I'm so excited and I just can't hide (driving my family crazy!!)-Pre-Trip Report

[Nhebron]

I just booked our second trip to WDW! Figured I better start a planning journal because I am driving my poor husband insane. He refuses to get excited about anything so far away. However, I live for this stuff. I am a planner and nothing could be more fun than planning a Disney vacation.

Details:
We are booked in Feb 2014 for 1 night at AoA (RO) and 4 nights at the Poly on SPD plan, with 5 day park-hoppers.

Already booked a ton of ADRs: O'hana, CRT, Dessert Party at MK, Le Cellier, Chef Mickey's, Via Napoli, and Bomas. Will end up paying OOP for some of these with CRT and Le Cellier both being signatures, but its OK. We will just budget accordingly.

Next....the family.

 

[Nhebron]

So we are a family of three and are slowly becoming Disney fanatics

Me - I love vacation planning. Sometimes planning the trip is more fun to me than the actual trip. I think its because I have such high expectations and its hard to live up to them. I was a little disappointed at the things I felt I missed in the last trip. I immediately wanted a do-over. So my goal for this trip is just to chill out and enjoy my family. My favorite Disney ride is Expedition Everest or maybe Tower of Terror.

Hubby - Loves football and playing bass guitar. Willing to wear mouse ears because it makes me so happy. Nuff said. His favorite Disney ride was Star Tours.

DS - Our boy will be almost four(!) by the time of our trip. This will be his second trip to WDW. Last year, we went at the same time of the year. He was almost 3 and not potty trained. We are hoping that he will be potty trained by the time we go (please, please!!), but I also understand having a newly trained kiddo will have its own challenges. One of my biggest disappointments from last year was his lack of excitement over the characters. Recently, he has been watching a ton of Mickey Mouse Clubhouse and is just over the moon for Minnie Mouse. So I am curious how the interactions will go this time around. I think his favorite ride was Dumbo.

This trip will be different from the last because my mother won't be there. Having her was great..not just spending time with her but also having her watch our son so we could hit the parks and do the headliners during EMH. This time we will need to do the parent swap.

I am also debating on whether to get a GAC card for my son. I am not sure how he will handle lines and crowds. He was recently diagnosed with ASD. I can never predict his behavior. I guess we will just go with the flow and make the call once we get down there.

 

[Nhebron]

Contents

• Thoughts on FP+
• Memories from 2013 Trip
• Resort Hipping & Touring

 

[Nhebron]

So we are 68 days out from our trip and will be within the Fast Pass Plus window soon. I am having some difficulty with MDE. My husband’s tickets aren't showing up. I called once already as originally I had two tickets assigned under my name. Hoping to get this all sorted so that I can get our FPs scheduled.

Despite all the negative feedback, I am actually looking forward to FP plus. I am not an early riser and being able to schedule things in advance will prevent me from having to run to the park first thing (I hope)! We actually didn't use too many FPs last time, surely not three per day. But we did do rope drop at AK (rode EE and Dinosaur twice) and HS (TT twice without FP, RNR with FP, no TSM). Didn't get to do all we planned at Epcot but didn't get there until 10am or so. Never made rope drop at MK but still managed to do what we wanted (focused on Fantasy Land) and used FP for LM and Winnie the Pooh. So I think having 3 per day might be great

 

[Nhebron]

So many great memories from our last trip.

We stayed at Animal Kingdom Lodge for 4 nights. Highlights for me included seeing my sons reaction to Daisy and Minne and tea at the Grand Floridian with my mother. I also had a blast riding all the thrill rides with my husband. Being a plus-sized gal, it has been many, many years since I have been on a roller coaster.

 

[Nhebron]

I really wanted to see the AOA resort but also wanted the convenience of being close to MK. So we are doing a split stay with our first night in a Cars suite at AOA and then moving on to Poly. I am super excited to tour the AOA resort and show my son the life-sized Cars statues. He has a ton of Cars toys at home.

I am a little nervous about the Poly construction but we will make the best of it. We really want to be on the monorail line. I couldn't find a standard room at the Contemporary and it feels like Grand Floridian might be too stuffy (and expensive) for us.

I am also hoping to visit some other resorts just to see the grounds and take pics. On the list are Pop, which I think will be fun for my kiddo, and Wilderness Lodge.

I can't wait to see my son's reaction when he sees some of the statues at Pop. A life-sized Potato Head, SWEET.

