Making a list and checking it twice

Choozee

Mouseketeer
Joined
Jun 30, 2013
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274
Our First time staying on site at Disney (our 2nd trip to MK. Never been to the other parks)

The 4 year old Princess Trip! Driving 8 hours - spending 6 nights, with 5 day park hopper tickets.

Me, Tina -48; daughter Hanna -24 and granddaughter Brooklynn -4. A three Generation Family trip.

My husband went with us last year when we did just a one day trip to MK. He said that he was never going back! Lol And that’s okay with me. I enjoy Disney, he does not. No hard feelings. An all-girl trip will be FUN!

  1. Reserve a Disney total pkg vacation 1 year in advance because I can afford a $5K vacation when I make payments and can spread the hurt over several months.

  2. Port Orleans Riverside- Royal Room with a Riverview (not sure Riverview is a must but hopefully we can get a room closer to the main pool….What room #? What building?) Is a Riverview worth the additional $$ ?

  3. Purchased the Deluxe Dining plan. ~ Yeah, I know it is a lot of food but we are going to use the meal time to sit, relax, rest our feet and enjoy the food. I know I am not saving any money per say* but I like the fact that I do not have to worry about a dining budget once we are at Disney.

  4. Purchased the Memory Maker. ~ I take lousy pictures. Going to lots of characters meals and really want some animated magic shots. I feel the price is worth it. Plus we will get to try snacks that we normally would not purchase otherwise. Also, the Food and Wine Festival will be going on and I read somewhere that snack credits can be used for all sorts of yummy plates.

  5. Not sure Park hopper tickets are worth it (??) but I do not want to feel limited on any given day should something unexpected happen. Or lose spontaneity.

  6. Purchased the Get Down to Disness planning tool. I LOVE IT!!!! I will purchase another one when I start planning the next Disney World vacation.

  7. Purchased Touring Plans book (my opinion on that book was ehh. ) I could have done without it because much of the information I read in the book, I had read for free on these forums. However the touring plans themselves are fun and I can design my own. – Still playing around with that. I liked the “cheat Sheets on Easy WDW better. And WDW Prep School has come great ideas! I will use the cheat sheets to integrate my personal touring plan.

  8. Should I purchase the Unofficial Guide to Disney? Ummmm. (still considering)

  9. Determine what days have Extra Magic Hours and what days in order that we want to Visit parks. Try to make the dining options agree with park day choices but may have to reverse the plan and schedule park days around Dining Ressies.

  10. Wake up at 5 am on my 180 days out and make my ADRs!

  11. Breakfast at Cinderella Royal Table; dinner with Cinderella at 1900 Park Fare, Breakfast with the Princesses at Akershus, Breakfast at Chef Mickeys; lunch at BOG, lunch at Yak n Yeti, dinner at Ohana, lunch at Rainforest Café in downtown Disney, Dinner at Tony’s, Dinner at Biergarten, Dinner at Hoop De Doo Revue, Lunch at Crystal Palace, breakfast at 1900 park fare with Mary Poppins.

  12. Purchase MNSSHP tickets

  13. Make Bippity Boppity Boo Reservations

  14. Order matching family T-shirts from Etsy

  15. Order stroller name tag from Etsy.

  16. Order small fun Tinker Bell Magic gifts from Amazon, Etsy and the Disney Store. Get some glow in the dark glitter for Tinker Bell’s tracks for the morning magic moments in the hotel room

  17. Purchase a portable phone charger~ What kind? read reviews.

  18. Purchase a bike lock for stroller (we are taking our own stroller and I intend to lock the wheels together to prevent theft) I will not lock the stroller to a fence or tree. I have read that CMs move the strollers and ask that no one lock items to permanent fixtures
  19. figure out how tall Brooklynn is and study the ride height requirements so she isn't sad for any reason and we choose the right rides for her ahead of time.
  20. plan FP+s and set alarm for 60 days out. not sure how to make FP reservations yet, need to do more reading on that topic
  21. make a packing list. include princess gowns and ponchos and zip lock bags
  22. finalize our touring plans
  23. Disclaimer: This is a list and planning guideline and tool, mostly so that I can remember to check items off my to do list. But I hope this list helps others with planning too. I am very new at writing articles and such so please forgive my grammar and any errors.
** Well, what do ya all think? I am wanting, seeking and wishing that others will respond and reply with tips, ideas and any help.


