The Non-Catchy Title PTR

[onescgirl]

The trip report for this PTR can be found HERE ♥Disney Vacay With The Love Bugs♥


Hi! I'm Amy, thanks for visiting my 1st attempt to a PTR. I love reading everyone's PTR & TR. I've wanted to write one, but it has intimidated me Just coming up with a catchy title kind of stressed me out, so I just gave up with that Hopefully I'll come up with something more creative for my completed TR.

♥ My husband & I will be celebrating our 16 anniversary while at WDW! ♥
I also just turned the big 4-0 this year! I guess that can also be one of our celebrations.

CHAPTER LINKS
Introductions
Our Resort
How our trip came to be
Leason Learned, the Early Bird gets the Worm
Free Dining Plan Reservations
Summer WDW Reading
Shrinky-Dinks
Six Flags & Stone Mountain
Autograph Scrapbook
Shopping for WDW!
45 Days & Counting
My Itty-Bitty Itinerary Book
Final Pymt made!!!!
Shopping for WDW II
1st Day of School
Matching Shirts?
Heading to the World ~ Driving Down Plans
Mickey Jewelry
Pixie Dust in the Mail!!!
Day 1 Plans
Day 2 Plans
Day 3 Plans
Day 4 Plans
Day 5 Plans
Day 6 & 7 Plans
Two Celebrations!
Bags & shopping
Matching Shirts
We're Back!

 

[onescgirl]

Me: I was a SAHM after I had children & went back to work when they started school. I work part-time as an instructor at a community college. I love my job. It offers me flexibility where I can work & still spend spend time with my kids & volunteer at school. I spend way too much time here on Disboards! Other than that, my time is mostly devoted to my kids activities, work, school, church, etc... We are always on the run.

DH (Brad): He is the BEST husband & daddy in the world! He's the fun parent between the two of us. When not at work, he's pretty busy w/kids schedule too. He coaches our son's football, baseball, basketball team and our daughter's volleyball team. DH also volunteers at our kids school. He was voted PTA volunteer of the month this past year. This cracked me up! If you only knew the amount of hours I've put in volunteering at that school & never received volunteer of the month. I keep telling him that's it's only because he is a man that he received the reward!

Brad & I

DD & DS (Lexi & Levi): I have 10 yr old twins. I tell them that I prayed so much to have a baby, that God gave me two babies instead of one! I love having boy/girl twins. They are so close and I get the best of both worlds.
Lexi is all girl. She loves watching the tween Disney shows all the time - Hannah Montana, Suite Life of Zach & Cody, etc... She plays tennis & volleyball, and loves to draw. Lexi is definitely the boss & mother hen between the two. And, like most girls, a drama queen! Alexis favorite Disney character is Minnie Mouse.
Levi is all boy. He loves sports. Watching sports on ESPN, playing sports games on Wii, or physically playing sports, he's gonna be doing it! Levi plays basketball, football & baseball. He wants to play more sports, but we just can't fit it in. Levi is very laid back and ALWAYS in a good mood. DS does not really have a favorite character. He does like Tigger because he is a big Clemson Tiger fan, go tigers!

I could go on & on forever bragging about my kids about how smart they are, etc... but I'll spare you. My favorite saying is "There is only one pretty child in the world and every mother has it". That is so true, isn't it?

Our Christmas Card picture:

Recent trip to beach:

Picture from our last WDW trip in 2008

Next Chapter - Our Resort

 

[Tosie]

Wow, Amy - your family is stunning! And you don't look 40!!

Subbing to your report - can't wait to hear more!

 

[onescgirl]

Wow, Amy - your family is stunning! And you don't look 40!!

Subbing to your report - can't wait to hear more!

Yay! Thanks for being my 1st poster! And, thanks for the compliments!

 

[onescgirl]

We just got home from picking two gallons of blueberries. That was a lot of work in the sun! I eat blueberries every morning in my cereal, so glad I'll have plenty of fresh ones now.

We will be staying at the Caribbean Resort in Sept & on the free dining plan. This will be just our 2nd WDW trip. In 2008 I wanted to stay at POP, but it was completely booked. I then picked All-Star Sports because I knew my DS would love it. I requested the football section & that's where we stayed. We had no problems with that resort, we liked it & we were never there except to sleep. I'm telling you, I was like a drill sergeant on that trip, we were up & out early to the parks every day! We used the pool one time & that was real late at night.

This time, my husband wanted to move up to a moderate level. I am the real tight one of the family and did not want to move up. I wanted to stay at POP since I read about everyone loving it there. But, I decided to go ahead & move up. I could not decide which moderate to stay at. Reading all the posts just made me more confused, so I let the kids pick which one. They both wanted CBR. I'm still a little nervous about the choice because POR & POFQ rate higher on the ratings board. Everyone complains about the CBR being so spread out, but Brad said that shouldn't be a big deal, since we're walking the whole time in WDW anyway. I'm hoping that since I will have nothing to compare it to except All-Star Sports we will be very happy with our choice.


