Newbie- May trip is consuming me!

[mommymeg]

Hi all!
I've been browsing the boards for a week or so now...amazed at how much information and people are active here! Just registered myself and now I can contribute! So here's my story...

My name is Meggan (31...in denial that I'll be any older than that in the near future..) Married to my high school sweetheart for almost 13 years...three great and crazy kids DD12 DD8 and DS4..

I have always held the belief that if you can provide the magical experience of DisneyWorld for your children at least once in their lifetime, you've somehow succeeded as a parent. I was fortunate enough to travel with my own family as a child 3 times.. took my oldest child when she was 1, DH was deployed at the time, and then in 2004 we were fortunate enough to take the entire family...which at the time consisted of DH, DD8, and DD4... I was 6 months pregnant during out May trip of 2004... After some careful observation, I felt it best for our family if we waited until the baby was not much of a baby anymore...So we promised the girls we would return when their brother is 4...Well...baby brother turned 4 in August, and in November we booked our trip for May 6-13...staying in a Family Suite at ASMU...Since November I've been talking, planning, researching, non stop... my friends and family have all tuned me out...even the children are tired of hearing about it!
So I'm glad I've found a forum for people who are consumed by the process.. I'm just really focused on getting the most pleasure out of our vacation. I want to do everything that interests us, not waste time or money, and the only way to ensure this is to plan ahead. I'm sure you all agree...

There are a few things that are just driving me a llittle crazy at the moment..
First and foremost: MAY HOURS!!!!! WHERE ARE YOU!!! It's impossible to plan an itinerary and dining if I don't know what time parks are open and expecially Extra Magic Hours! I like to plan a mid day return to the resort for naps, and then head to the park with the EMH for the rest of the evening.. So, all of that is on hold...FRUSTRATING! I guess it's not so bad now that they have moved ADR's to 90 days... I can't reserve anything until Feb anyway...(except we've already booked Chef Mickey's on Mother's Day...fun!)

I'm very happy that we decided to go with the family suite rather than a regular room at a Moderate or 2 rooms at a Value... I think the kitchenette and extra bathroom will be invaluable... My second dilema is whether I should mail a box of food items before hand (we do have DDP, but I was hoping to do a majority of breakfasts in room)... or use a grocery delivery service... I can find more affordable items here at home and can buy a little at a time, but wouldn't be able to ship perishables (obviously)... We'd really only need things like milk, cream cheese for bagels..I guess I could get most of that stuff on site...still debating this one...

Third thing....I was also looking into both a photo share and stroller swap, but haven't had any luck finding one that wasn't closed or unavailble for my time... We are going Wednesday to Wednesday, which is not the norm I suppose... I thought maybe we'd save a little on airfare this way... We don't have a stroller anymore... I don't want to bring the cheapo Walmart stroller..I'd like one with a basket underneath...not interested in just renting a park stroller, since there is so much walking to do outside of the parks...I also don't want to go spend $100 on a stroller that I may never use again after our trip... A stroller swap would be ideal, just haven't come upon one that works... I've also been checking Ebay and Craigslist, but haven't found anything reasonable... (I'm willing to go to about $40)..So I'm just gonna keep my eyes peeled and fingers crossed!

I'm absolutely loving these boards and am becoming quite addicted...if anyone has any thoughts, feel free to chime in..I'd list a day by day itinerary, but since I don't have park hours I can't make ADR's which means any schedule that I have in my head may not be accurate, so what's the use? I'll just hold off and bite my nails until February...and for now I'll cruise the boards for ideas, tips and advice...See ya around!

 

[carissanboys]

First off - welcome to the PTR board! And congrats on making your first post.

Is your husband still in the military (sorry if I missed that detail). We're a Navy family.

We're doing the DDP for the first time on this trip and I'm planning on mainly using snack credits for our breakfasts. I'll bring along some granola bars and probably pick up some milk to keep in the fridge in our room, but other than that, I think we'll have plenty of food on the plan.

On our last trip, we did use Garden Grocer. The food items were much pricier than I was use to, but it was a great service and I highly recommend them.

