The "Just the Five of Us" PTR - June 2011

[aprilfoolwed]

Hello! Welcome to my first Pre-Trip report! We're getting ready for our thrid trip to WDW since 2009! We took our first family trip to WDW two years ago, and travelled with my parents, who served as excellent Disney guides! Last year we spent a week on the Gulf Coast, but thanks to the "Give A Day" program, we snuck one day in at Magic Kingdom. We did not plan on a big vacation this year, but found it too hard to stay away!

Let's get into the "W's" behind this trip:

THE WHO:

Me - aka Mommy - 34-year-old full-time Mom, part-time student (returned to college this year to work towards my teaching certification) and part-time employee. I am the driving force behind the trip - I love Disney and sharing it with our children! I am also the PLANNER! My favorite place in WDW is Magic Kingdom because it's so nostalgic; however, I also LOVE World Showcase!

DH - aka Daddy - 34-year-old Dad who is lucky enough to work for a great company with lots of vacation days! His first trip to WDW was on our 2009 trip, but he has been to Disneyland as a child. I think Hollywood Studios won him over as a favorite two years ago.

DD10 - aka M - okay, she won't be 10 until May, but she will be 10 when we are in Disney! M is my quiet, introspective child. She loves reading, drawing and horses. She'll tell you her favorite ride is Expedition Everest, but I know Winnie the Pooh really holds the key to her heart!

DS8 - aka R - R will turn 8 in April. He's our high-needs guy - with generalized anxiety disorder and some sensory issues as well. Crowds, heat and noises sometimes overwhelm him, which makes vacations a challenge at times. Regardless, R says Disney is his favorite place, and even if he needs some special handling when we waiting in a long line in the July heat, he still haas a good time. He has a heart-of-gold when you strip away his anxiety. He loves Splash Mountain!

DS5 - aka J - another one with a spring birthday. J is our little firecracker! He's into everything, and has more than enough spunk to go around! He is our huge Disney fan! At least once a week, he'll make us all go around the dinner table and talk about our Disney favorites. J loves the Haunted Mansion, and can be found singing "Grim Grinning Ghosts" daily!

 

[aprilfoolwed]

The What:

Our 3rd trip to WDW as a family! On our other two trips, we travelled with my parents. We tried to arrange for DH's family to join us this time, but it didn't work out. So, for the first time, it's JUST THE FIVE OF US! I am looking forward to it!

The Where:

We are staying in a 4-bedroom pool home in Emerald Island! The kids love the private pool, and DH and I love the space. We also love having a full kitchen, so we have save a little money in the food budget. We were able to secure the house for $850 for 8 nights.

The When:

We will be in Florida June 12-20; however, since we are driving from PA, we'll be "on vacation" from June 11-21. 20 hours down - 20 hours back up This will be our 3rd time doing the drive, so the kids should be seasoned pros at this point!

The Why:

We really didn't plan for this trip. DH has a convention in Orlando in June, so we knew he would be going. His company pays for a portion of the lodging and transportation, so it's really attractive to piggy-back on his trip.

The How:

We're doing a budget-mided trip this year. We'll be staying off site (despite the PIN I just received for Free Dining!), and saving a ton of money that way. We also signed up for the YES program. The older two kids will be attending a YES class (Synergy in Science @ EPCOT), and we got reduced tickets to the parks. We have 7-day base tickets (I really wish we would have gotten Hoppers, but...) that ran us $850 for the 5 of us! Driving saves up a ton of money (we estimate that gas prices would have to almost triple for it to even break even with airfare rates) too.

So how could we NOT go to Disney this year? We kept this trip a secret for nearly 2 months from the kids. On Valentine's Day, we wrapped up the Disney Planning DVD and gave it to them with our travel dates!

 

[aprilfoolwed]

Aside from buying our YES tickets and booking the house in Emerald Island, I've made a few ADRs.

Right now, we have an ADR for Chef Mickey breakfast on Wednesday 6/15 at 7:00 AM, Sci-Fi on Thursday 6/16 at 1:10 PM, and Tusker House on Saturday 6/18 at 8:05 AM.

