Take THREE! Another Spring Break PTR

[Jennifer84]

I started a PTR last year. Booked our package, Figured out touring plans, made packing lists. The works. Then.... my car died. I had to use my Disney trip money for a new car. So, I cancelled our trip

Then, this past fall I started one for this trip. But, I was so back and forth, not knowing what we were really going to do, so I abandoned it. Since my plans are now set (and are completely different from my fall PTR) I wanted to start again. I WILL finish this time!!!

So, for those of you who are new. Let me introduce my crazy little family. First up is me. I'm the mom and trip planner. I am also the only one of the bunch who has been to Disney World!




Next, my son, Joey. He is 9, and is more excited about the rides than anything else.



Then, we have my daughter, Lexi. She is obsessed with the princesses, especially Cinderella. She cannot wait to ride Splash Mountain.



Last, but not least, my youngest, Kaitlyn. She loves the fab 5 (and Daisy)!!! She recently became a "big girl" by becoming potty trained! She is very proud of herself, and she keeps saying she can't wait to tell Mickey!



Next up: Our travel plans

 

[Jennifer84]

We are driving this time. We live in Virginia, and it's about a 13 hour drive. I plan on leaving right after dinner (around 6pm) on Friday so that we arrive around 8-9am on Saturday. While the kids are in school on Friday, I will be sleeping, so I can do the all night drive.

We have a big day planned on Saturday. I know I will be tired, but the kids won't be, and Disney will be calling my name! Coffee will be my BFF on this day! I am hoping to arrive between 8-9am, depending on how many times I have to stop on the way. We will grab breakfast, check into our hotel (I know our room won't be ready, yet, but we need to check in so we can use our tickets & DP).

Next up: Our first Disney day: Animal Kingdom, Taking the Florida Plunge meetup, YeeHaa Bob & Welcome to POP!

 

[Jennifer84]

I am waiting to post my plans for each day, until I make my FP+ selections. But, while we're waiting, I will go ahead and share my dining plans. All breakfasts, with the exception of Akershus, will be eaten in our room.

Day 1: AK day Flame Tree BBQ lunch, Hoop Dee Doo Revue dinner
Day 2: MK day Be Our Guest lunch, 1900 Park Fare dinner
Day 3: HS day Pop food court lunch, Ohana dinner
Day 4: Epcot day Akershus breakfast, lunch and dinner in World Showcase
Day 5: MK day Chef Mickey brunch, Pecos Bill dinner, Tomorrowland Terrace dessert party

On our last Disney day, my youngest will be spending the evening with a Kids Nite Out sitter, while the older two and I hit the mountains in Magic Kingdom, and go to the TT dessert party. She's not tall enough for those rides, but my other two (and I) really want to go on them.

 

[Jennifer84]

We should be arriving around 8am, and will check into POP Century and grab some breakfast.



Then, we will head on over to our first park: Animal Kingdom! Taking the Florida Plunge's Scott Parker is having a meetup at AK this day, so we will be saying hi to him. Other things on our to do list include:

Lunch at Flame Tree BBQ
Finding Nemo show (FP+)
Kali River Rapids (FP+)
Kilimanjaro Safari (FP+)
Jammin Jungle Parade
Tree of Life



Unfortunately, my youngest is just barely 38" tall, so there are lots of rides we will have to skip on this trip, such as Expedition Everest. The upside to this is that we can take our time a little more, since those are the rides that usually have longer lines.

We are booked for dinner at the Hoop dee doo revue at 6:15pm. After dinner, I am hoping to catch YeeHaa Bob at POR for a bit before heading back to POP to crash for the night.

 

[Jennifer84]

The more I thought about driving all night, then going to AK, HDDR and YeeHaa Bob, the more I thought I won't be able to do it. I'm not as young as I used to be! HA! So.... I just added a night onto the beginning of our trip!

So, now we will be driving during the day of the 11th, and stopping for the night at a hotel about 10 minutes from Disney! That way, we are rested and ready to go on the 12th!

 

[Jennifer84]

Today is our first Magic Kingdom day! I have planned for two days at MK this trip.

