The Biggest, Bestest, Most Amazingest Trip Ever...Is Being Planned *UPDATE 9/18*

[ariel1025]

I share your love of lists!! They're the BEST! I agree they're very relaxing and therapeutic, not everyone gets that!!

Those look pretty comprehensive to me... But when trying to think of my pre arrival and travel days here's a few things we also do:

• Start a Disney box, we basically have a box in our room, and anytime I buy or find something in the house that is for our trip I throw it in! It really helps with the small things, band aids, pins, etc, so I don't forget them!
• Gather addresses and a few stamps to send postcards from Disney.
• Print off and laminate our daily touring schedule. I totally love the ones I did last year, I even had notes to self such as asking for a particular magic shot I knew they only did in a certain park, etc

Yay, glad I'm not alone in the love of list making!

Ooooooh, yes, Disney box, thank you for reminding me. That's almost as fun as making a list

You probably already know... But in case you don't, the Disney store is running their buy one get one for $1 promo on stuffies right now! Good time to buy the Mickey gifts!

Thank you!!!

It always takes me a looot of self control not to start off PTRs many, many days in advance as well, so I definitely get you there.

Definitely liking that pre-trip check list too, and totally snatching some stuff off of it! It'll be our first time traveling with children, so we definitely have to adjust our planning, and stuff like stroller rain covers never even crossed my mind.

I'm glad my list was able to help you out And, yay, for first trip with kiddos! What are their ages?

Yes, it is an adjustment with kids, but also way more fun in so many ways

 

[Denovagirl]

I didn't know this. I really shouldn't know this. To the Disney store Batman, or should that be Spider-Man? since they at least own that IP.

 

[ariel1025]

Well, some exciting stuff happened over the weekend


We left the 300's in our countdown!

Oh, and I also went camping for the first time. And if I'm being honest it was more like "glamping" (glamorized camping). It was a good mix of interesting and fun. Wasn't sure if anybody would be interested in reading about little side trips we take between now and Disney, so I didn't write anything up about it yet.

And lastly, it is the final week before my first baby starts school. I'm all sorts of emotions about it right now...excited, sad, nervous, anxious...basically I'm just telling myself to breathe and know that it will be great for him.

Now, onto the Disney planning fun.

Day Two: Relaxation Time

If you recall, the Hubs' only major request for this trip was to have our first wake-up day be a day to relax and gain our bearings. We will be jumping ahead two hours on the clock, will have woken up before the sun the day prior, spent a minimum of 8 hours on a plane with the kiddos, and will likely have a heck of a time getting them to bed at a decent hour (combination of excited energy and convincing their internal clocks that we are no longer on MST).

So, the plan is to wake up without an alarm clock or, at the very least, one that is set to a time closer to double digits than single.

It's still in discussion whether we want to do quick service or sit down for breakfast that day. We will not be in any rush (breathe, Shannon, breathe) to get anywhere so it might be a good day to enjoy a relaxing breakfast somewhere. In my mind I'm thinking more like a "brunch" time meal. There are a few places that we are throwing around.

Chef Mickey's was the first place that came to mind. Since we are staying at Wilderness Lodge we can grab the boat over to the Contemporary and I love the boat rides in the morning. It's so calm and quiet and peaceful. I know this is also in the running for dinner the previous night, so we would choose one or the other, not both. But if we didn't do character meal for dinner it might be fun to kick off the day with the characters here. I've also heard that breakfast is better than dinner. However, character meals tend to feel more chaotic which isn't exactly fitting the chill out and relax theme.

'Ohana is another contender. We did breakfast here for the first time in January. I know that it's a much smaller selection, but I'm a big fan of the all-you-can-eat options that are brought to the table for you. Between trying to be at the table for the characters, have autograph books and cameras ready, and actually eat your food, not having to walk to the buffet line is a nice relief. Again, 'Ohana is a previous night dinner option and I don't really wanna hit the same restaurant two meals in a row (it's a strange issue I have). We would also have to grab either the boat to Contemporary or Magic Kingdom and then the monorail to 'Ohana requiring an earlier wake up call.


