"Thanks, Aunt Marian": Trip of a Lifetime in February 2016 PTR

[sara1215]

Well, tomorrow is my 180 day mark. I'm nervous and excited! I have my alarm set and my priority list made. Hopefully I'll get all my desired ADRs!

 

[skier_pete]

Good luck, but Please don't stress if you don't get exactly what you want!

 

[sara1215]

Good luck, but Please don't stress if you don't get exactly what you want!

I hope I won't stress. I keep telling myself not to! I have backup ideas too, if what I'm hoping for doesn't work out. I know my kids will have fun, and if something doesn't work out the way I hope, they'll never know the difference!

 

[sara1215]

I'm thrilled I got everything (plus more) I was hoping for! I'm going to have to do some serious narrowing down, though, or I'll be paying a ton out of pocket!

 

[sara1215]

Restaurant reservations at this point

Magic Kingdom
Feb 2 Crystal Palace (Pooh, Tigger, Eeyore, Piglet)
9:35 am

Feb 2 Tony’s Town--Lady & the Tramp theme (no characters)
12:55 pm

Feb 2 Cinderella’s Royal Table--castle (Cinderella, Fairy Godmother, Ariel, Aurora, Snow White)
5:35 pm


Epcot
Feb 3 Akershus (not all--Snow White, Cinderella, Aurora, Belle, Ariel, Jasmine, Mary Poppins)
9:35 am

Feb 3 San Angel--Nick and I only (date night)
7:00 pm


Hollywood Studios
Feb 4 Hollywood & Vine--Disney Jr characters (Sophia, Jake & Pirates, Doc McStuffins)
9:30 am

Feb 4 Hollywood Brown Derby (no characters)
1:40 pm

Feb 4 1900 Park--at a hotel, not in park (Cinderella, Fairy Godmother, Stepmother, Stepsisters)
5:45 pm


Animal Kingdom
Feb 5 ‘Ohana--at a hotel, not in park (Lilo & Stitch, Pluto, Mickey)
9:35 am

Feb 5 Tusker House (Donald, Daisy, Goofy, Mickey)
4:45 pm


Magic Kingdom
Feb 6 Be Our Guest--Beast’s Castle (no characters)
12:30 pm

(I included the characters in parentheses so DH could see them.)

I am 99% sure I'm canceling Tony's Town and Hollywood Brown Derby. These were like back up choices in case I didn't get the character choices I wanted.

I'm also thinking of canceling Hollywood and Vine. I booked it for the sole reason of Sofia the First. My kids don't really care about the other characters that will be there. Plus I've heard the food is not that great. So we can just do a meet/greet with Sofia.

I'm trying to decide about the Friday meals. I may leave that one up to the kids based on whether or not they want to meet LILO & Stitch.

The princess meals, I just can't pick one to cancel! Maybe I'll end up keeping them all.

 

[skier_pete]

Wow - you realize you have like $2000 in Disney dining there. I hope you don't want to do any rides, 'cause you'll be spending all your time in restaurants.

Seriously - I know it's "once in a lifetime" but don't do more than 2 meals a day for sure, and buffets are SOOO much food, if you do two in a day, the second one you'll barely touch your food and spend $150 for the honor. I suppose you can keep the reservations and decide as you go which ones you want, except you need to cancel 24 hours in advance or pay a penalty.

 

[sara1215]

I definitely plan to cancel some. I knew I would when I reserved them. I just didn't expect to get my whole wish list!

 

[MataHari22]

Wow, cannot believe you got everything you wanted. That's great! Once your FP+ are done and your plans are more solid, you can release some of those reservations. When I cancelled and changed my ADRs, I posted on the ADR cancellations thread on the restaurant board, hoped it helped someone out.

 

[sara1215]

Haven't updated in a while. I feel like I'm kind of in limbo now between the time of making ADRs and the time I'll be able to make FP+. I'm still mlling over my current ADRs but will keep them all until I see what FP+ I'll be able to get.

So in my limbo time, I've been hitting up eBay. I have a variety of Disney shirts now for us all to wear each day we are there. I also want to try my hand at making some Mickey tie-dye shirts. I scored a Mickey Vera Bradley for half of retail price. I also got some window clings for decorations and some light up spinning toys for the kids. Ebay loves me right now!

Etsy has also been my friend. I got a couple princess charms for a friend to make beaded necklaces for my DDs. And I found a beautiful Cinderella castle necklace I had to buy as a Tinkerbell gift to myself! (LOL). I ordered decals for our Magic bands--each one will have a character silhouette and our names on it. I may bling up the Mickey heads too when they come.

