The "I don't know, we'll figure it out when we get there!" PTR with pics

[Finally - A Vacation]

Hello everyone! I am soooo excited to finally be writing this PTR! It has been a very long time coming. Let me start with the introductions. First, there's me (Dena), I'm 31 and have never been to WDW! But that is all about to change. Here is a not-so-flattering picture of myself.

Next up: my hubby Nate. Nate has been to Disney once. It's been more than 12 years ago. He went in high school with the band. It was a very short trip and he doesn't remember much! We will be celebrating his 30th B-day on our trip! Here is his lovely picture.

And here we are together.

Now, on to the little ones. We have three little princesses. First, Mikayla (5). She is so excited to ride "big-kid" rides. So far, our kids have only ridden rides at the local carnival - and absolutely loved it. They are going to be blown away with Disney. I will be too! Next, is Camryn (4). My little dare-devil! When I showed her the Disney planning DVD, she saw the part with Rock n Rollercoaster and said she was going to ride it with her hands in the air. She is nowhere near tall enough. Here are my beautiful girls.

Last, but not least is Karli (7mos.). I think she just might be the best baby ever! And I'm not just saying that cause I'm her mom! As good as she is though, we have decided to leave her with grandma for this trip. We thought it would be too difficult on us and her (Middle of July) and not fair to her sisters. So, now there is an excuse for another trip! And here she is with daddy.

Stay tuned for a lot more to come!

 

[Finally - A Vacation]

As I mentioned before, this trip has been in the works for quite some time. I have been planning this trip since the summer of 2006! So here is what happened. Nate and I have have been married almost 8.5 yrs. The only vacation we have taken together was our honeymoon. We went to Gatlinburg, TN. The planning was more focused on the wedding, not the honeymoon. It was nice, but after everything that I know now, I wish we would have gone to WDW It never even crossed our minds! Well, after our first two kids were born, we decided we wanted to attempt a little get-a-way. So, we decided to take the kids to St. Louis for a long weekend. The kids were both very young, 3 and 18mos. We had no idea how they would travel, so we didn't want to go too far. We went to the zoo, the Science museum, Grant's Farm, the Children's musesum and ate at the Spaghetti Factory. Honestly, not very much planning went into that trip. I knew we wanted to go to the zoo and I asked a co-worker whom had taken her kids years ago, what else there was to do. She gave me a few ideas and I went home and got driving directions. That's about it! That said, the trip could have been a lot better. We were at the zoo on the hottest day of the year. Neither one of us had ever been there before and we kept walking in circles. Everyone was hot and cranky so we just left without seeing everything. Then, one of the museums that we went to was closing about 30 minutes after we got there. And last, even though we had directions for the Spaghetti Factory and knew the vicinity of where it should be, we had a heck of a time trying to find it! We are from a small town and never deal with traffic (4 stop-lights total in our town) so being lost in St. Louis was not much fun! Even though our first trip had some not-so nice moments, we still enjoyed it - well, most of it

So, when we got home, I was talking to my sister about our lovely trip and somehow the subject of Disney World came up. I guess since I had never been there, I never really thought about WDW - ever (now it's all I think about ) That conversation led to the thought that "hey maybe we could go to Disney World". My sister has three kids too and she has been to WDW. Her FIL lives nearby. Then that thought led to "let's make this a trip for the whole family and have our mom and step-dad and 2 step-brothers come too". Ok, so now I was starting to get excited. I found Disney's web-site and started to do a little research. I couldn't believe how much stuff there was to do. So, after more discussion, everyone was in and the planning began. This was the summer of 2006 and we were planning the trip for June 2007. I was doing all the research, and my sister and I would discuss it. After awhile, I could tell I was getting on her nerves. She "says" she likes to have a plan, but she really is a more spur-of-the-moment type. So, I backed off and tried to discuss my plans with Nate instead. He got annoyed too! Anytime I asked for his opinion about something I got the same response, "I don't know, we'll figure it out when we get there!" So, as the next summer grew closer, there was less and less talk of the trip. Finally, my sister said, that they were not going to be able to go June 2007 because they were going to be remodeling their house and wouldn't be able to afford it, but we could do it the next summer (2008). I was devestated.

