aimeeinohio
Mouseketeer
- Joined
- Jan 24, 2013
- Messages
- 138
Hello my fine feathered friends! Welcome to Aimee's crazy, rambling pre-trip planning report.
First, I shall introduce the cast of characters:
Aimee (ME!)
Mom of three teenagers, three dogs, and one old fat cat. Disney geek, Florida wanna-be, and artist, I absorb all of the Disney news and information that I can. I lived in FL for a short period as a child and I have always wanted to move back there. Every time we visit, I get all teary-eyed.
Pete (THE HUBBY)
Father of the same three teenagers, three dogs, and old fat cat. Senior master certified mechanic in multiple brands (his dealership goes into a panic when he leaves!), he puts up with all of my adventures. He's a wonderful guy and a great sport, and Disney World is his favorite place.
Kristen
The oldest child. She is 18, and graduated from high school this year. She worked her rear off to graduate a year early
so this trip is her graduation gift!!
Austin
The middle child. He is 17, and a member of the marching band. A video game nut, he would be hiding in the basement 24/7 playing xBox if we let him!
Taylor
The youngest child. He is 14 and a fabulous violin player. A little on the HYPER side at times, he can be a ton of fun to hang out with.
We are planners, but I don't like having my play time planned to the minute, so our actual time in the parks is pretty play-as-you-go. Yes, I know we miss a lot that way, but it's how we roll!
This year's basic itinerary:
Sunday: Arrival Day!! Meeting the parents at Orlando airport. Our flight gets in around 10:20 am. Photo in front of the big goofy, then head to the Magical Express. Get checked into All Star Movies, get changed, and head over to the Poly for our 5:15 dinner reservation. I'm planning to stay at the Poly to watch Wishes from the beach. Hopefully we can make it up that late!!
Monday: Day one!!! Breakfast at the resort. We are hitting Hollywood today. There are a few specific things we want to do with the kids- Rockin' Roller Coaster, Tower of Terror, a few others. I'm hoping to knock those things out right away so that the kids can go off and do their own thing for the afternoon. We have reservation at Mama Melrose for dinner at 6:20.
Tuesday: Day two!! Breakfast at the resort if anyone wants to eat. Today is Epcot. Will make sure to do Soarin', Turtle Talk with Crush, and a couple of things in the World Showcase with the kids, then let them go be free. Coral Reef at 6:20.
Wednesday: Day three!!! Breakfast at the resort if anyone is hungry. No park today, so I'm hoping for pool time, maybe some Downtown time. Will do a load of laundry while chilling at the pool. Dinner at Chef Mickey at 7:50 tonight.
Thursday: Day four!!! I think we will get breakfast in the park- I want a Starbucks drink and a giant cinnamon roll! Today is my favorite park- Magic Kingdom!!! I am so excited to see new Fantasy Land and some of the things we missed in '09. Some stuff the kids must do with their mamma, then off they go. We have dinner reservations tonight as well- the kids are going to Crystal Palace at 5:15, and us adults are going to Tony's at 8:00. Then fireworks and back to the resort.
Friday: Day five!!! OH NOOOO!! Our trip is nearly done! Today is Animal Kingdom day and we are having breakfast with Donald Duck at Tusker House. I want to do the Safari as soon as we get out of breakfast, and a few other things, then we will set the children free.
Saturday Day six!!! Check out day
We are planning to do Winter Sumerland mini golf, and maybe go hang out Downtown. We have to be back for the Magical Express by 3 pm.
Everyone has a lanyard and pouch, and the boys each have a list of what they are supposed to wear each day (cause I want good photos
). I'm making little cards to fit into their lanyard pouches with where to be when (so they are at dinner, etc). I also have the list of pressed penny locations.
Our flight to Orlando leaves at 5:55 am, so we have to be at the airport at 3:30 am. Whew it's gonna be a long day.
First, I shall introduce the cast of characters:
Aimee (ME!)
Mom of three teenagers, three dogs, and one old fat cat. Disney geek, Florida wanna-be, and artist, I absorb all of the Disney news and information that I can. I lived in FL for a short period as a child and I have always wanted to move back there. Every time we visit, I get all teary-eyed.
Pete (THE HUBBY)
Father of the same three teenagers, three dogs, and old fat cat. Senior master certified mechanic in multiple brands (his dealership goes into a panic when he leaves!), he puts up with all of my adventures. He's a wonderful guy and a great sport, and Disney World is his favorite place.
Kristen
The oldest child. She is 18, and graduated from high school this year. She worked her rear off to graduate a year early
so this trip is her graduation gift!!Austin
The middle child. He is 17, and a member of the marching band. A video game nut, he would be hiding in the basement 24/7 playing xBox if we let him!
Taylor
The youngest child. He is 14 and a fabulous violin player. A little on the HYPER side at times, he can be a ton of fun to hang out with.
A little history:
Our first trip to WDW was in August of 2009. My biological father had passed away after a long ordeal, and he had been planning to move to St Pete's. He had bought a little trailer home in St. Pete's, and was selling the house. The sale was almost done when he died. So, we had to take care of the house and belongings and stuff. We had an auction to sell off the belongings, after his sisters came and got what they wanted. I also started college at the same time (a very stressful time!!!). We had decided to take dad's ashes to FL and put him in the ocean since that was where he wanted to be. Once the auction of the household contents was done and the bills were paid, we had enough to go to WDW for a couple of days while we were in FL.
We booked our trip the end of June, and went the first week of August. We drove from Ohio to Florida, stopping in Gatlinburg on the way down and spending the night. We decided to take the scenic route over the mountains on the way out of Tennessee....and got lost. Roads were closed due to mud slides, and we had no idea where we were going. Our 18 hour total drive ended up taking us almost 30 hours because we got lost on the mountain!!