 

[Nhebron]

So I have booked the Dessert Party but I am seriously debating on canceling it. I am really just paying for the convenience of having an unobstructed view of the castle and fireworks. We really don't like dessert that much and it is kind of expensive.

 

[Nhebron]

Called Disney Customer Service today and got my MDE info straightened out. My husband's ticket now shows up when I log-in and I will be able to do his FP+. I was on the phone for about 15 minutes between the initial hold and then getting the problem resolved. Nice. I expected a much longer wait and wasn't sure that my problem would be easily resolved. I am super excited to schedule my FP times. Guess I need to figure out what parks we are going to each day!

 

[Tasmen]

So I have booked the Dessert Party but I am seriously debating on canceling it. I am really just paying for the convenience of having an unobstructed view of the castle and fireworks. We really don't like dessert that much and it is kind of expensive.

From what I understand, the view is still obstructed for some folks. It depends on when you line up against the fence inside. Basically, not every table has a good view. People stand up about 20-30 minutes before the show and find a spot against the railing inside the restaurant to get their unobstructed view.

That said, we booked it as well as I'd rather deal with a dessert eating crowd than everyone else outside

Looks like you are going to have a great trip. We booked a mini split stay as well for our upcoming trip. We are doing AoA one night so that DD can stay in a Little Mermaid room and then AKL the rest of the time.

Even with the construction, you should love the poly. Being on the monorail is SUPER convenient especially with a small one!

 

[Nhebron]

From what I understand, the view is still obstructed for some folks. It depends on when you line up against the fence inside. Basically, not every table has a good view. People stand up about 20-30 minutes before the show and find a spot against the railing inside the restaurant to get their unobstructed view.

That said, we booked it as well as I'd rather deal with a dessert eating crowd than everyone else outside

Looks like you are going to have a great trip. We booked a mini split stay as well for our upcoming trip. We are doing AoA one night so that DD can stay in a Little Mermaid room and then AKL the rest of the time.

Even with the construction, you should love the poly. Being on the monorail is SUPER convenient especially with a small one!

Hi Tasmen. Thanks for stopping by!

I guess I will have to be one of those people that line up early against the rail and wait I would be bummed if I didn't get a good view. We actually didn't make the fireworks on our last trip (1st trip as a family). Our son was pretty worn out in the evenings and we just didn't make it.

We stayed at AKL last year. It was a great experience!

 

[Nhebron]

We are driving to Disney (yikes!). Without making stops, it would take about 10.5 hrs. However, we have a little one, so I am sure there will be lots of stops! I have done one trip like that before with him and we survived, so I am hoping this one will work out too.

The plan is to leave super early on Saturday morning (no later than 5am) and drive straight to Orlando from TN. Originally we were planning to stop somewhere and spend the night but I just couldn't find a logical place to stop.

We will stay at the Floridays Resort Saturday night and then move on to AOA the next day. We stayed at Floridays before and liked it. We will then stay again before departing Disney the following Saturday.

 

[Nhebron]

Just booked afternoon tea at the Grand Floridian!! I am super excited.

 

[LB1122]

Looks like a lot of fun plans so far. AoA cars room. what a fun fun way to start

 

[Nhebron]

Looks like a lot of fun plans so far. AoA cars room. what a fun fun way to start

Thanks for stopping by! I am really excited about our stay at AoA. I can't wait to see my son's reaction.

 

[Nhebron]

I made some changes to our ADRs today and I am sure I will make some more once I start booking FP+.

Today I cancelled our Chef Mickey's breakfast and our Boma dinner.

I loved Boma but it was scheduled for our last day at Disney and I want to maximize our park time. Plus we have been there before and I am trying to do new things on this trip. So I cancelled Boma and booked breakfast at Tusker house.

We have also done Chef Mickey's before. I enjoyed it (mostly the character interaction, not a big breakfast eater) but I would rather just focus on getting the park that day.

Still trying to settle on which parks I am going to do each day. The focus of this trip was supposed to be MK but I think we will end up hitting all the parks as there is something that I really want to do in each that we missed last time around. We do have park hoppers, so I am hoping we can get to all the parks at least once in a 5 day period.

So now my ADRs look like this:

• Monday - Dinner @ Ohanas
• Tuesday - Breakfast @ CRT and Dessert Party
• Wednesday - Lunch @ Le Cellier
• Thursday - Dinner @ Via Napoli
• Friday - Breakfast @ Ohana

I think we are going to pay OOP at Le Cellier. I will probably just get an appetizer and get a bite or two of hubby's steak
We have never eaten at any of these places before.