We're going to try and go without a stroller on this trip. On our first trip we brought our own, but it was a cheap one and didn't push well and my youngest never wanted to sit in it. We ended up getting one of the double Disney ones for one day and it was wonderful. The kids loved it and it was so easy to push.

On our last trip we paid for a double stroller ahead of time and used it every day. It was pricey, but so convenient. This upcoming trip we're going to try and go without a stroller except for maybe our Epcot day.

Can't wait to hear more of your plans and ask all of the questions you need to.

 

[mommymeg]

Thanks for the comment Carissa!

We are no longer military...my husband served in the Army for 4 years...it was a bittersweet trasition. We loved the military life, but his time away was such a sacrifice...it changed our lives and I'll never forget it.

The stroller issue is one that's been weighing on me the most... really think my boy will need it, but not the whole time, but at the very least a stroller can hold our bags...if I cannot find an affordable one, we will end up renting at the parks..I just thought it might be useful to have one that we could take outside the parks..

Gardengrocer seemed ok, Wegoshop was even better for me because you could choose which store to shop at...but I am certain that I could find even better deals here at home... I think I'll probably start a box in April or so, and every wee just buy something to put into it... cereal, poptarts, granola bars, snack stuff...seems like that would be the most economical way to do it...

When is your trip? I myself cannot seem to get it out of my head... especially because I've been noticing more an more how time really does fly. I've got activities on our calendar from now until we leave with every week getting full quite quickly... Before you know it, May will be here!!
(not a minute too soon if you ask me...20 degrees is unbearable!)

 

[carissanboys]

Yes, time does go by quickly! Our trip is at the end of March. We had no plans to go this year, but the deals they're offering military were too good to resist.

 

[msce2]

I found your PTR! It's awesome!!!

As if we need one more thing in common, I noticed that your name is Meggan. My middle name is Megan. I also was pregnant the last time we went in 2003, and I'm so looking forward to being able to ride everything. ASMU looks like so much fun! Do you what theme your room will be? I am amazed by their creativity at Disney!!! I think the Family Suite was a really good choice! Having the extra bathroom and kitchenette will come in handy!

Were you able to find a stroller swap? It's a shame we're not going at the same time. We have the opposite problem. I can't figure out which strollers to take. We have a double stroller, a regular sized stroller, a smaller stroller with a basket and lastly an umbrella stroller. I was originally thinking about bringing the double stroller, but it can be really tough to push at times, and doesn't turn well. My Mom wants me to bring the smaller stroller (DS 2) and the umbrella stroller (DD5). But I'm afraid the umbrella will be too small for DD (and it's not my favorite stroller). So I'll have to think about this some more.

I'd love to see your itinerary!

 

[MICKEY4EVER!]

I, too, have a DS4 and am struggling with which type of stroller I need to bring. I feel sure that he will definitely need one, but I don't want the hassle of a larger stroller to contend with (getting on and off buses where they have to be folded up).

My DH is staying at home for this trip and it will be just me and DS4 and my parents. DH is the one who usually takes care of the stroller for me, but now I will have to fold up the stroller myself and I want to make sure that it's simple and lightweight! I guess the umbrella will be the way to go, but I'm concerned that he'll be too big for it. I guess we'll just have to make do with it, no longer than he'll be sitting in it, anyways.

And I definitely CANNOT justify spending the money to rent a stroller at WDW. I am always looking for ways to save and pinch pennies, and I could buy ten umbrella strollers for what they charge to rent a stroller for a week.

Anyways, I'm subscribing to your thread. Can't wait to hear more as all of the details unfold! Have fun!

 

[mommymeg]

Ok... so you see how good I am at updating trip reports... I think my last entry was 4 months ago... bad bad Dis'er... And it's not like I haven't been on the boards every day since then...I actually just forgot about it, and now look...we're less than 2 weeks away!!!!

