I should be getting ready for India - A Pre-trip report

[tabrizia]

Okay I'm going to try a pre-trip report, my last two trip reports kind of fizzled out, but maybe I can keep my pre-trip report going. I can try anyways.

So hi, I'm Sarah also known as Baab (which is toddler speak for ****) around here, yes my son calls me ****, I am just so proud. Anyways to introduce our cast.

First off is Me, Sarah, I'm 30 (eek how did that happen?). Happily married for 7 years, and living in Maryland with DH and the toddler.

Next is DH, Dan he's 31, and a great DH and father. He likes Disney and we went to Disney for our honeymoon. He is a computer programmer and all around geek, which is fine, since I'm pretty much a geek as well.

Then there is DS, Desmond, he's 17 months old. He is a bundle of energy. The boy is exhausting! He is always on the go and always eating. He has huge feet as well, we just bought him new shoes yesterday, because it has been a month, he's up to a size 7 and a half extra wide, hopefully this pair will last at least 6 weeks, a girl can dream right? DS has been to Disney once, well twice if you count in utero. We took him last year when he was 5 months old and he seemed to enjoy himself. Which is good, since he doesn't really have a choice yet about where we go on vacation and DH and I like Disney so he gets to come along.

We also have bean, bean will be coming on our Disney trips with us, we are not sure if bean is a boy or a girl yet, we'll find out after India on November 11th. bean likes to flutter around in my tummy, they have been a good bean so far and I've had no morning sickness (yay! knock on wood). Bean is due in March, 10 days before my birthday. Desmond was born in April 10 days after my birthday. This will play into our planning.

The last member of our household is K-line. K-line is a 6 year old Jack Russell Terrier. He thinks he is ruler, though he is beginning to figure out that he has been deposed by Desmond. He isn't completely happy about that, though he does get a lot more scraps now with the toddler always eating and pushing food into the dogs mouth as well. So he doesn't mind too much.


Other people who will be included either in various posts or in the actual trip are:

My Mom and Dad, we'll call them Nonnie and Grandpa, they are both in their 50s and love having a grandchild and will love having 2 even more. Desmond is their first grandchild (I'm the oldest of 4). They live in Atlanta, and my Mom is up every 6 weeks or so to visit Desmond. We see my Dad every 3 months or so, since he doesn't get to travel to Maryland as often, he normally ends up in middle of nowhere small towns with small banks for his job.

My in-laws, we'll call them Dadi (my mother in law) and Dada (my father in law) since that is what Desmond calls them. They are in their 60s. They love their grandchild as well and will love their second one just as much. DH is an only child, so all grandchildren they get are coming from us. They live about 40 minutes away so we see them weekly.

Okay intros are now out of the way now on to the pre-trip report.

 

[tabrizia]

First off the title of this pre-trip report. See we are leaving for India with Desmond and my in-laws in just about 4 weeks. We'll be there for just over 2 weeks, my in-laws will be there for 5 weeks.

It is a family trip, my father in law is from India, he immigrated here 40 some years ago, and ended up meeting my mother in law, falling in love, getting married and staying here. All his family is still back in India. DS went over three times as a child, and we went once about 5 years ago to introduce me as well. This trip is to introduce everyone to Desmond and Desmond to everyone.

In other words we aren't doing much tourist stuff, and I don't really get to plan anything for the trip other then what to pack. I like planning, not getting to plan a trip makes me itchy. So does the thought of 15+ hours on an airplane non-stop from the US to India, but I'm sure it will all work out, if not hope you aren't on our flight!

So onto the Disney part of this trip report. My parents want to take Desmond to Disney. We had discussed it briefly when we went on vacation with them this summer and thought that 2009 would be good. DH and I really want to go for the Christmas stuff, my Mom wants to go when it is still hot enough to take Desmond swimming. Oh and my parents have a timeshare down there so we'd be staying off site. DH and I discussed it and decided that we'd suggest October, since we like Halloween (okay we love Halloween we are really unhappy to be missing Halloween this year thanks to India), and we had a lot of fun last year when we went to the Halloween party. My parents agreed that October sounds good. So we're heading to the world next October 2009 for 8 days 7 nights at Cypress Point. Don't know when yet since my Dad can't reserve the room till a year out and it isn't quite a year out. I'm suggesting over October 25th though, since it is my Mom's birthday and who doesn't want to celebrate their birthday at Disney.

