Added Trips! Now May, August, October & December!!! What?

[StarWarsMomofGirls!]

****If you are new to this PTR, I have already gone on our Split Stay Pallooza trip but have since added a few trips to our schedule for this year!!! If you want to skip ahead, click the link here to the future trips!

What trips am I still planning for? See the list below!

• A May Birthday Trip
• August Sweat to Death Trip
• October Adults Only 2.0 Trip
• A December Christmas Trip
• A regularly scheduled February Trip in 2020

I am going to link each as I make a new summary and probably try and give them each a color. We will see how that goes! ****


Hello!

So, I am starting to plan and think about our next trip already! I have been toying with some ideas in my head and I have been talking a little with DH about them but I can only talk about it so much with him before he gets totally turned off by it.

So, I figured I would start another PTR and get some feedback from all of you lovely folks!!!!

So, who am I and my family?



This is my little family. From Youngest to Oldest, you have Gwen, Morgan, myself and Andy.

Gwen is 7 turning 8 this summer, she is our fancy girl with lots of spunk! Morgan just turned 10! And is more reserved than Gwen. Then you have myself, Ariella, your resident crazy Disney planner. And then Andy, who loves Disney and all the fun we have but only like planning a little bit. He leaves that up to me!

This will be our 6th trip to Disney World (I think). This past year, we went 2 times, once in September and then around our regularly scheduled time of February. And then we had a very last minute trip to Disneyland! Which I am still in denail even happened.

Sadly, I think we are back to going once a year but I am looking to make this a little bit longer of a trip to make up for that.

Ok, so, onto the "Plan" at the moment. It really isn't much...

My general idea is to do a split stay or even a triple split stay! We have never done this before and I am not sure how we will like it.

So, the "plan" in bullet point form:

• Start the stay at a Value (more than likely Pop Century)

Go park 'camando' for a few days. Using the room to mostly just sleep.

• Move over to a deluxe (more than likely the Poly)

Have a day and half of resort only relaxation. Really enjoy the pool and the resort.
Really take the opportunity to rest up from a few long days and recharge for round 2.

• Then move AGAIN to a Moderate (more than likely French Quarter)

Finish off the trip with more park days.
Maybe not take it quiet as hard but still mostly spend time in the parks.

Are we crazy for even considering 3 hotels in one trip!?! I figure I would have to pack a suitcase for each hotel so as to not empty out all the suitcases 3 different times.

I would like to take advantage of the resort days on "busier" crowd days. And have started to look at crowd calenders but that is making my decision on when to go even more murky....

Plus I am not sure how long we can actually go for... I am thinking it will possibly depend on how cheap we can get Pop and the poly. I am hoping they kind of balance each other out price wise, but we will see once 2019 pricing is released.

I have many other things running through my head, but I am going to stop here, to keep this from being too long and from it becoming a silly run on sentence!

Who has done split-stays? Would you recommend them? Any tips for doing so?

 

[missangelalexis]

Joining in! Exciting that you have another trip in the works!

I have never done a split stay but so many people on here do and seem to find it pretty easy! I think it would be awesome if you could make it work to stay at a deluxe for a few days!

 

[Lesley Wake]

Sounds like fun! And the 3 different suitcases sounds like a great plan!

 

[StarWarsMomofGirls!]

My dilemma!

When to go...

• I def want to go during Flower & Garden this time. - Everything looks so pretty in EPCOT during this time and we love doing food booths. We have had Festival of the Arts the last 2 Feb. Trips but that has just been "ok" so far.
• We want it to be warmer, so that we hopefully will WANT to swim on our resort day. - I know we can't gaurentee good weather on our resort day, but I can at least plan a typically warm time of year.
• But I don't want it to be SUPER crazy busy... (and by super crazy busy, I mean a lines like @ariane37 saw over Spring Break)
• I do try to plan the trips around some sort of day off or half day for the girls school if at all possible. And THIS is becoming the rub!

So, we have gone the last couple years basically the first week in September. And that has been a great time of year to go but it can still be a little cool and not really swimming weather for adults. (My children will swim anytime of year if we let them!)

