No Matter How Long the Winter, Spring is Sure to Follow – A Flower & Garden PTR

[Colleen27]

Sitting here with my cup of hot tea and a fire in the fireplace, I could think of no more fitting title for my PTR than this proverb quoted in one of the seed catalogs that have already started landing in my mailbox.

No matter how long the winter, spring is sure to follow.

Of course nothing slows time down to an agonizing crawl like having a ticker in my signature, and between the wait for our upcoming trip and the weather we’ve had thus far it is shaping up to be a very long winter indeed.

So what better way to pass the time than a new PTR?

The Cast

DD9, aka Pocahontas – She used to be my little princess, but she’s always had a tomboy streak and now she is so over the delicate princesses waiting for their prince to save them. She’s very into the modern Disney princesses, Pocahontas, Mulan, and Tiana, who take control of their own lives and adventures, but she still wants to see the classics “for the baby”.

DD2, aka Boo – The happiest toddler you’ll ever meet, this one has skipped the “terrible” part of being two entirely. She’s a delightful baby to be around, sassy and articulate and just cuddly enough without being clingy. Thanks to her big sister, who introduced her to Mickey Mouse Clubhouse when she was just a newborn, she’s Mickey’s biggest fan. Every castle she sees, even her big brother’s Legos, is “Mickey castle”. Her nickname comes from her current favorite game – after seeing Monsters Inc. she decided it is the Most. Hilarious. Thing. Ever. to jump out from under tables or behind chairs and yell “Boo”.

DM – My mother and frequent traveling companion, newly retired and looking forward to even more great trips. She loves Disney as much as I do but doesn’t like to travel solo, so she often joins us on our trips. My parents divorced when I was very young and the financial pressures of being a single mom got in the way of taking my brother & I to Disney when we were kids. Now she’s really enjoying experiencing things with my kids that she couldn’t do with us.

And last but not least, yours truly – 30-something SAHM and relatively new Disney addict. I only went to Disney once before having children, but all it took was the first trip with my two oldest kids and I was instantly hooked. I love travel in general and planning is half the fun, so a WDW vacation is the perfect trip for me! This will be our fifth trip with me at the wheel, and each one is an adventure all its own.

Also appearing in passing mention but not joining us on this trip are DH, my enabler, and DS12. They couldn’t be less interested in the Flower & Garden Festival so this one is going to be a girls’ only weekend.

The Plans

When: March 2-7, 2011. I had been hoping for a good discount that might allow me to plan an April or May trip for Flower & Garden, but I couldn’t resist the overlap between free dining and the opening of the festival.

Where: Pop Century. I hope I don’t regret this, as it will be our first value stay and I can be a bit of a resort snob at times, but since this isn’t our big whole family vacation this year I’m looking to keep the budget under control and with as little time as we spend at our resort it is an easy place to cut.

 

[Colleen27]

Pocahontas over the years, growing up Disney...

Our first family trip in 2005:

On her 6th birthday, 2007:

With her brother on DS's 10th birthday trip, 2008:

After her Pirate's League makeover, 2009:

 

[hollie1974]

I'm in (and front page no less! yay! lol)

Your kids are so cute and I LOVE the pirate makeover. My daughter Lily is getting a princess makeover when we go in Feb but I was thinking about getting the pirate makeover for my son and nephew while she is getting her stuff done.....do you have to have reservation to do this?

Looking forward to reading more! Sounds like it is going to be lots of fun!

 

[Colleen27]

I'm in (and front page no less! yay! lol)

Your kids are so cute and I LOVE the pirate makeover. My daughter Lily is getting a princess makeover when we go in Feb but I was thinking about getting the pirate makeover for my son and nephew while she is getting her stuff done.....do you have to have reservation to do this?

Looking forward to reading more! Sounds like it is going to be lots of fun!

They "strongly recommend" reservations but I'm not really sure how difficult it is to book. It was a pretty new thing when my kids did it and we decided to book it just a few weeks out, but it may have gotten more popular since then because they've completely revised their pricing and offerings.

Pocahontas did the princess makeover when she was 6 and loved the whole experience. We bought her a dress online before the trip because she hates the scratchy Disney dresses, and she made a lovely Sleeping Beauty.

