I Wish I May, I Wish I Might, Don't Let Us Miss Our Flight! TR Started!!

[DisneyMomma09]

TR Started! Here is the link: Interpreting Toddler-Speak in Disney!

Welcome to my latest PTR! You may be familiar with some of us as we most recently stared in the TR Now I'm Really A Princess! If not, feel free to check us out!

The title of this PTR comes from our experience getting down to Orlando during our last trip. We live in northwestern PA, right near the lake, so needless to say, we get just a little bit of snow during the winter. And our last trip was at the end of February. Do you see where this story is going? The night before and the day we were supposed to leave on our trip, a HUGE blizzard came through. With many prayers, and a lot of luck, we happened to be on one of two Southwest flights that got out of Buffalo to Orlando that evening. It was a very stressful experience. I am hopeful that traveling in August leaves us with a much smaller chance of snow. (Of course, there is a joke about where we live. People say we have 2 seasons: Winter & August...ok, maybe that is just a little exaggeration)

Alright, now that we got that little story out of the way, maybe I should move onto the actual PTR. First off, for those who are not familiar with us (which is probably most of you), I should probably start with introductions. This trip we are a group of 6, with one additional person making a few appearances.

I will start with DH and I. My name is Ashleigh and DH is Dan. I am a special education teacher and Dan is an accountant. We have been married for 6 years, but have been together for 12 years! We are high school sweethearts and most of the time we are still in love.
Here we are:

Next up is DS. His name is Colby and he turned 2 in May. He is quite the character. It is hard to decide on just one picture of him, so here are a couple.

Alright, enough pictures of Colby...maybe...for now.

We are also traveling with my youngest brother Kory. He has traveled with DH and I on two other trips. He is quite the kid. He has Autism, ADHD and an anxiety disorder. He loves going to Disney with us and his favorite ride is The Wildest Ride in the Wilderness! Here he is from our last trip...as you can see, he can be quite the character!

Also joining us is my mom and my sister. They have not been to Disney since our last family trip in 2001, so I am excited to have them with us!
Here is my mom, with Colby, making Christmas Cookies.

And here they are reading one of Colby's favorite books:

Finally, my sister is joining us. Her name is Kylie. Here she is, all dolled up!

Also making an appearance or two is my SIL Katie. I ran the Princess 1/2 Marathon with Katie this past February. She lives in St. Cloud and is going to be shopping for us. She will also be joining us at least on Saturday for the day and dinner. She may pop in and out at other times as well, but she is a teacher and she will be back in school when we have out trip.
Here we are during the race in front of the castle!

So there we all are, in a nutshell! I am really looking forward to seeing what kind of adventures we have on this trip! Hope you enjoy following along with our plans!

 

[DisneyMomma09]

Table of Contents:
The When and The Where
ADR's
Park Plans

 

[DisneyMomma09]

Well, since I am a teacher, most of our Disney trips take place during the summer. The past few years we have gone in June. After discussing it with all the travelers, we decided to go in August this time. Once we got my school calendar for the 2011-2012 school year, we looked at flight prices. We actually found reasonable fares flying out of our local airport! I was excited about this as usually we drive 2 hours to either Buffalo or Pittsburgh. We booked our flights and set the vacation dates: August 16-23!

Next we had to decide on where we were going to stay. Many of our trips have been with my in-laws, who are DVC members, so they use their points for our hotel. This trip, however, we would not have that luxury. DH and I priced out the stay in some of the value and moderate resorts. We ended up deciding on Port Orleans French Quarter! I am pretty excited about trying a new resort!

 

[lbuzz52]

Hi Ashleigh!
Wow, you guys start school late. We start Aug 8. I can't wait to see what you think of POFQ. I'm leaning towards the princess rooms at POR next trip.

 

[Villainess]

Joining in! You should have lower crowds but still great theme park hours at that time in August. We don't start school until after Labor Day here.

 

[DisneyMomma09]

Hi Ashleigh!
Wow, you guys start school late. We start Aug 8. I can't wait to see what you think of POFQ. I'm leaning towards the princess rooms at POR next trip.