We have decided to keep the trip a surprise for the kids until one week before. DD has school off on the day that would be our one week countdown, so I've decided to make that "Disney day". We will do a scavenger hunt for the kids around the house, with each clue they will get a puzzle piece and when they put the puzzle together, it will be a picture of Mickey and Minnie in front of Cinderella's castle. Then we'll watch YouTube videos of the rides and meet & greets so they know what to expect. We'll have Disney themed food all day (Mickey shaped pancakes for breakfast and I found some Mickey shaped chicken nuggets for lunch). We'll watch Disney movies and they'll also start getting some Tinkerbell gifts. I have lots of ideas for those, so I may end up giving them one thing per day before we go, and then one thing per day while we are there.

We took a couple trips in the last two weeks, kind of "test" trips for various conditions we might experience at Disney. The first was a trip to a large zoo. It was a hot day and there was a ton of walking. We no longer use a stroller but I wanted to see how the kids would do with all the walking to know if I would need to rent a stroller at Disney. The answer is a resounding "Yes!". DD2 got so tired and cranky. We all enjoyed the zoo, but the walking was just too much for her. Here are a couple pictures from that trip.

We also took a trip to the local county fair last night. I wanted to see their reactions to riding on rides, as that is something neither of them have ever done before. Obviously fair rides are not the caliber of rides they will see at Disney, but I wanted to see if they were even interested. I was blown away. They loved the rides, especially older DD who is less of a daredevil than younger DD. We all had a blast and I am now looking forward to the Disney trip even more. I can't wait to see how much they love the rides there! Here's a couple pictures from the fair. DD1 looks scared but after she got off that ride, we rode it twice more!





I swear I resized the pictures. So I'm sorry they're so huge.

Until next time...

 

[MataHari22]

Haven't updated in a while. I feel like I'm kind of in limbo now between the time of making ADRs and the time I'll be able to make FP+. I'm still mlling over my current ADRs but will keep them all until I see what FP+ I'll be able to get.

That's the way I feel, like I'm in a holding pattern until I can make my FP+.

So in my limbo time, I've been hitting up eBay. I have a variety of Disney shirts now for us all to wear each day we are there. I also want to try my hand at making some Mickey tie-dye shirts. I scored a Mickey Vera Bradley for half of retail price. I also got some window clings for decorations and some light up spinning toys for the kids. Ebay loves me right now!

Etsy has also been my friend. I got a couple princess charms for a friend to make beaded necklaces for my DDs. And I found a beautiful Cinderella castle necklace I had to buy as a Tinkerbell gift to myself! (LOL). I ordered decals for our Magic bands--each one will have a character silhouette and our names on it. I may bling up the Mickey heads too when they come.

How fun! I got a few cute bracelets on Etsy and a VB bag, too. I thought about getting the MB skins, but I'm glad I didn't because I ended up getting a slap watch to put on my MB. Etsy and Amazon can be dangerous.

We have decided to keep the trip a surprise for the kids until one week before. DD has school off on the day that would be our one week countdown, so I've decided to make that "Disney day". We will do a scavenger hunt for the kids around the house, with each clue they will get a puzzle piece and when they put the puzzle together, it will be a picture of Mickey and Minnie in front of Cinderella's castle. Then we'll watch YouTube videos of the rides and meet & greets so they know what to expect. We'll have Disney themed food all day (Mickey shaped pancakes for breakfast and I found some Mickey shaped chicken nuggets for lunch). We'll watch Disney movies and they'll also start getting some Tinkerbell gifts. I have lots of ideas for those, so I may end up giving them one thing per day before we go, and then one thing per day while we are there.

We took a couple trips in the last two weeks, kind of "test" trips for various conditions we might experience at Disney. The first was a trip to a large zoo. It was a hot day and there was a ton of walking. We no longer use a stroller but I wanted to see how the kids would do with all the walking to know if I would need to rent a stroller at Disney. The answer is a resounding "Yes!". DD2 got so tired and cranky. We all enjoyed the zoo, but the walking was just too much for her. Here are a couple pictures from that trip.

That surprise sounds like a great idea. Not too far out so that they will drive you nuts, and just enough of a surprise that they can be adjusted and sorted when they leave. I have heard a few bad endings with people who have tried to surprise their kids on the way to the airport and at the last minute, and it didn't end well. I was kind of one of those kids (and even as an adult) that is not very keen on last minute plans and sunrises.

Great idea that you took them to the zoo as a test run. Now you know the stroller is necessary. Will make the trip better.


