Return to Disney and yes we are bribing our kids with Disney Dollars to get along

[PrincessCristie]

So this is my first report so hopefully I don't screw it up. I love Disney...love it! This will be my fourth trip to Disney World (several to the Land during childhood), once at 4, then three times within the last 5 years, last time being in 2008.

Cast of Characters: Me, 29 (creeping on 30 in a few months) I'm a paralegal at a medium size law firm, love roller coasters, favorite park is MK.

BF (is that right for boyfriend?) Jon, 31, police detective and has been to Disney once when he was young and has serious anger issues with the song from It's A Small World (thanks goodness its in refurb while we are there)

DD Avery, 6, second trip to Disney World. First time was two years ago when she was 4. First ride we went on was Space Mountain. I was terrified that she would be scared and it would ruin our whole trip. She rode in the very front, hands up laughing the whole time.

BF's DD Chloe, 7 almost 8. First trip to Disney World, first time on a plane. Hoping she won't be scared to death by the time she gets to Florida. Claims to not like Disney Princesses with the exception of Jasmine and Ariel.

BF and I have been dating for almost a year. DD and BFDD do not get along super great. We went to San Antonio a couple of months ago to Sea World and had to bribe the kids with a dollar for every hour they were nice and didn't fight and they could use said dollars at the end of the trip to buy whatever gift shop crap, I mean toy, they wanted. They ended up with about $25 after a three day trip. Awesome.

We are going to the World Sept. 14th-19th. We plan on going to the opening night of MNSSHP. DD and I went on our last trip and thought it was awesome! Staying at the Wilderness Lodge, woods bunk bed view. So excited to go back to WL where we stayed last time. I love the access to MK by boat and bus and love love love the theming.

 

[PrincessCristie]

I've been super excited for the last um...three months about this trip.

My DD's birthday is in June and for her 4th birthday, which just happened to coincide with me finding out that her dad was in love with someone else, we decided to send her and I to Disney World. My Ex-DH does not like Disney...good thing we aren't married anymore, should have been my first clue. Anyway, I tell my family that we are taking her to Disney and my mom who will travel anywhere says "I'll go"! Yipee some help for me because 4 year olds aren't exactly low maintenance. Then older sister says "I'll go too"! Even better. Long story short, we had a great time, originally booked Carribbean Beach but got a great deal on WL with bunk beds. I got the bottom bunk because I'm the shortest. I'm 5'6" barely and it was a close fit.

So anyway since then my daughter will insert her "When we go back to Disney World can we..." Not if, but when. She knows me so well. About six months ago she told me to start saving my allowance and she would save hers so that we could go back to Disney. So we saved our allowance and her dad and I gave her this trip to Disney for her 6th birthday. I know, June is a long way away from September, but Disney is expensive and as part of her actual birthday gift she got a bunch of Tinkerbell stuff and a paper chain so that she can tear off one for every day until we leave for Disney. Helps her wrap her little mind around the time frame and it also helps me not go insane when she asks me how many more days untl Disney...

Now I tell BF that I'm taking DD to Disney, he says "DD and I will come along, she has never been anywhere like that".. Super! Then our kids started fighting...alot....every time we are around each other...ugh! They compete with everything, argue over trivial stuff...act like sisters basically. So we decided to bribe them with Disney dollars to be nice. Worked out pretty well for us before. For every hour they are nice and don't fight or do something out of pure kindness for the other person, they get a Disney dollar. If they fight or are rude to each other or anyone else, they lose a dollar.

So...trip details....We leave from OKC bright and early Tuesday the 14th. BF and his DD are flying Delta and leave at 6:30 am. Me and DD are flying on American and leaving at 7:00 am. Are the children that bad you can't take the same flight, you ask? No, but I had points on AA for free flight and it was cheaper for him to fly Delta...which leads me to the "why didn't he let me play travel agent and book his flight" I do not know, but they have a 35 minute connection time in Memphis on the way there and a 38 minute connection time in Atlanta on the way home...good luck with that!

BF and his DD arrive at 11:30, assuming they make thei connection. Me and DD arrive at 1:30. We are staying at WL, which I adore for so many reasons. Location, theming, bunk beds, and just overall a great experience. I love that it's the least expensive of the Deluxe resorts.

So plan for Tuesday is to get in, BF should have us all checked in and be at the pool when me and DD arrive, then maybe rest if our room is ready and head to MNSSHP, assuming it still allows us to go in at 4:00. It's the opening night so we will get to be guinea pigs. We went two years ago and in my opinion, was well worth the extra ticket to go.

