GillianP1301
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Jun 22, 2012
- Messages
- 3,325
I have decided to go ahead and start a PTR. I'm still pretty new to this board and have planned a relatively last minute (in DIS standards) trip that happens at the end of next month. Mostly, I'm doing this as a way to keep a journal of the days leading up to and the trip itself. If a catch a few of you along the way to share the journey, then that's cool too! 
I hope I'm doing this right...
The details
Flying from Toronto on Aug 26. Staying at CBR in a Pirate Suite for 8 nights with free DDP. 6 day park passes (no hopper) and 2 days offsite planned. Flying home again on Sept 3. Renting a car at MCO for the duration.
The cast
I'm Gillian, planner extraordinaire! Some people (like my DH) may call it OCDish, but whatever, it's fun for me. I can't imagine going anywhere without a plan, let alone WDW. I'm 42, work full time as a Project Manager (might as well have a job where I can plan stuff too, right?) and I'm mommy to the best every 4 year old. My love for Disney really flourished in my teen years and was capped by my first trip to WDW when I was 16 years old. Since then, DH and I have been there twice (both times offsite stays) and I've also managed a quick trip to Disneyland on a business trip.
DH is Alan, 44 years old, also a Project Manager, yet he, unlike me, can't stand to plan anything for vacations. Seeing how I'm a complete control freak, this works out well for our relationship. This coming October, we will be celebrating our 20th anniverasy. Wow! He's not really a Disney fan at all and really only tolerates it for me and now for our son as well. He'll have fun, but he may not admit it.
DS is Aidan, he's 4 1/2 years old and awesome! He's my little miracle baby that came after several years of infertility and 6 rounds of IVF. Truly the one time in my life that my stubborness paid off. He's stupid excited about the trip and has been watching old school Disney videos for weeks now. He's really enjoying Pooh the most at the moment, so I think that would have to be his favourite character at the moment.
Summary of the planning so far
This trip was a pretty last minute decision. We were all set to go to Lake George, NY for a week in July. Then, somewhere in early June, I started to get a feeling that maybe WDW would be a better choice. I had always thought I'd wait until DS was about 6 or 7 for his first trip, plus I wasn't sure about budget. But then one night, I started looking around the WDW website and pricing stuff out and realized that it was much more realitsic than I had imagined. And so started the planning wheels in motion.
First step... convince DH. This took a few days of hard selling and I may or may not have fudged slightly on some of the prices I quoted to decrease the amount of resistance (what do you mean I didn't say that was before tax amount? No idea what you're talking about, hon.
). I manage our finances anyway, so I know much better than he what we can and can't afford. So finally, after a few days of convincing I got the "go ahead and book it". 
Based on all the searches and scenarios that I input, I ended up with the best option for us being the last week of August on free dining at CBR. DH really liked the look of CBR the best of all the moderates, so that made the resort decision pretty easy. The fact that they have pirate suites clinched the deal because DS thinks that is beyond cool. So, I went ahead and booked in early June.
First thing my friend told me (another DISer) was check out DIS and get ADRs booked STAT! I gotta tell you, I had no clue what the heck ADRs were all about and knew even less about how insane that whole process can be. I spent days and days searched, booking, cancelling, repeat, repeat, until I finally got a plan that I was happy with and that still had availability.
I also got into touring plans and discovered the magic of green/yellow/red days and factored that into my itinirary planning.
With all that info in hand, I developed my itinary. Things have been tweaked here and there, but this is pretty final at this point. It's worth noting that I'm trying to keep this as easy going/go with the flow as I can while still trying to take advantage of ADRs and trying to avoid red park days. I'm fully prepared for changes on the fly and adapting to whatever my DS is enjoying the most.
Day 1 - Flight arrives at MCO at 1:00ish. Pick up rental car at MCO and head to CBR. Stop at a super market on the way to the resort and pick up some snacks and drinks for the room. I anticipate checking in around 3:00ish. I have no set plans for that afternoon/evening. This is the extra or 6th day on our park tickets just in case I find DS is really wanting to get going. If he does, we'll head to MK for a few hours, eat a QS somewhere in the park and back to the room in time to get to bed as close to normal time as possible (8pm for him).
Day 2 - ADR at Cape May for 7:45. This is early and I'm still trying to get it a bit later. DS usually wakes up around 7:00ish or can sleep in until after 8:00, you never know. He'll be really excited and based on past vacations when he's excited, he'll be up early. Planned park for this day is Epcot. On our list of must do/see is the Living Seas stuff since DS loves anything to do with ocean animals/life. We have a 5:30 ADR at Biergarten (DH's favourite). We may go back to the resort in the afternoon or may not. It will all depend on how DS is making out.
