sunnysideup3
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Nov 14, 2010
- Messages
- 766
Hello! Thank you for stopping by and reading my first-ever PTR! 
I hope that in the next 11 months, I can work out all the things going around in my head and gather some great DIS advice from everyone out there. One of my favorite parts of the DIS is reading everyones PTR and TRs and seeing all the great pictures! Were hoping to have a great time in the World. It will be my first time staying on the grounds and Im SO excited about doing that.
The Cast:
Hi, I'm Jillian! (Hi, Jillian!
) Im the master planner of the group. Im 29, will be 30 in August, and mother to a fun, high-spirited 3 year old and wife of my DH, Nate.
Here I am in all my Photo Booth glory:
Event Planner by trade, so planning, planning and over-planning is in my DNA. Born and raised Wisconsinite, currently living in Milwaukee. I love scrapbooking, photography and reading. Ive fallen in love with WDW since our last visit there. Ive been to Disney twice, once with my parents and brother in 2001, and again with my DH and his family (parents and two brothers) in December of 2009.
Favorite Park: Magic Kingdom
Favorite Ride: Tower of Terror and Haunted Mansion
Favorite Character: The Muppets
This is DH:
Currently unemployed, looking hard for a job. Part-time stay at home dad. Hes been to Disney a couple times as a kid (when asked I get vague, non-descript answers, so Ill just summarize 
) and with the family in 2009. He thinks Im crazy for liking Disney so much, but is looking forward to going again, even though he hates to admit it. It was actually his idea to get matching shirts made.
Favorite Park: DHS
Favorite Ride: Tower of Terror
Favorite Character: Carl Fredrickson from Up
The star of the show, Eli, my 3 year old:
Loves to have fun, laugh and cause some mischief. Loves anything Disney Pixar, (especially anything Toy Story), classic Disney movies and calls the Disney Princesses his ladies. Yeah, were going to have fun with this one in 10 years Hes looking forward to going to the Disney Wowld and since he has no concept of time, he thinks that were getting on a plane soon to go.
Favorite Park: Magic Kingdom
Favorite Ride: Tea Cups, Haunted Mansion, Pirates of the Caribbean
Favorite Character: Woody, Sully, Mickey and Belle
Joining us for this trip:
My Mom and Dad. Theyve been to Disney twice before, once with my brother and I in 2001 and once by themselves in 2006. Theyve previously stayed at POR, and it was on their recommendation that we booked there again. Theyve been married for 32 years and are very laid back and super attentive grandparents. Im looking forward to some alone time in the World with DH while they hang out with DS.
Mom:
Favorite Park: Epcot
Favorite Ride: Pirates of the Caribbean
Favorite Character: Cinderella
Dad:
Favorite Park: Epcot
Favorite Ride: Space Mountain
Favorite Character: Sully
How this Trip Came to Be
Our 2009 trip started as DHs family wanting to take us all to Mexico for a relaxing beach vacation. Anyone with a 2 year old knows that the words relaxing beach and toddler are never together for a reason.
After some discussion, we suggested Disney and everyone was on board. 
DHs parents have a great timeshare-like group and we were able to get a 3 bedroom condo in Windsor Palms, right outside of Disney. We were there from December 5th-12th. The thing about DHs family is, theyre not planners and they dont like schedules. Theyre also picky about where they eat and a little slow moving in the morning. Lets just say with DS in tow, DH and I got more than frustrated on numerous occasions not being able to get up and go as everyone was dragging in the morning. After we made the commitment to do things on our own we had a much better time. It just ended up a lot of times that they wouldnt want to leave the condo until 11:30 and then find somewhere to have a sit-down lunch (We had no ADRs
.NONE. Didnt even know something like that existed. This is LONG before I discovered the DIS.) We wouldnt be going around the parks until 1:30-2:00pm most days and then everyone would be ready to leave around dinner. Everyone knows how crazy parks are at that time of day, when youre just starting out
. SO FRUSTRATING!!! 
