Hello, it’s Wings, and this is my PTR for my upcoming Disney World trip--we leave in ~100 days from what will be frigid Massachusetts for sunny, magical, beautiful Florida to spend the week of December 4-10 at Disney World. It’s a family trip, the first I’ve taken since my honeymoon back in 2011, and I’m beyond excited, to the point where I’m exhausting the family talking about it. SO, here I am. We in the Wings family are a peculiar bunch--more interested in villains than princesses, unconventional in our living arrangements, but with more than enough love to go around. Here’s us:
ThingWithFangs, my husband, is a 29-year-old web UI developer. Originally hailing from Texas, he was the one to suggest our move back to my homeland of Massachusetts when the Dallas job market did us no favors in the spring of 2012. He’s our D&D dungeon master with a penchant for all things reptilian and an amazing bear hug, despite his booming, villainous laugh.
Fangs’ Stats:
Times to WDW: Technically, this will be his third trip, but since the first happened when he was 2, we’re not counting it.
Favorite Disney Characters: Hades, but any and all villains will easily win his heart.
Favorite Park: HS
Favorite Ride: Star Tours
Favorite Meal: The 6 oz. prawn at Artist Point. It’s no longer there and it’s heartbreaking.
We sum up ThingThatSleeps’ relationship to our family as her being the “Uncle Joey” of the bunch. She’s 28 and has been living with us for about three years now, and nobody in the house can imagine life without her. She’s a freelance artist who’s out of a day job at the moment--she worked in a pharmacy for five years before getting burnt out. She’s a gamer and an animal-lover who tends to collect stray everythings from the woods outside our house.
Sleeps’ Stats:
Times to WDW: It’s her first time! She’s been to Disneyland more times than she can count, though.
Favorite Disney Characters: Jessica Rabbit. Most of the villains.
Favorite Park: We’ll have to find out after December!
Favorite Ride: California Screamin’ at Disneyland.
Favorite Meal: The gumbo at Cafe Orleans at Disneyland.
ThingThatScreams is Fangs’ and my two-year-old son, our pride and joy and pain in the butt. He’s a rambunctious kid, to say the least--his daycare teachers politely describe him as “busy.” While WDW might exhaust other children, I feel confident that it will be perfect for his boundless energy and excitement. His hobbies and fascinations vary by the week, but a few have begun to remain consistent: cooking, puppies, and Star Wars (I’m so proud).
Screams’ Stats:
Times to WDW: His first time too!
Favorite Disney Characters: Literally all of them. Doc McStuffins is his waifu, though, and he’s obsessed with Mickey and Darth Vader.
Favorite Park: Will likely be a toss-up between MK and HS.
Favorite Ride: Were he a year older, it would be Star Tours. At this point, it’s anyone’s guess.
Favorite Meal: We’re going to take him to all these nice restaurants and he’ll probably just whine and ask for a bottle of milk.
Finally, there’s me, the Thing with Wings. I’m a 32-year-old marketing assistant (really coordinator, but they gave me the assistant title) in the construction industry. I’ve long been Disney-obsessed, but when I’m not frothing over the idea of planning another trip, I do a lot of writing and gaming, usually both at the same time. I’m just fun like that.
Wings’ Stats:
Times to WDW: This will be my 7th!
Favorite Disney Characters: It’s a struggle, it really is. I’m partial to Maleficent, Belle, Ariel, and Rapunzel. If we’re expanding to Star Wars characters, this list could go on for a month.
Favorite Park: EPCOT
Favorite Ride: Soarin’
Favorite Meal: Hnnnngh. Literally all of them, but I will say that for my money, nothing has ever come close to the Three Cheese Monte Christo at Disneyland’s Cafe Orleans (deep fried and involving cheese and powdered sugar? My hips can take it if you can!).
So there we are, and here are our trip stats!
Who? Me (Wings), Fangs, Sleeps, and Screams.
When? December 4-10, 2016!
Where? Coronado Springs!
Advanced plans? Reservations for dinner at Tiffins and the Yachtsman. We'll have our FP+ reservations when we get closer to departure!
Wish list? My god, if Club Villain is happening in December, I will give up the entirety of Christmas for it. Also I have a mighty need to meet Lady Tremaine for personal reasons (namely, I played her in my high school’s production of Cinderella, wayyyyy the way back in 1999, before she was easier to find).