Also, it still leaves a good amount of winter left when we come back. So, we wanted to maybe endure a little more winter before we escape to Florida.

So, based on that alone, I was thinking early March instead. It's a full month later, Flower & Garden will def have started. It will work... Until I started looking at crowd calendars on Touring Plans.com... Touring Plans pretty much has the ENTIRE month of March listed as 8, 9, or 10!!! The whole month!!! That can't be right, right? But I do trust them, so I am wavering on that time frame.

So, then, I thought, ok, what about early April instead.... Touring Plans still maintains the crowd rankings of 8, 9, or 10 all the way up to Easter! BUT they drop it down significantly almost immediately after that! And the girls always have there spring break the week after Easter. Also, Easter is late April next year, so we are creeping farther and farther away from February.

So, Touring Plans, has the Wednesday AFTER Easter dropping all the way down to a 6. 6 is a number we can handle. And the following week it averages 4, 5, & 6's. All numbers I like. BUT does it REALLY drop down after Easter? Has anyone been to Disney at this time?

So, I said to myself, ok, let's just pretend that this is when we will go. And started to map out timing for our 3 parks visit.
And I came up with a few surprising finding/new questions...

• Easter Sunday is April 21st
• Andy's birthday is Tuesday, April 23rd
• Morgan's Birthday is Friday, May 3rd

At first I thought, maybe we could be in Disney for both of there birthdays, but that might be too long of a stay. I mean I would LOVE To be there that long, but that would almost be 10 days of PTO for me and that is alot. As I don't get that much to start.

So, I was thinking, ok, we leave towards the end of the week after Easter, give it even more time to clear out from the holiday, take advantage of a couple days of the week vacation and take the girls out the following week of school, so we are there on Morgan's birthday.

That might work...

But do I want to open THAT can of worms?!?! If Morgan gets to go to Disney ON her ACTUAL birthday, We will have to do that for Gwen at some point and Gwen's is July 19th! Can we say HOT!!!!! So, I need to talk that out with Andy....

And then I want to take advantage of our resort days on busier days, if possible, which would presumably be the weekends? But I also want to get a few park days in, so we are using it to rest up and recharge. So, that really creates a longer trip.

At any rate, this is what I was thinking of a possible itinerary...


It's a pipe dream to be there this long, but I "might" be able to convince Andy with the 2 built in non-park days... I think part of it would depend on how much Pop Century would cost and Poly, (like I said before) And I can ramble on and on about all of this.

What do you guys think? Is the week after Easter going to still be busy? Is ALL of March really THAT busy?

The girls do have a 4 day weekend around President's Day in February, but that sounds like it will be busy-is AND it leads into Princess Half Marathon weekend, which seem to be fairly busy these days as well.

 

[Lesley Wake]

So, then, I thought, ok, what about early April instead.... Touring Plans still maintains the crowd rankings of 8, 9, or 10 all the way up to Easter! BUT they drop it down significantly almost immediately after that! And the girls always have there spring break the week after Easter. Also, Easter is late April next year, so we are creeping farther and farther away from February.

Everything I was seeing about crowds the week after Easter showed it pretty uncrowded. I got in right before most of the spring break crowds (so the first weekend of March), but the weather was very Goldilocks - hot in the sun, chilly in the shade.

But do I want to open THAT can of worms?!?! If Morgan gets to go to Disney ON her ACTUAL birthday, We will have to do that for Gwen at some point and Gwen's is July 19th! Can we say HOT!!!!! So, I need to talk that out with Andy....

Hmm, well you could do a Disneyland trip then - it'll be hot, but not humid! I've done many a birthday trip to Disneyland, and my bday is July 9th. Lauren and Joey went to WDW around July 4th in 2016 and they said it was hot, but not unbearable. Also, if you do WDW then, it'll give you more impetus to do the water parks!

The girls do have a 4 day weekend around President's Day in February, but that sounds like it will be busy-is AND it leads into Princess Half Marathon weekend, which seem to be fairly busy these days as well.

I will be there Feb 7-10 and 14-17 (with cruise in between). If you do end up going that route, let me know and maybe I could shift dates to overlap more!

