This will be the longest summer ever! - PTR 9/29-10/6

[nene0182]

Hey there This is the PTR of our first trip to WDW EVER!!!!

Let me start off with introductions!

First of all, we are from North Dakota and none of us have ever been to WDW. In fact I would say I've never been on a true vacation ever. So, needless to say we are super excited!

Me- Vanessa. I'm 30 years old and the trip planner, organizer, dreamer, and money spender. My husband is just along for the ride. During the day, I work for a large international company in the Contract Administration department. My days are hectic but it's a great place to work. I also have an Etsy shop and a side crafting business that keeps me quite busy.

DH- Travis, 37 years old. My wonderful husband! We've been married for a little over 2 years. He has the patience of a saint. Recently he received a large promotion at work (officially starts May 21st) Super proud of him! Thankfully our vacation will not be affected.

DS- Liam, 9 years old. Liam is well Liam. Life with him has been a struggle due to various issues. Ive often said that Liam has more health issues then any other kid I know while still being seen as "normal" We are keeping the trip a complete surprise from him. It's just a better situation for all involved.

Here is a family picture:

Random story: Liam just turned 9 last week and proclaimed he was saving all his birthday to be able to go to Disney one day. So far he's saved $46! He's trying so hard!

 

[nene0182]

So, like I previously mentioned. I have never been on what I would consider a real vacation. I grew up in a military family so my childhood vacations were spent visiting family members that lived all over the United States. My husband never went on any family vacations growing up either. A few years ago we took a 5 day trip to the Black Hills which was tons of fun. But, still not what I would consider a real vacation since it was only a state away.

We had a few busy years. In 2010 we got married and in 2011 we bought a house. So, earlier this year I was thinking about what we should do. I was determined that we should go on a trip somewhere, anywhere. Shortly after I had decided this, we found out my husband's nephew was getting married in Texas this July. I admit, I kind of threw a fit about going. We didn't go on a honeymoon because one of his cousins got married in Denver a few months after we did. Thankfully, my husband agreed with me that we owed it to ourselves to take a real family vacation because Liam got any older.

So, then it came down to where should we go, what should we do!?!

My in laws had sent us a bit of money for Christmas to use towards plane tickets to go see them. Last year the moved less than an hour away from Orlando. So, because of that we narrowed it down to WDW or a cruise. Ultimately we decided on WDW because there are years for us to take a cruise. Liam is still young enough and innocent enough to appreciate Disney magic.

 

[nene0182]

We're very lucky that our entire trip is already paid for except our rental car since for some reason I couldn't pay for that when I booked it through Expedia.

We are staying here

We just booked a standard room. We are simple people, we don't need anything fancy.

Today we got Mickey Mail! Our tickets for MNSSHP came! This is the big splurge of our trip. Well, that and upgrading to Deluxe Dining. But, since we got free dining, we still ended up paying less for the upgrade then we would have without free dining.

 

[HeatherLassell]

Joining your PTR! You should put the link to it in your signature!

 

[nene0182]

I should actually write in it! lol I'll have to update in a little bit. We are in the middle of giving or dogs haircuts and I snuck upstairs to take a break.

 

[nene0182]

69 days!

Here is our schedule so far. Of course things are subject to change.

September 28th
Travis has the day off & I work until noon. We will pick Liam up from school and leave for Minneapolis from there. At this point we will tell him we are going on a trip but not where we are going.

September 29th
We fly out of MSP at 8:05am and arrive at 12:06pm. After we check in at CSR, we will go visit my In-Laws. No plans to visit the parks, but maybe we'll go swimming depending on what time we get back to the resort.

September 30th
Animal Kingdom! Maybe well go to DHS at night since they are open until 11pm

October 1st
Epcot! We may head over to MK since its open until Midnight

October 2nd
Magic Kingdom!

October 3rd
Hollywood Studios!

October 4th
We will go visit the In Laws until the evening where we have plans to go to MNSSHP!

