Months of planning = finally book a trip! A March PTR. - 3/29 update - we're home!

[pinkxray]

Wow, I completely missed the start of your pre-trip report!

I am sad that DD6 is done with princesses. She never got heavy into them like some girls but she did love Ariel for a bit. No more princess PJ's for her either and she is on first grade. She does like Rapunzel at least.

I think Caitlin's reaction when I reveal that we are going to Disneyworld is going to annoy me. She'll probably give a big eye role and say something like 'really"? I wish I could get one of those screaming reactions that you see in commercials.

Looking foward to hearing about the rest of your plans!

 

[TinksThree]

We learned the indoor pool lesson several years ago on a trip to North Carolina. Thankfully it was during Spring Break and a local Walmart was selling swimsuits already! That indoor pool was really nice!!

Your plans look really good!! Will you only be doing QS this trip or am I getting ahead of myself??

 

[ksl5f123]

Wow, I completely missed the start of your pre-trip report!

No problem! I have been a terrible DISer lately and am behind on everyone's TR/PTR. Glad that you are here now!

I am sad that DD6 is done with princesses. She never got heavy into them like some girls but she did love Ariel for a bit. No more princess PJ's for her either and she is on first grade. She does like Rapunzel at least.

It is tough watching them outgrow these fun stages. I just keep reminding myself that these things will often come back around if I wait long enough. I have heard of plenty of high school girls who like princesses again.

I think Caitlin's reaction when I reveal that we are going to Disneyworld is going to annoy me. She'll probably give a big eye role and say something like 'really"? I wish I could get one of those screaming reactions that you see in commercials.

I think I was expecting a little more because my girls have asked many times over the last couple of months to go back to Disneyworld. I guess they forgot to check the script I had in my head for how they would react.

 

[ksl5f123]

Your plans look really good!! Will you only be doing QS this trip or am I getting ahead of myself??

Only by one post!

 

[ksl5f123]

Now, to the ADRS!! Since becoming a DISer, I have to say that this is probably one of my favorite parts of each PTR. I love reading about where people are going to eat and why they chose that place.

Despite our saving money with the dining plan last time, we are not doing it on this trip. I know it saved us money on the things we ate, I am just not sure I would have eaten those things if it wasn't for the DDP. So, we are going to pay OOP this trip (and try not to gain 5 lbs again )

Now, on with the plan!
On our arrival day (March 22) we are planning lunch at Pizzafari in AK and supper from EOS or WPE in Downtown Disney - no ADRs this day

On March 23, our MK day, we are going to lunch with and !!! This is my favorite buffet on all of Disney property. We will save a little $$ by eating at Crystal Palace for lunch rather than supper. Our ADR is at 11:30 which worked perfectly for us last time - a couple of hours of touring, lunch, use a fp or two, take a break = just perfect. That evening we are planning supper at CHH (also yummy in its own right!)

On March 24, our Epcot day, we have a lunch ADR with the ! We love the food at Akershus and found lunch there to be better than we expected on our last trip (as long as you don't order the "traditional kjottkake" = yuck!) This also guarantees that we will see princesses since we have no clue how the M&G in the Exposition hall will go. On our last trip, I made a mistake with this ADR and booked it on the wrong day. By the time I discovered my mistake, we were stuck eating at 2:45 PM. Guess what? We loved it! I know that seems like a ridiculous time to eat, but it really worked well at Epcot. So, we are doing it again! The restaraunt will be quiet (nobody else wants to eat then), the servers will be relaxed, it gives us time to see a lot of the WS entertainment, and we will have plenty of time for snacking our way around WS! (Did I say I wasn't going to gain 5 lbs again? )

On March 24, our DHS day, I am determined to have lunch at Starring Rolls and get one of those cupcakes (I can't help myself!) Supper that night will be our only new ADR. We are going to Il Mulino in the Swan. On our last trip, DH and I ate at bluezoo in the Dolphin and loved it!! So, a few months ago when restaraunt.com had a 90% off sale, I picked up vouchers for bluezoo and Il Mulino. We decided to do Il Mulino on this trip because we think it will work better for the kids. Italian is generally preferred over fish. That ADR is at 5 PM so we can just walk out of DHS and right over to the Swan.

