For the First Time in Forever... We'll be Visiting Disney! Updated 2/8/16 - COMPLETED

[MrsSaraG]

Hello! Welcome to my first ever PTR for our first ever family Disney trip! I'm so excited to be writing a Pre-Trip Report, because that means we are going to WDW!

Brief Disney History: I have been to Magic Kingdom one time before but never stayed onsite or even stayed for the fireworks! Not much Disney magic there! My husband has been to Magic Kingdom and Hollywood Studios but did not stay on site. So I consider this our "first" trip!

And here's the cast of this trip: My name is Sara and I will be the Captain of this PTR. I'm slightly obsessed with planning vacations and this one has been my favorite so far! My DH's name is Kenny and he is just along for the ride. Our DD is Taylor, completely obsessed with Frozen (how does that even happen? It's like crack for little kids) and Mickey & Minnie, and she will be 2 when we go on our trip!



Also joining us on our trip will be two friends, we will call them A & L. I'm not sure how they would feel about me posting info on them so for the most part I will be leaving them out.

Table of Contents:
Where are we staying?
ADRs!
Resort Change
ADR Help!
It's T-Shirt Time!
FP+ in the House!
Day 1
Day 2 - Magic Kingdom
Day 2 - MNSSHP
Day 3 - Hollywood Studios
Day 4 - Epcot
Day 5 - Resort Day
Day 6 - Animal Kingdom
Day 7 - Magic Kingdom

 

[MrsSaraG]

I did a lot of research, reading about the different resorts. My of my biggest criterion was needing a bigger room because I know we will likely be going back to the hotel in the afternoon for DD to take her nap. We are hopeful that she will nap in the stroller but there are no guarantees there as she doesn't usually nap unless it's in her crib at home (I think we'll be okay at the hotel, as long as it's dark, we have her sound machine, and we aren't in the room - which brings us to a whole different set of issues). I also knew that we would need to take a day off from the parks because we just think it will be too much to GO GO GO all day for a week with a 2 year old, so I wanted to have that "beach" feel.

Since we have friends joining us, all of our plans and decisions are made together. Luckily, my number once choice for the resort I wanted to stay in happened to be our friends' choice as well!

So without further adieu, we will be staying at..... The Caribbean Beach Resort!


Now, I mentioned that DD likely won't sleep if we are in the room with her. That's because if she sees us, she wants to play. At home, we put her in her crib, walk out of the room and she goes right to sleep. But in December, we went to CO and discovered that if we are in the hotel room with her, she doesn't want to go to sleep! My solution was to book a one bedroom suite but I know the CBR does not have suites (and my DH doesn't feel a suite is necessary). So we are requesting and hoping that we can get side by side rooms with our friends. We will take our video monitor and sit next door while she sleeps. I will let you all know how this works out for us!

I'm squealing with delight at staying here! Not that you can go wrong with any of the resorts, but this one just screams my name.

I booked our ADRs today and I got exactly what I wanted! I can't wait to share all of them with you!

 

[MrsSaraG]

I'm so excited to share with everyone our ADRs! There were a couple of days that were up in the air but I think we have decided to leave them as is. At least for now.

Keep in mind, the ONE meal I have had at MK about 11 years ago, I don't even remember where we ate (What was I thinking?!) so all of this will be our first time eating there!

The day we arrive, we do not have an ADR, at least yet. We are still up in the air as to whether or not we are going to DTD, hanging out at the resort, going to another resort, or going to MK! So that is still to be determined.

Our first morning, we will be hitting MK Rope Drop and then strolling through Main Street USA to...


That's right! We will be joining Pooh bear , Tigger , Piglet, and Eeyore for breakfast at The Crystal Palace for our first morning at Disney! My DD isn't a huge Pooh fan but I just love them and couldn't pass up the opportunity! She does know who Pooh and Tigger are and we will work on the rest before September.

The rest of the day will be QS meals as we will also be doing MNSSHP that night and I didn't want to waste that precious time at a TS meal.