 

[Stasieki]

I have been over two Presidents Day weekends (was there this year).... it was packed the Sunday and Monday of Presidents weekend but then started dropping off. On the Sunday, the fastpass line for Big Thunder was to the ice cream cart on the bridge. But we still had a great time.

 

[disneyAndi14]

Joining in to see how you solve your dilemma We have been the week before Easter, the week after Easter, and Presidents Day week, these weeks are all busy, the week after Easter was by far the busiest! Like way busier than our Thanksgiving Trip. My observations on spring break trips have been when Easter is later in April, the end of March and beginning of April have been less busy. My daughter always had the week of Presidents Day off in February and the first week of April so this is when we always went.

We are going the last week of March in 2019, we don’t have any other choice because Andi’s college break is that week.
I am not happy to hear the high numbers TP has for its crowd calendars but we will deal with it. I was thinking it would be better since Easter is later, I can hope, right?

We are doing a split stay this coming August, we start at Pop for 4 days then over to WL for 5 nights. We have just done 1 night at a resort before moving to our main one and it was very easy to do. WDW makes it easy with bell service managing the luggage.

Good luck planning if you go the last week of March we could have a Dis meet!!

 

[Jules76126]

I have been lurking on your TRs for awhile now and have really enjoyed them. Glad to get in on the beginning of one this time. Not planning on going back to WDW till 2022 so living vicariously through peoples TRs till planning can start in 2021 .

In terms of crowd and weather - I have been to WDW every month of the year. March can be very crowded. You have some schools on break, you have college spring breaks, and some years Easter although not next year. The other issue is it can still be cold. One year we went and it was very cold late afternoon/evening/early morning. We decided never again. I personally enjoy April/May as you are guaranteed warm weather, the flowers are all out and you get to come home to nicer weather. I also found the crowds to not be too bad. It would stink to plan resort days to only have it be too cold to swim. You won't have that problem after March. Plus as someone who lives in the Northeast, I hate flying when there is a chance of snow as I hate airport delays.

 

[MissMaryQC]

I mean here, and caught up.

I’m gonna say this, even though it’s not super helpful. Touring Plans, while it can be a great guide, is not always correct, and sometimes I think they’re just wrong! Example: for this September they have our entire trip, less than 4 months after Toy Story Land will open set at a 1 or 2. I feel like that’s just not correct!

If you’re concerned about crowds, as I always am, I like to cross reference Touring Plans, Dad’s Disney Calendar and Easy WDW. I find that to be a good combo of information.

I do also feel like early 2019 will be much slower next year than it was this year. With Star Wars Galaxy’s Edge opening in the fall I’m sure a lot of folks will want to visit then, so you may see crowd predictions decrease, and hopefully some good Disney discounts for the spring!

 

[Raeven]

Following along!

Are we crazy for even considering 3 hotels in one trip!?! I figure I would have to pack a suitcase for each hotel so as to not empty out all the suitcases 3 different times.

No! We do that on a lot of trips, but we just make a mess of our one suitcase

So, Touring Plans, has the Wednesday AFTER Easter dropping all the way down to a 6. 6 is a number we can handle. And the following week it averages 4, 5, & 6's. All numbers I like. BUT does it REALLY drop down after Easter? Has anyone been to Disney at this time?

The 2 months before that is basically every spring break straight so I think that's why it's so busy. I would say it dropping down after Easter seems accurate to me since Easter is in late April next year. I've heard the last week of April often isn't busy (we might go that week next year), and we've been the first 2 weeks of May and it's not bad crowd wise.

 

[KCF1216]

We went April 12 - 21 this year. We are a family of 5 with kids 7, 4, and 1. We stayed 7 nights at Wyndham Bonnet Creek and then 1 at Boardwalk and 1 at Wilderness lodge. So a triple stay too.

Easter was 4/1, we are from MA so our break started 4/14. This was our 3rd trip since 2016 and it really wasn’t that crowded to us. I don’t know what it rated but it didn’t seem crowded. We were there the first week of Nov in 2017 and it was similar to then. We did MK on a rainy Sunday and by evening almost every ride was walk on, Barnstormer didn’t even make you get off to ride again. The weather was other than that day perfect. Our April vacation week in 2016 was much more crowded.

