PTR - my first one...let's see how this goes! T MINUS 18 days and counting!!

[rhondac]

just realized I did a typo in my AK post - I said my kids are big fans of 3D movies, I meant they AREN'T big fans, which is why we aren't doing Tough to be a Bug.

 

[rhondac]

just thought I'd post a pic of my 3 munchkins and myself - here we are last weekend at Marineland on a ride. K, my ds, is forever making funny faces in pictures LOL. This was one of the few rides my littlest one could ride - she sat all by herself and squealed with joy the whole time. She does the same thing when I take her on rides at Canada's Wonderland. The thing is at those 2 amusement parks there are very few rides she can go on, which is why I'm so excited to take her to Disney in a few weeks - there will be so many things she'll be able to ride. I'm making sure to plan our days so we hit areas of the park which are toddler friendly during morning or really late afternoon when she is wide awake (fantasyland, toontown) and specific rides/shows at parks (playhouse disney at HS, triceratop spin at AK). I figure we can do other areas of the parks early afternoon when she is hopefully napping peacefully in her stroller.

 

[rhondac]

I had to go to TRU last night to get a baby gift for a shower, also to get a refund as the carseat I only just bought for L is now on sale for $40 less than what I paid (that's worth a trip to the store for a price guarantee!). So I received TRU gc for $40 and proceeded to spend a lot more than that

I bought a gift for my friend, and yet another pink bunny for L...she has 3 of those pink bunny blankets - you know little lovey type things, it's like a tiny blanket with a bunny head? the 3 she already had were from wal*mart, very soft, she took a liking to the one I had picked up a long time ago, using it for naptime and bedtime (goes to sleep rubbing it's soft ears, awww). So I picked up 2 more so we have spares when they are being washed, etc. Then last night at TRU she fell in love with a pink and cream pink bunny from the organic cotton section. I'm a total sucker for organic stuff so of course I picked it up, I'm sure we will have a whole litter of soft pink bunnies by the time she outgrows them

I also looked for the aurora light up necklace I saw last time. I picked up the cinderella light up necklace for J and wished I had bought another for L since she will enjoy having a button to press and light up. They didn't have Aurora, but they did have Snow White so I got that one. I'll give J her choice and give the other to L. Now I just need to pick up some regular glow sticks for K and I'm all set for evening fun at MK during spectromagic! Let's see, 2 princess light up necklaces for $6, some glow sticks from the dollar store...I think I'll end up with fun stuff for all 3 of my kids for less than the cost of 1 thing at MK, what do you think? Cost savings plus I just love shopping before a trip, what's better than that?

Oh and another fun find - we were recently at a park with petting zoo, playground, etc for the kids. That particular weekend there was a little fun fair going on (we didn't know that until we arrived). There were booths for parents to visit and they were giving away stuff - small reusable bags (I love bags, I admit it, I never turn down a free bag), filled with coupons, etc. But I also scored free a few travel sized burts bees baby soap and lotion (perfect for the trip!), travel sized toothpaste for dh and I, travel sized body wash for myself, and the most fun was a free Wall-E shirt that fits K perfectly!! It has a cute picture of WallE on the front, it will be perfect for Disney.

I can't believe in only 3 weeks I'll be getting everything packed. We leave on a Monday, the weekend before we leave is super busy...I have a baby shower on the Sat afternoon, then dh and I will be at a wedding reception Sunday evening (my parents will come to the house to babysit). Also, I will have just started back at work for 2 weeks so life will be busy around here as we all get into routine with the new nanny...she just started this week and is AWESOME My plan is to set out our bags on the spare bed a week before we leave, and pack up stuff as it gets cleaned so I don't have to be up all night the night before we leave packing!

 

[rhondac]

more details...

Day 3 - MAGIC KINGDOM here we come! OMG, I'm so excited, I just love this park.

* plan is to be up early and there at park opening (we never once made it last trip on any days to park opening so I really want to try this time). We will have had a day at AK the day before and possibly DTD for dinner but I don't want to make a late evening the day before specifically so we can get up early today

* quick bfast at POP, then onto the bus to MK

* head right away to Fantasyland - we are spending the whole morning here...hope to do Adventures of Winnie the Pooh, Dumbo, Pooh's playful spot, Small World, Peter Pan, Carousel before lunchtime, think this is doable? I'd also like to do Mickey's Philharmagic (another one I missed last trip that is on my must-do list this time). But I can do that one after lunch if we don't get to it in the am.