Our Backstory I grew up in the 90s--turned 7 in 1990 and 16 in 1999. I was the perfect age for the rampant consumerist marketing that made it a blissful decade of economic prosperity and rampant desires to buy the things, get the stuff, and visit the place. My Saturday morning cartoon times (and, of course, the Disney Afternoon) were peppered with enticing messages from Disney to come to Disney World, which seemed like the most magical and perfect place on the planet.
It mostly seemed a pipe dream for me until my best friend went on what sounded like the most amazing Disney World trip ever when I was in the sixth grade. Her family stayed at four different resorts over the course of 12 days, and she came back with keychains for everyone else--and a seashell necklace for me, because I was special. Her rambling descriptions sparked an obsession in me, one that was eventually met the following December when my parents took myself and my younger brother and sister on a 12-day trip.
Of course, this trip--magical in every way imaginable--didn’t end my obsession; if anything, it fueled my obsession. I wrote my term paper in Geography that year (yes, a term paper in Geography; my teacher was incredibly detached from the class and had us write “term papers” while she watched soap operas on TV) on Disney World and frequently flipped through our photo albums, particularly when I was feeling sad, angry, or stressed.
Goofy at Chef Mickey's, for my college graduation gift.
We went back when I was 17 and again when I was 21 (both times were graduation presents; my parents offered me a car or Disney World and I took Disney World, which my wallet has still not forgiven). When I was 23, I went on my first adult trip with a new best friend, staying in her dad’s timeshare and hitting the parks for two days straight. My best friend traveled at a frenetic pace, with an attitude of DO ALL THE THINGS that exhausted me after about three hours. When I eventually went to Disneyland with Sleeps for the first time in 2010, we took things more sedately--ambling between rides and attractions, more focused on enjoying ourselves than on doing everything.
Disneyland with Sleeps in December 2010--and yes, I did hit the Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique as an adult. Don't judge me.
Back to the 2007 trip--at the time, Fangs and I had just started dating. We were long distance, but we knew that we didn’t want to spend our lives apart, and I moved to Texas to live with him in 2009. By 2011, we were well into planning our wedding when the most stressful spring of our lives hit like a ton of bricks. Blizzards struck Texas and snowed us in for three weeks straight. He totaled his car on the way home from a job (he filmed peewee football games across the Dallas/Fort Worth metroplex), and the lack of reliable transportation cost him future jobs. My car was totaled while parked in front of our house a month later, and my lack of reliable transportation also cost me my job (which required me to commute an hour away). Those concrete adventures had a dash of in-law/bridesmaid/family issues sprinkled on top, and by the time our wedding rolled around in May, I was ready to rip my hair out.
But then. Then we went to Disney World on our honeymoon and the stress melted away the very first night, watching Illuminations together while fiddling with our new wedding bands. Disney World became for us not merely a place of celebration but a place of destressing--a real escape.
The honeymooners, getting ready to see Wishes, 2011.
Life went on after we got back. We settled comfortably into marriage, and our work lives eventually hit something of a stride, once we moved back to my home state of Massachusetts. Sleeps and I hit Disneyland again, as an escape from her stressful life, and around that time, Fangs suggested that Sleeps come and live with us. She moved in around December of 2013, and in May of 2014, Fangs and I welcomed Screams to the world.
Fangs and I had trouble getting pregnant with Screams--it took us 14 months and medication before I finally had a positive pregnancy test. A year after he was born, we decided we wanted to try and give him a sibling, but that proved to be even more challenging, and in January of this year, we had our first round of IVF. It succeeded--I was pregnant--but I miscarried a month later. Our second round in May went about the same way--positive pregnancy test, immediately followed by a miscarriage--and combined with other less-than-wonderful things, I was ready to throw the towel in and give up on 2016.
Salvation came in the form of an inheritance check. My beloved grandmother passed away in March of 2015, and sorting through her estate took longer than expected. Her check--her last gift to me--came around the same time as my second miscarriage. I looked at the numbers--about $3000--and decided that while I could use that money to pay off debts or buy necessities, what we really needed, after this thus far abysmal year, was a trip to Disney World. A vacation of magical and destressed proportions.
So I booked it. A week at Coronado Springs, Park Hopper Passes, Dining Plan. We’re $150 away from paying it off, and I’m more than ready to go and go back again and again and again.
100 days to go!
Fangs and I got paid yesterday, so the trip is entirely paid off, too; and, as evidenced in the above screenshot, we've got an ADR for Tiffins on our second night there. I've not read many reviews of the place--pretty typical, since it's so new--but what I have read has been overwhelmingly favorable. I worried, because it looks like a fun place but I know that Sleeps, at least, is pretty picky about her dining options. BUT then I showed her the menu and she was like
at the description of the Pan-Seared Duck Breast, so I think we're good.
