Our First of Hopefully Many Disney Vacations

[jamieguffey]

So here goes my first attempt at a pre trip/trip report.

First the Cast
Jamie (me) I am the DH - 37 years old, I went to Disneyland when I was twelve and remember it slightly.
Corry My DW - 35 years old, and the hardest working, best mom in the WORLD!
Noah DS - 4 Years Old and LOVES Fireworks.
Sophie DD - 3 Years Old. The Princess and she knows it!

The dates: 8/22/09 - 8/29/09

Location: Staying in All Star Movies (Preferred Room so hopefully we get Toy Story or Dalmations the kids will love the theme.)

The kids know nothing of the trip. First of all they have no concept of 73 days away and secondly we think it will be cool to wake them up early Saturday Morning and tell them we have a surprise. They will be going on a plane for the first time ever but they have been to the airport to see Mommy off several times. This time they are going with Mommy.

ASAP upon arrival we are going to MK if we can't check in when we arrive 10:10am we will drop our luggage and go. All we want to do on Saturday is ride Goofys Barnstormer. Noah will be over 44 inches and Sophie will be over 40 inches so I need to find out if the "roller coaster" type rides are an option. We will hang out back in toontown fair, fantasy land and tomorrow land until the parade then head back to ASMo to check in maybe take a dip in the pool get changed relax for a bit until time to go to Dinner at 7pm at Trails End. EDIT+ Originally I had hoped we would be able to see the fireworks after diner. Thanks to some advice and tips from you guys I started looking into things going on at FWR. The Chip and Dale Campfire sing along looks super fun for the kids. Not to mention the Electric Water Pageant comes by at 9:45pm that night. So that is the new plan. (Plus the guide book says they have a snack bar that sells beer). :beer:


Next Post: Sunday Hollywood Studios Breakfast with Leo and June!

 

[jamieguffey]

Well somehow I was lucky enough to schedule our first character meal in Hollywood Studios on a day that Fantasmic is showing. I was a Disney Virgin when I set that one up so it fell in our lap. The kids LOOOVE the Little Einstein's although Annie is Sophie's Favorite (Actually she could pass for Annie which is why I think she is her favorite)

Our must dos are
Toy Story Mania
Playhouse Disney
American Idol (Mommy and Daddy's Favorite)
Muppetvision
Beauty and the Beast
Fantasmic

Of course Daddy wants to do the Rocking Roller Coaster and Tower of Terror but I will be alone on those so if the opportunity presents itself so be it.

We will do the Stunt Shows

and Hopefully a lunch break but we want to be back in time for the Block Party Bash. With the CARS brand being so popular it surprises me that there isn't a something specifically playing on that but we won't miss Lightning and Mater.

Any other 3/4 appropriate stuff I am missing?

 

[jamieguffey]

Monday will be a sleep in day. We are going to Epcot. We have lunch scheduled for 1:30pm at Coral Reef we will get there early and the kids will have their First Timer Buttons on. Hopefully a table close to the aquarium will be available.

The main reason we are going to Epcot is because of Illuminations. Like I said Fireworks are a family favorite so the show is a must see for us.

Of course the must dos are Nemo and Turtle Talk. Soarin, and Honey I Shrunk the Audience are next up and If the Barnstormer thing goes over well we will try Test Track. When Daddy and the Kids go for a ride they really like it when Daddy goes "fast" around the curves so I think the will be up for it.

Any thoughts on Test Track and 3 and 4 year olds?

Also, are there any other can't miss attractions?

 

[jamieguffey]

Our first full day at MK. The must dos go without saying I think.
The idea is to go as hard as we can until we have all had enough and then head back to the ASMo for a break before dinner at Chef Mickey's 7:55pm.

 

[Grace and Mickey]

Good job on your 1st pretrip report
You are quickly learning all about the Dis.

What kind of Park tickets do you have? Are you able to Hop from Park to Park?

You might think of getting the kids some kind of autograph book, The characters will make a big deal of siging them.

I like Spaceship earth ride in EPCOT .And Soarin

If you can make Rope drop for one Morning in MK DO IT!!!!

It One of the most magic moments at WDW for me.

Have a good day

i

 

[jamieguffey]

Donald's Safari Breakfast at 8:10am. I know an early breakfast after a late dinner. It scares me too. The good news is AK is the park with the least must dos for us. Kilamanjaro and Kali River mainly. The plan is to try some of the other "scary" attractions earlier in the week before we decide on Bug and Dinosaur. Noah will be big enough to ride Everest but we will see how he does on the other "roller coaster" type rides before we plan on that.

We don't have a dark problem, or a bug problem or a loud noises issue so they might be okay. However, not being afraid of the dark at bed time and not being afraid of a dark loud scary movie aren't the same thing. Any thougths on a 3/4 year old in either of these rides.

Of course a lot of Zoo Treking will be done but being from Cincinnati we have one of the best Zoos in the country so it is not desperately important.


Park Closes at 7pm so we might just make a short night of it. It will have been a long day.

 

[dd50]

Great idea to not tell the kids. They will ask you every day if today is it. With kids that young you just have to go slow and enjoy yourself. As far as certain rides you may want to try it first to see if you think they will handle it. All kids are different.

 

[cmysprkles911]

Hi there!!!

Your trip plans sound great so far. Just wanted to give you a heads up on Toy Story Mania.. This ride is great but the line is always long and fast passes get taken very fast! Try to get to this ride asap!!

 

[jamieguffey]

Good job on your 1st pretrip report
If you can make Rope drop for one Morning in MK DO IT!!!!

It One of the most magic moments at WDW for me.

