Our First WDW Trip as Parents! December 2012 PTR - 12/19 TR LINK!

[Dugette]

I think others covered answers pretty well, but I'll just throw in my two cents where I can, in case it helps:

1) Child swap: I know we all have to go up as a family together to show that we have a baby in order to do the swap, but what if it is a FP attraction? Do we still get FP's and go to the CM at the front of the FP line or can we not use FP's if we want to use the Child Swap? Just want to make sure we do this correctly.

I have not done this, but my understanding is that you actually have a FP advantage by doing child swap. You only need one FP, that person goes up to use it and asks for a child swap. The second person goes through the FP line with just the child swap, no FP needed. So, the advantage is you could grab, for example, one FP for BTMRR and one for Splash at the same time and do child swap to both use the FP line. Again, I have not done this, but this is what I believe is the case from what I've read on these boards. Somebody correct me if I'm wrong on this, please!

3) Shipping: Still thinking about shipping water and possibly diapers to AKV. I was going to order two cases of water but then got to thinking, will this be a lot of work for Bell Services to take that extra case whenever we switch resorts, since we may not be opening the extra case until the middle of the trip?

I don't know anything about shipping because we always take advantage of the free ice water available in the parks (at any food place that has fountain drinks).

4) Switching resorts: We pack up all our stuff and call Bell Services to come up to our room while we're still there, so they can send it to BWV correct? And luggage doesn't arrive right away right?

We've transfered several times and I think it's always been slightly different. Call the desk and find out what they want you to do (or ask when you check in). Sometimes, we've been instructed to leave the luggage in the room when we go, sometimes to wait for them to come. Either way, we've never had a problem. I believe there is a delay, but I don't know how much, as we just go straight to a park and don't get to the new resort until later in the day (and luggage is waiting at bell services or possibly in room, depending on resort).

5) Deluxe Dining Plan: When we switch over to BWV, we'll be on the Deluxe Dining Plan. Does this mean the morning that we check into BWV, we'll have to be there in the morning to have our dining credits added to cards to use for lunch that day?

I believe so.

 

[Leshaface]

Answers in Red. I love that first picture! So cute!!!

Jill in CO

Thank you Jill! This is very helpful

I don't have all your answers but for #3 we packed an extra bag with just water and diapers and then we had room for shopping and souvenirs on the way back.

We're bringing an extra bag too but not filling it up on the way over because of baggage fees. But on our flight home we're flying Southwest so the fee is waived and we'll use that bag for souvies!

Hi!! I've missed you and most of your pregnancy...so sorry!! Calvin is so cute!!

All your before induction questions--you should have pm'd me.

Suggestion for breastfeeding and surviving Calvin's first flight. Let him be a little hungry and then begin to nurse as the plane backs away from the gait and you taxi so that he is nursing while you get to cruising altitude. As he swallows, he will adjust the pressure in his ears and be more comfortable and he will get less air at breast than a bottle. Also more comfort as he does something new.

I will be in Orlando on Friday Dec 14. We are cruising Saturday on the Fantasy.

Hope you have a great trip. I am here now. Let Calvin's first Disney trip begin!!

Oh man! I was totally thinking about PM'ing you too, but didn't think you were getting on as much.

Thank you for your tip. That's exactly what i'll be doing. He tends to eat quicker on my breast than on the bottle, so i'm hoping we won't be taxing for too long, otherwise he'll be done.

So wait, you're there right now, then you'll be leaving for the cruise on the 14th?! Wow what a trip!

I think others covered answers pretty well, but I'll just throw in my two cents where I can, in case it helps:


I have not done this, but my understanding is that you actually have a FP advantage by doing child swap. You only need one FP, that person goes up to use it and asks for a child swap. The second person goes through the FP line with just the child swap, no FP needed. So, the advantage is you could grab, for example, one FP for BTMRR and one for Splash at the same time and do child swap to both use the FP line. Again, I have not done this, but this is what I believe is the case from what I've read on these boards. Somebody correct me if I'm wrong on this, please!


I don't know anything about shipping because we always take advantage of the free ice water available in the parks (at any food place that has fountain drinks).


We've transfered several times and I think it's always been slightly different. Call the desk and find out what they want you to do (or ask when you check in). Sometimes, we've been instructed to leave the luggage in the room when we go, sometimes to wait for them to come. Either way, we've never had a problem. I believe there is a delay, but I don't know how much, as we just go straight to a park and don't get to the new resort until later in the day (and luggage is waiting at bell services or possibly in room, depending on resort).


