The TRIP of all Trips... Ana's MAW PTR... *TR STARTED* Link- Post #1901 Pg. 127

[Mom2mitokids]

If you do Christmas (and I love the idea of it and have seen some families say it was their favorite of the GKTW parties) - then it is important to get in line for Santa FIRST. Before you do anything else - do Santa. Maybe have that be a short park day and get back in time to rest and dress up for the party.

And you can go ahead and let Juliana pick out a present, too - before they get picked over - since they don't have an unlimited supply of each toy.

Santa spends a lot of time with each family and you can wait hours for Santa and miss the party.

If you happen to be late - then I would do stuff at the party and try to catch Santa toward the end of the night and be ok with just missing him altogether in favor of doing the activities (parade, cookies, snow, carriage rides).

But MVMCP was fun, too!

We misssed all the fun stuff, but only had to wait maybe 10 min. to see Santa. They still had plenty of toys left for the kids to chose from.

 

[Mom2mitokids]

Hummmmm..... you got me thinking..


I hope you got some sleep last night!


I'll be looking forward to that part. Weird though... the park is open but some rides are still closed?




I remember reading this on Stephani's TR (anyone heard from her lately?) and it seemed like it was a great party. Juliana might really get a kick out of this party.


Thanks for the link!


I hear you. We can always go back and visit or go to a party. When you go back do they have your name on file or do you have a card or something like that?

They have her name on file.


Thanks for joining!!!


There is nothing scarier than not being able to help your kids. I'm glad it was 'only' a virus that was bothering Owen. It breaks our heart when we go back to the hospital and see kids going through cancer and other issues. It makes us thankful everyday that we are still able to hug and kiss our little girl.




I wonder what Juliana would rather do... see Santa at GKTW or goto MVMCP? It sounds like we have to be at GKTW ready for the party at 6pm. I'm thinking this couldn't be a Disney day... maybe a US day.

Really...I would say MVMCP will be better. It's not like she can't see Santa at the mall and she will get plenty of toys.


One thing is MAW will pay for one 'excursion'(for lack of a better term) ie. pay for a character meal, pay for MVMCP, or pay for the princess tea.

I wish our MAW would pay for 1 excursion. They said if they set something up..it comes out of our funds. We want to do thing cheaply, so we can stay the extra 3 days. Not saying the kids won't have fun, but to spend $250 on a tea party or ADR is kind of nutty. I would do it in a heartbeat if we had the funds.
There is so much to do and so little time! Seriously, trying to fit everything into 5 days is pretty stressful. The problem is Juliana loves Disney so much I know we have to spend minimum 3 days (different times) there. SW does sound like a great time though.


Oh... back to the drawing board!


I'm thinking SW is more and more something we will be definitely be doing!

From Juliana (we just finished watching Peter Pan.. It is storming here):::

They have her name on file.

Really...I would say MVMCP will be better. It's not like she can't see Santa at the mall and she will get plenty of toys.


I wish our MAW would pay for 1 excursion. They said if they set something up..it comes out of our funds. We want to do thing cheaply, so we can stay the extra 3 days. Not saying the kids won't have fun, but to spend $250 on a tea party or ADR is kind of nutty. I would do it in a heartbeat if we had the funds or if MAW would pay for it.

 

[brookelizabeth]

There are two teas at the GF. One is the one with Alice and the Mad Hatter and the other one is with Aurora. You can check it out here http://www.wdwinfo.com/wdwinfo/princessess.htm#DisneyGirl

It costs..get ready... $250! It is for 2 people, so Juliana and Mel would go while I would probably have 1 1/2 hours to get into trouble.

$250! Wowsers! But, I saw your note that MAW will pay for one excursion. I read the link to the party and that sounds like a little girl's dream come true! They even get a doll?!?! She is going to have such a wonderful time with her Mommy.

Gee I wonder who's you read that on? LOL!

I don't think I realized you were over here! It was such a cute tea and I loved how you snuck some pictures and peeped in when the door would open!

 

[englishrose47]

Tim I am here !! What a wonderful thing MAW is and how great that Juliana picked Disney!!
I will be along for the ride from now on!!!

 

[that's nice]

Sorry about the storms. I'm so sick of rain!

And this is for Juliana:

It finally cleared out tonight.. we are supposed to have low humidity and nice weather for the next few days.


Juliana loved your smilies! We had to go earlier so I didn't have time to respond.

 

[that's nice]

We misssed all the fun stuff, but only had to wait maybe 10 min. to see Santa. They still had plenty of toys left for the kids to chose from.

That is good to know, although if I am going to cut a park short, I'd like to be at GKTW for the whole party.

They have her name on file.

I figured as much.. Do they buzz you in when you arrive at GKTW? I think I read there is a gate.... (right Melissa? LOLOL)

Really...I would say MVMCP will be better. It's not like she can't see Santa at the mall and she will get plenty of toys.

I know but being that we will be there so close to Christmas I thought it would be fun for her to see Santa.

