My Parents Gave US the World! A Poly Dream PTR - April 2012**UPDATE 4/10/12 pg 10**

[204charity]

I have never done a pre-trip report before people, so please just BEAR with me! I will do my best to make it interesting and fun to read. At the very least, if you hate it - maybe you can help me with suggestions on how to make my pre-trip report (AND MY HOLIDAY) better!

Just so you have a better understanding of why this trip is happening, and who is going - I'll fill you in on some history. First, I am happily married, have been for almost 8 years. We have a son who is 5 and a daughter who is 9 years old. My parents wanted to take both kids to see Disney World, but with the kids being 5 years apart in age, it was tricky to find the "perfect" ages for them both to go together. So, after much thought, my parents decided that to make it special for each of them, they would do Disney not once - but twice! With each of them getting their own trip the year they turn 10 years old! This way, each of my kids would get to have a trip all about them. This will be great, because our DD is one who suffers from motion sickness, and our DS doesn't. Our DD doesn't like Star Wars, our DS does. Our DD doesn't like Harry Potter, our DS does. So, it looks like when my parents go back in 6 years, they will get to have a totally different holiday. (Lucky them!! Can I go back next time too!?!?! PLEASE??!?!!?)

Truth be told, in all of this - I initially did not get an invite. But my DD refused to even step onto a plane without me, and my parents decided to invite me after all! YAY ME!!!!

So, with that being said - I guess next I should introduce the "Cast" of our upcoming holiday! First, we have my beautiful daughter, the reason we are making this trip in the first place! She is 9, almost 10 and the light of my life. Introducing......drum roll please.....JOHANNA!!!! (pronounced Yo-hanna) Yes, it rhymes with Ohana, more about that to come!

Next, you have my parents - Ron & Sheila. Without them, this trip would NOT be happening. I was an older adopted child, and am an only child and well, what can I say - I LOVE them to pieces!

And last, but not least - (well maybe least - depends on who you ask....) MOI!!!!! My name is Charity and I am a 32 year old home-maker. I am going to back to school right now to get my high school diploma with the intention of applying for work in one of the local schools as an Educational Assistant! Disney is something that was not even on my radar for at LEAST another 10 years, so this is truly a dream come true!!!!

So, that's it! Our little group of travelers! Hope I get some interested readers subbing to my Pre-Trip Report, and if I get enough, who knows? Maybe I'll even do a trip report afterwards for everyone to enjoy.

Coming up next ..... why did we pick the Poly?

 

[204charity]

Reserved for Chapter Links. - when someone teaches me how to do it!!

 

[204charity]

So, when my parents and I decided that I would be tagging along after all, we had to get started on picking dates that worked for everyone as well as where we wanted to stay. We all took a few days to look over our options and then we met up to discuss. In the running were a few - POR (the only moderate in the group),WL, AK, YC/BC, CR & of coarse, the Poly.

Mom's choice - YC/BC
Dad's choice - CR or anything on the monorail
DD's choice - AK or Poly
My choice - WL or Poly

Price wasn't really an issue - as long as we could do the whole trip under a certain dollar value my parents had budgeted they didn't care where we chose to stay. They suggested what they wanted, we went through the pros/cons of each resort and then had a short list whittled down. Our top 2 were either:

Or:

Ultimately, since my Dad really wanted a monorail resort, and we wanted to see Wishes from the beach at our resort, not knowing how late we'd actually want to stay at MK when were there - so, of coarse - if you read the title of my pre-trip report OR my ticker, you know that this hotel won:

DD is VERY excited to swim in the Volcano pool - so I thought I'd throw in a picture of the pool!

We briefly considered either a TPV or CL, but we just thought it wasn't worth it for the money. We can see Wishes from the beach when we are there, and we can just eat/snack with our DP or pay OOP if needed the entire week. So, we finally decided on, when everything was said and done:

A 7 night stay at the Poly, flying direct into Orlando, with a private shuttle taking us to/from the resort. We have 8-day park hopper passes with water park passes and plan to go to BOTH Typhoon Lagoon AND Blizzard Beach! We also have the Quick-Service Dining Plan. My parents did NOT want a single reservation the whole week, so we plan to just eat as we go! We are hoping to see all 4 parks, and will hopefully take advantage of some EEMH at Epcot and the MK.