Day 3 - ADR at CP at 8:15. This is our MK day and I really wanted a chance to get in there pre-RD. I think this will be DS' favourite characters. I plan to focus Fantasyland and Adventureland. I have a Pirates League appointment for him at 3:30 that afternoon. We will likely head back to the resort after that and chill until our 8:15 ADR for the dessert party. This will be a late night for DS and really the only planned.
Day 4 - Offsite day, no ADRs. We're going to Islands of Adventure at Universal with the specific goal of hanging out at Seuss Landing. DS is a HUGE Dr. Seuss fan, way more so than Disney. We could not do this trip with him without having this on our schedule. No clue how long we'll hang out there, we'll play it by ear. We plan to hit Old Towne (Kissimmee) for the cruise night in the late afternoon/evening.
Day 5 - Offsite day, no ADRs. DH will not go to Florida without a trip to Gatorland. He went when he was a kid and has to go every time he's there. I find it cheesey, but hey, I'm getting 6 days at WDW parks, I think I can throw him a bone.
DS really wants to go to a beach and since it seems crazy to be that close to the ocean and not see it, we've decided to head to Cocoa Beach for the afternoon. Love it there!
Day 6 - ADR at Hollywood & Vine at 8:20. This is our HS day. Must do/see here is the TSM. I'm hoping to find some way to ditch the boys and get on ToT because it's my very favourite ride. Like my other park days, I'm playing it by ear as to whether or not to go back to the resort for a break with the intention of staying up later for fireworks or go through until dinner at the park and head back to the resort for a normal bed time. It'll be interesting to see how that plays out. I have an ADR for dinner at Sci-Fi at 4:00. I'm hoping that we actually don't do a resort break this day because I really don't want to miss out on that ressie.
Day 7 - ADR at Tusker House at 8:00. Because of my profession, I'm always thinking risk mitigation. So, I also have a lunch ADR booked there too. If I'm finding that DS is leaning more towards sleeping later, I'll switch my breakfast ADRs for lunches. AK is our park for the day and I have a 4:30 ADR at Rain Forest Cafe.
Day 8 - Our last full day and the one I'm trying to keep up in the air. Ideally, I would see us going back to MK on this day and covering off Tomorrowland and Frontierland stuff. I have an ADR at Liberty Tree for supper that night.
Day 9 - Breakfast ADR at Ohanas and then hang at the resort until it's time to leave for the airport. We fly out mid afternoon.
Well, that's it for now. I'll add some more later on the flip flopping I've done (especially on ADRs), my obsession with trying to find a Chef Mickey's ADR and other random ramblings like packing lists, luggage, etc...
I hope I'm doing this right...The details
Flying from Toronto on Aug 26. Staying at CBR in a Pirate Suite for 8 nights with free DDP. 6 day park passes (no hopper) and 2 days offsite planned. Flying home again on Sept 3. Renting a car at MCO for the duration.
The cast
I'm Gillian, planner extraordinaire! Some people (like my DH) may call it OCDish, but whatever, it's fun for me. I can't imagine going anywhere without a plan, let alone WDW. I'm 42, work full time as a Project Manager (might as well have a job where I can plan stuff too, right?) and I'm mommy to the best every 4 year old. My love for Disney really flourished in my teen years and was capped by my first trip to WDW when I was 16 years old. Since then, DH and I have been there twice (both times offsite stays) and I've also managed a quick trip to Disneyland on a business trip.
DH is Alan, 44 years old, also a Project Manager, yet he, unlike me, can't stand to plan anything for vacations. Seeing how I'm a complete control freak, this works out well for our relationship. This coming October, we will be celebrating our 20th anniverasy. Wow! He's not really a Disney fan at all and really only tolerates it for me and now for our son as well. He'll have fun, but he may not admit it.
DS is Aidan, he's 4 1/2 years old and awesome! He's my little miracle baby that came after several years of infertility and 6 rounds of IVF. Truly the one time in my life that my stubborness paid off. He's stupid excited about the trip and has been watching old school Disney videos for weeks now. He's really enjoying Pooh the most at the moment, so I think that would have to be his favourite character at the moment.
Summary of the planning so far
This trip was a pretty last minute decision. We were all set to go to Lake George, NY for a week in July. Then, somewhere in early June, I started to get a feeling that maybe WDW would be a better choice. I had always thought I'd wait until DS was about 6 or 7 for his first trip, plus I wasn't sure about budget. But then one night, I started looking around the WDW website and pricing stuff out and realized that it was much more realitsic than I had imagined. And so started the planning wheels in motion.
First step... convince DH. This took a few days of hard selling and I may or may not have fudged slightly on some of the prices I quoted to decrease the amount of resistance (what do you mean I didn't say that was before tax amount? No idea what you're talking about, hon.