Okay so we have a trip, but wait, there isn't just 1 trip planed. There isn't? Nope! I am on a messageboard with people who had baby's in April 2007 and we want to do a 2009 reunion at Disney World. Well that sounds good to me. So we've narrowed down the dates to fall 2009, looking like September because people want free dining. The only problem we aren't sure DH is going to come, so it may just be me, DS and bean. Yes I may be attempting Disney World solo with a 6 month old and a 2 and a half year old. Wish me luck.

So now we have two trips. If we're going twice I need to get an AP anyways. And DH and I had talked about taking a week after vacation with my parents so we can do Disney our way. But wait, I'm going to have this AP, maybe instead of doing the week right after we are there with my parents we should go in March 2010. Why March 2010? Well remember Baby bean is due in March 10 days before my birthday and Desmond was born 10 days after my birthday. We can celebrate my 32nd birthday, bean's 1st birthday and Desmond's 3rd birthday all in one trip. Oh and one last free trip for Desmond, double bonus!

So now our plans are 3 trips in 6 months! Some how I don't think I'm going to get DH to go for the December 2009 trip or the December 2010 trip, oh well he'll go for a December 2011 trip.

 

[tabrizia]

Honestly I don't know! I know we're staying at Cypress Point for the October trip. We are still not sure when we/I and children are going in September. If DH comes we are thinking about POP again, we were fine with it last September, and we are trying to go semi-cheap. If DH isn't coming though, I need to be on the monorail with two under 3 on my own. So I'm leaning towards the Contemporary. Okay I'm leaning towards the Grand Floridian because I love that resort, but the wallet is leaning towards the Contemporary.

For spring I think we're thinking Animal Kingdom Lodge again, though we might look at Wilderness Lodge or even renting DVC points. Since with DVC points we can stay at Animal Kingdom, and we really do like the resort, and with DH there I don't mind only having buses to deal with.

The goal however is to get a pin code or a nice AP discount, so we don't have to pay full price. Since if we have to pay full price POP isn't too bad, and with three trips in one year, well there goes the vacation budget.

Anyways if I end up with any readers other then me just babbling to myself, what resorts do you like? It will either be me and two under 3s or DH and me and 2 under 3s, so we can do 4 person rooms fairly easily.

 

[tabrizia]

So obviously for the October trip we can't do the dining plan. For the September trip, even with free dining I don't really think it is worth it, especially if it ends up being just me and the two small ones.

Also with the changes made to the plan for 2008 and going forward, it doesn't really fit our eating style. DH and I both like appetizers, I like deserts but seldom get them, and DH rarely likes desert. Oh and we'll have to pay for the short one unless we only do buffets since he tends to eat more then me and will need his own meal. He is a really good eater, and by spring 2010 we may have to get him adult meals because the kids meals are kind of boring and not really things he'll be overly interested in, he likes spices and sauces sides other then mashed potatoes. I think we're leaning towards getting the Dining Experience Card or whatever it is called now, and just paying out of pocket for meals.

Speaking of meals I do have a tentative plan for some of the meals already. Yes I am thinking about restaurants a year or 18 months in advanced, doesn't everyone?

For the September Trip if the group does meals I am thinking:
1. Donald's Breakfastsaurus
2. Crystal Palace

If they don't and I am solo, I'm thinking mostly counter service, with maybe a sit down restaurant or two, but not buffets because dealing with two munchkins and a buffet does not sound like my idea of fun. Maybe:
1. Coral Reef or the Wave
2. Character Meal (are there non-buffet ones?)

If DH comes I am thinking:
1. Crystal Palace
2. Liberty Tree Tavern (Lunch)
3. The Wave
4. Spoodles or Le Cellier or Jiko

Oh one food thing, DH is pescetarian (he only eats fish no other meat) because he is allergic to meat, or intolerant to be correct. Desmond is also being raised pescetarian, I eat meat if we eat out, not at home though. This can make dining choices a bit more limiting because DH can not have meat or he'll be sick the rest of the day, which means we look for restaurants that have good fish choices, and good fish children's meals can be tough to find. It also means we don't do many buffets because they can be infected by someone carelessly putting a spoon in the wrong container, which will make DH sick for the rest of the day. So when we do sit down meals we do tend to avoid most buffets.

Anyways for our October trip I'm thinking my parents will be willing to do two sit down meals at the world. I'm leaning towards:
1. Crystal Palace (DS really likes Pooh)
2. Coral Reef (he loves fish too)

My biggest problem with Coral Reef is when we were there last year the food sucked, so I'm kind of leery about trying it again. I'm trying to think of somewhere else to go that DS will enjoy as much as watching the fishes while he eats his fish though.