In general, it is a quick trip so we only have 3 ADRs, but two of them are absolute favorites and one is something new and fun. I will have to say that I tried really hard to figure out how to try Via Napoli on this trip and I just couldn't make it work. I guess there will have to be a next time!

 

[pinkxray]

Your adrs look great. I am glad to see you aren't doing the dining plan. Sometimes I feel like I'm making a mistake not using it, but for the places I want to try it doesn't make sense.

Crystal Palace and Akershus for lunch sound like fun. Caitlin has said no character meals so I figure why spend the money when she doesn't want to do them. I am going to book Cape May though, whether she likes it or not!

I having been trying to squeeze in Via Napoli too, but it looks like it might have to wait until the next trip

 

[lexmas]

First of all, never would have thought that about swim suits. I will remember that!

Second, how exciting to have a plan in progress now!

Your ADRs sound GREAT! I totally understand what you mean about the dining plan. It's so much food that sure, you save money over paying for that food, but you probably never would have eaten so much food, and at those places. So I think your current plan is a good one. Especially where you send your DH to get you food from DTD. LOL. I plan on doing the same. I don't want to take the kids there, since then we'll just do lots of shopping we don't need to do, but I want the food!

Starring Rolls cupcakes are SO delicious! Definately need to fit that in! I never would have thought about Akershus in the middle of the afternoon. It's really smart to eat at off times.

Great planning. I hope you had a great christmas and a very happy new year!

 

[TinksThree]

Boy are we on the same page! I love reading about other's ADRs and I look so forward to making my own reservations!

I love Pizzafari and keep saying I will try Flame Tree but always head to Pizzafari! I really like the Italian sub there! And we are doing both Crystal Palace and Akershus. Of course your last TR really influenced me and made me want to go to Akershus this time around!

 

[ksl5f123]

Thanks everyone for your good comments on the ADRs!

As you can see, I have been playing around with this PTR a little. There are now chapter links in the 2nd post and I have added my very first ticker!

I did something different this time to start working on my touring plans. I surveyed the whole family. Giving them input is such a novel idea. I figured while we were stuck in the car for 13 hours (each way) going to Ohio we needed something to do. So, I made a list of all of the attractions in each of the parks and everyone rated them on a scale of 1 (my favorite thing) to 5 (I hate it). Then I totalled everyone's scores. The lowest possible score is a 5 and the highest a 25. Here are the AK results (from lowest to highest):

Pangani - 8 pts
Kali - 11 pts
Boneyard - 12
Flights of Wonder - 13 - the biggest surprise for me - it wasn't in my original plan
Safari - 13
Triceratop spin - 13 - was planning to skip this, since we did it 5 times in June. Apparently, doing something repeatedly makes it a favorite instead of making them sick of it.
Nemo - 14 - thought this would be more popular since we missed it last time
Lion King -14
Maharajah - 15
Tough to be a bug - 16
parade - 17
Rafiki's Planet watch - 18
Camp Mickey Minnie characters - 18
Dinosaur - 23
Everest - 25

Up next, how this turns into a plan!

 

[Colleen27]

Too funny about their reaction! I've surprised my kids once and it was comical, I wish I'd had the video camera back then. They just flat out didn't believe me. We were IN the airport when we gave them their park packages with autograph books and trading pins and such and their whole attitude was "We can't be going to Disney. Mom can't stop talking about it when we're planning a trip, so we'd know if that's where we were going."

 

[Colleen27]

Thanks everyone for your good comments on the ADRs!

As you can see, I have been playing around with this PTR a little. There are now chapter links in the 2nd post and I have added my very first ticker!

I did something different this time to start working on my touring plans. I surveyed the whole family. Giving them input is such a novel idea. I figured while we were stuck in the car for 13 hours (each way) going to Ohio we needed something to do. So, I made a list of all of the attractions in each of the parks and everyone rated them on a scale of 1 (my favorite thing) to 5 (I hate it). Then I totalled everyone's scores. The lowest possible score is a 5 and the highest a 25. Here are the AK results (from lowest to highest):

Pangani - 8 pts
Kali - 11 pts
Boneyard - 12
Flights of Wonder - 13 - the biggest surprise for me - it wasn't in my original plan
Safari - 13
Triceratop spin - 13 - was planning to skip this, since we did it 5 times in June. Apparently, doing something repeatedly makes it a favorite instead of making them sick of it.
Nemo - 14 - thought this would be more popular since we missed it last time
Lion King -14
Maharajah - 15
Tough to be a bug - 16
parade - 17
Rafiki's Planet watch - 18
Camp Mickey Minnie characters - 18
Dinosaur - 23
Everest - 25

Up next, how this turns into a plan!