Our to do list includes:
Relaxing morning, taking it all in & meeting characters
Lunch at Be Our Guest
ETWB (FP+)
Peter Pan's Flight (FP+)
Winnie the Pooh (FP+)
See the new parade
MSEP & Wishes

Each day (except for our AK day) I am planning on going back to Pop midday for a break. My youngest DD doesn't nap anymore at home, but I'm sure she will need a nap at Disney. My 6 year old DD has a few social anxiety and SPD issues and will definitely need a midday break so she doesn't get overwhelmed. We want to avoid meltdowns, if possible.

We have dinner planned for 1900 Park Fare! All three of my kids are looking forward to this dinner. My DS is excited to "mess with" all the characters, to get some funny interactions. He can't wait to meet the step-sisters!

 

[Jennifer84]

No sleeping in, yet! We have somewhere very important to be. When planning this trip, I wanted to make sure that my DS had a hand in some of the planning. He is past the character stage (other than trying to get a fun interaction with them), and he can't go on the bigger rides, because of his little sister being too small. So, I asked what he wanted to do the most. His response: Fight Darth Vader.

So, we will be waking up extra early, so we can be one of the first families to get into DHS and get to the Jedi Training sign ups. After getting him signed up, we will leisurely stroll through DHS, going on any rides we want to, and seeing shows that interest us. It opens at 8am, but our first FP+ isn't until 10:45.

Our to do list here:

Jedi Training
Indiana Jones (FP+)
Toy Story Midway Mania (FP+)
Voyage of the Little Mermaid (FP+)
Fantasmic!

Would also like to see the stunt show, Disney Jr LIVE and Beauty & the Beast if the times line up right, but we won't be upset if we can't see them. We are having dinner at Ohana this night! I was so excited to get that ADR since I only booked it recently.

 

[PH7]

Following along!

 

[Jennifer84]

Following along!

Yay! I'm not talking to myself anymore!

 

[Jennifer84]

** ADDED ADR for Hollywood Studios day. We are now having lunch at 50's Prime Time Cafe as well **

It's finally time to hit my favorite park... EPCOT!

I absolutely LOVE Epcot!! I have even gotten the kids pumped up about it. We have a breakfast reservation at Akershus, so that's first up on our to do list. Other must dos include:

Character meet & greets (FP+ for Character Spot)
Spaceship Earth (FP+)
The Seas with Nemo & friends (FP+)
Illuminations

I wasn't too sure what to FP+ in Epcot, just because my youngest DD can't do Soarin or Test Track (GRRR), so I just randomly chose some.

I am REALLY excited about the next day. Finally, some grown up rides!

 

[PH7]

** ADDED ADR for Hollywood Studios day. We are now having lunch at 50's Prime Time Cafe as well **

It's finally time to hit my favorite park... EPCOT!

I absolutely LOVE Epcot!! I have even gotten the kids pumped up about it. We have a breakfast reservation at Akershus, so that's first up on our to do list. Other must dos include:

Character meet & greets (FP+ for Character Spot)
Spaceship Earth (FP+)
The Seas with Nemo & friends (FP+)
Illum

I wasn't too sure what to FP+ in Epcot, just because my youngest DD can't do Soarin or Test Track (GRRR), so I just randomly chose some.

I am REALLY excited about the next day. Finally, some grown up rides!

Do you know which characters are at the epcot character spot?

 

[PH7]

** ADDED ADR for Hollywood Studios day. We are now having lunch at 50's Prime Time Cafe as well **

It's finally time to hit my favorite park... EPCOT!

I absolutely LOVE Epcot!! I have even gotten the kids pumped up about it. We have a breakfast reservation at Akershus, so that's first up on our to do list. Other must dos include:

Character meet & greets (FP+ for Character Spot)
Spaceship Earth (FP+)
The Seas with Nemo & friends (FP+)
Illuminations


I wasn't too sure what to FP+ in Epcot, just because my youngest DD can't do Soarin or Test Track (GRRR), so I just randomly chose some.

I am REALLY excited about the next day. Finally, some grown up rides!

Also make sure you do the ride with figment I think its called journey into the imagination

Its great for all age groups! Also ellens energy ride

 

[Jennifer84]

Do you know which characters are at the epcot character spot?

