LIVE! from DCA MylilTink's First Trip to WDW! September 25-Oct 1 w/ Deluxe Dining

[MylilTink]

Hi!


Welcome to my very first PTR for my very first trip to Walt Disney World!

Actually, this is a first trip for everyone in the party!

Who's in the party?

Me - 31, the planner.
DH - 32, the 'what ever you think is best' supporter.
DD - 3 (almost 4 when we arrive). Loves Tinkerbell... a lot!

When I originally booked the trip my Mom was also going to be joining us, but she's been recently diagnosed with MS and will not be able to make it.

 

[MylilTink]

This morning (5/3), after waiting on hold for 45-ish minutes, I upgraded our reservations from All Star Music to The Caribbean Beach Resort and added FREE DINING to the reservation!

Yes, I was one of those people anxiously awaiting the announcement of free dining and I was a little nervous at the beginning of April that FD wasn't going to happen this year.

 

[MylilTink]

Currently, we have the basic dining plan on our reservation, however we're more than likely going to upgrade to the DELUXE dining plan sometime before we arrive.

Also, I can't believe how lucky I have been when making my ADR's! I've been able to reserve every restaurant and time that I've wanted without any compromises! So, here's our reservations:

Sunday

• Lunch at Le Cellier
• Dinner at Coral Reef

Monday

• Supercalifragilistic Breakfast at 8AM
• Dinner at 'Ohana's

Lunch is still unknown

Tuesday

• Breakfast with Playhouse Disney

The rest of the day is unknown (I left my ADR sheet at work)

Wednesday

• Safari Breakfast with Donald at Tusker House
• Dinner at Yak and Yeti

Thursday

Only have dinner scheduled at CRT!! Also, we plan on attending MNSSHP that night. So, our morning and afternoon is free for relaxing or revisiting Epcot.

 

[ShiPooOwner]

Hi MylilTink! I am excited to read all about your preparations for your trip to Disney. How exciting to be staying at Caribbean Beach with free dining!! I've always wanted to stay at a moderate (or deluxe!!) but it hasn't happened yet. I'll bet you will inspire me to reconsider. How did it work that you could make the upgrade with free dining? I suppose it will cost you a whole lot more?

 

[MylilTink]

We're finally in double digits!

Only 97 days to go... and we're arriving a day earlier than originally planned!

There hasn't been much to do since the ADR's (most at least) have been books and the hotel has been researched (pictures and reviews) and everyone is excited with the choices I made.

Right now, I'm researching for cheap airfare and I think I've found the lowest possible with AirTran at $63 each way (excluding taxes and baggage fees). This fare is over $200 cheaper than with Southwest, whom we were originally going to fly with.

Also, due to the cheaper rate, we've decided to use the 'savings' and add a day to our vacation. So, the plan is to arrive on Saturday and have a pre-Disney day: relax, hang out by the pool, explore Downtown Disney, and rest before we visit our first park, which will be Epcot.

Other than the above, not much going on.

 

[MylilTink]

Just bought our airfare tickets this morning!

Round trip for the three of us was $560. Not as cheap as it was last month, but not as expensive as the other airlines were charging either.


We're getting so close!! And buying the airfare made the trip all the more real.

 

[Sneezie]

Hi!

I love reading about first trips to Disney World!!!

I hope you have a ball and I can't wait to read your trip report when you get back!!!

 

[disny_luvr]

I hope you have a blast on your first trip to the World! We took our boys on their first trip last year and they loved it. We are taking them back again in December and we can't wait; neither can they. We also stayed at CBR and thought it was great! My boys loved the kiddie pool area. They would've played on the pirate ship play structure all day if we'd have let them. In fact, my one little guy keeps on telling me he can't wait to "swim in the pirate ship". Unfortunately for him we aren't staying at CBR for our upcoming trip. Hopefully he'll like the pool at WL. Great job on the plane tickets too. That was a great price!

 

[MylilTink]

Hi!

I love reading about first trips to Disney World!!!

I hope you have a ball and I can't wait to read your trip report when you get back!!!

Hi! Wow, I have reader! Thanks so much for stopping by.

I really hope I'm able to write a TR - especially since this is our very first trip; but, as you can see, I lack the ability to write a PTR (at least one that get attention . )

I hope you have a blast on your first trip to the World! We took our boys on their first trip last year and they loved it. We are taking them back again in December and we can't wait; neither can they. We also stayed at CBR and thought it was great! My boys loved the kiddie pool area. They would've played on the pirate ship play structure all day if we'd have let them. In fact, my one little guy keeps on telling me he can't wait to "swim in the pirate ship". Unfortunately for him we aren't staying at CBR for our upcoming trip. Hopefully he'll like the pool at WL. Great job on the plane tickets too. That was a great price!