Thanks, Tina
 
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I made my reservations last July for our upcoming trip in September 2015. This list has been on my mind and scattered on various papers and notebooks throughout my home and office. I needed to write this out and share it because now that I have made my ADRs all of the little things are coming up to the top of my "important do not forget this stuff" part. This list is a work in progress and when I get a chance I am going to update it with stricter daily plans as I figure it out.

I did get all the character ADRs that we wished for and on the days that we wished for. So I feel a little piece of the MAGIC has already begun! :0

I am addicted to the study and topic of Disney World and these forums consume my every evening! No doubt I am becoming a Disney Addict!
 
Continue with my pre planning tool and making notes as I go.
I read these forums every day and enjoy so many stories and listen to much needed words of Disney wisdom. I believe my plans are becoming more of a reality.
We are driving and I haven't decided if we should take our own stroller or just rent one? What do Ya all think?
We are thinking about skipping Hollywood Studios all together and opt for a resort day instead.
2days at MK, 1-AK & 1-EC and one Undecided day
That would put us on the following itinerary:
Day 1. Leave at 2am. Arriving at 11am. Bag check at hotel POR.
Take the boat to DDD, shop and have lunch at Rainforest Cafe.
Do some pin trading. ( never done this before so we are excited to give it a try!)
go back to hotel, check in, shower and get ready for dinner with Cinderella at 1900 Park Fare.
Drive the car to 1900 PF (I guess our own car is the easiest way to get there (?))
Enjoy our meal and return to hotel for some much needed sleep.

Day 2: AK day! We have never been here before and I can't wait to do the Safari! have lunch at Yak and Yeti and explore some more then when we leave AK we go to have dinner at 'Ohana
Early to bed to rest up for MK!!!

Day 3: EMH. @ MK Get there as early as possible. Hopefully we will have fast passes for Anna and Elsa if not run to them first! But if we are lucky enough to score those passes then maybe we can wake Tinker bell up instead or go to Peter Pan ride. Have lunch at BOG. Get FP for enchanted tales and 7DMT. Take a resort break. Come back about 5:30. Have dinner at Tony's.
Ride rides. Shop. And stay for fireworks.

Day 4: Epcot. have breakfast at Akershus. Ride soarin and enjoy the various street performers as we travel around the world. Go to the turtle ride. Explore more! Enjoy FW festival. Have ADR for Biergarten but I'm not a big fan of sausage so I am kinda reconsidering that. Take a hotel break or just stay for the night time show.

Day 5: late breakfast at Chef Mickeys. Hang around the resort at POR. Possibly rent bikes. Possibly go to HS to ride toy story and see a show. Or possibly go back to MK. Have dinner at Hoop De Do

Day 6: MK we have breakfast reservations at CRT!!! Before the park officially opens :) then after breakfast we have a reservation at BBB. (I know it's backwards but we will take what we can get) today we will meet as many characters as we can. And tonight it's MNSSHP! With dinner at Crystal Palace.

Day 7: pack our bags. Check out and have breakfast at 1900 PF with Alice in Wonderland before we drive back home
 
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this is Brooklynn.JPG [/G family2.JPG




This is my family. I thought I would put a picture to a name so that we could get acquainted. The little Princess in my granddaughter Brooklynn. My sweet hubby, Chris and my daughter, Hanna.
 

I found a couple of Disney trip necessities and I want to share them on my little PTR. As I prepare for our September vacation at POR ( no free dining for me ) but o well. When we signed up for this trip we didn't plan on FD so no real loss.
I found this really cute handmade Disney scrapbook on Etsy! I'm so excited about it! I think it's worth the $45! image.jpgThere are lots of princess pages for photos to be added and it's very well made. This definitely puts me in the Disney mood!
 