In terms of moving, we added the Wilderness last minute but it was actually really easy to move hotels while at Disney. Bell services does all the work, you just put your stuff in your suitcases and they move it for you. The kids enjoyed the different hotels too.

I am in process of trying to convince my hubs we need another trip! We have some Jet Blue credits we need to use before Jan and I really think Orlando is the best use of that flight

 

[ArielSRL]

I think like @Raeven said, bc Easter is so late, crowds will drop after bc most schools will have already had spring break. I do find it odd about the high numbers all of March. I’d think early March would be ok?

As far as the bday dilemma, I’m about to open that can of worms. While we won’t be at WDW on AJs actual bday, we are there until Oct 7th and his bday is Oct 9th. Fortunately Wills is March 3 so it wouldn’t be a bad time to go but I don’t get time off then.

And as far as the split stay....I haven’t done it but I’m considering it for 2020. I want to try for beach club or boardwalk but then I think I will miss the boat at WL to MK. So I was thinking I could do a split stay where we went to EPCOT and DHS while at BC or BW and then MK while at WL. But we are also planning to do a night at Legoland Hotel that year so that would be 3 resorts....not sure Chad will go for that.

 

[mdsouth]

So many decisions and so many factors to consider. I have never done a split stay but am considering it for the future. Your idea for the three resorts makes sense to me in how you plan to spend the time but three might be a bit much moving around but then again, you are there for a longer length of time so it might work our great.

We loved our stay at French Quarter. Our last trip was the week leading into President's Day weekend. The crowds were low until Thursday heading into the weekend. And then it was packed! It was crazy! So you idea to just plan to just hang out at the resort over the weekend when you are there, regardless of the month sounds like a great plan to me.

 

[kastoney]

Hi! I'm here.

We done split stays twice and are getting ready to do another one in August. I certainly like being able to experience more than 1 resort, but I do miss being able to unpack and just feel like you have a home for the week. Our splits have only been 2 resorts and I'm not sure I'd do more than that as you'd spend so much time packing and repacking. So maybe just do two??? The only reason we are doing it again on our next trip is our friends decided to join us for a few days and couldn't get into the Beach Club. So we moved part of our reservation to BWI and then we're moving over to Beach Club, which I've always wanted to stay at.

As far as spring break I'm not much help there, but we are more than likely going in April of next year too. I hadn't paid too much attention to when Spring Break is but Jason wants to do the Star Wars so we'll be going in early April when Casey thankfully has a day off from school too.

 

[MiracleCream]

Following along to see how the planning goes. We did a split stay last June because our budget decreased dramatically so I had to make the trip cheaper. We did POFQ then moved to CR. The unpacking and packing is a hassle but you can minimize that with packing cubes and keeping a bag with you to drop off at bell services to keep there just in case the transfer of bags from one resort to another takes a while. We have to do it again in November even though we sworn not to because once again, the budget decreased again! You do what you can and try to make the best out of it. I like your plan with park during value resort and resort days when you’re at deluxe resorts. That’s my plan too. If I can suggest, keep deluxe last so you’re not downgrading when you go from deluxe to moderate. Does that make sense? It’s a tip someone gave me on here last year so I thought I would pass it on to you. If it doesn’t work for your plans, then forget I said it!

 

[reyasmommy]

The only time we ever do split stays is when we do a cruise. We'll do one resort for a few days, do a cruise, then come back and do a few more days at another. We usually road-trip it to Orlando and stay at 3 hotels along the way, so my suitcases never stay organized anyway. I wish I could help you with the crowds. We've never been in April but we have been in March and it was insane with all of the spring break crowds. ((Never again will I go in March))

 

[StarWarsMomofGirls!]

Hi Everyone!!!!

I want to say thank you to everyone who is following along and giving me some advise! I already feel a little better about going with the week after Easter. I am going to do a little more pre-planning and strategizing and then I will talk it out with Andy. This has seemed to be the best route for me.

