May 2011 PTR - Who says you have to pay the post office for a passport? 3/26

[merbobear]

I love the spreadsheet! They are so helpful in staying organized when planning. I am constantly thinking of new things to make spreadsheets for!

For CRT, I'd probably choose the early seating, although that might be considered lunch. When we ate there last year, the meal was very fast paced, but it is a set three courses, so I'd definitely plan on an hour. If it was just me and Miguel, we'd go with the 9:15 and just run into the restaurant as soon as Wishes ended, but I have a feeling that would probably be too late for a little one!

I am loving my spreadsheet too...at first I saw it as being almost too organized, but I quickly realized that with having ADR at so many different places and each at different times, I needed more than a few notes scribbled on a piece of scrap paper. I am still not sure if I plan to go all out and do a Disney binder, though I now see the light and realize how beneficial it could be to do so...I just fear the mocking that Mike might dole out if he sees me start a full on binder for our little family vacation!

As for CRT we actually are going with a later time..we are late eaters, typically. Mike works until 7pm, so by the time he gets home and we eat, it's often 8pm anyway! Since I mostly stay at home and Adison doesn't do daycare and isn't in pre-school yet, it's really easy to have her on a later schedule than kids normally would be on!

Right now my plans are to bring some quick on-the-go foods for breakfast. None of us are really big breakfast eaters, so granola bars or something similar will be great in the morning (and they travel well) and then we will eat a counter service lunch and our table service are mostly dinner ressies.

I am going to show off my new and improved spreadsheet pretty soon - we have added a day to our vacation, and that inspired me to cancel and rebook a few meals and switch up our days a bit! (this is why I am so glad I did the spreadsheet...so easy to edit and rearrange our days!)

 

[blessedmom4]

Okay, Let Mike mock! He has no idea what it takes to pull off this Disney vacation...by the end of it he will be doing this at your feet! YOu are going to have an amazing time!

I wish I knew how to do a spread sheet. I write everything down ...yes, I am very slow to come into the 21st century. I LOVE your spreadsheet and the fact you have added an extra day to the trip...

 

[TinkerbellinNY6]

That's so neat that you are in my area...it really IS a small world after all! Which college do you go to? There are so many schools here for one little city!

I go to the college of pharmacy. There is a ton in this area!

 

[tracisup]

HI! I just wanted to pop in to say thats I have read your PTR and I have some comments to add but I have too many kids around me to do it! LOL

I will try to reply later this weekend.

You have a beautiful princess. I can't wait to see pics of her at MK!

 

[blessedmom4]

I wanted to see how things were going....

 

[lbuzz52]

OMG those curls are so darling!
I second the idea of making sure you arrive at DHS early in the morning. Toy story is worth it, at least my family thinks so. Also, so many of the show- belle, etc only show a few times a day and it can limit your free time a bit if you have those on your list.

 

[lbuzz52]

Oh- I meant to say- I think those pjs would make asuper cute upcycled dress if you have the skills.

 

[pinkxray]

I just found your report and I'm joining in.

Adison is so adorable and I love her name.
My DD is six, I miss her being 3. That age is the best.

I love the wrislet you bought at Toys R Us. I wasn't planning on doing on shopping today but I might have to head over there and see if my store has them. Now, do I purchase it for myself or DD?

 

[merbobear]

Oh- I meant to say- I think those pjs would make asuper cute upcycled dress if you have the skills.

I have actually been kicking that idea around in my head since I bought the set! I have some skills in the sewing department - I am no professional seamstress, but I can figure my way around the sewing machine enough to make a simple dress.

I made this outfit for Adison to wear for her birthday party this year:

That's my mom posing with her! Just a simple pillowcase dress, then I added the ruffle in the contrasting fabric, made a sash for her waist, and added tiny ruffles to pink leggings we already had. Oh and I made the little bow in her hair, which she promptly lost after this photo was taken! lol

 

[merbobear]

OMG those curls are so darling!
I second the idea of making sure you arrive at DHS early in the morning. Toy story is worth it, at least my family thinks so. Also, so many of the show- belle, etc only show a few times a day and it can limit your free time a bit if you have those on your list.

Thanks! And we are definitely doing DHS early morning thanks to the advice from everyone in this thread! I actually have changed my entire plan around and will post my new plan w/ ADR's soon. Many of the ADR's remained the same, but I switched a few up and changed some of our park days around as well!