 

[ash-n-brensmom]

Hey!! I'm here too!! Looking forward to counting down with you!! Although you have one less day than us

We have stayed at Pop twice and really like it..the pools are nice, no slides, but still nice. The food court is small but has good food for a food court and the size of the resort is great. Just enough to walk around and look at, but not too big to make it difficult to manage.
But the best part is the bus system. I'm not saying that they get more buses, or that they come more frequently then any other resort, but they don't share with ANYONE. Once you are on that bus, you are going straight to your destination. And that's a good thing
We will be at POR for the first time and that has me worried about the buses, having to share with FQ from time to time and also the ride around the resort before we actually hit the road...ah well, gonna have to remember to bring my patience along on this trip..

 

[MeMom]

Sitting here with my cup of hot tea and a fire in the fireplace, I could think of no more fitting title for my PTR than this proverb quoted in one of the seed catalogs that have already started landing in my mailbox.

No matter how long the winter, spring is sure to follow.

Of course nothing slows time down to an agonizing crawl like having a ticker in my signature, and between the wait for our upcoming trip and the weather we’ve had thus far it is shaping up to be a very long winter indeed.

So what better way to pass the time than a new PTR?

I have the idea that it should be cold for Christmas and New Year's celebrations, but then it's time to fast forward to a spring break Disney trip, where everything is warm and colorful and alive.

DM – My mother and frequent traveling companion, newly retired and looking forward to even more great trips. She loves Disney as much as I do but doesn’t like to travel solo, so she often joins us on our trips. My parents divorced when I was very young and the financial pressures of being a single mom got in the way of taking my brother & I to Disney when we were kids. Now she’s really enjoying experiencing things with my kids that she couldn’t do with us.

I was in the same situation, and raising three kids alone did not allow for vacations. We had relatives in St. Pete that we visited occasionally, and when we did, there were one day Disney trips. We finally got on better footing and took our first on-site trip in 2005, and that was when our Disney passion just blew wide open. We had always been Disney nuts. I went in its opening year, we had all the Disney movies, and we even had a Disney-themed den for a long time, but after we stayed at Pop that first time, all Disney heck broke lose. I have spent these last five years making up a lot to my kids on these trips.

They couldn’t be less interested in the Flower & Garden Festival so this one is going to be a girls’ only weekend.

We have taken many 'girls only' trips, and they are awesome. We don't worry about pleasing the guys, and there is no whining and griping.

We'll be at Pop from Feb. 26th to March 2nd. We plan to be at the opening ceremony of F&G on the 2nd and spend until lunchtime there before we have to go back to meet UnMagical Express. Depending on what time you arrive, maybe we can cross paths that day for a quick DIS hello.

We stay at Pop often, and we've stayed moderate, deluxe and DVC a few times, as well. Hope you like Pop. It's our usual Disney home, and we really enjoy it.

 

[lovethattink]

Counting down with you too!

We've stayed at Pop 5 times! Not sure which resorts you've stayed at in the past, but the main difference I've noticed between the deluxe rooms and the value rooms is the noise. I think the walls must be thinner or something.

We love Pop! We usually request near the big wheels because it is very quiet there. Not too much foot traffic. And it's half way between the computer pool and the main pool, and fairly close to the food court, transportation, goofy water jets, and the play ground! And the twister game!!

The food court is fun! At times the cm break out and do the hustle! You can join in the fun too, or just watch. The food court is famous for their tie dye cheesecake and twinkie tiramasu. Each night there is a special "tv dinner" meal. It's served on a compartmentalized tv dinner tray.

We enjoy taking a walk around the resort looking at all the giant icons. And the window showcases around the check-in are a fun stroll down memory lane!

The 3 pools differ from the moderate and deluxe pools in that there is no water slide. The main pool has an opening pool ceremony each morning, where the lifeguards and children participate. (The other two pools, just open without ceremony.) My youngest liked this because they had balls and the life guards were very high energy and fun! He also likes swimming under the squirting flowers of the main pool!

I think Pop Century was a great choice of resort! It's my favorite value!

 

[Colleen27]

everyone!

