Toddler's first trip, celebrating one year of adoption and momma is getting in shape for Mickey!

[peypeysmommy]

Hello Disers,



It has been far far too long since my last trip and I am so excited about this one that I had to do a pre-trip report so the people in my life do not go crazy with my anticipation, so I thought I would ramble here about our upcoming trip. So sit back relax, have some coffee and a snack and be my guest!



The cast of crazy characters



First off on our epic journey navigating the waters of planning is introducing ourselves. I will start with myself since I will be your guide.



Me: Jess







I am a wife to a fantastic man and mother to the most amazing little guy in the world (I do realize that I am biased). I know that it will come as a shocker to everyone being that I am here on the Disboards but I am a planner. I work for a very well known tech company. I am a coffee lover (mostly Starbucks), a crafter, love reading, shopping (Target is one of the best places ever), clothes, football (Broncos and Norte Dame) and things with a theme! Spending time with my family is my favorite thing in the world though. I was the one in my family that started the Disney mania. I talked DH into a trip for our 5th wedding anniversary and Disney was one of my first vacation experiences that surpassed my expectations and that is hard to do.



Also in this report I will talk about wanting to get back in shape for Disney. Two years ago I lost almost 50 pounds on Weight Watchers but because of the stress of the last two years and me getting lazy I have slacked. I am determined though to get in my best shape possible for Disney.



DH: I will call him by his nickname I use for him Ro he actually answers to it. His real name is Robb.







Ro loves football he is the one that really made me love it. He is a huge Notre Dame fan because of Joe Montana. He has joked that if we ever have a daughter he wants to name her Montana. He is a big San Francisco 49ers fan too even though they have had some rough seasons. He loves pizza almost as much as football if this man could eat pizza for every meal, he would do it. He loves the outdoors and fishing. He is an amazing father and husband. He is a big kid and so super funny. He can always make me laugh. He wasn’t so sure that he was going to love Disney as much as me until our first visit. Then he was hooked, just like a fish!



DS: Pey short for Peyton. He is almost 22 months old but will be almost 3 at the time of our trip.















Peyton is the absolute love and sunshine of mine and Ro’s lives. He is so funny, loving, mischievous, bright, and just all around amazing little man. He is a miracle and a blessing. He loves tractors, trains, cars, Mickey Mouse, blocks, and playing in water! This will be his first trip. We will be celebrating our one year anniversary of Family Day, which is our version of Gotcha Day. Peyton was officially adopted on May 20th of this year. I will type more on our story in a future post.



Next up is my parents:



My Mom and Dad:







My mom is not a huge Disney fan or so she tells every one but then when someone asks her something about Disney World she talks about how nice it is and the next time that we go she thinks that we should do this or that for someone who isn’t a fan she sure seems to like it a lot. My mom is my best friend, she is amazing and strong. She is the best grandmother I could have ever asked for, of course I think she was the best mom too! She loves shopping, thrift store shopping (she is the queen of good bargains), she is very honest and I can always count on her not to sugarcoat anything and give it to me straight.



Dad is a big softie. He has such a compassionate heart for people and animals. We call him the squirrel man because he has the squirrel’s that live around mom and dad’s house trained. They come to his garage door and he hands them nuts. It is really cute and funny. He loves coffee (maybe that is where my love comes from)! He was the best dad ever, I always knew he had my back. He really loves Disney, even though he has only visited once.





That is the cast for this trip. We may be adding my bestie and her family but they haven’t decided. I will add them later if they decide to come.



Up next: The When and How this came to be

 

[cajunfan]

I can't wait to read more. Your mom sounds like my son. He will tell everyone that Disney is okay, but get someone talking about it in front of him, and he jumps right in!

 

[KnK]

following along.

 

[ariane37]

Hello there, I said I'd come over and here I am! Peyton is adorable
Funny FYI, DH works for Starbucks; I don't drink coffee lol.
Looking forward to following along as you plan!

 

[NightAngelX]

Hi! I am hoping to go in May 2017 too with family. We are waiting to adopt so I am looking forward to hearing your story! I also want to lose some weight before we go as well!

I can't wait to hear more about your trip!

 

[Ruth B]

Looking forward to your pre report. Good luck with getting in shape- I'm also trying and it's hard work.

 

[peypeysmommy]

I can't wait to read more. Your mom sounds like my son. He will tell everyone that Disney is okay, but get someone talking about it in front of him, and he jumps right in!

I am glad to hear that my mom isn't the only one that dose that. I think it is pretty funny, she goes on and on about wonderful things there then she is like well I don't really like it. It cracks us all up.

following along.

Thank you for following along!

Hello there, I said I'd come over and here I am! Peyton is adorable
Funny FYI, DH works for Starbucks; I don't drink coffee lol.
Looking forward to following along as you plan!

Thank you, I think so but I am bias. That is completely awesome that your husband works for Starbucks. I am pretty sure they would go broke if I worked there!

Hi! I am hoping to go in May 2017 too with family. We are waiting to adopt so I am looking forward to hearing your story! I also want to lose some weight before we go as well!

I can't wait to hear more about your trip!

That is amazing that you are thinking about adopting! It is something that I highly advocate for. I can't imagine my life without Peyton now. I really need to get started on weight loss. It has been nutty around here and now that it has calmed down I am going to crack down...After I eat this cinnamon roll!

Looking forward to your pre report. Good luck with getting in shape- I'm also trying and it's hard work.

Getting in shape is hard work. I have such a sweet tooth, if I wasn't completely addicted to sugar I think would be much easier.