I believe so.

Thanks Dugette for your answers as well! The more answers the better. I don't think i've ever asked for free water at quick services before. Do you have to eat at one of them in order to get it, or can I just walk into one and ask for a cup of water?

 

[Leshaface]

Well, 8 days till we leave for LA and 9 till the World, but since Friday is the 'official' start of the trip, we'll say 8 days

Today I placed an order for 2 cases of water and some diapers to be delivered to Kidani. It says it will be there by Dec 6, a few days before our trip, so I hope this works and I hope I filled out the information correctly.

I checked in online yesterday and today for the first two reservations of our trip. I couldn't make any special requests for the first reservation for some reason (maybe there are no options for the 1 bedroom standard view at AKV), but I was able to choose between a Sunset View or Pembe View for the second reservation. So I made a request for the Sunset View. We'll see if that goes through.

Question: What do you guys think will be the easiest way to get from AKV to BWV to check in? Should we take a bus to AK, then transfer to a BW bus?

I'll be starting to lay out Calvin's clothes for the trip and need to go buy some more pants since he always seems to poop through his diaper.

Hey! For some reason I thought that the 1 bedrooms at BWV had two bathrooms?? Guess not!

I took Calvin to his Dr appointment yesterday for some immunizations and he did really good, surprisingly. I also told her that we would be flying soon and I was nervous to see what she would say about it, and she was very cool about him flying, which made me happy! She also gave me some tips when we're on the plane and said this would be the easiest flight for us and him compared to later on.

Now to get more things situated: adding deluxe dining! Totally forgot about it!

 

[disneybarbie]

Hi Lesha,

I am so jealous your trip is so soon!

it's probably fine to get the bus to AK then onto BWV (I'm guessing you'll have no luggage with you?).. however it could take quite a while... in October we did AKL to DTD then to BWV and it took us almost an hour!
A taxi would be the quickest, I guess it would cost about $10?


Emma x

 

[jedijill]

Yay! It's getting close!

I agree with the PP about taking a taxi...much easier and faster.

Jill in CO

 

[mnrhannah07]

I'm so excited your trip is so close!!
About the popping through the diaper...are the flaps in or out on the back of his diaper? Also, you may want to try a different brand of diapers...our ds would always pee or poop through his pampers so we switched him to luvs at 3 months and never tried a different brand till the day he was potty trained!! Lol good luck!!

Sent from my iPad using DISBoards

 

[LuvEeyore]

What was I thinking?!? My brain is at WDW but I have til Dec 13 befre I leave. We will only be in orlando for a few hours on Dec 14.

 

[Dugette]

I don't think i've ever asked for free water at quick services before. Do you have to eat at one of them in order to get it, or can I just walk into one and ask for a cup of water?

We've done it many times. You don't need to order anything else, you can just ask for a cup of water. And they will do it at any place with a soda dispenser. I remember going to a little refreshment stand thing in Epcot and getting water without a line. Also, the water tastes good, unlike the drinking fountain water, which I can't stand. Looks like you ordered some water already, but this could be a good back-up.

Question: What do you guys think will be the easiest way to get from AKV to BWV to check in? Should we take a bus to AK, then transfer to a BW bus?

I agree with the other posters...you can do this, but taxi is faster.

I took Calvin to his Dr appointment yesterday for some immunizations and he did really good, surprisingly.

That's funny, Dug Baby had her immunizations yesterday too! Also did well. Cried for about 20 seconds, then fine again. Just a bit sleepy afterwards.

I also told her that we would be flying soon and I was nervous to see what she would say about it, and she was very cool about him flying, which made me happy! She also gave me some tips when we're on the plane and said this would be the easiest flight for us and him compared to later on.

Someone in our local new parent group just flew from MN to Napa with her 2-month-old and said it went great and the white noise of the plane helps babies to sleep. Hope Calvin does well too!

 

[Leshaface]

I just BARELY added the deluxe dining plan today! Also, did the final check-in online for our last reservation, but DH is going to call in a few minutes to make specific requests. I thought I could do it for online check-in, but they don't really allow you to do it. For example, when I checked in to BWV, the only requests that I could make were for either 'ground floor' or 'near transportation'. So he's calling to see if we could be close to the lobby. Should we ask for a higher up floor? We have a garden or pool view room.

Also, guess what came in the mail?!?!