I promised I'd never go to WDW with out some semblance of a plan again. To illustrate just how lost we were, here's a picture of my FIL meeting Alice. We came around the backside of the UK in Epcot and didn't realize there was a line to meet her. 
He kind of photobombed her....see, she's pointing out the line...oops!
We did manage to eat at The Plaza, Grand Floridian Café, and Restaurant Marrakech. DH, DS and I also took a night alone (at my suggestion) and did MVMCP.
Some pics of our 2009 trip:
Soooooo .
During the trip, DH says to me, you know, this would be so much better with your parents. (Shocking, I know!) Theyre more on our schedule, natural early risers, easy going and wanting to go with the flow. I told him that long before we suggested it to his parents, theyd talked about wanting to take us to Disney as a family, and theyd love to do it sometime. Flash forward to November 2010, DSs 3rd birthday. My mom and I get to talking about how wed never planned on Disney yet and how I was itching to go again. She suggested I look into what prices were like and price some things out and when they returned from their trip to NOLA to visit my brother, theyd see what was doable for their budget, as they offered to pick up a majority of the tab. This is what brought me to the DIS (and MouseSavers and AllEars). After a lot of legwork, we finally booked in the beginning of December for December 3-10th, 2011. The dates are a little flexible. Id like to have another day in there, and if theres any special offers that are contingent on days around there, wed be willing to adjust to take advantage of that. We will be in 2 rooms at POR, DDP and 7 day tickets with PH. Weve always had PH at Disney and we use them. DS is an excellent traveler and very flexible so we park hopped a lot. We added the DDP because we didnt want to think about $$ (except for tips, etc) and I like that it will afford us the opportunity to go to places I dont think wed go to if we were paying OOP. We plan on ordering some groceries in from Garden Grocer for our room, so we can do breakfast there.
Our Plan (for now)
#1 Fly in Early on the 3rd (Hopefully on SouthwestFree Bags!!) ME to POR. Chilling at DTD.
#2 Havent figured out what parks/days yet.
#3 Places we want to eat: Le Cellier, Coral Reef, Brown Derby, Sci-Fi, Biergarten, The Crystal Palace, Chef Mickeys. My mom really wants to go to CRT, but thats still up in the air. None of these are set in stone.
#4 We will be doing the MVMCP on Thursday the 8th. Wed gone on that same Thursday in 2009 and had a blast. It wasnt overly crazy and we got to do a lot of things that we didnt get to do during the day. I also loved the castle all lit up and the snow on Main Street. Youd think being from Wisconsin that snow wouldnt thrill me like it does, but how often can you say that you saw snow at Disney while looking at the castle!
#5 We want to get matching tie-dye shirts (again, DHs idea) and Ill be looking into that in the next couple months.
#6 Ive purchased the Unofficial Guide and with that, the subscription to the Touring Plans website and Lines iPhone app. I like to look at that during the day when Im bored and dreaming of Disney, thinking, Wow, I could be in line at Pirates right now.
#7 Weve talked about doing 1 date night for my mom and dad (well have DS) and one for us (theyll take him). So Ill look into making ADRs for my parents and then for us.
#8 IF there is some excellent PIN or code/deal that we can get into a deluxe or deluxe villa, we might take advantage of that. Ill be calling to see whats available villa wise (the CM gave me great advice on when to call to check) and well see from there. Its kind of a hope/wish for all of us to stay at WL or VWL. Again, we have a cabin in the northwoods of Wisconsin and our #1 of resort is a lodge themed. Were weird, what can I say.
In the meantime .
I printed out large-print calendars online today and with my Mickey punch from scrapbooking, Im going to punch out a bunch of paper so that he can understand the concept of when were going and have a countdown to the big dates. We'll put a Mickey head on the calendar every night before bed.
Im going to continue to research, read and salivate over peoples dining reports and the AllEars Restaurants page. I would like to have 1 ADR/day for our TS meals.
I have what I call THE BINDER. It contains all our information, invoices, and maps. I ordered and received the Disney Planning DVD and just saw on the Disney website that you can order free customized maps, so I did that as a surprise for DS. Thought it would be a fun activity to look over with him one cold Wisconsin night.