'Ohana breakfast, family vacation, 2012

Boma was the first place that popped into my head. This is another place we had for the first time in January and it SOOOOOO lived up to the hype. Every single item of food that hit our plate was delicious, even the kids cleared their plates. We also liked how there was your usual breakfast offerings combined with some not so typical items. The downside is it would require the boat or bus to a park and then transferring to a bus to Animal Kingdom Lodge. So, again, an earlier wake up call then I think the Hubs had in mind.


Making wishes in the little stream outside Boma, Family Vacation, 2012

Roaring Forks is the other option. It's in our hotel, so we just have to walk across the bridge to the main lodge. It's a quick service, so it doesn't require a meal reservation. And it's pretty much the option that most embraces relaxing and going with the flow.

Regardless of where we choose to eat breakfast, the plan for the afternoon is to not have a plan (breathe, Shannon, breathe). Some ideas we are throwing around are going to one of the putt-putt courses, roaming around Downtown Disney, going bowling, hanging out at the resort pool and/or seeing what activities are going on at the lodge. We might do one of those things or multiple or none at all. Who knows.

One thing we are both in agreement about is that we want to have a nice sit-down dinner that night. We are throwing around all the same options as the previous night, but also talking about possibly doing one of the dinner shows.

Polynesian Luau is something we did on our honeymoon and although it gets massively mixed reviews we really enjoyed it. We just aren't sure if it is entertaining enough to keep the kid's attention for a couple of hours.

Hoop Dee Doo Review is somewhere I have always wanted to go. The Hubs isn't quite as convinced, when he reads the description he likes the menu, but thinks the show sounds too cheesy. And, again, we don't know if the kid's will enjoy it enough to keep from getting restless.

So, what do y'all think? Do you have any recommendations? Should we just quick service it up for breakfast or take advantage of not having anywhere to go after and enjoy a nice relaxing sit down restaurant?

 

[MarieLightning]

I'm glad my list was able to help you out And, yay, for first trip with kiddos! What are their ages?

Yes, it is an adjustment with kids, but also way more fun in so many ways

Once we get to Disney, they will be 9, 8 and the youngest will have just turned 3 the day before, so already with the slight age range there there'll be some different needs!

I'm definitely excited to experience it with them though and just see them react to the magic and character meetings and everything


For your dining situation, my personal recommendation would be no ADR for breakfast. I'm a big advocate of Table Service meals, and I looove breakfast meals, but I think if you want to truly just be able to take it easy that morning and relax, it'll be so much easier to do that without the nagging knowledge in your mind that you have a reservation to make, even if you make it for late morning.

For the dinner shows I don't really have a recommendation though as I have never tried either. Hoop De Doo Revue is definitely on my list, but then, I have no problem with the idea of a cheesy show at Disney

 

[Denovagirl]

OMG!! HOOP DE DOOOOOOOOO!!!

Your hubs will LOVE IT! Yes, he's right the menu and food is FAB! Love it! On top of that all you want beer, wine and sangria is included! And then the show!! It's AWESOME! So many great hidden adult jokes in there, my whole family, from toddler to grandparents LOVED it. It was our #1 fave for our first trip, hands down from all of us, and we loved it again this trip.

My hubby wants it again this trip, but we've done it twice and I told him we should try something new, lol...

I don't think I've met anyone who hasn't enjoyed it, you MUST go there! And if it's your relaxation day you can also head over to Ft Wilderness early for a horse drawn carriage ride, or to ride horses or just go check out the animals, or play in the beach or play on the playground. So much to do!

Sigh... Ok, I'll calm down, I get so excited for the Hoop Dee Doo... Lol...

As for breakfast, we've always enjoyed our Chef Mickeys breakfasts, though it is absolutely not relaxing. Reading your descriptions I would choose roaring forks and hang out at the resort, maybe rent a surrey bike, or do Boma. In fact, I thought I wasn't interested in Boma at all and I think you just convinced me for our next trip!

 

[EglantineSF]

I am also a big lover of lists. Thanks for posting yours. The stroller license plate is a brilliant idea for distinguishing your stroller from others. I'm definitely going to borrow that for our upcoming trip.