* just before lunch dh or I will run over to Splash mountain to get FP for the afternoon

* at noon we head into the castle for LUNCH AT CRT @ 12:15 - J is going to burst with excitement!! We get a photo package with the lunch and right now my plan is to have just J with Cinderella for the pic. I always hate myself in pictures, L never looks at the camera, K hates being near princesses so he'll make a silly face and dh doesn't care. So, we'll do the package photo with just J and Cinderella. I'll find a nice frame at Disney to put in her room with the picture. I'll also have dh take one of us 3 girls with Cinderella on our camera.

* after lunch I want to do philharmagic if we didn't do it beforehand

* then onto Frontierland - Splash mountain, country bear jamboree, tom sawyer island, thunder mountain (most likely get FP for thunder mtn to do it later)

* watch 3pm parade from Frontierland

* Adventureland - tiki room (I love this one LOL), magic carpets, POC, jungle cruise

* quick service dinner at Columbia House

* back to Frontierland/Adventureland after dinner to use FP and finish what we didn't do in the afternoon

* take the railroad around to ToonTown

* do whatever we have time for here (we will be back to this area first our next MK day so I'm not worried about getting anything done here this evening). The only thing I'd like to do is Barnstormer as I know J will love it.

* wishes is at 9pm this night, so we'll watch wishes then head back to the resort

This is going to be a looong day for the kids as we will be at the park for 12 hours. But we have the long lunch in the middle and we'll take lots of breaks for snacks. Another thing on my must-do list for this day is a Dole Whip...haven't tried one before, must find out what all the hype is about!

hopefully at the end of this day we will have done most/all of Fantasyland, Frontierland and Adventureland - that's the plan.

 

[beyondblessed]

Subscribing! I can't wait to read about your trip. You're so lucky - you are down to just days!!!

 

[rhondac]

Thanks! You are lucky to be staying at Poly, it's my dream to stay there someday.

I'm heading over to check out your PTR!

 

[rhondac]

another picture from our Niagara Falls mini-vaca, since it's Disney related. In the midway J spotted this little ride, both girls climbed in

 

[rhondac]

So far we've been to HS, AK and MK - that means day 4 is for EPCOT. I love this park, I was pleasantly surprised on our last trip how much there was for the kids to do here. There are things we didn't get a chance to do, and new things which are all on my must-do list for this trip, as well as some perennial favourites of course!

* quick breakfast at POP and head to the bus, since the day before will have been long and late at MK I'm not sure how quickly we will be up and moving but I want to be at the park by 9:30 at the latest

* first up is the Seas! There are many things here for all 3 of my kids to enjoy so I want to go here first thing...Nemo ride, Turtle talk with Crush, seeing all the aquariums, getting the kids started with the kidcot stations (my big kids absolutely LOVED kidcot stations last time).

* next we head to innoventions, check out some of the exhibits and sign up for a Kim Possible mission. I am SO looking forward to these, it is new since our last trip and I know K and J are going to love doing them, I hope to do 2 or 3 throughout our two days at Epcot.

* counter service lunch - not sure where yet, somewhere in the world showcase, and something light as we have early dinner ADRs.

* In world showcase first up on my list is Canada, UK and France. On our last trip we didn't have much time at the countries, and it was mostly at night. I want to see the gardens, do shopping, see the movie in Canada pavilion (love the new updated movie, we saw it last time). I'd also love to see Mary Poppins in the UK...it is one of my favourite movies, K and J both love the movie as well and know all the songs.

* head over to The Land, either line up for Soarin' or get FP to do it after dinner

* dinner at Garden Grill, 4:30pm ADRs - my ds is really looking forward to meeting C 'n' D, we have the DVDs and they are well watched in our house.

* next up is Imagination!

* after this we'll either call it a day and head back to POP, or visit a few more countries in the world showcase

So that's our first day at EPCOT!

 

[rhondac]

Day 5 - back to HS, no ADRs this day which is kind of nice, just go with the flow for food

* first thing as soon as we hit the park, TSM - ideally I'd love to get fp and get in line so we ride it twice.

* next is playhouse disney live on stage, I want to catch a morning show because this is something L will really enjoy, and hang around animation courtyard (maybe see characters?, take K to magic of disney animation)

* quick service lunch I'd like to go to Starring Rolls, I've read the sandwiches are good plus it's close to the theatre for Beauty and the Beast which is where we are headed after lunch

* I don't really have a plan for the afternoon - dh and K will want to do the stunt show, I'd like to see if K and J will go on ToT. And of course we'll watch the block party bash!

* if we are done here early enough I'd like to head to DTD. I'm still trying to figure out the best way to get to DTD from HS - so far it seems taking the bus to Saratoga Springs and walking to DTD from there is the easiest/fastest? Anyone else have suggestions for quickest way to get from HS to DTD?