We got to FL, got dad taken care of around 8:30 pm. We got to our resort- Port Orleans Riverside about 11:30 pm. Exhausted and starving, we checked in and hit the food court. We were able to get some pizza and sit at a table and pour over our welcome packet. We did the quick service dining plan.
We did two parks that trip- Magic Kingdom and Hollywood Studios. No plan, no idea what we were doing, we had a fabulously exhausting time. I'll never forget seeing the fireworks over the castle- I cried like a baby. And pulling away from POR to go home, I was so incredibly sad to be leaving. Pete looked at me and said "We WILL be back". He loved it as much as I did!
Our second trip was August 2012. Just me & Pete, we flew this time, with no kids. We went to WDW for 4 days, and had two days of park tickets. We went to Epcot and Animal Kingdom. This time we did the dining plan with table service, and had dinner reservations at Shutters and Coral Reef. We did the Hoop Dee Doo Review show and loved it so much! We had a fabulous time, this was our first child free vacation. We just did what we wanted, we didn't rush anywhere, and spent a day just chilling at the resort. Even the DVC commented on how relaxed we were!
This Trip
I started planning this year's trip in October 2012. it was originally supposed to be my family, Pete's parents, and my bestie with her family.
In December there was a lot of drama and those plans got changed,
and we moved the trip to August and dropped the bestie and her family.
We booked our trip the end of June, and went the first week of August. We drove from Ohio to Florida, stopping in Gatlinburg on the way down and spending the night. We decided to take the scenic route over the mountains on the way out of Tennessee....and got lost. Roads were closed due to mud slides, and we had no idea where we were going. Our 18 hour total drive ended up taking us almost 30 hours because we got lost on the mountain!!
We got to FL, got dad taken care of around 8:30 pm. We got to our resort- Port Orleans Riverside about 11:30 pm. Exhausted and starving, we checked in and hit the food court. We were able to get some pizza and sit at a table and pour over our welcome packet. We did the quick service dining plan.
We did two parks that trip- Magic Kingdom and Hollywood Studios. No plan, no idea what we were doing, we had a fabulously exhausting time. I'll never forget seeing the fireworks over the castle- I cried like a baby. And pulling away from POR to go home, I was so incredibly sad to be leaving. Pete looked at me and said "We WILL be back". He loved it as much as I did!
Our second trip was August 2012. Just me & Pete, we flew this time, with no kids. We went to WDW for 4 days, and had two days of park tickets. We went to Epcot and Animal Kingdom. This time we did the dining plan with table service, and had dinner reservations at Shutters and Coral Reef. We did the Hoop Dee Doo Review show and loved it so much! We had a fabulous time, this was our first child free vacation. We just did what we wanted, we didn't rush anywhere, and spent a day just chilling at the resort. Even the DVC commented on how relaxed we were!
This Trip
I started planning this year's trip in October 2012. it was originally supposed to be my family, Pete's parents, and my bestie with her family.
In December there was a lot of drama and those plans got changed,
and we moved the trip to August and dropped the bestie and her family.
We are planners, but I don't like having my play time planned to the minute, so our actual time in the parks is pretty play-as-you-go. Yes, I know we miss a lot that way, but it's how we roll!
This year's basic itinerary:
Sunday: Arrival Day!! Meeting the parents at Orlando airport. Our flight gets in around 10:20 am. Photo in front of the big goofy, then head to the Magical Express. Get checked into All Star Movies, get changed, and head over to the Poly for our 5:15 dinner reservation. I'm planning to stay at the Poly to watch Wishes from the beach. Hopefully we can make it up that late!!
Monday: Day one!!! Breakfast at the resort. We are hitting Hollywood today. There are a few specific things we want to do with the kids- Rockin' Roller Coaster, Tower of Terror, a few others. I'm hoping to knock those things out right away so that the kids can go off and do their own thing for the afternoon. We have reservation at Mama Melrose for dinner at 6:20.
Tuesday: Day two!! Breakfast at the resort if anyone wants to eat. Today is Epcot. Will make sure to do Soarin', Turtle Talk with Crush, and a couple of things in the World Showcase with the kids, then let them go be free. Coral Reef at 6:20.
Wednesday: Day three!!! Breakfast at the resort if anyone is hungry. No park today, so I'm hoping for pool time, maybe some Downtown time. Will do a load of laundry while chilling at the pool. Dinner at Chef Mickey at 7:50 tonight.
Thursday: Day four!!! I think we will get breakfast in the park- I want a Starbucks drink and a giant cinnamon roll! Today is my favorite park- Magic Kingdom!!! I am so excited to see new Fantasy Land and some of the things we missed in '09. Some stuff the kids must do with their mamma, then off they go. We have dinner reservations tonight as well- the kids are going to Crystal Palace at 5:15, and us adults are going to Tony's at 8:00. Then fireworks and back to the resort.
Friday: Day five!!! OH NOOOO!! Our trip is nearly done! Today is Animal Kingdom day and we are having breakfast with Donald Duck at Tusker House. I want to do the Safari as soon as we get out of breakfast, and a few other things, then we will set the children free.
Saturday Day six!!! Check out day
We are planning to do Winter Sumerland mini golf, and maybe go hang out Downtown. We have to be back for the Magical Express by 3 pm.Everyone has a lanyard and pouch, and the boys each have a list of what they are supposed to wear each day (cause I want good photos
). I'm making little cards to fit into their lanyard pouches with where to be when (so they are at dinner, etc). I also have the list of pressed penny locations.Our flight to Orlando leaves at 5:55 am, so we have to be at the airport at 3:30 am. Whew it's gonna be a long day.