That's right! We got chosen to participate in Fastpass Plus! Plus, we're able to do both Magic Kingdom and DHS! I've been reading how some people can only choose one park between the two but we can do both!

If you don't know what this is, it's something that Disney is experimenting with, where you reserve time slots to get on certain attractions. Personally, I don't see this working for us in the future, but i'm definitely willing to give it a try!

So this is how it went:

The time frame allotted for us was for the 12-15th of December. We can only choose one park per day. After looking at our schedule, we decided that DHS would be best for Wednesday:

There were many options available for rides and shows, but we were only allowed to choose 3. The rides and attractions were split into 2 different groupings, so we had to pick 1 attraction from the first group, and 2 attractions from the second group. After you pick the 3 attractions, they give you 4 options for time slots. The above time slot is what worked for us best because of dining reservations.

And for Magic Kingdom we picked Friday:

For Magic Kingdom, there were two groups of rides and attractions and we were able to pick 2 from each group.

I could see this affecting touring plans because the order in which the rides were, changed for every option. So lets say we wanted to start the day off in Tomorrowland and you choose Space Mountain for FP+. You would have to find an option for Space Mountain in the morning, and even then, the times change for all options. So if Space Mountain was your first ride on the list, the time could start at 12:00pm. Hope this makes sense. They make all the options different times, assuming not everyone is showing up at park opening. I believe the option we chose (A) is for park opening. Then Option B time starts at 11am, Option C at 1 and Option D at 3. It's kind of like that. So you're almost forced to change any touring plans that you had already made up, to make it work for FP+.

Anyways, so we figured we would try it and see how it goes!

So my question for the day is, is there any type of request we should put it for AKV and BWV for rooms? We were thinking about asking for a room closer to the Jambo house walkway?? What do you guys suggest?

 

[heathsf]

I didn't know any of the answers to the questions you asked the other day, but it seems like other people did! And I was interested to learn from them

That's awesome that your trip is basically here! You're going to have such a great time. I can't wait to read all about it, especially your Fastpass+ experience!

 

[Leshaface]

I didn't know any of the answers to the questions you asked the other day, but it seems like other people did! And I was interested to learn from them

That's awesome that your trip is basically here! You're going to have such a great time. I can't wait to read all about it, especially your Fastpass+ experience!

Thanks Heather!

Glad to see you have a ticker for Disneyland up!! So you're pretty sure you'll be able to go for the day still??

 

[Pinkocto]

5 day dance!!!

I don't really know anything about Kidani. Not sure where the elevators in the parking garage puts you inside the resort but I'd think anywhere on that side would be closer to Jambo House. At Jambo there are some side doors near the buses so I'm thinking Kidani is similar. I'm even worse with BWV, know practically nothing about it.

 

[Dugette]

That's awesome that you get to try FastPass+! I hope it works well for you. I noticed some early reports over on the Theme Parks board yesterday about it from people who have already done it. Sounds interesting.

 

[heathsf]

Thanks Heather!

Glad to see you have a ticker for Disneyland up!! So you're pretty sure you'll be able to go for the day still??

Our plan for now is to rent a car at LAX (we should be landing on a Wed night), drive to Disneyland, stay at the Ramanda Maingate, and spend all of Thursday at Disneyland, then drive back to Universal City where the wedding is. It seems like it's going to happen, unless my friend makes some sort of wedding-related plans for Thursday or Thursday night, then we won't be able to do it. But for now, I think it's a go!

 

[Leshaface]

That's awesome that you get to try FastPass+! I hope it works well for you. I noticed some early reports over on the Theme Parks board yesterday about it from people who have already done it. Sounds interesting.

I've been reading about it over there too! Hopefully it does work well for us.

5 day dance!!!

I don't really know anything about Kidani. Not sure where the elevators in the parking garage puts you inside the resort but I'd think anywhere on that side would be closer to Jambo House. At Jambo there are some side doors near the buses so I'm thinking Kidani is similar. I'm even worse with BWV, know practically nothing about it.

No worries. Figured I would ask just in case.

Our plan for now is to rent a car at LAX (we should be landing on a Wed night), drive to Disneyland, stay at the Ramanda Maingate, and spend all of Thursday at Disneyland, then drive back to Universal City where the wedding is. It seems like it's going to happen, unless my friend makes some sort of wedding-related plans for Thursday or Thursday night, then we won't be able to do it. But for now, I think it's a go!

