No Plan Disaster to Planning Master? PTR 2015

[CardDisMom]

Can I do it? I hope so. I learned a lot from my last trip in 2014 when I planned virtually nothing.

So I've been a Disney fan as long as I can remember. I took a few trips to WDW with my parents when I was little (back in the 80s). One of my first memories is eating at Cinderella's Royal Table and refusing to eat anything other than only Mickey shaped butter and looking up at Cinderella and being totally amazed.

Fast-forward to the early 90s when I take my most memorable childhood trip with my Dad at eight. My parents divorced when I was five so this was just a father-daughter trip. It was completely magical, fun, and educational (I'm a nerd so that's important). I remember Epcot the most and remember it being my favorite park. We were there around Christmas and New Year's so that made the experience even more amazing. The trip has really stuck with me as my Dad passed almost exactly a year later. It has been so special over the years to have those memories.

Hit the fast-forward button again to spring 2014. I'm now an adult and have a beautiful little Disney princess of my own. I'm in the car with my Mother, Husband and daughter. My husband is telling us a story about a co-worker going to WDW. Suddenly we all decide that we need take a trip to WDW. Immediately Disney fanaticism sets in and I am looking on my phone frantically in the car at rental properties in Orlando.

My Mother and her husband have their vacations scheduled around July 4 every year so that is when we decide to go. MISTAKE #1 (It is way too hot and crowded in July) This is especially true when you suffer from heat rage like I do. Hot weather makes me grumpy I can't change that even in the happiest place on earth.

We all decide renting a house with a pool will be most convenient with four adults and a toddler.
MISTAKE #2 (As virtual first-timers we should have stayed on property to facilitate a midday break with DD.) During our trip it seems like we spent more time traveling to and from the parks than enjoying anything inside the parks.

I mentioned earlier we decided in the spring to go to WDW in the summer. MISTAKE #3 (As many of you know a trip to WDW can require some significant planning.) When I booked our trip last July I did not realize that ADRs can and often should be made 180 days in advance and if you stay on property you can make FP+ 60 days in advance. No Mickey butter for DD at CRT on her first trip.

My Mother's husband will not fly so we were stuck with driving to Orlando from KENTUCKY. MISTAKE #4 (It was a long miserable drive.) If you have a difficult time spending extended periods of time with someone it is not a good idea to spend 15+ hours with them in a car.

So around June 29, 2014 we all pile into one vehicle and begin a very long drive. We get to our rental house which was fine. We head to the parks with two ADRs for our entire 4 days in the parks. The Crystal Palace (Okay) and Akershus (Best experience of our trip). I pretty much randomly selected some FP+ selections with no strategy behind the selections or location in the parks. MISTAKE #5 (This resulted in a lot of needless wondering around.) Since we basically had no real plan for touring the parks we found ourselves fighting through the crowds and looking for something with a short wait time that was preferably air conditioned. We rode what seems like only a handful of rides on our entire trip.

All valuable lessons learned. Stay tuned to learn how DH and I decided to return just over a year later. How I decided I needed a binder to organize my planning, what resources I am using to learn about WDW, how I spiraled into certifiable Disney addiction, and our pre-trip plan for Halloween 2015.

My favorite photo from our first trip.

 

[CardDisMom]

How we decided to return to WDW this year

Since we returned home from our disappointing trip in 2014 we had been talking about going back to WDW. I had looked at resorts online after we returned a few times so I had an idea of a few of the places we might go when we decided to go back. Then it happened.

New Year's Day 2015. Our little family is having a relaxing day at home and we happen upon Walt Disney World Resorts: Behind the Scenes. As we watch we realize how much we didn't do on our last trip. Not in a I want to do it all on my first trip sense but literally we barely rode or experienced anything on our first trip. We were completely blown away by what we were watching on our television. Then this program is followed by another WDW program and then a program on the Disney Cruise Line. By this time I have the iPad in front of me looking through the Disney website bouncing figures off of my DH. Then he says, "Let's go back, this year." In a matter of minutes we had decided on what resort to stay at when (in the fall so the weather is better) and how long our stay will be. It was all booked we just had to wait a full ten months for our trip to arrive.

So we booked Port Orleans French Quarter from 10/30 - 11/6. We chose POFQ not because of the New Orleans vibe but because it is the smallest of the resorts since we have a preschooler and because the railings reminded us of the hotel we stayed in on our honeymoon in Savannah, GA. (Sidenote: If you love Savannah The Marshall House is a must do at some point. http://www.marshallhouse.com/)

We decided on the dates in large part because we wanted to be in the Magic Kingdom on Halloween. I had read about MNSSHP on Pinterest and as a Halloween lover was dying to experience that so that was a big priority. It wasn't until a couple months later that I realized that we would be in WDW during the Epcot Food & Wine Festival. Lucky us! I can't wait to try the Bacon Hash from the Farm Fresh booth!

