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

[acciobrain]

Some legitimate planning updates today!

About 2 weeks ago, I decided to reach back out to the TA because I was starting to get the feeling that 2020 package rates were coming soon. Since I'm an overplanner but I need a TA's help in booking for me to help me keep things secret, I asked if we could either sit down and have a meeting or just a phone call. She told me to give her a call. I did and left a voicemail on a Sunday. I didn't hear anything back so I called again on Tuesday and didn't leave a duplicate message. Then about a week later, the announcement came out about 2020 package rates bookings, so I called her that day and told her that I would be available that day or the following day to talk. No response.

3 strikes, yer outta here!

So I reached out to a coworker that is actually travelling to the World in a few weeks on a bounceback and told her my situation. She gave me her TA's info and asked the TA to text me since I might be with DH if she were to call. She gave me a text and told me to call her today and then also told me to delete all our texts to avoid any chance of DH possibly seeing them. This TA gets it! She has so far totally jumped on taking my business and respects what I'm trying to pull off here. Hopefully the conversation is good and we're able to get to booking together in about 2 weeks!

I'm so excited to get something locked in! 334 days to go, or 11 months from yesterday!

 

[acciobrain]

Back again with a planning update!

Preparing to lock this trip in!

I've been doing some lurking and research over on the budget board for about the past year now. I don't mind doing a little extra work to save some money but some of the people over there have way more dedication than I do, and props to them for that! I also have a coworker that's an extreme couponer so she gave me some pointers this past week as well. Right now, Meijer is running a special for Father's Day where you get $5 in mPerks for every $50 you spend in gift cards of any brand, up to a $500 purchase in gift cards. I had gone in there on Friday and it looked like all of the Disney cards were sold out. I called on Sunday and sure enough, they had them! So I went in there with DS to do some normal grocery shopping and then let DS get distracted by the candy at the registers so I could grab a Disney card and hide it under a packet of taco seasoning in my cart. Then I handed it first thing to the cashier and told her that I wanted to pay for it separately from my groceries and also that I didn't want DS to see. My cashier was on it. She held it face down while scanning it and then handed it back to me wrapped in receipts when the transaction was done. DS had NO clue what I had in my purse. So I bought a $500 card, got $25 back in mPerks, and also paid for it with my Chase Visa, which is currently getting 5% cash back at grocery stores! Woo! I've read that Meijer runs this deal a couple times per year so fingers crossed I can do this a few more times before our trip. Every penny counts!

Oh my goodness, at my next update, I'll have it booked and I'll be able to gawk at it on MDE and everything!!
329 days!

 

[acciobrain]

We're booked!

Although I've been planning for rack rate and an increase over last year, it was a more than I was expecting when package rates came out this week. I hadn't considered that being on the gondola line would be considered a chargeable benefit but here we are!

So after speaking with my TA, it looks like trip planning is going to be both more hands-on and less hands-on than I expected. I will have 1.5 days open to visit parks a second time. She told me that we'll double book myself for ADRs for that time and then I can decide where I really want to be when we get there. We agreed it will mostly be dependent on DS's reaction to parks. I know that we would like to hit both MK and HS a second time, so it's just a matter of which one gets more of our time. It'll mean that this PTR will show me double booking myself for that time and then I'll just play it by ear.

So now the countdown is truly on! 320 days to go! 140 days until we can book ADRs, which is also around the time flights will open. I won't book right when they open, but at least I'll have an idea of which airlines are flying at which times.

 

[acciobrain]

It's been a while since I've given any updates because life is so busy in the summer so let's do this! A few updates.

The plot thickens!
We had some friends over a few nights ago. One of the friends is very close with DH and they also happen to be coworkers. When they came over, I was working from home and still completing my work day while DH was outside grilling. I asked the friend to sneak back into my home office and let him in on this secret. I need for him to get some specific information about pulling this off for me. First, I asked when DH will need to put in his 2020 time off requests. Second, I asked if their boss would be willing to speak to me to assist in getting the time off in the event that I can't convince DH to do it on his own. The friend said he'll also see if their boss would just be willing to take the time off request directly from him instead since he's an employee in the same group too. That would be a help. Third, I asked him to somehow casually lead a conversation into a discussion on how DH would feel to be surprised with a vacation. I told the friend that he definitely cannot talk to DH about it anytime in the near future since DH will put it together that I just saw this friend. The friend agreed and said he'll wait quite some time to bring it up. He took down our dates and then snuck out of the room before anyone realized that he wasn't actually using the restroom like he said. If DH doesn't want a big surprise, then it'll be a Christmas reveal to him only. For DS, this will be a surprise the day before the trip no matter what.

