Insert something witty PTR for May 2015 Update:New Shirts

[sock2you]

If I don't start writing this down here I will forever be finding random scraps of paper throughout my home with information I want to 'remember' for this trip.

I don't expect anyone to really read this, as i'm not much of a writer and do not know anyone on the boards but figured I should put something up incase someone happens to stumble across this little PTR.

Introductions:


I'm the Mom, and will be doing most of the planning for this trip. I've been to Disneyland 5 time but only once to WDW.

Favorite Character: Bell (in the blue dress) and Ariel
Favorite Movie: Lady and the Tramp
Favorite Ride: Tower of Terror



This is DH my crazy, wacky, Disney obsessed husband. He's currently going to school for video game design and artwork, and loves Disney Villains.

Favorite Character: Genie, Stitch
Favorite Villain: Maleficent
Favorite Movie: Aladdin
Favorite Ride: Indiana Jones



DD will be 4 by the time this trip comes around. She has one Disney trip under her belt, we took her to Disneyland this past July. She loves anything Princess or Tinkerbell.

Favorite Character: Elsa and Daisy Duck
Favorite Movie: Depends on her mood lately it her new Doc Mcsuffins DVD
Favorite Ride: Maters Junkyard Jamboree

(I'll try and post pictures once I figure out how)

We've been trying to go back to WDW since our first trip but the timing never seems to work out. Shortly after our first trip we found out we were pregnant ::cue three years passing by in a flash::. DH is still in school so right now we're planning on going right after his finals for next year. We stared saving for this trip a few months ago so hopefully we'll have enough by next year to cover all the costs.

If you're reading this you're more than welcome to follow me on this journey, if you don't care then Get Out.

 

[sock2you]

Things I need to get accomplished sometime before May 2015:
-How long will we be there
-Exact dates we will be travelling
-Which hotel will we be staying at

Once I know the above then I can start answering the questions below:
-Pick which days will be park days and which will be relaxation days
-Look at ADR options
-Fast pass plus (need to do lots of research on this one)


Things I already have an idea of:
-I would like to eat at Via Napoli (seen too many dining threads)
-I want at least one non park day to explore Downtown Disney and hang out at the pool.
-Hotel choices at the moment are in order AoA Ariel room, Pop Century, All Star Movies (for the cheapo factor)
-No dining plan, DD does not eat enough to warrant adding a dining plan unless we can get it for free.
-Rent a City Mini stroller (did this @Disneyland it was a life saver)

 

[makochibi]

I am also planning for May 2015. We are going to stay at Pop. It was where we stayed last year and we loved it. Our DD will also be 4 when we go.

I would plan your rest day for middle of the trip if you only do one. If you have any questions feel free to ask.

 

[sock2you]

Note to self, look into character breakfast with Doc Mcstuffins and Sophia the First-Hollywood and Vine

 

[sock2you]

I am also planning for May 2015. We are going to stay at Pop. It was where we stayed last year and we loved it. Our DD will also be 4 when we go.

I would plan your rest day for middle of the trip if you only do one. If you have any questions feel free to ask.

Great advice, thanks! How big are the rooms at Pop, did you DD sleep on the extra bed? I'm worried about DD falling off.

 

[pixiemama91]

I am also planning on a trip May 2015. I can't wait to follow along and see how your trip planning goes. We were there this past May and loved it. We stayed offsite so next year we will definitely being staying on site again. The only thing we have really concrete is most likely going the first week in May. The resorts I am leaning towards are AOA (little mermaid room) or POR (royal room). I love the theming at AOA and having the boat to DTD from POR is appealing. My Mom and sister will also be joining us on this next trip so I guess I have to let them have a say in where we stay.

Other than those up in the air things we really can't start planning yet, as we are just starting our second round of IVF and therefore have no idea what our situation will be from now until then.

 

[sock2you]

I am also planning on a trip May 2015. I can't wait to follow along and see how your trip planning goes. We were there this past May and loved it. We stayed offsite so next year we will definitely being staying on site again. The only thing we have really concrete is most likely going the first week in May. The resorts I am leaning towards are AOA (little mermaid room) or POR (royal room). I love the theming at AOA and having the boat to DTD from POR is appealing. My Mom and sister will also be joining us on this next trip so I guess I have to let them have a say in where we stay.

Other than those up in the air things we really can't start planning yet, as we are just starting our second round of IVF and therefore have no idea what our situation will be from now until then.

Our first trip was offsite so i'm really looking forward to staying onsite. I've heard a lot of good things about POR but i'm trying to keep the cost down as much as possible. AoA (little mermaid room) is on the top of my list but we'll see how pricing goes. I wish we were able to swing it this year as there's an amazing spring break package right now, crossing my fingers it will be available for next May as well.