(Screams, our other picky eater, is easily satisfied with anything pasta-related, so I think he'll be fine)
I still need to make a few more ADRs--currently, I'm debating between Yachtsman and Le Cellier for a steak night. On the one hand, Yachtsman is a tradition for me; I've been there every time I've been to Disney World since I was 17. On the other hand, Le Cellier is new and exciting. Both are Epcot, and neither Fangs nor Sleeps have much of an opinion either way.
(Screams may, but he doesn't understand much beyond that we're going to see Mickey, that he may get a chance to meet Elsa--his newest waifu, and that Momma is very excited)
Airline tickets are the next big expense. They are, naturally, making me go
but it's not too bad. Not completely impossible, at least. I'll likely end up booking all but my and Screams' flights separately, because while we can drop that kind of money, we can't drop that kind of money all at once. For a while, though, we considered various other solutions: flying into Tampa and renting a car, sucking it up and driving down, selling kidneys... in the end, though, the cost of renting a car would've balanced out the cost of flying, and none of us have the vacation time to do a drive. Nor do we have a big enough car for that (next time, maybe?), so flying it is.
Other planning has been put on hold because half of us (namely, me and Screams) have been down for the count with hand, foot, and mouth disease. Ah, the joys of daycare. Fangs and I spent the bulk of last weekend with a feverish Screams curled up on our laps, sobbing unless we played clips from WALL-E and Frozen for him on our phones. We thought that was the end of it, but then Wednesday night, a fever hit me like a ton of bricks, and I spent all day yesterday on the couch with chills and body aches. And then this morning, I had the tell-tale spots in the back of my throat, so it's been fun.
Me, yesterday, shivering despite it being 88 degrees outside.
Either way, having the whole thing paid off is a huge weight off my chest. Now it's just a question of getting those ADRs and getting super hype when we get our Magic Bands at the 60 day mark!
Nightmares and Real Life 88 days to go (give or take). Trip is paid off, hallelujah, and the first airline tickets are purchased. I'm booking our flights separately because prices have skyrocketed since the last time I flew to Orlando, back when AirTran was a thing (oh how I miss you, AirTran, and your "hey you can totally fly first class for just $65 more!" ways). Screams and I are all set to fly down, but Fangs and Sleeps are going to have to wait a pay period or two to get their tickets. Fingers crossed I can get us all on the same flights--which shouldn't be too much of a problem, since neither flight was exactly close to full when I booked.
I've made a couple more ADRs--Yachtsman Steakhouse and Grand Floridian Cafe. The former was a mild subject of debate for me, as noted above: I love me a good steakhouse, had never been to Le Cellier, but knew I loved Yachtsman. Sleeps ended up deciding for me, peering over my shoulder as I was looking back and forth between the two with increasing angst. She pointed to the Yachtsman menu, said, "That one sounds better," and I nabbed the reservation before I had a chance to confuse myself even further. She'd been thrown off by the prices, but when I explained, "hey, free dining plan means that this won't cost us anything but the tip," she did a little happy dance, as did I. Grand Floridian Cafe, meanwhile, was mostly because I love, love, LOVE the Grand Floridian at Christmastime, and I needed Fangs and Sleeps to experience the miracle that is their gingerbread house and all the Victorian decorations and ***SIGH***
For their parts, Fangs and Sleeps are growing more excited about the trip as time goes on. Now that it's paid off, Fangs is a little less anxious and a little more counting down the milliseconds until he's on Star Tours again. Sleeps has started talking about how excited she is to hit all the World Showcase shops at Epcot--it's the part of the experience that's newest to her, since she's only ever been to Disneyland.
Screams... well.
To get Screams ready for this trip, I've been showing him a lot of videos. POV rides, fireworks shows, Mickey Mouse meet and greets, the works. Every single one enchants him, but by far, the biggest hit was Fantasmic! For approximately the last three weeks, he's asked for "Mickey Fight the Dragon" before bed, and I've been happy to oblige. Fantasmic! is a great show, and I'm glad he enjoys it--and it means he's that much more likely to enjoy it in person. The best part, for me, is that it incorporates elements of his all-time favorite Disney movie, Fantasia. Ever since he was a baby, he's loved watching "The Sorcerer's Apprentice" and every other segment, including "Night on Bald Mountain." He even used to leave Fantasia behind when he went to bed by saying, "Night night Satan," referring to the Chernabog.
