Our Much Needed Hakuna Matata Trip! 6/11 PTR

[shine87]

This is my first ever PTR!! I dont even know where to start!!!

Well I guess I'll start by introducing myself. You can call me shine, shine-dizzle,shiney hiney, whatever you want, if it has the word shine in it i've heard it. I'm the mother to one beautiful stubborn 4 year old little gir who i'll call tiana. This will be my 5th time to WDW and tiana's 2nd. I decided that we needed this trip because 2010 was so crazy for us. a short 2 months after i got laid off, dd's father left. He is still around but only when it's convenient for him. My wonderful dearest most amazing parents have really helped a ton. Right now we are living with them, and it makes it soo much easier on me because between both of my parents schedule's and mine, there is always someone there to take care of dd. Because of my AMAZING parents, I don't condider myself a single parent, we just have an unconventional family, and my daughter ends up with an unbelievable amount of love.

Yes I could be spending my money on a thousand other things like getting myself back on my feet, but I feel after all the ups and downs of the last year my daughter and I deserve to spend some time in such a magical place.

Soooo any way here we are:

This was on tiana's first trip, a year and a half later not much has changed exept she's shot up a good 5 inches lol

So with tax refund money in hand I decided to book us a trip when.....
My cousin, who happens to be one of my closest friends, decides she might want to take a trip too. I'll call her Linda So, naturally, we decided to take our trip together!
Now, Linda has gotten a ton of lip on her decision to only take her oldest of 3, Phineas. Her thinking is that she wanted him at 4 to get the most he can out of the trip with out his brother/sister who at 23 months/6 months won't even remember the experience.
Thats phineas with ferb and Linda in the background


ajz by shyflyzhy, on Flickr

So i guess that answers the who in my trip, me tiana, linda and phineas

ETA: we've added ferb! so now it's 5 of us crammed into a little value room!!!!!!! we're gonna be like sardines!!!!!!!


****I have no idea how to link the rest of my report so just scroll lol*******

 

[shine87]

OOhh i forgot sooo much stuff before a posted it!!

ok we decided to stay at ASMu the weeks of 6/5-6/11 we were originally planning to go on 6/6 but with the late spring 20% we got, and the fact that we decided on splitting a room (we aren't fussy people and i tend to wake up so early that the bathroom won't even be an issue) we ended up going an extra day.

I dont know how exactly we settled on ASMu. I think it's what popped up as a recomendation on the disney website and we never bothered to change it Its fine with me as its the only value i've never stayed at. When I eventually don't chicken out of going just me and dd I think we'll do CBR. But I'm terribly spacy and I don't wanna lose track of my own kid in disney world! Luckily for me she's a mommy's girl and never leaves my side other wise I would have lost her a long time ago

I'm a qs type of girl so I don't have any adr's. The closest I have to dinning plans is a part of my handy dandy notebook of which places accept the qsdp. I keep saying one day i'll go with adr's but in reality I lose track of time constently so we'd never make it.

We do have a plan of which parks we're going on which days but dc has them at her place. so i'll have to get them from her!

One thing we might make a reservation to is the wishes dessert party. I know we don't have a lot of time to make up our minds but we keep going back and forth on this one, any opinions?

 

[KELLY]

I'm in. Great start to your report. I have never stayed at ASMU but we were thinking of staying there for a suite. But there is only 4 of us so it seems a waste at this point. We are going back to pop.

 

[KELLY]

Oh yeah we are on the QSDP also. We had it last year free so we added it again. We do have 2 ard's Normway princess and Tusker house Breakfest but we are going for 10 days.

 

[shine87]

thanks for joining in!! I didnt think anyone would!

 

[shine87]

So the Last trip i took to the world was a huge waste. It was the first trip that I was in charge of and I didnt realize how much you missed without a plan. I didnt want to go full commando however since me and dd were not the only ones going. So a few days after booking my trip I convinced dc that we needed some sort of plan. And so our co-planning disaster began..........

Planning Day One: It all started out ok. A loose plan of what parks we would go to and when we we're going to take breaks. Not much of a plan but it was a start, and we both agreed to tweak the plan at a later time after all we still had four months to go....

And in the meantime work, school, and everything you can possibly think of has gotten in the way.

AND THEN dc lost her only copy to of the keys to her car. (which two months later are still lost) She was convinced they were at my house (which they aren't i dont even care what she says!)

And Then I ask her "hey! can you send me the plan?!" Somehow she ended up with the only copy. "Well my s.o. threw it out thinking it wasnt important." Well I cant say I was disappointed. Those plans were barely plans. So I took this as an opportunity to start from scratch and REALLY plan.

