June 2011: So Much To Celebrate!!

[gabzee]

Hi everyone!!!! This is my very first PTR and I am very excited!! We are officially going to Disney World this year and I couldn't be happier. As I prepare for this trip, I would love to get your input and help along the way as I want to make this trip special. Well, we ARE going to Disney World so it is going to be special but you know what I mean! Let me start off by introducing everyone:

Me: Debbie: I am a general dentist and have my own practice. I love to play the piano, cook, spend time with my family, and GO TO DISNEY!!! I am 1/2 of the master planning brain of the family.

Favorite Princess: Belle or Ariel
Favorite Park: Epcot/Animal Kingdom
Favorite Restaurant: California Grill

DH: Jeff: He is an attorney and the best husband I could ask for. He enjoys playing golf, cooking, traveling (doesn't love Disney World that much but does it for me and the kids), boating, and spending time with the family.

Favorite Character: Grumpy
Favorite Park: Epcot
Favorite Restaurant: California Grill

DD: Gabrielle (aka Gaby): 17: She is a senior in high school and is going to graduate at the top of her class (I am a proud mama!). She is very dedicated to her school work and it pays off. She LOVES the Jonas Brothers! Her favorite things are to sings, acts, play tennis, and travel to DISNEY WORLD! She is the other 1/2 of the master planner in the family and probably loves Disney more than I do.

This is a picture of Gaby in Hawaii!

Favorite Princess: Cinderella/ Ariel
Favorite Park: Magic Kingdom/ Epcot
Favorite Restaurant: she has many but loves Boma and 1900 Park

DS: Alexander: 11: He is in 6th grade and is also very bright. He loves tae kwon do, tennis, and basketball. He is a big ball of energy and loves all the crazy rides. They picture with DS and DH is old.

Favorite Character: Goofy
Favorite Park: Magic Kingdom
Favorite Restaurant: Teppan Edo

Now stay put and I'll keep you posted as we plan our family to the HAPPIEST PLACE ON EARTH!!!!

 

[mtgirl29]

Looking forward to reading more of your PTR. I was, unfortunately, unable to view your photos. I am working on first ever PTR, too. I had to do a tutorial to figure out how to post pics.

Apparently, you have to log on to www.photobucket.com and download your photos into there. Best to resize them. Just press resize and then choose either large or medium. Once, you have done that you will see a jpeg code on the right side of the pic (I believe it is the 4th choice) you click on there and it will briefly flash "copied" and then you can insert that link into your post.

I had problems posting pictures at first, too, and asked for help with no response. I thought I would give you heads up on what I knew. I hope you are able to understand my instructions and good luck!!! :

 

[mtgirl29]

Yeah! I can see them now. I think you figured it out.
Great looking family! Cannot wait to read more.

 

[gabzee]

Yeah! I can see them now. I think you figured it out.
Great looking family! Cannot wait to read more.

How sweet!! Thanks for your help! I was having the hardest time getting it to work but now I am getting the hang of it!

 

[gabzee]

This trip we are celebrating a lot!!! DD is graduating from high school and is the salutatorian of her class and is turning 18!! DH and I are celebrating our 21st anniversary and DS is turning 12! This is all occurring in the course of 3 weeks!

So far all that we know for sure is that we are traveling from June 4,2011 to June 8,2011. We are still deciding on which hotel we will stay at. We narrowed it down to the Animal Kingdom Lodge and the Contemporary Resort. I'll probably make the reservation tomorrow as it is getting very close to the vacation. In reality we still have over two months but in Disney time we have 2 weeks. I will update you as soon as we make the reservations!!!

 

[gabzee]

So..... thanks to everyone for following us so far and would love to hear your comments, opinions, questions, and thoughts as we continue. Now, since I don't want to leave you hanging for too long and I have finally made some of the reservations..... HERE ARE THE DETAILS!!!

WHEN ARE WE GOING?

June 4-8, 2011

WHERE ARE WE STAYING?

The Contemporary Resort and I can't wait!!! We booked a theme park tower view for this trip. I went back and forth, between the Contemporary Resort and the Animal Kingdom Lodge but finally decided to go with the Contemporary.

HOW ARE WE GETTING THERE?

Since we are Florida residents and only live about 2.5 hours from the World we will be driving.

DISNEY DINING PLAN or NO DINING PLAN that is the question!?!?

Well, as of now we are not using the dining plan. However, we are still debating about it and may add it to our reservation but we feel it is so much food. If we did do a dining plan we would do the deluxe.

So, that is a little more detail of our trip but there is much more to come!