 

[peypeysmommy]

Thank you for the comments! I was super excited when I saw that I had some readers!



It has been an emotional week here. One of my best friends lost her grandmother this week. They don’t live in town so they came in and stayed with us for a couple of night. She is a huge Disney fan as well. As a hostess gift she brought me a super cute Ariel shirt from the Disney Store in Atlanta! I wish that I had a photo but I did wear it yesterday so it’s the laundry! I am sure it will make an appearance at some point in this report. Well I mentioned the trip to my friend and she said that she and her mom may join us for a couple of days!





The When and Why of This Trip:



When:



Right now we are looking at May of 2017 because we want to be in Disney on our Family Day aka the one year anniversary of Peyton’s adoption. I have it tentatively set for May 11th through the 21st. If I can talk DH into more days I may try as we want to visit Universal this time to, and I want to build in a day or two out of the parks.



Why



I have mentioned that we wanted a grand celebration for the one year anniversary of Pey’s adoption. We really wanted to go this year but it happened pretty fast once the papers were signed and we couldn’t make it work this year. We have dreamed about from before that Pey came to live with us taking him to Disney and sharing our love with him. We knew that we wanted to take him at least once before he was 2 so this felt like the perfect time to go.



I mentioned it to my parents and with a little look from mom like we should wait longer to take him and a YES we want to go from my dad, the plan had come to be.



I think that both DH and I feel almost like this is the first trip again. So much has changed since we were there last. The opportunity to see it through the eyes of someone we love so much and to see him witness the magic for the first time just overwhelms us both. It is such a blessing and celebration. The last time that DH and I were in WDW we were going through fertility treatments and while it was amazing being in our favorite place it was also a little bittersweet. We are so excited to celebrate Peyton and being a family!



For any of you that have gone in mid to late May, how have the crowds and weather been? We generally go in September so I figure that it will be cooler in May as some times I feel like Orlando in September feels like it is surface of the sun hot!



Well that is all for today! I am working on trying to workout where would be our best options for where to stay. I really want to stay on property but am considering renting a vacation home.



Well since I am very low on photos please enjoy a photo of my little guy from his one year birthday photos snuggling with Mickey Mouse <3

 

[cajunfan]

He is absolutely ADORABLE!

I have been to WDW the second week of May the last two years. This seems to be the sweet spot for us. The weather is still VERY HOT but it does not seem as humid most of the time...although there are still those days. Between both trips we have had one rain shower last year and NONE this year! HIGHLY unusual for WDW. Both years have been fairly low crowds. (but the weeks on either side of this tend to be very crowded...with crowds picking up the closer you get to Memorial Day). You will also be there during Epcot's Flower & Garden show and the outdoor kitchens (YUM!)...I think they will still be running then...lots of neat things for little ones too...like the butterfly garden/house, playgrounds, etc.

I know a lot of people stay offsite, but it is just not my cup of tea. I HATE driving. I also use a scooter and it would be a pain to break down and transport. So staying on property is the way to go for me. Have you all considered staying in a family suite at Art of Animation or All Star Music? Or a one bedroom villa at a DVC property (either booking directly through Disney or renting DVC points (I totally do not know how this works, but hear people talk about this option all the time)? I have stayed at ASMusic in a family suite the last two years. I have to admit I did not have much hope for me liking this resort (I like POP for my value resort) but we were pleasantly surprised. The family suite is very spacious and a little less expensive than AoA. But the layout of AoA may work better for you all. The big difference I see is the bathroom being inside the master bedroom at AoA whereas the it is outside the master in ASMusic. And of course the theming is a little more "WOW" at AoA. Do some research here on the DIS or the other websites (like Allearsnet, EasyWDW, WDWPrepSchool, Kenny The Pirate....lots of options out there...

Happy planning!

Lynn

 

[JessH87]

Following along on the trip report and like the post above said your son is adorable! And Gooooo Irish!

My Fiance and I were just at Disney mid May this year. It was definitely warm... like upper 80's and low 90's. This was the first trip we had to take afternoon breaks because it was just too warm for me. But it worked out nicely to hit the parks early then take an afternoon break to swim and rest and then back to the parks for evening shows. We also did not have any rain which was amazing!!

 

[jhoannam]

Following... He's so cute! Congrats to your family.

 

[ariane37]

I love the red hair! We went in early/mid-May back in 2013. It was warm/hot that trip; low 90's mostly. However for the majority of our trip the one thing that was missing was humidity and that was key. Our last day the humidity came in and made a huge difference. We've also gone twice in August when the humidity is there in full force and I can honestly say that even with the heat in May, it was 1000x better than the summer weather! So I think you'll find it much more pleasant than Sept. which they say is similar to Aug.

 

[MissMaryQC]

Omg! I had no idea you started a PTR!

Your family is super cute! Can't wait to see how the planning is taking shape!

 

[ArielSRL]

Joining in, though it's been awhile since you updated so I am very late to the party! Your son is adorable and from a fellow redhead, I love the hair! I have 2 boys (2 & 5) but neither ended up with red hair! So sad!

I just took my boys to Disney this past June, with my parents. My oldest has gone at 9.5 months but this was the first trip he remembers, of course. And my 2 yr old talks about it still, every day. That might partially be because I don't let them forget it...lol! Also, we are going back this upcoming June, minus the parents, but adding my DH, who missed this past June due to work and hasn't been in 35 years!

Hoping you will have time to come back and update us as I am looking forward to reading about your plans!