Glitter, Magic, Fun and Food - a Jan-Feb 2012 PTR

[brea]

Welcome to my first ever PTR. We will be taking our first family vacation to Disney in January. We're staying at the Polynesian from Jan 28 – Feb 4 and will be flying down. There’s going to be a lot of firsts on this trip and we’re looking forward to sharing them together.

First let me introduce the family and the reason we’re going on the trip

This is DD and DW. DD will be 15 months when we take the trip and it will be her first time. She already LOVES Winnie the Pooh as evidenced by her 1st birthday décor below (DW did a wonderful job on it all) and has a healthy interest that’s growing in other Disney related items (her Minnie, Patch (a gift for her cousin which she called dibs on with many many kisses once she had a chance to get her hands on him), and Dumbo stuffed animals.

This will also be the first trip for DW who will be in between 4-5 months pregnant on the trip. She doesn’t get some of the ideas behind Disney and what makes it so magical however she has an open mind and has found quite a few items to be excited about to include watching fireworks on the poly beach, tonga toast, and animal kingdom!

Both DW and DD are avid animal lovers. We have a dog and two cats which DD kisses more than she does us so I have a feeling we might end up at AK more than once on the trip and have planned some open days so that we can go wherever we choose.

I am a recent member of the Dis Dads and my last trip to Disney was about 10 or so years ago. I was lucky enough to have two trips to Disney as a kid and am quite excited about sharing the magic of Disney with my family. Being the Disney veteran of the family DW is letting me plan most of the trip which I appreciate but also now have a good appreciation for what she does when she plans things.

We’re going on the Dining plan and have a healthy schedule of ADR’s and QS meals to allow us flexibility and new experiences while getting the most from our credits.

In follow-up posts I’ll be talking about some of the funny moments that brought us to this point in our planning, excitement, and other related items.

 

[BridgetR3]

I'm here! I enjoy reading about our families where one spouse doesn't get Disney. I guess misery loves company!!

I can't wait to see your wife's reaction. I do hope she enjoys the trip!

 

[brea]

Well I guess I should start with how the trip got booked. I have been talking to DW about Disney since we found out we were going to be having our first child. DW started by saying no that it wasn't something for young children but with our second on the way I convinced her that if we wait until they're both "old enough" we wouldn't be going for a long time and she wouldn't really be in a position to contribute to the kids excitement if she didn't know what it was about. That and that it's going to be a while before we can take any family trip after our second was enough to get the ok for this one.

So we both started looking and we kind of had our minds made up to stay at the Yacht Club because of stormalong bay until the early year 2012 discounts made the Poly a possibility. DW didn't get the idea of the alure of the Poly at first but after reading some Dis posts and looking at some of the reviews she was sold and is starting to slowly find things that have her excited.

For instance... Being pregnant she is in LOVE with the idea of getting a hold of some tonga toast. She also is looking forward to the Poly beach and seeing Animal Kingdom so maybe she's not a total skeptic but someone that doesn't understand what all the fuss is about.

More to come like the plan and the discussion about pixie dust being compared to glitter.

 

[brea]

I'm here! I enjoy reading about our families where one spouse doesn't get Disney. I guess misery loves company!!

I can't wait to see your wife's reaction. I do hope she enjoys the trip!

Welcome and thanks for joining in! She's the type that will be skeptical but will fall in love with it once she gets it. She also totally loves anything that makes DD happy so it's not really a matter of "if" but "where and when" she falls in love with it all.

 

[FosterA]

Can't wait to hear all about it!!!
Beautiful family by the way

 

[brea]

So as we talked through what Disney is I told her that we would book a garden view and maybe we could get some pixie dust and get a room upgrade. DW paused for a few seconds and asked "they're not going to throw glitter on us or something are they?" which brought a good laugh as I explained the the term pixie dust was just an idea of having something magical happen to you. It wasn't until later on the Dis that I found out there are places where they do use glitter.

Since then we've been going over a number of things for planning like ADR's, pace and expectations with a little one which I'll discuss once I've recovered from my turkey induced slumber...

 

[brea]

So DW agreed to book the trip (thanks to the 35% off deal) and started looking at dining options. We ultimately decided to go with the 1-1-1 Dining plan as both DW and I enjoy a nice sit down meal and given all of the options she wanted to be sure to sample a decent amount of them. So our booking looks like this.