Hmm, well you could do a Disneyland trip then - it'll be hot, but not humid! I've done many a birthday trip to Disneyland, and my bday is July 9th. Lauren and Joey went to WDW around July 4th in 2016 and they said it was hot, but not unbearable. Also, if you do WDW then, it'll give you more impetus to do the water parks!

I was kind of thinking those things... Disneyland again or maybe we go and stay at Beach Club and chill at the pool and try the water parks. We will see...

I will be there Feb 7-10 and 14-17 (with cruise in between). If you do end up going that route, let me know and maybe I could shift dates to overlap more!

We would be there the 14-17 if I did the Feb timeframe but I think I am leaning towards the after Easter week.

I have been over two Presidents Day weekends (was there this year).... it was packed the Sunday and Monday of Presidents weekend but then started dropping off. On the Sunday, the fastpass line for Big Thunder was to the ice cream cart on the bridge. But we still had a great time.

When we were there in February, it was pretty busy a couple of the days, so we do know how to manage the crowds, I just would like to avoid them at least a little if possible.

We are going the last week of March in 2019, we don’t have any other choice because Andi’s college break is that week.
I am not happy to hear the high numbers TP has for its crowd calendars but we will deal with it.

No, I get having to go when the break is. That will probably be us soon enough.

We are doing a split stay this coming August, we start at Pop for 4 days then over to WL for 5 nights. We have just done 1 night at a resort before moving to our main one and it was very easy to do. WDW makes it easy with bell service managing the luggage.

Good to know! I think the hardest part might be packing correctly.

I have been lurking on your TRs for awhile now and have really enjoyed them.

Thanks for coming over!!!! And glad you have enjoyed my trip reports.

Plus as someone who lives in the Northeast, I hate flying when there is a chance of snow as I hate airport delays.

That is true, although we usually like to escape the cold too!

I mean here, and caught up.

Thanks for coming over!!!

I’m gonna say this, even though it’s not super helpful. Touring Plans, while it can be a great guide, is not always correct, and sometimes I think they’re just wrong! Example: for this September they have our entire trip, less than 4 months after Toy Story Land will open. I feel like that’s just not correct!

I am sure it is hard to guess on some of this stuff. I am sure they don't really know what some of the factors will be for things like people not coming and waiting for Star Wars Land...

If you’re concerned about crowds, as I always am, I like to cross reference Touring Plans, Dad’s Disney Calendar and Easy WDW. I find that to be a good combo of information.

I will have to check out the other two you mention!

No! We do that on a lot of trips, but we just make a mess of our one suitcase

Ha! Family of 4 makes a bigger mess than you 2! We pack soooooo much crap!

I've heard the last week of April often isn't busy (we might go that week next year), and we've been the first 2 weeks of May and it's not bad crowd wise.

We could have a dis meet!

In terms of moving, we added the Wilderness last minute but it was actually really easy to move hotels while at Disney. Bell services does all the work, you just put your stuff in your suitcases and they move it for you. The kids enjoyed the different hotels too.

In theory, I really like the plan.... And I really think if I pack well, it won't be too bad.

I am in process of trying to convince my hubs we need another trip! We have some Jet Blue credits we need to use before Jan and I really think Orlando is the best use of that flight

Orlando is ALWAYS the best use of a flight!

I think like @Raeven said, bc Easter is so late, crowds will drop after bc most schools will have already had spring break. I do find it odd about the high numbers all of March. I’d think early March would be ok?

I feel like the first week in March would be ok-ish as well.

As far as the bday dilemma, I’m about to open that can of worms. While we won’t be at WDW on AJs actual bday, we are there until Oct 7th and his bday is Oct 9th. Fortunately Wills is March 3 so it wouldn’t be a bad time to go but I don’t get time off then.

You will have to let me know how it goes! I have wanted to take them both on there actual birthdays, so I feel like I should take advantage of the timing.

I want to try for beach club or boardwalk but then I think I will miss the boat at WL to MK. So I was thinking I could do a split stay where we went to EPCOT and DHS while at BC or BW and then MK while at WL. But we are also planning to do a night at Legoland Hotel that year so that would be 3 resorts....not sure Chad will go for that.

