Hoping my PTR will get my questions answered

[believer]

I have caved. Thus, here is my PTR, as time allows. We gave the DD (5)and DS(8) a trip to WDW for Christmas, and they have been using the Christmas countdown board for a Disney countdown board. Only 13 more days until we leave. I feel like I still have so much to do...I still have questions. Please chime in if you know the answers or have any recommendations. I am starting to feel the desperation.

My DH and DS have celiac disease. We will be dining at recommended Gluten free locations. Hopefully my ADRs are at the right places. I will get to these later. My DD has Type 1 diabetes (insulin no matter what she eats) and wears an insulin pump. A whole separate discussion folks. Talk about worries.

I have been doing nothing but research, reading and planning. To the point that my husband is irritated. Too bad. He will thank me when we get there- RIGHT?! My son defends me and says, "She is doing this for us." Sweetheart. Meanwhile I am parked at this computer.

We arrive 1-17- A Sunday. My DH works for an airline, so we will fly Stand-by to Orlando. That means if space is available, we are on the flight. If the flight is booked, then we get bumped off. Talk about stress. If all goes well, we arrive at MCo at 2:15. This is the only part of the trip I have asked my husband to be in charge of- and he has yet to look at flight booking and space available. GRRRRRR.

Assuming, we get ther as planned...our magic will begin. Day 1- check into POP Century. I need to send in my room request soon. So many questions...which decade do I want? I want a lake view, and relatively quiet. Do I want 4th floor or ground floor? Here's one place where you guys need to help me.

After we check in- I want to go to ESPN Club for a meal. Just another attempt to get my DH to be excited about this trip. Next Question- I want to get to Fantasmic on Day 1. The show is at 630pm. Do we go to HS first, or go to ESPN first? Help me DISVeterans

Stay tuned for my next delemna- it's a good one!

 

[believer]

So here is my plan; I have all ADR's and table service meals planned out. For CS meals I have some recommended places that we can choose from depending on where we are inthe parks.
I am not getting Park Hopper. I think this may work....what do you think?

Day 1 ESPN Club dinner, out of pocket. Head to Fantasmic at 6:30. Of course that is if we actually get into Orlando that day ! Husband!!! No ADR for this day because of that uncertainty!!
Day 2 morning at MK, Liberty Tree Lunch, stay at MK thru Wishes fireworks
Day 3 Hang at the POP for a lazy morning, Chef Mickey's late breakfast, head to Hollywood Studios, eat dinner at Toy Story Pizza Planet where they actually have gluten free pizzas(-hurrah!)stay for EMH
Day 4 This day is my daughter's 6th birthday. ROPE DROP-go to MK since that is her favorite. 1900 park Fare BIRTHDAY Celebration dinner.
Day 5 Donald's Safari, breakfast, bright and early, Tour Animal Kingdom. Lunch at Flame Tree BBQ, Dinner at Ohana, then hang out at POP
Day 6 EPCOT, Future World, La Cellier dinner, stay for Illuminations
Day 7 another lazy morning, EPCOT, World Showcase, Akershaus Royal Banquet Hall lunch, ?back to POP or stay at EPCOT. TBD
Day 8 check out and head home as long as we can get on an airplane (again, HUSBAND!!)

I called today and added the Dining Plan, and now I am worried. My concern is that my son cannot order from the kids menu, ever. He absolutely cannot have those items (he is allergic to wheat!) so there is just not a way to modify kids meals like chicken fingers or mac and cheese. Plus he has a big appetite for an 8 year old. I don't want to pay for the dining plan, and then get stuck paying for extra for whatever we do order for him. I know Disney can acommodate special diets needs wonderfully; some of the easiest and best gluten free meals have been at Disney World- even the hotdog stands for crying out loud can accomodate us. It's FABULOUS! But I just want to know that they will accept his kids credits and I don't have to pay extra. No one at WDW will give me a straight answer!!!!!
I am also waiting for Pat at the Custom Cake Ordering hotline to call me back. What are the chances I can get a Gluten free custom princess cake? It has to be beautiful- send me your cake pics and experiences if you have them. I need ideas. In the words of my 5 year old, "I want a castle, that comes out of the top of the cake. Not just a picture of a castle, but like one that sticks up. And maybe you can eat it. But not just a white one, I want it to have the colors like during the fireworks." .........OK- That should be " a piece of cake" right?! I'll let you know what Pat has to say about that and what I actually order.

 

[believer]

Still no return call from the CAke Lady. Should I call again??