Coming up - Rough Outline for the WHOLE week!!!!

 

[Venomhatch]

Well I just following your trip. Good luck and great job on your thread setup!

 

[auprincess]

I can't wait to read your updates!! We'll also be down there the same week, at the Poly! And I'm a 32 year old homemaker, too Maybe I'll get my act together and do a pre-trip report...although I have no clue! I don't even know how to add a ticker to my signature

 

[wakica]

Fun Fun Fun!!!
I'm so happy you get to go You will have such a WONDERFUL time and what a great way to do something special with each child.

I'm adopted too!! But I didn't find out til I was 36!!! If you can imagine that!

Anyway, I'm following along b/c I'm going in April too!! End of April actually and i don't think I caught when exactly your trip is?? Maybe that's in the next installation. LOL

Kim

 

[204charity]

Well I just following your trip. Good luck and great job on your thread setup!

Thanks so much for joining in Venomhatch! Now I hope I can keep your attention for more than just today!

I can't wait to read your updates!! We'll also be down there the same week, at the Poly! And I'm a 32 year old homemaker, too Maybe I'll get my act together and do a pre-trip report...although I have no clue! I don't even know how to add a ticker to my signature

Thanks so much for joining in! I am flattered anyone wants to even hear what I have to say about DW and our upcoming trip. I am clearly a newbie, but I am doing my best to plan and be somewhat organized for the trip. I would hate to look back on it afterwards and say "Aww, I wish I had done that!" So I want to try and cover all my bases! I love being a SAHM, but after 5 years of being home, I am ready to start contributing again to the household! And heck - if it allows us to maybe plan a family vacation for my husband, kids and I, why not?!?

I am not all that sure, but I bet you there is a stickie somewhere here on the DIS with instructions on how to add a ticker! And to do a pre-trip report, well, I just read a couple and figured I'd give it a try!

Fun Fun Fun!!!
I'm so happy you get to go You will have such a WONDERFUL time and what a great way to do something special with each child.

I'm adopted too!! But I didn't find out til I was 36!!! If you can imagine that!

Anyway, I'm following along b/c I'm going in April too!! End of April actually and i don't think I caught when exactly your trip is?? Maybe that's in the next installation. LOL

Kim

WOW! Didn't find out til you were 36?!?! That's absolutely CA-RAZY!!!!! I can't imagine how that felt. I always knew I was adopted, I guess being 4 years old when you get adopted it's kinda hard to keep it a secret! LOL! Oops! I didn't put the date of our trip, did I? LOL - We are going to be there the 14th - 21st of April! SOOO excited! Counting down the days!!!!

 

[Venomhatch]

Thanks so much for joining in Venomhatch! Now I hope I can keep your attention for more than just today!

Well I like to follow others trips. Hear about pros and cons. Etc.

 

[204charity]

Well I like to follow others trips. Hear about pros and cons. Etc.

ME TOO! I love to get ideas from other folk's trips! In fact, that's how I get most of my ideas.

 

[Venomhatch]

ME TOO! I love to get ideas from other folk's trips! In fact, that's how I get most of my ideas.

Just saw your ticker and realized we will be there before you, so I'll have to keep an eye out if there is anything you want me to look for or into.

 

[carlnix30]

Alright.. Let roll with it charity!!! I help you with your links if you want.. But I do it using the manual way.

Well???

 

[pas130]

Joining in on the fun, we are checking in to the Poly on the 22nd (we will be at BWI before that) So we will be in the World at the same time....I followed you over from the Poly thread

 

[204charity]

Alright.. Let roll with it charity!!! I help you with your links if you want.. But I do it using the manual way.

Well???