Thanks for stopping over! Yeah, we start pretty late this year. We are coming home on the 23rd and that is actually our first day of inservices, so I will be missing that. But it will be worth it!!

Joining in! You should have lower crowds but still great theme park hours at that time in August. We don't start school until after Labor Day here.

Welcome! I am hoping for lower crowds! That is part of the reason we are pushing the trip right up until the last moment of my summer break! That would be nice to start that late because you can hit WDW when all those FL kids are in school! But then when do you get out of school? Is it later in June?

 

[DisneyMomma09]

This update will be all about FOOD! Who doesn't LOVE eating while at Disney?? We sure do! I am very excited to take my mom and sister to some of our favorite places, as well as try some new ones! Our 180 days was before we booked our trip, so I just started making ADR's for all kinds of days and times until we officially booked. Then I cancelled the ones we would not need and fine tuned the ADR's we had.

We have decided to pay out of pocket this trip. We probably won't change our eating habbits too much. We usually eat breakfast in the room with the groceries SIL will bring to us. We like to eat one TS meal a day and then one CS meal. We figure we will probably spend a little less than we would on the DDP because we will be able to split CS meals since they are so large and we probably won't get dessert most of the time, or we might split a couple desserts.

Here are our ADR's:

Tuesday (Arrival Day): We have dinner ADR at 7:00 for Ohana. DH and I have gone to Ohana the last 2 trips and enjoyed it very much! I know it gets some mixed reviews here on the DIS, but we like it! I love the noodles and the shrimp and DH loves the steak!

Wednesday: Breakfast at the Crystal Palace! Our ADR is for 8:15, so before the park opens. I am soooo looking forward to the empty Main Street pictures!!

Thursday: Cape May Cafe @ 6:55...we ate here a few years ago and really enjoyed it. My family LOVES seafood, so this is right up our ally! Yummy!

Friday: Chefs de France @ 1:00...We have never eaten here before, but I have heard pretty good things about it. Anyone out there been before? I think I made a good ADR time so we will be able to see Remy during our lunch as well.

Saturday: Via Napoli @ 2:00...Another new restaurant for us. SIL will be joining us this day for lunch as well. Again, I have heard some pretty good things here.

Sunday: 50's Prime Time Cafe @ 2:00...this is the only ADR I have been considering changing. I think this would be a fun place to try, but I am not completely sold on this one. Any thoughts or suggestions are appreciated!

Monday: Chef Mickey's @ 7:00 PM...We have been to Chef Mickey's a few times and enjoyed the character interaction! We like the food as well, though we are pretty easy to please. I thought spending our last night with Mickey and friends would be a good way to wrap up our trip!

So there you have it! Our ADR's. We are trying some different times this year, so we will see how it works with Colby. We usually have pleanty of snacks wiht us, so we should be able to keep everyone happy.

Let me know what you think!

 

[DisneyMomma09]

Well, even though no one has any thoughts about our ADR's, I have been having some thoughts. So here they are!

I have changed our ADR for Sunday afternoon from 50's prime time cafe to Tony's Town Square for lunch. I was looking for something a little earlier than our 2:00 ADR, so we are now eating at 12:30.

The other thing that has been added is that DH and I will be attending the Wishes Dessert Party on August 20! We just celebrated our anniversary, so when DH asked where I wanted to go for dinner, I suggested we do this. With a little persuasion, he agreed! So DH and I will have an evening to ourselves! Yippie!

So that is all I have for you all tonight. Please chime in and let me know what you think!

 

[lbuzz52]

I'm so excited that you scored a prepark CP! It's so worth it! May I make the suggestion that you get there as early as you can and take the empty pictures in a couple spots... That way you won't be dissapointed if you PP photographs a little crooked!
I like Ohanas and Chef Mickeys. Good way to start and end your trip. I really want to try Cape May next time. Sounds so good.
50's is good, but nothing to write home about in my opinion.
I haven't tried chef's, via Napoli, or Tonys.
The wishes dessert party sounds like a great date night!

Have you set your park days then?

