Only 615 Days and Counting!!! ***UPDATE 6-21*** complete! New PTR added

[MeeskaMomma]

I disappear for a while and you up and move you trip! Plans look great so dark. I so want to do AKL some day!

Love the pictures too! The cardinals game looked fun!

 

[Jackiemarie21]

So I thought I would share some of my random thoughts about our upcoming trip:

Parks

I am not totally sure what parks we will be hitting up. We will have 2 day tickets, no hopper and tickets to MNSSHP. We want to be sure to spend some time enjoying the resort and relaxing, this will not be a gogogo type trip. I know one of the park days will be spent at MK so we have to choose between the other three parks for the other day. After our last trip there we so many things we missed at each park, so this is a tough decision. DH's favorite park is EPCOT which gets his vote. I like going to EPCOT, but I feel like we spend a lot of time there on our last trip, so I would rather give another park some time.

On our last trip we all developed a new found affection for AK. We used to just feel so/so about it but, last time we enjoyed it a lot, especially DD. There are still so many areas that we have not seen. Not to mention the fact that we have never seen the Lion King, or Nemo shows. When I said I was thinking we might skip EPCOT this time, DH said his vote was to go to AK, but it is my gift so I can do what ever I want.

Which leads me to HS. For some reason I just LOVE this park! DH can not understand why I love it so much. I may have mentioned this before, but when I went to WDW for the first time HS was our first park, it just says you are here in Disneyworld to me! There is so much we didn't do here last time, I really want to give it another shot. But AK has so much more to offer a 3 year old!

AHHHHHH! I just don't know, I am having a serious mental argument with myself. Then, there is the fact that we are staying at AKL. Since we are so close to AK does it make more sense to go there? OR since we will see animals and get the AK feel from our resort does it make more sense to go to HS? I'm torn!

Okay on to the next thing I am obsessing over:

ADRs:
This time I keep going back and forth on what we want to do. I kind of want to try something new, but we will only have 4 TS credits to work with so this is also hard! I know we will for sure try out Boma. I never really thought about this one, but it looks great and located inside our resort makes the location perfect! We may also do a breakfast there, the breakfast menu also looks very good. I am pretty sure we will do 'Ohana again. We really love the food and it will give us a chance to check on the construction on our beloved Poly. So we have those two. But here is what I keep going back and forth on BOG, CRT, LTT, CP, 1900PF and CM. We had a wonderful experience at BoG and DD still loves the Beast so much, but do we really want to do it again? Not sure. If you read my TR you would notice I said I didn't want to do CRT again until DD was much older, but that castle just calls my name every time I am in Disney, I kinda want to do it again. Then there is LTT, we had lunch there last time and it was great, I am totally considering this one for dinner this time. CP I really want to try and do breakfast here, but DH says no pre park opening breakfasts this time and if you don't do it before the park opens, then whats the point? I also keep thinking about 1900PF dinner. It looks like lots of fun. I would love to meet some different characters, but I am not sure about DD and the face characters, last time she was not a fan. And of course there is Chef Mickey's, we really liked it last time and its a great way to meet the fab 5! So I am really torn. If we go to EPCOT I would like to do GG again, it was fantastic last time and totally something I want to do again. If we go to HS, I would consider H&V, DD really enjoys Doc and Sofia so I think she would like this one. If we go to AK I don't think we will do a TS there. Last time we enjoyed Y&Y, but I am not sure I want to use one of our TS credits there.
I am also fairly certain we will be doing QS the night of MNSSHP. I don't really want to waste party time doing a TS dinner.

And my final random thought of the day:

Costumes
I really like the idea of a family themed costume for MNSSHP. DH said " I have not shame, I am totally fine with what ever you want me to wear." Of course DD will change her mind a million times between now and Sept. about what costume she wants, right now she just wants to be a princess. The other thing is (and this is so silly) I do want to be a villain. It seems like all the other female characters in the princess movies are the bad guys. So here are some ideas that I have had:
Peter Pan: DH-Peter DD-Tinkerbell Me-Wendy Of course I will not make DH wear tights or anything... shorts or pants to go with a peter style shirt. Tink is not exactly a princess, but I think DD will be find with that, and I won't have to be a villain!

Wrek it Ralph: DH- Ralph DD- Vanleope Me- Felix This one would be fairly easy to get together and DH LOVES the idea of being Ralph for some reason. DD may not want to be Vanleope, but she can be a princess another day of our trip, and Mamma's happy because she isn't a bad guy.

Beauty and the beast: DH-beast (I would make him a shirt to kind of look like the beast-very simple and not too hot) DD-yellow gown belle Me- provincial Belle. Would it be weird if DD and I were two different versions of the same character? Maybe its kind of selfish, but I kind of want to be a girly girl costume too.