And THEN She finally made it! we now have about a month and a half to go and we're finally making some real park decisions! Or so I thought. In my driveway is my aunts car ok that's fine I thought, since dc hasnt gotten another key made, its not out of the ordinary, but out of the car comes her son and daughter her nephew, and her mom. Thats fine I thought, her baby is sleeping, and the boys can go play on the swing set out back. Well. Nope. My aunt saw my old couches in my garage as we got new furniture over the winter, and our city doesnt collect furniture in the winter, "OH MY GOD its a good thing we came I just KNOW those keys are in one of these couches and you were going to throw them away!!!" Ok I know these keys are not in the couch but ok we'll look. So we spent about an hour moving chairs and couches around in my garage flipping them over cutting them apart and of course, no keys. So dc and I finally sit down. Open google documents (we decided it would be best if the plans were online, no tossing them and i can access them from my phone in wdw so we dont have to carry extra things) And my aunt tell dc she has to go Ok Ok ill be back tomorrow!

So at this point I decide I'm just gonna do a back up plan of sorts, just because I'm not sure this is actually gonna get done.

AND THEN Cut to this morning, I'm getting dd ready for school, not doing to much in particular when I get a call.
"I'm not gonna make it today." SO in my head its like of course."My apartment caught on fire last night" OH MY GOD. Luckily her 3 kids, herself, and so are perfectly ok, her fil, got a 2nd degree burn on his arm, but besides that is also ok.

So maybe planning together isnt in the cards for us. I know her top things to do and I'll make sure they're in the plans. If she still wants to be apart of the planning, and we have time, i'm more than willing to scrap it and start at the beginning, but i'm more determined then ever to make sure this trip is magical.

 

[Singledad]

ok we decided to stay at ASMu the weeks of 6/5-6/11
......
One thing we might make a reservation to is the wishes dessert party. I know we don't have a lot of time to make up our minds but we keep going back and forth on this one, any opinions?

You arrive the day we leave! Also, I am staying at ASMu at the start of our stay, and switching to CBR for the last two days! and I ALSO am a single parent to one kid (she turned 5 in march) and my mother and stepfather and us all live together!

Wow, we have a lot in common!

Also, I say, why NOT do a wishes dessert party? Be an awesome end of a day!

Is DC and nephew still going to make the trip, with the cost of starting over due to the fire? and, I know someone who is doing one child at a time trips to disney as well, so her just taking only the eldest isn't that odd. Some people just cannot afford airfare for the whole family at once, and it just makes more sense to make multiple smaller trips than attempt one larger one.

 

[shine87]

The first few days I didnt want to bring it up since I knew she had a lot more on her mind, after 3 or 4 days she sent me a message telling me her son had decided against tower of terror. I figure she needs an escape from reality at this point.

And as for only taking her oldest I dont think there is anything wrong with it either. But for some reason my aunt and my mom have it in their heads that its wrong to not take her other two kids one of which will only be 6 months old in june. Clearly the baby isnt missing out on anything lol.

But thanks to the wonder of the internet(facebook chat and google documents ftw) We have a plan!! We're still hatching things out but for the most part we're good i'll post those later today

 

[Singledad]

The first few days I didnt want to bring it up since I knew she had a lot more on her mind, after 3 or 4 days she sent me a message telling me her son had decided against tower of terror. I figure she needs an escape from reality at this point.

And as for only taking her oldest I dont think there is anything wrong with it either. But for some reason my aunt and my mom have it in their heads that its wrong to not take her other two kids one of which will only be 6 months old in june. Clearly the baby isnt missing out on anything lol.

But thanks to the wonder of the internet(facebook chat and google documents ftw) We have a plan!! We're still hatching things out but for the most part we're good i'll post those later today

yay for a basic plan!

 

[shine87]

And then I lost my job....... this better be the best trip I've ever taken.