OMG, I thought I was the only one who did things like that!

I have a spreadsheet for it (I have a spreadsheet for everything when it comes to Disney!), and when we're starting to plan a new trip I sit down with DH and each of my kids separately and update it. Each column is a person, each row is an attraction, and everyone gets to rank on a scale of 0-3. 0 = "skip it", 1 = "eh, don't care", 2 = "try to fit it in" and 3 = "must do". Then I take the whole family's ratings to start working up into touring plans.

 

[ksl5f123]

Colleen27!

I have a spreadsheet for it (I have a spreadsheet for everything when it comes to Disney!), and when we're starting to plan a new trip I sit down with DH and each of my kids separately and update it. Each column is a person, each row is an attraction, and everyone gets to rank on a scale of 0-3. 0 = "skip it", 1 = "eh, don't care", 2 = "try to fit it in" and 3 = "must do". Then I take the whole family's ratings to start working up into touring plans.

I actually had a spreadsheet all typed up and printed out and I left it on the printer as we left Luckily, I have stared at lists of attractions so much that I just made one on a scrap of paper. It is messy, but it worked.

 

[ksl5f123]

Using the information from our survey, I have put together 2 touring plans.

The first plan is based on an early morning departure from Vero and an arrival at AK by 10 AM.
- send MIL to Safari for fastpasses
- everyone else to Triceratop Spin
- FIL and DS1 to Boneyard
- everyone else to Kali
- ride and get fp for Kali
- meet up at Boneyard
- lunch at Pizzafari
- Safari with fastpass
- Pangani
- Kali with fastpass
- 2 PM Flights of Wonder show
- leave

The other option is based on a later departure from Vero and a 1 PM arrival at Animal Kingdom.
- get fastpass for Safari
- Pangani
- 2 PM Flights of Wonder
- send someone to get a fastpass for Kali
- Safari with fastpass
- watch the parade
- Triceratop Spin
- boneyard
- Kali with fastpass
- supper could be Pizzafari or we could go to Downtown Disney for Earl of Sandwich or Wolfgang Puck Express.

Of course, I have concerns about both plans. The first one means getting up pretty early. At home, we get up at 6:30 AM (central time) for school. If we got up at that time, we would arrive at WL at 10:30 AM. So, we would have to get up at 6 AM Eastern to make the 9 AM arrival I want. We may be excited enough, but maybe not.

With the 2nd plan, I am concerned about the fastpasses. I am assuming that 1) we can get a Safari fastpass with a return time only 1 hour later, 2) that there will be Kali fastpasses at 2 PM. When we were there in June, the Kali fastpasses were gone before 2 PM and the standby time was 50 minutes at 5 PM. Now, in June it was almost as hot as the surface of the sun, so maybe more people wanted to ride Kali than will in March, but I am still concerned.

What do all of my wonderful readers think?

 

[Colleen27]

I actually had a spreadsheet all typed up and printed out and I left it on the printer as we left Luckily, I have stared at lists of attractions so much that I just made one on a scrap of paper. It is messy, but it worked.

I took my laptop along on our last two trips, so the spreadsheet was safe and sound. I only printed out our daily touring plans on nifty little plan cards to tuck in the diaper bag. The rest stayed digital.

Unfortunately, my laptop has since bit the big one and I decided to replace it with a desktop since I just didn't need the portability very often at all. So this trip will either be low-tech hard copies, or I will somehow figure out the best way to store everything when I get my very first "smart"phone when we change cell carriers later this month.

Of course, I have concerns about both plans. The first one means getting up pretty early. At home, we get up at 6:30 AM (central time) for school. If we got up at that time, we would arrive at WL at 10:30 AM. So, we would have to get up at 6 AM Eastern to make the 9 AM arrival I want. We may be excited enough, but maybe not.

With the 2nd plan, I am concerned about the fastpasses. I am assuming that 1) we can get a Safari fastpass with a return time only 1 hour later, 2) that there will be Kali fastpasses at 2 PM. When we were there in June, the Kali fastpasses were gone before 2 PM and the standby time was 50 minutes at 5 PM. Now, in June it was almost as hot as the surface of the sun, so maybe more people wanted to ride Kali than will in March, but I am still concerned.