Toy Story: DH-Woody, DD- Jessie, Me-Bo Peep or Mrs Potato Head.

Mickey Mouse Clubhouse: DH-Goofy, DD- Minnie, Me- Daisy I think this one would be pretty easy to do as well and so classic!

Of course we could do Frozen Anna, Elsa and Olaf.

So many ideas, just not sure which one is best yet...

If you made it this far thank you for sticking with my random thoughts. DH doesn't really want to talk about it much until things are closer and more certain. So, I have to go somewhere with all my thoughts! Please feel free to weigh in on any of these topics!

 

[AprilRenee]

So I thought I would share some of my random thoughts about our upcoming trip:
Parks I am not totally sure what parks we will be hitting up. We will have 2 day tickets, no hopper and tickets to MNSSHP. We want to be sure to spend some time enjoying the resort and relaxing, this will not be a gogogo type trip. I know one of the park days will be spent at MK so we have to choose between the other three parks for the other day. After our last trip there we so many things we missed at each park, so this is a tough decision. DH's favorite park is EPCOT which gets his vote. I like going to EPCOT, but I feel like we spend a lot of time there on our last trip, so I would rather give another park some time. On our last trip we all developed a new found affection for AK. We used to just feel so/so about it but, last time we enjoyed it a lot, especially DD. There are still so many areas that we have not seen. Not to mention the fact that we have never seen the Lion King, or Nemo shows. When I said I was thinking we might skip EPCOT this time, DH said his vote was to go to AK, but it is my gift so I can do what ever I want. Which leads me to HS. For some reason I just LOVE this park! DH can not understand why I love it so much. I may have mentioned this before, but when I went to WDW for the first time HS was our first park, it just says you are here in Disneyworld to me! There is so much we didn't do here last time, I really want to give it another shot. But AK has so much more to offer a 3 year old! AHHHHHH! I just don't know, I am having a serious mental argument with myself. Then, there is the fact that we are staying at AKL. Since we are so close to AK does it make more sense to go there? OR since we will see animals and get the AK feel from our resort does it make more sense to go to HS? I'm torn! Okay on to the next thing I am obsessing over:

I vote HS. You got all excited about it just now while typing that but seemed a little bummed when you went back to "but AK is better for a 3 yr old" this is your gift trip. Do the park YOU love (but you know I'm kinda biased against AK. Lol. If I had to cut something AK would be the first to go)

ADRs: This time I keep going back and forth on what we want to do. I kind of want to try something new, but we will only have 4 TS credits to work with so this is also hard! I know we will for sure try out Boma. I never really thought about this one, but it looks great and located inside our resort makes the location perfect! We may also do a breakfast there, the breakfast menu also looks very good. I am pretty sure we will do 'Ohana again. We really love the food and it will give us a chance to check on the construction on our beloved Poly. So we have those two. But here is what I keep going back and forth on BOG, CRT, LTT, CP, 1900PF and CM. We had a wonderful experience at BoG and DD still loves the Beast so much, but do we really want to do it again? Not sure. If you read my TR you would notice I said I didn't want to do CRT again until DD was much older, but that castle just calls my name every time I am in Disney, I kinda want to do it again. Then there is LTT, we had lunch there last time and it was great, I am totally considering this one for dinner this time. CP I really want to try and do breakfast here, but DH says no pre park opening breakfasts this time and if you don't do it before the park opens, then whats the point? I also keep thinking about 1900PF dinner. It looks like lots of fun. I would love to meet some different characters, but I am not sure about DD and the face characters, last time she was not a fan. And of course there is Chef Mickey's, we really liked it last time and its a great way to meet the fab 5! So I am really torn. If we go to EPCOT I would like to do GG again, it was fantastic last time and totally something I want to do again. If we go to HS, I would consider H&V, DD really enjoys Doc and Sofia so I think she would like this one. If we go to AK I don't think we will do a TS there. Last time we enjoyed Y&Y, but I am not sure I want to use one of our TS credits there. I am also fairly certain we will be doing QS the night of MNSSHP. I don't really want to waste party time doing a TS dinner.

Hard choices!! I always love to try new places on my trips cause where else can you get such cool options?! So maybe go for 1900PF. Charlotte will be older and might have a better grasp on the whole face character thing. If you get there and she is still freaked out by them you could always change!
I hear ya on having to limit it to 4 meals! Our trip is 5 (maybe 6 if I can convince Andrew to extend it) and I'm having such pains narrowing things down!!
Also, boma is amazing!! We did dinner there last trip and we loved it so much it's on our must do again list for this trip!! It was so fun to be adventurous and try all that new food. I was nervous about it but decided to try it cause if nothing else I could eat from the kid buffet. Heck no!! We went thru the line and tried every single thing. No idea what any of it was but it was all yummy!!!
Also I just watched the food tv special about Disney world and Sanna looked pretty yummy too!

