First Time as a Party of Three!

[Flippinurfins]

Hello! Welcome to my pre-trip report. I'm new here (though not new to Disney... or message boards for that matter) and I have never ever written a pre-trip report. I honestly didn't know it was a thing until I got here. I saw all theses pre-trip reports here and I thought "How silly! Who wants to read about other people's planning process???" And then, because I am a planner, I totally got sucked into reading one... and then another and another and I thought to myself "How genius!! You get to know people a bit before reading their trip report! I'm doing one too!" So here I am. Hello!!

You might consider this even a pre-pre-trip report because I haven't booked anything at all yet. I am (not-so patiently) waiting (and hoping) for Free Dining to be announced for Autumn. Fingers crossed!! Maybe I should start at the beginning and introduce myself and my little family to you.


Hi, I'm Beth, lover of all things Disney. I used to live in Southern California (now we live in the Pacific Northwest) and have been to Disneyland more times than I can count. I even worked there for a short stint during the 50th anniversary! My husband and I have been to Disney World 4 times together but we have a newbie with us this time, who has never been! Hmmmm... what else about me. I like to change my hair color a LOT, I love to eat, and I loooove to plan trips. I'm a full time mom and part time model for a nerdy/geeky apparel website.

This is my husband, Steevin. He is an amazingly talented video editor (for real! He won an Emmy!), artist and graphic designer. He does digital graphic design full time and designs tee shirts when he has the time. Some of his designs have even been bought by Spencer's, Hot Topic, etc. (Sorry to gush. I'm proud of this dude!) He got burned out on Disneyland but loves Disney World... and now that we no longer live right next to a Disney park he is missing it aaaaalmost as much as I am.

And THIS sweet little angel face is Lolo (her nickname). She is the newbie to WDW though she HAS been to Disneyland once when she was 3 months old and she has met a few characters when we stopped at Aulani for breakfast on our vacation a few months ago. Right now she is 17 months old but she will be almost 2 when we go to Disney World. She is a silly, energetic kid who loves giving hugs and kisses. I think Stitch is her favorite Disney character but she has a few close in second place.

So this is our little family and we are so excited to start the Disney World Trip Adventure!

I hope to "meet" a lot of you with this pre-trip report! I'm super new here so I can't wait to get to know some of you. Please feel free to say hello and chat (AND GIVE ADVICE if you've ever been to WDW with a toddler!) as we plan our next adventure!

 

[Flippinurfins]

Well we are still waiting for Free Dining to be announced but we got a bit of Disney magic sent our way. A friend who is a Cast Member in Anaheim offered to sign us in to Disneyland on a weekend day if we were ever in town. So... we found a great deal on flights and booked a long weekend trip on June!

Since we have family in the area as well we can spend most nights with them. I'm so excited because 1) DISNEYLAND 2) getting to see my friends and family we moved away from a year ago and 3) getting a Disney fix that won't break the bank and still allow us our big vacation! And what a great test run to see how Lolo does with crowds, characters and if she can nap on the run or if a mid-day hotel rest will be needed.

 

[Flippinurfins]

Guys, it's 32am my time and I am just too excited to sleep. Maybe it's because... I JUST BOOKED OUR WDW TRIP!!

As you may (or may not) know, free dining was just released. I was assuming I would just have to wait until the morning to book. I was afraid of getting up and waking Lolo so I resigned myself to wait until she woke up, get a good nights sleep and just hope for the best in the morning.

Well, poor thing, has been teething and she woke me up with a good jab to the side with her dagger-like toes around 12:30am so I figured "I have my phone right here next to me...What the heck! Let's see if free dinning is available yet!"

Nope.

But now I had it on the brain and I couldn't go back to sleep. I tried. I really did. I counted sheep. I relaxed my body. But Mickey kept popping into my mind and telling me to check again. I kept checking but still nothing. Finally I dozed a bit until another toddler wimper woke me out of my very light slumber.

"I mean I'm awake again... I might as well refresh the page, right?" I said to myself.