Maybe do Legoland first, then at least the last 2 hotels are "easier" switches? I know it's hard to give up WL....

Your idea for the three resorts makes sense to me in how you plan to spend the time but three might be a bit much moving around but then again, you are there for a longer length of time so it might work our great.

I am not sure we can actually stay that long, if we have to shorten it, I don't know if 3 hotels will still sound as good.

We loved our stay at French Quarter. Our last trip was the week leading into President's Day weekend. The crowds were low until Thursday heading into the weekend. And then it was packed! It was crazy! So you idea to just plan to just hang out at the resort over the weekend when you are there, regardless of the month sounds like a great plan to me.

Thanks! Weekends are always busier, I think. Especially holidays.

I certainly like being able to experience more than 1 resort, but I do miss being able to unpack and just feel like you have a home for the week.

So maybe just do two???

I thought about that... And just put the deluxe at the end so we can chill at the end of the trip. But I don't know if I can just lounge at the Poly with the Magic Kingdom so close by... But who knows...

So we moved part of our reservation to BWI and then we're moving over to Beach Club, which I've always wanted to stay at.

Beach Club is on my bucket list as well. If we go for Morgan's birthday, I am def thinking that Beach Club would be good for Gwen's birthday in July if we went for her birthday!

As far as spring break I'm not much help there, but we are more than likely going in April of next year too. I hadn't paid too much attention to when Spring Break is but Jason wants to do the Star Wars so we'll be going in early April when Casey thankfully has a day off from school too.

Too bad it will be early April. We need to match up our trips eventually so that Casey and Gwen can meet.

 

[MeghanEmily]

I'm here! I'll try my best to at least keep up to date, and to comment when I can. It sounds like you've already got a great trip brewing!!

Are we crazy for even considering 3 hotels in one trip!?! I figure I would have to pack a suitcase for each hotel so as to not empty out all the suitcases 3 different times.

Not crazy! I think a split stay with 2 hotels is a great idea. 3 hotels is definitely also doable. We seem to do split stays more often than not these days (though I wouldn't recommend switching as much as we did during our honeymoon! Like 6 times or something like that! lol) It's pretty easy when all of your hotels are Disney resorts because you can have your bags transferred. But after how much we moved around last summer, I'm sticking to split stays of only 2, maybe MAX 3 hotels in a trip now.

I def want to go during Flower & Garden this time. - Everything looks so pretty in EPCOT during this time and we love doing food booths. We have had Festival of the Arts the last 2 Feb. Trips but that has just been "ok" so far.

Yes!! Flower and Garden is my favourite!!

BUT does it REALLY drop down after Easter? Has anyone been to Disney at this time?

End of April into beginning of May is also my favourite time to go to Disney!! We've done it once, two years ago, and the crowds were very reasonable. It wasn't a ghost town, but you could move around freely and the lines weren't particularly long for most things. If I didn't have school and Nathan's work to worry about and I could go any time at all, that's when I'd want to go. And it should more than likely be nice warm weather for your pool days, but probably not unbearably hot either.

 

[StarWarsMomofGirls!]

Hello Everyone!

So, I haven't really done much in the way of planning. I just kind of keep thinking about it here and there. Andy and I are headed on a small road trip today, so hopefully I can talk about it with Andy in the car. on a side note, this road trip is going to allow me to finally meet @ariane37 & her husband today! Super excitied for our dis-meet!

And before I get into some planing thoughts... Today is 5 years since we went on our first trip! And I just had to share a few pics from that trip. The girls were so little!!!!

IMG_0013
Our VERY First picture in front of the castle! It had been a long morning and it took the girls awhile to figure out what was happening.

IMG_0013
But once we did a few things, there faces looked like this most of the trip! We watched the stage show on the first day and it was perfect, Morgan was going to burst seeing all of the Princesses and Princes! It truly was magical for her. At that age, she really thought they were seeing them.

IMG_1531
We rode the caroseul! I believe it was technically our very first ride! Look how small Gwen was... And her hair... It took FOREVER for it to grow.

Ok, back to thinking about our NEXT trip! I think you have all convinced me that the week after Easter and after should be ok. Now I just need to see what the $$$ will be. And how long Andy will want to stay. That will have a big effect on how I plan trip.