October 5th
Relaxing day. We can go to a park if we want. We also plan to go to DTD


October 6th
Go home day Our flight leaves at 9:35am. We are still trying to decide if we will drive home directly after getting to Minneapolis or if we will wait until Sunday

 

[nene0182]

We have Deluxe dining and I am sure I am committing some kind of sin here on the Disboards and not "maximizing" my dining credits. But, when making our reservations, I didnt really care if we were saving money. The dining plan is entirely about convenience for us and I wanted to make sure everything was paid for. I didnt want to think about the cost OOP.

We are staying for 7 nights, so we have a total of 21 meal credits each and 14 snack credits.

So, with that. Here are our meal plans. Any ? marks means we will do CSR


September 30th

B- ?
L- Rainforest
D- Narcoossees

October 1st

B-?
L-?
D-Le Cellier

October 2nd

B- Crystal Palace
L-?
D- OHana

October 3rd

B-?
L- Mama Melrose
D- ?

October 4th

B- ?
L- ?
D- Liberty Tree



October 5th

B- Ohana
L- ?
D- Whispering Canyon

 

[nene0182]

So, I've been busy making my son shirts to wear.

Here are a few

Front

Back

 

[Terkina]

Great T-shirts you have made. I really liked the My first visit T-shirt.

 

[ash-n-brensmom]

Hey, I followed you over from my PTR! How exciting to be taking your first real vacation and have it be WDW!!

Love those shirts you've made....do you have a link to your etsy site? I would love to check it out!

Happy planning!!

 

[HeatherLassell]

I think this is so funny!!! We will be at the Minneapolis airport around the same time, we get to the Orlando airport at almost the same time and then we have the same plans for October 1st!!! Epcot and then over to MK for the PM EMH!

 

[HeatherLassell]

So, I've been busy making my son shirts to wear.

OMG I love this!!! I'd like them for my kids except I'm sure my 14 year old is too cool. We are making a shirt to wear on the first day though. I designed it with Mickey/Minnie heads!

 

[nene0182]

Love those shirts you've made....do you have a link to your etsy site? I would love to check it out!

Sure. This is my store:


Chestnut & Lime Designs

 

[lledman]

October 2nd
Magic Kingdom!

Maybe we'll cross paths on this day.

I love the idea of surprising your son and him saving all his money to go to Disney.

 

[PixieMama]

Joining in! First trips are always so exciting! :good vibes

And MNSSHP and Deluxe Dining, too! Wow!

Love the tees, especially the Woody and Halloween ones. Super cute.

Dinner at 'Ohana is sooooo good! I ate there for the first time last summer and it was one of the favorite meals from that trip.

Looking forward to hearing more of your plans!

 

[nene0182]

Dinner at 'Ohana is sooooo good! I ate there for the first time last summer and it was one of the favorite meals from that trip.[/SIZE][/FONT]

I am really looking forward to 'Ohana! Actually, I'm really looking forward to everything!

Another busy week has started. The summer is absolutely crazy at my work and I typically average 50 hours a week between May & September. I've already logged 11 for the week after today. So, needless to say I don't do much during the week.

I have some Etsy orders to get done this week which is always nice. More money for savings means more money for Disney!

I learned on Saturday that a good friend of mine from Junior high and high school was one of those shot in the Aurora theater shooting. We lost contact after they moved to England (military family) but because of Facebook had reconnected. She'll be fine. But, there is something surreal about seeing someone on CNN talking about being shot and knowing them and hearing their voice after you haven't for 14+ years.

On a lighter note and again totally not related to Disney, here is the Birthday cake I made for my mom this weekend

 

[PixieMama]

How awful. Glad your friend will be ok.

Your cake is beautiful! I wish I had that talent.

 

[ash-n-brensmom]

It just goes to show how a tragedy like that can touch so many people.


Love that cake. So beautiful!

 

[lbuzz52]

joining in from the FB group

 

[jenny105]

Hey! I followed you over from my PTR. We'll be there around the same time. Maybe I'll see you at Epcot! We're planning to go on 10/1 too.

I love those shirts. Did you make those? What kind of stuff do you make on your Etsy shop? I love Etsy! There are some really cute things on there. And WOW at that cake you made!

Sorry to hear your friend was one of the shooting victims. That's terrible. I'm glad she's ok.

Looking forward to reading more about your trip.