Jan28 thru Feb 4 at the Poly
Non stop flight to and from Orlando
ME for transportation
Dining plan for meals
7 day your way passes

Here's out plans which are mostly done
Day 1
Flight and travel to the resort
Dinner at 1900 Park Fare
MK for MSEP

Day 2
Breakfast - Kona Cafe for some tonga toast!
Lunch - QS
Dinner - Whispering Canyon (DW's pick so I'm interested in how it goes)
Animal Kingdom Park

Day 3
Breakfast - Crystal Palace for Pooh and friends
Lunch - QS
Dinner - Ohana

Day 4
Breakfast - QS
Lunch - QS
Dinner - Hoop De Doo
Open pick for park

Day 5
Breakfast - Chef Mickeys
Lunch - QS
Dinner - Le Cellier
Epcot park

Day 6
Breakfast - QS
Lunch - QS
Dinner - Raglan Road
Open pick for park

Day 7
Breakfast - Open
Lunch - Open
Dinner -
Open pick for park

As of this time we do not have plans to visit DHS and we expect that we will not have the weather to visit a water park so that's out as well. We will spend some time in Downtown Disney and other than that we're open to letting things happen as they're needed. We're looking into a spa treatment for DW but the GF spa is supposed to be closed during our trip so that only leaves the Dolphin spa.

More to come later on discussions we've had about our choices and how DW is starting to get some excitement about her.

 

[acl155]

Great restaurant choices! We love Kona, Ohana, Crystal Palace, and Le Cellier. We are trying Whispering Canyon and Raglan Road in a couple of weeks for the first time and are very excited and also going back to Le Cellier and Ohana.

 

[FiveBoys]

I'm going to jump in here and read along. I don't know what I would do if DH didn't love Disney as much as I do! Disney is so magical, I'm sure this trip will open her eyes to the pixie dust!

Take it from someone who has wrangled multiple toddlers through Disney, your little one will love it!

 

[brea]

So the last few weeks have been spent going over and making last minute adjustments to the plans and talking over when our open times are. We don't have anything planned after we have a "late" night planned to allow us to sleep in and have been discussing plans for mid day naps as both DD and DW will likely benifit from them.

Being that they both love animals I kind of expect to end up at Animal Kingdom twice and as of the moment we do not plan to go to DHS however DW is a big Indiana Jones fan so that's one thing she said she wouldn't mind seeing but with a toddler we didn't think much of the other attractions there. We'll see how she feels about the other parks because if we don't know for sure I don't mind using up a day so that she can see it. I know she'll love it and appreciate that we went.

As for DD, I've already started with introducing her to Disney. We watch the movies we have (Tink, Snow White, Dumbo) and she loves sitting on my lap while I'm working on my laptop so I have started taking some time when she's here to show her some videos and those have progressively gotten more Disney in nature. I took the advice of some on the boards and started showing her the videos of the characters with kids meeting them and them dancing and such. Let's just say she is locked in when those are on and has actually given a few of them a round of applause which is her favorite to give to things she likes lately so I'm a bit excited in that area. Real life is a different story but I'm encouraged with what I see so far.

I mentioned before that DW picked Whispering Canyon as one location we're going to eat which is suprising because when picking resorts she wanted nothing to do with the Wilderness Lodge so we'll be sure to go there. I kind of think it's the type of place she'll like as she's always said she'll go camping if there's a bed and heated water.

Thanks to all of those following along. While I call DW a Disney skeptic I'm realizing as I type this that she's going to come around nicely on it and enjoy the trip as that's just her style. She "doesn't get it" to start but then as it goes on and she starts to get information about it she'll be more and more excited.

That's all for now. Talk to you all soon.

 

[brea]

It's been a while since I've posted on my PTR but today has been a bit of a banner day for our trip.

1st - We paid off the trip today so the only thing left to do is complete the trip. I could see DW had a bit of excitement when she realized we had it paid off so that made me very happy...

2nd - We took DD to Chuck E Cheese tonight which was the first time we would be exposing DD to large characters. To say this went over well is an understatement. She absolutely fell in love with the animatronic Chuck E. Cheese character onstage and was hesitant at first but warmed up nicely to the live character and didn't cry but actually moved in for a hug from him.

Lastly DW and I started working on our own version of an autograph book using the disign boards as a starting point. Since DD is so young we want to get pictures with her and the characters and different locations. I'd post a picture but I'm using Disney fonts and Disney logo's on it so I'll just keep it to myself . One thing DW said when showing her the items was "where's the one for Tonga Toast?" so she's clearly found something she's looking forward to.

