Twice the Excitment, Twice the Fun!

[Happy Elf]

I've been thinking about doing a pre-trip report for awhile, so I am finally starting it! I figure the wonderful people on the DIS are the perfect people to answer my questions!

Here is the Cast of Characters:
Me-Janell, I'm 32 and a teacher and a Disney Nut!
DH-Ben, also 32, puts up with my Disney obsession. He can't say too much, because he is obsessed with Star Wars. He works in Marketing.
DD-Hannah, she is 3.5 and lives up to her red hair! This is her second trip.
DS-Owen, he is currently 6 months old, but will be 11 months on our trip. This will be Owen's first trip.

I started thinking about a trip to WDW this past summer. We hadn't been on a real family vacation since October 2006. I started playing around on the internet playing with dates, prices, airfare. I was thinking the trip would have to wait until probably 2010. But as luck would have it, I got a pin code! Now my next hurdle was to convince DH we should go. He finally said yes! So we are set to go June 13-19, 2009. After spending hours going over pictures on the Resort Board, we decided to stay at Pop Century.

 

[kathleen27]

Hi Janell!

Hannah and Owen are adorable.
I love Hannah's hair!

Yay for a pin code!

Can't wait to hear about your plans!

 

[Happy Elf]

DH and I went back and forth on how to get there. We decided to drive. It's around a 20-21 hour drive for us. We figured we would stop in Georgia and stay overnight and then continue on the next morning. In the back of my mind,
I kept thinking a 20-21 hour drive with a baby and a 3.5 year old DD who would talk the entire way there and say "are we there yet?" a million times. It really didn't sound like fun, but it would get me to Disney.

I kept checking airfare prices online. I was hoping to find a good deal. Things weren't looking good. Until around Christmas, I found tickets for $175 per person, which was close to what we would spend driving for gas, food, and hotel rooms coming and going. So now we are booked on Northwest! It will take a little over 2 hours now! We do have a short layover, but that will be ok. We will probably get to the room around 8:30-9:00 pm. I'm assuming we'll grab something to eat at the food court and then put the kids to bed to get them ready for the next day.

 

[Happy Elf]

Hi Janell!

Hannah and Owen are adorable.
I love Hannah's hair!

Yay for a pin code!

Can't wait to hear about your plans!

I'm glad to have a reader!

 

[longneckthree]

Hi, Janell!

I have a little sister who also a red head and she's a handfull, but soooo cute.

DH and I went back and forth on how to get there. We decided to drive. It's around a 20-21 hour drive for us. We figured we would stop in Georgia and stay overnight and then continue on the next morning. In the back of my mind,
I kept thinking a 20-21 hour drive with a baby and a 3.5 year old DD who would talk the entire way there and say "are we there yet?" a million times. It really didn't sound like fun, but it would get me to Disney.

Ohh the things you do for disney.

Until around Christmas, I found tickets for $175 per person, which was close to what we would spend driving for gas, food, and hotel rooms coming and going. So now we are booked on Northwest! It will take a little over 2 hours now!

YAAAHHOOOO!!!!

 

[Happy Elf]

Double post

 

[Happy Elf]

I have a little sister who also a red head and she's a handfull, but soooo cute.

Glad to have you along!

Your quote describes Hannah to a T! She is full of attitude at 3.5! My mom just smiles and laughs!

 

[teacher9702]

How did you find cheap airline tickets? We are flying out of Memphis because it is cheaper there than out of St. Louis plus we can visit with friends we haven't seen in a while before we leave. So far to fly with Northwest it is about $250 per person and hasn't really changed much for a while. I would love to get the price you got.

We will be at OKW from June 9-18. This will be our kids first trip down and our second one. Sad to say but our first one we were in high school...that was over 20 years ago...so it will technically be our first too since so much as changed since then.

We are still working on ADRs with our family friend who is also going with her grandson. She was able to book our Chef Mickey breakfast. We also know that we are doing the Fantasmic with dinner at the Brown Derby and eating at the steak place in Epcot...man I forgot the name. Beyond that I have no clue where else to eat yet. I told my husband he will sit down with me and look over the menus I printed off so we can book the rest of our ADR when we can.

Question for anyone who wants to answer. I am trying to decide on whether to get the Park Hopper option on our tickets or not. My savings side of me says don't do it and work the plans out but then again I don't want to take any chances and have that option just in case. What do you guys all think?

 

[Happy Elf]

How did you find cheap airline tickets? We are flying out of Memphis because it is cheaper there than out of St. Louis plus we can visit with friends we haven't seen in a while before we leave. So far to fly with Northwest it is about $250 per person and hasn't really changed much for a while. I would love to get the price you got.

Glad to have you along!
As far as the airline tickets go, I just kept checking Expedia, the airline websites, and that one popped up. I know we got lucky. I jumped on it before the price went up!