And my final random thought of the day: Costumes I really like the idea of a family themed costume for MNSSHP. DH said " I have not shame, I am totally fine with what ever you want me to wear." Of course DD will change her mind a million times between now and Sept. about what costume she wants, right now she just wants to be a princess. The other thing is (and this is so silly) I do want to be a villain. It seems like all the other female characters in the princess movies are the bad guys. So here are some ideas that I have had: Peter Pan: DH-Peter DD-Tinkerbell Me-Wendy Of course I will not make DH wear tights or anything... shorts or pants to go with a peter style shirt. Tink is not exactly a princess, but I think DD will be find with that, and I won't have to be a villain! Wrek it Ralph: DH- Ralph DD- Vanleope Me- Felix This one would be fairly easy to get together and DH LOVES the idea of being Ralph for some reason. DD may not want to be Vanleope, but she can be a princess another day of our trip, and Mamma's happy because she isn't a bad guy. Beauty and the beast: DH-beast (I would make him a shirt to kind of look like the beast-very simple and not too hot) DD-yellow gown belle Me- provincial Belle. Would it be weird if DD and I were two different versions of the same character? Maybe its kind of selfish, but I kind of want to be a girly girl costume too. Toy Story: DH-Woody, DD- Jessie, Me-Bo Peep or Mrs Potato Head. Mickey Mouse Clubhouse: DH-Goofy, DD- Minnie, Me- Daisy I think this one would be pretty easy to do as well and so classic! Of course we could do Frozen Anna, Elsa and Olaf. So many ideas, just not sure which one is best yet... If you made it this far thank you for sticking with my random thoughts. DH doesn't really want to talk about it much until things are closer and more certain. So, I have to go somewhere with all my thoughts! Please feel free to weigh in on any of these topics!

FROZEN!!!

And I don't think it's selfish for you to want to be girly too!
I take it she wouldn't go for being Pascal? I have a dream of being rapunzel and Andrew is Flynn and Caden is pascal! How cute would that be?? Lol
Or you could be a grown up princess and she could be the child version!
Mickey Minnie and daisy would be adorable too!

Too many choices!! Lol

 

[LB1122]

Caught up and super excited for you. How fun to go form almost 2 years to only a couple more months of waiting....very very fun

I have to say you made a great choice. I took my daughter the MNSSHP and it was such a blast. Everyone had on fun costumes and the lines were super short most of the night. Just way to much excitement, plus princess meet with there princesses...one of the only times of year you can meet Flynn Rider (even if that make no sense as he was just as much a part of the movie as Rapunzel)

You can even trick or treat around the park and the parade is so so so fun.

Love your costume ideas... no matter what it is so fun to be dressed up that night. Adults can not do that any other time of the year at Dis. How exciting. Following along.

 

[Denovagirl]

Wow! AKL! That's awesome! I need to call tomorrow and see if maybe just maybe I have a PIN code! Keep your fingers crossed I do too!! I would love 25% off a mod! That would completely make my decision for me!!

I'm so glad you chose Sept & MNSSHP!!! I think it will be sooo fun!! You have to plan COSTUMES!!! Have you started thinking of ideas yet?????!!!

I was looking at the crowd calendar for Sept 30-Oct 8th (my hopeful dates) and the crowds were 1's 2's and 3's and then like on our verrrry last day a 5! So I was floored!! Late August last year had us about 5/6's and it was great then, so I can't even imagine!!!! I am soooo excited for fall!! I simply CAN NOT WAIT for the official schedules to get released for Sept/Oct! I am dying to plan more!!! I have been going off touringplans.com predicted schedules and I hope they turn out to be the same!!

Have you already been thinking about all your ADR's are you going to do any or just counter service the entire time? If so what are your faves?? You need to do a post on that soon so we can discuss!!!!

Eeeeeep! I am getting excited just talking about this!

 

[Jackiemarie21]

I disappear for a while and you up and move you trip! Plans look great so dark. I so want to do AKL some day!

Love the pictures too! The cardinals game looked fun!

I know things move fast around here huh? I think my DH got the idea from your DH. When I was reading about your mother's day gift last year I told DH about it! So thank you for that.

 

[Jackiemarie21]

I vote HS. You got all excited about it just now while typing that but seemed a little bummed when you went back to "but AK is better for a 3 yr old" this is your gift trip. Do the park YOU love (but you know I'm kinda biased against AK. Lol. If I had to cut something AK would be the first to go)


Hard choices!! I always love to try new places on my trips cause where else can you get such cool options?! So maybe go for 1900PF. Charlotte will be older and might have a better grasp on the whole face character thing. If you get there and she is still freaked out by them you could always change!
I hear ya on having to limit it to 4 meals! Our trip is 5 (maybe 6 if I can convince Andrew to extend it) and I'm having such pains narrowing things down!!
Also, boma is amazing!! We did dinner there last trip and we loved it so much it's on our must do again list for this trip!! It was so fun to be adventurous and try all that new food. I was nervous about it but decided to try it cause if nothing else I could eat from the kid buffet. Heck no!! We went thru the line and tried every single thing. No idea what any of it was but it was all yummy!!!
Also I just watched the food tv special about Disney world and Sanna looked pretty yummy too!



