly kids. The twins will be five months old next Monday!

 

[skier_pete]

Nice to see you got two really cool locations. I was just perusing the 7-month availability myself, not because we are going this year in February to WDW, but because we might sometime in the future.

The Poly seems surprisingly available at 7 months much of the time. I guess because it's not fully sold.

Remember though with your WL stay - they are starting construction on the VWL expansion. For one, the DVC pool will be closed, and their will be a lot of construction around the site!

 

[Reddog1134]

Remember though with your WL stay - they are starting construction on the VWL expansion. For one, the DVC pool will be closed, and their will be a lot of construction around the site!

Yeah. We're mostly doing it because the proximately to MK and Ft Wilderness (where the in-laws are staying).

Also, we're doing the split stay even though I said we wouldn't. I figure this may be our only chance to stay at the Poly.

 

[Raenstoirm]

We just got home today from a week and a half in Ocean City. My advice would be for grandma to keep all three for a parent break not just the oldest! Taking the twins to WDW at 13 weeks was relatively easy. Taking 5 month olds on vacation is a different ballgame. I am exhausted and we had an extra set of hands (grandma) this trip! We are heading back to WDW in December. 10 month olds should be just peachy

 

[Reddog1134]

We made our dining reservation last week. If you read the earlier posts in our PTR (just scroll up, this PTR isn’t very long) you may remember we were going to do 3 reservations. However, due to two factors we’ve decided to do a few more.

Those factors being:

1. The in-laws have decided to treat us to a few meals
2. The reservations were super easy to get

My mother-in-law made most of the reservations because we’re attending several meals together. The website was giving her some problems so she called promptly at 7am. After a bit of a wait, she finally got through to a live person and was able to make ALL her reservations without any compromise.

I too was having trouble with the website. However, I had to go to work that morning so I couldn’t wait around to speak to a CM. Fortunately, the website was working by the time I took my break so I was able to make my reservations.


So here is what we got:



BREAKFAST

O’hana (us) we originally planned to do this on the babies birthday but it made more sense to do it while we were at the Poly. We’ll probably still celebrate their birthday while we’re there.

Be Our Guest (in-laws)

Akershus (all of us) Lily has to meet the princesses.

Whispering Canyon Café (all of us)

Cinderellas Royal Table (in-laws)



LUNCH

Sci-fi Dine in (all of us)

Be Our Guest (us)



DINNER

Trail’s End (in-laws)

Garden Grill (all of us)

Hoop-de-doo Musical Review (all of us)



SNACK

50’s Prime Time Café (in-laws) they are going for milkshakes only.

So we went from 3 TS meals to 7 TS meals (11 total for the entire group).

If the rumors are false and Tables in Wonderland is still being offered next year, we’ll be purchasing it and hopefully saving a lot of money on our meals.

 

[skier_pete]

I don't believe the TiW rumors. Completely unsubstantiated.

It is pretty funny you went from only 3 meals to 11 total. That's only a 350 % increase!

 

[holleypie]

We just got home today from a week and a half in Ocean City. My advice would be for grandma to keep all three for a parent break not just the oldest! Taking the twins to WDW at 13 weeks was relatively easy. Taking 5 month olds on vacation is a different ballgame. I am exhausted and we had an extra set of hands (grandma) this trip! We are heading back to WDW in December. 10 month olds should be just peachy

She hasn't offered so I'm assuming she doesn't want them, hahaha. We took Luke at 10 months old and it was definitely NOT my favorite trip.

We just took a day trip to Dutch Wonderland and it was exhausting even though I felt like I barely did anything except move from bench to bench and bathroom to bathroom as I fed and changed babies. I can't imagine a week and a half down the ocean! I wanted to take the kids to the beach this summer just for the day but I couldn't figure out how we would even logistically get ON the beach, so I gave up on that idea.

I don't believe the TiW rumors. Completely unsubstantiated.

It is pretty funny you went from only 3 meals to 11 total. That's only a 350 % increase!

I'm still not sure how this happened but I shouldn't be surprised.

 

[Reddog1134]

I don't believe the TiW rumors. Completely unsubstantiated.

I'm pretty sure they're false, too. But I think it's best to consider it a possibility so we're not caught by surprise.

 

[Raenstoirm]

I wanted to take the kids to the beach this summer just for the day but I couldn't figure out how we would even logistically get ON the beach, so I gave up on that idea.

Product called Twingo. LOVE this thing. I could not survive without it. Its how we get out to the car now that the babies are in convertible carseats. I wore both babies down to the beach while daddy and granny dealt with all the stuff. We also had a tommy bahama beach cart. Honestly, I could have pulled the cart too, the carrier is that comfortable.