We also took a trip to the local county fair last night. I wanted to see their reactions to riding on rides, as that is something neither of them have ever done before. Obviously fair rides are not the caliber of rides they will see at Disney, but I wanted to see if they were even interested. I was blown away. They loved the rides, especially older DD who is less of a daredevil than younger DD. We all had a blast and I am now looking forward to the Disney trip even more. I can't wait to see how much they love the rides there! Here's a couple pictures from the fair. DD1 looks scared but after she got off that ride, we rode it twice more!


Another good idea looks like it was a fun time.

I swear I resized the pictures. So I'm sorry they're so huge.

Until next time...

 

[skier_pete]

If you rent a stroller, don't rent from Disney - their prices are outrageous (like $25 a day). There are outside services that you can rent from that will drop the stroller at your hotel and pick it up again.

One difference with Disney rides versus fair rides that we didn't realize when DD was young was that at a fair or amusement park you can mostly SEE the ride you are getting on. With Disney rides being mostly enclosed, the child has to accept that the ride will be OK. I read an article on this that it is the fear of the unknown that gets kids. Our Daughter was awful in this respect - any ride that she had never ridden before she would put up such a stink, regardless of how harmless it seemed. This was still going on at age 9. I think we are finally over it at age 11. Hopefully you have better fortune with such things.

 

[sara1215]

If you rent a stroller, don't rent from Disney - their prices are outrageous (like $25 a day). There are outside services that you can rent from that will drop the stroller at your hotel and pick it up again.

One difference with Disney rides versus fair rides that we didn't realize when DD was young was that at a fair or amusement park you can mostly SEE the ride you are getting on. With Disney rides being mostly enclosed, the child has to accept that the ride will be OK. I read an article on this that it is the fear of the unknown that gets kids. Our Daughter was awful in this respect - any ride that she had never ridden before she would put up such a stink, regardless of how harmless it seemed. This was still going on at age 9. I think we are finally over it at age 11. Hopefully you have better fortune with such things.

I've looked at Kingdom Strollers (I think that's the one) because you can get a stroller with that board attachment for an order kid to stand and ride on if absolutely necessary.

That's a great point about the enclosed rides. I'll have to keep that in mind. I'm hoping watching some of the YouTube videos will help prep them too.

 

[captaindavidhook]

Following and really enjoyed eating at crystal palace.

 

[CQuinn]

Okay, catching up on your report now! What a beautiful family you have! That is really amazing of your Aunt, and it seems like you and your husband work hard and deserve a nice little break. Your girls are going to have so much fun. I can't wait until we have a little one and I can see them see Disney for the first time. I love the dining plan and memory maker too. The dining plan isn't the best deal for us, we could definitely spend less paying out of pocket, but we both love it anyway. I bought a camera for our last trip, instead of the memory maker, and realllly wish I had gotten the memory maker. I think it's worth it just for all the ride photos (and videos on some), but it'll be really great for you to have all those amazing family photos. Look forward to reading the rest of your PTR and especially hearing about your trip once you go!

 

[NPRinLA]

All Caught up and following along!!

Nick and I will celebrate our 15th wedding anniversary at the end of February.

What a beautiful family you have! And what a way to celebrate your anniversary. Your plans sound like you guys will have a great time!

I must have bought at the right time. Because the price now, same flights and everything, is $400 MORE than I paid. Hallelujah! Another sign this trip is meant to be, in my opinion.

Perfect timing!

I'm also thinking about decorating our room windows, our magic bands, and some type of Mickey/Tinkerbell gifts for the kids at the hotel.

I always keep an eye out for decorated rooms and windows! They're always so fun.

We have decided to keep the trip a surprise for the kids until one week before. DD has school off on the day that would be our one week countdown, so I've decided to make that "Disney day". We will do a scavenger hunt for the kids around the house, with each clue they will get a puzzle piece and when they put the puzzle together, it will be a picture of Mickey and Minnie in front of Cinderella's castle.

What a great way to surprise them! I love that you are doing all of the Character breakfasts too! I've got a couple I'm doing and struggling to find a unique way to get autographs or a way to be different in all my pictures.

 

[sara1215]

All Caught up and following along!!



What a beautiful family you have! And what a way to celebrate your anniversary. Your plans sound like you guys will have a great time!

What a great way to surprise them! I love that you are doing all of the Character breakfasts too! I've got a couple I'm doing and struggling to find a unique way to get autographs or a way to be different in all my pictures.

Thank you! I am trying to come up with some creative character interaction ideas too.