Hey!! I'm here too!! Looking forward to counting down with you!! Although you have one less day than us

We have stayed at Pop twice and really like it..the pools are nice, no slides, but still nice. The food court is small but has good food for a food court and the size of the resort is great. Just enough to walk around and look at, but not too big to make it difficult to manage.
But the best part is the bus system. I'm not saying that they get more buses, or that they come more frequently then any other resort, but they don't share with ANYONE. Once you are on that bus, you are going straight to your destination. And that's a good thing
We will be at POR for the first time and that has me worried about the buses, having to share with FQ from time to time and also the ride around the resort before we actually hit the road...ah well, gonna have to remember to bring my patience along on this trip..

We really liked POR. It is the most beautiful Disney resort we've stayed at by far, and I just loved the landscaping. We were on Mansions side right near one of the quiet pools, which was great because we'd just leave the connecting door to my mom's room open and sneak out for a swim after the kids were in bed. The location and the buses were the only thing we didn't love; POR feels so far from everything! The buses weren't terrible or anything, we only had one long wait going to Typhoon Lagoon and the main park buses were always timely, it just felt like a very long ride at times.

I have the idea that it should be cold for Christmas and New Year's celebrations, but then it's time to fast forward to a spring break Disney trip, where everything is warm and colorful and alive.




I was in the same situation, and raising three kids alone did not allow for vacations. We had relatives in St. Pete that we visited occasionally, and when we did, there were one day Disney trips. We finally got on better footing and took our first on-site trip in 2005, and that was when our Disney passion just blew wide open. We had always been Disney nuts. I went in its opening year, we had all the Disney movies, and we even had a Disney-themed den for a long time, but after we stayed at Pop that first time, all Disney heck broke lose. I have spent these last five years making up a lot to my kids on these trips.

We have taken many 'girls only' trips, and they are awesome. We don't worry about pleasing the guys, and there is no whining and griping.

We'll be at Pop from Feb. 26th to March 2nd. We plan to be at the opening ceremony of F&G on the 2nd and spend until lunchtime there before we have to go back to meet UnMagical Express. Depending on what time you arrive, maybe we can cross paths that day for a quick DIS hello.

We stay at Pop often, and we've stayed moderate, deluxe and DVC a few times, as well. Hope you like Pop. It's our usual Disney home, and we really enjoy it.

That sounds about right, cold and snow for Christmas and that's it. Unfortunately I live in Michigan... We won't start seeing signs of spring until April.

Up until our first trip I didn't know if we'd ever be able to afford to take our kids either. My older kids actually went for the first time with my inlaws, without me. Our first trip was thanks to a small inheritance from a Disney-loving relative - we couldn't think of any better way to spend the money than to take the kids to her favorite place in the world. But in 2006 DH started his own business and that really put us on more steady ground. I think that's a big part of why I'm having so much fun traveling with our youngest, because we didn't go much of anywhere when the older kids were in that "awed by everything" stage.

I'm really looking forward to going "girls only". It will definitely be a change of pace, because DH & DS are both all about the thrill rides and rather bored by the idea of stopping to smell the roses (or photograph the light fixture... I have a minor photography habit ).

I don't know yet what time we'll be landing, probably 3ish because we've got a 2 hour drive to the airport and don't want to hassle with getting to an early flight, but I'd love to stop and say hi if you're still around by the time we get to Pop.

I'm really hoping we like the resort too. The Art of Animation suites seem like they'd be perfect for us once Boo turns three, if we find we like the value resorts and don't miss the pool slides and such too very much. Unless I convince DH to buy DVC between now and then, of course.

Counting down with you too!

We've stayed at Pop 5 times! Not sure which resorts you've stayed at in the past, but the main difference I've noticed between the deluxe rooms and the value rooms is the noise. I think the walls must be thinner or something.

We love Pop! We usually request near the big wheels because it is very quiet there. Not too much foot traffic. And it's half way between the computer pool and the main pool, and fairly close to the food court, transportation, goofy water jets, and the play ground! And the twister game!!

The food court is fun! At times the cm break out and do the hustle! You can join in the fun too, or just watch. The food court is famous for their tie dye cheesecake and twinkie tiramasu. Each night there is a special "tv dinner" meal. It's served on a compartmentalized tv dinner tray.

We enjoy taking a walk around the resort looking at all the giant icons. And the window showcases around the check-in are a fun stroll down memory lane!