We may cut back and only do one character breakfast, but for now we're keeping both ADRs.

My kids fell in love with Sci-Fi two years ago. I wouldn't be my first choice for dining, but since all three asked to go back, how can I say no (they never agree on anything!).

The only other prep I have done for this trip is to set aside a few items for us to pack. Since we are staying in a home, we need to bring soaps/paper products. I picked up some extra hand soaps and shampoos and set them aside for this trip.

 

[3princesses+aprince]

Can't wait to hear about your June adventures. We're taking a big trip in June/July of 2012 so I'll be signing up for all of these June/July PTRs for this year.

 

[mrssmith06]

Following over from my PTR Sounds great, look forward to reading more!

 

[aprilfoolwed]

This is my first attempt at posting photos, so I hope it works!

Lunch with Pooh at Crystal Palace - 2009

The crew with Minnie - 2009

The kids with Indiana Jones and Marion - 2009

A tired crew at EPCOT - 2009

 

[lbuzz52]

We are in the same boat- first trip solo as a family after ones with friends or extended family.
Looking forward to more.

 

[aprilfoolwed]

Look at all of our goodies!

Most of this is Easter Basket stuff, but it will be used on our trip. Not only am I helping my three kids to get ready for our trip, but my niece and nephew will be going to WDW just a few weeks after us, so I get to help them get ready too! It's my niece's (16 months) first trip, and my nephew's (4 years) second one, so it will be so special for them!

For my niece: Baby Cinderella (my sister bought her a matching Cinderella outfit -they will be so cute!), travel utensil set, Pooh stickers, glow sticks, pool float (they are staying in Windsor Hills in a pool home), Princess magic towel, and a travel tooth brush.

For my nephew: Disney Matchbox cars, Mickey stickers, glow sticks, pool float, Toy Story magic towel, travel toothbrush, Mickey lanyard, Donald Duck PEZ, and a clip-on hand sanitizer.

For my kids: T-Shirts (LEGO Star Wars for the boys, Minnie for DD), toothbrushes, hand sanitizer, Disney PEZ (Goofy, Pluto and Dalmatian), lanyards (Mickey, Cars, Toy Story), pool floats, drink mixes.

There's also a Disney Rummikub game there that my youngest will get for his birthday next month. Found that on the clearance rack at Target! Yay!

I love finding these little treasures to stash away for the kids. The PEZ may be kept until our trip as a surprise. I like to have a few things tucked in my backpack for those close-to-meltdown moments. New PEZ always makes them happy!

3 months until our trip!

 

[aprilfoolwed]

I haven't been doing too much in the way of pre-trip prep these days. I am smack in the middle of my semester and there' just so much work to do!

Little things I have done:

• started buying sunscreen
• Bought Mentos gum - so we can use the containers for pressed pennies!
• started saving quarters and pennies for pressed pennies
• Bought the kids MORE disney shirts for this summer
• Had the kids try on all their shorts
• Started shopping for short (Yay Kohl's 30% off code!) for the kids that outgrew them.

Next week is a busy one for us. DH and I will celebrate our 11th anniversary on April 1st! And J's 5th birthday is on April 3rd, and R's 8th birthday is on April 7th. The boys' party will be on April 3rd, so next week is all about celebrations!

Still deciding what to do for the boys cake. I have done some great ones for them in the past. I am at work right now, but I think I'll post some photos of the cake from the past two years. This year, they picked out rock star decorations, so I'll have to come up with something to go along with that theme.

Less than 3 months until our trip!

 

[aprilfoolwed]

I bought some pins off ebay for the kids to use to start trading (I got some great advice on who the GOOD sellers are on ebay from the DIS!).

Our first pins came this week, and I am so excited to share them with the kids!

BUT -

NOT YET! I am going to let them choose their pins as we make the drive! I am so excited!

 

[aprilfoolwed]

because I have been busy with birthdays!

Both R & J had birthdays during the first week of April.

J turned FIVE on the 4th - here he is the morning of his birthday. He woke us up at 7:00 AM to announce that he was finally five!

Later that same day we had a big family party for both R & J. Here are the Birthday Brothers:

And the cupcakes and cake pops (I recently bought the Babycakes Cake Pops maker - they turned out pretty cute!).

