Hey Guys - this my first time to ever post a pre-trip report so please bear with me! This will be our 2nd trip to WDW - first trip was in 2011. With all the new changes - FP+, Magic Bands, New Fantasyland, etc - it almost seems like I am starting from scratch. I kind of feel like a newbie again!
Let's start with Me - went to Disney as a kid a couple of times and loved it! I am a mom of 3 who is soooo excited about this trip!
My DH is not so excited about the trip
When we went in 2011, he was recovering from knee surgery (it had been a couple of months but surgery ended up being more extensive and recovery much slower than expected. So he basically didn't ride anything because he couldn't really get in and out of ride cars easily or swiftly. And by the end of the trip, his knee was killing him. He is not much of a rider anyway- especially if anything goes up in the air. Definitely no Rock'n'Rollercoaster for him!
2 Kids - DD 9 and DS 7 Here they are:
Man, I hope that picture worked. Its been a long time since I posted pics on here! Like 4 years!
The Trip - We booked this trip 25 days out -
We had originally planned on going in March, but we could not find a date that worked between extracurriculars and DH's work schedule. The only time we could figure it out before September was in less than a month! So I quickly jumped online, did some really quick research and before DH could changed his mind - Booked it! Original plans were to drive down beginning on January 2nd and arrive on January 3rd, and staying through January 8th. However I got greedy and felt like we needed an extra day!
So now we are leaving a day earlier and arriving on the 2nd. The kids have no idea! We are going to surprise them at Christmas. We told them that we were not going in March and it would be 2016 before we could go - so they are going to be super stoked!
The Details - Right now we are checking into AKL on January 3rd. No idea where we are staying the night of the 2nd at this point. Maybe somewhere close by, maybe add a night on at a value resort???? I just know that I want to get an early start on the morning of 1/3 and check into our hotel and activate magic bands and be at Animal Kingdom by 9 am. We have 7 day park hoppers and the Deluxe Dining Plan. I know, I know.. too much food. DH insisted on DxDP. And honestly, we had it last time and it worked out great for us.
Last Minute Booking - The Good, The Bad and The Ugly. To be honest, booking this late in the game has STRESSED me out! There are a couple of dinner ADR's I either can't get or have booked at terrible times. And don't get me started on FastPasses. I like having a plan and I think I will like this FP system, just wished we had booked earlier and I had been able to get things when I want them. I am still working on a touring plan. But major score - I randomly checked MDE the other night when I couldn't sleep and got a dinner reservation at Be Our Guest! I almost fell out of my chair! And with the exception of Ohana and one dinner at Hollywood Studios, I am fairly pleased with most of my other dining ADR's. We will have fun trying some new places!
So.... if this is of interest to anyone - I will update with my touring plans and other info as we get closer. I would love any and all feedback. And I have found several other pre-trip reports I will be following myself!
I am going to leave you with a pic of my kids on our last trip. They were 3, 5 and 15 in this picture - babies! Sadly, my oldest DS 19 will not be with us on this trip. I think spending 9 days with us would be the absolute worst form of torture he could imagine! At this age, even a trip to Disney couldn't convince him we are not that bad!
Let's start with Me - went to Disney as a kid a couple of times and loved it! I am a mom of 3 who is soooo excited about this trip!
My DH is not so excited about the trip
When we went in 2011, he was recovering from knee surgery (it had been a couple of months but surgery ended up being more extensive and recovery much slower than expected. So he basically didn't ride anything because he couldn't really get in and out of ride cars easily or swiftly. And by the end of the trip, his knee was killing him. He is not much of a rider anyway- especially if anything goes up in the air. Definitely no Rock'n'Rollercoaster for him! 2 Kids - DD 9 and DS 7 Here they are:
Man, I hope that picture worked. Its been a long time since I posted pics on here! Like 4 years!
The Trip - We booked this trip 25 days out -
We had originally planned on going in March, but we could not find a date that worked between extracurriculars and DH's work schedule. The only time we could figure it out before September was in less than a month! So I quickly jumped online, did some really quick research and before DH could changed his mind - Booked it! Original plans were to drive down beginning on January 2nd and arrive on January 3rd, and staying through January 8th. However I got greedy and felt like we needed an extra day! So now we are leaving a day earlier and arriving on the 2nd. The kids have no idea! We are going to surprise them at Christmas. We told them that we were not going in March and it would be 2016 before we could go - so they are going to be super stoked! The Details - Right now we are checking into AKL on January 3rd. No idea where we are staying the night of the 2nd at this point. Maybe somewhere close by, maybe add a night on at a value resort???? I just know that I want to get an early start on the morning of 1/3 and check into our hotel and activate magic bands and be at Animal Kingdom by 9 am. We have 7 day park hoppers and the Deluxe Dining Plan. I know, I know.. too much food. DH insisted on DxDP. And honestly, we had it last time and it worked out great for us.
Last Minute Booking - The Good, The Bad and The Ugly. To be honest, booking this late in the game has STRESSED me out! There are a couple of dinner ADR's I either can't get or have booked at terrible times. And don't get me started on FastPasses. I like having a plan and I think I will like this FP system, just wished we had booked earlier and I had been able to get things when I want them. I am still working on a touring plan. But major score - I randomly checked MDE the other night when I couldn't sleep and got a dinner reservation at Be Our Guest! I almost fell out of my chair! And with the exception of Ohana and one dinner at Hollywood Studios, I am fairly pleased with most of my other dining ADR's. We will have fun trying some new places!
So.... if this is of interest to anyone - I will update with my touring plans and other info as we get closer. I would love any and all feedback. And I have found several other pre-trip reports I will be following myself!
I am going to leave you with a pic of my kids on our last trip. They were 3, 5 and 15 in this picture - babies! Sadly, my oldest DS 19 will not be with us on this trip. I think spending 9 days with us would be the absolute worst form of torture he could imagine! At this age, even a trip to Disney couldn't convince him we are not that bad!
Hopefully you can get your ADR's worked out! DxDP! Woohoo! I'd love to do that, but I can't quite justify the sacrifice of park time yet with two small kids. 