I'm adding a little update as I am making some changes to our vaca. I cancelled out Biergarten ADR for Sept 28 & decide on Restaurant Marrakech. After looking at the Biergarten menu, nothing really appealed to me. I double checked some ratings on another popular website and decided to change up the plans.
I also cancelled out Tony's ADR and chose Narcoosee. I never really wanted Tony's and a CM just talked me into eating there. But since we are actually paying for our DDDP, I think we would enjoy a nice meal at a new place. And we will be ready to leave the park anyways. I like the way their menu looks!
I also made a couple more Tinkerbell surprise purchases for our room. I purchase the cutest Disney Jammie's at the biggest national retailer in America....WM.
I got a couple of cute shirts too.
I love Disney trip shopping!
I got the portable phone charger in the mail too. Woot woot!
 
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Forgive me for not knowing how to rotate pictures on my iPad when posting
 
Well I just saved $290 with a special Disney is running on rooms right now! I am thrilled! I guess because so many people didn't get the free dining sale, Disney decided to offer up some discounts! I was told that moderates rarely get discounts so I am super excited about the savings! :dancer:
 
Woot woot!:cheer2: I just save another $500 and scored the Free dining! I feel the magic! Now our trip is paid in full and the world is bright! :sunny:
I also got our matching t-shirts in the mail today! September can't get here fast enough! I feel so blessed:littleangel:
 
I found the cute little handmade t shirt dresses for my soon to be 4 year old grand daughter! She is going to love 'em! Ooo I can't wait for her to visit so that I can share the sweet surprise with her!
We are getting so pumped up about our vacation and it's not until the end of September!image.jpg image.jpg
 

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I am still Disney shopping and had these 3 matching vacations shirts made! I just got them in the mail today and they are so cute!image.jpg
 
Nobody comments on this post, lol. But I just keep on adding to it anyway :flower3:

Update: after reading everybody tips and suggestions, my shopping list gets longer. I've added a collapsible hamper, glow sticks for the night time parades, a fanny pack, RFID sleeves for my credit cards and some Brita water filter bottles.

I had better get another suitcase too cuz I don't know where I'm going to put all this stuff! Lol no, I'm not getting another suitcase.
 
Well it turns out we can add a couple of days to our vacation! So I am going to surprise my family! I told them that I would find a cheap hotel for the first night. Ya know. Well I can't wait to see their faces when I pull into the Art of Animation! Surprise! My 4 year old DGD is gonna flip!
And when I asked if I could add a day to the last day at POR, no rooms are available so I chose a one night stay at the AKL!
This trip is gonna be great! We are first timers staying onsite and we are going to experience a value, a moderate and a deluxe!
 
Your plans sound wonderful! All the Disney magic you are creating is amazing! I hope you have a magical vacation! Keep the updates coming! I love all the plans you have made and cannot wait to see pictures of your little princess in her new dresses, so cute. My 12 Daughter still likes to wear sparkly outfits when meeting the characters, makes me smile.
 
Thank you for replying! :) :daisy:
I was beginning to think my post was private or something lol
I have decided that we are not going to rush and run through our vacation. I do not want to be tired and needing a vacation because of a marathon sprint thru the parks.
We intend to eat. play, rest and swim. Repeat.
After all Disney isn't going anywhere and what we don't get accomplished on this trip, we can make plans for another.
Planning is half the fun!
 
I found the cutest back pack at the mall today! There is even matching shoes. I didn't get the shoes this time but I couldn't say no to this back pack!
Planning this trip is so much fun! Double digit days are fast approaching!
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image.jpg Today was my 60 day fast pass ressie day! And I scored Anna & Elsa! I am so excited! My four year old grand daughter is very excited about going to Disney World now!
 
Your girls' only trip sounds awesome. I hope you have a great time on your trip. Lots of cute clothes and accessories there.
 
Thank you! I'm just glad somebody is reading my story! Lol we are really getting excited now that we are 58 days out! In 20 days I will pre order our BOG breakfast and lunch. And I will get on touring plans to start a daily touring guide. I m going to print them up on waterproof paper and make a little folder up. I just can't stop thinking about our Disney trip. We have worked hard, saved up and it's going to be amazing!
 












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