Next stop.....Epcot.

 

[Cherry Limeade]

I'm in with a confession. We bribe our girls with Disney dollars too, only they get theors for doing their chores without complaining.

 

[PrincessCristie]

If everyone is happy in the end I am all for bribery! People laugh at me when I tell them about our Disney dollar for every hour deal, but it's a much better threat than "do you want to go home?" My DD knows I won't follow through with that one because I'm more of a Disney fan than she is.

 

[Cherry Limeade]

If everyone is happy in the end I am all for bribery! People laugh at me when I tell them about our Disney dollar for every hour deal, but it's a much better threat than "do you want to go home?" My DD knows I won't follow through with that one because I'm more of a Disney fan than she is.

Amen! That is such an empty threat from me in the World. I don't even pull it out!

 

[PrincessCristie]

Did I mention that the trip almost got cancelled? BF and I had been talking about Disney since around March after he and I got back from a 4 day trip to Mexico. We kind of felt guilty for going somewhere amazing without the kids, so we decided on Disney and then I had my DD's b-day present. As it gets closer to final payment time, BF says "I'm not sure I can afford Disney, can you guys go without us"? What?!!???!! Perhaps you should have mentioned this before we booked the trip, not five days before final payment... so I offer to downgrade to a value or moderate resort, but that would only save us around $150 each and he doesn't want to do that. I also looked at other dates to give us more time to make the final payment (mind you my half is already paid (thanks in part to a guilty ex-dh, more on that in a bit) and I'm ready to go), but he didn't want to do that either. After talking to him a bit more, he wanted to pay for Disney without using credit cards, and when he figured out he would have to put part on a credit card he was upset about that. Once he decided he was ok with that part, we were back on!

The guilty Ex-DH: Ex-MIL is a crazy woman. Think Everybody Loves Raymond mom but I can't tell if she is evil on purpose or if she just doesn't think before she speaks/acts. After EXDH and I decide we are going in on Disney together (I don't want to out do him in the birthday gift department, I mean come on what gift is cooler than Disney World?) we, and by we I mean me, decide that we are NOT under any circumstance going to tell his family what we are giving our daughter for her birthday. They have been known to let things slip, aka be the first person to tell my DD what she is getting before her birthday/Christmas so that they get to be the fun people and see her happy little face when she finds out. He somehow lets it slip to his mother that we are giving her Disney and what does the evil mean woman do? Tell DD. Two days before her b-day I'm talking to her on the phone and telling her I finished up her b-day shopping, getting her excited, and she says "Mommy, Nana says you are taking me to Disney for my birthday, is that true?"....I falter for a minute and say, well you are just going to wait until your birthday to see. I'm fuming mad I want to kill someone, that someone being EXMIL. How dare she tell my DD what her gift is from someone else?!!! She can tell DD all day what she got her but it's not her place to tell her our gift. Grrrrr. So I tell EXDH I am angry, he says he will fix it, I ask how, damage has been done. So I decide I am going to tell EXMIL that we had decided to not take DD to Disney because it was too expensive and now what are we going to do because she put these thoughts in DD's head...mostly so that she would give me money to pay for the trip. She didn't, but EXDH did because he felt so bad about his mother's collassal screw up.

Soooo....Day 1 is airport day, pool time and MNSSHP. Mickey Mouse is going to be bringing the girls something every day if they are good as a surprise. Day 1 will be their princess dresses for the MNSSHP. My DD is going to be Cinderella and his DD is Ariel. We are thinking about using a CS credit somewhere that night for dinner or just paying OOP. Not sure where yet, I don't usually plan CS meals, we just stop wherever sounds good. BF's DD is a wee bit scared of the dark, so I am not sure how well HM will go over especially when it's made extra creepy for the party, but we will see. My DD went on it when she was 4 and did pretty well, said she liked it however refused to ride twice If Disney decides we can't go in until 7:00, we may go over to Downtown Disney and hang out for a bit if our room isn't ready. I'm slightly worried about the girls being tired, hoping they will sleep on the plane because we will be up around 4:00 am. Thankfully BF lives 5 minutes from the airport and OKC Airport isn't exactly a bustling metropolis at 5:00 am.

Next up...Day 2 Epcot (I think)

 

[PrincessCristie]

I'm a planner...but not a down to the minute every detail look up crowd number type of planner. I like to leave soom room for surprise. Today I think we will go to Epcot. BF is most looking forward to this park, I'm not a super big fan but I love Soarin and that little Viking ride. Today we have dinner reservations at 5:20 at Askerus with the princesses. Since BF's DD has decided she "hates" all princesses except Jasmine and Ariel, this may or may not go well. I think once she gets there she will fall into the magic that is Disney and love them all. Mickey Mouse is going to leave the girls their autograph books this morning so that they can take them to dinner with us.

