Texan turning into a Disneyholic - June 2012 PTR

[lonestarTX]

Hey, What are yall gonna do now that it's 2012?!?!.......
WE'RE GOING TO DISNEY WORLD!!!
(you gotta say it like we just won the Super Bowl. OK, now read it again)



I wasn't going to do a PTR because I figured, "Who's gonna be interested in my planning of this trip? They'll only be interested in a completed trip report, right?" But the more I planned, the more excited I got & then I thought, "Who wouldn't want to read about my planning of this trip?!" So, here we are...and even if I don't get any readers, I'll still enjoy documenting it all.

How we got here:
This trip has been a long time coming but we finally made a plan that we're sticking with! We're going to Disney World in June for 4 days. I know, I know...it's not enough time, but for our first trip as a family, I'm sure it'll be long enough. Especially with an almost 2 year old who will be skipping naps.

I've been doing research on Disney since last summer. First, we were gonna go with some friends July 2011 but when they decided not to go, we nixed our plans as well. Then, Disney Cruise dates came out this past Spring for Galveston & we decided to book for Thanksgiving week 2012 with my sister's family. As time went on, I kept comparing World prices vs. cruise prices. I just couldn't justify spending more than DOUBLE the price of just going to Disney World for the cruise...so, another trip cancelled! (don't worry...we got 100% of our deposit back.)

But before we cancelled the cruise, I told myself (& husband) that we were DEFINITELY doing something Disney this year. So once we cancelled the cruise, it was time to price out Disney World packages again. We had a few free flight vouchers on SW so we decided on the dates & booked the flights. (That was another "plus" on going to the World instead of the cruise.)

How we told the kids:
We finally told the kids on New Year's Eve that we were going. I bought some trading pins on ebay & my husband got some Disney lanyards at Home Depot. We...I mean Mickey Mouse packed a box w/ the pins & lanyards and a personal note from Mickey himself telling the girls about the vacation. They were so excited & immediately started picking which pins they wanted.

Where we're staying:
We will be staying at the new Art of Animation resort. I was originally skeptical about booking a new hotel just because of the unknown...but I decided to bite the bullet & go for it. With a family of 5 (1 being very young), it was important for us to have a separate bedroom from the living room. And since most of AoA's rooms are family suites, we decided it was the best choice for us. The resort opens in May 2012 so hopefully it'll still be nice & new when we get there! Our suite will be themed after Finding Nemo!

Dining Plan:
We went with the regular Dining plan mainly because I wanted to use our table credits for the 2 character meals we've booked. Our first full day there, we will have lunch at Cinderella's Royal Table w/ Cinderella & all the princesses. (I think my 5 year old is gonna FREAK when she gets there!) The next day we'll do breakfast at Chef Mickey at the Contemporary Resort. Other than that, we'll eat at the hotel or parks w/ our counter service credits. We're not too pickey about fancy meals...and don't really feel like dealing w/ a sit down meal w/ a cranky 23 month old after walking around the parks all day.

Up next....Cast of Characters

 

[lonestarTX]

I've seen other people save pages for this so I guess I'll do the same. I'm going into this blindly, so I hope to figure it out as I go.

 

[lonestarTX]

You didn't ask for it, but here we are anyway.

Lauren:
I'm the instigator of this trip! I've gone to Disney World & Land a few times growing up & once more as an adult w/ my oldest daughter. I've never been overly obsessed with any Disney character in particular, but I'm having so much fun planning this trip that I'm scared I'm gonna fall hard! I think my favorite part of ANY Disney movie is the music. So far, my top 2 fav's are Beauty & The Beast and The Little Mermaid!
Bo:
He also went to Disney World growing up, but if it were up to him, we'd just stay local for our vacation. Not too big into crowds...but even if we have to take him down kicking & screaming....he WILL have a good time!
<--I really wanted to use this guy! And since my husband likes to dance little jigs, I felt it was appropriate!

Becca:
My 14 year old, 8th grade cheerleader. She was really proud of herself for making the squad this year so I thought I should use that pic. Is she really gonna be in Highschool next year?!?! I took her to Disney World in 2001 when she was 4 1/2 but she says it'll be like her first time again since she really doesn't remember going before. I figure I better get in one more trip with her before she feels like she's too old for it.

Izzy:
Ball-o-energy! She's 5 years old going on 21! She's as sweet as can be but....antagonizes her sisters as well. It was important for me to take Izzy to WDW while she was still in the "princess stage" just like I did for Bec. She'll also be in Kindergarten next year, so I thought this would be a good summer vacation before we start the school year.

Maggie:
Almost 18 months old but will be 23 months when we go to Disney World. She LOVES to dance & act silly with Izzy. She also likes to hit Izzy, but that's another story. I think she'll be very "starstruck" when she gets around all the princesses & characters!

Well, that about sums it up for us. We're not really all that different than you...except that we're not full on, mouse loving, go multiple times a year, go without the kids, 2 weeks in the World type of folks....YET!