 

[ariel1025]

I am also a big lover of lists. Thanks for posting yours. The stroller license plate is a brilliant idea for distinguishing your stroller from others. I'm definitely going to borrow that for our upcoming trip.

I'm so excited to see how many people are such fans of lists - they really are such a stress reliever

I can't take full credit for the stroller license plate idea, I got it from somebody on the Dis several years back, but it's definitely been a lifesaver on every trip we've taken!

OMG!! HOOP DE DOOOOOOOOO!!!

Your hubs will LOVE IT! Yes, he's right the menu and food is FAB! Love it! On top of that all you want beer, wine and sangria is included! And then the show!! It's AWESOME! So many great hidden adult jokes in there, my whole family, from toddler to grandparents LOVED it. It was our #1 fave for our first trip, hands down from all of us, and we loved it again this trip.

My hubby wants it again this trip, but we've done it twice and I told him we should try something new, lol...

I don't think I've met anyone who hasn't enjoyed it, you MUST go there! And if it's your relaxation day you can also head over to Ft Wilderness early for a horse drawn carriage ride, or to ride horses or just go check out the animals, or play in the beach or play on the playground. So much to do!

Sigh... Ok, I'll calm down, I get so excited for the Hoop Dee Doo... Lol...

As for breakfast, we've always enjoyed our Chef Mickeys breakfasts, though it is absolutely not relaxing. Reading your descriptions I would choose roaring forks and hang out at the resort, maybe rent a surrey bike, or do Boma. In fact, I thought I wasn't interested in Boma at all and I think you just convinced me for our next trip!

LOL! So, what you're saying is Hoop Dee Doo is an okay show? I really, really, really wanna give it a try, so I'm working hard on the Hubs. Considering it's a down day, so we won't have to rush to get ready, and then having the boat access from WL to Fort Wilderness I think I'm winning the battle

Oh good gracious, Boma is so incredibly good. It is an out of the way spot to get to which is why it took us so many trips to try it out. But we are both in agreement that it needs to be visited every trip now. We did breakfast last time and I think we might try to work in dinner this time to see how it compares. But breakfast definitely gets two thumbs up from us. The pastries, the potato options, the egg options, the meat options, the dessert bar...yum, yum, double yum!

 

[ariel1025]

Once we get to Disney, they will be 9, 8 and the youngest will have just turned 3 the day before, so already with the slight age range there there'll be some different needs!

I'm definitely excited to experience it with them though and just see them react to the magic and character meetings and everything


For your dining situation, my personal recommendation would be no ADR for breakfast. I'm a big advocate of Table Service meals, and I looove breakfast meals, but I think if you want to truly just be able to take it easy that morning and relax, it'll be so much easier to do that without the nagging knowledge in your mind that you have a reservation to make, even if you make it for late morning.

For the dinner shows I don't really have a recommendation though as I have never tried either. Hoop De Doo Revue is definitely on my list, but then, I have no problem with the idea of a cheesy show at Disney

Ugh, I don't know why I have such trouble with the multi quoting on here now. Sorry I skipped your response on my first round of replies

What fun ages! We've done just 18 months; 4 months and 3 years; 16 months and 4 years; and then this trip will be 2.5 and 5. They've all had their differences, but have all been fun for different reasons. I hope you all have a great time!

Yeah, the reasonable side of me realizes that no ADR for breakfast is the way to go, but the Disney planner in me is going "what do you mean no alarm, no reservation AND no park, what is wrong with you?"

 

[ariel1025]

Okay, so here is the not quite as interesting, but still very much needed list of things that I need to accomplish prior to arriving for our second day

To Do's for Day Two:

1. Decide on breakfast location
2. Make breakfast ADR if it's needed (cannot be done until 180 day mark)
3. Make dinner ADR (cannot be done until 180 day mark)
4. Research things we haven't done as ideas for our down time in the morning/afternoon

And that's it. Pretty easy peasy.

