Our Daughter's Second Disney Trip Will Be Before Her First Birthday!?! - Mar 2011 PTR

[PirateKate]

I love the Flower and Garden Festival! It's so beautiful and I bet you will get some really pretty pictures of Lucy there.

Very sneaky to cancel the mail while you were away. I don't think I'd be able to keep it a secret that long.

 

[ChildAtHeart82]

I love the Flower and Garden Festival! It's so beautiful and I bet you will get some really pretty pictures of Lucy there.

Very sneaky to cancel the mail while you were away. I don't think I'd be able to keep it a secret that long.

I'm looking forward to Flower and Garden and DW would be if she knew we were going. I've come close to just telling her several times. I only have to keep quiet for another week!

 

[ChildAtHeart82]

Thinking it over, I realized that I didn't really have much for our to-do list for Hollywood Studios. So, I thought I would do Hollywood Studios and Animal Kingdom in one post. I'll start with Hollywood Studios.

Must-Do
Butterfinger Cupcake
Great Movie Ride
Muppetvision 3-D

Nice To Do
Toy Story Mania
Rock N Roller Coaster
Tower of Terror
Beauty and the Beast
Fantasmic

Like I said, there's not a whole lot for us to do here this trip. We did everything during our December trip. We like Toy Story and if we can ride it without taking part in the morning stampede will. Otherwise, we'll ride it next trip. Now, for Animal Kingdom.

Must-Do
Festival of the Lion King
Kilimanjaro Safari

Nice To Do
Expedition Everest
Finding Nemo
Discovery Island Trails
Dinosaur
It's Tough to Be a Bug

I'm really not a fan of Finding Nemo, but DW likes it and we didn't go to it during our December trip. If we can make it, we will. Still, we both like Lion King a lot more.

That just leaves one more park (or pair of parks) to plan. 14 days!!

 

[Colleen27]

I can believe you have been able to keep the secret this long. I'd have blown it for sure!

Karamel Kuche is on our must-do list too. I saw a chocolate caramel on a dining review thread that looked just heavenly.

for two weeks to go! We're almost there!

 

[PirateKate]

I love the Butterfinger cupcake! That's one thing we missed getting last time. Maybe next time.

Festival of the Lion King will be fun. I think it's better than Finding Nemo. Are you going to sit in the front so Lucy can be in the show at the end?

 

[ChildAtHeart82]

I can believe you have been able to keep the secret this long. I'd have blown it for sure!

Karamel Kuche is on our must-do list too. I saw a chocolate caramel on a dining review thread that looked just heavenly.

for two weeks to go! We're almost there!

I'm really looking forward to telling DW so that I have someone to talk to about our trip. Almost there!

I love the Butterfinger cupcake! That's one thing we missed getting last time. Maybe next time.

Festival of the Lion King will be fun. I think it's better than Finding Nemo. Are you going to sit in the front so Lucy can be in the show at the end?

We might sit in the front, but I think Lucy may be a bit young still to participate. She does make a good lion sound, though.

 

[ChildAtHeart82]

Okay, so I need to vent a little bit. Anyone planning a trip in March knows that Disney recently extended a lot of the park hours. Magic Kingdom is now opening at 8:00AM the morning we have our Crystal Palace ADR. There are still a few days when MK opens at 9:00, but this close to our trip there aren't any openings.

I would give up the ADR since we get so much done during the first hour at a park, but DW has said several times since our last trip that she would love a character breakfast with Pooh and Friends. I'm pretty sure she doesn't know about Crystal Palace. I'm going to keep looking for before opening Crystal Palace ADR on other mornings, but I'm not too hopeful. We'll go to our original ADR and I know we'll really enjoy it. After breakfast, we'll see as much as we can that day. We have at least one free day in our schedule to come back to Magic Kingdom if we don't see everything our first day.

Alright. Vent over. As far as hiccups in planning go, this is a pretty small one. We will just have to wait until another trip to have a before opening ADR.

 

[PirateKate]

Opening ADRs are probably overrated anyway. Crystal Palace will be fun, no matter when you go. Just think of all the cute pictures you'll get of Lucy hanging out with Pooh and Tigger.

 

[ChildAtHeart82]

Opening ADRs are probably overrated anyway. Crystal Palace will be fun, no matter when you go. Just think of all the cute pictures you'll get of Lucy hanging out with Pooh and Tigger.

Thanks for the encouragement! I know we'll have a good time and DW will enjoy it too since her favorite character is Eeyore.