 

[sock2you]

This is sort of off topic but we just booked a surprise for DD coming up in April. I was able to score a code for the pre-sale of Disney on Ice Let's Celebrate! We will be going opening night and sitting fairly close to the ice. The tickets will be mailed to the house, DD has no idea so we'll let her open the envelope when we get it in.


I've been toying with the idea of maybe getting a travel agent of some sort to help out. I don't mind doing most of the leg work when it comes to picking out dining, park days and all that stuff. But when it comes to finding the best discount for rooms and when to go i'm clueless. Yes, there are a ton of threads on the board, but a travel agent would mean I don't have to keep track of them all. Thinking maybe Dreams Unlimited, I listen to the podcast every week so that's where that came from. Who knows though, I like to change my mind a million times before actually settling on a decision.

 

[sock2you]

There's something you may not know about me yet, but will soon come to realize. I food! A lot of this PTR will most likey include a plethora of food talk and me changing my mind on where we will be eating during our trip. So far we are not planning on getting the DP as DD does not each much and would most likely be a waste of money. After going through my most recent list of places to try I may have to reconsider, still need to do some more digging to figure out prices so we're not spending an arm and a leg just to eat. DH would happily eat at all quick service places for our entire stay if left up to him

So far my list includes:

Kona Cafe-torn between tonga french toast, macadamia nut pancakes and the somoa. I'll probably end up with the somoa if we wind up going and trying to convince DH into one of the others as i'm not a huge fan of sweet breakfast items, at least not for my main entree.

Beaches and Cream-Mainly for the No Way Jose, sad to see you need a reservation now though.

Ghirardelli-Again for the ice cream

O'Hana-Might have to cut this one just for the $$ alone to get some of the other meals I want.

BOG (lunch)- Mainly just for the experience. Seen most of the reviews and looked at the menu, there's not a lot that appeals to me.

Tusker House (breakfast)-DD is obsessed with Donald and Daisy so this would be a good character breakfast for her.

Cinerella's Royal Table (breakfast)-Another character breakfast for DD, planning to get a pre-park opening reservation.


The only non food item on my list to jot down is to make sure we do Enchanted Tales with Belle.

 

[pixiemama91]

We really wanted to go this year also and I have come close to booking a couple of times. But in the end I decided since we already have concrete plans to go next year that we would wait so I could plan accordingly. We actually were originally going to do the Disney cruise this year but needed to put it off with everything we have going on. Its so hard not being able to plan like we want to.

We also love food and I am always looking to see where we can eat on our next trip. We went to Kona Cafe for dinner in August 2012 when we were there so I can't comment on their breakfast, I really enjoyed it, but my DH not so much. However he thinks it was more what he ordered than the actual restaurant. I always hear amazing things about Ohana and really want to try it on our next visit. Hopefully we can fit it in with the other million things I want to try. HAHA

 

[makochibi]

Great advice, thanks! How big are the rooms at Pop, did you DD sleep on the extra bed? I'm worried about DD falling off.

Yes, DD had one bed to her self. We requested the bed rails but ended up only using them one night as mouse keeping didn't put them back on correctly after making the bed and we couldn't get them on ourselves. But she did great. The rooms aren't huge, but big enough to have room for everything. We kept the stroller in front of the window at night. Our bags were kept in the closet and DDs suitcase was next to the tv.

 

[makochibi]

We love food too. We did the deluxe dining plan on our last trip (DD was free) and we plan to do it again. I used allears.net to look at menus and prices. We did so many meals and most were good. Loved tusker house (get a pre park opening ADR) and the favorite of the trip was Wolfgang puck cafe. Our experience at CRT was disappointing- we felt very rushed, waitress wasn't very friendly, and characters seemed rushed as well. We had a better experience at Akershus than at CRT. BOG was great. I will have to look to see what we had but it was so awesome being in the castle. Definitely try the Master's cupcake (the grey stuff is delicious!!). We did Ohana breakfast and DD loved the character interaction and the parade (as well as the one at H&V). I think we may do the dinner next year but not sure yet. We did H&V for lunch and it was great. So glad that Doc and Sofia will be there now, it is one we are definitely doing again, but breakfast this time.

 

[twinsouvenirs]

Along for the ride! We leave in 4 days and I'm going to need Disney planning when I get back to keep me going

pixiemama91, good luck with this IVF round!!! We are expecting this July and it's crazy how up in the air everything is when you are TTC or expecting. My good friend just had success with her last round and is expecting the month after me Here's some pixie dust!