So, another thing I thought would be fun to include in my planning was all the different ways we are saving money for this trip. As we all know Disney isn't exactly kind to the wallet, even when you are DVC and the room is already "paid" for. We are lucky that Ellie will still be free for park entry and any all-you-can-eat restaurants we attend. However, she is now old enough to require her own plane ticket which is a first for us. And going for 12 nights means 13 days of spending money, dining plan costs, tickets etc etc etc.

Now, there is of course the tried and true method of laying out the anticipated budget for the whole trip (which I have done) and then figuring out how many paydays there are until the trip (which I have also done) and then figuring out how much needs to be saved from each check to reach your goal amount (yep, done that). That's all good and well, but what I like even better than all that is earning free money for the trip. Yes, I said free money. Here's the methods I use and my goal, if you will, of how much I hope to earn using said methods.

1. Earning points daily via Swagbucks and cashing in for Target gift cards that I will then use to purchase Disney gift cards which can be applied to almost any part of the trip ($200)
2. Hubs earning points daily via Swagbucks and cashing in for Target gift cards that will then be used to purchase Disney gift cards which can be applied to almost any part of the trip ($100)
3. Earning points daily via Bing and cashing in for Amazon gift cards that I will then use to purchase necessary items for the trip ($45)
4. Earning points daily via PerkTV and cashing in for Target gift cards that I will then use to purchase Disney gift cards which can be applied to almost any part of the trip ($135)
5. Purchasing enough Target gift cards via Cardpool, Raise and/or Gift Card Rescue to purchase park tickets, dining plan and flight tickets. This will give me an average discount of 7%. ($297.50 savings)
6. Purchasing Disney gift cards for tickets, dining plan and SW gift cards for flights via Target dot com to obtain the 5% discount. ($212.50 savings)
7. Use Candi's SW voucher towards flight ($50)
8. Use my SW vouchers towards flight ($240)
9. Randomness such as gift card with purchases at Target, saving all dollar bills in savings jar, gift cards received as gifts etc ($200)

All those items take me next to no time each day and add up to $1,480.00 in free money. I don't know about y'all but I'll take all the free money I can get

In addition to the above are two more options that are slightly more risky as they don't have guaranteed values attached to them.

10. Purchasing Target gift cards via Cardpool, Raise and/or Gift Card Rescue to cover estimated spending money and out of pocket food expenses ($147).
11. Purchasing Disney gift cards for spending money and out of pocket food expenses via Target dot com to obtain the 5% discount ($121).

That's an additional $268 in savings if we decide to go that route as well. However, it scares me slightly as I tend to overestimate spending on those things and I hate to be "stuck" spending more than we would have had we not had that money tied to Disney gift cards.

And because I'm a big 'ol nerd I've been tracking how much money we have earned utilizing these methods in my beloved WDW spreadsheets.

Here's what we earned in July:

$10 Target gift card with household cleaner purchase 7/24
$25 Target gift card via my Swagbucks 7/25
$5 Ebay gift card via my Swagbucks 7/29
$10 Target gift card with diapers purchase 7/31

$50 in free money for the month. Not too shabby

And with that I am done "talking" your ear off for the day. Have a good one everybody!


Epcot Flower and Garden Festival, Honeymoon, 2008

 

[MarieLightning]

Ugh, I don't know why I have such trouble with the multi quoting on here now. Sorry I skipped your response on my first round of replies

What fun ages! We've done just 18 months; 4 months and 3 years; 16 months and 4 years; and then this trip will be 2.5 and 5. They've all had their differences, but have all been fun for different reasons. I hope you all have a great time!

Yeah, the reasonable side of me realizes that no ADR for breakfast is the way to go, but the Disney planner in me is going "what do you mean no alarm, no reservation AND no park, what is wrong with you?"

No biggie There's always some good and some bad with new functions. Like, I love being able to edit thread title from any page, but man I'm not a fan of the rich text editor (thank goodness it allows to switch to basic BB code)

They really are! The boys are really excited so that's great. The oldest claims he'll do aaaall the rides - he did do all the big coasters last summer when they went to Michigan's Adventure. I don't remember if they have any upside down coasters though, so I guess we'll see if all the rides includes Rock n Roller Coaster And Tower of Terror, not sure on that one either!