On our second day we will be heading over to HS and we have a lunch ADR at

Where we also have the Fantasmic package ! I have never been to HS, or obviously seen Fantasmic but I've heard this is the way to go (since we will be eating in HS anyway).

Day 3 will be an Epcot day! I'm so excited to be visiting Epcot, especially during Food and Wine festival, but our dinner ADR is scheduled for

I love hibacchi style restaurants and our crowd are adventurous eaters so I'm really looking forward to this meal! I'm getting hungry just thinking about it! I will probably also "drink around the world" on this day, or at least as much I can without getting hammered. I'm really looking forward to trying the jalapeno margarita in Mexico!

Day 4 is our "off" day from the parks. We are starting the morning with breakfast at

I'm SOOOO Excited to be taking DD to this restaurant!! Mickey and Minnie are her heroes and I'm sure we will meet them before this morning but I think she will be thrilled to have breakfast with Mickey and the gang!

Then L, DD, and I plan on hanging out at the resort at the pool or napping for the afternoon while the guys golf at one the local courses. That evening we will split up as it's L & A's anniversary. So our family's ADR that night is in Epcot at...

Coral Reef! My husband is HUGE into fish and aquariums (we have a 55 gallon tank in our house and a 1500 gallon pond in our backyard!) and my DD likes watching the fish so I thought this restaurant would be perfect!

Day 5 is Animal Kingdom day! We have a lunch ADR for

Again, DD is very into Mickey and the gang so I thought this would be a great way to use our TS meal for the day. And since AK closes early, we will be taking FULL advantage of Food and Wine at Epcot for dinner that night!

Our last day (how very sad!) is back to MK! We have (super early) dinner reservations for........


I have heard nothing but good things and I was so lucky to score an ADR for it! However, there are 5 in our party and we couldn't find a spot for 5 so we actually have 2 reservations. One for 3, and one for 2 - within 5 mins of each other.

After our yummy dinner there, we will be heading to Epcot (as MK closes early for MNSSHP) and will probably stuff ourselves with more Food and Wine yumminess.

So there you have it! Our plans are coming together and I'm already salivating over all the food I'm going to eat!

 

[bunnyboo]

Yay, congrats on getting all the ADRs you wanted!

 

[MrsSaraG]

Yay, congrats on getting all the ADRs you wanted!

Thanks! I was up at 5:45 AM so I could be online to get book them as soon as our window opened! I'm hoping for the same luck when we get to reserve our FP+! I'm really hoping for an A&E M&G!

 

[Sarah K]

Have to follow because I'm Sarah and my DD is Kenny

 

[MrsSaraG]

Have to follow because I'm Sarah and my DD is Kenny

Glad to have you following along! And that is too funny about the names!

 

[Disneychix]

I love an early Crystal Palace ADR! One of my favorite meals!

Question about your Coral Reef ADR, are you using a whole day park ticket to just go to this ADR?

 

[MrsSaraG]

I love an early Crystal Palace ADR! One of my favorite meals!

Question about your Coral Reef ADR, are you using a whole day park ticket to just go to this ADR?

Yes we are using a whole day park ticket on the day we go to Coral Reef (it was only $10 per person to add the extra day on to our passes) and I figured we would likely walk around and enjoy the park afterwards (or maybe before). I find it extremely unlikely that we will be going in solely for dinner.

 

[MrsSaraG]

I just have a small update today. A couple weeks ago (was it only 2 weeks ago? I'm losing track of time! EEK!) Disney announced Free Dining for the time we will be there! I was out of town but saw the update on my phone. I immediately called my DH and told him to call. Well of course, Disney was overwhelmed so my DH wasn't able to talk to anyone until that afternoon. By that time, they didn't have any more availability at the CBR but they DID have some rooms open at the CSR. So with a quick call to me and our friends who were going with us, we were able to switch resorts to the Coronado Springs Resort and get FREE DINING!



I'm just as happy to stay here than I would have been at CBR. We had to upgrade to a room with a King bed, but that's just fine with me and it still saves money (couldn't talk him into upgrading to a suite as it wouldn't end up saving us any money despite free dining).