So, so random thoughts I have had....

If we do go for Morgan's birthday:

• Which Park do we want to do on her birthday?
• Which restaurant would be the most special for her?
• Would chilling at the fancy hotel be better?
• Do we tell her we are going on her birthday? If so when?

I need to float all of these ideas by Andy but here is what I am leaning towards at the moment....

• Which Park do we want to do on her birthday? - I think this would have to be Magic Kingdom!
• Which restaurant would be the most special for her? - This I am not sure about, I feel like I need to pry a little...

1. Maybe Cinderella's Royal Table, but I am not sure if she will feel too old. We haven't done it since our very first trip!
2. She does love Skipper Canteen but not sure if it would feel super special...
3. Maybe Ohana? That was a favorite of hers last time. I don't know...

• Would chilling at the fancy hotel be better? - Possibly but I am thinking a park is really the way to go.
• Do we tell her we are going on her birthday? If so when? - This I have NO IDEA what to do!!!!! If we are going for a long amount of time, I can tell her we are coming back sooner than her birthday. But Morgan is not great with surprises sometimes.... See the big reveal of going to Disneyland....

Other random thoughts:
The Dinning Plan....
I am not married to the dinning plan BUT Morgan is now 10 and will be considered an adult for buffets. So, If we go to Ohana, BOMA, Hoop Dee Do Review, & Tusker House, she will be $$$$$. And those are all on my wish list at the moment... And granted we still are paying for it one way or another, but I def can make it more worth our while if we do the dinning plan.
So, I am thinking maybe do the dinning plan for just PART of the trip, since we will be switching hotels, we would have to use up all of our dinning credits at the end of each hotel stay and that def seems like a real pain in the you know what. BUT, if we do the dinning plan for say the Poly & French Quarter portion, I could plan the big meals and $$$ buffets then.

Question, if we aren't on the dining plan, Morgan can order from either menu, correct? I do think there will be many times that she will enjoy the adult side of the menu more but not always.

I guess worse case, I could do what @MissMaryQC is doing, and stock up on gift cards. We will also have Disney Visa $$$$ built up by then again too.

Well, I am hoping I can nail Andy down on a general time frame this weekend, I do want to book at the very least the Deluxe part of the trip early on, so I can grab a standard room.

 

[MeghanEmily]

on a side note, this road trip is going to allow me to finally meet @ariane37 & her husband today! Super excitied for our dis-meet!

Yay!! Let us know how awesome it is!

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Our VERY First picture in front of the castle!

Oh my goodness gracious...they were so little and precious! Now they're already starting to grow up into such interesting dynamic young women. You must love looking back on these photos!

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But once we did a few things, there faces looked like this most of the trip!

This is SOO cute!! Should definitely keep a few of these to show in a slideshow at their eventual weddings or something.

Which Park do we want to do on her birthday? - I think this would have to be Magic Kingdom!

Hmmm. I'd think Magic Kingdom, too! Though maybe it you find a way to tell Morgan, then you could ask her what her preference would be? Or maybe even without telling her you could find a way to work it into conversation and get an idea of which park would be the coolest to celebrate in. She's a smart cookie though, so she might suspect...that's a tough one.

• But Morgan is not great with surprises sometimes.... See the big reveal of going to Disneyland....

Mmmm yeah, I was thinking about this, too. I mean, she knows Disney World much better than she knew Disneyland, so the fear of the unknown probably wouldn't affect things as much. But maybe she'd handle it better and feel more in control and get more excited if she knew in advance? Tough call there, too.

Question, if we aren't on the dining plan, Morgan can order from either menu, correct? I do think there will be many times that she will enjoy the adult side of the menu more but not always.

I don't think there's any restaurant where they won't let a 10 year old order off the kids' menu if she doesn't want anything on the adult's menu. The only thing I've heard is that sometimes they may require her to get a larger adults' sized portion of whatever she wants from the kids' menu, and that they'll charge you an adults' price for it? But I haven't ever done this with kids, so I don't know. The only kid we've hung out with at Disney recently has been my cousin, and he was 8.