Never to early for Disney; Planning w/a infant; Baby's first trip! - Nov. 2016 PTR (Update 9/14)

[allysetraskos]

Welcome to my PTR!
As you can tell by the title this will be a pre-trip report dedicated to trying to plan our first Disney trip as a family of 4! They say your never to young for Disney, however some have given me a hard time for wanting to go with a baby because he "wont remember it" its a "waste of money" its going to be "to hard to do things".. I could go on & on. HOWEVER were going to try anyways!

Index:
Meet The Grant Family
Early Planning Stage
The Niece Dilemma
My Free Dining Tracker
Party of 5
Flight Booked
Free Dining.. Complete!
Room Pin!
ADRs All Done!
Babys 1st Birthday & Almost FP+ day.
FP+ Opened Early... WHAT!!!​

 

[allysetraskos]

The Grants:

Allyse, Greyson, William & Gavin


Allyse:

The name is Allyse pronounced: Uhh-Lease, although to my boys I go by Mama!
I am a cook in a corporate office building, I love my job.
Aside from working part time I am a breastfeeding mother which is like a full time job all on its own! I have struggled with it since giving birth not thinking I would be able to do it so I am very proud for coming as far as I have. I like to scrapbook, take pictures, sew & make videos as well.
Disney is much more then a "like" or a "hobby" to me, my husband calls it an obsession lol
We had a Disney inspired Beauty & The Beast Wedding & honeymooned there, so at least my husband knew what he was getting himself into!
I have loved Disney since I was a little girl & wish we didn't live 19 hours away.
I have two Disney tattoos, love to Disneybound dress up when I go, & make my own ears!
Favorite ride: Splash Mountain
Favorite restaurant: Chef Mickeys
Favorite character: Belle!

William:

This is my husband William.
He works in a factory, he doesn't quite share my Disney insanity but at least he puts up with it. His first trip was in 2013, his favorite part about Disney is Fantasmic.. He will probably kill me for sharing this but during the Christmas castle lighting he teared up lol
He told me that since I had just had the baby in 2015 we had to wait for a 2016 trip. He is a huge Star Wars fan and cannot wait until the new land in Hollywood Studios is complete.
Favorite ride: Space Mountain
Favorite restaurant: 1900 Park Fare
Favorite character: Buzz Lightyear

Gavin & Greyson

These are our two handsome boys. Gavin is 6 but will be 7 at the time of the trip. Greyson is 6 months but will be a year at the time of the trip.
Gavin takes after me in the sense that he is a Disney lover. You could ask this boy any question about any character and he can spit out the answer with no hesitation.
Greyson is the result of some "extra pixie dust" on our last Disney trip, It really was the most magical place on earth.. He already loves the sound of Mickey Mouse Clubhouse on TV & gets completely entranced by him when he comes on.
Gavin loves the characters and rides and talks about going back just about every day.
Favorite ride: 7 Dwarfs Mine Train
Favorite restaurant: 1900 Park Fare
Favorite character: Goofy

Brihanna:

This is our niece Brihanna. She will be 9 at the time of the trip. She has never been to Disney World before.. The closest thing to it was last year when I took her and my son Gavin to see Disney On Ice, She was in complete awe and amazement. She loves Disney Princesses HOWEVER she is also sophisticated for her age and loves Mary Poppins as well as other older Disney movies. She likes rides but is so sweet so I think shes really going to enjoy character meets.
Favorite Princess: Jasmine​

 

[allysetraskos]

So I am in the very early stages of starting to plan & let me tell you it is SO much more difficult to plan with an infant then it has ever been before. Just to try to type out my beginning PTR info took me a few hours having to start & stop lol
I've been trying to do little bits here and there looking online to start to narrow down a date.
My husband wants to only use 7 days of his vacation time which in addition to weekends were looking at a 11 day trip. In order to get the most out of our trip were looking at leaving on a Friday and returning on a Monday. We usually go during free dining, basically that's a deal breaker for us. We have gotten lucky with the dates I usually choose based on historic ones that fall within the free dining promotion.