FROZEN!!!

And I don't think it's selfish for you to want to be girly too!
I take it she wouldn't go for being Pascal? I have a dream of being rapunzel and Andrew is Flynn and Caden is pascal! How cute would that be?? Lol
Or you could be a grown up princess and she could be the child version!
Mickey Minnie and daisy would be adorable too!

Too many choices!! Lol

Thank you! I am really so torn on everything! I don't know how I am going to make all my final choices!

I am so excited about Boma it looks so good and gets great reviews! I was just looking at the Sanaa menu the other day. All of a sudden it keeps popping up on a bunch of TRs it looks good too. Ahhh... I just don't know!

I wish we could do Rapunzel, Flynn and Pascal. That is a super cute idea. Sadly Charlotte is a bit obsessed with "Punzle" I made her a Rapunzel dress up for Christmas and she wears it a few times a week. I think she would be a little sad to be Pascal. Caden would make a super cute Pascal I think you guys should totally do that! I am so obsessed about our costumes. Right now I am thinking Mickey Minnie, Daisy or Frozen.

 

[STLMickeyMom]

so many decisions! I think we're going to do the same thing with 2 day tickets when we go too. I was thinking about doing park hoppers this time to try to fit in one more park, but I really don't want to pay for the hoppers....sigh.

have you heard this? we've never done a party before and i'm planning on doing MNSSHP this trip. I was reading on easywdw (? I think? I've been on so many sites, I'm getting confused) and it said this....you don't need a park hopper if you're doing a party. go to whatever park that morning using your park ticket for that day. then go to magic kingdom about 4 with your party ticket. apparently, even though the party doesn't start until 7, they start letting people with party tickets in about 4. the party lasts until 1, so if you get there at 4 and stay until whenever, you can do rides and the party and didn't have to use get a park hopper to get into two parks in one day. I am confused by this. I thought you had to have park admission/ticket for the party in addition to the party ticket, but that sounds like the party ticket IS your park admission? I just want to make sure I understand this because if that's true, I won't do park hoppers this trip either.

anyway, my problem is also deciding what parks to go to. if we can only do 2, I think we'll do epcot and mk. i'd like to try to do some of the stuff we missed at epcot like see anna and elsa and do pick a pearl. of course we can't miss mk. if we can do another park the morning of the party, I would also go to Hollywood again because we missed so much there again too. I like ak, but I wouldn't be so sad to miss that one this trip.

I want to do costumes too! and I so don't blame you for wanting to do a girly one. where else can you get away with going all princessy for the night? I haven't given it much thought yet though, but I think all your ideas are good ones. I also don't think it'd be weird if you did belle in her blue dress and charlotte was belle in her yellow dress.

and i'm not help with ADRs either--the only thing I know we're doing is hoop de doo. i'm just not much help this update, am I?!?

 

[Jackiemarie21]

Caught up and super excited for you. How fun to go form almost 2 years to only a couple more months of waiting....very very fun

I have to say you made a great choice. I took my daughter the MNSSHP and it was such a blast. Everyone had on fun costumes and the lines were super short most of the night. Just way to much excitement, plus princess meet with there princesses...one of the only times of year you can meet Flynn Rider (even if that make no sense as he was just as much a part of the movie as Rapunzel)

You can even trick or treat around the park and the parade is so so so fun.

Love your costume ideas... no matter what it is so fun to be dressed up that night. Adults can not do that any other time of the year at Dis. How exciting. Following along.

Welcome!

I am so happy to having your reading along!
I am super excited about the MNSSHP! I was really torn between Halloween and Christmas, but I think I made the right choice. It looks like lots of fun. I am really excited about a family costume. Even DH is on board.

We are really excited about meeting Flynn. Last time DD HATED the face characters so we really did not see many. We skipped Ariel and Rapunzel. Since we have been home Charlotte has become interested in the princesses. She really loves Rapunzel and Flynn so I am hoping she will like meeting them!

 

[Jackiemarie21]

Wow! AKL! That's awesome! I need to call tomorrow and see if maybe just maybe I have a PIN code! Keep your fingers crossed I do too!! I would love 25% off a mod! That would completely make my decision for me!!

I'm so glad you chose Sept & MNSSHP!!! I think it will be sooo fun!! You have to plan COSTUMES!!! Have you started thinking of ideas yet?????!!!

