Good Karma!

[LuckyMouse]

I am new to the DIS boards but I find myself 2 months away from a Disney trip and I can’t seem to stay away from anything related to Disney! I’ve been lurking for a month or so and I love reading everyone’s reports and tips.

Bear with me as this is my first “report”.

I guess I should start with introductions:

This is me, Michelle.

I am 28 years old and work as a data administrator 32 hours a week in a refinery, I’m a Relay for Life team captain, I sell a certain wickless candle, and most importantly I am a wife to a wonderful man and a mother to an even more wonderful 2 year old little boy, needless to say I am always busy. This upcoming trip will be my 2nd Disney trip, 1st was when I was 9!!! I love Disney! We had Disney planned for April ’09 but someone got pregnant and someone else got a new job so we had to cancel.

This is that wonderful man I was telling you about, Allen.

He is 29 years old and an operator in a refinery (different one than I work in). He loves cooking for functions, fishing and is an all around helpful guy. He’s “whatever” about Disney, he does whatever I want because he loves to make me happy, this is his 1st trip, I’m hoping I can make him fall in love with Disney!

And this would be our main character, Parker!

Parker will turn 2.5 on our way home from Disney, this will also be his 1st trip to the world! He loves Cars, Monsters Inc, and Toy Story. He is a handful and we have hit the tantrum stage so we are a little concerned about how he will be in Disney.

Did I mention we are going to Disney April 25-May 1, 2011

{I hope those pictures work... }

Next up- Where do we plan on staying?

My title confusing? Don't worry I'll get to that!​

 

[LuckyMouse]

Where are we staying?

Well our initial plans were to stay at Pop Century, since it’s on Disney property but still VERY affordable, and since we have no clue how Parker will react I thought it wiser to go low key and cheap. So I went ahead and booked us a standard room at Pop with the Disney Dining plan and Park Hopper tickets!!!

I was soooooooooo excited. The husband just didn’t really care or so I thought.

Fast Forward 3 months after booking reservations, Allen calls me at work and questions where we are staying, someone he knows wants to know. I tell him, super excitedly. He says ‘ok’.

An hour or so later he calls me back and says so and so said we shouldn’t stay at Pop, the rooms are small and it’s just not a really nice resort. I explain to him that it’s on Disney property so it will be fine, nothing Disney does is horrible. He then goes on to ask how much we were paying to stay at Pop, I call Disney and get them to break down the cost for me and call him back with a number.

Well “so and so” decided to let us use their DVC for the same amount we were paying for Pop!!!

So then I had to make the decision as to which resort we wanted to stay at. I had it narrowed down to 2.

1. Animal Kingdom Villas
2. Bay Lake Towers

I went back and forth with the pros and cons of each. What would be more convenient? What would my 2.5 yr old like more? What would WE like more?

I asked questions, I read reviews, I stalked forums and decided on:

So we got a HUGE dose of pixie dust before we even leave for our trip!!!! Like my title says, Good Karma, I really see that all the good we have done in the past has been paid forward!


Next Up- How are we getting to Disney?

 

[LuckyMouse]

If you’re reading my Pre-Trip Report, Thanks! I hope I’m not boring you! If you see anything that you think is not doable or crazy to even try please let me know! I love advice and tips to make things go smoothly!


So I bet your wondering how are we getting to Disney?

Well if you guessed by plane, you are WRONG!

We are going to DRIVE the 11.5 hours. I know, I know, I bet your wondering if we are nuts to do that with a 2.5 year old. Why yes, we are. He is still rear facing, so that may be a little inconvenient for us but we have a 9in portable DVD player he can watch and as long as he has his milk and piggy (his blanket) I think we will be ok, he is awesome in vehicles.

My plans are to leave our house around 9-9:30am on April 24th, the day before check-in. I have a boss that retired a few months back that lives about 2.5 hours away from us, he is on the way to Disney so I plan on getting to him around 11:30-12 and having a nice lunch. Then back on the road at approximately 1:30-2 and driving (with as little stops as we can take with a 2.5 yr old) all the way to Gainesville, Fl which is about 2 hours away from Disney. I figure we will get here about 10ish pm, take showers and hit the bed, then get up at 6am and drive the rest of the way to Disney!!!

I know we will be super early for our check-in but April 25th is our first park day!! I want to be well rested and get there early to enjoy it!


Next Up- Our Park Plans!!

 

[MHTeacher]

Hi! Another Michelle here, enjoying reading your PTR. Your son is a cutie, and I can just tell how excited you are to be taking him to Disney for his first time!

We always drive to Disney too. It's about a 11-12 hour drive for us. But since our kids are older now, we just try to leave early and knock it out in one day.

Good for you on the resort business---AKL for the same price as POP! Good Karma-I call it clean living! It's all the same!

 

[OrangeJuice]

Hey I like your PTR so far so I'm joining in!

That's great about the DVC! I've heard great things about the AKL Villas. The view is just priceless.

As for the drive. For our first trip in 1996 my crazy parents drove from New-Brunswick to Orlando which is about a day and a half by car with me (7 yo), my twin siblings (3.5 years old) and my baby brother (<1 yo). And I swear we all survived and had a great trip.

 

[LuckyMouse]

Sorry it took so long but like I said before I am a busy bee!

So my plans for the parks are as follows, nothing is set in stone:

April 25th- Our First Day!
Arrive at Magic Kingdom around rope drop time!!
Enjoy the day with a 2.5 year old.
Grab a quick serve lunch.
And a snack!
Then ride the monarail to the Contemporary for a 5:05 ADR at Chef Mickey's.
Get back to MK for fireworks.

April 26th-
Epcot!
5:15 ADR at The Garden Grill

April 27th-
Disney's Hollywood Studios!
4:00 ADR at TRex in DTD.
DTD for the rest of the night.

April 28th-
Epcot!
1:00 ADR at Le Cellier.
DHS in the evening.

April 29th-
Animal Kingdom!!
8:05 ADR at Tusker House

April 30th- Our last park day
Magic Kingdom!
7:00 ADR at Ohana.


May 1st- Going home