Next time you'll learn about how I started researching to prepare for our ADRs and how my Disney obsession is growing by the day.

Proof below. This is what DD and I do to prep for Disney. We are making our own ears.

 

[kbainbridge]

I'm in! Can't wait to read your trip plans.

I'm interested to see if you changed resorts to get free dining too!

 

[Choozee]

Following and excited to learn more!

 

[CardDisMom]

I Need a Plan!

So when we took the 2014 trip I had no idea how much planning a trip to WDW requires. I am a planner by nature and work in a very stressful field, so I spend a lot of my day to day life planning things months even years in advance. When I thought of doing extensive planning for the most magical and happy place on Earth it just didn't make sense to me at the time that this was essential. Honestly a year ago the thought of burning a lot of energy to plan a vacation didn't seem like much of a vacation at all. OH how things change!

To give you a little perspective on how little we got to experience on our last four days in the park in 2014 - This weekend my DD3 says, "Mommy I like Holiday World better than Disney World." My mouth dropped open and I asked her why. "Because there are more rides Mommy." Well Holiday World is a beautiful very family friendly park and our family loves the park. I assure you there are no where near as many rides in HW as in WDW. Still my little one is convinced that this is the case. I can't wait to show her how much WDW really has to offer. (Seriously if you are ever in Indiana go to Holiday World it's lovely.)

The 2014 experience made me realize I needed to do some research. Off to Pinterest I went. Then I ordered the 2015 Unofficial Guide to WDW. I was immersing myself in Disney. From this research I realized the next big decision would be making our dining reservations. I found several sources for crowd calendars online including here on The Dis. As I thought about picking the restaurants for my ADRs I knew from last time that it would be important to choose which park I would be in each day first. After experiencing the transportation and park hopping to get away from crowds I knew it would be easier to first select a good park based on crowd calendars then select a dining location. So I looked at several crowd calendars and decided where I wanted to be on what day. When we watched the Disney programs on television we learned about MNSSHP and agreed we had to experience this. With MNSSHP as part of our plans I had to consider this as well. Would I spend all day in the MK or would I travel to another park? We are doing MNSSHP on Halloween (EEEEK!) and the crowd calendars indicated Animal Kingdom might be a good choice on that day. Also considering AK is an early closing park it just made sense in my mind to do AK before the Halloween party.

My first days were falling into place. So after deciding how to handle the Halloween party it seemed like days for other parks fell into place. After deciding which park to go to on each day (roughly, we added park hopper so we might hop a little too) I needed to decide where and when we wanted to eat. Top priority for me since I have such fond magical memories from childhood was going back to Cinderella's Royal Table and taking my sweet daughter. Second priority was Be Our Guest. I read amazing things and DD loves the Beast. I read the Unofficial Guide and many things on Pinterest and here on The Dis to make my other selections. From our last experience I knew that DD (read all of us) would benefit greatly from a midday break. She isn't much of a napper anymore but I think to get away from the hustle and bustle of the parks midday will be nice. I also considered that DD's everyday schedule allows her to have rest time after lunch at preschool. So I decided doing lunch at a TS and then returning to our hotel afterwards for a midday break would be a good strategy. That is what I have planned for most days since we are staying at POFQ and the travel won't be as big of a hassle as staying off property.

I also knew we wanted to see Fantasmic and getting a Fantasmic Dining Reservation is the most strategic way to get a good seat for that show so I considered that before making reservations. I first chose Mama Melrose for an early dinner because I thought it would be different from some of the other regular park food. I actually just changed that after the fact to a lunch at Hollywood and Vine to knock out the Disney Jr characters and get the Fantasmic pass. I also read that getting a late dinner reservation and staying to watch Illuminations can be a good strategy for experiencing that show so we chose La Hacienda de San Angel. To make my other selections I looked at places I thought would be fun for our DD. So I added Tusker House and Chef Mickey's to the list.

Buuut could I get CRT and BOG? I got up at 5:00 a.m. on May 3 to find out! I drank coffee and ate a granola bar to be on top of my game before 6:00 a.m. My hands were sweaty and my heart was pounding. I tried BOG first because I had read it was the hardest to get. YES! Then CRT. YES AGAIN! I got all of our first choices. I felt so accomplished.

So we have ADRs for:
Tusker House
Be Our Guest
La Hacienda de San Angel
Hollywood & Vine
Chef Mickeys

Whew hurdle number one cleared! This is super fun and I can't get enough of anything and everything Disney. Only 120 days to go!