Now I'm off to read up on the CSR. If you have stayed there, what did you think??

 

[MrsSaraG]

Hi everyone!

Our trip still seems so far away (we have all of summer to get through first!) but looking at my ticker in my signature, it seems like it's getting so close! There is still so much to do: decide what we want to try to FP+, finalize a few other things we might want to do while we are there if we have time, start buying the custom shirts I've been eyeing, decide on Halloween costumes, look at the past F&W menus so I can get an idea of what I want to try, let Taylor watch more Disney movies so she can learn more of the characters... should I keep going?!

But today I want to talk about our ADRs again. We have not changed ANY of our current ADRs. But I have added one and that's what I want to talk about today!

Originally, we were not going to do any of the princess meals because Taylor isn't huge into them (Elsa and Anna aside). Despite that, I wanted to meet all the princesses, or as many as we could, which of course is more for me than her. But in realizing I would be spending quite a lot of time waiting in lines to do so around the parks, I decided we should just do a TS meal and meet a few of them. It would mean less time in line for meet and greets and more times for rides/shows/exploring.

Since I decided that, I have been stalking MDE for an ADR for Akershus!


And I have found a couple, which brings me here today. As of now I am hoarding 3 separate ADRs for Akershus trying to decide which would work better in our plans. (I know, I know, don't hate me. I absolutely plan on releasing 2 AS SOON AS we know which one we want!) So I'm in need of opinions.

My original idea was to get a dinner reservation for the Saturday night we arrive since our flight gets in around 4:30ish and we have nothing planned. But I couldn't find one that day so when I found one for the next day at 3:05 PM and one for Tuesday at 1:45 PM, I took them.

My thoughts with those were:
Sunday is a MK day but with going to RD, having a breakfast ADR at CP, and doing MNSSHP that night, I am definitely planning a midday break and thought a 3:05 ADR would be perfect because then we could go head over to MK for MNSSHP right after.
OR
Tuesday is an Epcot day so we are already there but we already have a dinner ADR at Teppan Edo (which I do not want to cancel) and I was wanting to take advantage of F&W.

Then I found an ADR for Saturday night but it's at 6:50 PM so I'm not sure that would give us enough time to get from the airport to CSR, get checked in, and then get over to Epcot for dinner. And I was also kind of liking the idea of not having anything planned that evening so we could relax and explore the resort too. Maybe some pool time.

I have been continuing to look for a later ADR on Saturday night but I also just had another though. Thursday of that week we are going to AK and are planning on Epcot that evening (no dinner ADR) and Friday we are going to MK again but it's a party night so we were thinking Epcot after (but we have BOG at 4:30 that day). So maybe I could also look for one of those nights instead?

So, after all of those ramblings... suggestions?? I understand I may be under estimating some transportation times or there may be other things I haven't thought of having never done this before! TIA!

 

[ammag]

Hi! I think Thursday might work out for Akershus?!? If. Are already planning to go to Epcot then it's pretty easy oo fit in if you can find an ADR

 

[Disneychix]

I would keep the Sunday ADR and keep looking for Thursday.

I don't think you'd make it to the Sat ADR if landing at 4:30 and having to go to CSR 1st.

 

[MrsSaraG]

Hi! I think Thursday might work out for Akershus?!? If. Are already planning to go to Epcot then it's pretty easy oo fit in if you can find an ADR

Thanks! I'm starting to lean towards Thursday so I'm glad to hear someone else agrees!

I would keep the Sunday ADR and keep looking for Thursday.

I don't think you'd make it to the Sat ADR if landing at 4:30 and having to go to CSR 1st.

I think you are right about that! Even if we did make it, it would be so rushed and I know we want to relax as much as possible!

