Mission to Mouse: Our first adventure with a toddler in the World

[Ptarmigan6]

Greetings fellow DIS'ers! After reading and enjoying so so many trip reports, I've finally decided to buckle down and share one for our family's upcoming trip this December.

First, a few introductions are in order. Our little family of three consists of my DS (2) and DH (34), and of course, me! Though we are avid travelers, our recent adventures have been on hold since we began the adoption process to bring our son home through China's Waiting Child program. The last year has been a whirlwind of doctor's appointments, surgeries, and therapy, and now, finally, our life has settled down into a new normal and seemed like the perfect time to celebrate in Disney!

You can learn a little more about our family here. If you have any interest in our adoption story, we're happy to share our incredibly happy story here.

But back to the planning! After much agonizing, we decided to stay offsite this time so we can nap our little man in the afternoon and not have to sneak around ninja-like for a week solid. I looked at WAY too many rentals, and we settled on what appears to be a great home in Windsor Hills. We were iffy on it being too big until after a rather impromptu discussion with friends, our party of three turned into a party of 6! Now, our clan will be joined with some good friends who will also have a toddler in tow.

In future posts, I'll share our plans, ADRs, and how our FP+ have shaken out. And if you happen to see us during your own travels between Dec 4-12th, please stop by and say hello!

 

[Ptarmigan6]

Now that formalities are out of the way, and I've officially committed to sharing all the glorious and gritty details of a toddlerific vacation to the Mouse, I can start the good stuff. As in... what we've been obsessing over since we originally decided to make this trip happen. ADRS, park days, and the ever-brain numbing Fp+ system.

So far, here's what we've got as our gameplan. I'd love to hear some feedback if anyone has any. Since we're staying offsite, we decided to avoid parks with EMH; similarly, we're not doing MVMMCP (or whatever the acronym is) since we're going to attempt to keep a fairly normal toddler routine. Yes-- insert hysterical laughter here for all of you who have braved the world with short tyrants who demand "More Mickey! No nap! No leave park!"

The Plan
December 4th-- Fly to Orlando, check into rental home, pick up supplies from Target, maybe DTD for dinner. (Anyone have any suggestions for good takeout in the Windsor Hills area?)
December 5th-- Animal Kingdom, with lunch at Tusker House
December 6th-- Epcot, with lunch at Biergarten
December 7th-- Day off-- Mass, visiting with family, dinner at Boma
December 8th-- Magic Kingdom, with no ADRs scheduled (any ideas for good counter service in MK?)
December 9th-- Hollywood Studios, with early lunch at SciFi
December 10th-- Magic Kingdom, with breakfast at Ohana
December 11th-- Epcot, with lunch at Mexico OR dinner at Cape May (opinions, please!! Which ADR to keep?)
December 12th-- Sadly say goodbye to the Mouse and head back home. *sniffle* We haven't even started our vacation, and I'm already sad at the thought of it ending!

So with that in mind, any thoughts or feedback? We plan on taking a midday break after lunch to let the kidlets rest before an afternoon and evening in the park. We don't plan on staying very late, as we don't want to deal with the potential epic meltdown that is an overtired toddler.