New and Starting to Panic! Would love help/feedback

[itsreally4mommy]

OK, this is my very first trip to WDW and we leave on Sunday! I have had this site bookmarked for a while, but if I thought abou things too much I get overwhelmed. I am so excited, and like my name says its really as much for me as it is the kids. As silly as it sounds, I get so excited when I try to read and plan, I get overloaded, LOL! So I will give a run down on what we are doing and have planned. I would love your feedback and advice.

Our family of 4 includes 2 daughters ages 9 and 5. The 5 yo is the "princess" but the 9 yo enjoys other Disney characters (really into Peter Pan). We are going from Sun 21-Sat 26 and are staying at the All Star Movies and have the Dining Plan. We had thought we had to exchange 2 sit down for 1 character dinner, but yesterday the rep said no it is 1 for 1. Is this correct? We didn't get the park hopper, but have where we go to 1 a day.

Our Dining Itinerary is as follows:
Mon. evening 7pm Princess Storybook @ Epcot
Tues. Bfast 1900 Park Fare (Mary Poppins)
Wed. 10:30 Perfectly Princess Tea Party (this will just be my youngest DD and myself)
Thurs. Didn't get Liberty Tavern so we are eating dinner at Prime Time
Fri. 1900 Park Fare Cinderella Dinner
Sat. 11am Bfast w/CHef Mickey

I was soooo bummed that I couldn't get 1 meal in the castle at Cinderella's Royal table. I was whining to DH, and he was dumbfounded at what a little kid I am LOL! He also can not understand the $200 Tea Party and really tried to fight me. But even if one day we return, I think this is the prime time to enjoy this w/my DD.

DH is also concerned about us scheduling a character dinner on our arrival and departure dates. However, we arrive late morning/early aft. and leave late afternoon/early evening. So I wouldn't think it would be that big of a deal. I think if we can have a character meal, we should use it. He is also concerned about how our dining reservations impact our theme park itinerary. Not that we really have one yet, LOL! Honestly for me this is so much more about the characters and sites than rides or anything. I would like for us to see the Indiana Jones show and am looking forward to Cinderellabration and the Christmas Parade. But doubt those will be hard to fit in.

Please help this ADD mommy!

P.S. Would you believe DH and I have still managed to keep this TOP SECRET with the girls? I would love to hear some creative ways some of you shared the news!

 

[Kae]

First have great time & don't forget to sleep in at least one morning we have found that with our kids it works better than naps. Peter Pan, Wendy, Hook & Smee hang out by the Pirates of the Carribeen.

We enjoyed the Epcot Princess meal alot, so I would not worry about not eating in the castle, maybe next time. But also check each day at the front desk to see if there is any openings-you never know.

And Prime time is a fun place.

Have a great trip

Kae

 

[maya44]

HI! We are leaving Saturday (OMG!!!!!!!!) and staying until the next Friday at the Poly with my dd's ages 8 and 10.

We are so excited but especially ME!!!!!

We couldn't get our first choice for Thursday either (Chef Mickey's) but are doing Boma.

We have eaten in the castle and honestly, its not a big deal. Not that exciting. The PSB should be more than ennough.

Our girls know about the trip. I wished I had kept it a secret, it should be so fun to spring it on them!

 

[disnut8]

P.S. Would you believe DH and I have still managed to keep this TOP SECRET with the girls? I would love to hear some creative ways some of you shared the news!

When we took our then five year old granddaughter, we told her she was going to meet her soon-to-be stepfather's family in Florida. That much was true - her now great-grandparents were meeting us there (my family lives in Florida). We drove and managed to point thing out to her mother without using Disney at all. My son diverted attention when any Disney billboards came up. When we were close to the first purple sign, I turned around and said "Marlie, remember when I told you I'd take you to Disney World some day?" She smiled and said "yes". I said "today is the day".

 

[liamandcaili]

When we took our then five year old granddaughter, we told her she was going to meet her soon-to-be stepfather's family in Florida. That much was true - her now great-grandparents were meeting us there (my family lives in Florida). We drove and managed to point thing out to her mother without using Disney at all. My son diverted attention when any Disney billboards came up. When we were close to the first purple sign, I turned around and said "Marlie, remember when I told you I'd take you to Disney World some day?" She smiled and said "yes". I said "today is the day".

