First PTR Got the Go Ahead From Grumpy!!! YAY!!! 9/23-9/27

[SandiKB]

OK, never done this before, so bare with me I've been reading a few reports and hope that I do this correctly

The Cast

There's me, Sandi, 40, been to Disney a few times, used to live in S Florida, but never really took advantage of it Certified Disney freak, I think I love Disney now more that I have kids, makes the magic so much more magical

Now we have DH, John (aka Grumpy), 44, we've been together I think 4 times, also used to live in S Florida, definitely not a Disney freak, takes a lot of promises to convince him to go on another trip, however, when he's there he seems to be really enjoying himself, personally I think he just doesnt want to admit it

John & I have been married for 15yrs this May, we moved from S FL in 2001 and have firmly planted ourselves in NC. I am currently a SAHM, and DH is a Project Mgr for a Commercial Construction Company. We've had five wonderful children together, but in 2002 we lost our daughter Kayleigh to Leukemia, her MAW was to go to WDW, sadly we were unable to grant her wish, we know she's with us every time we go back.

DS Josh, 13, loves everything Disney, went first for his 5th birthday, and has been hooked ever since.

DD Taylor, 8, same as Josh, loves Disney, she had her first trip when she was 6, and has been bugging us to go back

DS Jonathan, 4, went when he was 2 for the first time, loved it ALL wants to move there, sounds like a plan to me!

DD Jordan, almost 8 months, doesnt know it yet, but she's a princess in training

And for the reveal, here we are

Me

DH (I dont know, but to me it looks like he's having a pretty good time! )
FTR this was during Year of a Million Dreams and the CM in the store told my kids to sit there, she moved the animals, then gave us a certificate, so, no, I didnt plop my kids on top of a bunch of Mickey's on my own

Josh

Taylor

Jonathan

Jordan

I'm a compulsive planner, and luckily they leave me alone and go w/the flow, for the most part, lol. We're going to be stayin at POR, Grumpy doesnt want to stay at POP again , so instead we're stuffing ourselves into POR, at least I can escape outside!!! We will have 3 park days, and plan on doing Epcot, AK & MK, also MNSSHP. The kids have never been to Epcot or AK.

So far my dining plans are

MK-CP early breakfast
AK-Tusker House breakfast
Epcot-Ashkerhaus dinner

Josh wants to do Ohana for BF the day we leave, I'm leaning for CM, I havent heard anything about Ohana so input would be great!!!

Well, thats it for now, I'm feeding the baby and it's really slow typing like this, LOL

Doing the

 

[SandiKB]

Hmm.. now I'm having second thoughts about AK, none of us have been there, I know all the kids will enjoy it, but I also know they will all enjoy DHS, DS 4 will be able to see Lightnin and Mater, older DD will satisfy her HSM obsession, and older DS will be able to ride TOT... decisions, decisions...

As it is, we have to go to Epcot for dinner w/the princesses, so what to do.. do I change my tickets to hoppers, scrap AK or keep it the way it is? Original plan was to do AK, leave earlyish and then go to MNSSHP in the evening, and we're not missing that, LOL, so do we go to DHS and then MNSSHP or stick w/AK????

OR

Do I convince DH to leave on Tuesday afternoon after school (3pm) and head to Orlando (9hr drive) so we have an extra day? Kids will still only be missing one day of school???

 

[splashmtnfan]

Hmm.. now I'm having second thoughts about AK, none of us have been there, I know all the kids will enjoy it, but I also know they will all enjoy DHS, DS 4 will be able to see Lightnin and Mater, older DD will satisfy her HSM obsession, and older DS will be able to ride TOT... decisions, decisions...

As it is, we have to go to Epcot for dinner w/the princesses, so what to do.. do I change my tickets to hoppers, scrap AK or keep it the way it is? Original plan was to do AK, leave earlyish and then go to MNSSHP in the evening, and we're not missing that, LOL, so do we go to DHS and then MNSSHP or stick w/AK????

OR

Do I convince DH to leave on Tuesday afternoon after school (3pm) and head to Orlando (9hr drive) so we have an extra day? Kids will still only be missing one day of school???

Weeeeellll, It looks like you don't get to go that often, so I vote for taking the extra day! It has been over a year since you've been, and AK is really my DD9's favorite after MK. But she LOVES the zoo! There are lots of photo opportunities w/characters... We did Mickey, Minnie, Goofy, & Chip & Dale all in a matter of thirty minutes, and that counted waiting in line for each! I will always choose it on one of our first days for THAT reason, when we are the other parks, we don't have to look for those characters, because we already have them! The Lion King, and Nemo are both AWESOME shows too! If you are doing Free Dining, lets face it, you are only paying an extra hotel day, the tickets, after about 3-4 days are only a couple $ more for an extra day, and your food is FREE, so HAAAAAY! Just the price of the hotel! No deciding between the two parks, no worries the price of extra tickets or meals, basically, they are almost FREE! I would go ahead and add it soon, that way you get Free Dining also and do it quickly, before the rooms all fill-up! You can always drop it later, as long as you do it before the 45 day mark, no harm/no foul... Wish you were staying a little longer, our DD could meet!