And there it was with a light shining down and a full chorus of angels (ok maybe not but it sure felt like it. FREE DINING!

The original dates I wanted showed All Star Sports as the cheapest by a long shot. While we would LOVE to stay at a Delux this time... we are currently a single income family so cheaper is the name of the game. But All Star Sports is the absolute bottom of my list. No one in my family is into sports.

So I shifted my dates by a week. POP Century was there calling my name! I did a quick search for flights and found them to be cheaper for those dates anyway. Ok! The stars have aligned and the free dining gods have smiled on my little family of 3. So I officially have our deposit paid and trip booked!

We will be staying in a standard Pop room from Sept 23rd-30th!!! Eeeee! I am so excited! And I did it all from bed. Hurray modern technology! I can't wait to plan more details but I guess I better get some sleep before I do that.

 

[allysetraskos]

Yay for free dining! We got ours yesterday too!
Were also taking our son who will be 2 this year. - We stayed at pop last year and had a great time, I'm all about saving money on the hotel so we can spend more time in the parks!

 

[Flippinurfins]

Yay for free dining! We got ours yesterday too!
Were also taking our son who will be 2 this year. - We stayed at pop last year and had a great time, I'm all about saving money on the hotel so we can spend more time in the parks!

Yay! Have you been with your son before or is this his first time? I think Lolo will love the Pop. Plus I think we will explore AoA too. She will love seeing all the larger than life characters!

 

[Sarahboo]

Yay! How are we not friends in real life yet? Between everything my husband and I do in geek subculture, plus my husband has a film degree from Cal State Long Beach, plus he's from Orange County and just moved up here 3 years ago because of me - I feel like we should have run into each other by now!

Yay for a long weekend in June! I'm secretly working on one for my husband's birthday in July with just the two of us, but I don't know if we'll be able to work it our or not since we're going to WDW for 2 weeks in September. I hope so, since we could stay with his friends or family, but we'll see.

Your family is adorable. I'm sure Lolo will be fine! I took both of my kids at that age and it's THE BEST. Everything is SO MAGICAL to them, it's just a blast to live vicariously through them for a week. You see the whole park differently!

 

[Flippinurfins]

Yay! How are we not friends in real life yet? Between everything my husband and I do in geek subculture, plus my husband has a film degree from Cal State Long Beach, plus he's from Orange County and just moved up here 3 years ago because of me - I feel like we should have run into each other by now!

Yay for a long weekend in June! I'm secretly working on one for my husband's birthday in July with just the two of us, but I don't know if we'll be able to work it our or not since we're going to WDW for 2 weeks in September. I hope so, since we could stay with his friends or family, but we'll see.

Your family is adorable. I'm sure Lolo will be fine! I took both of my kids at that age and it's THE BEST. Everything is SO MAGICAL to them, it's just a blast to live vicariously through them for a week. You see the whole park differently!

We DO have a lot in common! We have probably crossed paths and not even known it. LOL!

Oh I hope you guys get to do Disneyland! How fun to have a quick bonus trip before the big vacation. Disneyland feels like home to me.

 

[Flippinurfins]

The kiddo and I are in Phoenix for the week visiting my dad/her grandpa who is recovering from surgery. Lolo is napping before we go to the pool and I'm scouring menus and reviews to decide on a few fun table service options for a toddler. I snagged a spot at Tusker House for breakfast. We have never eaten there and the menu plus the Classic characters sounded like fun. We have some favorite spots but we love trying new places and I'd like to include some spots Lolo will enjoy. Thankfully, so far, she is a great eater and will try most anything. Anyone have any favorite table service OR quick service spots we should check out?

 

[AliceNDinah]

Hi Beth, so excited for you! We are planning an August WDW trip, with my 5 year old, who has never been.....111 days to go, ha ha. Best of luck with your planning---isn't it fun?? I love looking at menus and reviews, etc. So many great-looking restaurants! We are doing Chef Mickey's and Crystal Palace for character meals, stopping at 50's Prime Time Cafe and Sci Fi Dine In Theater too, so excited!!!! Keep us posted on your plans