Thanks! I will try again later tonight to add links - lol - we shall see how that goes! I have a wonderful Dis-er helping me out through PM's.

Joining in on the fun, we are checking in to the Poly on the 22nd (we will be at BWI before that) So we will be in the World at the same time....I followed you over from the Poly thread

Thanks for subbing in! I plan on adding more to my PTR later tonight when I have some down time. Company coming for dinner and gotta get the peanuts to bed - then I'm all about the DIS!!!!

 

[204charity]

Hey everyone, sorry for the delay. Even though I stay home during the day, I am one VERY busy Momma! Anyways, I am back now, so lets get this pre-trip report rollin'!!

Arrival Day:
So, if our flight is on time, we will be landing in Orlando at 11:30 am on Saturday, April 14th and heading straight to the Polynesian Resort via a private shuttle. We are planning on doing on-line check-in 10 days before with the hopes of this upping our chances that our room will be ready right when we get to the hotel. What do you think, does that ever happen for people? We have no real room requests - just a 3rd floor room. (I'm a light sleeper and I HATE hearing people walk around on the floor above us) If our room IS ready, we are hoping to get our stuff in our room and then head straight to

Typhoon Lagoon for some fun! Our Dd is a HUGE waterpark fan, and since our whole week is already pretty busy, I thought we should maybe start off our trip with some waterpark fun. Typhoon Lagoon is open until 6:00 pm this day, and we have no other real plans, so we will stay until we are bored I guess! We are the most excited for the Crush n' Gusher water roller coaster, and DD really wants to try her hand at snorkeling with the small sharks! I am not that comfortable with fish/sharks etc, so she will do that one with my Dad and my Mom and I will watch through the portholes in the underwater viewing area and take some pictures of them together. DD is also very excited for the giant wave pool, me, not so thrilled - I remember it from when I was there as a kid (12 years old at the time) and it was so large and soooo strong, I got pushed under very easily. My Mom and I figure if she holds one of DD's hands and I hold the other one, we will be a-ok and she won't get crushed by either the wave or another person! LOL

After we are all done sliding to our hearts content, we will head back to the Poly and eat at Captain Cooks and then watch Wishes on the Beach to end our first night at WDW!!!! Overall, I think it is a great way to start our trip, and DD will be very happy.

Day 2 - Hollywood Studios! (MAYBE hit up EEMH at MK too)
This is our one and only Hollywood Studios Day! We are all HUGE Pixar fans, so even though we don't have many rides on the list for this day, we are hoping we will LOVE the park anyways! I am actually kind of hoping that if I list the attractions we want to see/do at each of the parks, some of you Disney "experts" will be able to help me decide if it looks like a full-day or half-day tour.

The attractions we want to see here are (in no particular order):

Magic of Disney Animation - doesn't open until 11:00 am (we will do the longer experience, DD wants to learn to draw a Disney Character with one of the animators, so it should take approx 40 mins from beginning to end)
Muppets Live! 3D
Star Tours - The Adventure Continues (DD will not ride, but will look around the area and shop with my Mom while Dad and I ride)
Voyage of the Little Mermaid
Beauty & The Beast (need to arrive at the show 20 mins before it starts and the show lasts 30 mins, so this one will take up another hour or so) Shows are scheduled daily at 11:30, 12:45, 2:00, 4:00 & 5:45
Honey I Shrunk The Kids Movie Set

And MAYBE catch the Pixar Parade (at 3:00)

We plan on eating either our quick service credit for lunch or dinner (we are not sure if we will go to DHS in the morning or afternoon yet, hence the lunch OR dinner) at Pizza Planet too while there. I'm not even sure how long it would take approximately to do the things we want to do while at DHS. Anyone have an idea?

This day there is EEMH at the Magic Kingdom, so we may decide to head their for the first time this night also if our energy allows. Being at the Poly, we figure it's at least an easy trip to just jump over and check things out. Maybe even watch Wishes there and do a ride or two. If it's too crazy busy, we may just not even get off the Monorail!