 

[ember303]

Are you going in October? I am hopeful we will be able to do BOG. As soon as we get official dates from make a wish I will schedule! We have been to Tusker and honestly it is my favorite! The food is super yummy! Jackson is not really eating food anymore so I will only do character meals so he can have that interaction. The rest we can just do quick service!

I Need a Plan!

So when we took the 2014 trip I had no idea how much planning a trip to WDW requires. I am a planner by nature and work in a very stressful field, so I spend a lot of my day to day life planning things months even years in advance. When I thought of doing extensive planning for the most magical and happy place on Earth it just didn't make sense to me at the time that this was essential. Honestly a year ago the thought of burning a lot of energy to plan a vacation didn't seem like much of a vacation at all. OH how things change!

To give you a little perspective on how little we got to experience on our last four days in the park in 2014 - This weekend my DD3 says, "Mommy I like Holiday World better than Disney World." My mouth dropped open and I asked her why. "Because there are more rides Mommy." Well Holiday World is a beautiful very family friendly park and our family loves the park. I assure you there are no where near as many rides in HW as in WDW. Still my little one is convinced that this is the case. I can't wait to show her how much WDW really has to offer. (Seriously if you are ever in Indiana go to Holiday World it's lovely.)

The 2014 experience made me realize I needed to do some research. Off to Pinterest I went. Then I ordered the 2015 Unofficial Guide to WDW. I was immersing myself in Disney. From this research I realized the next big decision would be making our dining reservations. I found several sources for crowd calendars online including here on The Dis. As I thought about picking the restaurants for my ADRs I knew from last time that it would be important to choose which park I would be in each day first. After experiencing the transportation and park hopping to get away from crowds I knew it would be easier to first select a good park based on crowd calendars then select a dining location. So I looked at several crowd calendars and decided where I wanted to be on what day. When we watched the Disney programs on television we learned about MNSSHP and agreed we had to experience this. With MNSSHP as part of our plans I had to consider this as well. Would I spend all day in the MK or would I travel to another park? We are doing MNSSHP on Halloween (EEEEK!) and the crowd calendars indicated Animal Kingdom might be a good choice on that day. Also considering AK is an early closing park it just made sense in my mind to do AK before the Halloween party.

My first days were falling into place. So after deciding how to handle the Halloween party it seemed like days for other parks fell into place. After deciding which park to go to on each day (roughly, we added park hopper so we might hop a little too) I needed to decide where and when we wanted to eat. Top priority for me since I have such fond magical memories from childhood was going back to Cinderella's Royal Table and taking my sweet daughter. Second priority was Be Our Guest. I read amazing things and DD loves the Beast. I read the Unofficial Guide and many things on Pinterest and here on The Dis to make my other selections. From our last experience I knew that DD (read all of us) would benefit greatly from a midday break. She isn't much of a napper anymore but I think to get away from the hustle and bustle of the parks midday will be nice. I also considered that DD's everyday schedule allows her to have rest time after lunch at preschool. So I decided doing lunch at a TS and then returning to our hotel afterwards for a midday break would be a good strategy. That is what I have planned for most days since we are staying at POFQ and the travel won't be as big of a hassle as staying off property.

I also knew we wanted to see Fantasmic and getting a Fantasmic Dining Reservation is the most strategic way to get a good seat for that show so I considered that before making reservations. I first chose Mama Melrose for an early dinner because I thought it would be different from some of the other regular park food. I actually just changed that after the fact to a lunch at Hollywood and Vine to knock out the Disney Jr characters and get the Fantasmic pass. I also read that getting a late dinner reservation and staying to watch Illuminations can be a good strategy for experiencing that show so we chose La Hacienda de San Angel. To make my other selections I looked at places I thought would be fun for our DD. So I added Tusker House and Chef Mickey's to the list.

Buuut could I get CRT and BOG? I got up at 5:00 a.m. on May 3 to find out! I drank coffee and ate a granola bar to be on top of my game before 6:00 a.m. My hands were sweaty and my heart was pounding. I tried BOG first because I had read it was the hardest to get. YES! Then CRT. YES AGAIN! I got all of our first choices. I felt so accomplished.

So we have ADRs for:
Tusker House
Be Our Guest
La Hacienda de San Angel
Hollywood & Vine
Chef Mickeys

Whew hurdle number one cleared! This is super fun and I can't get enough of anything and everything Disney. Only 120 days to go!

 

[ember303]

Wait I see you are going the end of October. We have stayed at French Quarter, and it is amazing! : )

 

[CardDisMom]

Oh great I've heard so many wonderful things. I'm really looking forward to the experience. I hope you get your dates soon!

 

[ember303]

I am sure we will : ) Either way I am fine with whatever dates, and just thankful that he getting this chance.