I was looking at the crowd calendar for Sept 30-Oct 8th (my hopeful dates) and the crowds were 1's 2's and 3's and then like on our verrrry last day a 5! So I was floored!! Late August last year had us about 5/6's and it was great then, so I can't even imagine!!!! I am soooo excited for fall!! I simply CAN NOT WAIT for the official schedules to get released for Sept/Oct! I am dying to plan more!!! I have been going off touringplans.com predicted schedules and I hope they turn out to be the same!!

Have you already been thinking about all your ADR's are you going to do any or just counter service the entire time? If so what are your faves?? You need to do a post on that soon so we can discuss!!!!

Eeeeeep! I am getting excited just talking about this!

Glad to have you along!
I really hope you have a PIN. I think its a pretty good one. It made AKL a little cheaper than POR at rack rate. For some reason I really wanted to stay there this time. I have never considered it before, but I just really wanted to stay there all of a sudden!

Costumes! I want to dress up so bad and DH is totally okay with it! I have so many ideas, but I am having trouble really deciding. I asked Charlotte what she wants to be for Halloween and she just said a princess. Luckily I think I have one more year before she has a defiant opinion on her costume so I plan to take full advantage. My hang up is that I really want to be girly girl costume too and it seems like so many of the other female characters in princess movies are villains and I don't want to do that. So far I am thinking Beauty and the beast with DH as a the beast me as blue dress belle and DD as yellow dress belle. Or Frozen with me and DD Anna and Elsa and DH Olaf. So we will see.

Don't even get me started on ADR's I am one big ball of confusion on those too! I have two months to decide what I am going to do there, its coming up fast!

I am so super excited about Halloween at Disney! I am excited you get to go to! How awesome we get to plan together this time!

 

[Jackiemarie21]

so many decisions! I think we're going to do the same thing with 2 day tickets when we go too. I was thinking about doing park hoppers this time to try to fit in one more park, but I really don't want to pay for the hoppers....sigh.

have you heard this? we've never done a party before and i'm planning on doing MNSSHP this trip. I was reading on easywdw (? I think? I've been on so many sites, I'm getting confused) and it said this....you don't need a park hopper if you're doing a party. go to whatever park that morning using your park ticket for that day. then go to magic kingdom about 4 with your party ticket. apparently, even though the party doesn't start until 7, they start letting people with party tickets in about 4. the party lasts until 1, so if you get there at 4 and stay until whenever, you can do rides and the party and didn't have to use get a park hopper to get into two parks in one day. I am confused by this. I thought you had to have park admission/ticket for the party in addition to the party ticket, but that sounds like the party ticket IS your park admission? I just want to make sure I understand this because if that's true, I won't do park hoppers this trip either.

anyway, my problem is also deciding what parks to go to. if we can only do 2, I think we'll do epcot and mk. i'd like to try to do some of the stuff we missed at epcot like see anna and elsa and do pick a pearl. of course we can't miss mk. if we can do another park the morning of the party, I would also go to Hollywood again because we missed so much there again too. I like ak, but I wouldn't be so sad to miss that one this trip.

I want to do costumes too! and I so don't blame you for wanting to do a girly one. where else can you get away with going all princessy for the night? I haven't given it much thought yet though, but I think all your ideas are good ones. I also don't think it'd be weird if you did belle in her blue dress and charlotte was belle in her yellow dress.

and i'm not help with ADRs either--the only thing I know we're doing is hoop de doo. i'm just not much help this update, am I?!?

This is so exciting we get to plan the same kind of trip at the same time! I felt like we had plenty of EPCOT time last time and wished we had more time at HS and AK after our last trip so its really between those two for us. My plan for right now (which may change) is to hang around the resort on arrival day, day 2 go to AK or HS, day 3 MK all day and day 4 resort during the morning/day and MNSSHP that night.
I understood the party thing the same way you did so we were not planning on using a ticket that day just our party ticket. I want to be good and rested for the party as I would really like to stay until the very end of the party if possible. I also want to get there as close to four as we can.

I am really excited about the costumes! I just have to decide what we are going to do. I am going to have to start sewing early to get this all accomplished!

You will LOVE the HDDMR, it was one of our best experiences last time. We will defiantly do it on our next big trip!
This is so fun!

 

[anniebabymu]

So I thought I would share some of my random thoughts about our upcoming trip:

Parks
Which leads me to HS. For some reason I just LOVE this park! DH can not understand why I love it so much. I may have mentioned this before, but when I went to WDW for the first time HS was our first park, it just says you are here in Disneyworld to me! There is so much we didn't do here last time, I really want to give it another shot. But AK has so much more to offer a 3 year old!

