Pins, spins & fins--A May 09 PTR

[maydislvr]

Hey fellow disers!!

I have been a major disboard lurker for several years but finally decided to take a stab at sharing about my upcoming Disney trip. I'm brand new to this whole posting thing and I haven't even figured out how to get a ticker going yet!! However, I am a veteran trip report reader. In fact, over the years a few dinners have gotten burned and several baskets of laundry have been ignored while I would catch up on the latest installlments of my favs!!! I LOVE Kathyrn, jaycns, tim&lesley, tiggerbell, pmama....and that's just to name a few. I have spent most of my time on the trip report boards and have certainly felt a connection to many of the reports. I've thought about it a lot and tried to figure out why I enjoy reading these things so much and I think it boils down to the fact that most of the people I read about REALLY love their family and Disney is the perfect place to go and enjoy spending time and makin memories with loved ones. Not to say there aren't ups and downs in every vacation but the place offers so many opportunities for crazy fun and the next minute major relaxation!!!

Anywho, let me do some introductions before I get started on how much I love going to Disney World (I could go on forever)...

ME--SAHM mother to two boys & married to my high school sweetie!! I was crazy in love with him as a teen and now I'm even more crazy about him!! I LOVE spending time with my family and am so thankful I can stay home and be with my boys!!! My whole life pretty much revolves around them and I'm not even going to make any excuses for it...it's what I love to do!!

DH--He is awesome!!! He's a great daddy and loves our annual trips to Disney as much as me. He's always looking for opportunities to make things easier for me and I know he always has my back!!!

DS1--6 years old and already a major Disney lover. He loves pirates, star wars, indiana jones....basically anything with some action. He loves to look at the park maps which just cracks me up because so do I!!! (His daddy things maps belong in the garbage...ugh!!). He is a sweetheart but the kid is such a picky eater...more on that later. This will be his 7th trip to the world.

DS2--just turned 3 years old and this kid is hilarious. He cracks me up all the time!!! He already LOVES Disney too and his favorites are Buzz & Cars. He is a little daredevil and definitely keeps up just fine with his older brother. This will be his 4th trip to Disney.

We are going to be staying at the Villas at Wilderness Lodge May 8-16 on points that we have rented from a DVC member. DH and I have been married for almost 14 years and honeymooned in Disney and have gone every May after that with the exception on 2 years (One time we were saving $ and one time I was having a baby!!!)

More details to follow....

 

[OhMari]

I didn't know there was DVC at the Wilderness Lodge.
What are the rooms like.

Thanks for coming out of lurkdom.

I wish I had a trip planned.

Saving money this year, blah!

 

[shordiebecka]

Welcome! Thanks for joining us!!! I'm excited for you, and let me tell you..i have told myself 10000 times that my dream job is to be a sahm and raise my kids...its a full time job being a mommy!! Can't wait to hear more!!

 

[maydislvr]

Guess I should explain my title.....

Friends and family always look at us a little crazy when we say we are going to Disney AGAIN. That's why I really love the disboard peeps because they understand that every Disney vacation is uniquely different while still guarenteeing the same fun. There is always something new to see or some undiscovered little nook or cranny. The great thing about going to Disney on a regular basis for me is that I don't feel the need to rush around and see or do it all on one trip. Every year we have different experiences and there is always something special that I remember about each one. Don't get me wrong, I am a good DISer and I have learned to make all my ADR's at 7am on the day my window opens and I have followed the advice of get to the parks early and do main stuff before parks get packed. This always works for us anyways because we are early risers. We always take a nice afternoon break with naps for kids and enjoy LOTS of resort time and then head back to the parks for dinner and more fun.

Anyways, every year there are certain things we haven't done before and that I make a priority for that visit. Would you believe I have never seen the afternoon MK parade...I know...the horror!!! (My kids have always been napping and before kids I was always lounging at pool with cocktails at this time) This year I am not coming home until I see it...I hope!!!
Soooo....the title spins, pins and fins has to do with three other priorities for the trip this year
SPINS: We have also never been on the teacups at MK. I still won't be doing it this year but I realized my boys would probably love it when they were on a spinning ride at a festival this past summer and they were laughing so hard. Ya know that laugh that is like music to your ears...pure joy!! So, DH is in charge of making sure there are some SPINS in the teacups
PINS: DS1 just started getting into the pins last year on our vacation. So, I am thinking that is going to be a lot of fun for him. He keeps looking at his pins on his lanyard and wearing it around the house. He has a modest start of like 6 pins or so but I have read on here somewhere that you can buy a bunch on ebay fairly cheap. I have to do some more research on this for him but this should be fun.
FINS: We have also never done Turtle Talk with Crush at Epcot. My DS2 loves Crush so this is another must do for us!!! Plus, I am hoping to spend so much time swimming at the resort pool that we maybe even grow some fins.

We've got a nice day here today (FINALLY) and my boys are begging to go outside so I'll be back with more......