I can hardly believe by this point our disney vacation will be getting close to the end

 

[rhondac]

Day 6 we are heading back to MK, hooray!

* We have 8:20 ADRs at Crystal Palace I'm so excited to be in the park before opening, walk down main street. And I'm excited to see L with Pooh and friends. Since we'll have met many characters already during the trip, hopefully she'll be comfortable to get a nice pic, but if not oh well. This was our first char meal last trip and J was absolutely terrified...here's a pic of how she was meeting Pooh and friends

But later in our trip she was much better, here she is when we all posed with Mickey at Ohana bfast

* After breakfast we'll head over toward Toontown to be there for rope drop and get into line to meet Tink! After visitin Pixie Hollow we'll do the rest of toontown...Mickey and Minnie's houses, Barnstormer, play area

* Then onto Tomorrowland - speedway, TTA, Monster's Inc laughfloor, Buzz Lightyear

* By now it's time for lunch, likely Cosmic Ray's since we'll be right there, we enjoyed lunch there last time.

* No specific plans for the afternoon - do anything we missed or re-do favourites, try to catch the block party parade

* 5:30 we head to the dock to take boat to Wilderness Lodge, we have ADRs at Whispering Canyon for 6:30pm. I want to wander around the resort a bit while we are there

* back to MK to catch spectromagic at 9pm, then back to resort to sleep!

 

[Sunset Cliffs]

I followed your PTR link over and wow! You have done a lot in a short period of time! I only have a couple of suggestions for now because it seems like you have really thought your days through.

1. For FPs - you may want to get them earlier than when you think. When we were there in June, a lot of the FP were gone by 1:30 in the afternoon, or there would be a 6 hour gap in time. I know the parks will be less crowded so you might not have this problem, but I just don't want you to miss out on a planned FP because you waited too long to get them.

2. My son (who was 21 months when we went) LOVED the Country Bear Jamboree. Your older kids might not like it, but if you have a FP and are waiting for the others to get back, you might take your youngest to see this. It's a little hokey, but my son loves music & he loves animals so he was in awe by this.

 

[SilverL]

I'm debating about my TSM strategy---trying to figure out if it's best to get FP and then ride or vice versa. I think I'm leaning for riding it first and then getting the FP. I have a feeling if I wait in line for 10, 15, 20 mins for a FP and then try to ride, the standby time will shoot up. However, if I ride right away, the FP mania might have died down by the time I get off the ride. Just my theory.

We have a dinner reservation at WCC too! I'm so excited. A lot of people say that the food isn't fantastic, but when we went there for breakfast on our last trip we had a great time. My little sister's friend asked for ketchup, not knowing what she was getting herself into. Sadly, we took no pictures. This year I'm going to be the weirdo in the restaurant with her camera, snatching DH's plate away to take a picture of it before he dives in.

 

[1stvisit0909]

awesome ptr! Makes me want to ramp mine up a bit.

I ordered autograph books from the disney website, they were 6.95. Not sure how much they are a the parks. We wanted to be able to hit the ground running.

 

[rhondac]

I followed your PTR link over and wow! You have done a lot in a short period of time! I only have a couple of suggestions for now because it seems like you have really thought your days through.

1. For FPs - you may want to get them earlier than when you think. When we were there in June, a lot of the FP were gone by 1:30 in the afternoon, or there would be a 6 hour gap in time. I know the parks will be less crowded so you might not have this problem, but I just don't want you to miss out on a planned FP because you waited too long to get them.

2. My son (who was 21 months when we went) LOVED the Country Bear Jamboree. Your older kids might not like it, but if you have a FP and are waiting for the others to get back, you might take your youngest to see this. It's a little hokey, but my son loves music & he loves animals so he was in awe by this.

Yes, I have been obsessing just a bit about our trip. I go back to work in a week so I won't be able to do much the 2 weeks just before our trip, which is why I'm reading/planning everything now, doing all the trip shopping, etc.

Good tip on the FPs, I think I will try getting them earlier just to make sure. I also wasn't sure about FP and baby swap, did you do baby swap with Dylan on your trip?...I just don't know if to ride Splash Mountain I need 4 FPs for us and the 2 big kids, or just 2 then we get a rider swap for the other 2 to ride? If I can get away with just 2 then the FP system will be much better as I can get FPs for 2 rides at the same time as long as they aren't rides L can do. Country Bear jamboree sounds like the perfect thing for L while big kids are on Splash Mountain and Thunder Mountain (we didn't do the jamboree last time, I haven't seen it in years so even I wouldn't mind watching it!).