Thank you, disny_luvr, for the feedback about CBR. Granted, I've read the hotel thread and viewed as many pictures possible, it's great to hear something from someone that's stayed AND has young children. DH and I have checked out the pirate play area in the pool and we both agree that it will be nearly impossible to get Amelia away once she sees it.

 

[MylilTink]

We've made it to our final month -- this time next month we'll be in Epcot!!

My daughter, Amelia (aka MylilTink), has no idea how close we are to this vacation so I've decided to make a count down calendar to show her how close we are. I'll post a pic once it's made and placed on the fridge.

I've been reading about the Wishes Dessert Party and thinking about making a reservation. Has anyone else done this recently? I've read conflicting prices for the reservation; some write $21.99/adult and other write $27.49/adult. I know I could call Disney and get an actual cost, but I also want to "hear" other's thoughts to make sure it's worth it... especially since Amelia and I don't have much of a sweet tooth (DH makes up for the both of us) and I just want to have a great spot to watch Wishes and for Amelia to be able to see.

 

[Sneezie]

Hi!

The time is drawing near. I know you are so excited you are about to burst!

In regards to the Wishes Dessert party, I have never done it, so I can't tell you whether its a good value or not, but I have been to WDW during the time that you're going and just wanted to let you know, if the main reason you're doing the Dessert Party is to get a good spot to see Wishes, I wouldn't bother. The crowds aren't so big during this time that you'll have to fight for space.

Way to go on the airfare and the additional day, upgrade and free dining!

Enjoy the anticipation of your trip, its almost as exciting as the trip itself.

 

[MylilTink]

Hi!

The time is drawing near. I know you are so excited you are about to burst!

In regards to the Wishes Dessert party, I have never done it, so I can't tell you whether its a good value or not, but I have been to WDW during the time that you're going and just wanted to let you know, if the main reason you're doing the Dessert Party is to get a good spot to see Wishes, I wouldn't bother. The crowds aren't so big during this time that you'll have to fight for space.

Way to go on the airfare and the additional day, upgrade and free dining!

Enjoy the anticipation of your trip, its almost as exciting as the trip itself.

Thanks for the feedback, especially about the crowd level! I've subscribed to Tour Guide Mike and the days I have planned to visit show as all green, but you never know.

At this point, all I keep thinking is "this time next month we'll be at WDW".

 

[MylilTink]

It's incredibly slow at work today, so I've been perussing the DISign board and found an awesome thread for Countdown Chains! The link to the DISigner's Photobucket is here.

I've printed out a test sheet and put it together:







I think this is going to be a great weekend project for Amelia and I to work on together and help her learn to subtract as we countdown the days!

 

[MylilTink]

A friend of mine from High School made a Minnie Dress for my daughter...

I absolutely love it! My friend also made 2 matching bows and a bracelet.

 

[MylilTink]

I bought our tickets to MNSSHP today! I'm pretty excited!! Plus, we now have an extra ticket to visit another park!

Also, I pre-paid for the Photopass CD & Custom book!

We're almost set for our trip!

Oh, and I've created a Twitter account so I can do a semi-live trip update (note semi-live). If anyone is interested in following our trip, the id is www.twitter.com/myliltink

 

[karebear23]

Hi! How exciting! I saw you on the Oct trip board...we will be there also from Oct 3-10!
Yeah! You will have a great 1st trip...your ADR's sound good!
We don't stay on property (we stay FREE at my parents timeshare). Someday I will stay on property!
My dd is close to yours she is 4...and I have 29month old son.
Just wanted to say hi!

 

[MylilTink]

Hi! How exciting! I saw you on the Oct trip board...we will be there also from Oct 3-10!
Yeah! You will have a great 1st trip...your ADR's sound good!
We don't stay on property (we stay FREE at my parents timeshare). Someday I will stay on property!
My dd is close to yours she is 4...and I have 29month old son.
Just wanted to say hi!

Hi!

You just reminded me that I need to update the ADR's since I've filled in the missing meals.

How many times have your children visited Disney; do they remember their trips? My daughter will be 4 in a few months (January) and I think she'll remember, but DH is worried she won't (either way, won't be a problem with all the pictures we're probably going to take).

 

[karebear23]

Well we live in FL...a little over 80 miles from WDW .
So we go often. We didn't take her until she was 2 1/2...and ds was 6 months.

She remember a little from the very 1st trip but pictures mostly remind her of the 1st visit. The early trips were more for my memory than for them!

Now she remembers everything. Not sure what she will remember years from now . She turned 4 in May. The last 2 trips we did were for her bday & a day trip to see the Electrical parade.

We talk about disney everyday. Almost daily she will tell me what she wants to ride on our next trip & what characters we need to meet.

I'm sure you little one will remember a good part...just take a ton of pictures!

 

[MylilTink]

Our day has finally arrived! We're on the plane heading south to visit Mickey Mouse!

 

[karebear23]

Our day has finally arrived! We're on the plane heading south to visit Mickey Mouse!

Have fun!!