Dining update!
ADRs won't open for us until November, but I'm sure the time will sneak up on me. Here is where I know for certain we will like to get Table Service reservations:
O'hana on arrival date
Tony's on Day 2 - Magic Kingdom day. I know some people don't care for it but it's a family favorite.
Garden Grill
Boma dinner. I know others tend to recommend breakfast but we were far more impressed with dinner.
Sci-Fi

That leaves 1 more reservation open I believe. I think I am leaning towards Whispering Canyon Café. Their menu is up our alley for sure. This means just 1 character meal but I think I'm alright with that. We had been recommended Tusker House but I'm not sure we want to be tied to a morning reservation. I have a few months to think about it.


So there we have it for now! Right now on my list is to pick up the gift cards to purchase the park tickets. I'd like to have this done in the next month because I'm worried about abrupt pricing changes.

297 days! WOOOO! Under the 300 mark and I didn't even realize it!
117 days until dining opens!

 

[acciobrain]

Life gave our family quite the hit recently and we suddenly lost a very near and dear family member. It totally blindsided us. Our family and friends have all come together in support of one another and I'm very grateful to that. It's meant some very difficult but sometimes funny conversations with DS. I have to admit that I've had moments where I thought about telling DH about this trip as a way to distract and look to the future, but I'm holding firm for now. I think it's probably for the best that we don't have any memories of this person at Disney honestly. That way we can just focus on the closeness of our family and making new memories.

Unrelated, but DS asked me this morning to go see Buzz Lightyear at Disney World and said that he would press his laser to see if it works.

Order of Park Days!

I think I've finally decided on order of park days for the most part!
Day 1 - Arrival / resort day / dinner
Day 2 - DS's birthday - Magic Kingdom
Day 3 - Epcot
Day 4 - Hollywood
Day 5 - Animal Kingdom / half day repeat at either DHS or MK
Day 6 - repeat at MK or DHS, or both!
Day 7 - resort day

284 days to go!

 

[lvcourtneyy]

Sorry for your loss.

 

[acciobrain]

Oh my goodness, I am having quite the month.

On a humorous side, my aunt was over my home about a week ago and mentioned that she would like to go to Disney for the 50th. I said I did too and when we started talking more, we realized we were thinking the exact same weeks! So we might plan it that way on purpose and meet up for a few meals. Later that night, I swung it past DH who was immediately on board! In his mind, Fall 2020 has been our goal for our next trip, so he thinks we're pushing it back by a year. Little does he know, we'll have a trip in there before 2021!

But on the bad side, I totalled my car in a head on collision this week. I had DS with me. I am so incredibly thankful that he is 100% fine. We got him some xrays just in case because his car seat chest clip pressed into him, but since that night, no pain at all! I'm a little banged up because I was in the location of the hit and I owned a car with one of the shortest front ends on the market. I'll be totally fine though. I'm upset about it regardless. And now I'll have a car payment so I'll have to be extra watchful with my funds. I don't think this will affect my budgeting for this trip because I've planned for it so well but I could see it making the 2021 trip a bit more of a squeeze, so I'm glad I have so much time to prepare for that one. It will help that that trip won't be a surprise so DH will be throwing in for it too.

C'est la vie. I'm just thankful that my car performed dutifully and that our bodies will be like it didn't happen in just a few weeks hopefully.

275 days to go!

 

[lvcourtneyy]

Glad you're both ok!

 

[acciobrain]

Glad you're both ok!

Thank you!

 

[acciobrain]

Not a ton to go over this week but that's okay!

Accessories I plan to buy ahead of time!

There are a few things I want to pick up in advance for this trip. I can get away with items for my son because he loves Disney as it is, but for the things for myself, I'll probably ship them to a friend's house so I can secretly stow them away. I plan to pick up a different Disney shirt for DS for each day if he doesn't already have something at that point. To be fair, his closet is full of Disney items, whether it's Buzz, Mickey, Marvel, or Star Wars. This won't be too hard. For myself, I've been eyeballing some custom ears. I love wearing ears on our trip even though I sometimes feel like I'm the only adult in a park that isn't the MK wearing them! I've also found several tops that I want to pick up. Things like "Today is a Core Memory Day" and such. I've got them all secretly saved for when I'm ready to start buying!