 

[DisneyMomma09]

I'm so excited that you scored a prepark CP! It's so worth it! May I make tge suggestion that you get there as early as you canand take the empty pictures in a couple spots... That way you won't be dissapointed if you PP photographs a little crooked!
I like Ohanas and Chef Mickeys. Good way to start and end your trip. I really want to try Cape May next time. Sounds so good.
50's is good, but nothing to write home about in my opinion.
I haven't tried chef's, via Napoli, or Tonys.
The wishes dessert party sounds like a great date night!

Have you set your park days then?

Yes! My CP ADR is the one I am MOST looking forward to!! I was planning on getting there as early as possible! Thanks for the reminder!

I'm glad 50's was nothing to write home about...since I changed it! Good to hear!

I have been playing around with our schedule...I do have some of our park days set, but have left some times open. That is coming up!

 

[DisneyMomma09]

First, I have to start with this:

One Month From TODAY!!! We will be in Disney!!!

Alright, now that that is out of my system, we can carry on with the regularly scheduled PTR.

I have been playing around with our park schedule and have most of it set. I have actually left a few openings, so we can either take a break or just go where we want to. Most of the parks are dictated by our ADR's, but not all. Here is what I have so far.

We try to be at rope drop every morning. We usually head back to the resort for naps/swimming during the afternoon, then head back to the park in the evening.

Day 1: Arrival Day: Our flight gets in to MCO at 11:30, so I figure we will be to POFQ by around 1 or so. We will be taking DME. Lunch at the resort, then MK for the evening.

Day 2: Early morning ADR for the CP means we start our day at the Magic Kingdom! We will probably just snack in the afternoon, either at the MK or at the hotel. The plan is to head to Epcot for the evening for Illuminations. This is my mom's favorite fireworks show. We will grab a QS dinner somewhere at Epcot.

Day 3: We will head to AK for rope drop. We will eat lunch at AK before going back to the hotel. For the evening, we will go to Hollywood Studios. We will take the boat over to Cape May Cafe for dinner. I think we will probably walk to Epcot for fireworks and then head back to the hotel.

Day 4: HS in the morning...they have evening EMH the night before, so hopefully the morning will be a little quieter. Then boat over to Epcot for lunch. After lunch we will head back to the hotel for a break. I don't have anything planned for this evening. We will play it by ear if we want to hit a park for fireworks or something. Maybe we will head back to HS for Fantasmic!

Day 5: Epcot for rope drop this morning. We will head right to the Character Spot for pics. A few years ago we were the first family here and got pics with all the characters together! We would love to try this again! DSIL will be joining us this day. After lunch at Via Napoli, we will go back to the hotel for a break. This evening is the night DH and I will be going to the Wishes Dessert Party. So we will be going to the Magic Kingdom for the evening. I will let the others decide for themselves what they want to do for the evening.

Day 6: Again, I have this morning free. Lunch is at MK, so if we do go to a park, it would be MK. After a break at the hotel, we will head to HS for the evening. If we did not see Fantasmic yet, we will see it tonight.

Day 7: Our last day We always do a commando day on our last day. No breaks today! We will start at Animal Kingdom and finish up anything we did not do our other day there. When we are done at AK, we will head to MK to finish up our day. We will walk over to the Contemporary for dinner at Chef Mickey's and then walk back over to the MK for Wishes. I ALWAYS finish our trips at the MK watching Wishes.

So, there we have it. The grand plan. It will probably change a few more times before we leave and it WILL change once we get to Disney!

This next month is going to go by very quickly! I am going to be out of town twice before we go to Disney!

I hope everyone is enjoying their summer so far!

 

[dramaqueenemj22]

Hi I'm joining. It sounds like some great plans. Can't wait to hear more.

 

[PirateKate]

Your plans sound great and the trip is already coming up so fast! I think the Wishes Dessert Party is a perfect way to celebrate an anniversary, especially if it's just the two of you. I think Tony's for 50's PT is a good swap.

 

[DisneyMomma09]

Hi I'm joining. It sounds like some great plans. Can't wait to hear more.