First thing's first... I solved my stroller dilema by being extra vigilant and checking Craigslist on a daily basis... Found a Combi stroller for my little guy and with a little haggling, got it for $30... granted, I had to drive an hour to pick it up, but it was worth it...it's perfect...in good shape, folds like a pro and will be just the right size for my small and mighty...

ADR's were made with no problems...got everything that we wanted, at the time we wanted...

The only thing I'm struggling with is that we bought hoppers and the Water park options...lots of extras..and now as I look at my itinerary, we may not need the hoppers... I guess it will be nice to have them in case the crowds are and high as predicted, but that's an extra $250 that we could have used other places...like say...the electric bill... at this point I'm still torn...do I cancel them, pay a $50 change fee, or do we keep them and hope there's a time when we'll actually use them? ah well...I cannot plan everything perfectly...

I still have to buy a few more things...shampoo, conditioner, body wash, ear planes, new socks and underwear for everyone (anyone else just do this for every vacation? I don't know why...but I feel like the kids have to have these items new for vacay..).. and that's about it. We were able to fly with Southwest (2 free checked bags per person...loooooove it)... so I'm bringing a suitcase full of breakfast foods and snacks... I've bought all of that except for bagels, and some fruit which I'll pick up the day before we leave...

Most of our things are packed.. or at least set aside in our bedrooms... DD12 still needs a bathing suit which has become the biggest pain out of this whole process... It is extremely hard to find an appropriate bathing suit for a 12 year old that has the body of an 18 year old... even the tankinis are so low cut that things are popping out...and big daddy gets the last say on the issue...he hasn't approved anything so far... We go back to our hunt this weekend...pray for me...

Nest up will be our itinerary...and I swear it will be right after I post this... not in 4 months...

ciao

 

[mommymeg]

Wow...I even surprised myself my continuing...

Ok...itinerary is all set in stone... well not really stone... we can certainly decide to do something totally different once we're there...but my whole family is a schedule type of clan...we work well this way...

Wed 5/6- Touchdown in Orlando at 10am... hope to be checked in by 11am.
Quick lunch at ASMu and then head to MK...
ADRs for Crystal palace at 4pm... Tour MK for rest of night
Thur 5/7- MK early hours...head back to resort for afternoon rest...
ADR's at Boma...5pm..probably back to MK to finish the night
Fri 5/8- Epcot day...lunch at Sunshine Seasons
ADR's at Coral Reef... Not doing WS this day...
Sat 5/9 HS early hours...ADR's at 50's prime... park closes at 7... might
make it an early night, or maybe DTD?
Sun 5/10 Blizzard Beach day
ADR's at Chef Mickey's 5pm... MK has evening hours till midnight..
not sure if we'll do them...
Mon 5/11 AK day... ADR's for Tusker House at 8am...
park closes at 5, so another eveniing open fow whatever we
choose... HS has EMH...or DTD again
Tues 5/12 Last day.. pack up...maybe hop around in the morning
ADR's for Garden Grill at 5pm. Tour WS..
Wed 5/13 Check out at 10am...boo...

So that's it...I don't know what I'm going to do with myself once we get home. I was laid off a few months ago, and especially since then I've been obsessed with this trip...I'm going to be sad and lonely...but I'm still going to be a frequent visitor on the Dis...

Oh...the other thing that has me really stressed... we booked thru a TA.. I've kind of been more on the ball than she has, but it didn't cost any extra to use her and I'm helping a business stay open...ok so about a month ago I got all of my confirmations...but no DME package... waited, and called her to request extra tags...waited...emailed her last week... she said that she received them in the mail and that she mailed them to me... I don't know why I didn't just go to her office and get them myself... 5 days later they are still not here and her office is 2 miles from my house!!!! Usually the mail is here next day for anything in the same town...so I'm a little frantic about it...
I just want to make sure we have everything we need, so this afternoon I'll be hawking the mail man as he makes his way up my street... if he doesn't have my little yellow saviors there's gonna be some explaining to do!!!!!!

I might just update again before we leave!!! Won't that be a treat?!? (but don't count on it...lots going on in life right now...) Cannot wait to get away with just my man and kids for a week...