Help Save My DH From Disney Planning Hell!! First Disney Trip June 2012

[cheerupem0kidx0x]

I am totally new at this so bear with me
When: June 9-15th 2012
Where: Disney World 4 days and WWoHP 1 day
Main Event: DS's 10th Birthday!

Well this is my very first time posting anything like this...I think I am driving DH nuts with planning this trip as he is more of a "lets get there and see what happens" kinda guy, whereas I want to plan out as much as possible! This is our very first trip to Disney and really our first "real" vacation. We usually just go visit family in PA for the summer or go to the beach for a night or two but never anything big like this! I have been to Disney once when I was about 4 but don't remember it too well and DH and kids have never been. Also my best friend is planning on coming with her 2 kids who are about the same age as mine (she has DS9 and DD3). She has been once before about 2 years ago. DS has no idea we are going and I told DD but she is 2 so she doesn't really get it. She did almost blow my cover though when she told DS she wants to go to Minnie Mouse's castle the other day!!

^thats me hard at work lol. Im a new nurse Just graduated this past summer.

^Me and DH (Tommy)

^DS the birthday boy! (Gabriel) He is in 4th grade and right now he is into super mario and pokemon mostly.

^DD Chloe, she will be 3 this July and she LOVES minnie mouse and princesses right now Maybe due to a little encouragement by me lately haha have to get her excited for our trip.

^My BFF and her 2 kids

Background: We live in eastern NC. DH and I are middle school sweethearts We are both 27 years old. We have DS who will be turning 10 in June and DD who will be 3 in July. We have been married 3 years on May 30th so this trip could be considered our semi-anniversary/never had a honeymoon trip as well I suppose. I'm a nurse and DH is a civilian contractor for the army.

The Budget: Between couponing, deal searching, and a few discounts DH can get with his CAC card I am HOPING to pull this trip off for $2,000-2,500 tops.

I guess I will be posting things as I come up with ideas! Any tips, input, suggestions, advice or just general discussion of any kind would be much welcomed!!

 

[cheerupem0kidx0x]

Saving for links for our trip.

 

[cheerupem0kidx0x]

When we first started tenatively planning our trip about 2 months ago, I just assumed we would stay on site. Until I discovered the world of vacation home rentals. It sounded like the perfect thing for us-it would save us money, give us more space, and big selling point for me, we would have a private pool. The one big vacation Ive ever been on was me, my dad, and my brother going to stay at my uncles house in orlando and then driving to the keys for snorkeling. Some of my favorite memories were hanging out in his pool every night and relaxing. Yes I know we are sacrificing the EMH, the convenience of being on site, etc....but it just made more sense for us to stay off site. I'd rather use the extra money saved to pay for cool experiences while we are there. We are driving down (about a 9 hour trip) so we will have a car to transport back and forth. Anyways, I think it will work out great. After a couple weeks of careful consideration we ended up picking the Tremar Villa in Sandy Ridge mainly because of the great rate I got ($540 total for 6 nights!!), the 4 bedrooms, and the pool with spa and some privacy Plus the owner was super nice and easy to communicate with. I was really paranoid after hearing some horror stories but I checked out all the property records, reviews, and everything else I could find and it seems to all check out. Its about 20 min drive from Disney and 30 minute to Universal. Some people Im sure would say that is too long but to us it's not bad because where we live we are used to having to drive 20-30mins to get anywhere anyways So its norm for us. Here's some pictures of our rental home:

 

[cheerupem0kidx0x]

This is what I have been struggling with the most so far! Trying to plan out what exactly we will do each day!! I have changed ADRs about 10 times already and probably will change again before we go I'm sure. Another issue I'm having is which parks on which days. Originally the plan started out as only a 4 night trip, where we would drive day 1, go to MK day 2 (DS's actual bday), go to WWoHP day 3, go to either AK or HS day 4, and drive home day 5. But after I got the disney trip planning DVD in the mail and watched it (while I cried almost the whole time ) I decided we absolutely had to have a day for each park to experience the whole thing. So after convincing DH and making sure we could both get that much time off work, we added on the extra 2 nights to our trip....Now my dilemma is this: I still want to go to MK on DS's actual bday. But our first day there at the park will now be on Sunday the 10th instead of Monday the 11th which is his birthday. So should we go to a different park the first day and still save MK for his bday? Or do we go to MK the first day there and just do another park on his actual bday? Im not sure he will really care either way, Im sure he is going to be so excited just to be there that he's not even going to realize which day of the week it is lol. Still haven't made a FINAL decision but the plan we have so far is this:

