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

[ksl5f123]

If there is one thing I am certain about when it comes to planning a Disney trip it is this:

You will always have to make more than one plan!

Two things have caused alterations to our touring plans: 1) a change in time for the first Rapunzel M&G from 10 AM to 9:15 AM and 2) MIL and FIL announcing they are paying for all of our meals.

So, how does this change the plans? Well, the earlier Rapunzel time pretty much means it is now a rope drop event. I did some playing around with ridemax times and if we don't do Dumbo at rope drop, the shortest wait the rest of the day will be 30 minutes. So, I told the girls last night that if they wanted Rapunzel, it meant long lines for Dumbo. What was their answer? They decided we will just take some pictures in the stationary Dumbo and ride Aladdin twice. : I love it when kids decide to be practical!

MIL and FIL paying for our meals has one catch. MIL requires one TS meal per day (more would be better). So, we have to figure out how to add one to our first day. You may recall that we had 2 different plans for that day:

Plan 1:
6 AM - wake up
7 AM - leave Vero Beach
9 AM - arrive WL
10 AM - arrive AK
3 PM - leave AK
get supper from DTD

Plan 2:
8 AM - wake up
9 AM - leave Vero Beach
11 AM - arrive WL
1 PM - arrive AK
7 PM - leave AK

So, I have made 2 ADRs for this day and would love your opinions of which one to keep. I am also open to other suggestions if you have better ideas than these!!!

1 PM ADR at Tusker House - we have had breakfast here before, but never lunch. DH thinks the food looks great. I think it looks OK. I like that it gives us the seating at the 3:15 Nemo (which we have never seen) and works with both plans. If we go with plan 2, we could just arrive at noon, have lunch at 1 and continue as planned.

6 PM ADR at Wolfgang Puck Cafe - we have eaten at the WPE, but never at the Cafe. This ADR will probably be preferred by MIL (over a buffet at TH). She loves fine dining. This ADR works pretty well with Plan 1, but would mean shortening our touring time at AK if we went with plan 2.

Which ADR do you think looks better?

 

[pinkxray]

I am surprised Caitlin isn't tall enough for RnR or ToT. I guess since she rode some thrill rides last year I assumed she was taller.

I am looking forward to trying Il Mulino. We bought one of those restaurant.com coupons so we figured we would give it a try. I LOVE Italian food and this will be a nice way to end the trip for MIL and FIL who love fine dining.

Caitlin is too small for the roller coaster, but can ride TOT. That is the one ride she refuses to go on again.

I have been thinking of trying Il Mulino this trip and saving Via Napoli for a trip when we are on the dining plan. I can't to hear how it goes for you. I only hear good things about it


I like your first plan better just b/c you won't have to worry about leaving AK. How nice that the inlaws are paying for meals.

 

[ksl5f123]

After making ADRs, my 2nd favorite part of preparing for a Disney vacation is SHOPPING!

So, here are a few of my recent purchases:

First, this is from the Disneystore.com for DD7. It should be warm in Florida in March, but we have been there when it is cold in the evenings. I got it on a clearance sale for $7.

This is for DD5. Her new favorite princess is Rapunzel (secretly, I am a little sad that she has changed from Snow White, but I can't let her know that.) I paid full price for this eek which was $10.

She is also getting this without personalization. I also got this on clearance for $8:

DD5 is also getting this adorable guy:

I picked him up on ebay for $22 (including shipping). He has arrived and is absolutely adorable. She is going to be thrilled! Sorry I can't get this picture any bigger.

DS2 is getting these 2 fellows:

I got them on the buy one get one sale going on this week. So, I paid $8.50 for the two of them!

I have a lot more! I will post more soon!

 

[TinksThree]

If there is one thing I am certain about when it comes to planning a Disney trip it is this:

You will always have to make more than one plan!


1 PM ADR at Tusker House - we have had breakfast here before, but never lunch. DH thinks the food looks great. I think it looks OK. I like that it gives us the seating at the 3:15 Nemo (which we have never seen) and works with both plans. If we go with plan 2, we could just arrive at noon, have lunch at 1 and continue as planned.

6 PM ADR at Wolfgang Puck Cafe - we have eaten at the WPE, but never at the Cafe. This ADR will probably be preferred by MIL (over a buffet at TH). She loves fine dining. This ADR works pretty well with Plan 1, but would mean shortening our touring time at AK if we went with plan 2.

Which ADR do you think looks better?

I have s many "Plan A", "Plan B", "Plan C" etc that I know exactly what you mean! I want to be prepared for whatever is thrown my way!!

I am happy your girls are flexible! It is so great when kids "cooperate"!!!

Boy, those two options are tough! I haven't eaten at either (well almost)...but if it were me, I would go with Tusker House because of the time issue at AK and I like Tusker House, although I have only eaten breakfast there.