Now, this next part is going to sound crazy. Nate and I knew we wanted to have more kids. We also knew that we didn't want to take a baby to WDW and I did not want to go while pregnant. So, going in summer of 2008 was throwing a wrench in our plans. But, I was bound and determined I was going to WDW, so we decided to hold off on having another baby a little while longer. I tried to put Disney out of my mind for a while too (impossible). So, time passes and I can see that the construction is going pretty slow on my sister's house. At the time ADR's could be made at 180 days and it was getting close so I asked my sister about going again. This time I was not only disappointed, but just plain mad. She would never give me a straight answer. I knew they were not going to go but she didn't want to disappoint me so she kept saying they wouldn't know for a while. As for my mom and her family, she never really had a desire to go, but thought it would be nice to see the grandkids having fun and would be able to help us out. However, she only wanted to go, if both of us were going. So, now what do we do? Try to have a baby, of course!

And that is exactly what we did. After the second trip failed Nate and I decided it would be best for us to go to WDW on our own. I talked to my mom and she agreed that she would keep the baby while we were gone. So, I was all geared up and ready to plan. I found the DIS and have been lurking for quite awhile and to be honest, after reading some of the group trip experiences, I am glad it will just be the four of us!

That is a lot of information for tonight. I apologize for the length. I am new at this, so if I'm doing something wrong let me know! I hope someone will read this. I really don't have anyone to share my obsessive planning with anymore. Well, even if no one responds, I will keep writing. I'm finding it to be therapuetic.

 

[Finally - A Vacation]

Ok, so I got over being upset and was really excited that we were still going to be able to take this trip, so it was time to start planning - again! We knew we wouldn't be able to go until the next summer (2009) due to my daughter being in Kindergarten. We were playing around with a few dates but nothing was set in stone. Then Disney announced the new "What will you celebrate" promotion. Well... we will be celebrating Nate's 30th birthday! So it was set. We now knew that we would be going in July.

Now, where should we stay? Well, when I first started planning, a long, long time ago, I was really interested in the WL. Then I found out how much it was going to set us back and quickly changed my mind! So, then I thought a moderate resort would be nice. However, after I thought about how much time we would be spending at the resort and pool, I again changed my mind. I just can't justify spending the extra money when I know that we will not be there to enjoy it that often. So, a value resort it is! Pop Century to be exact. I think the girls will be fascinated with this resort! I'm sure us adults will be too.

Ok, so we know the approximate time of when we want to go and we know where we want to stay. Now, what do we do when we get there? Everything! Ha! I wish! I have done enough research to know that we could never stay long enough for us to do everything. It is really hard to narrow it down though. Unfortunatley, I didn't have much help either! Again, with the "I don't know, we'll figure it out when we get there!" So, at this point, I had to sit Nate down and explain to him just how important it was to have a plan. I also reminded him of our trip to the zoo. Even so, he was still not interested in making any decisions. So, we both agreed that I would do the planning and he wouldn't complain later! I think he actually likes me spending so many hours on the computer. That leaves more time for him to play video games!

Well, I think I have decided that we will do 2 days at MK, 1 day in the other 3 parks, 1 day at a water park, and 1 day at Sea World. We will also have an extra day that, as of right now, will be our first official day. I know I will throw DTD in there somewhere too. Remember, this is my first time planning a WDW trip so please feel free to join in with any advice or opinions! I will go into much more detail about the "what to do" plans later.

Now, where do we eat? Well, Nate and I enjoy eating out, a lot. Howerer, we really don't get the chance that often. So, when I first started planning, we were going to do the Deluxe Dining Plan. There are sooo many places to choose from. I was having a tough time narrowing them down - even with 3 meals a day! I also thought that with 2 - 3 sit down meals a day that would give us a chance to rest a little. Well, as we all know, things easily change. With the recent slump in the economy, I decided we should cut back on our budget for the trip. Disney also made some changes and added the Quick service dining plan. That was something else to think about. And after much thinking, I have decided that we will do the regular dining plan. After reading all of your dining reviews and looking at the food porn, there was no way I would be able to cut out all TS meals. It was hard enough trying to eliminate any of them from my list!

Stick around to read more details of the plans with the next update.

 

[Finally - A Vacation]

Well, after our short-lived trip to the zoo, I knew that I needed to have a really good plan in order for us to survive the heat, long lines and crankiness that is sure to come. I had read a lot about TourGuide Mike on the boards and decided that was what I needed. I just hope it works! I'm sure if it doesn't, it will be our own fault. I'm not sure about those breaks in the afternoon! I know it sounds like that's what we need to do, but there just doesn't seem to be enough hours in the day. This time I found myself saying "I don't know, we'll figure it out when we get there"! Shame on me! So, since the park hours have not yet been released for July, I am having a hard time not being able to put a definite plan together. Soooo frustrating! But, I know it won't be much longer. In the meantime, I am trying to come up with a plan that can easily be adjusted when the park hours, entertainment hours, and best days list are available. I'm hoping F! will be showing more often in the summer hours! Has anyone heard? That is really making the planning difficult. As much as I want to see it, it may not happen this trip.


