jscunningham699
Mouseketeer
- Joined
- Aug 19, 2013
- Messages
- 161
Good morning! This is my first trip or pre-trip report ever. So bare with me! I'm not as witty or comedic as others I have read, so maybe it'll be boring to read and maybe not, but that's ok!!
We are the C's and we consist of me, DH, DW, DS10, DS8 and DD 11 months(will turn 1 on Sept 1 the day before we hit the parks on Sept 2). I have been a Disney lover for as long as I can remember and have made many trips with family and friends over the years. In fact, my wife and I took a late honey to Disney about 18 months after we were married because I had started a new job and couldn't get the time off for a honeymoon right after we got married. That trip was in June 2010 so it's been 9 years since we have been to Disney.
I have always dreamed of taking my kids to Disney and have been trying to get a trip together for the last 8 years! It's FINALLY happening this year. Everything has fallen right into place for this trip, unlike the previous booked trips we had that unfortunately had to be canceled for one reason or another. But this, this is happening and I couldn't be more excited. The next thing we want to tackle is a Disney cruise, but that'll have to wait until DD is a little older and potty trained.
We are driving to Disney because airfare is insanely expensive and well I always enjoyed roadtrips when I was a kid. We took a preliminary trip to SC from TX in June, driving across the country. Drive went well, kids did great so I'm not at all concerned about making the trip to Orlando in a car. Besides, not spending money on airfare will allows even more money to spend while we are there.
We begin our trip on Friday, August 30 and will take a somewhat leisurely drive to Orlando with an expected arrival of Saturday, August 31. We will stay on points at a Springhill Suites right outside of Disney and relax Saturday. Sunday we will wake up, hit Sea World for a little while since we have Platinum Passes and want to make good use out of them. Sunday afternoon/evening we have a reservation at T-Rex in Disney Springs because my DS10 ABSOLUTELY LOVES Dinosaurs and I know he will love this restaurant. We will spend the evening at Disney Springs and probably do a little shopping as I am a sucker for Disney souvenoirs.
We have the "free" dining plan and park hoppers so this should make for an even better trip.
We will then spend Monday, September 2 through Friday, September 6 staying at Disney's Carribbean Beach Resort.
Monday we will visit Magic Kingdom and begin with some EMH and a character breakfast reservation at Crystal Palace, 8am, as my DS8 loves all things Pooh. We have fastpasses for Pirates, BTMR and Haunted manion b/w 9-12. This is where I am a little undecided about our trip. MNSSHP is scheduled for September 2 so I have been considering buying tickets to this event and if I do, we will head back to our resort and hopefully have our room ready so we can return later for the Halloween party. If I don't get tickets for it, then we will just stay in the park until the park closes since it closes early.
If anyone has any suggestions about the Halloween party let me know, I've read mixed reviews on it. Some say crowds are worse than during the regular day and some say it's not that bad. If anyone has actual experience, please feel free to share it.
TUESDAY- We will begin our day with EMH at AK and have a breakfast reservation at Tusker House for 9:25am for a character breakfast with DONALD DUCK one of my faves! Next we have fastpasses scheduled for Nav'i River Journey, Kilimanjaro Safaris and DINOSAUR between 10:20-1:55. After this, I intend to ride Everest since my kids and wife won't get on it with me. I have a Touring Plans membership and intend to use it, but I don't want to be completely beholden to a schedule the whole time I'm on vacation. I actually kind of miss the old days of just going and doing random things! Anyway, at some point in the afternoon, we will return to the room to rest or park hop to Epcot or something, not entirely sure. I think we will return in the evening to AK becuase I want to see the night time shows etc.
WEDNESDAY: This will be an interesting day as my plan is to hit Hollywood Studios bright and early at 6am to tackle SWGE. We have fastpasses scheduled for Toy Story Mania, Star Tours and Indian Jones from 9:20-1200. After that, we will return to our resort and rest because we have an early evening dinner reservation at Hollywood and Vine for the Minnie seasonal party experience and Fantasmic dining. So this should be fun. I just hope my boys and keep up because if worse comes to worse, I'll send them all back in the evening and I'll stay! LOL! I love Fantasmic, I also want to see the Star Wars show that evening.
THURSDAY: We are going to start later this morning as we will need the rest because of all the early days already had during the week. We have a character dining reservation at Chef Mickey's for breakfast around 10am and then we will hit MK again and ride 7DMT, Space Mountain and Splash Mountain b/w 12-3:20. At this point maybe we'll park hop some where, or head back to the resort and relax some and then visit another park. Not entirely sure what the plan will be this day, but obviously I want to take full advantage of our Park Hoppers.
FRIDAY: We will begin at Epcot and spend about a half day there as unfortunately, we will begin our travel home on this afternoon. We have fastpasses for Soarin', Seas with Nemo and friends, and Spaceship Earth from 9am-12pm. After Spaceship Earth we will probably hit the world showcase for a little while and then, leave,
. I'm sure we are going to have a great family vacation as this is the first time we are hitting Disney as a family and hopefully there will be many more trips to come.
A little bit more background, my DS10 has a sensory processing disorder and a significant level of anxiety which is treated with medication, but my only worry is that he will be overly stimulated and not be able to enjoy himself. I might see about the DAS card for him because the last thing we need is for him to have a meltdown in the middle of any of the parks while waiting in line, which is likely to happen, because it's not pretty when that happens. He is pretty well adjusted until he just can't take the over stimulation any more. We have taken him to Sea World San Antonio a few times this year in anticipation of our Disney trip and he did pretty well for the most part. Only 1 serious meltdown toward the end of the day during one of the visits. So I'm hopeful. Regardless, I fully intend to have an awesome time!!