 

[sara1215]

Okay, catching up on your report now! What a beautiful family you have! That is really amazing of your Aunt, and it seems like you and your husband work hard and deserve a nice little break. Your girls are going to have so much fun. I can't wait until we have a little one and I can see them see Disney for the first time. I love the dining plan and memory maker too. The dining plan isn't the best deal for us, we could definitely spend less paying out of pocket, but we both love it anyway. I bought a camera for our last trip, instead of the memory maker, and realllly wish I had gotten the memory maker. I think it's worth it just for all the ride photos (and videos on some), but it'll be really great for you to have all those amazing family photos. Look forward to reading the rest of your PTR and especially hearing about your trip once you go!

Thank you so much! I think with the dining plan, we will have to pay out of pocket for a couple meals. But all our ADRs should be covered, we might just have to pay for some QS. I am thrilled thinking that our food will be paid for ahead of time though. Just one less thing to worry about.

And the memory maker--it seems expensive but I think I will be glad to have it. So often the mom gets left out of the pictures. So I am looking forward to some good family pictures of all of us.

 

[captaindavidhook]

Restaurant reservations at this point

Magic Kingdom
Feb 2 Crystal Palace (Pooh, Tigger, Eeyore, Piglet)
9:35 am

Feb 2 Tony’s Town--Lady & the Tramp theme (no characters)
12:55 pm

Feb 2 Cinderella’s Royal Table--castle (Cinderella, Fairy Godmother, Ariel, Aurora, Snow White)
5:35 pm


Epcot
Feb 3 Akershus (not all--Snow White, Cinderella, Aurora, Belle, Ariel, Jasmine, Mary Poppins)
9:35 am

Feb 3 San Angel--Nick and I only (date night)
7:00 pm


Hollywood Studios
Feb 4 Hollywood & Vine--Disney Jr characters (Sophia, Jake & Pirates, Doc McStuffins)
9:30 am

Feb 4 Hollywood Brown Derby (no characters)
1:40 pm

Feb 4 1900 Park--at a hotel, not in park (Cinderella, Fairy Godmother, Stepmother, Stepsisters)
5:45 pm


Animal Kingdom
Feb 5 ‘Ohana--at a hotel, not in park (Lilo & Stitch, Pluto, Mickey)
9:35 am

Feb 5 Tusker House (Donald, Daisy, Goofy, Mickey)
4:45 pm


Magic Kingdom
Feb 6 Be Our Guest--Beast’s Castle (no characters)
12:30 pm

(I included the characters in parentheses so DH could see them.)

I am 99% sure I'm canceling Tony's Town and Hollywood Brown Derby. These were like back up choices in case I didn't get the character choices I wanted.

I'm also thinking of canceling Hollywood and Vine. I booked it for the sole reason of Sofia the First. My kids don't really care about the other characters that will be there. Plus I've heard the food is not that great. So we can just do a meet/greet with Sofia.

I'm trying to decide about the Friday meals. I may leave that one up to the kids based on whether or not they want to meet LILO & Stitch.

The princess meals, I just can't pick one to cancel! Maybe I'll end up keeping them all.

I did not like Hollywood and Vine at all. It was years ago but man the food was bland and nasty. I am eating breakfast at BOG a day before you (8 am). How can the kids not want to meet Stitch! Forget Lilo, ok she is nice but Stitch were talking about. Everyone loves Stitch!!! He is the best. Ok , I am a bit bias when it comes to meeting Stitch but O'Hana is a nice place to eat and were talking about the Poly as well. Can't go wrong there.

 

[sara1215]

February discounts are out so that's all I've been thinking about for the last couple days. Doing a lot of price comparisons and decision making. Under the room discount, I could upgrade to a moderate for cheaper than my original reservation. I thought about that for a long time, and even though the resorts are so beautiful, the extra space at All-Star Music (suite) won over. Then I called Disney this morning and they were easily able to add SPD to my reservation, saving me $400. I was very happy with that.

Then I continued looking online and realized I could get a Cars or Lion King Suite at AOA with SPD for the same price I was originally going to pay at ASMu before the discount came out. After lots of waiting on hold, and some confusion on whether the original reservation needs to be canceled or the resort can just be changed (as well as the possibility I could lose my ADRs--please no!), the cast member was finally able to get everything properly arranged.

Long story short, for $9 more than my original booking price, I'm in a Lion King suite with SPD. I am pumped. My kids will love it. They would have been happy with ASMu too, but the AOA suites look so much more magical!

 

[skier_pete]

Good for you. AoA is wayyy nicer than the All-Stars! I would love to try out AoA, but can't justify a suite (nor the price) with just the 3 of us.

Also, you never should lose your ADRs. They really aren't linked to your reservation - you can make ADRs if you are staying off-site, so they should never be linked in that way.