I totally get you on that, too! Honestly, we've tried to plan for 'break' days, just to relax, and I don't know that we'll ever succeed. We ended up doing just a little bit of resting last September, and this coming November we have one non park day planned, but we ended up getting tickets for MVMCP, and we want to go to Disney Springs during the day (and maybe use our minigolf vouchers since we've never done that) so, you see how relaxing that'll be right off the bat!

Man, I wish Swagbucks was open to Canadian residents. I've tried to join rewards sites so many times but the ones accessible in Canada just never work out for us.

 

[Denovagirl]

Oh good gracious, Boma is so incredibly good. It is an out of the way spot to get to which is why it took us so many trips to try it out. But we are both in agreement that it needs to be visited every trip now. We did breakfast last time and I think we might try to work in dinner this time to see how it compares. But breakfast definitely gets two thumbs up from us. The pastries, the potato options, the egg options, the meat options, the dessert bar...yum, yum, double yum!

Yep, you've convinced me, I think I will bump this into the must do list. We love breakfast buffets and I've always wanted to check out AKL, so seems like a plan, maybe for our rest day, so it's not cutting into park time.

 

[ariel1025]

Yep, you've convinced me, I think I will bump this into the must do list. We love breakfast buffets and I've always wanted to check out AKL, so seems like a plan, maybe for our rest day, so it's not cutting into park time.

I would definitely plan it for a rest day so you aren't cutting into park time. Though it would also probably work well for an AK day since it's like a 3 minute bus ride to the AK park after

No biggie There's always some good and some bad with new functions. Like, I love being able to edit thread title from any page, but man I'm not a fan of the rich text editor (thank goodness it allows to switch to basic BB code)

They really are! The boys are really excited so that's great. The oldest claims he'll do aaaall the rides - he did do all the big coasters last summer when they went to Michigan's Adventure. I don't remember if they have any upside down coasters though, so I guess we'll see if all the rides includes Rock n Roller Coaster And Tower of Terror, not sure on that one either!

I totally get you on that, too! Honestly, we've tried to plan for 'break' days, just to relax, and I don't know that we'll ever succeed. We ended up doing just a little bit of resting last September, and this coming November we have one non park day planned, but we ended up getting tickets for MVMCP, and we want to go to Disney Springs during the day (and maybe use our minigolf vouchers since we've never done that) so, you see how relaxing that'll be right off the bat!

Man, I wish Swagbucks was open to Canadian residents. I've tried to join rewards sites so many times but the ones accessible in Canada just never work out for us.

I was very shocked that James (turned 4 the week prior) rode every ride he was tall enough to at least once. He was pretty scared to attempt Tower of Terror, but he did it. Of course that might likely be the last time ever

Your relaxing days sound exactly like the ones I plan

Oh, wow, I didn't realize that Swagbucks wasn't open to Candian residents. I could have sworn it was

 

[ariel1025]

First, in some exciting news I received my first piece of Disney mail for this trip



I know it's nothing huge, but I ordered our first pin "lot" to use for trading for this trip. I actually only ordered 4, but an extra one must have snuck into the package. The total cost for the 4 I ordered came out to $4.36, but I used the $5 Ebay gift card I got from Swagbucks last month, so it cost me $0! I plan to order 3 more sets so that we all have some new pins to trade. This will be the first year any of us have done this and I'm super excited!

Now, onto the planning.

Day Three: Magic Kingdom Day

Ahhhhh, home, sweet, home!

There was absolutely no debate where our first park day would take us, it is and always will be Magic Kingdom. It just feels so completely wrong to start anywhere else. In addition, this is the park we need the most days at, so it is also the logical place to start.

Even though it's incredibly early, and will almost definitely change, I couldn't stop myself from looking at Touring Plans' anticipated park schedule. As of today they have it tentatively listed as being open from 8:00 a.m. to 12:00 a.m. The afternoon parade at 3:00 p.m. The nighttime parade at 9:00 p.m. And fireworks at 10:00 p.m. For now, that's what I'm basing our planning on.