So, any suggestions are MORE than welcome here...people traveling with grandparents and a pre-schooler before? Things to do that you think are "magical"? Things to avoid so we don't kill each other on Day #2?
I hope that in the next 11 months, I can work out all the things going around in my head and gather some great DIS advice from everyone out there. One of my favorite parts of the DIS is reading everyones PTR and TRs and seeing all the great pictures! Were hoping to have a great time in the World. It will be my first time staying on the grounds and Im SO excited about doing that. The Cast:
Hi, I'm Jillian! (Hi, Jillian!
) Im the master planner of the group. Im 29, will be 30 in August, and mother to a fun, high-spirited 3 year old and wife of my DH, Nate. Here I am in all my Photo Booth glory:
Event Planner by trade, so planning, planning and over-planning is in my DNA. Born and raised Wisconsinite, currently living in Milwaukee. I love scrapbooking, photography and reading. Ive fallen in love with WDW since our last visit there. Ive been to Disney twice, once with my parents and brother in 2001, and again with my DH and his family (parents and two brothers) in December of 2009.
Favorite Park: Magic Kingdom
Favorite Ride: Tower of Terror and Haunted Mansion
Favorite Character: The Muppets
This is DH:
) and with the family in 2009. He thinks Im crazy for liking Disney so much, but is looking forward to going again, even though he hates to admit it. It was actually his idea to get matching shirts made.Favorite Park: DHS
Favorite Ride: Tower of Terror
Favorite Character: Carl Fredrickson from Up
The star of the show, Eli, my 3 year old:
Loves to have fun, laugh and cause some mischief. Loves anything Disney Pixar, (especially anything Toy Story), classic Disney movies and calls the Disney Princesses his ladies. Yeah, were going to have fun with this one in 10 years
Hes looking forward to going to the Disney Wowld and since he has no concept of time, he thinks that were getting on a plane soon to go. Favorite Park: Magic Kingdom
Favorite Ride: Tea Cups, Haunted Mansion, Pirates of the Caribbean
Favorite Character: Woody, Sully, Mickey and Belle
Joining us for this trip:
My Mom and Dad. Theyve been to Disney twice before, once with my brother and I in 2001 and once by themselves in 2006. Theyve previously stayed at POR, and it was on their recommendation that we booked there again. Theyve been married for 32 years and are very laid back and super attentive grandparents. Im looking forward to some alone time in the World with DH while they hang out with DS.
Mom:
Favorite Park: Epcot
Favorite Ride: Pirates of the Caribbean
Favorite Character: Cinderella
Dad:
Favorite Park: Epcot
Favorite Ride: Space Mountain
Favorite Character: Sully
How this Trip Came to Be
Our 2009 trip started as DHs family wanting to take us all to Mexico for a relaxing beach vacation. Anyone with a 2 year old knows that the words relaxing beach and toddler are never together for a reason.
After some discussion, we suggested Disney and everyone was on board. DHs parents have a great timeshare-like group and we were able to get a 3 bedroom condo in Windsor Palms, right outside of Disney. We were there from December 5th-12th. The thing about DHs family is, theyre not planners and they dont like schedules. Theyre also picky about where they eat and a little slow moving in the morning. Lets just say with DS in tow, DH and I got more than frustrated on numerous occasions not being able to get up and go as everyone was dragging in the morning. After we made the commitment to do things on our own we had a much better time. It just ended up a lot of times that they wouldnt want to leave the condo until 11:30 and then find somewhere to have a sit-down lunch (We had no ADRs
.NONE. Didnt even know something like that existed. This is LONG before I discovered the DIS.) We wouldnt be going around the parks until 1:30-2:00pm most days and then everyone would be ready to leave around dinner. Everyone knows how crazy parks are at that time of day, when youre just starting out
. SO FRUSTRATING!!! I promised I'd never go to WDW with out some semblance of a plan again. To illustrate just how lost we were, here's a picture of my FIL meeting Alice. We came around the backside of the UK in Epcot and didn't realize there was a line to meet her. He kind of photobombed her....see, she's pointing out the line...oops!