Ol' Cherny plays a supporting role in Fantasmic! and Screams got really excited upon seeing him. He's not had the patience to sit through many Disney movies yet--the most we make it is usually about halfway before he whines at us to turn it off--so none of the other villains that show up meant much to him. Chernabog, though, had him bouncing. Had being the operative word, however; Chernabog has become something of a menace to our house.
You see, Screams had a stressful week last week. He switched to a new classroom at daycare, his daily pick up was thrown off by the long weekend, and he wasn't feeling very well. All of that culminated in Thursday night being a no sleep night for any of us. Screams lived up to his name, informing all of us that Chernabog was outside of his window and he was scared.
The days since have been filled with various attempts at helping him cope. He's slowly calming down--he now wants Chernabog to be his friend (and keeps offering him milk to drink), and he seems content when he can see the moon from his window. He's got at least 7 different Darth Vaders standing guard at his window to make sure Chernabog can't come in (he's convinced that Darth Vader is his guardian angel), and he now sleeps with three lightsabers, just in case. This has all helped him to fall asleep at bedtime, but then he wakes up at 2 a.m., can't see the moon, sobs a lot...
...well, you get the picture. Which is all to say, I'd give a lot for a night of uninterrupted sleep.
I'm not counting on it any time soon, though. Fangs and I are starting up our third round of IVF and praying this one doesn't end badly. I start my meds on Saturday, and with any luck, we'll be an unofficial family of five when we head down in December.
...but at least getting FastPasses was simple.
Less than two months to go!
Which, of course, means FastPasses, but I'll get to that in a minute.
Fangs and I are still working on that infertility thing, and I had an IVF cycle this month. To make a long story short, I developed a pretty nasty complication called OHSS, and without going into detail, this is me right now and since last Friday:
Objectively, it's somewhat hilarious, but I haven't been able to take a deep breath since Friday, and moving causes me immense pain. Fortunately, the symptoms have diminished somewhat today, and with any luck, I'll be back to normal and no longer bedridden (please please please, I'm so bored) by Monday.
So what does any of this have to do with Disney? Well, for one, my doctor decided to postpone the transfer of any surviving embryos until I'd had a chance to heal from all of this, which Fangs and I decided would be after the holidays and after Disney. Initially, I was a little bummed out about the wait, but then I realized that this means (a) rides and (b) drinks at Disney, which put me in a much better mood. For another, it meant that I was able to get a good, early jump on our FastPass+ reservations when they became available this week! Here's what we're looking at so far:
Sunday, December 4
Toy Story Mania!
Star Tours
Initially, I was going to start our trip with the Magic Kingdom--after all, what better way to put yourself in a Disney mood than running around that most magical of places? Buuuuut then it occurred to me that, hey, we're more of a Star Wars family overall, so better to start with Toy Story (which Screams will love, as he's getting into a Buzz Lightyear and Zurg phase) and Star Tours. This was kind of a free day--no restaurant reservations or anything--but I'm hoping we can snag a table at SciFi Dine-In Theater for lunch. Fangs and I loved it when we came on our honeymoon. If not, we'll 100% be hitting up the Backlot Express for Darth Vader chicken and waffles (where were those when Fangs and I were here last???) and, of course, a Darth Vader cupcake or two.
Monday, December 5
Kilimanjaro Safaris
Confession: Animal Kingdom is probably my least favorite park. That's not to say I don't enjoy it, but it does feel like a glorified zoo to me, and there aren't a lot of rides that I'm chomping at the bit to get on. I'm not big on thrill rides (that's Sleeps' domain--she's already beyond excited about the coasters here that aren't at Disneyland), so Kilimanjaro is really the only one that appeals to me in terms of FastPasses. We've also got a limited time table, with a reservation at Tiffins early in the afternoon. It should work out well, I think--means we'll be able to play it more by ear.
Tuesday, December 6
Seven Dwarfs Mine Train
I can do some roller coasters, it's true. I don't mind Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, and I'm actually excited about 7DMT. I've watched ride videos and it looks really cool overall. Sleeps, too, is pretty excited about it--it's the one ride that she threw out in terms of "must-do" attractions, out of everything in the four parks. Fangs, on the other hand? Notsomuch on the excitement. He's not a big fan of roller coasters by any stretch of the imagination (actually, he's rather frightened of them), but with much cajoling from me and Sleeps, he said, "FINE. Sign me up for the Snow White one, but DON'T TALK TO ME ABOUT IT AGAIN or I will change my mind."
I consider this a victory.