The plan is to get up super duper early (yay! finally!) and head over to Magic Kingdom via the Wilderness Lodge boat. I absolutely love taking the boat so early in the morning. There is such a calmness to this hour and I love the serenity of it.


Early morning boat ride to Magic Kingdom, 1st Anniversary Trip, 2009

We will then head into Magic Kingdom before it opens for our pre-rope drop breakfast reservation at Cinderella's Royal Table. This was our traditional first park day breakfast when it used to be just Candi and I going. Then I hit a wall with being able to get a reservation, so the kids have never eaten here. Fingers crossed I can be online at the 180 day mark as soon as it opens up and nab it this year. I can't wait to have Ellie dressed up as little Cinderella when she meets the real one. And dining in the castle while watching the park "wake up" for the day is just perfection to me.


Cinderella's Royal Table, 1st Anniversary Trip, 2009

After dining with Disney Royalty we will head out into the park and absorb the magic. Based on historical data it looks as though this will be a level 7 crowd day which isn't ideal, but we will make it work. I want to go in with the mindset of just relaxing and enjoying what we can do without stressing about what we can't control. With that being said, I also know that having Fastpass+ will be a must. I had to give myself a little refresher on which attractions participate at Magic Kingdom and, yowza, I forgot how many there were. Since we can only pick 3 to start I will have to do a little homework on which ones go the quickest. However, the ones that are making the first cut are Big Thunder Mountain, Enchanted Tales with Belle, Dumbo, Haunted Mansion, Anna and Elsa meet, Ariel meet, Cinderella and Rapunzel meet, Mickey meet, Tinkerbelle meet, Peter Pan, Pirates, 7 Dwarfs Mine Train, Space Mountain, Splash Mountain, Barnstormer, Pooh, Speedway and Little Mermaid ride. I guess I have a little narrowing down to do huh?


Candi and James on 7 Dwarfs Mine Train, Family Vacation, 2015

The plan is to schedule our first 3 fastpasses for earlier in the day so that we can add additional ones throughout the day as we use up the ones we have.

This is also the day that I hope to keep tradition going and grab a reservation at the Harmony Barber Shop for both of the kids. James has gotten a haircut here both times he's been to Disney World and Ellie had her very first haircut here on our vacation this year. Sadly, while looking for pictures of that visit they seem to have gone missing. Please cross your fingers for some pixie dust and their magical reappearance. I am fighting back tears at the thought of them being gone for good.


James checking out his new haircut at Harmony Barber Shop, 2012

The plan for lunch today is just to grab quick service wherever we happen to be when we get hungry. Pecos Bills is a family favorite and we also tried Columbia Harbour House last trip and enjoyed it as well.

I'm sure at some point we will also head back to the room to get off our feet for a bit and take a break from the crowds.

Dinner that night is also planned to be a quick service meal. Partially because we will be utilizing 2 table service credits for breakfast, but also because I don't want a meal that is too filling. Why on earth don't I want to get full at dinner? Well, because I'm hoping to grab a spot at the Tomorrowland Terrace Fireworks Dessert Party! Wishes is hands down my absolute favorite nighttime show in all of Disney World, and I have wanted to do this dessert party for years. This is the year I'm going to make it happen!


Catching Wishes following our Artist Point dinner, 1st Anniversary Trip, 2009

After we are thoroughly filled with sugary goodness and I've wiped the sentimental tears away from the best fireworks ever, we will make our way through the crowds and onto the boat to head back to Wilderness Lodge. From there it will easily be jammies, prayers and lights out. It will have been a full but magical day with many more days in the World to look forward to...

 

[MarieLightning]

I was very shocked that James (turned 4 the week prior) rode every ride he was tall enough to at least once. He was pretty scared to attempt Tower of Terror, but he did it. Of course that might likely be the last time ever

Your relaxing days sound exactly like the ones I plan

Oh, wow, I didn't realize that Swagbucks wasn't open to Candian residents. I could have sworn it was

I think Disney does such a great job with the theming of their rides, and the fact that you can actually rarely see the full coaster before you get on it, that it makes it a bit easier for kids to be adventurous! Well, Tower of Terror is the exception of course - that one is creepy from the get go! Maybe he'll just be a tad traumatized for a few years, but I'm sure he'll get back on someday

Isn't that always the way it is!

