How in the world am I going to keep this to myself?! PTR May '20 turn Feb '21! -Final update 2/7!

[lvcourtneyy]

Following along! I'm impressed that you can keep such a big secret!

 

[acciobrain]

So exciting! I applaud your efforts in keeping it quiet from your DH. I know I wouldn't be able to do that with mine, I'd want to involve him in everything! Plus I can't really keep a secret.

Not gonna lie, the secret is so hard! I had a dream a few nights ago that I had told my husband and he was in on the secret.

 

[acciobrain]

Park tickets!

This is a fun one and my money saving win! Due to a prior customer service issue, our entire family was at one point given 5 days of Park Hoppers with no expiration. When we went back to use them, DS was still 2, so his were never used because he received free park entrance anyways. We also only visited the parks for 4 days on that trip.

So what does that mean? Well DS has 5 days of Hoppers in his name with no expiration, while DH and I each have 1! WOO!! I've confirmed this on the phone with Disney so I feel confident that there will be no issues here. This trip will be for 5 days in the parks, so I will only need to purchase 4 days each for DH and I. I've done a ton of math preparing for this portion of the planning and have found that purchasing those 4 tickets will be a lower cost than purchasing an AP for one of us, even with the AP's additional benefits. I also don't want to take the risk of purchasing the tickets third-party as I want them to link up with the no-expiration tix we have. The cost savings from a third-party is minimal and so I would rather pay a few dollars extra (read: less than $50) for that peace of mind.

I had considered not purchasing Hoppers but since this will be DS's first trip where he's fully aware of what's happening, I want to leave us open in case he wants to revisit anything.

We'll skip the water parks this time around. DH and I have never been but I think it's not something that would be a priority at this age. Plus, AoA's Big Blue pool is more than enough fun for us!

399 days to go! Finally in the 300s and that makes me so excited! I'll also be able to book my package in about 3 months' time!

 

[Corrine 1973]

Joining in on the fun. First of all I have to say Wow!!!! I could never keep a secret that long. I think I am talking about my next Disney trip as soon as my down payment is paid. My kids are used to the countless Disney YouTube videos and discussions by now. It has become a regular conversation for car rides deciding where to eat and what rides to go on.
I also wanted to let you know that I had no problem booking a table for 5 at Ohana in July. It was the first one I made and was on our first night so exactly 180 days prior. Unfortunately I screwed up and looked a couple days later and realized I booked a breakfast instead of a dinner. I was able to fix it and still was able to grab one for the night of July 30th but it is a little later than I would have liked. It's for 8:40 pm but at least we can wash the fireworks from the table.

 

[acciobrain]

Joining in on the fun. First of all I have to say Wow!!!! I could never keep a secret that long. I think I am talking about my next Disney trip as soon as my down payment is paid. My kids are used to the countless Disney YouTube videos and discussions by now. It has become a regular conversation for car rides deciding where to eat and what rides to go on.
I also wanted to let you know that I had no problem booking a table for 5 at Ohana in July. It was the first one I made and was on our first night so exactly 180 days prior. Unfortunately I screwed up and looked a couple days later and realized I booked a breakfast instead of a dinner. I was able to fix it and still was able to grab one for the night of July 30th but it is a little later than I would have liked. It's for 8:40 pm but at least we can wash the fireworks from the table.

I've been sneaking in the occasional Disney YouTube video here and there with my son to try to plant some seeds. That's really good to hear about booking for Ohana! I've obviously got some time to think about it (just under 7 months before booking opens!) but I want to be ready to make all my reservations on the first day that I can. To be fair, I've scored some good reservations just a day in advance before but this trip has so much solo planning that I want it all wrapped up so that I can travel as stress-free as possible.

