I don't know for sure yet, but it was mentioned. I'm hoping that they don't assume that my son wouldn't want to stay there because of his age. He would love it and has already been peaking at YouTube videos of the resort!
Crap! I didn't even think about checking flight safety records!MamaVonna, you crack me up! You sound so much like me with all this obsessive planning! (And I mean that in the most respectful, understanding way possible) hehe!
One of our wish granters texted me this morning and answered a few of my questions. I told them I prefer southwest and would like an early flight....if possible. She said they can't guarantee any certain airlines or certain flight times. It's all based on donated miles. UGH! That's scary cause I'm not a flyer. I know Southwest has a great record for safety. I've been trying to calm my nerves by looking up the flight number and it's history and the type of plane and all that..They also said that my youngest daughter will be a lap baby because she will be under 2 (22 months). That terifies me also, because she is a climber, and a busy body. I know it will be so difficult to try and keep her seated on our laps for 2 hours on the plane! Maybe it won't be so busy and there will be an empty seat somewhere. *fingers crossed*
She also said we CAN extend our trip, but we can NOT use any of our park tickets during the extension. We wanted to use Sea world later, and I have read other trip reports where people did do that...but maybe that's all changed now?
I'm not too fond of flying, especially with my entire family on the same plane but I've tried to not think about it. I can't. I won't. My very first flight was to Europe. It was fine but I was a big ol' bundle of nerves until we touched ground again lol!
OMG, thank you, that's so helpful! I bought a couple lots of pins (I know, they're likely mostly scrappers but....), I've also bought about 10-15 Real pins. We'll do a little trading but I really want to put together a cute Disney display with pins, tickets, maps, pictures, etc. So I'm getting them more for decoration. Initially I aspired to collect until I realized how serious folks are about these pins. There's no way I will invest any serious money into amassing a nice collection. I'm hoping to have one of each major character, our favorite rides, and one for each park. Do you collect/trade them?Ok, I wanted to comment on your itinarary because you gave me some great ideas, and we have done some of them so maybe I can help too!
12/9 (day of arrival) we're going to downtown disney for ADR at T-Rex Cafe at 4. We'll hit Once Upon a Toy to do the Mr. Potato head box and Build Your Own Light Saber; Goofy's Candy Co.; LEGO store; Ghiradelli's; Disney Pin Traders then back to GKTW for the night. - we did the Mr. Potato Head box thing too! It was (and still is) a big hit for our kids. Last time we were there was 2012. Best bargain ever! Do you collect pins? Are you going to do pin trading??
12/10 Universal and Islands of Adventure, lunch at Bubba Gump's at CityWalk then back to GKTW for the Christmas party - You are only doing 1 day for both parks? They say you can do one day at EACH park... because it's that big. Especially if you have older kids who like the thrill rides. I've also read (but not confirmed) that this is not a park hopper ticket, so if you do both parks in one day than that's it. There is no second day.
12/11 Epcot, breakfast at Akershus at 9:45, Park for the rest of the day; Illuminations at 9:30 -I'm so jealous of your Akershus reservation! I hope we can secure a spot there. I hear THIS is the place to go for a princess meal.. that its way better than the one at the Magic Kingdom. Also, IMO, Illuminations is the best nighttime show of all the parks. I think the best view is in Mexico, drinking margaritas while watching the fireworks! Another fun thing is the Coke place.. I think it's by Test Track. You can try FREE coke from all over the world.
12/12 MK, all day. Undecided on Character dining here. Planned to pack nutritious snacks & buy junk like the infamous turkey leg, mickey bars, popcorn, etc. - The castle is BEAUTIFUL during Wishes in the Christmas season. gives me teary eyes every time I see it! Also be sure to add a Dole Whip to your snack list.I never had a turkey leg, so I'm excited to try one!
12/13 Downtown Disney, souvenir shopping. Drop the teen at Disney Quest while we shop. Maybe the DH too! - I totally forgot about Disney Quest!!! This a fantastic idea! I brought this idea up to my hubby and 13 year old and they are WAYYY more excited about Disney Quest than they are to shop in Downtown Disney.
12/14 Animal Kingdom (hoping to snag an ADR at Tusker House for breakfast); leave around 2 or 3 and head to HS - Animal Kingdom is pretty neat, but IMO HS is way better. We are going to do HS first, and Animal Kingdom last. I'm fine to spend just 2-3 hours there... Just make sure you ride Everest... and I hear the Lion King show is amazing.. we've never seen it but I think we will this time!
12/15 Departure dayif time allows, we will go to either Sea World for a few hours or the outlet mall
I'd love to extend our trip, I'll ask them Friday. Not getting my hopes up though. - Hopefully you can extend. Do you know about the pass thing they give you when you checkout of GKTW? There are soo many things you can do with this card, and it's all free! I hear you can also pick up Legoland and Bushgarden tickets and Kennedy Space Center tickets at GKTW... Pretty sure those are complimentary as well.
We have another dd with the exact same condition. She will likely qualify for MAW in the future. - I'm so sorry to hear this. Do you think she will pick Disney as well? Maybe it depends on how much she loves this trip!
This will be our very first vacation since our family has been complete. Last vacay was Gatlinburg in 2008! - I really hop you have a fantastic time!!! Vacations are so important!
Also...I found a list of AWESOME souviners that cost very little money, and are very unique. Lots of great ideas. I'll find it and send it to you!
What a small world! I love Cincinnati's Children's, wonderful Dr's and a phenomenal facility. They do great things and treat kids from all over the world. We keep talking about moving away but as long as our two with significant needs are with us, we're not going anywhere!
Thank you! We are hoping to book everything this week! Are you planning on doing a lot of character meals, etc?
I've got our itinerary done. Adjusted it over the weekend according to the crowd calendar, then got busy trying to make ADR's. I've printed park maps, and plotted our trek thru each one ride by ride and show and food stands, gift shops, etc.; and have a pretty doable timeline for each day lol! Madness. Knowing us, everything I've spent many HOURS planning will be tossed aside, because nothing ever goes as planned with 2 sick kiddos, a teen, and a preschooler. I've made peace with the fact I'm just entertaining myself and keeping busyand likely it'll be utter chaos.
And I hear ya about being a control freak. I told them I would prefer to fly southwest, and have already picked out flights there and back. I've been checking out crowd calendars to decide which parks to do on what days...and for sure I'll be making reservations as soon as I can.
Well we heard yesterday that we will be having our reveal party in August so about 30 days out.
Ack I have to keep this secret all summer now somehow. Our local chapter said that they like to do it close to because then the kids are even more excited and don't have to wait as long until the "big day" I totally get it but planning wise it makes it hard. LOL They have our plane and GKTW booked so at least my hubby could book the time off work needed already.
I think I am going to book a dining ressie or two just in case now, just to be safe. Then ask them about it later, so as to not bug them with questions all the time.
If youre staying at gktw you get a lamyard with the genie on it. This gets you into all the fast pass lanes, and front of the line access for characters and shows, even the informal meet and greets that dont use fp