I am loving your shopping deals!!! What great things you got and at such awesome prices!! I can't wait to see what else you have gotten!!

 

[ksl5f123]

I have s many "Plan A", "Plan B", "Plan C" etc that I know exactly what you mean! I want to be prepared for whatever is thrown my way!!

Absolutely! There will always be changes to the plan. I have so many contingency plans, I could organize a major military operation!

I am happy your girls are flexible! It is so great when kids "cooperate"!!!

I am happy they are being cooperative about Dumbo. I thought I might really be in for a fight (or a really long line).

Boy, those two options are tough! I haven't eaten at either (well almost)...but if it were me, I would go with Tusker House because of the time issue at AK and I like Tusker House, although I have only eaten breakfast there.

I think Tusker House makes more sense. I am just more interested in the food at Wolfgang Puck. Maybe I just won't eat much at TH and will have Ghiridelli for supper!

I am loving your shopping deals!!! What great things you got and at such awesome prices!! I can't wait to see what else you have gotten!!

Thanks! I am having fun sharing them. I love shopping and I bargains!

 

[ksl5f123]

I have a few more things to add. I posted a picture of DD7's sweatshirt earlier. Here is the one I got for DD5:

I found this one on a clearance sale at Target for $3.50.

I also posted the Rapunzel blanket that I got for DD5 earlier. For DD7, I got a Sleeping Beauty beach towel (she already has a blanket). I actually bought this on clearance from the Disneystore last year, but haven't had an occasion to give it to her yet. It was $5.

DS2 will also get a blanket. This one was another Target clearance find. I paid $5.

In my last post, I showed DD5's Duffy and DS2's Woody and Lightning. DD7 is getting this Aurora:

which was also purchased at Target (on clearance) for $7.25.

Can you tell I REALLY like clearance sales?

The girls and I also went through all of their outfits from last summer. They tried everything on and I am a little at how much they have already outgrown. Luckily, a few things still fit. So, these outfits will be making a repeat performance:

with

with

and

with

I also have a set of yellow shirts with gold Ariels on them.

Now my decision is to try to match the shirts with the day. Help!
Day 1: AK - no important characters to meet here - probably the Minnie Mouse shirts
Day 2: MK - meeting Rapunzel for the 1st time, lunch at CP with Pooh - maybe the new Rapunzel shirt for DD5 and Aurora for DD7 or the Pooh shirts for both?
Day 3: Epcot - lunch at Akershus with princesses - maybe the Aurora or the Ariel for both?
Day 4: DHS - the only important characters for us here are Woody and Lightning McQueen - whichever shirt we haven't worn yet.

Which shirts would you pick for MK and Epcot?

 

[ksl5f123]

I'm just stopping in to say that 6 weeks from right now I will in my room in the Wilderness Lodge after touring Animal Kindom that day!!! I can't believe we only have 6 weeks to go. I am getting so excited!

 

[pinkxray]

My gosh, you got a lot of good stuff on clearance! I am a little sad DD is over princesses and I can't buy any Disney tees this time. She does like Rapuzel so I might get her the same t-shirt you got.


6 WEEKS

 

[ksl5f123]

My gosh, you got a lot of good stuff on clearance! I am a little sad DD is over princesses and I can't buy any Disney tees this time. She does like Rapuzel so I might get her the same t-shirt you got.

Thanks! I love clearance shopping. I was actually standing in the toy aisle at Target as they started marking things down after Christmas. I saw a worker mark down that Aurora, so I grabbed her. I then turned to look at something else, and when I looked back ALL of the dolls were gone!

No Disney Tees would make me . Planning their outfits is one of the other highlights for me. DD7 goes to private school so they were uniforms every day. I don't get to see her dressed up cute very often.

I really like the Rapunzel shirt. It is pretty good quality. I just wish I could have found it on sale.

 

[ksl5f123]

One of the kids favorite things that we did before our last trip was to have party nights every 10 days. We are doing that again !

Since I didn't tell them about the trip until Christmas, our first party night was at 80 days out. The movie was "Tinkerbell and the Lost Treasure".

Here is a picture of our table:

The menu was finger sandwiches (tuna salad and tuna melts), corn, peas, cheese, and grapes. All of the food was "fairy sized". We ate off of dessert plates, with toddler sized utensils and juice cups for the adults and bathroom cups for the kids.

The girls decorated the table with their Tinkerbell, Rosetta, and Silvermist dolls. They also put a large plush mouse on the table (who the declared to be Cheese). We added a couple of books and DD5's Tinkerbell lunch box.

 

[ksl5f123]

She does like Rapuzel so I might get her the same t-shirt you got.