 

[acciobrain]

More on tickets

The problem with planning so far in advance is that I have all this time to go back and forth on how to best pull this off. This time it's about the AP. I know that really I can't have a true sense of value and savings until both the 2020 packages are out and the AP discounts are announced. As I plan to stay on-site, will purchase Memory Maker (more on that later!), and will purchase 4 days of park hoppers per adult, now I'm wondering if it will actually benefit me more to purchase 1 AP. I was working up some numbers on the difference between AP discounts and typical general-public discounts. It looks to be about a 10% difference on room rates. I think it will have to be something that I heavily research here on the DIS and also discuss with the TA. Or maybe someone with experience on this will happen to come along and find my dilemma and provide insight.

As I'm planning DS's 4th birthday party for a couple weeks for now, I can't help but think about how excited I'll be this time next year! 392 days to go!

 

[mdsouth]

Another small update today. They can't all be big because I still have so much time left to go.

I realized this past week that we'll be in Disney over Mother's Day! It's not a day that's important to me at all. In fact, I'm kind of jaded towards it. I honestly wouldn't be upset if my husband or son didn't do anything more than tell me a simple "thank you" that day. So I'll skip on the Mother's Day brunches that take place and will probably also stay out of MK that day, too, but maybe I'll look into doing something a little extra special for myself. Maybe some Minnie Ears with the pill box hat. But Mother's Day is extremely important to my own mother, so I will need to make sure that I set a reminder to myself ahead of time to arrange for a flower delivery on the day itself. Something tells me that being in Disney will not be a reasonable excuse for being late to wishing her a good day.

Also this past week, a coworker booked her own Disney Cruise which will take place about 2 weeks before my trip! We're going to excitedly plan together and we've decided to get back on the fitness wagon together! Cheers to not being too physically tired (hopefully) while eating and drinking around the World!

413 days to go and inching closer and closer to being under the 400 day mark!

Good idea to prearrange the flowers for your mother. And I agree with you to skip the brunches offered that day. We try to avoid eating out for lunch on Mother's Day because it is so crowded whereever you go and can be pricey. I prefer to have my hubby cook for me that day! If the weather cooperates we grill out and he does a nice job with it. My kids also help. Hubby does the grilling they do the rest. Or when we have had a bigger dinner planned with extended family, we use the crock pot and pre prep some of the sides to make it an easy day.

It is nice you have a friend to talk with about your plans and especially to start prepping for all the walking you will be doing once at the parks. This is an area I need to focus on. Now that the weather is nice, I will be walking more around the neighborhood, but I also think I need to sign up for an exercise class of some sort to really push me to work out. Otherwise, it is easy to let the exercising slide.

Park tickets!

This is a fun one and my money saving win! Due to a prior customer service issue, our entire family was at one point given 5 days of Park Hoppers with no expiration. When we went back to use them, DS was still 2, so his were never used because he received free park entrance anyways. We also only visited the parks for 4 days on that trip.

So what does that mean? Well DS has 5 days of Hoppers in his name with no expiration, while DH and I each have 1! WOO!! I've confirmed this on the phone with Disney so I feel confident that there will be no issues here. This trip will be for 5 days in the parks, so I will only need to purchase 4 days each for DH and I. I've done a ton of math preparing for this portion of the planning and have found that purchasing those 4 tickets will be a lower cost than purchasing an AP for one of us, even with the AP's additional benefits. I also don't want to take the risk of purchasing the tickets third-party as I want them to link up with the no-expiration tix we have. The cost savings from a third-party is minimal and so I would rather pay a few dollars extra (read: less than $50) for that peace of mind.

I had considered not purchasing Hoppers but since this will be DS's first trip where he's fully aware of what's happening, I want to leave us open in case he wants to revisit anything.

We'll skip the water parks this time around. DH and I have never been but I think it's not something that would be a priority at this age. Plus, AoA's Big Blue pool is more than enough fun for us!

399 days to go! Finally in the 300s and that makes me so excited! I'll also be able to book my package in about 3 months' time!

Outstanding news that you only need to buy two adult 4 day tickets. I would probably just start by buying the non park hopper and then once you are there add the hopper to your tickets if you need to. It does not cost you extra to add it later and that way you are not out the money if you decide while you are there that you will not be using it.