We usually go the week before Thanksgiving with all the Christmas decor, however my son has been really interested in Disney during Halloween time. I love Halloween and so does he BUT my husband is a Christmas lover. I'm kinda still toying with the idea of doing a late October / Early November trip.
It would most likely have to be Friday October 28 - Monday November 7th.
My struggle with those dates are:
1. Jersey Week - We don't like huge crowds and I know this could bring alot of extra people
2. Food & Wine Festival - Is always going on still, close to the end but alot of people still try to go.
3. Marathon - The F&W half marathon is November 4th and 5th.. again could be large crowds.
4. Halloween Party - We've never been & would like to, but have a feeling Disney on Halloween could be chaos.

My other idea of dates are Friday November 11th - Monday November 21st.
The only issue I see with those dates is:
1. Veterans Day - Which I'm sure being a Friday the 11th means lots of people are going to make a 3 day weekend trip.
2. Free Dining - Historically free dining is ALWAYS offered on veterans day, however with it being a 3 day weekend they might exclude it.

I started watching airfare on Google Flights.. We have always flown Spirit in the past but have fingers crossed to fly Delta (if its reasonably priced). So far for 3 seats Spirit has offered is $500 & has not moved from that price; Delta has offered anywhere from $550 - $800.. it keeps going up and down. I don't know a lot about airfare and when a good time to book would be but I'm really kicking myself for not booking when it was only at $550.

I did price comparing and for us it would make more sense to hopefully get a room at Caribbean Beach Resort during free dining because DDP is included. If we were to book a value at All-Star Sports and upgrade QS to DDP we would be saving around $550. Last year free dining required the purchase of the park hopper or water park and more feature I am assuming they will more then likely require the same again this year. I figured if we stayed at CBR that we wouldn't need the water park and more option because the pool and water slide there would be really cool, We could just get the park hopper pass.

 

[allysetraskos]

So my husband & I have a dilemma...
We have a 8 year old niece named Brihanna, She is my sister-in-laws daughter.
So some back story: My SIL doesn't have her crap together (for lack of a better description). 5 children between her & her boyfriend, 1 bedroom apt, no car, BIL (boyfriend in-law) only works part time & SIL doesn't work at all. My nieces father passed away 1 year ago (not the BIL). They are always in and out of jail and having issues; we have pretty much distanced ourselves from them, in exception of trying to spend time with our nieces and nephew. I'm not a fan of SIL or BIL or their parenting choices, I don't care for them much.
The last time we went to Disney and came back my niece asked us how come she couldn't go, and if she could go next time... Obviously its quite expensive so to brush it off we always just vaguely say "Its up to your mom sweetheart, we will see next time." Well..... my MIL was talking to me about how my SIL is upset we haven't just taken her daughter by now because "we go all the time" & that my SIL told my niece that "we just don't want her to go" & we should just "wait to go another year so we could save up to take her". I was SO INFURIATED to hear this!!! I want my niece to go so I did the math and told my husband to let her know if she could come up with $1,000 we would cover anything else, I feel like that's a fair amount based on airfare, luggage fees, food, souvenirs, tickets etc. Her response was that "she would see with her tax return money shes not sure, shes ONLY getting back $7,000"... Its so frustrating to hear about my SIL & BIL filing taxes and getting back that much because last year they pissed it all away on stupid stuff.
I want my niece to go but my husband and I work so hard all year round to afford a trip & this year with having the baby we have been saving to hire the Disney babysitting service every morning we do a park so we could take our older son early and hit all the rides... That alone is going to run us around $100 or so every day extra.
I don't want to seem like a "bad guy" but I'm trying to include her... I want her to come... I just don't see financially how its fair if we front the whole bill. Its not fair for her to put us in that position / situation. Just trying to figure out what to do. It breaks my hear to have to tell her no.

 

[allysetraskos]

So I really hoping for free dining.. I made a chart showing the past years that it was offered along with dates. I did this in hopes to find some sort of pattern and all I can come up with is that its always offered on Veterans day which is when I want to check in. Its also always offered right before Halloween which is my other date I've been eyeing. I'm nervous this year with Veterans day making it a long weekend & the last for the Food & Wine festival that they might not offer it.