Next post - How Our Trip Came to Be

 

[Queenofallthings]

Fantastic start!

We are going in September too this year! Since 2006, we had been going at the end of August because my daughter was in high school, but she just graduated, decided to take a year off so we're heading down the last two weeks in September.

I can't wait to hear all about your plans!

 

[onescgirl]

We are going in September too this year! Since 2006, we had been going at the end of August because my daughter was in high school, but she just graduated, decided to take a year off so we're heading down the last two weeks in September.

I think you're going to enjoy it so much more in September! When we went in Sept two yrs ago, the lines for rides were not long at all except for Toy Story Mania.

 

[serene56]

Beatiful family. Reading your report because I love to read what others are doing for their trip in September. ( I just cant wait)

Thanks for explaining your choice of moving to a moderate. I so wanted to stay at the Coranada Springs but at the time of booking the rooms were almost 600 more and we had 4 rooms-- thats a lot of money.
So we picked Pop,

 

[taymacsmom]

Great start! Looking forward to more!

Kelly

 

[Overexcited]

HI! Loving your PTR so far. You have a beautiful family. We are going in September as well. We are staying at POP and will be there 9/22-10/1!
Looking forward to reading more.

 

[onescgirl]

Beatiful family. Reading your report because I love to read what others are doing for their trip in September. ( I just cant wait)

Thanks for explaining your choice of moving to a moderate. I so wanted to stay at the Coranada Springs but at the time of booking the rooms were almost 600 more and we had 4 rooms-- thats a lot of money.
So we picked Pop,

Thanks Serene! I'm always looking for Sept TR to read too!
I'm curious to see we if we really like mods a whole lot more than value, especially since we're on the go the whole time.

Great start! Looking forward to more!

Kelly

Glad to have you Kelly!

HI! Loving your PTR so far. You have a beautiful family. We are going in September as well. We are staying at POP and will be there 9/22-10/1!
Looking forward to reading more.

Thanks Overexcited! Praying for great weather with no humidity in Sept for us!

 

[skier_pete]

Hi, just found my way over here from a post on "overexcited"s PTR. Just turned 40 myself, too, last December.

Not much to say, except for comments on CBR. I totally disagree with your DH - to me you want to walk as little as possible at your resort exactly BECAUSE you are walking so much at WDW. That's why we picked POFQ for our moderate resort stays...such a compact resort, it was so nice having < 3 minute walk to everything (bus stop, pool,

But that doesn't mean CBR won't work for you. We've never stayed there, but we had some really good friends go there last August. I told them that what they should do is put in a room request, but do so by requested one of a couple of buildings. They asked me which ones, they wanted to be fairly near a bus-stop, but also not too far from the main building. I picked Buildings 45 and 44 in Jamaica section. When they got back, they said they had gotten one of the Buildings they requested, and it was perfect. Attached is a resort map - I would recommend picking Buildings that you think you would like, or else go on the resorts side of the board and see what other people recommend.
http://www.wdwinfo.com/resortmaps/cbrmap.htm

The other thing, if you make a building request on your ressie, and THEN use on-line check-in, do NOT put in any additional requests during on-line check-in...this will cancel out your original request. Also, you need to put in any room requests at least 5 days prior to arrival. (At least this is what I was told by a CRO!)

Kids love CBR, we do want to try it some day!

 

[onescgirl]

The other thing, if you make a building request on your ressie, and THEN use on-line check-in, do NOT put in any additional requests during on-line check-in...this will cancel out your original request. Also, you need to put in any room requests at least 5 days prior to arrival. (At least this is what I was told by a CRO!)

Kids love CBR, we do want to try it some day!

Thank you so much on the info on exactly how to make a room request! I was wondering about that & I will definitely take your advice on requesting certain bldgs.
Maybe we'll get to try POFQ on our next trip. I am excited about CBR pool.
Happy belated 40th!

 

[onescgirl]

I always wanted to go to WDW as a child, but never went. I know, it's sad.
After having kids, I knew I wanted to take them. Having never been, I've always thought WDW was trip that you may do just once or twice in your life. So, when my kids were 8 & they were old enough to remember it, I decided to take them on their once in a childhood (or lifetime) trip. One day I was driving to work I saw a sign at a Travel Agency that said Book WDW trip - Free Dining in September. I thought, "What is this free dining?" (Those that do not know about FD do exist). I talked with the TA & decided this was the perfect time for me to book our 1st WDW trip! I told all my friends about this free dining. Two of them immediately went and booked their 1st family WDW trip.

I found Disboards one month before we went on our 1st trip. I lived on this site. It made me so much more excited about going to WDW! My DH was excited for the trip to come just because he was tired of me talking Disney 24/7 & staying on the Dis.

