The most magical first birthday! - A Sept 2019 PTR - UPDATED 8/22!

[missjackiemcg]

He is too cute!!! Jimmy loved Mickey and Cinderella when he went on his first trip...but he called Mickey "Hot Dog" instead LOL Thanks, Hot Dog Dance!

Looking forward to hearing what ADRs you decide to go with near MK!!

 

[CaseFace5]

Dining update!

So sorry this took a little longer to get on and update.. I ran into a few snags but I will get to those. So on our ADR day I woke up and fed Alex and started to get us ready for the day. Guess who wasn't paying attention and completely forgot to set an alarm to make the ADRs??

Oh no!! So I logged on to the app as soon as I could and tried to get the ressies. Monday I went to the restaurant we chose and got a time.. at 9pm.

Come to day two.. and I can't find the restaurant on the app. Okay I'll come back to this..

Day three I find the restaurant and get a time. It's not ideal but I got one.

Move on to the last day and I try for dinner. I get the only time available at the place we want.. 9:30PM. What the heck??

I was able to score a great quick service ADR on Thursday though!!!

I am really hoping that this doesn't mean that the crowds are going to be crazy busy if at 7am 180 days out I am having this much trouble finding ADRs.

I got to work and tried to get HDDR for Tuesday since I couldn't find it on the app at home and realize that you need to have the dining plan or pay out of pocket. Well we are using the dining plan, but hadn't purchased it yet. Oops! So we had to purchase it through the rental site to add to our rented DVC points. I thought we were all set.. Once again I was let down.

When I first booked the package, we didn't know MIL was coming so we had to have her added to the reservation. I emailed the rental place and they told me it was all set. I logged into MDE and I still didn't see her so I emailed them again and they assured me it was all set. Well when we sent payment for the dining plan, they sent the confirmation and she wasn't listed.

I wrote them back and as of this morning we are all squared away. We got a new confirmation and she is listed. She also now shows up in MDE. So this afternoon I called and booked us HDDR! I also took the time to add our celebrations to the reservation! (It's our second wedding anniversary and obviously Alex's first birthday!) I was also able to get a new time for our first night which is much better than 9pm! I wasn't able to switch the last night but I am going to keep checking and she told me to make sure to check at the 60 day mark and 30 day mark incase people cancel due to FP selections.

So without further ado.. here are the current places!

Monday - T-Rex dinner 4:30pm
Tuesday - HDDR 6pm show
Wednesday - Tusker House breakfast 10:45am
Thursday - BOG 2:15pm lunch , 'Ohana 9:30pm

Hopefully I will be able to get an earlier 'Ohana eventually. I know that we were going to be near or in MK on Monday, but DH wanted to go to T-Rex so we are going there!

**If you haven't noticed by now, I am terrible at making decisions and keeping them, so all of these are subject to change LOL!**​

 

[missjackiemcg]

Oh, what a bummer about making your reservations!!! Sorry it was such an incredible headache, but at least you were able to piece together your plan eventually!

 

[Cloe Colton]

I did the same thing with HDDR! lol its so annoying its not just listed on the normal reservations. But maybe because its a show? Because Cinderella's Royal Table is prepaid but thats on the app

Glad you got everything you wanted!

Do you use Touring Plans at all? Their reservation finder has been pretty awesome in finding reservations for me!

 

[missangelalexis]

Sorry it was such a struggle when making your ADRs! I second what Cloe said, try TP reservation finder!

 

[CaseFace5]

Is anyone still here??? I have not forgotten about you all I swear! Times have been soon busy! I will make up for lack of updates I promise! So what is going on with our trip you are wondering? Well here, let me tell you!

Nothing has changed on the ADR front. I did set an alert through TP for an earlier Ohana dinner, but haven'e heard boo yet on that so we are still waiting. Hopefully something comes up because we really don't want to do a super late dinner.