We are planning on driving this trip. You should see my packing list - there is no way I could get all of it in our luggage! Also, again with the economy, it will be much cheaper than flying. So, I may need some help with this part. As of right now, we are planning on leaving our house around 3:00 am and driving straight through. I know, that sounds scary to me too! According to mapquest, it will take us a little over 16 hours to get there - without stopping. Well, we all know that is not possible, so, I am planning on a little over 19 hrs. So, that would put us at Pop somewhere between 10:00 and 11:00 pm. Obviously not ideal. We had played around with the idea of driving until about 7 or 8 pm and staying in a hotel somewhere and finish the drive the next morning, but the more I thought about it, I liked the first idea better. I know we will be exhausted, but I like knowing that when we wake up in the morning, we will be ready to start our vacation. Also, I realize that it will be more expensive to just sleep at Pop than at some other hotel, but we will still have our meal credits to use towards food for the rest of the week, so it will probably even out in the end. Also, right now, I am planning on a fairly quiet first day. We will sleep in and if I do make and ADR, it will be for dinner. I am still open for advice so bring it on!

Here is a list of what our plan looks like so far:

Day 1 Quiet day
Breakfast at the food court whenever we wake up
Shopping at DTD
Lunch at Wolfgang Puck Express
More DTD and/or back to Pop
Dinner at Pop food court
Here is where it gets tricky. I wanted to try to do F! this nite without the dining package. I understand that we would have to stand in line for at least 2 hours, but I thought it would be better on the quiet nite than on the HS day. But, with the cut back of the show times, I don't know if it will be offered this nite and I don't think I want our HS day to be on a day that it is offered, so this might not happen. Spectromagic poses the same problem. I also want to do an Illuminations cruise, so this may be an option here too.

Keep in mind that the order of the rest of days will more than likely change but the itinerary should remain the same.

Day 2 1st MK day
Breakfast in our room
MK at rope drop
appointment for BBB 11:30?
CRT 12:45?
Stay in park
Dinner at Casey's Corner
Spectro?
Wishes

Day 3 AK day
Breakfast in our room
Animal Kingdom at rope drop
Lunch at Yak n Yeti (CS)
Afternoon in park
Dinner at T-Rex

Day 4 MK 2nd day
Breakfast in room
MK at rope drop
lunch at Cosmic Ray's
Use Birthday Fastpasses in the afternoon
Dinnner at Ohana's
This day will probably stay a MK just because of the birthday fastpasses, I thought the rides offered with the B-day FP at MK more suited our family. But, if this ends up being a terrible day for MK then I will probably change our plans.

Day 5 Epcot
Breakfast in room
Epcot at rope drop
lunch at Sunshine Seasons
Afternoon in park
Dinner at Le Cellier

Day 6 Water park (I'm leaning towards BB, but just not sure yet)
Breakfast at Chef Mickeys
Water park
lunch in water park
dinner at Teppan Edo or Coral Reef?
Illuminations Cruise?

Day 7 Hollywood Studios
Breakfast in room
HS at rope drop
lunch at Sci-Fi
Afternoon in park
Dinner at 50's Prime Time

Day 8 Sea World
Breakfast at Pop Food Court
Sea World all day

Day 9
Breakfast at Kona before starting our long journey home

 

[OhioDisneyLover]

Hi.

I just found your PTR. I'm subbing.

Your plans sound great to me so far. One thing to think about is Fantasmic. It is down to only a few nights a week. I'm going crazy waiting for the September schedules to come out in order to finalize my plans.

You are so right about wanting to plan. I have found that people that do Disney with no plan at all are the ones that come home hating it. It's happened to so many of my friends. Now they have all learned the importance of planning.

I'm staying at Pop in May for three nights and then staying 9 nights at CS in September. I've never stayed at Pop before but we got a great price ($64 a night) so we're going.

Stop by my PTR and check it out.

I'll be waiting to hear more about your plans.