Green means free dining.. X means excluded

​

I am still following my google flight tracker, it seems like October flights are much cheaper then November flights. I'm hoping for a price decrease. Spirit apparently now makes you pay for your seat like Delta which really annoys me.. Nothing stresses me out more when flying like not knowing if your going to be able to sit next to your family. I'm thinking about opening up a Delta credit card in order to get free bags because the cost of Spirit and Delta are so close for me right now.. We don't fly, Ever... So it would be just for this trip and basically a empty line of credit since we won't use it, we would end up closing it after our trip. I rather fly Delta because they do free carry ons & that means more we can take.​

 

[DisneyParkLover]

Stumbled upon your pre-trip report. FWIW, here's my two cents:
1) I truly believe you are never too young to enjoy Disney! We took our son at 2 months old (trip report in siggy) and plan to take next baby (due in August) around the same age.
2) I think your plans sound great!
3) We went over Jersey week last year and didn't notice an increase in crowds over other weeks. I don't think it makes that big a difference overall.
4) I think you are super awesome for even considering taking your niece. It is ridiculous for SIL to even suggest you pay! She should be so grateful that you would consider taking her. It will still create more work for you having a third child along. If someone offered to take my child to Disney I would just be so thankful for them being willing to take them and do some free childcare. You are awesome to offer to bring her along on your family vacation.

 

[Corrine 1973]

Just found your PTR. I think it is never to early for a baby to go to Disney. OK maybe not a new born but that is my opinion. lol My 8 year old son was only 2 (just turned) when we went to Disney the first time. Yes, he doesn't remember much from that trip but we have pictures and those are full of memories for me. Plus now I am looking forward to taking him back next summer and see his reaction to what to him might be the first time. My favorite part of his first trip was when we saw the night time parade and he saw Mickey. He loved Mickey and held out his arms screaming his name. It was so magical and I would never have that memory if I wait to bring him.

So my husband & I have a dilemma...
We have a 8 year old niece named Brihanna, She is my sister-in-laws daughter.
So some back story: My SIL doesn't have her crap together (for lack of a better description). 5 children between her & her boyfriend, 1 bedroom apt, no car, BIL (boyfriend in-law) only works part time & SIL doesn't work at all. My nieces fa
ther passed away 1 year ago (not the BIL). They are always in and out of jail and having issues; we have pretty much distanced ourselves from them, in exception of trying to spend time with our nieces and nephew. I'm not a fan of SIL or BIL or their parenting choices, I don't care for them much.
The last time we went to Disney and came back my niece asked us how come she couldn't go, and if she could go next time... Obviously its quite expensive so to brush it off we always just vaguely say "Its up to your mom sweetheart, we will see next time." Well..... my MIL was talking to me about how my SIL is upset we haven't just taken her daughter by now because "we go all the time" & that my SIL told my niece that "we just don't want her to go" & we should just "wait to go another year so we could save up to take her". I was SO INFURIATED to hear this!!! I want my niece to go so I did the math and told my husband to let her know if she could come up with $1,000 we would cover anything else, I feel like that's a fair amount based on airfare, luggage fees, food, souvenirs, tickets etc. Her response was that "she would see with her tax return money shes not sure, shes ONLY getting back $7,000"... Its so frustrating to hear about my SIL & BIL filing taxes and getting back that much because last year they pissed it all away on stupid stuff.
I want my niece to go but my husband and I work so hard all year round to afford a trip & this year with having the baby we have been saving to hire the Disney babysitting service every morning we do a park so we could take our older son early and hit all the rides... That alone is going to run us around $100 or so every day extra.
I don't want to seem like a "bad guy" but I'm trying to include her... I want her to come... I just don't see financially how its fair if we front the whole bill. Its not fair for her to put us in that position / situation. Just trying to figure out what to do. It breaks my hear to have to tell her no.

I can't believe your SIL and MIL has put you in this position. I understand that you feel sorry for your niece but it is not your job to take her to Disney. What is next? The other kids feel upset that you are taking her and not them so now they will try to guilt you into taking them. It amazes me that people try to do this. I had someone post on my Facebook page that she couldn't believe I was going to Disney again, how could I afford it, and I should take her son with me. Uhm, I work my butt off to go to Disney as I do while you waste your money on garbage. So why should I spend my money to take your kid. Because you and I know that is exactly what they want to happen. Sorry this had to happen to you. But cheer up buttercup. You are going to Disney!!!!!