Disney Veterans, please don't hate me for saying this, but my friend & I would make fun of all these people that would go to WDW every year. Remember, we've never been. We both said we wouldn't be like that & we were only taking this trip once. After we both went to WDW, she asked me, "Do you want to go back?". And, I screamed, "YES"!!!

I told DH, DD & DS that we would go back again in 2 years in 2010. I wanted to go in Sept again for free dining & low crowds.
I hope to make it to WDW every 2-3 years for a family vacay. We have too many other vacations w/family & friends to make it every year. Already been to beach twice this summer & going back in a couple of weeks.
BUT, I do not make fun of anyone that goes to WDW every year now. I would too if I could!!!

Next Post - Lesson Learned, the Early Bird Gets the Worm!

 

[onescgirl]

On my 1st WDW trip, my TA told me to make my dining reservations early. Not knowing how booked WDW restaurants get, what early meant in my head was a LOT different than how early you have to be in WDW, especially during free dining.
I had my itinerary set for which parks we were going to each day and I picked my dining selections according to that. I called to book to our dining reservations.
Every restaurant I asked for was booked. The CM said to me on the phone, "What did you expect calling 5 weeks before your trip?". After hanging up & crying, I made new plans. I would call back everyday and ask for whatever was available for my dining choices for that week. We then scheduled our park plans around the restaurant instead of vise versa. I was able to get every ressie I wanted, but lesson learned.

This trip I reserved online on the very day that I could!

Our Free-Dining Ressies

 

[skier_pete]

This trip I reserved online on the very day that I could!

An easy and frequent mistake on a first trip - most people don't book vacations 6 months in advance, never mind know when and where they are eating dinner. FD makes that early booking a must!

 

[Overexcited]

On my 1st WDW trip, my TA told me to make my dining reservations early. Not knowing how booked WDW restaurants get, what early meant in my head was a LOT different than how early you have to be in WDW, especially during free dining.
I had my itinerary set for which parks we were going to each day and I picked my dining selections according to that. I called to booked to our dining reservations.
Every restaurant I asked for was booked. The CM said to me on the phone, "What did you expect calling 5 weeks before your trip?". After hanging up & crying, I made new plans. I would call back everyday and ask for whatever was available for my dining choices for that week. We then scheduled our park plans around the restaurant instead of vise versa. I was able to get every ressie I wanted, but lesson learned.

This trip I reserved online on the very day that I could!

So what did you pick? Looking forward to seeing your dining choices with the kids!

 

[onescgirl]

The choices the kids & I made for dining -

RED = the one's we've never been to


Day 1
Biergartan - dinner

Day 2
CRT - Brkfst
Crystal Palace - dinner (have only been for brkfst)

Day 3
Sci-fi - lunch

Day 4
Coral Reef - lunch
Garden Grill - dinner

Day 5
Tuskers - lunch

Day 6
Chef Mickey - dinner



I need to cancel one, I can't decide between Coral Reef or Tuskers House. Which do you think?



Next post - Summer WDW Reading

 

[skier_pete]

Ummmmm, yum. We've been to all of those restaurants except GG, and enjoyed them all! (WE have GG booked in October.) Crystal Palace lunch/dinner is our favorite character buffet, food-wise (and character interaction is usually pretty good, too!). Love the SCi-Fi and Beirgarten (I am of German descent, and while not-quite authetic it is pretty good food.) Some of the food at Chef Mickey's is pretty bad (reminds me of college cafeteria food) but there is enough the IS good plus the location & characters make it a must do.

Of the two choices you give to cancel - I would cancel Coral Reef. We've eaten there twice in the last few years, and while the meal was good, it wasn't great. If you DS really really loves aquariums it might be worth it, but we found with DD she was interested in the tanks for about 10 minutes, and then that was it. (The same tanks can be seen from The Seas attraction.) Tusker House we ate at in 2008 & 2009 for lunch and is an absolute favorite of ours, I'd put it in the top 3 restaurants we've eaten at in WDW (with Le Cellier and California Grille being top 2), but we also like Asian / Indian foods. The only caveat I would say is IF you and/or DH doesn't like new tastes / flavors it might not be for you, but if you like that type of food, don't miss it. (There is plenty of selection for kids though.)

The other reason I would drop Coral Reef over this is if you drop Tusker House, you have two TS meals on Day 4 and none on Day 5. I find on the rare occasion we do two in a day, it needs to be breakfast and dinner (as you are doing at MK)...lunch and dinner the meals are too big and not hungry for the 2nd one.

Just one foodie's opinion, though my wife would agree as well.

 

[Overexcited]

I have not tried Tusker House but our family LOVED Coral Reef! The steak was better than LeCelliar!! (in our humble opinion). This being said I do not eat seafood. DS loved watching the Aquarium. One of our favs.
Good luck. I like your choices!