 

[bitohoney]

I'm in the process of reading your PTR! I couldn't read it all...this chair I sit in in soooo uncomfortable! I subscribed so I can finish later!
So far so good though!

 

[Finally - A Vacation]

Yay! Finally, some readers. Thanks for taking the time to read it all. It was quite lengthy. Now I think I will head on over to your PTRs.

 

[Finally - A Vacation]

Just thought I would post some pics of my first purchases for our trip!

I was soooo excited about the crocs. I found them at the Finish Line on sale for $4.98!

 

[Finally - A Vacation]

I don't know about all of you, but sometimes I find myself sitting at my computer just completely overwhelmed! I sit down with every intention of accomplishing something but instead, I end up reading everyone's PTRs . I guess I just have so many questions about so many different things that I don't even know where to begin researching. So, I just read. I have to say though, I have definitely learned a lot from all those reports !

Here are some of my dillemmas. Fantasmic! I'm sure this has become the same dillemma for many of us. I'm also debating on a specialty cruise. I just can't decide if we should try one. Which one would be better, Wishes or Illuminations? Where is the better view, in the park or from the water? I do like the idea of avoiding the crowds, but is it really worth the money? I also know that we could do a cruise share, but has anyone done this and if so, how did it work out? So many questions!

On to the brighter side. I saw the June 2009 entertainment hours and noticed the increase in Spectro nites. Hopefully, July will look similar, that would solve my other dillemma ! I also discovered today that my 90 day reservation window falls on a day that my office will be closed. This is a good thing since I have been reading that the hold times have been so ridiculous! Anoter positve: I have bought some things to make my binder and have started making some rough pages. Can't wait to see it come together!

Ok, that's enough for now, I have to get planning !

 

[OhioDisneyLover]

Yay updates!

Love the Crocs! I have a couple of pair myself and they are awesome. I switch shoes and take 3 pair and then rotate. I found a couple of years ago that it helps my feet a lot. Crocs are my favorite though. I know this may sound strange, but have you worn Croc Socks? I swore I would not do it but you know what......they are great! Save your feet from sklipping around and if your feet get wet in Crocs they sometimes blister during the time it takes to dry them. That happened to me twice. So, I got the darn stupid looking socks!

I stocked up on the rain ponchos at our local dollar store. I had to laugh..DH asked if I was wrapping him up in saran wrap or something.

I know what you mean about the cruises. We want to take one so darn bad. I think I'd prefer Illuminations. What is interesting is once we were staying at the WL and had taken the boat back. It happened to be at the start of Wishes. The boat driver stopped so that we could all watch...like a free little Wishes cruise. That is what got me hooked on wanting to see them from the water. I'll be interested to see what you decide on. If we were going at the same time we'd do a cruise share with you!

I am in the Fantasmic dilemma myself. I hate that they cut down the shows. I did manage to get the Fantasmic package for our trip in May so if it doesn't work out in September I guess I wont' be too upset. One thing though is that when I made the ADR I didn't get the ADR I wanted. The person I talked to said me it is rare that anyone does.

for the next update.

 

[sneadae]

Hi! Your report sounds fun! And your girls are very sweet!

 

[Finally - A Vacation]

Ok, due to our ever-changing plans and some issues at work, we have not made our reservations yet ! I tend to worry about everything, so not having the reservations made has been driving me nuts! Well, Nate's work approved his vacation dates and we are all set to make this trip official . I had to work this morning and I couldn't wait to get home and make that phone call. To my disappointment, the lovely lady on the other end of the line informed me that the system was down and I should try back in two hours ! Talk about torture!

 

[Finally - A Vacation]

Yay updates!

Love the Crocs! I have a couple of pair myself and they are awesome. I switch shoes and take 3 pair and then rotate. I found a couple of years ago that it helps my feet a lot. Crocs are my favorite though. I know this may sound strange, but have you worn Croc Socks? I swore I would not do it but you know what......they are great! Save your feet from sklipping around and if your feet get wet in Crocs they sometimes blister during the time it takes to dry them. That happened to me twice. So, I got the darn stupid looking socks!

I stocked up on the rain ponchos at our local dollar store. I had to laugh..DH asked if I was wrapping him up in saran wrap or something.

I know what you mean about the cruises. We want to take one so darn bad. I think I'd prefer Illuminations. What is interesting is once we were staying at the WL and had taken the boat back. It happened to be at the start of Wishes. The boat driver stopped so that we could all watch...like a free little Wishes cruise. That is what got me hooked on wanting to see them from the water. I'll be interested to see what you decide on. If we were going at the same time we'd do a cruise share with you!