 

[allysetraskos]

4) I think you are super awesome for even considering taking your niece. It is ridiculous for SIL to even suggest you pay! She should be so grateful that you would consider taking her. It will still create more work for you having a third child along. If someone offered to take my child to Disney I would just be so thankful for them being willing to take them and do some free childcare. You are awesome to offer to bring her along on your family vacation.

Thank You, I'm trying hard to still figure out a way! SIL has been giving us the cold shoulder the past few weeks after she asked us to commit tax fraud and amend our tax return to claim her children because her "master plan" of having somebody do it was a bust... We said no & since then haven't heard from her, Yes this is my real life and not some crazy soap opera lol

I can't believe your SIL and MIL has put you in this position. I understand that you feel sorry for your niece but it is not your job to take her to Disney. What is next? The other kids feel upset that you are taking her and not them so now they will try to guilt you into taking them. It amazes me that people try to do this. I had someone post on my Facebook page that she couldn't believe I was going to Disney again, how could I afford it, and I should take her son with me. Uhm, I work my butt off to go to Disney as I do while you waste your money on garbage. So why should I spend my money to take your kid. Because you and I know that is exactly what they want to happen. Sorry this had to happen to you. But cheer up buttercup. You are going to Disney!!!!!

I totally have gotten the "I can't believe your going to Disney AGAIN" thing too!! Same here I do pretty much nothing all year.. My husband and I don't go out much so all the money we would be spending on date nights are put away for Disney. I know I keep telling myself to look on the bright side I get a Disney trip in almost 8 months!

 

[allysetraskos]

Niece dilemma no more.. So my husband called me the other day from work and said he was going to go pickup $600 from his sister so we can take my niece; The catch is that shes going to give us $50/more a month until we go which would equal to $1,000. Honestly I highly doubt that will happen, and we are going to end up taking a $400 loss.

Side Note: My husband has a "side hustle"; On top of his regular job he buys and resells Jordan shoes... I don't completely understand the "hustle", I guess it would be in comparison to how women coupon & sell their stock pile. Personally I have a hustle as well, I resell our children toys & clothes at mom2mom sales.. Even though the husband helps buys the stuff to begin with because I put in the "time" to clean it up, organize & sell it.. I make the profit. So DH buys the shoes at a lower price & then resells them to guys in this special shoe buying group and makes the difference... That is his "play money" that he takes when he wants to go down to the casino etc. To be completely honest I think he took the $600 from that money and is saying its from his sister, I don't want to call him out on it because we have agreed that the money that comes from the "hustles" are not part of our income and we don't count it as such for bills.

None the less I am extremely happy that my niece is going, She will more then likely never get an experience like this as a child unless she goes with us. My husband told me that this will probably be one of the top 3 highlights in her childhood that she will remember forever.
I know with another older child that my son will be excited because he will have somebody to play with other then the baby.
I am excited also because having 2 boys I've never been able to fully experience the PRINCESS side of the parks... I get to do that now. I'm already looking into what I get to do with her, maybe a special lunch or something
So now our party of 4 has bumped up to a party of 5... I also have my mother thinking about coming down for a few days which would be amazing because she doesn't do big rides and she would love to walk around with the baby, do little rides & character meets in the mornings that we want to take my son and niece on the bigger rides. So we may even go up to a party of 6.. Since the baby doesn't count as a person in Disney eyes we can still stay at my plan of Caribbean Beach Resort.

 

[allysetraskos]

Booked our flight today...
I decided to get a Delta Skymiles credit card because we would each in addition to our carry on get our first checked bag free.
I've been stalking Deltas flights & the one I wanted finally went down.. I spent $808 on 4 tickets ($202/Per Person) + I will get a $50 statement credit & $30,000 skymiles when I spend $1,000 in my first 3 months (which I'm basically already there).
As much as I didn't want to dish out the extra money for Main Cabin, I have anxiety that we will all end up sitting all over the plane, my Husband is terrified of flying so that is a definite no go. I already was able to pre select our seats so that portion is all set... I'm going to need to find some family members or friends to borrow luggage from because we only have 2 large ones & 2 carry ons.
Our flight is set we leave Saturday November 12th in the afternoon & return Tuesday November 22nd in the evening. The kids are going to need to take off 7 days of school, so hopefully I don't get to much flack for that. 11 Days 10 Nights of Disney. 222 Days to go! We are waiting to see if free dining happens in about 20 more days fingers crossed.
I am so excited that its finally set in stone & I can start getting together my wishlist of ADRS & FP+.

