I started writing this in Google docs a couple of weeks ago but never got around to posting... so now I'm finally posting, oops. I've never actually done a PTR before, so I'm looking forward to seeing how our plans evolve as we get closer to our trip! 
Cast of characters:
Mom(me): Enneagram 2 wing 1, Disney adult (and proud). 2nd hand is my preferred shopping method.
Dad(Mr. Incredible): Enneagram 1 wing 2, Disney adult (converted). Plant enthusiast.
Elsa: first grader, too smart for her own good, will be 7 at the time of our trip.
Anna: 18 months old, basically Sunny from A Series of Unfortunate Events (IYKYK). Will be 2 weeks shy of turning 2 at the time of our trip.
WDW Experience: Mr. Incredible and I got married in 2013, and I walked down the aisle to “Climbing Up Iknimaya”. We honeymooned in WDW and stayed at POFQ. It was absolute bliss and not just because we were newlyweds, ha! I remember seeing 7DMT under construction, which was so cool. We did MNSSHP that trip.
We visited Disneyland for a day trip in 2014 with my family (6 adults) and we decided we needed to go back (eventually) just us because going with 4 other adults with very different agendas was a challenge. Also, for only one day, we didn’t get to see everything we wanted! It was not my first visit there, but last time I was still considered a “child”. Mr Incredible had never been before.
We went back to WDW in 2017 as a “last adults only trip”, as we knew we wanted to grow our family. We stayed at Pop and got to see the famous snoap during MVMCP. Our favorite memory from that trip was going to AK during early morning entry, rope dropping FOP, and then going to a different park the rest of the day, ha! (We were leaving the next day, I think, and we needed to ride FOP again)
We took Elsa for her first trip in December 2021 and stayed at ASMo. No park hopping for us this time, and we skipped HS because we knew she wouldn’t be as interested. We went at her speed, which worked out great. We did breakfasts in our room and came back after lunch for naps and pool time. After we got back home we asked her what her favorite parts were. It was, without a doubt, the pool and the buses.
Our next trip:
Mr. Incredible and I have been discussing vacation plans for a while. I love vacation planning for our family, and after Elsa’s fall break was over in October, I got the itch to start planning our next trip. We had been looking at several different options but with Anna’s summer birthday, we knew we needed to go back in the next year or two. We loved taking Elsa so much when she was still “free” that I knew as soon as Anna was born we’d be going back to visit the mouse before she turns 3, ha!
We started looking at our finances and calendars for spring break and summer vacation. With his calendar, it made sense to plan an early summer trip for our family. We’ve been toying with the idea of another cruise, but Elsa LOVED the kids club on RCCL so much that we want to wait for Anna to be 3 & potty trained so we don’t have to pay the absolutely nutso nursery fees onboard. Which then meant we looked at moving our tentative 2027 trip to 2026.
Accommodations: I looked at a few different resorts as possibilities: Pop, ASMo, Coronado, POR and POFQ. While we liked Pop & ASMo, we (okay, I) really wanted to try a new resort. I also looked at the possibility of staying offsite in a larger room, or even a vacation rental. I have a whole google spreadsheet for planning purposes, and a tab dedicated just for price comparisons of off-property, on-property, vacation rental, transportation, etc. At last count, I have 13 sheets in this workbook. (No regrets.) We ended up with POR because of the pool, the boat to DS, and the price was cheaper than Pop!
Travel: We haven’t booked flights yet. I think I have convinced Mr Incredible that flying is going to be our best choice, but I also know the cost is something he doesn’t love. IF (a very big if) we did end up driving, we’d have to rent a car on Friday and then return it on Sunday. Both of our cars have 150k+ miles on them, so we don’t want to add another 1800+ to either of them for this trip. A car rental plus gas plus road trip necessities would potentially only save us about $300 instead of flying - and that’s if we don’t stop overnight. I’m all for saving $$, especially when it comes to Disney trips, but $300 is not enough for me to want to be their personal cruise director for 30+ hours in a van.
I’m holding (loosely) onto hope that this “new” partnership with Southwest and Disney will expand to include moderate resorts by the time our trip comes around. However, it’s really not a big deal for us to grab our own luggage. I suspect we will have 2 checked bags, and then our carry-on items. Right now I’m trying to decide if I would rather place an Amazon order for delivery of diapers and snacks or try and pack them all in our bags for the way down.
So I’m not sure what we’ll do on that one yet, but I might be leaning towards Amazon, since we’ll be there for 6 nights.
Cast of characters:
Mom(me): Enneagram 2 wing 1, Disney adult (and proud). 2nd hand is my preferred shopping method.
Dad(Mr. Incredible): Enneagram 1 wing 2, Disney adult (converted). Plant enthusiast.