That is so great...my eyes are teary.

DSis wanted our upcoming trip to be a surprise for my children. She thought we should just wake them up and say that it was time to go to Disney World. While that seemed fun, it was impractical since DS's school needs to be notified and the children definitely would have noticed me packing suitcases. I think they would have caught on. If they didn't, I was a little concerned that waking them up at 6 am with the news of flying to Disney would have been the equivalent of giving them a triple-shot of espresso...they wouldn't be able to calm down all day!

Instead, DSis is sending the kids a package from Disney saying that Mickey is looking forward to seeing them soon.

Have a great time!

 

[itsreally4mommy]

Thanks for the reassurance. I am so excited! DH wants to wait until we get there to tell them, but I just don't think that will happen. We were going to tell them we were doing something special for Thanksgiving so packing won't be a big tip off and I thought I'd pack their costumes, etc. this week while they're still in school. But I figure they will figure it out on the plane or on the shuttle. Although I try to get my hopes too high, especially my older DD is notorious for under reacting to things, LOL!

How do so many of you get your DHs to agree to several trips? DH had said this would be a one time thing. And occasionally he said maybe one more time when they are older (although that's usually when I am insisting if this is the one time deal, that we go hog wild. So I wonder if he is trying to pacify me). I hope he isn't a funsucker through this, LOL!

 

[disnut8]

How do so many of you get your DHs to agree to several trips? DH had said this would be a one time thing. And occasionally he said maybe one more time when they are older (although that's usually when I am insisting if this is the one time deal, that we go hog wild. So I wonder if he is trying to pacify me). I hope he isn't a funsucker through this, LOL!

My husband placated me for the first few trips. But he couldn't deny my compassion for the place when I had reading a new Disney guide or book every night for years. With every trip, I tried to find something different he would enjoy. We've now been over 40 times. He cannot miss Off Kilter when they are playing (that one was easy), cannot miss Flights of Wonder when we are at Animal Kingdom, we have to see Sounds Dangerous at MGM. A slice of Boardwalk pizza gets high marks. He recently discovered the beer sampler at Big River Grille.

We're not big "eating out" people so if I plan any advanced reservations, I make sure it's only one and he knows about it. He really surprised me when I cancelled Le Cellier and kept a Sci Fi. He said he was disappointed because he really like Le Cellier. So I booked that for the next trip (while we were still on the other one).

It's really not the big things - it's the little things. You know your husband the best. What does he like? We can help find things at Disney World that he would enjoy with having to deal with everything being about The Mouse.

 

[Lizzybee]

I surprised my kids this August. DS11 and DD7 had NO CLUE. I told them I was taking off work and we were going to Chicago early in the morning. All of this info was factual, the airport is (basically) in Chicago. That morning I got up at 3:30am and planned to let them sleep a bit, but they were excited about going to "Chicago" and got up with me. I had a game planned out with word/picture clues. The first one was "Word that rhymes with..." and a picture of a cow. It spelled out "How Would You Like to Go to the Happiest Place on Earth" and then I held up a sign that said "TODAY" with a Mickey Mouse sticker on it.
They were speechless. Then they said "Disney?" and I said "YES!" and they said "when?" and I pointed to the "TODAY" sign and said "today!" and they didn't believe me until I showed them the WDW packet.
We had free dining so they wanted me to keep the special meals a secret until the day we would enjoy them. Our TS meals were Park Fare 1900 dinner, CRT Lunch, Prime Time 50s, and Donald's Breakfastasaurus. I was really lucky with the CRT one because I only planned the whole trip out 2 months before we left and I got the CRT ressie about 3 weeks before we left so don't give up. Call once a day and sending pixie dust your way! Have a BLAST!

ps if you are anything like me, eat light the night before the surprise, I almost threw up because I was so excited and could barely contain myself from dancing and singing the Mickey Mouse Club song.

 

[pedro2112]

How do so many of you get your DHs to agree to several trips? DH had said this would be a one time thing.

He says that now.. just wait, the magic will get him. I'm the disney nut in my family, so when we were headed down earlier this year my wife said, "maybe we could come back to disney every few years for a couple of days." Well, after a short trip (5 days), on the way back from Disney, my wife said," We definitely have to do this again next year... oh yea, and lets stay at least a week in a deluxe!"