 

[sock2you]

Yes, DD had one bed to her self. We requested the bed rails but ended up only using them one night as mouse keeping didn't put them back on correctly after making the bed and we couldn't get them on ourselves. But she did great. The rooms aren't huge, but big enough to have room for everything. We kept the stroller in front of the window at night. Our bags were kept in the closet and DDs suitcase was next to the tv.

Ooh didn't know you could request bedrails, thanks for the heads up.

Along for the ride! We leave in 4 days and I'm going to need Disney planning when I get back to keep me going

pixiemama91, good luck with this IVF round!!! We are expecting this July and it's crazy how up in the air everything is when you are TTC or expecting. My good friend just had success with her last round and is expecting the month after me Here's some pixie dust!

Thanks for coming along on the adventure, there are no promises about updating on a regular basis though.

Please bear with me as well as I play around with different fonts and sizes, if it's truely annoying or hurts your eyeballs let me know.

 

[pixiemama91]

Along for the ride! We leave in 4 days and I'm going to need Disney planning when I get back to keep me going

pixiemama91, good luck with this IVF round!!! We are expecting this July and it's crazy how up in the air everything is when you are TTC or expecting. My good friend just had success with her last round and is expecting the month after me Here's some pixie dust!

Thanks! The most frustrating part is not being able to plan for anything not knowing what the future will hold.

Congrats on being due in July! That is so exciting!

 

[sock2you]

Not much to update, besides trying to talk myself into doing some research on which days to spend at which park. Everytime I try to look information up I wind up getting sucked into another trip report.

We received the tickets for Disney On Ice but have yet to tell DD about it since it's not till April. I'll be looking at the creative board for some ideas on how to present the tickets to her.

The weather here has been gorgeous, so we've been hitting the local park pretty hard the last three days and soaking up some of the much needed vitamin D.

 

[sock2you]

Get ready for a long list of things we want to tackle while in the parks. There are a lot of food options and realistically we won't get to even half but they're on the list as options.

Right now the plan is to go for 9 days and the we've finally nailed down a rough timeline.
Day 1-Travel
Day 2-Magic Kingdom
Day 3-Epcot
Day 4-Animal Kingdom
Day 5-Day of rest/Downtown Disney
Day 6-Magic Kingdom
Day 7- Hollywood Studios
Day 8- Magic Kingdom
Day 9-Travel
This should give us plenty of time in the parks as well as time to actually rest.

Since it will just be DH, DD and I going on this trip i'm hoping to be able to utizlize FastPass + and the Parent switch cards to help hit all the bigger rides for DH and I. While one is on the big ride the other will be taking DD to character meets or some of the smaller rides.

Anything with a + means it has the option for FastPass Plus.

Magic Kingdom obviously has the most items on our list of things we want to try/do so.

Top of the list
Big thunder mountain railroad +
Barnstorm +
Dumbo +
Enchanted tales with Belle +
Astro Orbiter
It's a small world + -this is not my choice as I do not like this ride but DD will enjoy it
Mad tea party +
Mickey's philharmagic +
Monsters laugh floor +
Peter Pan +
Peoplemover
Splash Mountain +
Carrousel
Mickey and the magical map

Now these next one's we've either done at Disneyland or they're ones we can easily skip over if we don't make it to them.
Buzz lightyear +
Haunted Monasion + -not sure if DD will be ready for this one yet
Winnie the Pooh +
Pirates +
Carousel of progress
Tom Sawyer island
Tomorrow land speedway +
Little Mermaid ride +

Food Choices include
Aloha Isle for Dole whips
Be our guest-Lunch
Cinerella's royal table $30-$60
Columbia harbour house
Gastons tavern-cinnamon roll
Pecos Bill
Sleepy Hollow
Cosmic Rays
Friars nook
Diamond Horshoe

People to see
Ariel-Grotto
Alladin and Jasmine-Adventureland
Cinderall and all the Princess'-Fairy tale hall
Gaston-Near his tavern
Fairies-Magical nook

Next up: Epcot (this one is for Mom and Dad )

 

[angelabrezovsky]

I will be following along, we are booking for May 2015 also. We already booked our room only for the 2-9th in the little mermaid room!

 

[angelabrezovsky]

Note to self, look into character breakfast with Doc Mcstuffins and Sophia the First-Hollywood and Vine

I have two Daughters and they will be 7 and 8 for our trip. My youngest LOVES doc McStuffins and Sofie the first! So we will be dining here also!

 

[sock2you]

I will be following along, we are booking for May 2015 also. We already booked our room only for the 2-9th in the little mermaid room!

Welcome! We're staying somewhere around mid-May after DH's finals. I really really really want to stay in The Little Mermaid room but not sure if we'll be able to swing it on a budget.