R turned 8 on the 7th, and was thrilled to get a new bike for his birthday

We wrapped up the birthday week with a party for R's friends. Now, I have been a girl scout leader, and I am getting my teaching certification, so I have LOTS of patience when it comes to kids. But hosting these 7 2nd-grade boys nearly put DH and I into early retirement! They had a great time at the Hollywood Movie-themed party (the boys even walked the red carpet when they arrived!), but I am glad we don't have to have another party like that for another year!

Here's R enjoying some ice cream at his

Now the boys' birthdays are past... I still need to get through Easter, my classes (only 4 weeks left!), and M's birthday in May.

But there are only TWO MONTHS left until our trip! I can't wait until I can focus my time on packing! I did get all the kids' summer clothes out this past week. So I am ready to pack when I do have the time.

TWO MONTHS!

 

[aprilfoolwed]

...now says 1 MONTH until our vacation!

Okay - one month and 4 weeks, but that "1" looks so much nicer than the "2."

 

[aprilfoolwed]

The Disney Store!

I picked up some gift cards to tuck in the kids' Easter Baskets for this weekend.

But I also picked up a few shirts for me:

This one and this one

J was looking at the little hand-held fans, and came over to me with 5 of them in his hand. He said we all needed one for the parade. He doesn't know he has a mister coming in his Easter Basket, so we put them back for now. But how sweet that he was worrying about us all being hot at the parade!

 

[aprilfoolwed]

I think my little pretrip report is more like a diary now - I think I am the only one reading it.

anyway.... I painted my nails tonight (something I rarely do) as a trial run before our Disney trip. I wanted to paint Mickey heads on my nails. Bought some nail art stuff, but it didn't work. The brush was way too big (although it was labeled a "precision" brush).

So back to CVS it goes and I'll try the nail art pen next time.

 

[aprilfoolwed]

that our final payment is due for the rental house. That means we are a month away from Disney!

It's been *that* kind of week, so I am again so grateful to have this trip to look forward to!

Good news - my semester is officially over! Last paper was turned in today! Now on to Disney planning....

 

[aprilfoolwed]

Technically, my ticker says 1 month and 1 day, but since we are driving from PA to FL, we are leaving for Disney on June 11th (arriving in Orlando June 12th).

So it's ONE MONTH UNTIL OUR TRIP!

So much to do!

 

[beebeeryan]

1 month!!!! How exciting!!! Some great deals are just too good to pass up, can't wait to hear more!

 

[cadek]

Hi! Your trip is only a month away! How exciting! We are driving from PA for the first time in July. It will also be our first trip, just the 4 of us. Prior trips have all been with my Mom along.

My birthday is on the 7th too!

I love all your goodies, and I'm sure the kids do!

My sons also love Sci-Fi. We ate there spur of the moment in January and the kids were quiet and entertained the whole time! Definately doing that again!

Look forward to reading more, and hopefully a trip report when you return! It makes me feel like I'm there, in a sense, reading others reports. Anything to pass the time until Disney!

 

[aprilfoolwed]

1 month!!!! How exciting!!! Some great deals are just too good to pass up, can't wait to hear more!

THanks for reading! I am thrilled to have the opportunity for a trip this year.

 

[aprilfoolwed]

Hi! Your trip is only a month away! How exciting! We are driving from PA for the first time in July. It will also be our first trip, just the 4 of us. Prior trips have all been with my Mom along.

My birthday is on the 7th too!

I love all your goodies, and I'm sure the kids do!

My sons also love Sci-Fi. We ate there spur of the moment in January and the kids were quiet and entertained the whole time! Definately doing that again!

Look forward to reading more, and hopefully a trip report when you return! It makes me feel like I'm there, in a sense, reading others reports. Anything to pass the time until Disney!

Thanks for reading! I have so much to post, but I am still trying to get caught up from the end of my semester!

The drive from PA isn't too bad. We're in the Lehigh Valley, so it's a 20 hour drive for us. We leave early in the morning (around 5 AM) and drive until we get to GA, stay overnight, and finish the drive the next day.