Flights are booked! We kept looking for flights and were able to get a pretty good deal on them and I am happy to report that my wanting an early flight down won! I'm still a little nervous on how it will be traveling with Alex so early in the day but I am hoping that with so much time we will have plenty of time to take a break and nap! So we are leaving here at 5:30 am arriving at MCO around 8:30 am. We leave Friday at 3 pm and get home around 6 pm. I think these times are perfect because we will have all day Monday to do things and Friday we don't have to wake up super early and we won't get home super late either!

So since we have 125 days until our trip that is pretty much all we have planned. We still have 65 days before we have to book FPs.

Since there isn't too much to update on the planning front and I promised you I would make up for the long lapse, I give you some cute baby pictures!

I will try to do these in order.. but there is no guarantee they will be LOL.

First Alex turned 6 months old in April! I can't believe it has been half a year already!!

We celebrated Easter with my parents this year!

We also celebrated May the 4th as a family!

A few weeks ago, Sken and I took a "stay-cation" and Alex got to experience Plymouth Rock and also the aquarium for the first time! He LOVED the aquarium!

I got to celebrate my first Mother's Day this year!!! Sken cooked for us all and everything was SO GOOD!!

Then just last week Alex turned 7 months old!!

He has two teeth, is eating solids like a champ, and as of last night is crawling! I am hoping to be able to stay up to date on this now, but I will be busy chasing after the crawler so if I am away for bits of time, please forgive me!

I hope this picture dump has made up for lost time. If not, I will leave you with one extra picture of my cutie enjoying the finally warm weather!

​

 

[Cloe Colton]

I'm still here! Glad you got the flights you wanted! They definitely seem like great flight times to me!

Alex is such a cutie!

 

[missangelalexis]

Alex is just too cute! Loved all the photos

Yay for having the flights booked and for the times you wanted!

 

[missjackiemcg]

Love their matching shirts

Happy 1st Mother's Day to you!!

Glad you got the flights you wanted. Southwest keeps moving back the release date of their December flights, and I am getting SO antsy to just have that part booked already!!

 

[SimplyGoofy]

Hi, Casey! I'm excited to hear more about your trip! Congratulations on your new little one - Alex is adorable!

I'm in a similar boat as you - I got married in March 2017 and then we had a baby in June 2018. We're planning to travel to Disney for the first time as a family in May 2020 and I'm SO EXCITED to return and introduce my daughter to the Disney magic! She will be just shy of two during our trip - I'm impressed that you're brave enough to go with a one-year-old! I can't wait to hear how your trip goes and hopefully get a few great ideas and tips from you!

Your plans sound great! I LOVE AKL so I think you'll really enjoy that resort, especially with a little one! It will be so nice to be able to stay within a single building in order to get food and have fun things to look at when you have a fussy baby. AKL is a GREAT place to spend non-park time!

Your ADR plans sound great! It's too bad you had such a struggle to book everything and hopefully you can get a better slot for 'Ohana. I also hope the SW Land crowds aren't too insane - I'm concerned it will still be nuts when we go nearly nine months after you!

 

[CaseFace5]

Wow, this time I wasn't gone that long and I came back to a whole new site! I am still playing catch up but I wanted to get to these quotes!

Oh, what a bummer about making your reservations!!! Sorry it was such an incredible headache, but at least you were able to piece together your plan eventually!

Yeah, things didn't work out perfectly, but I am happy with the end results. Still waiting on a better time for Ohana!

I did the same thing with HDDR! lol its so annoying its not just listed on the normal reservations. But maybe because its a show? Because Cinderella's Royal Table is prepaid but thats on the app

Glad you got everything you wanted!

Do you use Touring Plans at all? Their reservation finder has been pretty awesome in finding reservations for me!

I did end up setting up a TP alert, but nothing yet. I have to log on to make sure it's still there and I didn't miss something!

Sorry it was such a struggle when making your ADRs! I second what Cloe said, try TP reservation finder!

Thanks, I did just that!

I'm still here! Glad you got the flights you wanted! They definitely seem like great flight times to me!

Alex is such a cutie!

Thanks for sticking around! Your trip is right around the corner! (I'm not at all jealous that you'll be there on my birthday...)

Alex is just too cute! Loved all the photos

Yay for having the flights booked and for the times you wanted!