 

[merbobear]

Well, I had previously posted my ADR chart, but now I have to post a new one...because...we added a day to our trip! As I was dialing our TA's phone number, Mike suggested I price the trip for one extra day...turns out it was a mere $250 for another day (resort, dining plan, park tix)..how could we say no? So with an extra day to play around with came an extra ressie to book and an extra park day. I have to say, for the most part, I am so pleased with our ADRs at this point.

The only thing that I would like to change is our CRT to an earlier time (I would be willing to switch to another day also!). If we can't make it earlier, we will make do, but for now I am visiting Disney's reservations site pretty often scoping out CRT for any earlier time slots that might open up due to cancellations (what are the odds?!). The important part is that we have the ressie at all!

There are a few restaurants that I had wanted to try out ('Ohana, Tusker House..) that we cannot fit in, however Mike is already talking about "when we go again next year," so I am content with everything we have selected. I know that it's impossible to fit in every single thing you might want to do, restaurants included, and with the prospect of a future trip before this trip is even underway, I am happy to leave a few for next time!

In other news, I went ahead and got the year subscription to Touringplans.com, so figuring out our touring plans is up next!

 

[TinkerbellinNY6]

Adding another day is great! We are there at the same time. We arrive on the 14th late at night and start parks on the 15th!

 

[SOUTHERNtinkerBELLE]

Yay for another day! I am still in awe of that dining sheet! Can't wait to hear about your touring plans!

 

[merbobear]

Adding another day is great! We are there at the same time. We arrive on the 14th late at night and start parks on the 15th!

I was just going to ask what resort you are staying at, and then I noticed it's a secret! Is it a secret just on DIS, or is it a secret as in you are being surprised?

 

[merbobear]

Yay for another day! I am still in awe of that dining sheet! Can't wait to hear about your touring plans!

I have to admit, I am quite proud of my ADR chart...I have put in so much time and effort between reading reviews, making reservations, cancelling them, and making new reservations!

I'm glad that part is over, now I can focus on our touring plans and hopefully soon get cracking on Adison's autograph book, along with some other printable designs I will be making to bring with us!

 

[blessedmom4]

How exciting, an extra day to enjoy!!! I am so excited for you and yes, your ADR's look wonderful!!!

 

[loganpaulsmom]

Great Trip report so far... We are taking our 5 year old the same time you are.It will be his second time. I think your plans are perfect.. You have it right.. Not too many ADR's and your schedule isn't overwhelming, you always need leave some wiggling room with your itinerary where the kids are concerned..

The one thing that we do that you aren't doing is we always go to MK on the first day.. Something about going and seeing that castle makes everything so real and starts off the trip with a bang.. If you can fit it in, even just to see the fireworks or the nightly parade, do it (also, just an FYI, you are arriving on May 9th, and that just so happens to be EMH at MK and they will be open until 2:00am), something to think about..

 

[britt_ji]

It's great that you booked the extra day. Very exciting! Your reservations look really good...and the chart is amazing

 

[pinkxray]

Yay, an extra day

We did 10 days last year and DH said it was too long
He hasn't asked how long the trip is this year. It is 9 days
It started out as 8 but it was cheaper to fly back on a Mon. rather than a Sunday and DH is all about cheapness.

 

[merbobear]

Great Trip report so far... We are taking our 5 year old the same time you are.It will be his second time. I think your plans are perfect.. You have it right.. Not too many ADR's and your schedule isn't overwhelming, you always need leave some wiggling room with your itinerary where the kids are concerned..

The one thing that we do that you aren't doing is we always go to MK on the first day.. Something about going and seeing that castle makes everything so real and starts off the trip with a bang.. If you can fit it in, even just to see the fireworks or the nightly parade, do it (also, just an FYI, you are arriving on May 9th, and that just so happens to be EMH at MK and they will be open until 2:00am), something to think about..

Keep reading...I added a revised ADR chart and we changed our first day to MK! I had read others saying that it just didn't feel like Disney until they saw the castle, and with a 3 year old I felt the same way..it just won't be a Disney vacation until she walks into MK! Thanks for the tip

Yay, an extra day

We did 10 days last year and DH said it was too long
He hasn't asked how long the trip is this year. It is 9 days
It started out as 8 but it was cheaper to fly back on a Mon. rather than a Sunday and DH is all about cheapness.

Cheaper flights is why we are flying in on a Monday and out on a Tuesday! The weekend pricing is just too much!
Way to squeeze an extra day in on unsuspecting DH!

In other news, I just figured out how to multi-quote