Mind you, I haven't checked it out in a long time. Maybe I should give it another try and see if they've opened it up some more! And now that I think about it, it may have more to do with being a Quebec resident than a Canadian resident. We have stupid laws that means everything has to be in French in order for it to be offered to us, which is why a lot of Disney sweepstakes that are offered to Canadian residents often exclude Quebec At least I was able to use my wife's family's address in the States for the Disney Movie Club and Rewards! But I always feel like sites like Swagbucks track IP addresses a bit more carefully, so I couldn't do that there

 

[ariel1025]

I think Disney does such a great job with the theming of their rides, and the fact that you can actually rarely see the full coaster before you get on it, that it makes it a bit easier for kids to be adventurous! Well, Tower of Terror is the exception of course - that one is creepy from the get go! Maybe he'll just be a tad traumatized for a few years, but I'm sure he'll get back on someday

Isn't that always the way it is!

Mind you, I haven't checked it out in a long time. Maybe I should give it another try and see if they've opened it up some more! And now that I think about it, it may have more to do with being a Quebec resident than a Canadian resident. We have stupid laws that means everything has to be in French in order for it to be offered to us, which is why a lot of Disney sweepstakes that are offered to Canadian residents often exclude Quebec At least I was able to use my wife's family's address in the States for the Disney Movie Club and Rewards! But I always feel like sites like Swagbucks track IP addresses a bit more carefully, so I couldn't do that there

I agree 100% on it being a bit easier for kids to be adventurous

Oh, wow, I had no idea that there were laws like that. I know yesterday when I was looking at the swagbucks bonus spoiler site it had a listing for Canadian codes, so you might want to double check just to see

 

[ariel1025]

To Do's for Day Three:

1. Make ADR for Cinderella's Royal Table (must do at 180 day mark)
2. Buy Ellie Cinderella dress, shoes, tiara (watch for Halloween mark downs)
3. Make Harmony Barber Shop reservation (60ish days out)
4. Make Wishes Dessert Party reservation (does anybody know how far out this is usually released?)
5. Narrow down Fastpass+ options to top 3 (with a couple back-up options just in case)

Not a whole lot that needs to be done, but I'm nervous about being able to get Cinderella's as a pre-rope drop reservation and snagging a spot for the dessert party. Also, I'll be honest, I won't be disappointed if they move the park opening to later than 8:00 a.m. That's gonna make for an awfully early breakfast

Have a great day, everyone!


Morocco Pavilion, Disneymoon, 2008

 

[ariel1025]

Changes: Round 1

Planning this far out I knew that changes were inevitable. Heck, not planning this far out it would still be impossible to avoid straying from the original plan. And, so, here we go with the the first set of changes.

New Hotel(s). As was pointed out by @Denovagirl , there is going to be construction going on at Wilderness Lodge for the entirety of 2016. Total rookie mistake on my part not to realize that while doing my planning. But that's why I love these boards so much At first it didn't seem like it would really have the possibility of affecting our stay too much. The quiet pool, the fire pit and a few other things were notated. No biggy. I've got a 5 and 2 year old coming along, we don't even know what a quiet pool is However, after further digging around on various sites and the resort boards here it looks like that it will, in fact, have a great possibility of being a nuisance for us, so we switched.

Like any good planner I pulled out my Excel spreadsheet, looked at the options based on points, eliminated the ones I wasn't a fan of , and talked to the Hubs about a new plan. We hemmed and hawed and compared and discussed, but in the end it kept coming back to the Grand Floridian Villas. Yep, right back where we started on this journey. But, there was one slight problem. I was now completely and utterly attached to the idea of staying for 12 nights. Doesn't work with our point set and GFV. We also knew that it didn't work with our budget to do a cash stay for the first 3 nights. So, back to my Excel sheet and calculator I went. And now, a new plan is born.