Some pics of our 2009 trip:
Soooooo .
During the trip, DH says to me, you know, this would be so much better with your parents. (Shocking, I know!) Theyre more on our schedule, natural early risers, easy going and wanting to go with the flow. I told him that long before we suggested it to his parents, theyd talked about wanting to take us to Disney as a family, and theyd love to do it sometime. Flash forward to November 2010, DSs 3rd birthday. My mom and I get to talking about how wed never planned on Disney yet and how I was itching to go again. She suggested I look into what prices were like and price some things out and when they returned from their trip to NOLA to visit my brother, theyd see what was doable for their budget, as they offered to pick up a majority of the tab. This is what brought me to the DIS (and MouseSavers and AllEars). After a lot of legwork, we finally booked in the beginning of December for December 3-10th, 2011. The dates are a little flexible. Id like to have another day in there, and if theres any special offers that are contingent on days around there, wed be willing to adjust to take advantage of that. We will be in 2 rooms at POR, DDP and 7 day tickets with PH. Weve always had PH at Disney and we use them. DS is an excellent traveler and very flexible so we park hopped a lot. We added the DDP because we didnt want to think about $$ (except for tips, etc) and I like that it will afford us the opportunity to go to places I dont think wed go to if we were paying OOP. We plan on ordering some groceries in from Garden Grocer for our room, so we can do breakfast there.
Our Plan (for now)
#1 Fly in Early on the 3rd (Hopefully on SouthwestFree Bags!!) ME to POR. Chilling at DTD.
#2 Havent figured out what parks/days yet.
#3 Places we want to eat: Le Cellier, Coral Reef, Brown Derby, Sci-Fi, Biergarten, The Crystal Palace, Chef Mickeys. My mom really wants to go to CRT, but thats still up in the air. None of these are set in stone.
#4 We will be doing the MVMCP on Thursday the 8th. Wed gone on that same Thursday in 2009 and had a blast. It wasnt overly crazy and we got to do a lot of things that we didnt get to do during the day. I also loved the castle all lit up and the snow on Main Street. Youd think being from Wisconsin that snow wouldnt thrill me like it does, but how often can you say that you saw snow at Disney while looking at the castle!
#5 We want to get matching tie-dye shirts (again, DHs idea) and Ill be looking into that in the next couple months.
#6 Ive purchased the Unofficial Guide and with that, the subscription to the Touring Plans website and Lines iPhone app. I like to look at that during the day when Im bored and dreaming of Disney, thinking, Wow, I could be in line at Pirates right now.
#7 Weve talked about doing 1 date night for my mom and dad (well have DS) and one for us (theyll take him). So Ill look into making ADRs for my parents and then for us.
#8 IF there is some excellent PIN or code/deal that we can get into a deluxe or deluxe villa, we might take advantage of that. Ill be calling to see whats available villa wise (the CM gave me great advice on when to call to check) and well see from there. Its kind of a hope/wish for all of us to stay at WL or VWL. Again, we have a cabin in the northwoods of Wisconsin and our #1 of resort is a lodge themed. Were weird, what can I say.
In the meantime .
I printed out large-print calendars online today and with my Mickey punch from scrapbooking, Im going to punch out a bunch of paper so that he can understand the concept of when were going and have a countdown to the big dates. We'll put a Mickey head on the calendar every night before bed.
Im going to continue to research, read and salivate over peoples dining reports and the AllEars Restaurants page. I would like to have 1 ADR/day for our TS meals.
I have what I call THE BINDER. It contains all our information, invoices, and maps. I ordered and received the Disney Planning DVD and just saw on the Disney website that you can order free customized maps, so I did that as a surprise for DS. Thought it would be a fun activity to look over with him one cold Wisconsin night.
So, any suggestions are MORE than welcome here...people traveling with grandparents and a pre-schooler before? Things to do that you think are "magical"? Things to avoid so we don't kill each other on Day #2?
I'm glad you're on board to read 
It's going to be a long wait, but so worth it!