 

[shine87]

Ok so a disney tradition in my family has always been chef mickeys. I've never done a trip without it and honostly I dont see why I should start now. Well when I told my dc about it, she wasnt thrilled since we got the qsdp and she doesnt want to pay for a meal oop. I tried explaining to her that either way we'll have to pay for something oop the day we're leaving since we're not leaving wdw till 3pm. She doesnt get it. At first I decided to let it go its not a big deal right? WRONG. It keeps getting to me. So a few weeks ago I decided I would book it anyway, even if I end up paying for dinner. I know it would be hard to get that adr 2 months out but I tried and tried and tried. So finally tonight I decided to look for only 2, me and dd. AND I FOUND ONE. I booked it. Then instantly felt bad. So I told her that I really wanted to do it. She said it wasnt fair to my dgs that dd got to do something special without him. I offered to look for something cool for her that night, but she started up with the well I dont really want to pay thing. I know I shouldnt feel bad since its kinda her fault I didnt book it right away. But I do. But part of me also knows that dd will need some mommy and me time since she's an only child and isnt used to having other kids around 24/7. I know I'm gonna have to put my foot down and fully intend to but that doesnt stop me from feeling a little guilty that dd gets to have dinner with pluto and dgs doesnt

 

[Singledad]

I'd keep checking to see if you can up that adr from 2 to 3, and make dc fend for herself. j/k but seriously, you can still see if you can up that adr to 4, and pay for all if it comes to that. OR put your foot down and say: You have stated many times you do not wish to pay for this, I am not obligated to pay for you or your child, and this is a family tradition. I tried to share it with you, but you decided the cost wasn't worth it. That was your choice not to join us.

In the end, remember that it isn't that the one girl 'misses out' but that your child doesn't miss out. It isn't fair to make your child miss out on something she is used to, just because your DC doesn't seem to have a clue about ADR's and money at disney.

 

[Singledad]

And then I lost my job....... this better be the best trip I've ever taken.

oh no!
Maybe apply at Disney World? They are having an online job fair...

http://wdwrecruiting.com/jobfair/

 

[shine87]

oh no!
Maybe apply at Disney World? They are having an online job fair...

http://wdwrecruiting.com/jobfair/

I did see that on facebook and thought it would be amazing to work there but unfortunately it would mean relocating not only myself which I dont mind but dd. and 7.55 an hour probably won't cut it while raising a family

 

[shine87]

AAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! OK Ok i'm a little excited get ready for this next post......

 

[shine87]

I found a Chef Mickey adr for all four of us!!!!! now I dont have to feel bad And its not at almost 8 pm which is also a bonus i'm so excited. So after a disney planning slumber party we have a plan as well. overall it was a good disney planning weekend

Sunday
magic kingdom
Chef mickey
back to magic kingdom

Monday
animal kingdom
dhs

Tuesday
magic kingdom
epcot

Wednesday
epcot

Thursdsay
animal kingdom
dhs

Friday(is gonna be a crazy day)
animal kingdom
dhs
magic kingdom

Saturday
open

thats the skeleton version of our plans. I'm pretty excited.

 

[Singledad]

wow, that seems like a lot of park hopping to me. But then again, i've never been much of a hopper. so happy you got chef mickeys for all of you!

 

[shine87]

yeah it does seem liike a lot but its the only way i know how to do disney lol, we are doing emh in the morning and evening most days so we'll go to rope drop come back for a nap then go to the next park.

 

[shine87]

And I have learned.......
No matter if you are saving 300 dollars, no matter how much you love your family, no matter how much you want your kids to spend time together, never, EVER, EVER, EVER share a room with someone. I can't blame anyone but myself though. Nope. If I just learned to keep my big mouth shut. This trip was for tiana and phineas to spend lots of time together since they don't see each other often. And yes, linda has all the right in the world to decide to bring ferb with her and only leave her daughter back at home. It would be cool and awesome because he's gonna love it. I would love it. BUUUTTT.........

all I can think of now is that there is gooing to be FIVE of us FIVE in a little value room. I've tried to tell her that the rooms are small but I dont think she realizes how small. And 5 of us showering in one shower when we're trying to do so much. and after I managed to get the adr for chef mickey's now we're 5 instead of 4.

This also means of course that we'll be doing a lot more separately. Tiana is always talking about going on roller coasters. She's tall enough to do btmr this year and most of the other "big kid" rides. phineas was also tall enough to try these rides, but clearly ferb won't be. either way i know it'll be fun but wow! 5 people!!!!

 

[shine87]

I keep meaning to post the pics of the countdown chain tiana and i made but I keep forgetting, i'm a bad little pre-trip reporter. Any way I decided one morning I wanted to draw mickey heads for our chain. I NEVER WANT TO DRAW A MICKEY HEAD AGAIN. but heres our chain:







It's clearly much longer but thats all I could get in the shot. Tiana loves pulling the links off every morning.I also have a packing list i'll try to put up but its on a different computer so I'll do that later.

Also since we added ferb we're probably going to swap our park days around a little just to make it easier with the double stroller and such.