I wish our MAW would pay for 1 excursion. They said if they set something up..it comes out of our funds. We want to do thing cheaply, so we can stay the extra 3 days. Not saying the kids won't have fun, but to spend $250 on a tea party or ADR is kind of nutty. I would do it in a heartbeat if we had the funds or if MAW would pay for it.

Believe me... $250 for a tea party is crazy. I doubt I would do this if we weren't on Juliana's Wish trip. Even if MAW didn't pay I think I would judt pay for it. It will be special for Melody and Juliana to do together.

 

[that's nice]

$250! Wowsers! But, I saw your note that MAW will pay for one excursion. I read the link to the party and that sounds like a little girl's dream come true! They even get a doll?!?! She is going to have such a wonderful time with her Mommy.

I don't think I have seen a TR with this tea party in it. It does seem like a a lot of money. Look I'm stuttering just thinking about it!

The doll is Disney's version of 'American Girl' or something like that. The doll costs $50 from the Disney store... http://www.disneystore.com/dolls-my-disney-girl-doll-blonde/p/1253936/303303/

I don't think I realized you were over here! It was such a cute tea and I loved how you snuck some pictures and peeped in when the door would open!

I loved Jen pics of the Alice tea party. Too CUTE!

Tim I am here !! What a wonderful thing MAW is and how great that Juliana picked Disney!!
I will be along for the ride from now on!!!

Rosie!!!!!

Thanks for joining!!!!!

 

[All7OfUs]

Phew! Finally caught up on my own thread and am now making the rounds. I love to see what has transpired while I've slept!!!

$250 bucks for a tea party is a LOT, but I think they pour a lot of quality into this one- so worth it!



Jen doesn't know it, but I lurked on her thread as well, and LOVED the pix of the tea. So amazing!

 

[that's nice]

Phew! Finally caught up on my own thread and am now making the rounds. I love to see what has transpired while I've slept!!!

$250 bucks for a tea party is a LOT, but I think they pour a lot of quality into this one- so worth it!



Jen doesn't know it, but I lurked on her thread as well, and LOVED the pix of the tea. So amazing!

The tea pics that Jen had are of a different tea party at the GF... no adults only kids. That party is around $45...

I love her pics too!

 

[All7OfUs]

The tea pics that Jen had are of a different tea party at the GF... no adults only kids. That party is around $45...

I love her pics too!

Ahh, gotcha! Totally different parties. I do remember from her write up that there were no adults allowed and thought that sort of odd. I think a fair amount of parents would want pix of the goings on. Even if from a viewing area?

I'll have to follow your link and check this one out. Not that we'd ever do it, but it's good to know.

 

[Believeinfairytales]

Wow! I've been catching up on all the posts - it sounds like you've got some decisions to make, Tim. I am not sure what you want to do, but I think the MVMCP would be the way to go!

 

[maroo]

Is MVMCP and the GKTW party all on the same night?

If so - I would say MVMCP...

And you could always go BACK to GKTW for the Christmas party at a later date - that would be something special to look forward to going back and would be really cool to do.

You just check in at the front desk of GKTW and they have your info on file to verify you and have you sign in and such. They even give you a coupon to have a meal there or eat some ice cream.

 

[that's nice]

Wow! I've been catching up on all the posts - it sounds like you've got some decisions to make, Tim. I am not sure what you want to do, but I think the MVMCP would be the way to go!

I know- there are so many decisions. Melody is off from work this week so hopefully we can get a tentative schedule on paper.

Is MVMCP and the GKTW party all on the same night?

This is the next step. Laying out park hours and events. Move some here and some there and see what fits!

If so - I would say MVMCP...

And you could always go BACK to GKTW for the Christmas party at a later date - that would be something special to look forward to going back and would be really cool to do.

That isn't a bad idea... Maybe stopping back at GKTW to do a party or visit would be really fun to do!

You just check in at the front desk of GKTW and they have your info on file to verify you and have you sign in and such. They even give you a coupon to have a meal there or eat some ice cream.

Sounds easy... and yummy!!!


So do you think it is bad luck to add a ticker? Juliana wanted to make one yesterday but I told her she had to wait.

 

[J'sMum]

So do you think it is bad luck to add a ticker? Juliana wanted to make one yesterday but I told her she had to wait.

OO hope it's not bad luck !!

 

[yinyanggirls]

If you do Christmas (and I love the idea of it and have seen some families say it was their favorite of the GKTW parties) - then it is important to get in line for Santa FIRST. Before you do anything else - do Santa. Maybe have that be a short park day and get back in time to rest and dress up for the party.

Santa spends a lot of time with each family and you can wait hours for Santa and miss the party.

If you happen to be late - then I would do stuff at the party and try to catch Santa toward the end of the night and be ok with just missing him altogether in favor of doing the activities (parade, cookies, snow, carriage rides).

But MVMCP was fun, too!

As everyone knows by now, we did not have much fun at the CMas party, so I don't want to beat a dead horse (where on earth did that expression come from, anyway???) BUT...just to add to some of the things Maroo mentioned....

We were definitely at the end of the line for toys and there were still enough to choose from. I think the choices would have been different if we had been there early, but the kids were happy with what they got. And these are just typical toy store toys, nothing she can't get from you or grandma anyway.