Have a good day

i

We are going to Mk on Thursday. We are going to make rope drop that day (plus it is an EMH day as well. )

 

[jamieguffey]

Great idea to not tell the kids. They will ask you every day if today is it. With kids that young you just have to go slow and enjoy yourself. As far as certain rides you may want to try it first to see if you think they will handle it. All kids are different.

The kids have gone to the airport several times to see mommy off on business trips. The plan is to pretend this is what is happening this time but once we get there tell them they are going also.

The only problem with that is...next time mommy goes away on business is going to be trouble!

 

[jamieguffey]

Hi there!!!

Your trip plans sound great so far. Just wanted to give you a heads up on Toy Story Mania.. This ride is great but the line is always long and fast passes get taken very fast! Try to get to this ride asap!!

We have breakfast before the park opens and as soon as we get done we are heading straight there. We will get the fast pass and if the standby line is manageable we will get in line and use the fastpass later.

 

[jamieguffey]

We are going to MK that day. MK Has EMH so we will be there for rope drop at 8am sharp. We have dinner scheduled at the Crystal Palace at 4:50. After that we might just call it a day. It will have been a long day during a long week. Head back to ASMo and swim. If we feel up to it we might head to the beach to watch wishes.

 

[jamieguffey]

Our last full day

We are for sure going to Downtown Disney in the morning we are scheduled for lunch at the T REX. Besides fireworks Dinosaurs are tops on Noahs list. We are going to try to do Characters in Flight after lunch.

We may head to a park after that or just hangout downtown. We have a park pass left. We got a seven day base ticket so the difference between 6 and 7 days was just a couple of dollars so if we end up not being up for the parks it will not be a big waste of money.

Later that night we are going to the GF for Cinderella's Happily Ever After Dinner. After that down to the beach for the fireworks.

 

[jamieguffey]

Hopefully they will let us check out late that day. Then it is to the airport and home!

 

[cmysprkles911]

T-Rex is awesome!! There is so much to look at and the food is good! Your son will love it!! Have you thought about a trip to the Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique for your princess?

 

[jamieguffey]

T-Rex is awesome!! There is so much to look at and the food is good! Your son will love it!! Have you thought about a trip to the Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique for your princess?

She can barely sit still long enough to go potty. Let alone get a makeover.
We are planning on doing this next time.

 

[cmysprkles911]

She can barely sit still long enough to go potty. Let alone get a makeover.
We are planning on doing this next time.

Thats super funny! They are going to have a blast!!

 

[donna in Oz]

Donald's Safari Breakfast at 8:10am. I know an early breakfast after a late dinner. It scares me too. The good news is AK is the park with the least must dos for us. Kilamanjaro and Kali River mainly. The plan is to try some of the other "scary" attractions earlier in the week before we decide on Bug and Dinosaur. Noah will be big enough to ride Everest but we will see how he does on the other "roller coaster" type rides before we plan on that.

Be sure to consider the Legend of the Lion King ....... they allow small children to sit in the front rows, and pick four at random (one from each section) to "help" !

Plus, it really is a not-to-be-missed show; it's air conditioned, and gets you off your feet for awhile.

 

[Stormhawk]

Sounds like you and DW put together a "magical" family surprise! We're going to be there the 23rd - 31st and I think a couple of our park days may overlap, so if you see a tween princess (9 going on 29...) leading around one tall and one short guy wave

 

[moparop]

Hi there! Great start to the PTR! My kiddos are almost 5 and 3 and did WDW twice last year so I consider myself somethign of an expert on this group.

My 5 year old (who was then 3) LOVED Soarin and Test Track, they were his favorite rides and talked about them nonstop. Of course, he hated Barnstormer. We took my younger son on Barnstormer too... he cried the entire ride and tried to get off and get into Daddy's lap halfway through. I felt so awful! My normal biggest piece of advice is to have the kids watch the rides on YouTube, but since you are doing a surprise trip - it's not really an option for you.

When planning for Magic Kingdom, I tried not to pack more than two lands in in a day. There are many rides that I found my kids wanted to ride every day. While 4 rides on "It's a Small World" can get annoying, watching them cheer is worth it! Another favorite that they still talk about from there is Mickey's Philharmagic. We still watch this regularly on YouTube, just to be in the moment.

At Epcot, the kids loved all of Future World, even Innoventions. I was surprised how into Living with the Land they got and of course were THRILLED by the Nemo attractions. We spent an hour each trip in the Imaginations Pavilion playing with the various games inside. In the World Showcase, they loved collecting the medals from the KidCot stations as well as riding the Mexico and Norway boat rides.

Hollywood Studios is a tough park for kids. A lot of the huge attractions have taller height requirements which means a lot of waiting or skipping for the kiddos. But, my kids do love the Meet n Greets there - Incredibles, Up cast (both at the end of the animation tour SHORTCUT: you can go into the Animations gift shop and walk through the back door into the meet n greet area), Lightning and Mater, etc.

At Animal Kingdom, they both were enthralled by the shows. They still talk about the Festival of the Lion King and Nemo. And, I think those are my two favorite shows at Disney as well! While we love the Cincy Zoo and are members, you MUST do the Safari. The other things there, I agree, are pretty hit or miss -- but the Safari ROCKS! We've never tried Dinosaur but I am not a big fan of jarring rides like that. No advice on Bug's Life either but I know a lot of people take their preschool crew to it and do great!

What time is your flight home at? We have really enjoyed going to Magic Kingdom on that last day and letting it be total kids' pick, even if it meant zig-zagging across the park. They love having control of that day and it gives us one more glimpse of the castle before we leave. I have not had good luck getting a late checkout, but they are happy to keep all your stuff at guest services while you enjoy the day. Of course the pool is always an option too!

Are you bringing a stroller? Planning daily breaks? Ok.. I think I have rambled enough. Happy planning! I'll keep checking in to see how things are coming!