 

[SandiKB]

Weeeeellll, It looks like you don't get to go that often, so I vote for taking the extra day! It has been over a year since you've been, and AK is really my DD9's favorite after MK. But she LOVES the zoo! There are lots of photo opportunities w/characters... We did Mickey, Minnie, Goofy, & Chip & Dale all in a matter of thirty minutes, and that counted waiting in line for each! I will always choose it on one of our first days for THAT reason, when we are the other parks, we don't have to look for those characters, because we already have them! The Lion King, and Nemo are both AWESOME shows too! If you are doing Free Dining, lets face it, you are only paying an extra hotel day, the tickets, after about 3-4 days are only a couple $ more for an extra day, and your food is FREE, so HAAAAAY! Just the price of the hotel! No deciding between the two parks, no worries the price of extra tickets or meals, basically, they are almost FREE! I would go ahead and add it soon, that way you get Free Dining also and do it quickly, before the rooms all fill-up! You can always drop it later, as long as you do it before the 45 day mark, no harm/no foul... Wish you were staying a little longer, our DD could meet!

Yeah, I just priced it, and I don't even think it's $200 total for an extra night and day. I think I'll go ahead and modify our reservation, then work on convincing him, LOL, as you said I can always drop it later That would have been cool if our dates overlapped, I have to stick to that weekend as the kids are out of school Th & Fr. Thanks!

 

[SandiKB]

Yay, problem solved Just needed one person to convince me LOL I went ahead and changed our ressie to arriving one night earlier

 

[splashmtnfan]

Yay, problem solved Just needed one person to convince me LOL I went ahead and changed our ressie to arriving one night earlier

AWESOME!!! I am glad I could "persuade" you. Wish we could stay longer our second trip, but kids will miss 2days of school, and if they miss 3 they have to have a doctor's note! We are traveling those dates for the same reason (school) and Madison has NO idea about the B-Day trip! Sooo she thinks we are only going in Sept. for MNSSHP, because we had to cancel ours last year because of hurricane IKE, then we went in Dec. instead, she really enjoyed MVMCP and is sooo excited about the MNSSHP for this trip!

Can you PM me as to how to do the trip report ie. where do I go to start it, what to click to get it posted etc. Thanks! I can't wait to start mine, I am off work sick right now and have ALWAYS wanted to do one, but never had the time.

 

[SandiKB]

Well, I still havent convinced hubby on the extra day, so I've made a tentative plan for arriving on the 23rd

Wednesday 9/23

Leave NC between 5-6am, arrive at WDW between 2-3pm +/-
Check in, check out resort, take boat to DTD

Thursday 9/24
Take DD to BBB in DTD as early as possible
Boys will stay at POR and hang out
After BBB head over to Epcot
Dinner at Ashkerhaus (sp)
Hopefully stay to see Illuminations

Friday 9/25
AK Day
Breakast at Tusker House
Order Picnic basket for late pick up
Grab basket and head back to resort for late lunch/early dinner
Leave for MNSSHP

Saturday 9/26
MK Day
Breakfast at CP
Leave park around 1pm or so, head back to resort, rest/swim
Go back to MK around 5 for the rest of the evening, according to last years dates this was an EMH evening, so I'm hoping for the same

Sunday 9/27
Departure day
BF at Ohana
Head back to NC

Now, I have to figure out rides, etc., but this is what I've got so far

 

[awaldo]

I'm going to vote for the extra day too. AK shouldn't be missed, if only to see Disney's take on the traditional "zoo"!

 

[SandiKB]

Our little group is expanding My BF and her family, who live in FL are going to meet us in Orlando and stay Fri - Sunday and my BIL and his family is doing the same thing! Yay!!! Luckily they're the type that will either go along w/what I'm planning or do their own thing and meet up after meals, etc.

 

[SandiKB]

Well, still have not convinced DH on the extra day, sooo... after much discussion with the kids, we have decided to go to DHS instead of AK, the real reason being it's going to be HOT! Now I know it's hot in FL, but from what I've been reading AK is the hottest park, so we've decided we'll save that for a Feb trip, if I dont get my extra day!

On another note, I'm now down 2lbs! Still have a long way to go, but it's a start! Anybody wants to jump on the Disney Diet bandwagon with me, hop on

 

[scanne]

Hi Sandi!!!

I just read your PTR...looks good!

I think you'll be happy with the DHS choice. It's my DS's new favorite because of Toy Story Mania. When you get to the park, literally RUN to Toy Story Mania and grab fastpasses. When we were there in August, they were all GONE by 11am!!! So grab them while you can, and if the line is reasonable - get in it! We did this - got our FP's then hopped in a 45 minute line which went by much faster than that (20 minutes I think...).

I'll see you at MNSSHP on the 25th!!! Have you thought of costumes yet??

~Anne

 

[SandiKB]

Hi Anne!!

Thanks for jumping on board Nope, no ideas on costumes as yet, DD is going as Tink, I was hoping I could do a theme, but there's no way DH or DS is going to dress as Peter Pan

I've already informed DS his job is to race to get FP for TSM!

I'm so excited about our mini DIS meet