What do all of my wonderful readers think?

I'm not sure how fastpass availability will compare to June, but I would think that there will be less demand for Kali in not-so-hot weather. We were there the week before Christmas 2009 and they didn't even have the Kali FP machines running and it was posting a 5min standby time, even though it was 85 and sunny on our AK day. It was like people planned to skip Kali and didn't think to change those plans when the weather turned out to be so unseasonably warm.

Of the two plans, I think the second looks better. If everyone is up early on their own because they're excited you could always leave Vero a little earlier then planned, but I don't think an early wake up call would be a great start to a Disney trip. Disney vacations can be exhausting enough without starting out with not quite enough sleep! Besides, afternoons at AK are quite nice - so many people treat it as a half day park that the last couple hours are almost as uncrowded as the first hours.

 

[newmommy_2010]

Just joining in! I am curious to see how your DS does because when we go next year my DS will be 2.

 

[TinksThree]

Both plans look good. I don't think I would worry too much about arriving later.

Kali FPs were always down for us so it has always been stand-by! I am trying to remember exactly, but when we went in 2009 during Spring Break we rode the Safari twice. Once was with FP. That morning we got FP for EE first so it was almost 10am before we could get a new one. The return time was 1pm-2pm I am pretty sure. The 2nd time we were there, we decided at the end of the day to go. Park closing was at 6pm and we walked onto the ride at 5:15pm. AK at closing is pretty cool too because it is very deserted and has a cool feeling!

I do similar things with my kids to decide what to do. This summer's trip will be different in planning because of varying interests!

 

[ksl5f123]

I'm not sure how fastpass availability will compare to June, but I would think that there will be less demand for Kali in not-so-hot weather. We were there the week before Christmas 2009 and they didn't even have the Kali FP machines running and it was posting a 5min standby time, even though it was 85 and sunny on our AK day. It was like people planned to skip Kali and didn't think to change those plans when the weather turned out to be so unseasonably warm.

That is what I am hoping. However, it can be warm/hot in Florida by late March, so it is hard to guess.

Of the two plans, I think the second looks better. If everyone is up early on their own because they're excited you could always leave Vero a little earlier then planned, but I don't think an early wake up call would be a great start to a Disney trip. Disney vacations can be exhausting enough without starting out with not quite enough sleep! Besides, afternoons at AK are quite nice - so many people treat it as a half day park that the last couple hours are almost as uncrowded as the first hours.

The more I think about it, the more I like the afternoon plan. I love the idea of not having to rush that first morning.

 

[ksl5f123]

Just joining in! I am curious to see how your DS does because when we go next year my DS will be 2.

newmommy 2010! This will be my 6th time taking my kids to WDW, but only the 2nd time I have taken a 2yo. The biggest challenge will be that DS is now potty training, so we will have to take A LOT more potty breaks than we usually do.

 

[ksl5f123]

Kali FPs were always down for us so it has always been stand-by! I am trying to remember exactly, but when we went in 2009 during Spring Break we rode the Safari twice. Once was with FP. That morning we got FP for EE first so it was almost 10am before we could get a new one. The return time was 1pm-2pm I am pretty sure. The 2nd time we were there, we decided at the end of the day to go. Park closing was at 6pm and we walked onto the ride at 5:15pm. AK at closing is pretty cool too because it is very deserted and has a cool feeling!

Interesting. Thanks for the information! We have never been at AK in the evening. I have heard that we won't want to wait too late for the Safari as the animals go to bed early. I am liking the afternoon plan more and more!

 

[ksl5f123]

We have been stuck at home for the past two days with snow days. The kids have had a lot of fun playing in the snow and DD7 is getting pretty good at TSM on the Wii (which we got for Christmas)!

This post is just to share some pictures! First, about a week before Christmas, my DS2 walked into my room, pointed at my jewelry box and declared "Mickey Mouse!" It took me a couple of minutes to figure out what he was talking about....

It is a necklace I got for my grandma for Christmas that was on top of my jewelry box. I guess I have started him off right!

Next, here are some pictures from "the surprise":

The box

Getting ready to open it

The balloons

Reading the sign

Up next, our MK survey.