So, that's arrival day and our first full day at the park. What do you think? Acheivable? Fun? Crazy? or just completely STUPID??? Let me know! I fully welcome any and ALL suggestions to make our trip the best it can be.

 

[DaveinFallsChurch]

Love your pre-trip report!

Since we're staying at the same resort for the exact same dates, maybe I'll just mooch off your PTR

I must have missed this in the April thread, but we're going to be at DHS on the same day We'll definitely be there before ropedrop - we're big believers in RD.

Don't forget to pay a visit to Mike and Sulley, Mr and Mrs. Incredible, Frozone, and Lightining/Mater while you're at DHS since you won't get a chance to meet them anywhere else and since you're big Pixar fans.

We're also planning on trying out a milkshake to-go at 50's Primetime Cafe. Heard great things about their PB+J milkshake.

 

[204charity]

Love your pre-trip report!

Since we're staying at the same resort for the exact same dates, maybe I'll just mooch off your PTR

I must have missed this in the April thread, but we're going to be at DHS on the same day We'll definitely be there before ropedrop - we're big believers in RD.

Don't forget to pay a visit to Mike and Sulley, Mr and Mrs. Incredible, Frozone, and Lightining/Mater while you're at DHS since you won't get a chance to meet them anywhere else and since you're big Pixar fans.

We're also planning on trying out a milkshake to-go at 50's Primetime Cafe. Heard great things about their PB+J milkshake.

Mooch away Dave, mooch away! LOL! Now we'll just have to watch for one-another in the background of each other's pictures afterwards! (If you do a trip report that is!) I am not sure if we will take the time to meet any characters. DD is not all that interested thus far in waiting in lines for photo-ops, but we shall see what happens when we are there! I know I'd love to have a picture with Mike & Sulley, our dog is named after James P. Sullivan, so a pic with him would sure be nice! Milkshake to-go at the 50's Primetime Cafe?! YUM! I didn't think we could dine there at all since it's a table service restaurant. So, they have a take-out window or something like that? If we went to DHS for rope-drop what time do you think we'd be out of there by?

 

[DaveinFallsChurch]

Mooch away Dave, mooch away! LOL! Now we'll just have to watch for one-another in the background of each other's pictures afterwards! (If you do a trip report that is!) I am not sure if we will take the time to meet any characters. DD is not all that interested thus far in waiting in lines for photo-ops, but we shall see what happens when we are there! I know I'd love to have a picture with Mike & Sulley, our dog is named after James P. Sullivan, so a pic with him would sure be nice! Milkshake to-go at the 50's Primetime Cafe?! YUM! I didn't think we could dine there at all since it's a table service restaurant. So, they have a take-out window or something like that? If we went to DHS for rope-drop what time do you think we'd be out of there by?

I'm not as familiar with DHS as I am with the other parks. But I think if you stick with what you listed, you should easily be done before parade time if you start at rope drop. Since you're not planning on doing TSM, RR, or ToT, don't think it's absolutely necessary for you to make rope drop. Star Tours averages about 20 minutes of wait time throughout the day, and you can also fastpass it. If you do make ropedrop, this is what I would do:

After entering park, head towards Streets of America. While you split off to Star Tours, your DD and parents can head to Honey I Shrunk the Kids playground. Once you meet up with them again, go to Muppets 3D. Afterwards, head over to Animation Courtyard for Mermaid and Animation. Most likely, you'll get there well before 11am so you could do Mermaid first, then Animation. Then Lunch. Then Beauty and the Beast at 12:45pm which means you could be done by 1:15pm! It's all good in theory so I could be wrong

As for the millkshake at 50's Primetime Cafe, I was told that they have the "Tune-in Lounge" where you can order a milkshake at the bar to go.

If you have time, Mike and Sulley may be worth checking out. It sounds like the location of their meet and greet is tucked in and not easily visible from the main pathways, and so their wait times are relatively short.