My parents will also babysit one night so DH and I can go out to dinner, I'm not sure if bean will stay with them or come with us, but we're thinking:
1.Narcoossee's

We love Narcoossee's it has been our favorite meal both times we've gone and we both really want to go back.


Now for March we're not really sure what we'll do for meals, part will depend on how long we're there. I'm thinking:
1. Character Buffet
2. Narcoosee's or Artist Point (maybe both?)
3. Le Cellier or Yachtman's Steakhouse
4. and 5. not sure what would work with a 1 and 3 year old, suggestions?

 

[tabrizia]

So since our/my plans for both September and October rely on others DH and I were discussing the March trip today in the car while driving to a friend's house, DS was napping in the backseat. We decided we'll stay from Sunday till the following weeks Friday, not 6 days, but 13 days. This means we'll drive down starting on that Friday and either get in on Saturday (stay off site most likely or at the POP if rooms are available) or Sunday depending on how DS and bean handle the drive, and how DH handles the drive. I don't drive highways, so he has to drive the whole way, which means we always split the trip into two to three days depending on how he feels.

Normally on the way down it is two day and on the way back it is three days, but we don't know how an almost 3 year old and a 1 year old will handle the car ride, so we want to give ourselves that extra day buffer on the way down. On the way back we almost always take three days, so that we can spend some time in the parks or DtD before we leave.

We also decided we'd really prefer Deluxe if possible because we really need two queen beds rather then two doubles or 1 King, we could do the King we would just need to bring a bed for DS, but everyone would be more comfy in Queens.

We also decided we're likely going to drive, because cost wise it will be about equal to flying and we really like having the car with us, especially with two littles. I'll likely keep an eye out for Dings as we get closer to our dates (you know at least towards the end of 2009 ), but mostly we'll drive for the March trip.

We are planning on flying for the September trip and flying and renting a car for the October trip, because they will be shorter and the 5 day travel time is a bit of a pain.

As for dates for the March 2010 trip, no clue yet, still need the bean to be born to really plan on a date, I'm leaning towards the 21st of March through the 2nd of April though, since we'll be there for my birthday then (hey it is a birthday trip for all three of us, but I'm the mama I want it to fall over my birthday!), but it could easily go earlier by a week (though I really hope not I don't want to leave Disney on my birthday talk about a let down) or a week later, or even 2 weeks earlier, isn't likely to go much later since we want to go while DS is still 2 so he is free at least ticket wise.

So those are the updates for today, we decided we're driving for the March trip and it will be a 13 day trip, which should be nice and relaxing with two toddlers, well as relaxing as anything can be with two toddlers.

 

[tabrizia]

So I was reading someone's trip report and they mentioned the Grand Floridian tea in it. Which got me thinking, I really really really want to do this. However, my DH doesn't like tea. I also don't think my DS will be likely to sit through something like a high tea. But wait! Our trip in October, my parents are coming, my Mom loves tea, where else would I have inherited my love with tea from... Hmm I bet I could leave DS, DH, and bean (or even take bean) with my Dad for an afternoon and have my Mom and me sneak away to tea at the Grand Floridian. So added to my October plans is the Grand Floridian tea with my Mom, I think she'll enjoy it and it sounds like a good Mother Daughter thing, plus I really don't want to go alone to it.

 

[tabrizia]

So I was just thinking, hmm I wonder when Easter in 2010 is. So I looked it up. Looks like we won't be going 21st of March through the 2nd of April, because Easter is April 4th and we are not going the week before Easter, since we can avoid it. Which means we'll either go the week before and leave on my birthday (boo leaving on my birthday) or go the week before that and not be there for my birthday at all. We just know there is no way we're going for anytime right around Easter, we can deal with some crowds, but not Easter crowds, if we wanted crowds like that we would go Christmas week (which we are still debating at some point in time).

So it looks like a slight change to dates, which isn't a huge problem since we have booked or finalized dates yet anyways. Boo Easter messing up the dates I want to go to Disney!

 

[tabrizia]

Not actually anything new to really post today. No new plans or anything, we also didn't do anything to get ready for India yesterday and we probably won't do anything today. Oh yeah I did get DH to agree that December 2011 sounded like a good time to go after our visits in 2009 and 2010, so that is nice. We both really want to see the Christmas stuff done up Disney style and 2011 is our 10th anniversary year so it seems like a good time to do it, plus bean will still be free, so double bonus.