). I manage our finances anyway, so I know much better than he what we can and can't afford. So finally, after a few days of convincing I got the "go ahead and book it". Based on all the searches and scenarios that I input, I ended up with the best option for us being the last week of August on free dining at CBR. DH really liked the look of CBR the best of all the moderates, so that made the resort decision pretty easy. The fact that they have pirate suites clinched the deal because DS thinks that is beyond cool. So, I went ahead and booked in early June.
First thing my friend told me (another DISer) was check out DIS and get ADRs booked STAT! I gotta tell you, I had no clue what the heck ADRs were all about and knew even less about how insane that whole process can be. I spent days and days searched, booking, cancelling, repeat, repeat, until I finally got a plan that I was happy with and that still had availability.
I also got into touring plans and discovered the magic of green/yellow/red days and factored that into my itinirary planning.
With all that info in hand, I developed my itinary. Things have been tweaked here and there, but this is pretty final at this point. It's worth noting that I'm trying to keep this as easy going/go with the flow as I can while still trying to take advantage of ADRs and trying to avoid red park days. I'm fully prepared for changes on the fly and adapting to whatever my DS is enjoying the most.
Day 1 - Flight arrives at MCO at 1:00ish. Pick up rental car at MCO and head to CBR. Stop at a super market on the way to the resort and pick up some snacks and drinks for the room. I anticipate checking in around 3:00ish. I have no set plans for that afternoon/evening. This is the extra or 6th day on our park tickets just in case I find DS is really wanting to get going. If he does, we'll head to MK for a few hours, eat a QS somewhere in the park and back to the room in time to get to bed as close to normal time as possible (8pm for him).
Day 2 - ADR at Cape May for 7:45. This is early and I'm still trying to get it a bit later. DS usually wakes up around 7:00ish or can sleep in until after 8:00, you never know. He'll be really excited and based on past vacations when he's excited, he'll be up early. Planned park for this day is Epcot. On our list of must do/see is the Living Seas stuff since DS loves anything to do with ocean animals/life. We have a 5:30 ADR at Biergarten (DH's favourite). We may go back to the resort in the afternoon or may not. It will all depend on how DS is making out.
Day 3 - ADR at CP at 8:15. This is our MK day and I really wanted a chance to get in there pre-RD. I think this will be DS' favourite characters. I plan to focus Fantasyland and Adventureland. I have a Pirates League appointment for him at 3:30 that afternoon. We will likely head back to the resort after that and chill until our 8:15 ADR for the dessert party. This will be a late night for DS and really the only planned.
Day 4 - Offsite day, no ADRs. We're going to Islands of Adventure at Universal with the specific goal of hanging out at Seuss Landing. DS is a HUGE Dr. Seuss fan, way more so than Disney. We could not do this trip with him without having this on our schedule. No clue how long we'll hang out there, we'll play it by ear. We plan to hit Old Towne (Kissimmee) for the cruise night in the late afternoon/evening.
Day 5 - Offsite day, no ADRs. DH will not go to Florida without a trip to Gatorland. He went when he was a kid and has to go every time he's there. I find it cheesey, but hey, I'm getting 6 days at WDW parks, I think I can throw him a bone.
DS really wants to go to a beach and since it seems crazy to be that close to the ocean and not see it, we've decided to head to Cocoa Beach for the afternoon. Love it there!Day 6 - ADR at Hollywood & Vine at 8:20. This is our HS day. Must do/see here is the TSM. I'm hoping to find some way to ditch the boys and get on ToT because it's my very favourite ride. Like my other park days, I'm playing it by ear as to whether or not to go back to the resort for a break with the intention of staying up later for fireworks or go through until dinner at the park and head back to the resort for a normal bed time. It'll be interesting to see how that plays out. I have an ADR for dinner at Sci-Fi at 4:00. I'm hoping that we actually don't do a resort break this day because I really don't want to miss out on that ressie.
Day 7 - ADR at Tusker House at 8:00. Because of my profession, I'm always thinking risk mitigation. So, I also have a lunch ADR booked there too. If I'm finding that DS is leaning more towards sleeping later, I'll switch my breakfast ADRs for lunches. AK is our park for the day and I have a 4:30 ADR at Rain Forest Cafe.
Day 8 - Our last full day and the one I'm trying to keep up in the air. Ideally, I would see us going back to MK on this day and covering off Tomorrowland and Frontierland stuff. I have an ADR at Liberty Tree for supper that night.
Day 9 - Breakfast ADR at Ohanas and then hang at the resort until it's time to leave for the airport. We fly out mid afternoon.
Well, that's it for now. I'll add some more later on the flip flopping I've done (especially on ADRs), my obsession with trying to find a Chef Mickey's ADR and other random ramblings like packing lists, luggage, etc...