My vote is for Hollywood Studios! You love it and it's your trip! And I think with staying at AKL, Charlotte will get to see the animals a lot... especially if you're going to devote time to exploring your resort! Just my 2 cents

ADRs:
This time I keep going back and forth on what we want to do. I kind of want to try something new, but we will only have 4 TS credits to work with so this is also hard! I know we will for sure try out Boma. I never really thought about this one, but it looks great and located inside our resort makes the location perfect! We may also do a breakfast there, the breakfast menu also looks very good. I am pretty sure we will do 'Ohana again. We really love the food and it will give us a chance to check on the construction on our beloved Poly. So we have those two. But here is what I keep going back and forth on BOG, CRT, LTT, CP, 1900PF and CM. We had a wonderful experience at BoG and DD still loves the Beast so much, but do we really want to do it again? Not sure. If you read my TR you would notice I said I didn't want to do CRT again until DD was much older, but that castle just calls my name every time I am in Disney, I kinda want to do it again. Then there is LTT, we had lunch there last time and it was great, I am totally considering this one for dinner this time. CP I really want to try and do breakfast here, but DH says no pre park opening breakfasts this time and if you don't do it before the park opens, then whats the point? I also keep thinking about 1900PF dinner. It looks like lots of fun. I would love to meet some different characters, but I am not sure about DD and the face characters, last time she was not a fan. And of course there is Chef Mickey's, we really liked it last time and its a great way to meet the fab 5! So I am really torn. If we go to EPCOT I would like to do GG again, it was fantastic last time and totally something I want to do again. If we go to HS, I would consider H&V, DD really enjoys Doc and Sofia so I think she would like this one. If we go to AK I don't think we will do a TS there. Last time we enjoyed Y&Y, but I am not sure I want to use one of our TS credits there.
I am also fairly certain we will be doing QS the night of MNSSHP. I don't really want to waste party time doing a TS dinner.

With 4 credits I don't know what I'd do either I do have to say though... if Charlottle is a Disney Jr. lover, you can't go wrong with H&V breakfast! Especially now with Doc and Sofia! Our last trip it was our most favorite character meal by far!! We had the best interaction with the characters and service there. We left in a fantastic mood! She would love it!

As far as the other ones you listed... good luck. We've eaten at all of these and they were wonderful. Hard choice and I don't think I can be much of a help!

Costumes
I really like the idea of a family themed costume for MNSSHP. DH said " I have not shame, I am totally fine with what ever you want me to wear." Of course DD will change her mind a million times between now and Sept. about what costume she wants, right now she just wants to be a princess.

Oh my gosh... my vote is Anna, Elsa and Olaf!! Purely because I want to see your DH dressed as Olaf! Lol!! Love all of those options!!

Can't wait to hear what you decide on the costumes!!

 

[Jackiemarie21]

Can't wait to hear what you decide on the costumes!!

Oh my goodness! When ever I think I had made up my mind I change it! This indecision is killing me! I am pretty sure we will be Frozen, Beauty and the beast or Mickey and friends. So, I have it narrowed down to three ideas, thats pretty good, right?

I agree with you, we will get a taste of AK with the AKL so I am leaning towards HS right now. I am pretty sure we will do the Disney Jr. breakfast. We did it last time and charlotte loved it but now that Doc and Sofia have been added I am sure it will be even better!

 

[Denovagirl]

Oh my goodness! When ever I think I had made up my mind I change it! This indecision is killing me! I am pretty sure we will be Frozen, Beauty and the beast or Mickey and friends. So, I have it narrowed down to three ideas, thats pretty good, right? I agree with you, we will get a taste of AK with the AKL so I am leaning towards HS right now. I am pretty sure we will do the Disney Jr. breakfast. We did it last time and charlotte loved it but now that Doc and Sofia have been added I am sure it will be even better!

3 ideas = very good!! You still have plenty of time!

I agree with doing HS instead of AK! An we plan to do the Disney Junior breakfast this time too... Then we won't have to waste time waiting in line to see them! My kids LOVE Doc, Jake and Sofia!

 

[Jackiemarie21]

3 ideas = very good!! You still have plenty of time!

I agree with doing HS instead of AK! An we plan to do the Disney Junior breakfast this time too... Then we won't have to waste time waiting in line to see them! My kids LOVE Doc, Jake and Sofia!

Thanks, I will decide! I just have to have plenty of time to get the costumes completed.

I have just about settled on HS over AK. I think DD will flip over meeting Doc and Sofia!

 

[Denovagirl]

Thanks, I will decide! I just have to have plenty of time to get the costumes completed.

I have just about settled on HS over AK. I think DD will flip over meeting Doc and Sofia!

