After lurking for weeks on these boards I figure it's time to come out and start contributing back. My family is headed to WDW next week. I'll drag the laptop along and try to keep a trip report going. First, a little about our family.
I'm Rob. A 39 year old Dad. My wife Evelyn (39), son Evan (8) and daughter Chloe (5). Also coming along are my mother-in-law Lorraine and sister-in-law Susan. Having a grandma and an aunt along will greatly help in dealing with our two kids. Evan is autistic (high-functioning & sensory integration disorder). Chole isn't diagnosed yet but is probably borderline ADHD. I myself probably have some form of adult Aspergers (self-diagnosed only at this point). My wife does yeoman's work keeping us all together.
We live in Apex, NC and are flying RDU to MCO April 22. My wife's family is flying BOS to MCO later and arriving about an hour after us. I reserved Mears cars for each party to meet us at baggage claim. We'll se how well *that* goes.
The car will take us to Disney's Coronado Springs Resort (CSR) in the early afternoon on Sunday. We'll settle in, throw the kids in the pool, wait for Meme (pronounced MEH-mey; french version of grandma) and Auntie Sue. Begin drinking at the pool bar.
We have reservations made for Sunday evening at Wolfgang Puck's Downstairs in Downtown Disney. Figured we'd head over there and get some shopping done and just unwind from the flight.
The goal of this trip is to relax and have fun and let the kids enjoy themselves. The last time we went to Disney, Evan was 5 and had not yet been diagnosed with Autism. At the time we were at our wits' end wondering why he couldn't behave himself and "be normal". Now we are well versed in all things Autism. The key to having a peaceful time is to just accept that Evan processes things differently than neurotypicals. We just need to take things slowly and be flexible. Much of the time others can't even tell that anything is wrong with our son. Until something sets off a meltdown. Our goal is to avoid meltdowns by not getting into stressful situations that set them off.
To that end we will NOT be first in line at anything; we will not be staying for the fireworks; we will not wait on any 1 hour plus lines; we WILL go back to the resort when the kids get tired and just want ot play in the pool. We will try each park, but if the kids say they want to play in the wave pool at Typhoon Lagoon every day then we will do that. Flexibility is key.
With these goals in mind I did make some Advance Dining Reservations (ADRs). But we will remain flexible and walk away from any of these if they're not working out and go eat in the food court at the hotel if we that's what works out better.
Now, *that* said, I'm a complete chowhound. A "foodie" if you will. Love to eat good food. So I'm hoping we'll get to try out some interesting things. To that end, I've made the following reservations and am remaining optimistic we'll get to try them.
Sunday - Downtown Disney - Wolfgang Pucks Downstairs
Monday - Magic Kingdom - Spoodles @ Boardwalk
Tuesday - Blizzard Beach and/or Typhoon Lagoon - Maya @ CSR
Wednesday - Epcot - LeCellier lunch; Marakesh dinner
Thursday - MGM - Sci-Fi Very late lunch which we will think of as dinner (3:45)
Friday - Animal Kingdom - Boma @ Animal Kingdom Lodge (AKL)
Saturday - Fly back to RDU
In 2004 we stayed at AKL but didn't get a chance to try Boma. We still may not as AKL is a bit out of the way. If we wind up bailing on AK and go to a water park instead we'll have to plan something different.
My MIL absolutely wants to try Le Cellier as she has friends that raved about it. Personally, to me it looks like a steakhouse and you can get that anywhere. When working with the ADR agent he explained that "EPCOT World Showcase is all about exploring new worlds; trying new things; but what do Americans do? Go eat at what's familiar -- a steakhouse." He said it's very good, but lots of other things are good too. Le Cellier is booked for dinner through September I was told (hard to believe -- but OK). I asked him to recommend something else. His first pick was Biergarten, but that doesn't appeal to me. Next up was Marakesh which does sound intriguing. As he pointed out: "At Le Cellier you can eat good meat. At Marakesh you can eat good meat AND watch bellydancers." The choice seems obvious to me.
We have our parkhopper tickets, resort package with meal plan, airline tickets, car reservation, dining reservations, and a brand new set of luggage. We just need to find someone to feed the cat for a week, pack, and we're good to go.