If you are still interested, disneystore.com just marked all of their Rapunzel tees down to $8. I hate when the prices drop after I buy something. Although I have to admit I am now thinking about buying her a couple more.

 

[ksl5f123]

Our 2nd party night at 70 days out was pretty similar to the last one. The movie was "Tinkerbell and the Great Fairy Rescue. Here is a picture of the table:

You can see that Tink, Rosetta, and Silvermist made repeat performances. We also added a Vidia doll and Lightning McQueen (at DS2's insistance). The huge boxes in the back were the "fairy houses" that the girls made. If you haven't seen the movie, a major part of the plot line is that the little girl makes a fairy house.

Our food was similar to our last party except that apples replaced grapes and we didn't do corn.

 

[ksl5f123]

Our 3rd Disney party was themed around "Toy Story 3". This is really a great movie! It was the 1st movie DS2 ever saw in the theater (only the 2nd one for each of the girls). We couldn't wait to get it on DVD.

Here is a picture of the table:

The girls decorated the table with their Mr. and Mrs. Potato heads. The Princess Minnie ears were one of our souvies from our last trip. We also added DD5's Buzz doll and some of DS2's Toy story toys.

The food was a baked potato bar. You can see we had some HUGE baked potatoes and everyone could add cheese, bacon bits, broccoli, and/or chili. We also made some Toy Story macaroni and cheese. For dessert, we had LGM cupcakes. I tried to make them look as nice as the ones on FamilyFun.com, but I didn't have the correct icing tips. Mine look a little funny, but the kids are forgiving.

 

[Colleen27]

I love the cupcakes, those are too cute! I'm going to have to make a batch next time my Toy Story obsessed nephew comes over.

 

[amandaluvsgoofy]

Hi there! Joining in!
I just read your entire PTR and love how you've rated things to do with the whole family! Since it's only DH and I going (and he's not a total Disney nut like me....yet!), I usually talk him into things I think we should do. I may go back through all the rides and shows via the Disney World website and see what he thinks of things again...
And I think your Party Night idea is awesome! We started something like that last time but didn't finish it. I am determined to do it again this time so J will have seen all the Disney movies we have!
I'm enjoying your plans and excited your trip is so close!!

 

[pinkxray]

I love the cupcakes! They came out good. (Better than anything I would make.)

I checked out the Rapunzel shirts and all they have is xs. Darn it!

I told DH we are going to start having Disney movie nights soon. I just need to get them together.

 

[ksl5f123]

I love the cupcakes, those are too cute! I'm going to have to make a batch next time my Toy Story obsessed nephew comes over.

Thanks, they were pretty easy. Somehow my green gel icing was too thin so the ears look a little wonky. The kids happily ate them anyway.

 

[ksl5f123]

Hi there! Joining in!

amandaluvsgoofy!! Glad to have you along!

I just read your entire PTR and love how you've rated things to do with the whole family! Since it's only DH and I going (and he's not a total Disney nut like me....yet!), I usually talk him into things I think we should do. I may go back through all the rides and shows via the Disney World website and see what he thinks of things again...

I made the touring plans for my entire family for our last trip and we were a group on 9 then. So, this time a thought I would give some other people some input.

And I think your Party Night idea is awesome! We started something like that last time but didn't finish it. I am determined to do it again this time so J will have seen all the Disney movies we have!
I'm enjoying your plans and excited your trip is so close!!

Exposing our kids to some different Disney movies was a lot of the goal with our party nights. The kids look forward to them very much!

 

[ksl5f123]

I love the cupcakes! They came out good. (Better than anything I would make.)

Thanks. I love decorating cakes and cupcakes so I was a little disappointed that these weren't as cute as the ones on the website.

I checked out the Rapunzel shirts and all they have is xs. Darn it!

Wow! Those went fast! I guess I should be happy I bought mine when I did.

I told DH we are going to start having Disney movie nights soon. I just need to get them together.

They are so much fun and you can make it really simple if you want - there are lots of cheap Disney paper plates out there. Eat whatever you usually want on those and watch a movie -

 

[ksl5f123]

At 50 days out, we had our 4th Disney movie night and watched Beauty and the Beast. We got the new blu-ray/DVD combo for Christmas. It has a new scene or two. In particular, there is a new song done by all of the "residents" of the Beast's castle which is really cute.

Of course, this movie has a great "food" scene. So, we did our best to emulate it. Here is the table:

DD5 and I enjoyed crafting this little guy before supper:

Everybody, sing along:
beef ragout, cheese souffle
pies and pudding a flambe

My DH is a pescatarian, so beef ragout was right out. However, we did make cheese souffle:

It was fabulous!

There was also, haricot vert (a.k.a. green beans almondine)

French bread

and potatoes au gratin

For dessert, there was chocolate mousse