Yea, I LOVE all the DIs Junior stuff there!! I thought the DJ show was fantastic too! My girls danced and jumped the WHOLE time!! They loved when things rained down from the ceiling on them too!! I think that's a great park for the littles because of the DJ stuff they have, plus the whole Toy Story area was a big hit for both girls, and surprisingly Maddie loved Fantasmic as well!!! I think this time we might try to do either Little Mermaid or Beauty & Beast show, maybe both if time permits...we are only doing 1 day in HS so we have to cram as much in as we can!! Also Olivia loved the Honey I Shrunk the Kids playground, so I know we will have to stop there. But I actually found it to be the perfect full park day! Last time we did SO MUCH and had the perfect amount of time from open-close to do it all. Hope we have that luck again!

 

[Jackiemarie21]

Its a beautiful snowy day here in STL again! I just love it when the snow is falling, so peaceful and pretty. But this cold wintery weather has me thinking about our Sept. trip!

I think I have made some headway with some of the things I was having trouble deciding on.
Parks:
We have decided to to MK and HS as our two parks. I think DH was a little disappointed. HS is his least favorite park. He like ECPOT, AK, MK and HS in that order. He said this is your trip do what makes you happiest. So that is what I am doing. His main concern is that I build in time to rest and I have done that so he is fine. He loves TSM and got the WII game for Christmas and is excited to see his score after some practice. He is also excited that we can FP+ the ride and not have to worry about the time we get to the park.

ADRS:
We are going to do a few OOP meals. I feel the TS meal really enhance your vacation and for us they are worth it. So here are the ADRS I will be aiming for:
Day 1:
Boma dinner

Day 2:
H&V late breakfast or early lunch, whats better here? We were just so/so about the breakfast last time, but with the addition of Doc and Sofia it is well worth the cost of an OOP meal there.

Sci-Fi Drive In: This is another one we will pay OOP for. I really want to try this one out. I know it gets sort of so/so reviews but I have always wanted to try it. According to Allears.net it is not too expensive.

Day 3:
CRT late Breakfast, last time I left there thinking Charlotte was just too young and didn't appreciate the experience. I still feel that way, she is. But I am not! I love eating there and it just screams MK to me! So I want to go there. I am a little concerned that DD will be spoiled by another experience there and not understand how truly special it is. But going to Disney World twice in 14 months is going to do that anyway... so oh well!

BoG dinner. I went back and forth on this one since we booked the trip. We had a good experience there following a really awful one, and we liked the food, but it was not a standout food wise. Then the other day, DD was in the car and started talking about Mickey's House (what she calls WDW). She said if I am a very good girl can I eat dinner with the Beast again? Um, how can I say no to that? Plus I have leverage for the next seven months. (If you don't put your shoes on you can't have dinner with the beast!) So, I will be getting up at 5 am at 180 days out and making that stinking ADR!

Day 4:
Boma late breakfast. The breakfast looks so good there and a little different form ordinary breakfast buffets so I want to try it out. I also thought it would be a good way to have a restful start to our day.
That evening we are doing MNSSHP and will just have a QS dinner because I want to spend every minute at the party. We may never get to go back to the party again so I want to make the most of it.

You may have noticed we cut out our favorite 'Ohana. This will be our first trip not eating here. We love it! This trip however is so short and we really do not want to spend time away from the parks or exploring our resort to go to another resort TS. So we will skip it this time to try new things!

Costumes:
I still have not made an official decision on this but DH and DD are really pulling for Frozen. DD thinks it would be funny to see her Daddy as Olaf and she wants to be a princess (not sure why DH loves this idea so much, but he does). She doesn't care which one. We have pre-ordered the DVD and once she sees the movie a few more times I am sure she will have a more defiant opinion. If I have my way she will be Elsa and I will be Anna but we will see. Beauty and the beast with two versions of Belle and DH as the beast is still in the running as an idea as well as Mickey, Minnie and Daisy, but Frozen is the clear front runner at this point. We still have time I know but I am a planner.

Other news trip news:
Getting there:
We have decided to fly, I was so set on driving and when we were going in May and DH was not working the day we were leaving and the day after we returned home it was a great idea. Now that DH will be working until 3:00 the day we leave and heading to work the day after we get home it makes more sense to fly. We are also cutting out the major trip we had been saving for (the July 2015 one) so coming up with the funds for airfare was not a problem. I discussed with DH about Southwest card, but he hates credit cards and said he would rather just pay for the plane tickets. We all hate flying but I think this would be the best option for this trip. The way this trip was shaping up driving would not have been the adventure I wanted it to be anyway. We would have been trying to get there as fast as possible rather than taking the time to enjoy the ride. This development has changed something else. We have decided to fly to Orlando on Friday night rather than Saturday. I hate how travel eats into your day so I was thinking if we fly into Orlando Friday night we would have a full day on Saturday. We were planning to leave on Friday night when we were driving so that part doesn't really change. Now, when we arrive we will need a place to stay. We considered three options:
Option 1: The hotel inside of MCO. It looks nice enough and it would be pretty cool to stay inside of the airport. We could wake up the next morning and catch the ME to AKL. But, after looking at prices it was more expensive than a value hotel at WDW. So, the next option is...