I believe it's Mickey, Minnie and either Goofy or Pluto

Also make sure you do the ride with figment I think its called journey into the imagination

Its great for all age groups! Also ellens energy ride

Thanks for the tips! We will check them out

 

[Jennifer84]

We can sleep in a little bit this day! We are going to relax at the hotel, until our late breakfast ADR at Chef Mickey. After breakfast, we will head to MK for a couple last day rides, meet & greets, etc.

Then, we will go back to hotel and wait for the babysitter to arrive! My older DD has been really looking forward to going on Splash Mtn, but the little one is going to be too short. Since she is very sensitive, she could never wait in that line without me, and she probably would get really scared going on it without me. Soooo... I decided to splurge a little for a sitter one night, so I could take the older two kids on some of the bigger rides AKA... the mountains of the Magic Kingdom!! To top it off, I also booked the Tomorrowland Terrace Fireworks Dessert Party for this night, just for the 3 of us.

Here are our must do's:
Splash Mtn (FP+)
BTMRR (FP+)
Space Mtn (FP+)
Haunted Mansion

Then, it's time to pack up and get ready for the beach!!!

 

[PH7]

Hi
Sorry for all the comments. I have a q how early did you get your tomorrrowland terrace dessert party? I've been trying to book for my trip for the last two months. Its either not open or fully booked :/

 

[Jennifer84]

Hi
Sorry for all the comments. I have a q how early did you get your tomorrrowland terrace dessert party? I've been trying to book for my trip for the last two months. Its either not open or fully booked :/

I booked it about two weeks ago! I got lucky, and it was available on the night I wanted! Just keep checking! Hopefully you can get in!

 

[deedee2177]

Hello! Following along. We are going in April as well, but looks like we will just miss you guys. We leave 4/20 to drive down (from NC, so not as long as a ride as you have), and we will be heading back on 4/26.

My DH and I decided we wanted our Moms to go on this trip with us as well, so they can see the kids living it up in Disney. Hope you and the kids have a blast!

 

[Jennifer84]

Hello! Following along. We are going in April as well, but looks like we will just miss you guys. We leave 4/20 to drive down (from NC, so not as long as a ride as you have), and we will be heading back on 4/26.

My DH and I decided we wanted our Moms to go on this trip with us as well, so they can see the kids living it up in Disney. Hope you and the kids have a blast!

Thanks for reading! I will hop over to your PTR in a minute I tried to get my mom to come with us, but she wouldn't. She and my dad took me when I was 5, and they didn't do too much planning, so she had a terrible experience (tons of crazy long lines, not knowing what they were doing, etc.) She keeps telling me I don't know what I'm getting into, but I've done so much more planning than they did, so I'm not worried.

I hope you guys have a wonderful trip, too!

 

[Jennifer84]

I made a few ADR changes last night.

We will now be going to see YeeHaa Bob on our arrival night.

Changed HDDR from 6:15 to 8:30 so we can have a little more time in AK

Booked BOG FP+ lunch for our first MK day

Changed 50's Prime Time from 11:00 to 3:00 and got rid of Ohana (A little sad about this one, but I just don't really want to do so much running around)

And, the biggest change..... Unfortunately my ex changed his mind about me getting the kids for both weekends, so now we have to be back by Friday evening, which means no beach time Luckily we had planned on leaving Disney on Thursday anyway, so it didn't cut into our Disney time, but I am really upset. I haven't told the kids, yet.

So this will be the end of our trip. We might try to find a beach on our way home and stop for an hour or two, though.

 

[deedee2177]

Completely stinks you have to had back early. I understand the dealings with the ex and shared custody though. My DH has joint custody of his daughter so all plans have to coordinated with the schedule and confirmed if they overlap...ugh! Luckily we didn't have any issue with the planning for this trip!

Also, wanted to share with you that Ormond Beach is a nice beach that is abut 1 1/2 hours from Disney. Not so built up and Spring Break Crazy like Daytona Beach...so might be worth checking out.

Thanks for taking a peek at my PTR, feel free to provide any suggestions