 

[maydislvr]

Figuring out where to make all of our ADR's is always a major ordeal for me. I spend hours going over menus and trying to figure out what park we will be in that day. My strategy has kind of been to avoid the parks with the EMH because they seem to be busier to me on those days. Last year I made early dinner reservations (5:00 or so) and most days we felt like we were rushing out of the pool to get to dinner so one of my husband's few requests was to dine just a little bit later. We'll see how that works out because I liked getting in early before the restaurants would get too crowded. We are going to be on the regular dining plan (1snack, 1CS, 1TS) and I tried to get in our favorites and then mix in some we have never tried. We also want to squeeze in T-rex at DTD but I'm prett sure it's not on dining plan so that would have to be OOP. Maybe for lunch one day???

Here's what I have so far but I'm thinking of changing San Angel Inn because I hear so many mixed reviews and also I think we are dining there on the very last day it will be open before closing for renovations and that makes me nervous for some reason. I'm also not sure about Mama Melrose because reviews are mixed for that one also. But we'll be in Hollywood Studios that night and everything there seems to get mixed reviews so I don't know what to do about that one.

Fri 5/8 Ohana 6:00 (A favorite--great way to kick off the party!!)
Sat 5/9 San Angel Inn 6:30 (I'm thinking of changing to something else in
Epcot or Boardwalk area)
Sun 5/10 LeCellier 6:30 (A favorite)
Mon 5/11 Mama Melrose (I'm nervous.....)
Tues 5/12 WCC 7:30 (First time for dinner)
Wed 5/13 Kona 5:30 (A favorite)
Thur 5/14 Coral Reef 6:00 (First time...DH can't wait)
Fri 5/15 House of Blues (Been once several years ago)

I've got a couple character breakfasts in there too. Ohana & Tusker House so we can get our time with the characters. We've never done Tusker House but I have heard some good things.

More later.....

 

[maydislvr]

Figuring out where to make all of our ADR's is always a major ordeal for me. I spend hours going over menus and trying to figure out what park we will be in that day. My strategy has kind of been to avoid the parks with the EMH because they seem to be busier to me on those days. Last year I made early dinner reservations (5:00 or so) and most days we felt like we were rushing out of the pool to get to dinner so one of my husband's few requests was to dine just a little bit later. We'll see how that works out because I liked getting in early before the restaurants would get too crowded. We are going to be on the regular dining plan (1snack, 1CS, 1TS) and I tried to get in our favorites and then mix in some we have never tried. We also want to squeeze in T-rex at DTD but I'm prett sure it's not on dining plan so that would have to be OOP. Maybe for lunch one day???

Here's what I have so far but I'm thinking of changing San Angel Inn because I hear so many mixed reviews and also I think we are dining there on the very last day it will be open before closing for renovations and that makes me nervous for some reason. I'm also not sure about Mama Melrose because reviews are mixed for that one also. But we'll be in Hollywood Studios that night and everything there seems to get mixed reviews so I don't know what to do about that one.

Fri 5/8 Ohana 6:00 (A favorite--great way to kick off the party!!)
Sat 5/9 San Angel Inn 6:30 (I'm thinking of changing to something else in
Epcot or Boardwalk area)
Sun 5/10 LeCellier 6:30 (A favorite)
Mon 5/11 Mama Melrose (I'm nervous.....)
Tues 5/12 WCC 7:30 (First time for dinner)
Wed 5/13 Kona 5:30 (A favorite)
Thur 5/14 Coral Reef 6:00 (First time...DH can't wait)
Fri 5/15 House of Blues (Been once several years ago)

I've got a couple character breakfasts in there too. Ohana & Tusker House so we can get our time with the characters. We've never done Tusker House but I have heard some good things.

More later.....

 

[Nichellebelle]

I hope you have a Happy Trip! We are also going in May!

 

[jenbear123]

Sounds like a great trip coming up for you!

I just started getting into the pins myself back in September. At first I thought it was silly trying to collect all these pins. Not to mention trying to find a safe and fashionable place to display them all! Just this passed March, when we got a Free Pin voucher when we paid for parking, I started getting interested. I exchanged the voucher at HS only to receive a High School Musical pin. I don't have the slightest interest in High School Musical so I was a little let down. Then I remembered the whole pin trading you can do with Cast Members. My DSis (bless her heart) went on a search for a pin that I would like that a cast member had. Finally after whole day of searching she snagged a pin of Tramp as a puppy from Lady & the Tramp. I was thrilled! It may not be my favourite, but at least it was much better than High School Musical!

Now I'm totally into pin trading/collecting. My interests are mainly Lion King and Bambi. I've even started going on eBay and searching the wide web for other pins that are not being sold any more at the parks. I've snagged a few and look forward to displaying them on my purse strap on my next trip!

I, too, have never been to Turtle Talk either. Perhaps that is a must-see at the end of April as well.

Look forward to more updates on your trip!