 

[acciobrain]

Outstanding news that you only need to buy two adult 4 day tickets. I would probably just start by buying the non park hopper and then once you are there add the hopper to your tickets if you need to. It does not cost you extra to add it later and that way you are not out the money if you decide while you are there that you will not be using it.

This is great information! Thank you! We've never been huge park hoppers but it's so hard to predict how things might be now that we've added DS to the mix.

 

[acciobrain]

A little about us

I saw in another PTR that someone provided some fun background info on their travelling party and thought that was a great idea! This will also help to make sense of our priorities, I think.

Me:
Favorite park: MK
Favorite ride: Splash Mountain
Favorite characters: Minnie , Tiana, Wall-E
Favorite Disney movies: Lion King and Princess and the Frog
Favorite Disney treat: Mickey rice crispie treats with the dipped ears. MMMMMM.

DH:
Favorite park: Epcot
Favorite ride: I think it might be Expedition Everest. I might have to sneakily ask about this one.
Favorite characters: He's a big Star Wars fan so I think he overall enjoys seeing any of them walking around the parks.
Favorite Disney movies: The Jungle Book and Robin Hood
Favorite Disney treat: All the cheesecake he can get his hands on

DS:
Favorite park: If I had to guess, I think it will be a toss up between MK and DHS
Favorite ride: He doesn't know it yet, but it will be Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin
Favorite character: Buzz Lightyear. Oh my goodness does this kid love Buzz.
Favorite Disney movies: all the Toy Story movies, Big Hero 6
Favorite Disney treat: I can't wait to find this one out!

So there we are! Because of DS's love of Buzz, I think I will probably get him a special Magic Band for the trip. Which means I might get jealous and want one too. And then if DS and I both have one, I bet DH will want to join in on the fun. I'll probably wait until we're about 3 months out to pick them out and secretly stash them away.

As we get closer to the 1 year mark, it also means we're now at 2 years since our last visit and I'm really feeling the withdrawals! I miss it so much! While the planning is fun, I can't wait for it to get here. 385 days to go!

 

[foodiddiedoo]

I planned a surprise trip to Disneyland with my husband for our wedding anniversary 3 years ago. I had everything a secret for months, managed to book the hotel using points, airline tickets using CC points, bought the Disneyland tickets, had my mom agree to watch our daughter for the weekend, then told my husband I wanted him to take two days off from work to hang out with me for our anniversary since my mom offered to watch our daughter. My plan was to get him up early, start driving towards NYC, make him think we were just going into the city for the day and maybe I had made reservations at an awesome restaurant, and then hang a left at Newark airport and surprise him with our weekend trip. I had a bag packed, my bag packed, and was ready to go (I'd kept everything off our google calendar, I pay all the bills for our CCs and do all the banking so he hadn't noticed everything), and I checked us in for the flight. Well United sends him an email that says "It's time to check in for your flight" and he starts IMing me at work asking me if he screwed up and booked a plane ticket for a work trip for the wrong week or something and in a general panic. So my perfect surprise of a day of detour to the airport was ruined by a check in email 20ish hours in advance. It was still a pretty good go and really really hard for me to not tell him up until that date. If only I hadn't put his frequent flyer information on his ticket, I would have gotten away with it! Good luck with your surprise. I hope it's flawless, and I could NEVER wait that long with a secret.

 

[lvcourtneyy]

Is there any chance you'll make it back for another trip if you upgrade one ticket to an AP? If so, it's definitely worth it. If not, you may just break even with the room discount and memory maker. Although I think you'd have to have the AP ahead of time to take advantage of the room discounts.

The other thing to consider is that if you are interested in the dining plan, you can add it to an AP room rate as a ticketless package. It sounds like you may not be able to book a standard package since you already have tickets for your DS.

 

[acciobrain]

Well United sends him an email that says "It's time to check in for your flight" and he starts IMing me at work asking me if he screwed up and booked a plane ticket for a work trip for the wrong week or something and in a general panic. So my perfect surprise of a day of detour to the airport was ruined by a check in email 20ish hours in advance. It was still a pretty good go and really really hard for me to not tell him up until that date. If only I hadn't put his frequent flyer information on his ticket, I would have gotten away with it! Good luck with your surprise. I hope it's flawless, and I could NEVER wait that long with a secret.