I think I am more excited than even my kids are...this will only be my second visit to the World. When I was a kid, I went on a big vacation to some beach with a friend one summer. My little brother was jealous of my trip, so my mom took him to Disney World for a few days. I have never gotten over it......
In 2008, I went for the first time with my kids and husband and extended family. There were 11 of us total. And it was a blast. But we didn't do everything I wanted, and I couldn't obsess about planning since there were so many other people providing input.
But now?? Forget about it...I am outa control with the planning. I am so lucky that my husband could care less, and is letting me plan whatever I want

I bought a really great book yesterday. It's titled, "the Hidden Magic of Walt Disney World" by Susan Veness. i am only part way into the MK section, but there is some great stuff in here!!
-Cinderella's Castle- the 3 circled design of the stone fence casts Mickey's silhouette at the right time of day.
-look for the toothbrushes on Tom Sawyer Island and get cool stuff
-Listen to Minnie Mouse's answering machine.

Doesn't anyone have anything to say about my questions in the previous posts? I need YOUR HELP PEOPLE. Quit lurking and HELP ME!! At least tell me I am not totally out of control.

 

[dr&momto2boys]

Yes, call the cake lady again!

I would think, given your son's allergies, you won't have any trouble at TS restaurants (although let them know ahead of time) and that they should try to accomodate you at CS too. I can tell you that the last time we went (October) there was no differentiation between adult and child CS credits. So if there is something on the menu that an adult could order that he could eat, you will probably be fine just ordering it and saying anything else about it. I'm not telling you to cheat the system, but possibly avoid aggravation and confusion from CM's that don't know how to accomodate a special need.

Have a great trip!

 

[Sleepingbooty]

I don't think you will have any problem with your dining plan credits. Like the previous poster stated, there is no difference between child credits and adult credits. Although, if all four of you are standing right in front of the cashier, they probably won't let you order 3 adult meals and 1 kids meal - but in your case I'm sure they would make an exception.

At TS restaurants, they will probably custom make whatever your son needs.

Have you checked out the disAbilities board? I know there have also been some guidebooks written about the subject - Passporter has one and I think there are others.

Good luck with your planning!

 

[believer]

My husband looked into flights (finally). Yup all full. We might be able to arrive in Orlando by 6 pm. Maybe.
So I am trying deperately to rearrange things. Is Fantasmic worth adding Park Hopper? We won't make it the first day, and the day we are going to HS, there is no Fantasmic show. Can't rearrange all my ADRs at this point...I don't want to miss Fantasmic again!

 

[dr&momto2boys]

Personally I wouldn't add parkhopper JUST for Fantasmic. Sure, it's a good show, but it's a lot of money to add PH option, isn't it? I'm thinking we may skip it on our upcoming trip because of the wait time even WITH the Fantasmic dining package (because we have three little kids.)

 

[believer]

Oh no. Tell me about the Fantasmic wait time...I had not heard about that issue. Before or after? Maybe I should look into the Dinner package. What is it?

We ended up changing our plans- and now we are going to arrive on Saturday- a whole day early. That will be better...then Sunday we can go to ESPN Club for lunch, and to Downtown Disney, and then Fantasmic in the evening.

What a fiasco that is...trying to add another night to our trip!!
i ended up making a second reservation, for a single night at the Allstar Music Resort. That way I didn't have to but another day on the dining plan or another day of park tickets, just give us a bed and a pool. And then on Sunday we will move over to the POP. When I called Disney, they had no value resort rooms available. However, I was able to book a room through Expedia, and it was way less than Disney's price. It will be a bit of a hassle, but a whole extra day to play is going to be great!!!

But OMG!!!!! Now I have one less day to plan and one less day to pack. Gotta check out the weather forecast and start digging out our warm weather clothes.
Pat the cake lady did call back last night, but we are now playing phone tag. Just another thing to stress me out. I love it...the most stressful vacation planning of any vacation possible. I am reminding myself to put it all in perspective. No matter what it will be time with my family, and it will be a blast.

 

[believer]

Ordered my cake yesterday. My gluten free choices were chocolate or vanilla. That's OK- the fact that I a mnot making baking or decorating is super. We will have chocolate moesse filling and pink buttercream frosting. Decorated with a white chocalte castels and all the princess behind the castle and flowers and pretty stuff. Sounds just perfect. I won't tell you the price... more than 50 and less than 100. Have bot broken the news to DH yet. It will be added to our dinner bill, so it might go unnoticed.

I am having difficulty arranging Magical Express for our first day added. Since I booked thru Expedia for just one night, the reservation is not showing up in DIsney's system- it takes a few extra days.
I guess we won't have our Magical Express Vouchers or luggage tags in time, since we leave in a week. How does that work without the vouchers?