 

[ChildAtHeart82]

Well, it's done and I no longer have to keep the secret. I am so happy about that! DW's birthday isn't until tomorrow, but I ended up giving her gifts to her yesterday since part of her gift was money for clothes shopping. Looking at the forecast, yesterday was a much better day to go shopping than today or tomorrow. Today's weather confirms my decision. It's been snowing since early this morning and the wind picked up this afternoon. Sunny Orlando is sounding very good right now.

DW's initial reaction was a little anticlimactic. She was very excited about the money for clothes and when she opened the surprise about Disney her response was "Oh, are we going to Disney World?" She has gradually gotten more excited since then. I think it took awhile to really sink in.

In other news, we did online check-in yesterday snd called today to add our room request. We requested a refurbed room, preferably in building 4. We'll be thrilled with whatever room we get, but it would really be nice to have a new room and a queen bed.

So, to round out my park planning I need to figure out to do lists for "the other parks" since we are spending a day over at Universal. Here are the lists.

Must Do
Wizarding World of Harry Potter (specifics below)
Forbidden Journey (probably more than once)
Butterbeer
Dragon Challenge
Honeydukes
Zonko's

Nice To Do
Jurassic Park River Adventure
Incredible Hulk
Spider Man
The Simpsons Ride
Hollywood Rip Ride Rockit

As you can see, Harry Potter is the goal for our day and anything else we do while there is a bonus. I'd like to try some of the other rides since I haven't been to IoA before and since they've added a few rides to Universal since I went last. Still, just like our Disney time I want to avoid too much of me leaving DW and DD to go ride thrill rides without them and Lucy won't really be able to ride a whole lot. If lines are short, I'll probably get to try a lot of thrill rides and maybe even convince DW to ride some. If not, we'll explore and still enjoy ourselves.

DW has been busy trying to think of all the things she needs to do before our trip. Most of the time, I get to happily tell her that I've taken care of it. We've still got a lot of laundry to do. We both bought some new clothes for the trip. We've also got at least one more trip to Target in order to get basic travel items and of course we need to pack.

Single digits today!!

 

[TinkerbellLuvr7]

Yay so close now!!! I posted on POFQ board but figured I would post it here. I asked if you added a room request to your ressie online when you checked in but what you just wrote, you said you called which is what I did!

I asked for building 6. We only have standard booked and I know 4 is very close and didn't know if 4 had standard rooms but we'll see what happens!

 

[amazingact21]

I just saw your ptr link in your signature when you commented on my post. I know it's pretty late to jump in, but I figured I could catch the tail end of your planning, at least.

Sounds like this trip is going to be really relaxed for you guys compared to your December trip. I'm sure it'll be fun to take things at a nice, slow pace and just enjoy the scenery. Sometimes, the best memories occur when you're just strolling around and not worrying about rushing every which way.

 

[PirateKate]

I bet it's nice to not have to keep it a secret anymore!

 

[ChildAtHeart82]

We leave tomorrow!!! We are all packed except for a few small things and our dog is at the doggie resort. I thought we were in for a relaxed evening, but our to-do list seems to have exploded. I'm off to do some last minute preparation.

Yay so close now!!! I posted on POFQ board but figured I would post it here. I asked if you added a room request to your ressie online when you checked in but what you just wrote, you said you called which is what I did!

I asked for building 6. We only have standard booked and I know 4 is very close and didn't know if 4 had standard rooms but we'll see what happens!

Yeah I called, which you figured out already. I think there are standard rooms in building 4, but if not we're okay with any of the refurbed buildings. We were in building 7 for December and the walk wasn't far at all to the food court or bus stop.

I just saw your ptr link in your signature when you commented on my post. I know it's pretty late to jump in, but I figured I could catch the tail end of your planning, at least.

Sounds like this trip is going to be really relaxed for you guys compared to your December trip. I'm sure it'll be fun to take things at a nice, slow pace and just enjoy the scenery. Sometimes, the best memories occur when you're just strolling around and not worrying about rushing every which way.

Hi! We are attempting to tour at a more relaxed pace this time. Is it sad that I have to intentionaly plan to be more relaxed? I am still such a park commando at heart.

I bet it's nice to not have to keep it a secret anymore!

It was definitely nice to not have to keep quiet anymore. The anticipation leading up to Disney trips is so much more enjoyable when you have someone to share it with.

 

[PirateKate]

Have a great time!

 

[therussells08]

I'm sorry I've been away for so long, but I'm so excited that your trip is here! I am beyond amazed that you managed to keep that secret! You're awesome!

You are going to LOVE the WWoHP! It is great! My advice is get there as early as possible. The crowds are pretty intense. I can't wait to know what you think of butterbeer. I had the frozen kind and John and I agreed it's much better than the non-frozen, which he had.

Have a great trip! I can't wait to read all about it!