 

[lbuzz52]

Hi there!
We love going in October. I just wanted to say that my son's first trip was at 9 months. He was honestly the easiest one of the 8 of us he may not remember much of that trip, but I won't forget the way he looked up at Mickey and tried to tug his nose off. Or his excitement at small world. Or the way he clapped and grinned at the parade. It really surprised me how much I was able to take him on when he was a baby. I really believe that Disney is a different experience at all the different ages and am lucky we got to experience it. Plus there is the whole bonus of the child swap- have you used that before? An extra ride for the big kids every time you swap! So if you do decide to stick with the babysitter route, I'd suggest taking him to the park some days instead.
If you have a little extra time or money, I think your niece would enjoy the afternoon tea at the GF. I took my dd last year for her 10th. She begs to do it again. it was just great putting on a dress and having a girls afternoon. And it was enough food to count as lunch.

 

[lbuzz52]

And I love your pattern chart. I'm having trouble with my dates for free dining. Usually blackout dates in October start after the first Friday. And usually that leaves a full week before Columbus Day. But this year Columbus Day follows the first Friday. So I can't figure out if my dates will have free dining yet or not. If they don't we are likely going to move down to a value.

 

[allysetraskos]

I was one of those crazy people up all night yesterday waiting on *FREE DINING* to drop.
Originally we wanted to do Caribbean Beach Resort, after looking at the "How many times this resort has been booked in 24 hours" little clocker it made me really nervous that it was going to be jam packed during the free dining promotion, We heard mixed reviews when the resort is full and the bus system.. Also if we dropped down to a value it would save us almost $400, which isn't a TON in the world of Disney Money but in regular life it is lol (I have a hard time reminding myself of this haha)
Last week I went ahead and just booked Pop Century for Nov 12-22nd in hopes that free dining would cover it all; It didn't. For our dates free dining starts on the 15th so I had to book a split stay.. Right at 4:05am after hitting refresh a million times the promotion popped up. My computer wouldn't let me modify my Pop dates back to the 15th, So I went ahead and canceled my Pop 12-22nd trip in hopes that I would just quickly book a new Pop 15-22nd trip... Boy was I wrong; There were NO pop dates available.. I went with my backup of All-Star Music I booked that Nov 15-22nd with free dining upgrading to the regular dining plan instead of quick service, 7 days of park tickets with hoppers package. Since we arrive on the 12th I quickly went ahead and booked us Nov 12-15 at AOA's Little Mermaid Room. It seemed this year that rooms were harder to come by with everyone prebooking rooms. I tried to call & waited on hold for 2 hours just to have my call drop and then call back waiting for another 1 1/2 hours just to see if maybe there was a Pop room available, Nope.. They said to check back, My hopes are that some Travel Agents are withholding these rooms and since they only can hold for 3 days they will open up soon. I'm also hoping that my $200 deposit from Pop will be returned soon.
All I have to say is I am thankful for staying up to get the Free Dining promotion because I checked again and NOTHING is available for our dates. SOME free dining is better then NO free dining, Maybe a room discount will come out this summer sometime for our room only days.
Our total cost came out to be $506.26 [AOA] + $3,093.82 [ASMu] + $808 Delta = $4,408.08.. Subtract the $600 my SIL has given us so OOP we are at $3,808.08 (SIL still owes $400 so once she pays up we will be at $3,408.08)
-Now I have to decided:
1. If its beneficial to add QS dining to our first portion of our trip or not.
2. If I want to keep park hopping or switch to water park & more.
3. I am also debating of upping our tickets from 7 Parks to 8 parks. (I have been reading that you can use your tickets with a package up to 3 days early by going to Guest Relations so we could use them before we check in to All-Star Music with our package)
So at least I can say we OFFICIALLY are booked with a split stay
AOA Nov. 12-15 / ASMu. 15-22

 

[Rich M]

Congrats on being all set. I am going Oct 30 to Nov 7. Not able to use Free Dining or get a room discount yet. I was very curious about your Delta situation. I am booked on Delta out of San Francisco and I was able to pick my seats. Is Delta doing something new that I am unaware of?