We will be staying 5 nights at Animal Kingdom Lodge - Jambo, in a value studio, followed by 7 nights at GFV in a standard view studio.


Animal Kingdom Lodge value studio, Family Vacation, 2012

I know I said I didn't want another vacation where I was switching resorts, and I still kinda don't. But I don't wanna shorten the trip even more. So, we will switch and it will be fine.

Now, the biggy. We have to hope and pray and obtain a little pixie dust so that we can get into a value studio at AKL and a standard view studio at GFV. We are currently wait listed for the AKL portion since that's our home resort. However, we have to wait until the 7 month mark to attempt to get into GFV. Please keep your fingers crossed for us

Arrival Night Dinner. Now that we aren't going to be staying at Wilderness Lodge we also looked at our arrival night plans and decided to make some changes there as well. We both really want to avoid the feeling of rushing around. And since we likely won't arrive to the resort until very late afternoon I no longer liked the options we originally considered. It would mean taking a bus to one of the parks or Downtown, transferring to the appropriate resort bus and then doing it in reverse on the way back. Too much time spent on a bus for our first night. The options now are Boma, Sanaa or Jiko. All of them are in either Jambo or Kidani, making them a short walk from our room. We've never had dinner at any of them and haven't been to Sanaa or Jiko at all, so recommendations are greatly welcomed!

Day One Breakfast. Much like the dinner situation, we do not want to be spending all morning riding around on a bus on our first day. So, breakfast will now be at either Boma or Mara. I, of course, vote for Boma, but the Hubs isn't so sure yet.

And that's where we currently stand. I'm a little sad to be giving up the Wilderness Lodge, but if we can get in to Grand Floridian I am uber excited about checking it out. And let's be real, there is absolutely no reason to be sad about anything when you are going to Disney World!

Have a great weekend everyone!!!

 

[Denovagirl]

Awe, in glad that it was helpful to point that out, I agree, that having this board is a total Godsend!

I loooove the new plan! I am excited about GFV again!! Yay!! I will def be sending you ALL THE PIXIE DUST!!

 

[ariel1025]

Awe, in glad that it was helpful to point that out, I agree, that having this board is a total Godsend!

I loooove the new plan! I am excited about GFV again!! Yay!! I will def be sending you ALL THE PIXIE DUST!!

Thank you!! I'm trying hard not to stress about it, but the truth is, I kinda am

 

[ariel1025]

Changes: Round Two

It's like a can of Pringles, once you start you can't stop...with the changes that is.

Once we officially decided to change resorts I went back to my spreadsheet and really started dissecting the plans we had already laid out. I wanted to be sure I wasn't making any other rookie mistakes. I had. So, more changes were in immediate order.

Dates. In the excitement of planning we took into account two major things. Candi's work schedule and James' school calendar. Once we had those two things figured out we saw that the earliest we could leave was May 28, so obviously that's what we planned for. I mean, really, why would we leave later than the earliest possible date? I'll tell you why. Magic Kingdom on Memorial Day. Yeah. So not smart. And now, so not happening. We have shifted our departure date by one day. We will now leave for Orlando on May 29. Down day on May 30 (Memorial Day). Magic Kingdom day on May 31. I'm sure all the crowds won't be cleared out, but at least it won't be actual holiday day crowds. Much better.

Magic Kingdom Opening. Since our MK day has now changed I wanted to see if the park hours were the same. They aren't. In my favor, really. Instead of an 8:00 a.m. opening they are predicted to have a 9:00 a.m. opening. I'm completely cool with this and hope it stays that way. This means our pre-rope drop breakfast can be at 8:00ish instead of 7:00ish!

Fastpass+ Options. Here is the one downer of a change. According to allears dot net, Big Thunder Mountain Railroad will be closed during our visit (and beyond). This absolutely breaks my heart. It is a huge family favorite and was James' first roller coaster. He is now a big roller coaster fan. And still a massive train fan. Combine the two and it's like perfection for him. Fingers crossed he's less upset than I'm anticipating over this. On the plus side, it's one less fastpass+ option we have to decide between. #glasshalffull

That's all I've got for today. Have a great Monday!