I'm debating about my TSM strategy---trying to figure out if it's best to get FP and then ride or vice versa. I think I'm leaning for riding it first and then getting the FP. I have a feeling if I wait in line for 10, 15, 20 mins for a FP and then try to ride, the standby time will shoot up. However, if I ride right away, the FP mania might have died down by the time I get off the ride. Just my theory.

We have a dinner reservation at WCC too! I'm so excited. A lot of people say that the food isn't fantastic, but when we went there for breakfast on our last trip we had a great time. My little sister's friend asked for ketchup, not knowing what she was getting herself into. Sadly, we took no pictures. This year I'm going to be the weirdo in the restaurant with her camera, snatching DH's plate away to take a picture of it before he dives in.

I'm looking forward to WCC too, we've never eaten there. I keep reading they do things when you ask for ketchup, etc but I have no idea what!? My 4 yo loves ketchup on almost everything so I'll be sure to have her ask.

awesome ptr! Makes me want to ramp mine up a bit.

I ordered autograph books from the disney website, they were 6.95. Not sure how much they are a the parks. We wanted to be able to hit the ground running.

Aw, thanks! Unfortunately shipping to Canada makes ordering things online from Disney not worthwhile. But I still might make the books, I'll take a trip to Michael's this week.

 

[rhondac]

Day 7 - our last full day at Disney *sigh* We return to Epcot this day (although dh keeps insisting this is an "open" day for whatever we want as we don't have ADRs at Epcot - technically he's right but I know for a fact we will want another day at Epcot, so I'm calling it an Epcot day )

* in the morning I want to hit Future World things we missed earlier in the week - Test Track, Spaceship Earth, Innoventions. I might want to do Soarin' again, if so dh or I will run over first thing to get FPs and we'll head over later to ride.

* register for KP mission, I'm almost certain the kids will want to do another one of these

* world showcase for lunch, not sure where, this is one of the few meals I don't have planned out!

* world showcase - want to do Gran Fiesta in Mexico (another thing we missed last time), and just walk around the other countries we missed earlier in the week.

* at 4:00 we get on the monorail for dinner at Chef Mickey's @ 5:00! I originally wanted to do this our first night at Disney, but was only able to get a very late dinner time, so at the time I made this one as a backup. Well, the more I thought about it a late dinner really wasn't perfect for our first night, then I changed our first afternoon/evening from MK to HS so getting to the Contemporary became a hassle, whereas we can just eat at pizza planet and enjoy EMH at HS, it makes for a more relaxing first evening, and allows us extra time at HS (we only have 1 other full day there). So while I was disappointed with this ADR at first, now I'm excited to have this for our last evening, plus it's such a great time the kids will really get the most out of it.

* after dinner we'll prob head back to Epcot (no park hoppers so it's either Epcot or nothing). The other thing I have in my head is riding around and touring the monorail resorts. Wishes is at 9pm this night I believe, we could have a relaxing dinner at CM, tour Grand Floridian (I'd love to see this resort), head over to Poly to walk around a bit and watch wishes from the beach. I'd be more inclined to do this if our ADR were just a tad later, I'm just worried we'd have trouble filling 2.5-3 hours between dinner and Wishes. The other option is head back to Epcot to do a few more things and watch Illuminations. I definately want to see one of the fireworks shows, it's our last night at Disney for goodness sake!!

The following morning we aren't doing a park. I'm guessing ME pickup time will be around 10:00-10:30am - we'll have time for a swim, finish packing, walk around the resort a bit and say "see ya next time" to Disney

 

[SilverL]

If you want to know what they do at WCC, highlight the text below and read on. Otherwise, definitely ask for ketchup.

Notes from AllEarsNet:

Rumor has it if you want to "enhance" your experience -- try one or more of the following. IMPORTANT -- these are just suggestions! Depending on how busy the cafe is, servers may not be able to engage in tomfoolery!

PLEASE Note: It has been brought to our attention that someone reprinted this list and then got very upset with their server when all of the items mentioned below were not part of their dining experience. PLEASE don't expect your server to do this entire list or even anything from the list! it is merely a recap of what has produced some interesting antics from previous guest experiences. Whispering Canyon is a themed restaurant and chances are your server may engage in some tomfoolery. But please use this only as a guide for possibly having fun and not a list of expectations! Thank you!

Wear a Hat or T-Shirt from Universal or Sea World
Tell your server you spent the day at an attraction outside of WDW
Tell the server whose birthday or anniversary it is
Have your kids "egg him/her on"
Have one of the males in the group ask where the restrooms are
Claim your straw is not long enough
Chew gum
Ask the server where you can buy some chewing gum in WDW
Ask for ketchup -- but be ready for a little exercise and team building!
Order a soda for breakfast.