Option 2: Get a one night reservation at a value. I am desperate to check out AoA so we may do that one. The only thing that stinks is that we most likely won't get there until late that night and I know I will be anxious to get to AKL. So. there won't really be much time to look around. But I would really like to see it. I have never done a split stay before so this makes me a little nervous. However, moving resorts will still give us more time than we would have if we drove in that day.

Option 3: Add on an extra night at AKL. This is the most expensive option. DH is not really keen on this idea, he would rather save money on this night and stay at a value. I kind of like the idea of already being at our resort when we arrive, I guess we will see who wins! This little detail doesn't need to be sorted out for a while.


Photopass/Memory Maker:
DH hates getting the PPCD, he thinks I spend too much time trying to get as many pictures as I can. At first he said no way to preorder the CD. And I agreed a short trip really did not warrant a CD pre-order. But, when we decided to MNSSHP I think I would rather get the CD. There are some magic shots I would like to try and get at the party. Plus, if we are going to be dressed in costumes I take many hours to make I am going to want some good pics of all of us. Now I am debating between the regular PP cd and the MM. Last time we had the PP+ but we did almost all the meals that had photos included and we did a few rides. I felt like we really got our moneys worth from it. I just don't know this time. I know I will get one or the other. But which one is still up in the air.

So that is where I am with planning. Lots of ideas still swirling around for us, but slowly but surely I am solidifying our plans.

We were supposed to have a movie night this past weekend but, my brother made a last minute visit from Denver so we ended up spending time with him rather than a movie night. We have another one coming up soon! So we have that to look forward to as well!

 

[Denovagirl]

Yay for new plans!!

How funny! We are doing H&V and Sci Fi on our HS day too!

Flying does suck but you'll be there sooo fast! So that's a plus!

About the one night hotel conundrum, that is a doozy. Stinks you can leave any earlier and get a couple hours to enjoy AoA more! But even if you get there by 9-10pm, you'll probably have lots of energy bc you just got to Disney! So you could still spend an hour walking around and taking photos and then maybe do a quick 30 min in the pool! You won't get too worn out for rope drop the next day. Lots of people will still be swimming and stuff at that time!

You could also book you and the DD for an earlier flight and go to AoA and have the DH fly separate. I know that sucks, but some people don't mind that sorta thing!

Love the Frozen costume idea too! I hear Anna and Elsa are getting a float in the new Festival of Fantasy parade! Hope that's true! So you can see them in MK!

 

[STLMickeyMom]

snow day for us--no work or school! more time for the DIS!

I like your choices of park days! I am torn between epcot and HS too. right now my plan is epcot the first day, but I keep thinking about changing to HS. my main issue is wanting to do stuff at both of those parks but not wanting to pay for park hoppers. it's hard to plan a short trip!

sci fi is so fun! you'll love it. I don't remember being super impressed with the food, not bad, but nothing stood out. the movie clips and sitting in the cars were fun and the girls loved it.

we tossed around the frozen idea too because rich wanted to be olaf. maddie would be elsa, Hannah would be anna, and I was going to be sven! we did all get excited about that idea too. it still sounds like a good idea.... I can't wait to see what you come up with!

I can understand wanting to drive, but for a short trip, flying will save some time. here's my two cents on the hotel issue--i'd just get another night at AKL. it's more expensive, but when you weigh the cost of that night against the time spent checking in/out of a different hotel, getting to AKL the next day, checking in again and getting to your room again....to me, it's more "worth it" to just get where you're going and be there. just my opinion...

oh, photopass....I was so bummed at the lack of photographers on our last trip, but I want to do magic shots and get some group pictures. I know we can ask people/CMs to take pictures with our camera, but it's just so much easier to have them do it. I guess i'm pretty much resigned to just ordering memory maker for this trip....what's another $150, right?

 

[Denovagirl]

oh, photopass....I was so bummed at the lack of photographers on our last trip, but I want to do magic shots and get some group pictures. I know we can ask people/CMs to take pictures with our camera, but it's just so much easier to have them do it. I guess i'm pretty much resigned to just ordering memory maker for this trip....what's another $150, right?

You know it was weird... on our last trip some parks had TONS of photogs...some had like none! Epcot, for one, had hardly any! We literally have like 2 photos from that day! I didn't see a single one in the WS!! And none by SSE in the morning! I was super bummed. Also HS we really didn't see any except the ones with the character M&G areas... I didn't even get a photo with the sorcerer hat! But AK & MK we have tons of photos! This time I will be seeking them out, I am paying for it, so I want my photos! LoL!

And I agree, another $150 on top...lol... I am glad that you can just add it on your package through Disney now though. It makes it so much easier to just bulk it in with everything else!!