I am in the Fantasmic dilemma myself. I hate that they cut down the shows. I did manage to get the Fantasmic package for our trip in May so if it doesn't work out in September I guess I wont' be too upset. One thing though is that when I made the ADR I didn't get the ADR I wanted. The person I talked to said me it is rare that anyone does.

for the next update.

A couple of weeks ago, Nate and I were at the mall and I was checking out the Crocs. I was telling him that he should wear them for our trip and he just laughed! Last weekend when I found the Crocs on sale for the kids he started checking them out for himself, even tried a pair on! I think I'm slowly convincing him .

 

[Finally - A Vacation]

Hi! Your report sounds fun! And your girls are very sweet!

Thanks and Welcome!

 

[Finally - A Vacation]

So, I waited a few hours and called back to check on making our reservations. Unfortunately, this time I was told to call back tommorrow morning . Oh well, I guess that's what I get for waiting .

Hope everyone is having a great weekend. All 3 girls are getting over being sick . The baby even had pnemonia! But everyone seems to be doing better now. The nice 70 degree weather this weekend has been a nice pick-me-up too!

 

[OhioDisneyLover]

Hope everyone is feeling better now.

The weather here is interesting this weekend. We're in the high 50's/low 60's so all the snow has melted. I do predict though that I will have a lot of staff members with sinus issues tomorrow when I go back to work!

My nephew is the one that got DH to wear Crocs actually. It was hilarious. In 2007 DH and I took my nephew to WDW for his 10th birthday weekend. Just the three of us. We were at WoD and he spotted the Crocs. He's like "hey Uncle Joe, let's get these!" DH was like, "um, no way." So my nephew said "here, try them on. They are really comfortable." My newphew kept nagging at him so he finally did. Here we are now, two pair later and working on a third! We were at the mall yesterday and he found a pair that look llike slip on loafers that he wants to get. I keep telling him that he has to rotate shoes while we're on vacation or his feet will hurt. That is the only thing that works for me. btw....I love the Crocs that you picked!

 

[bettyann29]

just found your PTR and enjoying reading it..

the first time I went to WDW I took my DD and DS.. they were 9 and 7 at the time.. I decided to leave my youngest DD at home at the time because I didnt know if I would ever get back and I wanted DD and DS to have the time of their lives.. Looking back I was glad that I did that at the time..

The compulsive planner that I am now shutters at how little planning I did on my first trip.. Oh the horror! If I knew then what I know now I would have planned better..

I cant believe you got such a great deal on those crocs.. I love the color too!

Cant wait to hear more about your plans..

 

[Finally - A Vacation]

Hope everyone is feeling better now.

The weather here is interesting this weekend. We're in the high 50's/low 60's so all the snow has melted. I do predict though that I will have a lot of staff members with sinus issues tomorrow when I go back to work!

My nephew is the one that got DH to wear Crocs actually. It was hilarious. In 2007 DH and I took my nephew to WDW for his 10th birthday weekend. Just the three of us. We were at WoD and he spotted the Crocs. He's like "hey Uncle Joe, let's get these!" DH was like, "um, no way." So my nephew said "here, try them on. They are really comfortable." My newphew kept nagging at him so he finally did. Here we are now, two pair later and working on a third! We were at the mall yesterday and he found a pair that look llike slip on loafers that he wants to get. I keep telling him that he has to rotate shoes while we're on vacation or his feet will hurt. That is the only thing that works for me. btw....I love the Crocs that you picked!

Thanks, evryone is doing much better now . Too funny about your husband and the Crocs .

 

[Finally - A Vacation]

just found your PTR and enjoying reading it..

the first time I went to WDW I took my DD and DS.. they were 9 and 7 at the time.. I decided to leave my youngest DD at home at the time because I didnt know if I would ever get back and I wanted DD and DS to have the time of their lives.. Looking back I was glad that I did that at the time..

The compulsive planner that I am now shutters at how little planning I did on my first trip.. Oh the horror! If I knew then what I know now I would have planned better..
I cant believe you got such a great deal on those crocs.. I love the color too!

Cant wait to hear more about your plans..

As hard as it will be to be away from the baby for that long, I know we are making the right decision by not taking her. Besides, that gives us a reason to go back !

 

[Finally - A Vacation]

The reservations are finally made! Yeah!