I think it is great that you are taking your niece. I understand that situation completely as I am taking two of my nephews with me but am covering the entire cost of there trip. My son is all grown with a kid of his own now so I have more flexibility with money then there parents and I love taking people for the first time. Look forward to reading more about your trip.

 

[allysetraskos]

Congrats on being all set. I am going Oct 30 to Nov 7. Not able to use Free Dining or get a room discount yet. I was very curious about your Delta situation. I am booked on Delta out of San Francisco and I was able to pick my seats. Is Delta doing something new that I am unaware of?

I think it is great that you are taking your niece. I understand that situation completely as I am taking two of my nephews with me but am covering the entire cost of there trip. My son is all grown with a kid of his own now so I have more flexibility with money then there parents and I love taking people for the first time. Look forward to reading more about your trip.

You must of already booked Main Cabin for Delta if you were able to pick your seats so no worries... I was originally looking into Economy on Delta which didn't give me that option. I haven't flown since 2014, when I did it was through Spirit so we didn't have to pre-select anything we were just sat together no questions asked. I read a lot of horror stories online about parents being separated from their small children on a flight, most recently a father was separated from his 4 year old... My thoughts are 1. What if an emergency happens and hes aisles away. 2. How can you count on strangers to make sure your kid is buckled in put a oxygen mask on your child if they are panicking. & 3. Which is more of a taboo, Convicted sex offenders are supposed to be 'X' amount of feet away from schools & playgrounds but not on airplanes so what if your child is sitting next to a predator and you don't even know it... So scary. That whole situation baffles me.

I actually received a PIN code in my email today about room offers, a lot of people in my planning group on facebook received one as well so keep checking your email you might just get a discount!! I was able to upgrade my resort for $46 to a Mod.

 

[Rich M]

Yeah that is very scary to think about and I am traveling with a 16 and 15 years old. I booked through Priceline so not sure about the category because it was a name your price type of thing. Do you get that email from Disney after already booking? That would be really cool to get something after not getting any type of perk but I am just glad to be going and taking my two nephews with me.

 

[allysetraskos]

I received a PIN code today in my email for a room offer.. Luckily I was able to use it for our room only stay. I was able to upgrade from Art Of Animation to Coronado Springs [Value to Moderate] for a total of $46.
I am a little sad because I love the theme of AOA and the pool is cute, however it will be nice to stay in a "fancy" hotel for the first part of our trip, probably going to make us sad to leave when we have to switch over to All-Star Music for free dining lol. It really swayed me because its like spending $15 more a day for a pool with a water slide, a queen sized bed and more lush landscaping. Since we are going to mainly be sticking around the pool and resort those first few days we will really get to enjoy it, and heck we can still hop on a bus and go take pictures at AOA. (I didn't get to do it with All-Star Movies last time so I want to go there as well.)

Today I also went to Sams Club and bought $1,050 in gift cards for $1,000 [$50 profit]... I purchased with my Disney Visa which I paid off right away in full [$10 profit]... I put the cards into My Disney Savings Account which for ever $1,000 you save you get a gift card [$20 profit]
Total: $80 Profit!!
Once I save up some more cash I'm going to do that again!

 

[Rich M]

Very good planning. I use the Disney Gift Cards too for savings. I am putting a little every paycheck on for each boy so they have spending money while there. When I get there my goal is to never pull out my debit card.

 

[allysetraskos]

I booked my dining reservations!!

I woke up super early, well actually I never went asleep.. I was like a kid on Christmas morning anticipating booking my dining.
I got everything I wanted withing a 15 minute time slot of when I wanted it.

11/14 - Monday
Resort Hopping
12:00pm Beaches and Cream

11/15 - Tuesday
Magic Kingdom
6:00pm Chef Mickeys

11/15 - Wednesday
Magic Kingdom
12:35pm Be Our Guest
5:10pm – Crystal Palace

11/16 - Thursday
Hollywood Studios
12:05pm – Hollywood & Vine
5:30pm – Minnies Holiday Dine

11/17 - Friday
Magic Kingdom
12:15pm - Be Our Guest
5:30pm - 1900 Park Fare

11/18 - Saturday
Magic Kingdom
11:00am - Harmony Barber Shop [ Babys 1st Haircut ]
12:30pm - Be Our Guest
5:30pm - Be Our Guest