That's awesome! Even though it would only be for one day, I hope you'll do a TR for it.

 

[Leshaface]

Welp, we are soon approaching our date and we are super excited! So last night I mentioned to DH about taking a taxi from AKV to BWV. He suggested taking all of our luggage over ourselves instead of having Bell services do it, so we'll have our clothes that we'll need for Cali Grill that night (not sure if we leave AKV earlier, if we'll have our luggage earlier at BWV ). Figured we could ask the resort and see how long it will take if they took our luggage for us. Then he asked about taking Calvin in a taxi. Ohhhh yeaaaahhhh....forgot about him. We won't be taking a car seat, so he suggested if we do take the luggage, that my mom and I will take a taxi with the luggage and check in, while DH will take DS (wow, weird to say DS!) on the bus and meet up with us. If Bell Services says we will have our luggage within a reasonable time, we'll just have them take it, and we'll just all take the bus from AKV to AK to BWV. No sense, in just two of us taking a taxi if all of us can't take it.

And DH called yesterday to make the requests for the room. First he called AKV to ask for a room closer to the Jambo house/walkway. Then he called and asked about getting a room closer to the lobby at BWV. He also said we had a room reservation for either a garden view or pool view and asked what was better and the CM had suggested requesting a garden view, so that is what he did.

My mom is coming over on Tuesday or Wednesday to look at what we are doing, so unless she doesn't like the look of our schedule, this is what we can expect:


Friday, December 7, 2012
Stay at hotel for sleep and fly

Saturday, December 8, 2012
Leave LAX @ 7am United
Arrive in MCO @ 2:43 pm
Check in @ Kidani Village – 1 Bedroom Standard View
DINNER - Downtown Disney – EOS or WPE

Sunday, December 9, 2012 – quick service plan
Check out of 1 Bedroom, check into Kidani Village Studio Savannah view
Animal Kingdom
LUNCH – yak and yeti/flame tree bbq
Hollywood studios
DINNER – Starring Rolls or Pizza Planet
6:30/8PM Fantasmic
Osborne Lights ???

Monday, December 10, 2012
Epcot
LUNCH – kringla bakeri – (Norway –sandwiches and dessert)
Sunshine seasons – (EVERYTHING!)

Magic Kingdom
DINNER – Pecos Bill, Cosmic Rays
Wishes 8pm?

Tuesday, December 11, 2012
Magic Kingdom – 9am – 12pm
Resort hop
Lunch at Resort – Quick Service – Gaspirilla (GF), Captain Cooks (Poly)
Take mom back to resort – maybe have dinner at The Mara
MVMCP @ 7pm (can go in at 4pm) Will call tickets

Wednesday, December 12, 2012 - Deluxe Dining Plan in effect
Check out of AKV, Check into BWV (Resort will handle luggage)
Hollywood Studios
Lunch @ Sci-fi 11:45
Go back to hotel at 4:00 to change
Dinner @ Cali Grill 5:50pm

Thursday, December 13, 2012
Epcot
Lunch @ Via Napoli 11:30
Dinner @ Yachtsman 6:45pm
Illuminations @ 9:30pm

Friday, December 14, 2012
Magic Kingdom
Lunch @ Grand Floridian Cafe @ 11:45am
Dinner @ Artist Point @ 6:20pm
Open for the night/Boardwalk? Illuminations if didn’t catch on Wed or Thurs

Saturday, December 15, 2012
Epcot or DHS
Flight on SWA @ 4:45pm


What do you folks think?

4 days!

 

[Linda67]

Ooh just stumbled accross your PTR

I love your TRs so I am really looking forward to this one

Right, I'm off to have a read through everything now

 

[Dream426]

Wow this trip came so fast. Enjoy!!! I can't wait to read all about it.

 

[Pinkocto]

As long as your schedule doesn't change Sunday night would probably be the easiest to meet. We'll be at HS as well

 

[Leshaface]

Ooh just stumbled accross your PTR

I love your TRs so I am really looking forward to this one

Right, I'm off to have a read through everything now

Linda hi!!

Look at all the fabulous trips you'll be taking soon, how awesome!

Welcome aboard!

Wow this trip came so fast. Enjoy!!! I can't wait to read all about it.

Hi Gina! I know the pregnancy I think made it come even faster!

As long as your schedule doesn't change Sunday night would probably be the easiest to meet. We'll be at HS as well

That sounds good to me! We'll keep in touch then