I've also been closely watching some of the bag threads on the trip planning boards. I would really like to get away with not wearing a backpack or a large bag. Ideally, I would like to find a very small crossbody bag where I can keep my phone, advil (I tend to get headaches on trips), sunscreen, a spare phone battery, and an antibacterial. I don't really want to invest much because I don't know how much use I'll get out of it after this trip. Well, of course until the next trip!

As an aside, DS recently said that a long, long time ago, DH and I took him somewhere with his luggage and there was a bed and we took him in a pool, but the pool was outside. He said we held him while we were in the pool. He asked if we could go back there. I asked him if he knew where that was and he said no, he couldn't remember. I told him that maybe we can go back there sometime. He's remembering AoA from when he turned 2 years old! I'm pretty impressed he can remember that! I didn't tell him what it was that he's remembering, muah ha ha!

266 days to go! 86 days until ADRs open!

 

[Eeyore daily]

Oh no I'm sorry about your car, I'm glad you're both okay! I definitely wear ears in MK and I'm an adult, I've even worn a tiara, so don't think you're the only adult. Besides who cares what strangers think.

 

[acciobrain]

Oh no I'm sorry about your car, I'm glad you're both okay! I definitely wear ears in MK and I'm an adult, I've even worn a tiara, so don't think you're the only adult. Besides who cares what strangers think.

Thank you! And you're right, I should just live my own happy Disney life while on vacation. I just feel like I'm the only adult wearing them outside of the MK. But I just love wearing ears so much! They make me feel truly inside the bubble.

 

[acciobrain]

It's been a while! I decided to take some time off to get in the right head space for planning. We decided to cancel our fall getaway (not Disney) because of the expenses that came up between 2 new cars and kitty vet visits . I'm bummed but it's the right thing to do. Luckily I've been planning for Disney for quite some time so no impact there! I've also taken advantage of some additional gift cards deals. In total, I think I've saved around $200 or more so far just from various gift card deals. It's not a ton, but it's better than nothing.

I also decided that I needed to change my reveal plans. My friend who is my "in" with DH's employer told me that it's going to be nearly impossible for us to request time off on DH's behalf. I also don't think I can convince DH to take the entirety of time needed without raising too much suspicion. So instead, I'm going to reveal it to him at dinner on our anniversary! I've written out a whole reveal on 30-something individual 4x6" pages with just a few words per page. I'm going to have the pages printed in one of those spiral-bound small photo books and I'll hand it to him at dinner while we wait for our food to arrive. I sent a copy of it to my TA and she said she laughed, she cried, and she laughed some more! I'll share it with you all after the reveal in about 2 months! I still fully intend for this to be a surprise to DS up until the night before.

Dining opens in less than 2 months and then I can more thoroughly plan each day. I'm keeping a close eye on the Discounts board in the hope that discounts pop up around the first of the year.

225 days to go! 59 days until I reveal to DH!

 

[acciobrain]

Flight update!
This isn't a concrete update exactly, but definitely part of my planning. We're now 7 months out, so I've started peeking at my flight options. Friends, it's not looking the best. Airline A (our preferred) only currently has 1 flight out of our home airport on departure day - and it's at 5pm. For the past several months, they've had 2 flights between the two cities every day but for some reason, that is changing mid-November. It's such a common travel path that I'm really hoping that the airline adds their morning flight back into the rotation. I'm going to be keeping a very watchful eye there. Leaving MCO on Airline A gives us decent flight options, so at least there's that. Airline B could be used for both flights but at nearly twice the cost. I think I've ruled that one out in my mind because I could spend $900 for a better flight time with Airline B OR I could spend $300 for an extra night at the hotel and just come in the night before on the 5pm flight. Airline C is our last option. Their pricing isn't ideal but it appears they will have a decent departure flight time out of our home airport. Worse comes to worse, we fly into MCO on Airline C and then fly back home on Airline A.

Because of this, my TA and I agreed we should tack on some dummy dates to our trip in the event that flights are a real issue as we get closer. I'm hoping that Airline A makes an adjustment to their flight schedule in the next month or so. This is unusual for them to just have the 1 evening flight out.

Other than that, ADRs open in just under a month!!! 210 days to go!

 

[acciobrain]

Life has been so busy that I haven't been able to update! But I have several for you today!