The 3 pools differ from the moderate and deluxe pools in that there is no water slide. The main pool has an opening pool ceremony each morning, where the lifeguards and children participate. (The other two pools, just open without ceremony.) My youngest liked this because they had balls and the life guards were very high energy and fun! He also likes swimming under the squirting flowers of the main pool!

I think Pop Century was a great choice of resort! It's my favorite value!

We've stayed (in order from favorite to least, though we've liked them all) at the Beach Club, Caribbean Beach, Wilderness Lodge, and Port Orleans Riverside. This will be our first value stay, but the one who cares most about pool slides (DS) is staying home and we're not planning on a ton of time at the resort anyway.

I am REALLY looking forward to the tie-dye cheesecake. It just looks so unique that I have to try it!

 

[Colleen27]

With only one Disney trip, I don't have the growing up Disney assortment with her just yet - but when I do it is going to be all the more fun for starting so young!

Boo is my wonder baby. We always wanted 3 kids but when we started trying for a 3rd things just went wrong. I got pregnant easily, but miscarried. And after repeating that same cycle twice more we decided it just wasn't meant to be and DH eventually had a vasectomy. Boo was a very happy "oops" - conceived long enough post-V that it really shouldn't have happened, and DH didn't come clean about skipping his follow-up until I had the positive test in hand. And by some miracle, the pregnancy was completely uneventful. So if I get a little mushy about being able to share all of this Disney fun with her, that's why.

From our 2009 trip:

Thanksgiving break at Kalahari this year:

The whole crew on Christmas:

 

[MeMom]

I don't know yet what time we'll be landing, probably 3ish because we've got a 2 hour drive to the airport and don't want to hassle with getting to an early flight, but I'd love to stop and say hi if you're still around by the time we get to Pop.

I am REALLY looking forward to the tie-dye cheesecake. It just looks so unique that I have to try it!

I guess we'll be passing each other on the highway, then. We'll be leaving on ME around 3, so we'll be crying our way out while you are smiling your way in.

The cheesecake is good if you get a moist one. When you happen to get a dry one, which does happen sometimes, it's really not very good. I don't like saying anything bad about 'our' Pop Century, but I will be honest about it. I'll cross my fingers that you get a good one.

 

[lovethattink]

The cheesecake is good if you get a moist one. When you happen to get a dry one, which does happen sometimes, it's really not very good. I don't like saying anything bad about 'our' Pop Century, but I will be honest about it. I'll cross my fingers that you get a good one.

Yes, that's happened to me once. It was very dry. I was eating there with cm and they said I should take it back to the register and get a refund or exchange it. I didn't. Ate about half of it then pitched it into the garbage. All other times, it's been nice and moist.

 

[Colleen27]

This trip is actually the culmination of several years' worth of frustrations over trying to plan a Flower & Garden trip.

First was the trip that got canceled altogether. My mom and I had planned on taking a short Memorial Day weekend Flower & Garden trip in 2008, even though it was only a few months after the big trip I took with DH & the kids in January, but Boo through a wrench into those plans. I've done Disney pregnant twice, but only in the first trimester - early summer heat at 7 months along was just not going to happen!

Next, our Christmas '09 trip was supposed to be a May trip, for Flower & Garden and my mom & my birthdays. But life got in the way all the way around. My mom's house burned down in November 2008, and she was still mired in insurance paperwork and decisions about rebuilding. And with the housing market crash, DH & I decided to repurpose my 'new van' fund to do a little house shopping ourselves, which turned into a whole saga of delays and unexpected expenses. Sitting here in my dream house without a mortgage payment to worry about it was absolutely worth it, but it really didn't feel that way when I had to postpone that trip!

Since we didn't have enough time to save for another trip so close on the heels of the last one, Flower & Garden '10 was never a consideration but we started talking about shooting for 2011. Then free dining was announced with the unprecedented range of dates through most of the year, and the wheels started turning. Flower & Garden Festival starts on March 2, earlier than ever before, and the last day to check-in for free dining was March 3. Perfect.

So the beginnings of a plan were born. Originally we planned on staying just the three night minimum for free dining, checking in on Thursday March 3 and coming home Sunday, and we booked CBR since it is the only moderate with a zero-entry pool. We've done short 2-park trips before for special occasions, and it is a nice little Disney fix without breaking the bank.

But Sunday flights are expensive, so we decided it made more sense to stay over until Monday.