Wish us luck.
I'm Rob. A 39 year old Dad. My wife Evelyn (39), son Evan (8) and daughter Chloe (5). Also coming along are my mother-in-law Lorraine and sister-in-law Susan. Having a grandma and an aunt along will greatly help in dealing with our two kids. Evan is autistic (high-functioning & sensory integration disorder). Chole isn't diagnosed yet but is probably borderline ADHD. I myself probably have some form of adult Aspergers (self-diagnosed only at this point). My wife does yeoman's work keeping us all together.
We live in Apex, NC and are flying RDU to MCO April 22. My wife's family is flying BOS to MCO later and arriving about an hour after us. I reserved Mears cars for each party to meet us at baggage claim. We'll se how well *that* goes.
The car will take us to Disney's Coronado Springs Resort (CSR) in the early afternoon on Sunday. We'll settle in, throw the kids in the pool, wait for Meme (pronounced MEH-mey; french version of grandma) and Auntie Sue. Begin drinking at the pool bar.
We have reservations made for Sunday evening at Wolfgang Puck's Downstairs in Downtown Disney. Figured we'd head over there and get some shopping done and just unwind from the flight.
The goal of this trip is to relax and have fun and let the kids enjoy themselves. The last time we went to Disney, Evan was 5 and had not yet been diagnosed with Autism. At the time we were at our wits' end wondering why he couldn't behave himself and "be normal". Now we are well versed in all things Autism. The key to having a peaceful time is to just accept that Evan processes things differently than neurotypicals. We just need to take things slowly and be flexible. Much of the time others can't even tell that anything is wrong with our son. Until something sets off a meltdown. Our goal is to avoid meltdowns by not getting into stressful situations that set them off.
To that end we will NOT be first in line at anything; we will not be staying for the fireworks; we will not wait on any 1 hour plus lines; we WILL go back to the resort when the kids get tired and just want ot play in the pool. We will try each park, but if the kids say they want to play in the wave pool at Typhoon Lagoon every day then we will do that. Flexibility is key.
With these goals in mind I did make some Advance Dining Reservations (ADRs). But we will remain flexible and walk away from any of these if they're not working out and go eat in the food court at the hotel if we that's what works out better.
Now, *that* said, I'm a complete chowhound. A "foodie" if you will. Love to eat good food. So I'm hoping we'll get to try out some interesting things. To that end, I've made the following reservations and am remaining optimistic we'll get to try them.
Sunday - Downtown Disney - Wolfgang Pucks Downstairs
Monday - Magic Kingdom - Spoodles @ Boardwalk
Tuesday - Blizzard Beach and/or Typhoon Lagoon - Maya @ CSR
Wednesday - Epcot - LeCellier lunch; Marakesh dinner
Thursday - MGM - Sci-Fi Very late lunch which we will think of as dinner (3:45)
Friday - Animal Kingdom - Boma @ Animal Kingdom Lodge (AKL)
Saturday - Fly back to RDU
In 2004 we stayed at AKL but didn't get a chance to try Boma. We still may not as AKL is a bit out of the way. If we wind up bailing on AK and go to a water park instead we'll have to plan something different.
My MIL absolutely wants to try Le Cellier as she has friends that raved about it. Personally, to me it looks like a steakhouse and you can get that anywhere. When working with the ADR agent he explained that "EPCOT World Showcase is all about exploring new worlds; trying new things; but what do Americans do? Go eat at what's familiar -- a steakhouse." He said it's very good, but lots of other things are good too. Le Cellier is booked for dinner through September I was told (hard to believe -- but OK). I asked him to recommend something else. His first pick was Biergarten, but that doesn't appeal to me. Next up was Marakesh which does sound intriguing. As he pointed out: "At Le Cellier you can eat good meat. At Marakesh you can eat good meat AND watch bellydancers." The choice seems obvious to me.
We have our parkhopper tickets, resort package with meal plan, airline tickets, car reservation, dining reservations, and a brand new set of luggage. We just need to find someone to feed the cat for a week, pack, and we're good to go.
Wish us luck.
for a truly magical time....
addiction to the DIS, 
to the club!!