ADRs!
Our ADRs opened last week. I'm so glad I have the TA helping on this because I forgot we tacked on dates to the beginning of our trip to accommodate for flights, meaning our ADRs opened earlier than I expected. We got everything we wanted (including Ohana!!) except Whispering Canyon Café due to a system glitch. We may need to choose a backup for that date but I'm not too worried about it presently.

Flights!
Flights are still posing a problem. Based on the above post, Airline B still has the best flight times but their pricing is astronomical. Airline C has officially posted their flights and their flight time out of our home airport isn't very good and if we have to fly with them, then I think we will fly in a day earlier than intended. Their pricing is good so it would still make economical sense to pay for an extra night hotel with that airline instead of paying Airline B's prices. Airline A has still yet to officially post their flights! I'm really hoping they come through here or else I'm faced with some tough decisions. Airline A isn't currently posting flights more than 5 months out which seems cutting it close to me. I might try to give them a call to see if they'll tell me when to expect flight times to be released.

The reveal to DH is NEXT WEEK!!!!
Friends, I'm so nervous! Next week is mine and DH's anniversary. We always go out to eat with DS for a nice little family dinner since we hardly ever eat out at a restaurant. After we order our food, I plan to give DH the little photo flip book I had made to reveal our trip! Just a reminder, I had to tell him more than a day ahead of time because I found that I won't be able to get the time off of work for him on his behalf and I need to tell him now so that he can get it all approved. After dinner, we plan to go see the opening showing of Frozen 2 so I'm hoping this will be a really nice night with an extra cherry on top! I'm just nervous that DH may initially react poorly because we've been so frugal lately and he won't realize the amount of financial planning that has gone into this. Also, sometimes he's just awful at receiving surprises and can be very nonchalant. Wish me luck!

174 days to go!

 

[acciobrain]

Just a short one for y'all right now.

Tonight is the reveal to DH!!!

I'm so nervous! I have it all planned out in my head as well as the myriad reactions he might have. I'm trying not to get myself too hopeful but also, if he's just like "oh, okay, cool" and then continues eating his appetizer or something, I might start crying into my spaghetti. I'm accepting ALL the good vibes right now! Hopefully a positive update tomorrow!

 

[Eeyore daily]

Good luck! Hope it goes well!

 

[acciobrain]

Successful reveal!

I revealed to DH last night at our anniversary dinner! It went off great! While DS was distracted, I pulled the flip book out of my bag and handed it to DH. He later said he was nervous that this was a pregnancy reveal LOL. We're a one and done family so "nervous" is the right word for it. Anyways, once he got to the part of the book that revealed itself, I could see he was excited about what he was reading. Overall, I think he was blown away that I did this and kept it a secret for so long and also that all our friends knew about it! He said he had no idea. When I told him that ADRs are already done, he wanted to know all about what I got. I'm relieved to not have to sneak this from him anymore and also that I can now get his input on the flight scenario I'm dealing with.

165 days to go!

 

[Eeyore daily]

Glad it went great!

 

[acciobrain]

It's been a while! Several updates!

Flights!
Airfare is booked!! This was one of the more stressful parts of planning for me. Their airline we've used the prior 2 trips took forever to release their fares. Once they did, the flight times were good, but the cost difference between them and the more reliable big-name airline was going to be around $100 after all fees were said and done. We went with the more reliable airline then. I'm so glad that part is done! It also helped us to pinpoint and lock in our arrival date as previously I was considering flying in a day early because of poor flight times.

Travel Dates!
Unexpected update here. We decided to cut a day off of the end of our trip due to the decent arrival time on our first day. This would also make it so our trip isn't overlapping 2 calendar weeks, which was a problem with DH's job. I'm not too upset about cutting it a day short, but I'm a little disappointed that I won't get to see some of the little extras that the parks do for Mother's Day. It's not a big deal to me though so no worries there!

Discount!
My TA contacted me last week and told me to expect some very good news to head our way this week, and sure enough room discounts dropped. She was able to get us $600 off! Woo!

Little extras!
We're getting to the stage where I'm ready to start buying little extras ahead of our trip. Things such as park themed shirts to wear or even just new swimwear. I'm excited that we're getting to the point soon where I need to check closets and make sure we have what we need. I've been looking into custom pins and Magic Band add ons. I'll post here if I pick anything up!

So that's where the planning is right now! 119 days to go! 59 days until FP window opens up!