So since there isn't much to report I figure I'd amuse you with cute pictures of DS last year at Disney. Since there are few things cuter then a 5 month old at Disney World. I still need to upload our photopass photos, I may get around to that sometime this year.

 

[tabrizia]

Okay so looking at prices and thinking about it I think we are going to go earlier then end of March for our March trip. I stay at home DS and bean won't be in school, so we can go when we want, so why would we want to go when it is super crowded and more expensive over spring break rather then going a month before and having much lower crowds, oh and having it cost a lot less.

So although it would have been a ton of fun to actually be in Disney World over my birthday, I think we're going to do our 1st, 32nd, 3rd combined birthday celebration at the end of February/beginning of March since that way we save the money, and we'll all still have fun. Depending when bean comes it could still be over their birthday, which would be neat.

 

[tabrizia]

Seriously I have nothing to update today, no plans made, changed or even thought about. I am planning on starting my scrapbook from our 2007 trip this weekend though, I just need to start printing out pictures, I've got paper, I've got stickers, I've got a cutting machine though not the cool one. Of course I need to find my notes from the trip, which are a bit lacking, I think they list ADRs and what parks we might have gone to, but it should work out since I'll have cute infant at Disney Pictures and that is all that really matters.

Seriously though haven't done anything today about the Disney trips, then again since I still have at least a year till the first one, I am not to worried about it yet, once I have a date though I'll start thinking about booking a room and planning my parks.

I do have new pictures of DS though, so you can have some cute pictures of my 17 month old to tide you over, till the pretrip report starts taking off. Not that anyone is really reading this trip report anyways, and I'm mainly using it to entertain myself, but that works and keeps me happy.

In other news still not doing anything to get ready for India either, probably should start figuring out what I'm bringing with me soon. Maybe next week, maybe not.

 

[Alysa]

I'm reading! Hi! What a cute little pooh bear you have! He's adorable!
Have you decided where you are staying? We have stayed at both - WL is my fav and AKL is my sisters favourite. I think it depends on what you like. Both are lovely resorts.
You'll love the tea at the GF - it was wonderful!
One of my hausband's best friends is in India working right now and he keeps sending us the most divine photos. I feel your pain about the flight though. We did Korea last spring. Words can't describe.

 

[tabrizia]

I think we're really leaning towards Animal Kingdom for the Feb/March 2010 trip, we stayed there for our 5th anniversary trip and loved it, since we'll have a car transportation isn't a big issue with that trip, so if we can get an AP or other discount there I think that's what we'll go with (if we can't and can get one at Wilderness, we'll go there instead).

For the September trip we are about 95% certain I'm going solo with the two infants, so I'm really leaning towards the Contemporary for that one, just because I think being on the monorail line will be really useful with not having a car and having to deal with two under 3 on my own. I do kind of like the idea of Wilderness Lodge there though, and they do have a boat to Magic Kingdom so I'm still debating that one a bit. It will really come down to which I feel more comfortable with once bean arrives, but I'm thinking it is likely going to be the Contemporary.

Which means no Wilderness Lodge in the next few trips, I do want to stay there though maybe I'll try to get DH to agree to it for the Feb/March trip and then we'll do Animal Kingdom for our December 2011 trip instead.

Yeah I am really not looking forward to the flight, we really wanted one with a nice 6 or 7 hour layover so DS would have time to run around rather then being stuck on an airplane for 15+ hours straight, but the cheapest flight was the direct flight, ugh. I think I may actually do some India trip preparing stuff this weekend and stop at the dollar store to get him some new toys and such to surprise him with on the plane and hopefully keep him somewhat entertained.

 

[tabrizia]

No real Disney planning went on over the weekend. We did finally start getting ready for India though. We went out to Target and bought a bunch of supplies we needed, which will be used for the Disney trip as well most likely. We also checked out our Dollar Store to look for small toys for DS on the plane. We can to the realization that our Dollar Store sucks. Compared to what I've heard some people found at theirs ours is cluttered with a bunch of stuff that was of no interest unless I wanted to give my 18 month old a toy gun to play with on the plane, and somehow I don't think TSA would approve.

Other then that though we didn't do a lot this weekend, we did talk about the Disney trip a bit, but didn't come up with any new information. I'm hoping to book our room for our September trip next year shortly after we get back from India, I'll have to see if the people I'm going with have decided on a date by then or not.

 

[Alysa]

unless I wanted to give my 18 month old a toy gun to play with on the plane, and somehow I don't think TSA would approve.

