HOW many spreadsheets did you make? An August 2012 PTR

[Graykamirat]

Hi, Everyone!

As I close in on the 100 day countdown for our trip in August, I realize that it might be nice if I did something to motivate myself to write a trip report after we return. My family will be staying at the AoA Resort in the Finding Nemo wing from August 6 to August 11.

Now, introductions:

ME
I am a full time cardiology nurse and a full time mom. I also get a little intense about vacation planning. My typical time frame is six months before a trip, but for WDW I stepped it up and booked our room in September 2011. I went to Disney three time as a kid and once with my DH, but I have never stayed on property before. I have also never used the dining plan before, so this is an intense learning curve for me.

DH
Mike is a full time banker, part time local pastor and all around nice guy. He never really got to go on family vacations as a kid, and he's had a little bit of sticker shock through the whole process of planning this vacation. He looks at my reams of paperwork and planning material and just shakes his head, but I know he's excited, too.

DD16
Bekah, my stepdaughter, will be 17 by the time we go to Disney. She has been once before, but with friends and not family. She is excited about the dining reservations and EPCOT. Her biggest challenge will be remembering to charge her phone, since it ALWAYS seems to be nearly dead.

DS15
Caleb, my stepson, will be 16 by the time we go to Disney. He, too, has only been to Disney once. Caleb is looking forward to Downtown Disney, which he hasn't been able to visit before, and the resort pool. We are still in negotiations over DisneyQuest.

DD5
Izzie is the embodiment of a Disney princess. She's cute, but she's also tough and knows how to speak her mind. She's never been to Disney before, nor has she been on an airplane. Izzie has made it clear she has no intentions on riding Dinosaur, but she is still considering Expedition Everest.

That's what I have time for right now, but I look forward to sharing my wishes and expectations for this trip later, and hopefully getting some feedback, too. I have never been to Disney WITH children, so I know it's gonna be a trip in more ways than one. I also have never used a message board before, so I hope I can learn as I go!

Up next: ADRs.

 

[wuzzy6]

Hi! How exciting that you'll be traveling to WDW as a family for the first time! I'm looking forward to reading more!

By the way, we also live in ME!

 

[newlittleminnie]

Hi there I'm going in August too with my DBF and his family, we arrive the day you leave

I've just started my PTR too so i'm looking forward to reading the rest of yours!

How exciting is it now it's near the 100 day mark

 

[dananbethany]

 

[Graykamirat]

Thanks for checking out my report! Wuzzy6, we are in southern coastal Maine, and it's odd leaving one tourist town for another for vacation! Newlittleminnie, we begin our 100 day paper chain of fun Disney facts on Saturday. I can't believe it's that close this soon!

 

[wuzzy6]

Thanks for checking out my report! Wuzzy6, we are in southern coastal Maine, and it's odd leaving one tourist town for another for vacation!

I totally get it! When we lived in FL, people used to ask us all the time where we go when we vacation. Hello?! You have to go somewhere else to be a tourist when you live in a tourist town!!!

We live in Gorham, by the way. So, that makes us kind of neighbors!

 

[Graykamirat]

So, the first of the spreadsheets was an elaborate little ordeal that discussed the challenges and merits of each of the table service restaurants, where each of those restaurants was located, what sort of cuisine each establishment offered, and an average numerical rating from several reputable review websites.

Each member of the family that could read was given one of these summaries, and was told to select their top four choices. I had no idea there was going to be so much diversity in the selections made! We are using the Standard Dining plan, so I didn't want to exceed the number of TS restaurants covered by the plan and pay OOP for more meals than I absolutely have to, so narrowing it down was a little tough. If there was a restaurant that two or more people chose, I wanted to choose that restaurant, BUT if there was a restaurant that was unique to that person's 'top four' list, I didn't want to chuck that one out, either. How do you make these choices?

An important factor I took into consideration was I was hoping for a 'celebration occasion' for each member of the family. Caleb and Bekah both have summer birthdays, it's Izzie's first Disney trip, and Mike and my 10th anniversary happened to fall on one of the days of the trip. Celebration selection solved. How would I fit it into my ADRs? Well, here goes nothing. I sent my selections to my TA 2 days before my 180 day window and we had been looking at those lists for 2 months at that point!

So, here they are!

8/6 - 5:00 PM - Kouzzina
I am using this restaurant as the "Thank goodness we made it to Disney in one piece" dinner. No real celebration except for the fact that if we are eating here, it means we made our flight! All five of us are huge Iron Chef fans, and are looking forward to sampling a menu inspired by the only female chef on the panel. Plus, it's Greek food; how much fun is that? Opa!

8/7 - 12:00 PM - Akershus
Izzie's "First Trip" celebration, and Izzie's choice since it's a Princess meal. She will have had her BBB appointment that morning, and I am packing extra tissues this day! (Actually, I imagine I'll need extra tissues every day!)

8/8 - 7:00 PM - Teppan Edo
Caleb's "Birthday" celebration, and Caleb's first choice. At first, I was really hesitant to make this one of my selections, my various objections being, "Portland ME has really decent Japanese food; why are we going to Orlando for this?" and "I feel like some of the reviews have been hit or miss on this selection". Then I realized it wasn't about me, and it will be Caleb's first hibachi table. So onto the list it goes!