Oh my goodness, what a bummer! But definitely a good warning to give me. I can't remember if we have a frequent flyer membership or not so I'll tread lightly. Thanks for the heads up!

Is there any chance you'll make it back for another trip if you upgrade one ticket to an AP? If so, it's definitely worth it. If not, you may just break even with the room discount and memory maker. Although I think you'd have to have the AP ahead of time to take advantage of the room discounts.

The other thing to consider is that if you are interested in the dining plan, you can add it to an AP room rate as a ticketless package. It sounds like you may not be able to book a standard package since you already have tickets for your DS.

Unfortunately not. I don't think we'll be back until November 2021. I think you're right that booking might be tricky because the ticketing situation but I'm hoping that the TA can sort through that for me instead of me having to be on the phone with someone for an hour or more.

 

[acciobrain]

New attractions and experiences that I hope we get in on!

Since our last visit was spring 2017, there will be so many new things to see and do! Some of it is a given and some of it is me crossing my fingers and toes.
Gondolas! I know some are apprehensive about these but I would like to check them out for myself. Since we'll be staying at AoA, this one should be pretty easy.
Galaxy's Edge. Yes! I don't even care if we don't get to go on any of the attractions, I just want to get in and see it!
Epcot new entrance. I'm very excited to see it more open and without the tombstones!
Ratatouille attraction. I'm not positive that this one will be open in time but I sure hope so!
Mickey and Minnie Runaway Railroad. I really, really, REALLY hope this opens in time for our trip! We love the animation style of the Mickey shorts and now I'm nervous about the recent delayed opening news. But if we miss out, we'll have to catch it on the next trip.
Mac and cheese food truck in Disney Springs. Yep, I'm that person that needs to visit a food truck.

That's all I can come up with for now. These will all be brand spankin' new so I hope I get to fit it all in!

378 days and counting!

 

[lvcourtneyy]

I'm also bummed about the delay in the runaway railroad! Ratatouille too- one of my favorite movies!

 

[acciobrain]

Just a small one today!

No real planning going on right this minute BUT 2 small things about keeping this secret. First, when I was posting last week's update, I had the window hidden behind something else luckily because DH walked in the room very unexpectedly. Yikes! Then a few days later, we were out at a store that had a bunch of Disney merchandise displayed. DH mentioned that the exciting thing about DS's birthday coming up next week is that it means that soon we can actually start planning for a Disney vacation. He told me he was thinking "next fall." I said "Ummmm do you mean like later this year or do you mean Fall 2020?" He said it was Fall 2020 and that he thought it would be the perfect time since DS would be 5 1/2. I told him that it'll be nice to actually plan for that.



I might have difficulty holding out on this one until the very end with DH. If that happens, I've always said it's not a big deal, we'll still be excited to go. My friend that is my secret keeper suggested telling him at Christmas if he starts getting too antsy on planning which would be a good idea as much as I'm hoping to hold out.

Meanwhile, DS is so stinking giddy about his birthday party coming up that it reinforces to me that there's just no way I can tell him about this trip more than a day ahead of time. He would never get any sleep and then would be a total grouch on the first day and no one needs that on vacation!

I'll probably skip a post next week because of time off of work around DS's birthday and then mountain of work that I'll be coming back to. See you on the other side of the 1 year mark! 371 days to go!

 

[BritKansas]

Joining in on the fun! Secret trips are the wonderful! I've never been able to plan one, but I want to. My parents pulled them off for me when I was younger and they were amazing. Good luck & I can't wait to read more about your trip!

 

[Suejacken]

We have a group of 11 going this year from 6/27 to 7/1. The trip is a surprise for two of my great nieces ages 5 and 7. Their parents are still trying to figure out how to tell them. They even asked their dad last night again about going to Disney so to throw them off track, he told them he will take them next year. They will be so excited because they have wanted to do the boutique and we were able to get reservations for them right after breakfast at Cinderella’s castle.