What you need is Dollarama - do they have those in the States?
Excellent for Disney toys!

 

[tabrizia]

What you need is Dollarama - do they have those in the States?
Excellent for Disney toys!

Nope Dollarama seems to be Canadian only, oh well.

This past weekend was super busy we got DS' 18 month pictures taken, we went apple picking and we went to the Zoo.

Didn't do much as for preparing for Disney, I did move Wilderness Lodge off my list for the solo with two under 3 trip though, their quick service restaurant seems a bit lacking in the types of food both me and DS eat.

We also didn't do anything to get ready for India, which we leave for in just under 2 week eek!

 

[tabrizia]

So yesterday I saw the Disney Cruise information for summer 2010 so I looked up prices, since the Northern Europe tour sounded so nice. I think we'll wait a few years, it is just a bit out of our budget even at the lowest cabin cost, oh well. We did look up the cost of a 7 day Carribean Cruise in 2009 though, and that looks likes something we can afford cost wise, so I'm think that for our 2011 10th anniversary trip we might do a 7 day cruise and then a week at Disney afterward or before.

Of course that is awhile off and not technically part of this pretrip report since this one is for the 2 2009 and 1 2010 trips, but that's okay.

 

[tabrizia]

Well we're back from India and Thanksgiving at my parents and everything has settled down here more or less. No more real traveling till July with bean coming in March. We did learn that bean is a girl which should be fun.

Anyways DH and I were discussing the Disney Trips again yesterday, and I don't really have many updates, I don't know if the September trip is going to happen or not, I'll check with people in January, waiting that long kind of gives me the shivers, since it is such a short time between scheduling and the trip (okay so some would say 9 months isn't a short time per say).

My Dad is working on getting us reservations for October for that trip and it is definitely a go, just have to get the timeshare set. DH and I have agreed we will get Annual Passes and go in February of 2010 for the three birthdays, even though it is a month early. We figure we'll skip the water park part of the passes since we are unlikely to go more then maybe once in October, and probably not at all in February, so we'll just buy the daily tickets if we do go. We did discuss making the February trip a bit shorter, so we'll have to wait and decide when it gets a little closer in as to what we want to do about that.

Other then that not much else happening here with Disney planning, though it is now under a year to the first trip, yay!

 

[tabrizia]

So my Dad just booked the time share for our October trip, we'll be going October 23rd (or 24th he may still change it a day later) till October 30th, though our family is going to go ahead and book 2 days at Disney (or 1 if he changes the date to one day later) to stay till November 1st I think.

It will be lots of fun we'll be doing Disney over my Mom's birthday and Halloween, should be great! Now to figure out restaurants and basic park plans.


Now I just need to figure out if I'm going in September or not and DH and I need to figure out when and how long we'll be going for in February 2010, though that can probably wait till April or so after the baby is here if needed.

 

[tabrizia]

So my father changed the dates to the 24th through the 31st, I couldn't find a good way to tell him we prefered Friday to Friday so we could do on-site the 30th - 1st. We'll be getting a room at POP! most likely for the 31st through the 2nd though, since airfare is likely be far cheaper on Monday then Sunday, I may even make it though the 3rd, and then cancel the last night depending on what kind of airfare deal I can get.

I still am not sure what is going on with the September trip, I need to see if people are still doing it or not, I'm actually kind of leaning towards not doing it because doing Disney solo with a 2 and a half year old and 6 month old kind of scares me, plus it would let us save up money for the February trip instead. I'll just have to wait and see to decide on that though.

 

[tabrizia]

So plans have been changed again. We just canceled the plans for the 2010 February trip. I just looked up when Value ended and Prime season begins for 2009, and since the time in February when we would want to be there, would be under prime season, we decided it wasn't worth it.

Going a bit earlier to stay in Value season didn't work out right either, it made it a bit to close to our October/November trip. So we're going to push the trip back till December 2010 or possibly even December 2011 and figure something else out as a birthday trip, or maybe just skip the idea all together.

That being said we think we are going to extend our October trip in 2009 a couple of extra days more then the 1 or 2 we were planning, so we may stay till Wednesday or Thursday instead of leaving on Sunday or Monday, which would be nice. We'll probably decide that soon so I can book our rooms at Disney in the next month or two. It does mean we won't be getting annual passes though since the two trips won't be within a year of each other, and we will have to pay for DS' ticket on the second trip, but with how much we'd save not going during prime season his ticket is paid for in 2 days anyways.