Thank you! I know, I'm very happy with our flights.

Love their matching shirts

Happy 1st Mother's Day to you!!

Glad you got the flights you wanted. Southwest keeps moving back the release date of their December flights, and I am getting SO antsy to just have that part booked already!!

Thanks! We didn't even realized they matched until the pictures, LOL. I hope you had a great Mother's Day as well! I saw on another report that you booked your December flights, so that's awesome!

Hi, Casey! I'm excited to hear more about your trip! Congratulations on your new little one - Alex is adorable!

I'm in a similar boat as you - I got married in March 2017 and then we had a baby in June 2018. We're planning to travel to Disney for the first time as a family in May 2020 and I'm SO EXCITED to return and introduce my daughter to the Disney magic! She will be just shy of two during our trip - I'm impressed that you're brave enough to go with a one-year-old! I can't wait to hear how your trip goes and hopefully get a few great ideas and tips from you!

Your plans sound great! I LOVE AKL so I think you'll really enjoy that resort, especially with a little one! It will be so nice to be able to stay within a single building in order to get food and have fun things to look at when you have a fussy baby. AKL is a GREAT place to spend non-park time!

Your ADR plans sound great! It's too bad you had such a struggle to book everything and hopefully you can get a better slot for 'Ohana. I also hope the SW Land crowds aren't too insane - I'm concerned it will still be nuts when we go nearly nine months after you!

Thanks for joining in! Congrats on your wedding and baby as well! I don't know if I am brave or crazy LOL!!

My mom and I loved AKL last year and I know my husband will love it so I am so glad we were able to secure that rental. I'm hoping we really get to enjoy it with all the time we will be spending at the resort.

I think after hearing about how today goes (SWGE opening at Disneyland) Disney will hopefully be able to iron out any potential issues before the opening at WDW.


********************************************************************************
Nothing really new on the trip front. I did get my Magical Express confirmation email today, so that's all set. I was shopping last night and clearly throwing budget to the wind and bought Alex some Toy Story stuff! I want his first birthday party to be Toy Story themed, so I bought him a Buzz and Woody dolls! They talk and he was lighting up when I was pressing the buttons as we walked around the store. I also saw a Buzz sweatshirt that was size 12 months, but I couldn't resist! (for reference Alex is 7 months old and wearing size 3-6 months still ) I have one in an adult size so we can twin and I can't even freaking wait!!!

I am also crossing my fingers that my parents/MIL will want to take Alex for us to have one night while we are in Disney. They are going to be having a DAH event the Tuesday of our trip, so if they could take Alex back after dinner at HDDR and we could stay in that area, I think it might be a blast! Fingers crossed I can make that work!

Today is Sken's birthday! We are going to do a small cake tonight and hopefully go out to eat one night this weekend. He didn't want anything special so I just got him a movie that he likes and a card. My birthday is two weeks from today! Man, time is really flying!!!

Hope you all have a great weekend!

 

[vleeth]

Can't wait to see you in your matching shirts! I did this a ton when mine was little.

 

[CaseFace5]

Real Life Update!

So not much is happening on the Disney front, we are still a ways out from FP day. However we do have something exciting coming up!

I was on FaceTime with my mom the other night and she told me that she booked a trip to Florida to visit my aunt next month. She said the flights were super cheap and she was able to get them all with points. I asked when it was and told her I was going to look too! Well I had enough points for one way, and the other was only $89! So Alex and I are going to join my mom and visit my aunt in FL next month! This will be Alex's first flights and a test run to see how he will do when we go to Disney! The flights are really late, so I am hoping that he will be sleepy and hopefully sleep the whole way there and back. I'm excited for this little test run to see how he will do in the sun and FL heat! So we will be heading down in about a month! I am equally excited and nervous for how it will go!
​

 

[missangelalexis]

That is exciting news!! And good that you'll get a little test run before the Disney trip!

 

[missjackiemcg]

I saw on another report that you booked your December flights, so that's awesome!

Yes, FINALLY! I was so relieved to get them booked AND we ended up adding a night to our reservation because the flights were $200 cheaper per person flying home a day later Love that Disney math!