Oh, and I'll try not to "photobomb" any of your pics that day in the background

 

[auprincess]

okay...this is soooo funny ~ we'll also be checking in at the Poly on Saturday the 14th (probably early), and plan to spend that day at a water park, just haven't decided which one! We are having dinner at O'hana that night. Sunday we are breaking all the rules and going to MK ~ even though every site says avoid it b/c of EMH...but it will be hard enough not going to MK until our second day as it is. And then we'll be at DHS Monday (again, probably not the best idea since it is evening EMH and we don't have park hoppers, but the girls love the playhouse disney dance party and they only have it on EMH nights).

Can't wait to hear the rest of your plans!!

 

[204charity]

I'm not as familiar with DHS as I am with the other parks. But I think if you stick with what you listed, you should easily be done before parade time if you start at rope drop. Since you're not planning on doing TSM, RR, or ToT, don't think it's absolutely necessary for you to make rope drop. Star Tours averages about 20 minutes of wait time throughout the day, and you can also fastpass it. If you do make ropedrop, this is what I would do:

After entering park, head towards Streets of America. While you split off to Star Tours, your DD and parents can head to Honey I Shrunk the Kids playground. Once you meet up with them again, go to Muppets 3D. Afterwards, head over to Animation Courtyard for Mermaid and Animation. Most likely, you'll get there well before 11am so you could do Mermaid first, then Animation. Then Lunch. Then Beauty and the Beast at 12:45pm which means you could be done by 1:15pm! It's all good in theory so I could be wrong

As for the millkshake at 50's Primetime Cafe, I was told that they have the "Tune-in Lounge" where you can order a milkshake at the bar to go.

If you have time, Mike and Sulley may be worth checking out. It sounds like the location of their meet and greet is tucked in and not easily visible from the main pathways, and so their wait times are relatively short.

Oh, and I'll try not to "photobomb" any of your pics that day in the background

Thanks for the rough outline that is so awesome! I will see if I can print those maps for my "binder of fun" today and really take some time to figure them out. It sounds like (if we head to DHS in the early morning) we can have some down-time at the resort in the afternoon! That would be perfect so we may just have the energy to go MK EEMH afterall!

okay...this is soooo funny ~ we'll also be checking in at the Poly on Saturday the 14th (probably early), and plan to spend that day at a water park, just haven't decided which one! We are having dinner at O'hana that night. Sunday we are breaking all the rules and going to MK ~ even though every site says avoid it b/c of EMH...but it will be hard enough not going to MK until our second day as it is. And then we'll be at DHS Monday (again, probably not the best idea since it is evening EMH and we don't have park hoppers, but the girls love the playhouse disney dance party and they only have it on EMH nights).

Can't wait to hear the rest of your plans!!

Yup - I think you, myself AND Dave all check in on the same day! We have picked a great time to go I think. Crowd levels are predicted to be pretty moderate our week, and the weather should be very warm! That means, lots of opportunities to enjoy the lovely Poly Pool! I think that no matter what, you and your family will have a BLAST at DW, even if crowd-levels are high. When I went to DW as a kid, we did ZERO planning, I don't even think they had "crowd-predictors" back then, so we battled crowds often, and it was FINE. I sure hope that the three of us all do a Trip Report afterwards, so we can see each other's photos and hear about each other's trips. And as Dave said - Look out for photo bombs!!

 

[DaveinFallsChurch]

It sounds like (if we head to DHS in the early morning) we can have some down-time at the resort in the afternoon! That would be perfect so we may just have the energy to go MK EEMH afterall!

Yeah, I think you'll definitely have enough time for an afternoon break at Poly before heading out to MK, especially if you skip the Pixar Parade. I'm hoping that we'll be done at DHS by 5:00pm that day. We're going for TSM and will try to have the adults try out RR and ToT all using FPs. We have ADR for Ohana that evening. Then once the kids are tucked in bed along with DW and DFIL, I'm heading out to explore MK during late evening EMH hours. I've always wanted to try this!