Glad you stopped by!

Your plans sound great and the trip is already coming up so fast! I think the Wishes Dessert Party is a perfect way to celebrate an anniversary, especially if it's just the two of you. I think Tony's for 50's PT is a good swap.

Hi, Kate! It is coming up very quickly! I am really looking forward to the Dessert party alone with DH. He hates the crowds during the parades and the fireworks, so I think this will be perfect for him!

I am happy with the swap as well...it is a lot of pressure to make all the ADR's for the family! If they don't like it, it is my fault!!

 

[lbuzz52]

ok, don't take this the wrong, way, because you have more experience and the car and whatnot, but why do you hop so much? i get that you can hop away from crowds, or hope to a fireworks. but some days you are going many places and then goign back to those many places on other days and finishing what you didn't finish.


YEAH FOR YOUR TRIP BEING ALMOST HERE!!


what new things are you most looking forward to for Colby?

 

[DisneyMomma09]

ok, don't take this the wrong, way, because you have more experience and the car and whatnot, but why do you hop so much? i get that you can hop away from crowds, or hope to a fireworks. but some days you are going many places and then goign back to those many places on other days and finishing what you didn't finish.


YEAH FOR YOUR TRIP BEING ALMOST HERE!!


what new things are you most looking forward to for Colby?

Hmmm...I guess it is probably my ADD kicking in...easily distracted by what else we could be doing!

It does look like I have planned a little more hopping than usual, but I think that has to do with our ADR's. On past trips, we typically do 2 parks a day, one in the morning and one in the afternoon/evening...it has worked for us...we will see how this trip goes. I try to stay pretty flexible, especially with Colby!

One of the biggest things I am looking forward to this trip with Colby is him not needing to nap so much. On our trip last summer, he was still taking two naps a day and falling asleep pretty early. We were always racing to do something before Colby needed to take a nap. And if we walked to far in the stroller, he would fall asleep. Now he naps once a day, and has had a couple days when he did not nap at all, and can stay up a little later. So I am hoping with the afternoon nap, he will be able to be going later in the evening.

I am looking forward to giving him some time to explore the Dig Site at Animal Kingdom. I think he will love it!

I am also looking forward to the fact that he is so much more aware of what Disney is. He loves looking through my scrapbooks and photobooks from previous trips! He points out some of the rides and all the characters. It will fun to have him see Dumbo or its a small world and really know what it is! (He loves singing small world!)

 

[DisneyMomma09]

Alright...lets try this again! I had a whole post just about ready to go last night, but then the internet froze... So now we will try this again!

Yesterday marked 3 weeks until our trip! I drive past the airport on my way to work and yesterday I thought about how soon we would be there leaving for our trip!!!

Usually at this point, I would be starting to set some things aside and start making our packing list. I have a few things distracting me and taking my attention away from Disney! This weekend I am going to NYC for a Dance Teacher Summit. I am super excited! It has been a few years since I have been to NYC.

After NYC I will be home for a week, then I have to go to Penn State for a Special Education Teacher Conference for another 5 days. When I come home from that, we have 4 days at home and then DISNEY!!! Yikes...it is going to fly!

When I told Colby that I was going to fly in an airplane tomorrow, he asked if he was going to go, too! I had to tell him no, but he gets to go next time and we are going to see Mickey Mouse! When we started talking about Disney, Colby got very excited! He is much more aware of the rides and characters. It made me get so much more excited to see his excitement! I am glad the next 3 weeks are going to go pretty quickly!

 

[dramaqueenemj22]

It sounds like you have a lot of things to do before your disney trip so the time will fly by. I hope you have fun.

 

[MomofPrincessE]

I'm enjoying your PTR! I've decided that for our next trip, one of my goals is to have an early morning ADR at MK so that I can get some "empty" park pictures! I've always wondered how people were able to get pictures right in front of the castle without there being much of a crowd. Now I know!!!

 

[PirateKate]

It's fun when kids start to remember Disney World more and be excited, too. Has Colby told you which rides he wants to go on?

Have fun in NY!