And Pocahontas really wanted to get back to DHS because I was sick on our DSH day last trip so we missed most of the shows. She got her thrill ride fix with DH & DS, but didn't get to see Beauty & the Beast, Little Mermaid, or take Boo to Playhouse Disney. So we added a park day to the plans too.

Then the Braves spring training schedule at Wide World of Sports was announced, and the Tigers are playing the Braves the afternoon of the 3rd. I've always wanted to see a spring training game, but that would mean hassling with an early flight. Or adding another night.

Well, now that we'd added two nights, a third park day, and the expense of baseball tickets, the budget was starting to push the edges of my comfort zone.

Then came the resort change moment. It wasn't really my idea. I was helping a friend plan a trip to visit her daughter, who was doing the college program this past semester, and they were staying at Pop. Pocahontas saw some of the photos and links I send to my friend and asked why we couldn't stay there. She didn't even care that there was no pool slide!

So there was the answer to my budget worries. After two days of her asking if we could please stay at the "hippie hotel" - and some really funny arguments like, "Mom, you have 10 different tie dye shirts (a bit of an exaggeration - I don't think I have more than 3 or 4 any more!) and a peace sign tongue ring. You'd fit right in!" - I switched our reservation from Caribbean Beach to Pop Century preferred.

And while I'm a little unsure about the idea of staying at a value resort, I do think the kids will love it. On our trip to Kalahari, Boo's favorite thing were the little water jets so I know she'll go nuts for the Goofy fountains. And with as much as we have planned for this trip, I don't think I'll have time to miss having a hot tub to relax in at the end of the day!

 

[akkascott]

That sounds about right, cold and snow for Christmas and that's it. Unfortunately I live in Michigan... We won't start seeing signs of spring until April.

We've stayed (in order from favorite to least, though we've liked them all) at the Beach Club, Caribbean Beach, Wilderness Lodge, and Port Orleans Riverside.

Hi there!

Count me in - I'm already a fan of your PTR. Your style of writing is just beautiful!

We're visiting the Beach Club at the end of March, so reading that it was your favorite was a nice surprise! It looks gorgeous in photos, but it's hard to know until we're actually there. For us, our choice was all about location. We spent far too much time on buses during our trip in '07 and wanted to stay somewhere where we could walk to parks instead.

I am hoping for pleasant weather, especially given that there is a 2' blanket of snow outside my window right now. It's picturesque at Christmas time, but I'll be sick of it by March!

Karen

 

[lilandvisma]

I'm in

And your children are GORGEOUS!!! What a miracle baby little "boo" is Got all teary eyed just reading about your story w/ her.

 

[Colleen27]

Hi there!

Count me in - I'm already a fan of your PTR. Your style of writing is just beautiful!

We're visiting the Beach Club at the end of March, so reading that it was your favorite was a nice surprise! It looks gorgeous in photos, but it's hard to know until we're actually there. For us, our choice was all about location. We spent far too much time on buses during our trip in '07 and wanted to stay somewhere where we could walk to parks instead.

I am hoping for pleasant weather, especially given that there is a 2' blanket of snow outside my window right now. It's picturesque at Christmas time, but I'll be sick of it by March!

Thank you.

Our Beach Club stay was really fabulous. That whole trip was amazing - my daughter told my mom what she wanted most for her birthday was to go to Disney, which is of course WAY more than we'd ever spend on a gift. But then we got a 40% off PIN and my mom decided it was as good an excuse as any for a vacation. At the time she was my grandmother's caregiver on top of working full time, and had just learned of a respite care facility that would give her a few days' break, so the trip was on. We spent three nights at the Beach Club and only did two park days, one at Epcot and one at Magic Kingdom. The rest of the time we just hung out at the pool; it was August and quite hot but that was perfect because the pool there is so amazing and during the summer it is open really late.

Our room was one of those that DISers try to avoid, at the end of the wing closest to Epcot, but we had a full balcony and a view of Spaceship Earth over the trees. And because we looked out over the courtyard towards the Villas, it was always so quiet out on the balcony! The room itself was lovely, very relaxing in pretty greens and blues, and the location was fabulous. Walking to Epcot and using that back entrance is so nice, there are practically no lines even at rope drop and on the day we were there Minnie and the Queen of Hearts were signing autographs just inside the gates.