If anyone has suggestions on things to do or see, please don't hesitate to let me know, as I mentioned previously I haven't been in 9 years so I know SOOOO MUCH has changed! Thanks for reading, hopefully I didn't bore you to tears!
We are the C's and we consist of me, DH, DW, DS10, DS8 and DD 11 months(will turn 1 on Sept 1 the day before we hit the parks on Sept 2). I have been a Disney lover for as long as I can remember and have made many trips with family and friends over the years. In fact, my wife and I took a late honey to Disney about 18 months after we were married because I had started a new job and couldn't get the time off for a honeymoon right after we got married. That trip was in June 2010 so it's been 9 years since we have been to Disney.
I have always dreamed of taking my kids to Disney and have been trying to get a trip together for the last 8 years! It's FINALLY happening this year. Everything has fallen right into place for this trip, unlike the previous booked trips we had that unfortunately had to be canceled for one reason or another. But this, this is happening and I couldn't be more excited. The next thing we want to tackle is a Disney cruise, but that'll have to wait until DD is a little older and potty trained.
We are driving to Disney because airfare is insanely expensive and well I always enjoyed roadtrips when I was a kid. We took a preliminary trip to SC from TX in June, driving across the country. Drive went well, kids did great so I'm not at all concerned about making the trip to Orlando in a car. Besides, not spending money on airfare will allows even more money to spend while we are there.
We begin our trip on Friday, August 30 and will take a somewhat leisurely drive to Orlando with an expected arrival of Saturday, August 31. We will stay on points at a Springhill Suites right outside of Disney and relax Saturday. Sunday we will wake up, hit Sea World for a little while since we have Platinum Passes and want to make good use out of them. Sunday afternoon/evening we have a reservation at T-Rex in Disney Springs because my DS10 ABSOLUTELY LOVES Dinosaurs and I know he will love this restaurant. We will spend the evening at Disney Springs and probably do a little shopping as I am a sucker for Disney souvenoirs.
We have the "free" dining plan and park hoppers so this should make for an even better trip.
We will then spend Monday, September 2 through Friday, September 6 staying at Disney's Carribbean Beach Resort.
Monday we will visit Magic Kingdom and begin with some EMH and a character breakfast reservation at Crystal Palace, 8am, as my DS8 loves all things Pooh. We have fastpasses for Pirates, BTMR and Haunted manion b/w 9-12. This is where I am a little undecided about our trip. MNSSHP is scheduled for September 2 so I have been considering buying tickets to this event and if I do, we will head back to our resort and hopefully have our room ready so we can return later for the Halloween party. If I don't get tickets for it, then we will just stay in the park until the park closes since it closes early.
If anyone has any suggestions about the Halloween party let me know, I've read mixed reviews on it. Some say crowds are worse than during the regular day and some say it's not that bad. If anyone has actual experience, please feel free to share it.
TUESDAY- We will begin our day with EMH at AK and have a breakfast reservation at Tusker House for 9:25am for a character breakfast with DONALD DUCK one of my faves! Next we have fastpasses scheduled for Nav'i River Journey, Kilimanjaro Safaris and DINOSAUR between 10:20-1:55. After this, I intend to ride Everest since my kids and wife won't get on it with me. I have a Touring Plans membership and intend to use it, but I don't want to be completely beholden to a schedule the whole time I'm on vacation. I actually kind of miss the old days of just going and doing random things! Anyway, at some point in the afternoon, we will return to the room to rest or park hop to Epcot or something, not entirely sure. I think we will return in the evening to AK becuase I want to see the night time shows etc.
WEDNESDAY: This will be an interesting day as my plan is to hit Hollywood Studios bright and early at 6am to tackle SWGE. We have fastpasses scheduled for Toy Story Mania, Star Tours and Indian Jones from 9:20-1200. After that, we will return to our resort and rest because we have an early evening dinner reservation at Hollywood and Vine for the Minnie seasonal party experience and Fantasmic dining. So this should be fun. I just hope my boys and keep up because if worse comes to worse, I'll send them all back in the evening and I'll stay! LOL! I love Fantasmic, I also want to see the Star Wars show that evening.
THURSDAY: We are going to start later this morning as we will need the rest because of all the early days already had during the week. We have a character dining reservation at Chef Mickey's for breakfast around 10am and then we will hit MK again and ride 7DMT, Space Mountain and Splash Mountain b/w 12-3:20. At this point maybe we'll park hop some where, or head back to the resort and relax some and then visit another park. Not entirely sure what the plan will be this day, but obviously I want to take full advantage of our Park Hoppers.
FRIDAY: We will begin at Epcot and spend about a half day there as unfortunately, we will begin our travel home on this afternoon. We have fastpasses for Soarin', Seas with Nemo and friends, and Spaceship Earth from 9am-12pm. After Spaceship Earth we will probably hit the world showcase for a little while and then, leave,
. I'm sure we are going to have a great family vacation as this is the first time we are hitting Disney as a family and hopefully there will be many more trips to come.A little bit more background, my DS10 has a sensory processing disorder and a significant level of anxiety which is treated with medication, but my only worry is that he will be overly stimulated and not be able to enjoy himself. I might see about the DAS card for him because the last thing we need is for him to have a meltdown in the middle of any of the parks while waiting in line, which is likely to happen, because it's not pretty when that happens. He is pretty well adjusted until he just can't take the over stimulation any more. We have taken him to Sea World San Antonio a few times this year in anticipation of our Disney trip and he did pretty well for the most part. Only 1 serious meltdown toward the end of the day during one of the visits. So I'm hopeful. Regardless, I fully intend to have an awesome time!!
If anyone has suggestions on things to do or see, please don't hesitate to let me know, as I mentioned previously I haven't been in 9 years so I know SOOOO MUCH has changed! Thanks for reading, hopefully I didn't bore you to tears!