June 8th Friday, day before trip-This is DS's last day of school and its a half day. We are planning on having a small surprise birthday party for him at home with family and a few friends. Not only will he be getting a surprise birthday party, but this is also when he will find out we are going to Disney. I have a few ideas for how exactly to tell, but I think my favorite one right now is wrap up his suitcase (super mario one I found on ebay that he will love!) and inside it have a bunch of disney related stuff-Disney for Kids travel book, a road trip book to keep him occupied in the car, portable dvd player (got on sale at CVS for $20 woo hoo), a few movies, mickey mouse shirt, the custom maps from disney, maybe a mickey balloon to pop out? Was thinking of putting on the invitations that instead of gifts if guests want to give him disney points or cash to use on his surprise trip for his birthday...But not sure cause then thats more people who might spill the beans early and DH said it sounds rude to tell them what to get. Any input? This is all assuming I can even keep the secret until the day before we leave

Day one June 9th-Drive from NC to FL. Stop somewhere probably in Savannah GA to rest. Possibly stop at St. Augustine beach in FL if we on the road early enough to allow it. Our check in time is 4pm. After we check in Id like to go to whatever nearby store there is and pick up some groceries and any last min stuff we forgot. Hang out and swim probably way too late and get ready for our first day at the parks! My BFF lives 2 hrs from us and we are planning on meeting up with her somewhere along the way so we can arrive together. It will be another surprise for DS cause we aren't telling him they are going.

Day two June 10th-Hollywood studios day. I have ADRs for Sci Fi at 4:15pm. I am debating about this because I think PrimeTime Cafe looks really cool too. But we definitely want to go to Fantasmic! so would it be worth it to book with a place that has the package? None of the restaurants involved sound that appealing to me but I dont want to spend 2 hours waiting in line for the show either. The main stuff we will probably want to do at this park are Tower of Terror for me and hopefully DS (wondering how he will do on thrill rides) and Disney Junior Live on Stage for DD. Possibly Toy Story Mania if we can get in without waiting an insane amount of time. Idk i havent really planned rides out yet lol. BFF is doing her own thing this day.

Day Three June 11th (DS's 10th birthday!)-This is MK day woo hoo. I don't have any ADRs yet because I cant decide what to do. I dont want to spend the $$ to go to CRT. I did have Chef Mickey booked for dinner but then I cancelled it because idk if DS will think character dining is too babyish and it is his bday so I want to do something for him. We were talking about maybe doing one of the pirate things, hes not really into pirates but that sounds a little more grown up....Still gotta figure this day out. Want to ride pretty much everything in this park lol. Will definitely be a day we get there at rope drop. None of us are morning people but Im hoping we can manage to get up early at least most of the days. Definitely want to see fireworks and parade. May take a midday brake and drive back to the house to cool off? BFF and kids coming with us this day.

Day Four June 12th-My day!! I am OBSESSED with Harry Potter and just couldn't live if we didnt go to WWoHP so I had to fit it in somewhere. DS also is starting to get into it so Im sure he will enjoy it. Hoping there is stuff there for DD to enjoy also, I have never been so does anyone have any ideas for 2-3 yr old DD? I want to eat at Three Broomsticks and see all the main attractions at WWoHP. I heard there is a Dr Seuss area maybe DD will like that. I dont want to pay extra for the park hopper tickets, we are really just going to see WWoHP otherwise we wouldnt even bother lol. Is there anything special to do at night here? If not we may fit in Cirque Du Soleil that night. BFF going to seaworld with her kids this day.

Day Five June 13th-Epcot day. Definitely want to ride Soarin. Want to eat somewhere good and watch Illuminations that night. Have ADR for Akershus at 1:45pm and ADR for 1900 Park Fare at 6:45pm, will end up cancelling one of them but wanted DD to have some kind of princess dining experience. Will probably schedule BBB that day too if I can get a good time spot. I know she is *technically* only going to be 2 but her bday will be a little over a month away and she would love getting all glammed up so Im hoping I can pass her for 3. Dont judge/rant on me! lol Might check out downtown disney or some of the resorts if we get bored at Epcot.


Day Six June 14th-Last park day Animal kingdom, I figured itd be best to do last because it closes earlier and we would get out of the park early to have time to pack and chill before driving home. I want to do the safari, the rapids ride, and all the other big stuff. Have ADRs at Tusker House for 10:05am. Is this a good time? May fit in Cirque du Soleil this night if we haven't gone already.

Day seven June 15th-Drive the 9 hours home blah maybe stop at a beach if we leave early enough, and get ready for my 12 hour shift at work the next day lol.