Coming soon:
- DETAILED Dining Plans

PLEASE stay with me. I would love to hear your opinions and speak to other Disney lovers about my upcoming trip!!

 

[mrssmith06]

You have a beautiful family! Your plans are looking good! Yay for having so much to celebrate and taking a trip to Disney!

 

[gabzee]

Thank you!

 

[mtgirl29]

Looking good so far!
You have your dates and resort picked out and now dining options.....
Cannot wait to see what you pick.
Happy planning!!!

 

[gabzee]

to the new comers and thanks to those who have been following. I love to hear from you guess and know that I have readers. Anyways, after much debate we have finally decided on our ADRs. Since we recently booked our trip there we few times available and I will keep checking to see if anything opens (I really wanted to go to Ohana.... oh well... a reason to go back!). As of now here is our current ADRs:
June 4: Yak & Yeti @ 11am
Boma @ 7:10pm

June 5: Chef Mickey @ 7:30am
California Grill @ 5:45pm

June 6: Breakfast @ Contemporary
Mama Melrose @ 1pm
Teppan Edo @ 8:10pm

June 7: 1900 Park @ 8:10am
Tutto Italia @ 7:35pm

June 8: no ADRs

So what do you think?!?!

UP NEXT: THE BIG PLANS!!!!

 

[mtgirl29]

[/COLOR]

to the new comers and thanks to those who have been following. I love to hear from you guess and know that I have readers. Anyways, after much debate we have finally decided on our ADRs. Since we recently booked our trip there we few times available and I will keep checking to see if anything opens (I really wanted to go to Ohana.... oh well... a reason to go back!). As of now here is our current ADRs:
June 4: Yak & Yeti @ 11am
Boma @ 7:10pm

June 5: Chef Mickey @ 7:30am
California Grill @ 5:45pm

June 6: Breakfast @ Contemporary
Mama Melrose @ 1pm
Teppan Edo @ 8:10pm

June 7: 1900 Park @ 8:10am
Tutto Italia @ 7:35pm

June 8: no ADRs

So what do you think?!?!

UP NEXT: THE BIG PLANS!!!!

Looks good! I have always wanted to try Teppan Edo. You will have to let me know how it is. Are you leaving June 8 open or haven't decided? Cannot wait to read about your big plans!!!!!

 

[Corrine 1973]

Just found your PTR and are loving the plans.

It looks like you guys are arriving the day after we leave. Oh well, I will happily sprinkle some pixie dust around for you to make sure your trip extra special.

I love your ADR's and can't wait to read more.

 

[gabzee]

Just found your PTR and are loving the plans.

It looks like you guys are arriving the day after we leave. Oh well, I will happily sprinkle some pixie dust around for you to make sure your trip extra special.

I love your ADR's and can't wait to read more.

Thanks for reading!! That is really unfortunate. It would be cool to have my first DIS meet and greet! I hope you can sprinkle some Disney magic! I will be posting more soon but have been distracted recently with stuff at home.

[/COLOR]

Looks good! I have always wanted to try Teppan Edo. You will have to let me know how it is. Are you leaving June 8 open or haven't decided? Cannot wait to read about your big plans!!!!!

Thanks for follwing my PTR!! I will definately let you know about Teppan Edo. We have been before and really enjoyed it but I am planning on doing a TR so I will give more details there! Regarding June 8, we haven't quite deciding what we will be doing.

I will be updating soon!! Thanks to all of my PTR readers! Its is great to hear from you!

 

[gabzee]

I am sorry that I haven't posted in a while but it has been very busy in our house. We found out that DD got accepted to Duke University and University of Florida but we are trying to figure out the finances for Duke (UF is already paid for since we are FL residents). We are thrilled that she got accepted. Anyways..... DISNEY TIME!!! So, I need your help:
I have a problem. We have been to Teppan Edo many times and love it. However, we have never been to Ohana. On June 6 we are plannig on going to HS which has EMH and is therefore open until 10pm. We have ADRs for Mama Melrose for lunch and don't like/ couldn't agree on any of the other options at HS. Therefore, we were going to leave HS to have dinner. I really wanted to try Ohana due to all of the positive reviews but the only time I could get for our entire trip is for 5pm on the 6th. I was also able to get an ADR at Teppan Edo for 8:10pm on the 6th. I don't know which one to choose. Also for June 7th, we are planning on going to Epcot and currently have ADRs for Tutto Italia @ 7:35pm. Should we stick with this or try and get an ADR somewhere else in the WS? What would you suggest?!?