 

[acciobrain]

Back at it so here we go!

Day 1 - Arrival Day!

Obviously it's too early to put things in stone, but I have a pretty strong idea of how day 1 will go, with plenty of wiggle room. I plan to take the first non-stop flight out that day. Typically that flight takes off anywhere between 7am and 10am depending on airlines. We will wake up very early that morning, pack the last minute items and jump in the car to the airport. I'm a list maker so I will have lists for me, DH, DS, and carry on's. I will also note everything that's prepacked the day before so that I already know which items need to be day-of packings. We're taking a short trip via car a few months before this Disney trip, so I'll likely pay attention to what DH packs ahead of time and what he'll need on the day of travel. We'll get to the airport 2-2.5 hours before departure. Our airport isn't huge or anything, but for some reason they can't figure out how to make the security line a non-panic inducing mess. I once almost missed a flight entirely because of the airline not allowing early check-in's and them not paying attention to the security line. Luckily the airline realized their error and held the gate for us. I'd definitely like to avoid that for this trip.

We'll take the ME from MCO once we get in. I would guess that we'll be at Art of Animation by noon or one depending on the flight arrival. We'll probably grab a simple lunch from their cafeteria because we'll be plenty hungry and desperately want a break from being transported from one place to the next. However, it'll be Cinco de Mayo and if we're really, really motivated, maybe we'll pop over to Coronado for some churros!

We'll spend some time relaxing in the room after we're able to get into it. We want to stay on our normal sleep schedule as much as possible, which means the travel day will be exceptionally long with such an early wake up. We'll need a little time to take it easy and get our bearings. This will be a bunch of down time to explore the resort too. I think I may pack swimwear in our carry on's so we have that as an option while we wait for our luggage to arrive.

Then dinner! For our last trip, we ate our arrival meal at Ohana and it was such a nice introduction to our trip. The Poly vibe just solidified the vacation feel and we were lucky enough to get a window seat, so we had view of the castle from our table. I know that's not guaranteed, but I'm sure we will be able to sneak a few peeks no matter what. I think having our arrival meal at Ohana will be a really good start here so that's what I'm aiming for. As I mentioned before, I might decide to invite some family members to that meal but I've got plenty of time to think on it.

After dinner, it'll be back to the room and to bed to crash. No nights owls here on day 1!

As an aside, today I officially put in my time off requests at work!

357 days to go and I'm so excited to be on this side of the 1 year mark! Plus I think I can book our package in just about 1 month!

 

[acciobrain]

Today I have a handful of little planning thoughts that are floating around my brain.

I love that Disney made the change to allow more customized Magic Bands! This will probably save me a few extra dollars. Every penny counts!

Now that Mother's Day 2019 has come and gone, I feel reassured that I want to skip any extra themed plans for that day during our trip. None of it wowed me, so I'm perfectly happy to continue on like any other day. You might be able to convince me to pick up special themed dessert treats though.

I've read 2 rumors that seem very nearly confirmed that will affect our trip! First is that Mickey and Minnie's Runaway Railroad might be opening in February. I would be so happy if we got the chance to ride it! I'm really hoping that this rumor is accurate. The second is that the space restaurant in Epcot will be opening in November-ish this year. That'll be around the time my ADRs open up. I might make a reservation for there as well as a backup plan for the same day so if reviews are unusually negative, I have another option available to me.

Also, this isn't really pertaining to the trip per se, but will sow some seeds for the surprise: this week I snagged some tickets to the Disney Jr Christmas Dance Party coming locally for this upcoming November. We'll be less than 6 months out from our trip. I haven't decided if I'll tell DS ahead of time yet or not. That will be a good time to start talking about how Mickey came to us but that maybe some time we can go see Mickey.

We're now about 1 month out from booking and 350 days from our trip!

 

[lvcourtneyy]

I'm so excited for the Space restaurant!

The Disney Jr party definitely sounds like a good way to start bringing up the idea of a Disney trip!