 

[jscunningham699]

We are also celebrating our daughter's first birthday at WDW. She will be 1 in September 1, and we will be at Disney Sept 2-6. We will also celebrate our boy's birthdays as well even though they are much older and have birthdays in July and December. We can't wait. Congratulations on your new son!

 

[CaseFace5]

Hello, hello, hello!! I can't believe how far behind I have gotten! I am so sorry for letting this PTR fall to the wayside. I am back though and I have updates galore!! I am going to try to do this chronically so bare with me. I will get to the good Disney stuff, but you might just have to look at cute baby pictures along the way!

So first things first, Alex turned 8 months old in June!

Shortly after that, we celebrated Father's Day! Sken had a great first Father's day, and so did my Step-Dad! Sken and Alex had matching Batman and Robin shirts, and my Step-Dad had a shirt that said "The Grandfather" with Godfather writing. It was super cute!

We also celebrated July 4th! Alex got to go to his first parade and he really enjoyed it! He loved looking at everything so I am excited for how he will do in Disney!

Alex also went swimming for the first time! He loves the water and will instantly start kicking his feet when we put him in! This makes me excited for our pool breaks at AKL! They also have a splash area that I think he will love!

Then before we knew it, Alex turned 9 months! Time really is flying by! The first picture is an outtake but it's too cute not to share!

Check out those Buzz jammies!!

My mom and I took Alex to Florida a little over a week ago, and I am happy to report that he traveled like a complete champ!! We got him to sleep both ways and he really was great on the plane. The flight attendants even commended him! It was awesome. We had a great time visiting family and Alex enjoyed his first ever trip to the beach!

While we were in Florida, we hit FastPass day!! Our flight got in at 1am and our FP day was that day, so I set my alarm for 7 and got right on. I was so bumbed that even right at 7 both SDD and FOP were all out for our days I did check a few times since then and was able to score one of the two!! I was SO PROUD lol!

Here is what I was able to score and I have added in our ADRs to line up the days!

Flight in lands around 8:30 am
Magic Kingdom
Philharmagic 11:45-12:45
Buzz 12:45-1:45
Big Thunder 1:45-2:45
T-Rex dinner at DS 4:30 pm

DHS
Alien Swirling Saucers 10:10-11:10 (I am going to keep checking to try to get SDD)
Star Tours 11:10-12:10
Indiana Jones 12:45-1 pm (I keep checking to change this one too)
HDDR 6:15pm

AK
Flight of Passage 8:20-9:20
Tusker House Breakfast 10:45
Safari 11:25-12:25
Lion King 12:30-12:45

MK
Meet Mickey and Minnie 10:30-11:30
Peter Pan's Flight 11:40-12:40
BOG Lunch 2:10 pm
SDMT 4:25-5:25
Ohana 9:20 pm (Still haven't had any luck with getting this earlier )

Friday we travel home! Might hit DS in the morning but not planning a park this day.

Overall I am pretty happy with everything! Now if I can only get SDD! Can't believe that we go to Disney NEXT MONTH!! I am so looking forward to this trip! I have some fun updates in store too so I hope you all stick around and I will do my very best to keep this bad boy going!

See ya real soon!

 

[CaseFace5]

Good Morning!! I am so excited this morning because I scored a reservation to Oga's Canteen!! I logged on with everyone else yesterday and the site crashed. I kept trying randomly throughout the night and had no luck until this morning! So are adding this into our DHS day!

DHS
Alien Swirling Saucers 10:10-11:10 (I am going to keep checking to try to get SDD)
Oga's Canteen - 10:35
Star Tours 11:10-12:10
Indiana Jones 12:45-1 pm (I keep checking to change this one too)
HDDR 6:15pm​

 

[*tinker*bell*]

Hello! I just found your PTR and have been reading through. Love all the changes and updates. Your boy is so super adorable! My youngest is a couple months older, turned one middle of July. Woohoo For Oga's reservations!

 

[Cloe Colton]

Nice score on SDD after the fact. I can't believe how bad the availability is for SDD now with the tier changes!!