8/9 - 7:05 PM - Ohana
Bekah's "Birthday" celebration, and Bekah's third choice. This was another difficult decision. I had two people who had selected Kona, and this vote for Ohana, but NO ONE was interested in any of Bekah's other choices. So even though I was anxious about adding another family style/buffet/one food choice for everyone-type restaurant to the list, I think ultimately Ohana will be fun. The Poly is a resort that we wanted to explore a little further, and this will be a nice opportunity to see some of it. Besides, two words: Lapu Lapu!

8/10 - 6:00 PM - Boma
Our "10th anniversary" celebration - on the actual date of our anniversary! This was as close to a unanimous vote as we came on a selection. Even Bekah admitted it sounded neat when we got together to discuss it. I cook Ethiopian and South African cuisine at home, so we're hoping there are a few authentic selections on the buffet to sample. The variety is something we are all looking forward to as well, since trying new things is fun (I'm looking at you, Bekah and Izzie). The AKL is everyone's dream vacation destination, and we are hoping to stay here in the future.

Okay, must get Miss Izzie from school and enjoy some of the sunshine before the rain returns this weekend. Up next, the tentative itinerary (say that five times fast!) in thirty-minute increments, and why I am worried that staying at a new resort won't let me be prepared enough!!

 

[newlittleminnie]

Newlittleminnie, we begin our 100 day paper chain of fun Disney facts on Saturday. I can't believe it's that close this soon!

I know it seems so close now! But at the same time, it still seems too long to wait

I really like the way you picked your ADRs, it was nice of you to give everyone in the group a say, even if some of them wouldn't have been your choices

 

[Graykamirat]

I knew deciding where to stay had to come first, since there are five of us and I really didn't want to get two rooms this trip. I thought Port Orleans Riverside was the ONLY choice that made sense for my family in the early planning stages.

Then the Art of Animation Resort started showing up on Disney emails. And that resort had "Finding Nemo" themed rooms.

A little background on the reason we HAD to stay at "Finding Nemo". When DH and I got married, he had a custody schedule where he got the kids each weekend. I changed my work schedule to the night shift so I could spend more time with the kids when they visited. Lots of sleep deprivation ensued. It was SO worth it; I loved being around them and would have moved mountains to have those weekends together.

When DS and DD were 6 and 7 years old, a year into our marriage, their mom decided, for various reasons, to move from Maine to North Carolina. Needless to say it was tough for everyone. The last movie we saw as a family was "Finding Nemo". The message of protection and strength in the family unit, no matter how much distance separated that family, was very meaningful to us all. I only had to see a DVD cover for the movie for the next year to start crying all over again. Every time the kids came up north to visit, we would watch Nemo as a family. When they moved back to Maine two years ago, I began hatching my master plan for a family vacation. And it needed to be at the most magical place on earth: Walt Disney World!

But there's always a catch. As excited as I am about a family suite with a theme I adore, I am TERRIFIED to stay at a resort where I don't know the QS menu, don't know the bus schedule, haven't seen pictures of the rooms and don't know how comfortable the Inova beds will be. I like surprises as much as the next person, but I like being informed, too. Come on, May 31. Let's start seeing those pics and hearing about those guest experiences.


Now, if you saw my little daily schedule spreadsheets, they are color-coded based on location. They are separated into 30 minute intervals, detailing rides that MUST be experienced. I'll only subject my family to that sort of craziness. Obviously, I am ready to wring as much out of a Disney vacation as I can, without making everyone around me miserable. Without further ado, here's the game plan.

8/6 - Monday
7:30 AM - Flight departs Manchester, NH airport
10:30 AM - Flight arrives Orlando, FL airport
(Here's where things get fuzzy; I have no idea how long DME takes)
1:00 PMish - Arrive AoA resort, grab a snack/lunch, scope the layout
5:00 PM - Kouzzina ADR
6:30 PM - Downtown Disney
9:00 PM - Bedtime!

8/7 - Tuesday
8:00 AM - MK Bus
9:00 AM - BBB reservation for DD5
10-11 AM - Fantasyland/Tomorrowland
12:00 PM - Akershus ADR
1:30 PM - Resort
4:00 PM - HS Bus
9:00 PM - QS dinner/FANTASMIC!

8/8 - Wednesday
8:00 AM - EPCOT Bus
9:00 AM - EPCOT Future/QS lunch
1:00 PM - Resort
4:00 PM - EPCOT Bus
7:00 PM - Teppan Edo ADR
9:00 PM - ILLUMINATIONS

8/9 - Thursday
8:00 AM - AK Bus
9:00 AM -AK/QS Lunch
12:00 PM - Resort
3:00 PM - MK Bus
7:00 PM - Ohana ADR
9:00 PM - WISHES

8/10 - Friday
8:00 AM - HS Bus
9:00 AM - HS/QS Lunch
1:00 PM - Resort
4:00 PM - AK Bus
6:00 PM - Boma ADR
8:00 PM - EPCOT OR Resort (depending on energy level and what people want)

8/11 - Saturday
8:00AM - AK Bus
9:00 AM - AK/QS Lunch
12:00 PM - MK Bus
3:00 PM - Resort
4:00 PM - DME
7:30 PM - Depart Orlando, FL airport
10:30 PM - Arrive Manchester, NH airport

Of course, no one will be 'made' to do anything but the ADRs. If teenagers want to sleep in and not make rope drop, I get it. Okay, I don't really get it, but I'll try to be nice about it. I want this to be a family vacation, but I want it to be fun for everyone, too.

Next up: what do you mean, I can't take everything I could conceivably need for a 2 week trek in a jungle? or How do you decide what to pack for five people without paying a baggage fee equivalent to the cost of vacation?