Note from me:

When we went, our server threw our straws at us. They holler back into the kitchen and back and forth at each other. They have hobby horse races and twirls napkins around. If you ask for ketchup, they will typically announce it to the entire restaurant and make every table bring you their ketchup bottle. So you'll end up with an entire table full of ketchup bottles. It's a LOT of fun!

 

[rhondac]

TO DO list...

I feel pretty good about what is already done...ADRs are set, plan for each day outlined, good start on shopping for kids stuff, travel stuff, etc.

This week I want to finish up the shopping, I still want to pick up a few odds and ends for the kids, plus ponchos and more travel stuff. I go back to work next week (yes, that's right, I go back to work after my 18 month maternity leave, work for 2 weeks then leave for a week at Disney...makes going back to work a bit easier! ).

I'm going to Michaels this afternoon to check out scrapbooks and decide if I want to make books for the kids as autograph books, or just buy there. If I do make them I'll keep it a surprise for the kids until we get there, I've already told them they need to use their money to buy autograph books. They've each been earning "Disney Dollars" - if they cleanup without being asked, try a new veggie at dinner without complaining, are extra cooperative on a shopping trip...things like that they earn dollars to spend at Disney. I figure I'd be giving them money to buy souvenirs anyways, I may as well get some good behaviour out of them before the trip So far they are each around 43/44 dollars so they are doing pretty good! Plus I'm sure my Mom will give them each 5-10 to spend, she always gives them a little something before we go on a trip for spending money. I will supplement their spending money if there is something they really want. But I figure this way if they have earned most of the money they are spending they will be more thoughtful about how to spend it rather than just asking for everything in sight. I can't wait to shop for L though, I just love having a little one where *I* still get to pick her stuff :

 

[EastYorkDisneyFan]

I just found this and after reading through your first few pages I thought I would jump in and say hi to a fellow Ontarioian. If you don't mind me asking what city are you from? Also I'm going to be thee at almost the same time.

 

[rhondac]

I just found this and after reading through your first few pages I thought I would jump in and say hi to a fellow Ontarioian. If you don't mind me asking what city are you from? Also I'm going to be thee at almost the same time.

Hi!! I'm assuming you are from East York based on your username. Dh I lived there briefly in an apt near Danforth. Then we lived in North York for years, which I loved. Now we live north of the city in Richmond Hill.

Are you going to be at POP at the same time? Be sure to wave if you see me Dh will think I'm nuts though, I've told him about the Disboards but he doesn't know I'm doing a PTR or that I'm posting away on here

 

[rhondac]

well I had fun at Michaels yesterday buying Disney stuff! I had debated getting the kids scrapbooks as opposed to autograph books at Disney. When I got to Michaels I saw they have the nicest Disney 8x8 scrapbooks and I just couldn't resist. It will be so easy to add a few pages and have this as a memory book, not just an autograph book (it will have autographs alongside pics of them with the character, plus we can add some of their fav pics from the trip...them on a ride they loved, things like that). I just think this will be a nice thing for them to put together when we get home and to have to look through. I have a book from our first vacation I ordered from shutterfly which they both still love looking through. They both LOVE the ones I got which is nice, J's is cinderella and K's is mickey. I didn't pick one up for L, not sure if I will, haven't decided.

The only thing I don't know what to do for getting autographs...do I want to take the whole book in the park each day, take the sheet out of the page protector to have them sign? Pre-cut a bunch of squares of scrapbook paper to have each char sign? (then I'm worried we'll lose one if they are loose). Or what I'm thinking is pick up 2 spiral bound notebooks, with decent paper (if I can find such a thing), get the autographs in there then when we get home cut out each page and put in the scrapbook. This seems like the easiest option, as long as I can find notebooks with decent paper.

I also had fun at the $1 and $1.50 bins - I picked up a batch of glow bracelets so now we are set for evening fun (these plus the light up princess necklaces I have for the girls), a sudoku book for K to keep him entertained at airport/on plane/in hotel (I taped one of our mickey pencils on there for travelling), and some little keychain bubble packs which I'll bring to the park to keep L occupied while waiting for others to go on rides, or for waiting at the bus stops (do you think people will mind at the bus stops if we are blowing bubbles??).

Now I feel good with what I have, I only need to pick up rain ponchos!

Next week I can concentrate on just getting back into routine of getting out the door in the morning for work, it's been a year and a half I've been home with the kids on maternity leave so it will definately take some getting used to for sure!