I didn't see anyone dressed up for the party. Not saying people were dressed ugly, just not fancy or even Cmassy. I think Amber and her fam wore Cmas colors because they wanted a family pic, but that's the only one I can think of.

YES, def. see santa first, then do the other stuff. Santa must have taken his time with the other families but by the time he got to us we were past the "end time" of seeing santa, and there was still a dozen families behind us. He didn't spend any extra time with us. We also felt bossed around by him and the photographer. If my kids were hoping to have a neat experience with santa they would have been disappointed. Thankfully, I was the only one with any expectations. Also, Tonya said they did not have a great visit either. I think they were actually first in line. I agree 100% with what Maroo said about if you happen to be late and there is already a line for santa - SKIP HIM! The few minutes you get with him would not be worth missing all the other stuff at the party (what happened to us).

The problem with you "sneaking" away, is that I don't think you can split your day between the two parks--it's either Univeral or it's Islands of Adventure. There are some coasters on the Univeral sisde, but the ones on IofA are better and faster.

If I remember correctly, you will get a ticket to each park and they are also "hoppers" so you can go to either one or both on two different days. The kid sections are not that big (picture Toontown and the amount of time you can spend there). Then there are "big" rides that she might still like to do (like MIB). Tim was able to sneak away and do Dueling Dragons. We just sat down and had a snack. He didn't take that long so it wasn't a big deal. There are splash pads and playgrounds that Juliana could play at while you went and did a big boy ride.


Okay, GKTW has a gate and it has an attendant during the day. At night we thought you were supposed to use your card to get in but ours never worked. We had to buzz the office every night but they can open it from there. I don't know if the gate would have your info if you returned after your trip, but I'm sure if you contacted them before hand about visiting, they would tell you what to do. Maroo might be able to remember the names of people who have gone back (some even went back as volunteers with their kids!), but I know there have been a few in the past year who could share more about that.

 

[DisneyFed]

Sorry Dr. Cornenshmirtz, I had my Platypus standing guard over my DVR, redirecting your DVR-deprogram-inator's beam back at your Betamax VCR, wiping out all 12 episodes of Alf that you had been saving. Your plans have been foiled again. [Queue musical number...]

 

[maroo]

Maroo might be able to remember the names of people who have gone back (some even went back as volunteers with their kids!), but I know there have been a few in the past year who could share more about that.

I have been back 3 times since our trip.

The first time I was coming to visit two wish families and I just had to have their name to get through the gate, but then they would not let me out of the check in area until that family came and got me - which I felt really bad about, because I think they were still sleeping when I got there (early meet for breakfast). So they had to get dressed and come all the way to the main building to escort me across campus.

But the last two times I came - both for meets with wish families - I just signed in as a previous wish tripper - I had to have Lauren's name and some info about her and the trip and they had my name on her list. So they gave me a welcome back name tag and a ticket to eat. I actually ended up purchasing a book of meal tickets for $20.00 or something like that, because I refused to eat there for free - Lauren was not even with me. And that was much easier than having to inconvenience another family to come escort me through GKTW. Hope that makes sense.

I did not call ahead for any of those times. I was able to give Lauren's name at the gate and they looked her up in the computer and had me sign in at the welcome desk.

 

[jenseib]

I don't think I realized you were over here! It was such a cute tea and I loved how you snuck some pictures and peeped in when the door would open!

Oh yes, I am a Tim stalker! LOL! Actually I wish i had time to stalk more people. I follow so many already, but I see alot of the same names on several PTR/TR's I read, but just don't have time to read everyones.

Jen doesn't know it, but I lurked on her thread as well, and LOVED the pix of the tea. So amazing!

You're right, I didn't know. LOL! It was the Alice Tea Party and it was so fun for her. I happened to catch some good pictures that people don't normally get too. I was so excited.

Ahh, gotcha! Totally different parties. I do remember from her write up that there were no adults allowed and thought that sort of odd. I think a fair amount of parents would want pix of the goings on. Even if from a viewing area?

I'll have to follow your link and check this one out. Not that we'd ever do it, but it's good to know.

Yes I wish we could've went in, but only got to drop them off and then wait. They do take a picture of them during it. I have heard of others sending in a camera with the child, but most times they forget about it and don't take any pictures anyways. Claire loved the party and the Mad Hatter!
I can't wait to read about Juliana's Tea Party. I would LOVE to take Claire to this....Just waiting for my winning lottery ticket for that one though.

 

[IBelieveInTheMagic]

Omg!! Too many choices We are wanting to check out Sea world, would love to visit Universal and then Legoland is coming next year!! I sort of giggle when I say this but I would like us to skip the next 1-2 years and save up for like a 14 day vacation to catch it all as well as the new Fantasyland expansion and the new Animation resort at POP.

Just know you guys will be back!

Heather

 

[englishrose47]

We will be trying the waterparks next year along with Disney Quest !!We did SeaWorld in 2007, and I just know Universal is gonna come up , I have NO interest but I am gonna try at leasy 1 waterpark and DQ!!Then I'll leave them and head to our Park of the Day !!I am looking forward to the Fantasyland Re furb !!!!