 

[Nhebron]

I think I am starting to lock-in on what parks I want to do each day. I was having a hard time deciding what to do on our first day (Monday). I wanted to go to MK but this is rated the least recommended park to visit that day. AK is rated most recommended, with Epcot in second.

I have been referencing the crowd calendar on Easy WDW site and trying to stick with the most recommended. I don't think we will be able to take advantage of the EMHs this trip. Last trip we had a great time going during EMH. We did PM EMH at Magic Kingdom (rode Buzz twice and SM with little to no wait), AM EMH at AK (rode EE and Dinosaur twice) and HS (TT twice and RNRC). This worked out well for us last time because my mother watched our son at the resort (either putting him to bed or getting him up and ready for the day). This time it will just be the three of us and I suspect it will be a challenge to get up and out early in the morning.

It just dawned on me that with park hoppers my most pressing question is which is my FP park that day. In my last trip, I didn't have the hoppers so I just selected the park I wanted to visit based on the crowd calendar.

I think this is the plan:

• Monday - Epcot (FP+, focus on headliners) and MK in the late evening
• Tuesday - MK (FP+) and DHS (focus on shows for DS, not headliners)
• Wednesday - DHS (FP+, focus on headliners), EP (focus on WS)
• Thursday - AK (FP+), undecided on afternoon park (EP, HS, AK recommended)
• Friday - MK (FP+), undecided on afternoon park (EP and HS recommended)

 

[Nhebron]

So my plans seem to change all the time and I am sure they will change again before I actually get to WDW.

I originally intended to go to Epcot on this day. It is rated as a recommended park. But then when I was trying to book FP+, the times just didn't make sense. We will be transferring from AOA and will need to get to Poly to register and get our tickets. I don't want to be stressed.

So the plan now is to go to MK on Monday, which is NOT a recommended day. But I did book FP+ today!

The plan for Monday (day1) is now:

• Check in at Poly by 10am
• Head to MK
• FP+ for Mickey @ Town Square, Buzz, and Peter Pan
• Play it by ear the rest of the afternoon (fingers crossed that son takes an in stroller nap! Dad and Mom can try some non-kiddy rides)
• Dinner at Ohana (5:20pm)
• Epcot for Illuminations

 

[Nhebron]

My initial reaction was excitement. Then frustration as the options I kept getting overlapped with my dining plans or didn't make sense with my young son (not booking a FP at 7pm at night). Then once I finally found what I wanted, I got a message saying the server was busy or crashed. Fortunately, my FP+ selections were still there when I logged back in.

I also had to stop and think about my priorities. It seems like I can't satisfy all my goals - best use of FP, choosing recommended parks, optimizing park hoppers, best schedule for son, not overlapping dining plans, etc. For example, when I started to book Epcot FP+ for Monday, I realized that it didn't really make sense. Other than for Soarin, we don't really need the other FP+ on that day. We will end up riding Test Track as single riders which doesn't usually have a long wait and I can't imagine the Nemo ride would have a long wait on a below average crowd day and with Epcot being a recommended park. So we ended up switching to MK because it would be easier to make our dining reservation, low stress on our hotel transition day, and potentially a better use of FP+ since it is a least recommended park.

 

[Nhebron]

So I have officially started my Disney planning spreadsheet! Things are great now. How I love my spreadsheets. It's the bean counter in me I'm sure.

I have our days outlined from the travel days to Disney days.

Oh and I have reworked most of my plans and changed FPs.

 

[Nhebron]

Day 1 - Saturday - Travel day. 10.5 hours from TN to Orlando without an overnight stop. Insane I think! Hoping to get to the hotel by 8pm.

Day 2 - Sunday - checkout of Floridays first thing in the morning. Go to DTD for some shopping. I really want to go to Once Upon a Toy and get Mr. potato head pieces. Last time we were there, the store had a large plastic potato head that you could fill with parts for a flat charge. I didn't buy it because we were traveling by plane and I couldn't carry it. This time we will have a van and I plan to do lots of shopping. I also want get lunch at Earl of Sandwich. Later we will check into AoA. The plan is to explore the resort and Pop and maybe go to the pool weather-permitting. Then I have a 7:20pm ADR for Boma!!! This is a reservation I have cancelled and rebooked a couple times now. I was just reflecting on our trip from last year and this was a meal we really enjoyed. My son loved the fruit and chicken. I loved the meat and sauces, atmosphere and sauces. Yumm!!


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