I'll join you in hoping for good weather. We've been really lucky on our winter trips - we had great weather in both Dec last year and January the year before, at least for part of both trips it was warm enough for swimming and to fit in a waterpark day.

Never go the same week as us in the following year, though! In Jan '08 we had highs mostly in the mid-upper 70s and the coldest it got was high 40s overnight; those same days in Jan '09 the lows were below freezing, it was wet/icy, and the damage to Florida's fruit crops was national news. In Dec '09 we arrived in Orlando to near-record highs in the mid 80s; that week this year was the ridiculous cold snap when Disney experienced record lows with highs only getting into the 40s. So expect good weather this March but you probably don't want to plan a trip for the first week of March 2012.

 

[hollie1974]

They "strongly recommend" reservations but I'm not really sure how difficult it is to book. It was a pretty new thing when my kids did it and we decided to book it just a few weeks out, but it may have gotten more popular since then because they've completely revised their pricing and offerings.

Pocahontas did the princess makeover when she was 6 and loved the whole experience. We bought her a dress online before the trip because she hates the scratchy Disney dresses, and she made a lovely Sleeping Beauty.

Thank you for the info!

I love the princess makeover!

 

[Colleen27]

Something I forgot to mention earlier - we upgraded from the free dining package to the deluxe plan. That is probably an important bit of information in making sense of our itinerary!

We've done the deluxe plan twice before, but my mom wasn't with us on either of those two trips. She joined us for the last two nights of our Christmas trip but didn't get any dining plan because she was using up old park hopper passes from before they started charging for no-expiration, so she hasn't been to a lot of our favorite restaurants. That's one of the reasons cutting back on the dining plan never crossed my mind.

The other reason is this - I was born and raised in Detroit/an inner-ring suburb, but we now live in a small rural town. One of the things I miss most about the city is a variety of restaurants. I adore the Mayberry-esque town we live in and dont' for a minute regret deciding this is where we want to raise the kids, but all we've got here is a McDonalds, a Dairy Queen, a diner, and a couple of bars with decent menus. So when we travel I go a little nuts with the restaurant planning!

Our itinerary so far. Restaurants in blue are new to me:

March 2 - arrival, no park
D: Kona Cafe, 5:40

March 3 - Animal Kingdom morning, Tigers game afternoon
B: Donald's Safari @ Tusker House, 10:15 (only sorta new, we've been for lunch but never breakfast)
D: Raglan Road, 6:15 (tentative, based on DM wanting some DTD shopping time)

March 4 - DHS
L: Brown Derby, 11:30 (we had an ADR there on our last trip, but I was sick on our DHS day and missed it )
D: Flying Fish, 5:45

March 5 - Epcot
L: Chefs de France
D: ???? - Had Garden Grill, but cancelled after booking Tusker House because we like to limit the character meals to one Mickey, one Princesses, etc. I'm waffling between La Hacienda or Via Napoli, and I'm checking the web site once in a while to see if I might luck into availability at Le Cellier to check out the first week of their signature menu.

March 6 - Magic Kingdom
L: Cinderella's Royal Table, 12:10
D: California Grill, 5:45

March 7 - departure, no park
B: Kona Cafe, 10:30 (sorta new, we've been for dinner but never breakfast)

 

[lovethattink]

March 5 - Epcot
L: Chefs de France
D: ???? - Had Garden Grill, but cancelled after booking Tusker House because we like to limit the character meals to one Mickey, one Princesses, etc. I'm waffling between La Hacienda or Via Napoli, and I'm checking the web site once in a while to see if I might luck into availability at Le Cellier to check out the first week of their signature menu.

I've never eaten at Le Cellier, but we did get an ADR for our trip. I didn't realize their menu was changing?

 

[Colleen27]

I've never eaten at Le Cellier, but we did get an ADR for our trip. I didn't realize their menu was changing?

As of March 1, they're going to be a 2 credit restaurant on the dining plan, and they will have a new menu to reflect their new, higher-end status. We've had a couple of bad experiences there - got the ADR and checked in to find such a long wait that we went elsewhere - so I'm not all gung-ho about trying to fit it in, but the change to signature status has me intrigued.

 

[inkedupmomma]

subbed! BUT, will be back later to read! Glad I caught you early on!!