My DD and I did breakfast at Askerus the last time we went and it was really good. Food was tasty and the enteraction with the characters was great. Each one spent enough time to talk to my DD and take a picture with her. I am hoping dinner there will be the same way. Can anyone tell me about their dinner experience there?

I think when we get there, hopefully at rope drop but I am not holding out hope for that since we will be at MK late for MNSSHP the night before, we will go straight to Soarin and get FP. Any other rides or suggestions would be appreciated. I don't want to be too much of a commando person so to not scare off BF and his DD from any future Disney vacations with me

We may do a CS breakfast at WL or somewhere at Epcot, any suggestions for CS breakfast at Epcot?

Anything we don't get to today we can finish up on Friday when we come back around 4:30. BF recently got his diving certification and he is doing the Dive Quest thing. I've read nothing but great reviews about this and he is super excited. The girls are also super excited about seeing him dive behind the glass.

 

[PrincessCristie]

I am going to keep posting and assume that people are reading this

Friday at work I decide that the girls need to do BBB. My DD did it last time and thought it was fun. So they have 9:30 appointments on our second day, Epcot day. Which means no rope drop for us, but that's ok, we will have been up late the night before.

Again, still looking for suggestions for CS breakfast/lunch at Epcot and now we could even include DD because that's where the girls are doing BBB.

I've printed off our packing list and pulled out the suitcases to get ready to start packing. Laundry is needed, so I should really get started on that too.

DAY 3 - THURSDAY - MK Day

Ahhh back to my favorite, MK today. We have breakfast reservations at Ohana at 10:25, so I think we will go over to MK for a little bit, hop on a couple of rides and then head over to the Poly for some tasty breakfast. I love this breakfast. The characters were great and my DD loved the parade they got to be in. After breakfast head back to MK for a while, then maybe a swimming break late afternoon at WL. Dinner reservations at Plaza Restaurant at 6:25. Never eaten there, but the menu looks lite, which is good for us after all the food I plan on ingesting at Ohana.

 

[Cherry Limeade]

Again, still looking for suggestions for CS breakfast/lunch at Epcot and now we could even include DD because that's where the girls are doing BBB.

Sunshine Seasons in the Land was very good when we were there last.

 

[PrincessCristie]

Day 4 Friday - Animal Kingdom

We have breakfast reservations at Tusker House before opening and after breakfast then head to the Safarri to either ride or get fp. I missed this ride last time as DD suddenly had to go to the bathroom and then proceeded to have a mini melt down so we waited for my mom and DS to ride. I know she would have loved it.

At 4:00 we will head over to Epcot for BF's Dive Quest. I'm not sure what the time line is for them actually getting into the tank where me and the girls can see him, so if anyone knows I would appreciate the info! I think we may wander around and ride some stuff until we can actually see him, as he was told it's about a three hour long tour.

We may finish up the day at Epcot and catch everything we missed on our first visit. This might also be the night we either take the girls to the Cubs Den or get a Disney babysitter to take the girls out while we have some peacefull adult time. I've read great reviews of both types, but it would be cheaper for us to have a babysitter come to the room.

We decided that the girls will be able to earn a max of $10 a day for Disney dollars, and the dollars are only earnable when the girls are together and being nice. If they get crazy we are going to separate and do our own things, but no Disney Dollars for the girls. Then they can either spend that money that day or save it until the last day for something big.

Next up: HS and our last full day...

 

[PrincessCristie]

Day 5 - Saturday - Hollywood Studios

I forgot to mention the Mickey Mouse gifts. Before my first trip with DD two years ago, I read on these very lovely boards that if you pre-purchase some gifts ahead of time the kids wont ask as much for stuff in the parks and it's way cheaper. It worked out great! So every night MM will come and leave a gift for DD and BFDD. The first night he will leave their princess dresses for MNSSHP. Day 2 will be their autograph books. We debated on this because they may want to get autographs during the party, but I think we are just going to let them do pictures and enjoy soaking it all in. Day 3 we bought them princess pajamas. Day 4 they get Disney shirts. DD's is an old school Minnie with her name on it and BFDD's is Thumper with her name on it. Day 5 is Minnie Mouse backpacks with their names on the back (so they can carry all their own crap back home). We got all of this stuff from the Disney Store on sale and I had a 20% off coupon as well. Much cheaper than buying all that stuff in the parks and we got them personalized.