 

[disfanforlife]

Hi Debbie, I am currently Disney obsessed too. My oldest daughter is also my biggest help I'm planning to so have a lot in common. Contests on salutatorian and duke!! How exciting! My girls are in 10 th and 11th grade so we will be making college plans soon too. We are not sure if we are going to ohanas or not this year, but since you have never been I think you should go! We went to tut to for this first time last year and we loved it. I have heard that the menu may have changed but I want to try via Napoli this year. I lve planning our trips but have never done a report.....maybe I need to try! Look forward to following yours!

 

[Blueyed Girl]

Hi there! I'm jumping aboard your PTR. We are also going in June!! We'll be there 4th-10th and as of now we are doing OKW with DVC points but are waitlisted for the BCV.

I like your dining plans. As far as what to do on the 6th...maybe you could do O'hana on that night since there are EMH at DHS....that may give you a little extra time to finish the night off there.

As for the 7th, if you don't have your heart completely set on Tutto, then maybe you can make your Teppan Edo for that night instead? Just a suggestion. I've been in total dining planner mode the past 2 days because we just rescheduled our trip for these dates. We were supposed to be going at the end of July but had to reschedule. Now I'm finding myself RUNNING to make all the plans.

 

[gabzee]

Hi Debbie, I am currently Disney obsessed too. My oldest daughter is also my biggest help I'm planning to so have a lot in common. Contests on salutatorian and duke!! How exciting! My girls are in 10 th and 11th grade so we will be making college plans soon too. We are not sure if we are going to ohanas or not this year, but since you have never been I think you should go! We went to tut to for this first time last year and we loved it. I have heard that the menu may have changed but I want to try via Napoli this year. I lve planning our trips but have never done a report.....maybe I need to try! Look forward to following yours!

Thanks you so much! We are excited! We do seem to have much in common! If I could make a suggestion for when you have to do it with your daughters, START EARLY and visit the schools!! It is a very overwhelming process that takes many hours of hard work. But it is worth it in the end. I too heard that the menu changed which is making me second guess myself even more. I was able to snag a Teppan Edo ADR for that night so at least I have a back-up. Right now my family is in debate mode regarding which restaurant to choose. We will see. I think we may end up choosing Ohana and then either Teppan Edo or Tutto Italia for the other night. I sometimes think planning is the best part!! Just kidding! maybe! I figured by doing a PTR and TR it would be a nice. It my first full attempt at a PTR and TR as well. I hope it goes over well! Thanks for joining!

Hi there! I'm jumping aboard your PTR. We are also going in June!! We'll be there 4th-10th and as of now we are doing OKW with DVC points but are waitlisted for the BCV.

I like your dining plans. As far as what to do on the 6th...maybe you could do O'hana on that night since there are EMH at DHS....that may give you a little extra time to finish the night off there.

As for the 7th, if you don't have your heart completely set on Tutto, then maybe you can make your Teppan Edo for that night instead? Just a suggestion. I've been in total dining planner mode the past 2 days because we just rescheduled our trip for these dates. We were supposed to be going at the end of July but had to reschedule. Now I'm finding myself RUNNING to make all the plans.

Thanks for joining! We will be there at the same time! Thank you for the advice. I think this is what we will do! I hope you get all of the ADRs that you want! I hope that you keep reading. It is great to get feedback!

 

[disfanforlife]

I agree. I love the planning. It gives me something to look forward to and think about. But of course you know that! thanks for the college advice too. We have visited several schools and our oldest already says she know where she wants to go. But since she is in 11th grade, so that could change. She has already changed her mind on what she wants to major in a few times. But she is a smart girl and at the top of her class so I have lots of confidence in her!

 

[gabzee]

I agree. I love the planning. It gives me something to look forward to and think about. But of course you know that! thanks for the college advice too. We have visited several schools and our oldest already says she know where she wants to go. But since she is in 11th grade, so that could change. She has already changed her mind on what she wants to major in a few times. But she is a smart girl and at the top of her class so I have lots of confidence in her!

I hope that she will get into the college of her dreams! My daughter continuously changed her mind about her top schools and majors. It will happen a lot and even more when they are in college (regarding the majors). I wish her luck!! Thanks again for reading!

 

[gabzee]

I'm sorry I haven't updated in a while but I will be posting more soon as I will be going into full on Disney World Planning Cram Mode!
I am happy to say that..... WE WILL BE AT DISNEY WORLD IN 20 DAYS!!!!!!
I will hopefully make another post tomorrow or the next day but I wanted to let you all know that I am still here!