Elsa: first grader, too smart for her own good, will be 7 at the time of our trip.
Anna: 18 months old, basically Sunny from A Series of Unfortunate Events (IYKYK). Will be 2 weeks shy of turning 2 at the time of our trip.
WDW Experience: Mr. Incredible and I got married in 2013, and I walked down the aisle to “Climbing Up Iknimaya”. We honeymooned in WDW and stayed at POFQ. It was absolute bliss and not just because we were newlyweds, ha! I remember seeing 7DMT under construction, which was so cool. We did MNSSHP that trip.
We visited Disneyland for a day trip in 2014 with my family (6 adults) and we decided we needed to go back (eventually) just us because going with 4 other adults with very different agendas was a challenge. Also, for only one day, we didn’t get to see everything we wanted! It was not my first visit there, but last time I was still considered a “child”. Mr Incredible had never been before.
We went back to WDW in 2017 as a “last adults only trip”, as we knew we wanted to grow our family. We stayed at Pop and got to see the famous snoap during MVMCP. Our favorite memory from that trip was going to AK during early morning entry, rope dropping FOP, and then going to a different park the rest of the day, ha! (We were leaving the next day, I think, and we needed to ride FOP again)
We took Elsa for her first trip in December 2021 and stayed at ASMo. No park hopping for us this time, and we skipped HS because we knew she wouldn’t be as interested. We went at her speed, which worked out great. We did breakfasts in our room and came back after lunch for naps and pool time. After we got back home we asked her what her favorite parts were. It was, without a doubt, the pool and the buses.
Our next trip:
Mr. Incredible and I have been discussing vacation plans for a while. I love vacation planning for our family, and after Elsa’s fall break was over in October, I got the itch to start planning our next trip. We had been looking at several different options but with Anna’s summer birthday, we knew we needed to go back in the next year or two. We loved taking Elsa so much when she was still “free” that I knew as soon as Anna was born we’d be going back to visit the mouse before she turns 3, ha!
We started looking at our finances and calendars for spring break and summer vacation. With his calendar, it made sense to plan an early summer trip for our family. We’ve been toying with the idea of another cruise, but Elsa LOVED the kids club on RCCL so much that we want to wait for Anna to be 3 & potty trained so we don’t have to pay the absolutely nutso nursery fees onboard. Which then meant we looked at moving our tentative 2027 trip to 2026.
Accommodations: I looked at a few different resorts as possibilities: Pop, ASMo, Coronado, POR and POFQ. While we liked Pop & ASMo, we (okay, I) really wanted to try a new resort. I also looked at the possibility of staying offsite in a larger room, or even a vacation rental. I have a whole google spreadsheet for planning purposes, and a tab dedicated just for price comparisons of off-property, on-property, vacation rental, transportation, etc. At last count, I have 13 sheets in this workbook. (No regrets.) We ended up with POR because of the pool, the boat to DS, and the price was cheaper than Pop!
Travel: We haven’t booked flights yet. I think I have convinced Mr Incredible that flying is going to be our best choice, but I also know the cost is something he doesn’t love. IF (a very big if) we did end up driving, we’d have to rent a car on Friday and then return it on Sunday. Both of our cars have 150k+ miles on them, so we don’t want to add another 1800+ to either of them for this trip. A car rental plus gas plus road trip necessities would potentially only save us about $300 instead of flying - and that’s if we don’t stop overnight. I’m all for saving $$, especially when it comes to Disney trips, but $300 is not enough for me to want to be their personal cruise director for 30+ hours in a van.
I’m holding (loosely) onto hope that this “new” partnership with Southwest and Disney will expand to include moderate resorts by the time our trip comes around. However, it’s really not a big deal for us to grab our own luggage. I suspect we will have 2 checked bags, and then our carry-on items. Right now I’m trying to decide if I would rather place an Amazon order for delivery of diapers and snacks or try and pack them all in our bags for the way down.
| Pro | Con |
| Packing diapers and wipes we already own | Fitting all the diapers into the luggage. |
| Gives us more luggage space for the way home for souvenirs | Snacks getting crushed in transit |
| No convenience fee for package delivery | BUT WHAT IF WE RUN OUT |
So I’m not sure what we’ll do on that one yet, but I might be leaning towards Amazon, since we’ll be there for 6 nights.
Last edited:
I looked at the new package deal - buy 4 get 2 free, essentially, and for POR, 5th sleeper, we’d save a little over $100. AND get 2 more park days. Now, this might be absolutely insane seeing as we’re only planning on being there for 7 days, buuuuuuut… if our flight times work out, we could hit up a park in the evening of our first day or the morning of our last. We could potentially go to MK 3 different days, since I’m not about to add park hopper in - with our kids in tow, it just doesn’t make sense to me.