So on to HS... I do intend to make it to rope drop on this day so that we can run to TSM and grab fast passes, maybe ride a quick ride. The girls are barely tall enough for RNR so we will see if they want to hop on that one as well. My DD is freakishly tall and is the same height as BFDD (which is actually good for Disney so that one won't be able to ride rides and the other won't).

Tonight we have 7:30 dinner reservations at Whispering Canyon at WL. My DD loves ketchup so I told her be sure to ask for it

Day 6 - Sunday - last day at Disney

I'm not really sure what we will do today. We still have park tickets so I suppose we can do all the girls' favorite rides one last time. My and DD's flight leaves at 5:30 and BF and his DD leave at 7:30 so we have quite a bit of time.

I'm so excited I can hardly wait!!! I've started a pile o' Disney stuff to pack on my guest room bed. Last weekend we bought lots of glow sticks and glow jewelry for the girls and tried to find hand fans but they are no where to be found in the OKC area. I guess we can wait until we get there to buy some. Checked the 10 day forecast and the first couple days are not looking good. Rain, rain and more rain. I am hoping it changes. Tonight my goal is to get all Disney laundry done and start putting suitcases together. I hate last minute packing for trips like this. This weekend is going to be busy. DD has soccer games and Sunday I get to go on a ride along with BF in his police car. Always entertaining. It's a good thing DD is at her dad's this week so I can get everything done without her opinions everywhere.

 

[PrincessCristie]

Soooo did not get anything Disney related done yesterday. I was invited over to BF's house for game night with him and his DD. I am the ultimate Uno champion!!! And a big game nerd. I love games.

Tonight is my finish up all laundry night and start picking out DD's clothes for Disney. So much easier to do when she is not here. I got a box of gallon size baggies the last time I was at the store so I can pack each day's outfit into one baggie. (another fabulous tip from these boards)

I also plan on getting all of my toiletries together that I won't use between now and Tuesday and throw them into my suitcase. My living room is about to become Disney packing central.

BF told me today that he ordered the girls two each disposable cameras for the trip so that they can take their own pictures of the trip. They will be so excited!

Now if I can just make it through two more days of work

If any of you lurkers out there want to comment....feel free!!! I would love any favorite CS suggestions and must see activities.

 

[PrincessCristie]

And by the way I never count the current day in my __ more days countdown, makes me feel better!

Last night I finally got DD all packed. Put each outfit in a baggie so that she just has to grab one and get dressed. No fumbling around in her suitcase for each section of clothing. I told BF about the baggie idea, and at first he laughed at me and called me a dork, but then he said "I guess I need to go to the store and get some gallon baggies" who's laughing now?!!!

Here's the thing about DD... she has this issue with going to the bathroom...not #1, but #2. It's called encopresis. She at some point had a rough time going poo, and then decided it was too rough for her and refused to go. So she would hold it in. For days, even weeks. She gets the saddest little beer belly and has to be incredibly uncomfortable yet refuses to go to the bathroom. Finally it starts coming out on its own and she has accidents. We've tried everything, even scheduling an appointment with a Pediatric GI specialist. Of course, once I made the appointment she started going, not on her own but when we would remind her or make her go. Now she has had a couple of accidents in the last couple of days and I am panicking. At it's worst we go through 5-7 pairs of panties a day...so frustrating for a child who is 6 and has been fully potty trained since age 3 to revert. I am hoping she won't have any issues while we are there, but it still haunts me and I hope she will be ok.

Anyway...back to happy thoughts! Just one more day and a half of work to get through and then pick DD up from school on Monday, grab our bags and head to BF's house for the night. He lives 5 minutes from the airport and our flights are close enough together that we don't have to take two cars.

BF's parents are watching our combined three dogs for us. I have one medium sized terrier mix pup and he has two miniature weiner dogs (very manly dogs as he would say) So I know my little Trixie will be in good hands while we are away.

 

[PrincessCristie]

Hooray! It's finally here. Just trying to make it through my last day of work before we leave tomorrow morning at 7:00 am.

DD and I are all packed. BF and his DD are not He says no problem can pack in an hour. Alright, if you say so...

Dogs have gone to his parents house, BF had to drive 45 minutes to meet them last night after working 6 hours of overtime.

My DD had a very rough night of sleep, chalking it up to her excitement for Disney. She came in my room at 3:00 am this morning and asked if it was time for Disney. Um, no.

I guess that's all for my pre-trip report. Will report back when I get back next week. Boarding passes printed and we are all set! See you in a week Dis Boards!