Great day with a lot more to come

 

[FosterA]

All your ADRs look great!!!

I can't wait to hear what she thought of it all when you get back. Be sure to update us.

Oh...and Congrats on paying off trip

 

[brea]

All your ADRs look great!!!

I can't wait to hear what she thought of it all when you get back. Be sure to update us.

Oh...and Congrats on paying off trip

I have a feeling she's going to love it. We're kind of in Christmas mode right now but after that I think she'll start getting excited about it. Will have to wait and see in the TR.

 

[Colleen27]

Hi! I followed you back from your stroller post on the Theme Parks board.

16mo is a GREAT age for a first Disney trip! My youngest absolutely loved everything about Disney World on her first trip, when she was the same age, and at 3 she's totally hooked. She is my secret weapon in convincing my not-as-Disney-crazy husband to book a trip.

 

[brea]

Hi! I followed you back from your stroller post on the Theme Parks board.

16mo is a GREAT age for a first Disney trip! My youngest absolutely loved everything about Disney World on her first trip, when she was the same age, and at 3 she's totally hooked. She is my secret weapon in convincing my not-as-Disney-crazy husband to book a trip.

Thanks for the comments. We're both starting to look forward to the trip. I don't think I'm going to have many problems with DW enjoying Disney. She saw the line queue for the Pooh ride and her words were ... that's AWESOME!!

only have about 17 more days before the trip. Can't wait.

 

[FosterA]

Your trip is coming right up
now be sure to give us a link to your TR. Can't wait to hear all about it!

 

[brea]

Your trip is coming right up
now be sure to give us a link to your TR. Can't wait to hear all about it!

Can't wait. I'm a little bummed that MSEP won't be running but I heard rumblings that they're considering running it on the loop that the others are running. I'm not holding my breath.

I'll be sure to put a link to the TR here when it's time. Be patient as I'll have a lot to do getting back into things with work and getting this posted.

 

[brea]

Online Checkin - Check
Excitement growing - Check
DW showing signs of anticipation - Check

There's no way I'm going to be nearly as productive as I can be over the next 10 days of work.

 

[204charity]

Online Checkin - Check
Excitement growing - Check
DW showing signs of anticipation - Check

There's no way I'm going to be nearly as productive as I can be over the next 10 days of work.

I sure hope you have a chance to post a Trip Report when you get back! We are staying at the Poly for the very first time in April and can't wait!!!!

And I was going to suggest that you may want to reconsider skipping out on DHS. They have quite a large selection of entertainment for the little ones. They have Beauty & The Beast live on Stage, The Little Mermaid live on Stage (although giant animatronic Ursula may not have the same appeal as Mr.Chuck E.Cheese did ) and of coarse, Disney Junior - Live on Stage! which I think she would LOVE! That one has Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, Jake & The Neverland Pirates, Handy Manny & The Little Einsteins. Plus, their is the Pixar Parade which features some of our personal favorites, Toy Story, Up, Finding Nemo, and Monsters Inc.

Anyways, just thought I'd plant a seed - you may quite enjoy taking her to this side of things afterall!

Have fun!!!!!

 

[brea]

I sure hope you have a chance to post a Trip Report when you get back! We are staying at the Poly for the very first time in April and can't wait!!!!

And I was going to suggest that you may want to reconsider skipping out on DHS. They have quite a large selection of entertainment for the little ones. They have Beauty & The Beast live on Stage, The Little Mermaid live on Stage (although giant animatronic Ursula may not have the same appeal as Mr.Chuck E.Cheese did ) and of coarse, Disney Junior - Live on Stage! which I think she would LOVE! That one has Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, Jake & The Neverland Pirates, Handy Manny & The Little Einsteins. Plus, their is the Pixar Parade which features some of our personal favorites, Toy Story, Up, Finding Nemo, and Monsters Inc.

Anyways, just thought I'd plant a seed - you may quite enjoy taking her to this side of things afterall!

Have fun!!!!!

It depends on a few things. Right now we have 3 open days. I expect them to want to go back to AK and DW mentioned doing two days in Epcot as she wants to see the World Showcase and with her being pregnant we'll see how getting it done in 1 day goes.

The third "open" day is our last day which doesn't really allow for a trip to a park like DHS so that's more likely a MK day and we've discussed skipping parks all together that day and doing Downtown Disney or something like that.

I'm really leaving it open and going to let them decide. The stuff I "want" to do is minimal and mostly scheduled at this point so from there I'm just planning to follow their hearts to wherever they may lead us.