 

[ariane37]

Joining in! Love the excitement of first trips So, I haven't stayed at CBR but we did stay at CSR and LOVED it! It's the 2nd moderate we've stayed at (also POFQ) and we preferred CSR. It's gorgeous, the main pool was fun for our DS's 12 & 8 at the time; nice clean rooms; good food at Pepper Market and Maya Grill, the TS there, was great. They've since changed the menu there but I'm sure it's still good. We also had the best bus service there, better even than at most of the deluxes we've stayed at
And so glad you got a BOG dinner ADR We've eaten there 5x, it's one of our favorite TS restaurants.
Look forward to planning along with you! Oh, and Thursday seems like a good day for Akershus (which we also enjoy).

 

[Glittercat]

My name is Sara and I will be the Captain of this PTR.

Hello Sara I'm Rebecca

Where we also have the Fantasmic package ! I have never been to HS, or obviously seen Fantasmic but I've heard this is the way to go (since we will be eating in HS anyway).

The Fantasmic packages do seem like a good idea!

Day 3 will be an Epcot day! I'm so excited to be visiting Epcot, especially during Food and Wine festival, but our dinner ADR is scheduled for

I love hibacchi style restaurants and our crowd are adventurous eaters so I'm really looking forward to this meal! I'm getting hungry just thinking about it!

We had great fun here and are going back! Hope you love it!

I'm SOOOO Excited to be taking DD to this restaurant!! Mickey and Minnie are her heroes and I'm sure we will meet them before this morning but I think she will be thrilled to have breakfast with Mickey and the gang!

Awww, that will be such a special day!

So with a quick call to me and our friends who were going with us, we were able to switch resorts to the Coronado Springs Resort and get FREE DINING!

Wooo hoo grats on free dining and a lovely resort!

decide on Halloween costumes

What will you all be?! Such fun to get to dress up at Disney I would think!

let Taylor watch more Disney movies so she can learn more of the characters.

good plan!

Since I decided that, I have been stalking MDE for an ADR for Akershus!

This looks like a fun restaurant and I'm planning to get ADR's there as well.

 

[MrsSaraG]

Joining in! Love the excitement of first trips So, I haven't stayed at CBR but we did stay at CSR and LOVED it! It's the 2nd moderate we've stayed at (also POFQ) and we preferred CSR. It's gorgeous, the main pool was fun for our DS's 12 & 8 at the time; nice clean rooms; good food at Pepper Market and Maya Grill, the TS there, was great. They've since changed the menu there but I'm sure it's still good. We also had the best bus service there, better even than at most of the deluxes we've stayed at
And so glad you got a BOG dinner ADR We've eaten there 5x, it's one of our favorite TS restaurants.
Look forward to planning along with you! Oh, and Thursday seems like a good day for Akershus (which we also enjoy).

You make CSR sound so wonderful (of course it is! It's a Disney resort!) andi know we will have a great time! Thanks for the tips about the food and restaurants. I am going to eat so much while I'm there!

Hello Sara I'm Rebecca


The Fantasmic packages do seem like a good idea!

We had great fun here and are going back! Hope you love it!

Awww, that will be such a special day!

Wooo hoo grats on free dining and a lovely resort!

What will you all be?! Such fun to get to dress up at Disney I would think!

good plan!

This looks like a fun restaurant and I'm planning to get ADR's there as well.

Hi Rebecca! Thanks for the lovely comments! For ur Halloween costumes, my DD is probably going to bre Elsa, I will likely be some version of Anna (but maybe more of a DisBound since I'm not sure I want to wear a hot costume) and I have managed to talk DH in ton wearing an Olaf t-shirt!

 

[disny_luvr]

I think all your plans look great and your trip will be here before you know it! We never stayed at CSR but I know a lot of people who have and they all seem to love it. I think it looks like a beautiful resort.

Do you live in Hershey? I do!

 

[MrsSaraG]

I think all your plans look great and your trip will be here before you know it! We never stayed at CSR but I know a lot of people who have and they all seem to love it. I think it looks like a beautiful resort.

Do you live in Hershey? I do!

Thanks! All the trips you have in your signature look amazing! Hopefully mine will look like that some day!

I live in the Philadelphia area!

 

[Sweet Pea UK]

Following along cos I'm a Sara too and also writing my PTR xx