11/19 - Sunday
Animal Kingdom
5:45pm - Chef Mickeys

11/20 - Monday
Epcot
12:15 - Akershus
5:30 - Garden Grill

11/21 - Tuesday
Depart

I do have a few ADRs I'm probably going to drop, but am not sure yet until I book my FP+ and finalize my plans.
We decided to stay in one park each day even though we have the hoppers, unless its crowded we might park hop... I'm thinking about just downgrading from the park hoppers to the water park and more option, I'm a bit bummed Blizzard Beach wont be open in addition to weather in November being hit and miss.
I'm glad I got my ADRS all out of the way because starting tomorrow FP+ moves to 7am rather then 12:00am to start booking, the Disney website was very glitchy and kept crashing during my dining reservations I can only imagine the chaos that will happen with FP+ and ADR people clogging up the site.

Warning!! I need to vent / rant about something:
[Seriously turn around now if you don't wanna listen to me complain! LOL]
I've joined a few Facebook groups that discuss planning and such. I'm so mad I was blocked by one popular group that I have been a member of for years..
I have never been blocked by any group online before, I don't use harsh language, start fights, drama, spam or promote products. I literally go to talk about Disney stuff and share my experiences and give my input when people ask on things... WELL, I messaged the head admin to find out why I was blocked / kicked out... The rules state that anyone who breaks any of those rules will be given a warning then blocked, however I never received anything. The head admin read my response and never responded to me. Another admin said he had no clue why I was banned that it wasn't done by him, I asked him to please send a message to the head admin, he said no problem.. No response again.
Now normally I wouldn't be so bothered about something on the internet but because I literally did NOTHING to get kicked out it upsets me, especially because that group has helped me so much in the past with tips, tricks, advice and heads up on things. I feel like I'm going to miss out.
I had my spouse add them on Facebook, he was accepted.. I looked through the page and the only thing we can come up with as to why I was deleted is that the Admin was jealous that I was more knowledgeable then her.. I was always the first to post about hours released, special things, leaks on dining etc. My husband told me that in groups hes in sometimes admins want everyone to feel inferior and can't handle "competition" or not being the "best" / "first" to post things.
Its sad that instead of being happy they have somebody in a group who has the inside scoop to share ASAP giving everyone a heads up on things, she is jealous and can't handle not being the "first" to post. I feel sad for people like that, I can only imagine the shady kind of person they could be in real life.
Anyways that is the end of my rant lol

 

[ariane37]

Just found your report and joining in Your trip will overlap ours a couple days, we check in on the 19th and leave the 26th. We were there last year for Thanksgiving week and are looking forward to being there again this year!

Let me start with your last post: so sorry you got banned I've been worried about that happening myself a couple times lol, for the reason you mentioned - possibly knowing more than an Admin. One of the groups is one I joined over a year ago so I think I'm safe now. The other one I just joined a month ago, so we'll see..........but I'm always nice, never rude or confrontational. I do however correct wrong info. that is given out or stated when I am 100% sure of the right info, even if the wrong info was given out by the Admin. I hope your DH has more luck in the group! While those FB Disney groups can be helpful, I do think the folks here on the Dis are a bit more knowledgeable in general.

I think it's wonderful you're taking your niece. I would love, love, love to take my nephews, my sisters boys, but, there's 3 of them and added to my family of 4 that's ALOT more $$. I've considered taking one at a time but my sister is afraid 2 would freak out the first time I did it. I sympathize with your SIL/BIL situation, too. Although jail hasn't happened, my sisters husband (and I choke as I write that) is a loser, which is about the only word I can use here to describe him without being the one to get kicked out! So my sister is raising her boys alone and had to move out of state as a result of him, also. Yeah, family is fun What really stinks is when the kids suffer because parents refuse to be parents.

Now, happier things! Ah, to be able to travel to WDW with a girl I envy you! I have 2 boys, 10 & 14, and 2 stepsons 24 & 27. So I've had to beg and bribe my boys for the few girly/Princess things I've done at Disney over the years. You get to do them without all that nonsense!

Sorry this is so long! Congrats on getting all the ADR's you wanted and on upgrading to CSR for part of your trip! We enjoy CSR and will be there for the last 3 nights of our Nov. trip. Look forward to reading more of your PTR!