Also a victory is the reservation I managed to snag for Cinderella's Happily Ever After Dinner. I was in Cinderella when I was in high school, and I played the Wicked Stepmother, so meeting Lady Tremaine was high on my list of priorities this trip. And BOOM, snagged this reservation just by luck and happenstance. I'm trying to get Fangs and Sleeps as excited as I am, but their response is consistently, "Strawberry soup isn't soup, it's a smoothie in a bowl."
Wednesday, December 7
Soarin'
Kind of a free day for us, but I did want to get a Soarin' reservation in sometime when we aren't hemmed in by either Screams' nap schedule or a dinner reservation. It is, after all, my favorite.
Thursday, December 8
Frozen Ever After
I'll admit, this one was going to be a skip for me. I don't dislike Frozen--my response to it is generally a resounding "meh" tbh--but I do dislike crowded attractions and long lines, and I'd planned to just skip this one in favor of spending extra time shopping in Japan (I can't imagine spending less than an hour in Mitsukoshi--that store just never ends!). Buuuuut then Screams started loving "Let it Go" and wanted to go on the Elsa ride, so a FastPass we got. It'll be fun, I think, and even if not, we have a reservation for the Yachtsman Steakhouse that night, so any lack of fun will be made up for with melt-in-your-mouth steak.
And that's it! It's not much of a plan, but honestly, we're more of a "take it as you go" family. My overall plan is to do one park every morning, snag a lunch by 11-11:30, head back to CSR for naptime/pool time, and then head to whatever park for around 3. Most of these FP+ reservations are for after 3 p.m. with that in mind, and I hope that plan works out well for us in general.
From left to right, that's mine, Sleeps, Fangs, and Screams. Sleeps and I are twinsies!
I'm thinking of ordering some decals for them, but thus far, everyone seems to like theirs just fine as-is. I might just slap a sticker or something on mine to differentiate from Sleeps in case they get otherwise mixed up.
But. Our flights are booked, our reservations have been made, and we're ready to head out. I 100% feel like the kids in the "Voice of Experience" commercial spot that played before every Disney movie I owned in the 90s. Only I won't tell Screams that Goofy could beat up his dad. That seems unkind.
In other news, Fangs' dad has a lot of accrued vacation time, so he's planning to join the trip a little towards the end. I don't have his itinerary yet (which is Stressful) but Fangs promised to get it to me tonight, so we'll be adjusting plans accordingly.
26 days until we fly out and 27 until we're at Disney! Here we goooooo!
One Week!
Technically 8 days until Disney proper, but we're flying out a week from today, so who's counting?
(me, I am counting)
It's been difficult to focus on much the last week, and I'm sure that next week will be even worse. With no holiday to break up the work week, I can pretty much guarantee that it's going to drag on and on and on and on
The first half of the week will be mad in terms of work busyness, but I suppose I have to earn this trip somehow. I'm also making list after list of things that we'll need to bring for Screams; after all, we adults have packed for ourselves dozens of times before. Packing for a two-year-old is an entirely different animal.
The important parts of Screams' packing list thus far include
His Stuffed Puppy: a stuffed husky that his auntie Sleeps got him for his first birthday. Screams goes nowhere without Puppy; Puppy isn't even two years old, and it's almost Real, in the Velveteen Rabbit sense of the word.
His Darth Vader Pillow: sleeping on any side but the Dark Side? Perish the thought!
His Inside Out Blanket: warm, fuzzy, and full of Joy and Sadness.
A Carry-On Suitcase Filled With A Kindle And Colorforms: it's not a LONG flight from where we are to Orlando, but when you're two, "not long" really means "forever" and "we're almost there" means "we might arrive before you die maybe." The Kindle is a gift from my parents, who understand the value of silence. The Colorforms (Daniel Tiger-themed because I love that little guy) are my addition. Also going in the carry-on will be diapers, wipes, snacks, and a sippy cup.
The Entire Darth Vader Costume: here is Screams in his Darth Vader costume for Halloween:
It's the Disney Store version, complete with gloves, cape, and mask. He wants to wear it to meet Kylo Ren. I can't say that I blame him (though the mask will hang out in my bag until we're well within the park, at least).
His Darth Vader Hoodie: I'm beginning to sense a theme here...
Meanwhile, I'm just reminding myself over and over to NOT FORGET THE MAGIC BANDS. That would be the worst thing. And all the while, I'm counting down and trying very hard to not get too distracted, because there's still a week to go, but y'all THERE'S ONLY A WEEK TO GO.
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