We will be at OKW from June 9-18. This will be our kids first trip down and our second one. Sad to say but our first one we were in high school...that was over 20 years ago...so it will technically be our first too since so much as changed since then.

That is exciting!!! I hope you have a wonderful trip!

We are still working on ADRs with our family friend who is also going with her grandson. She was able to book our Chef Mickey breakfast. We also know that we are doing the Fantasmic with dinner at the Brown Derby and eating at the steak place in Epcot...man I forgot the name. Beyond that I have no clue where else to eat yet. I told my husband he will sit down with me and look over the menus I printed off so we can book the rest of our ADR when we can.

We have a few ADR's, but will mostly do counter service this trip. More about that coming up later!

Question for anyone who wants to answer. I am trying to decide on whether to get the Park Hopper option on our tickets or not. My savings side of me says don't do it and work the plans out but then again I don't want to take any chances and have that option just in case. What do you guys all think?

To hop or not hop! Great question! We have always had hoppers in the past and that was great, because you could go to a different park if you want to. We currently don't have hoppers this trip. DH said we would be to tired to hop with 2 kids in tow. He's probably right! But I reserve the right to add them when we check in!

 

[Happy Elf]

In 2006, we were able to enjoy the free dining offer! That was wonderful and we really enjoyed it! However this time around, we have a baby and a really picky 3.5 year old. We figured a few sit down meals and then mostly counter service. But the ADR's we do have are very exciting!

So far we have dinner ADR's at Chef Mickey's on Sunday. This was originally going to be our first night, but we added Saturday due to our plane tickets. So it will really be our second nice. I figure it will be a great way for Hannah and Owen to meet Mickey, Minnie, Donald, Goofy and Pluto.

The most exciting ADR we have is for breakfast at Cinderella's Royal Table. It was actually my DH idea. He knew Hannah would LOVE to meet the princesses. He's right and I'm thrilled we were able to get an ADR.

There are 2-3 others we are waiting on. Gotta get to that lovely 90 day mark! We are thinking about O'hana for breakfast so we can meet Lilo and Stitch. Hannah enjoyed that movie, and DH loves it! I'm also kicking around the idea of Teppan Edo at Epcot. I'm just not sure how well that would work out with the kids???

We definitely want to do Crystal Palace. Pooh is my favorite, plus we had a really cute meal there in 2006. Hannah was in love with Pooh and gave him a kiss on the nose! It was such a special moment! Hannah was 15 months old and so happy to meet Pooh, Tigger, and Eeyore!

 

[littleboss]

WOW I guess I should stop complaining about having to pay $129 on our way back from Florida to Chicago,beings are way there is only $83. I guess after reading here I'm lucky to be paying a cheap price.

 

[WDWRocksMySocks]

Hi Janell!

I'm joining in on the PTR fun too. What part of Indiana are you from? I'm down in Bloomington -- enjoying all the snow. I'm glad you were able to find a good price on airfare. Your kids are so cute! I absolutely love that picture with Pooh.

Look forward to hearing the rest of you plans.

 

[Happy Elf]

WOW I guess I should stop complaining about having to pay $129 on our way back from Florida to Chicago,beings are way there is only $83. I guess after reading here I'm lucky to be paying a cheap price.

$83 airfare! You are lucky, although I wouldn't like paying more for the trip home!

Hi Janell!

I'm joining in on the PTR fun too. What part of Indiana are you from? I'm down in Bloomington -- enjoying all the snow. I'm glad you were able to find a good price on airfare. Your kids are so cute! I absolutely love that picture with Pooh.

Look forward to hearing the rest of you plans.

We live in Anderson. I'm currently home today with a SNOW DAY!!!! Have you been able to dig your way out yet?? Thanks for the compliment on my kids...I think they are pretty cute too, but I'm a little partial.

 

[BrooklynnsMommy]

In 2006, we were able to enjoy the free dining offer! That was wonderful and we really enjoyed it! However this time around, we have a baby and a really picky 3.5 year old. We figured a few sit down meals and then mostly counter service. But the ADR's we do have are very exciting!

So far we have dinner ADR's at Chef Mickey's on Sunday. This was originally going to be our first night, but we added Saturday due to our plane tickets. So it will really be our second nice. I figure it will be a great way for Hannah and Owen to meet Mickey, Minnie, Donald, Goofy and Pluto.

The most exciting ADR we have is for breakfast at Cinderella's Royal Table. It was actually my DH idea. He knew Hannah would LOVE to meet the princesses. He's right and I'm thrilled we were able to get an ADR.

There are 2-3 others we are waiting on. Gotta get to that lovely 90 day mark! We are thinking about O'hana for breakfast so we can meet Lilo and Stitch. Hannah enjoyed that movie, and DH loves it! I'm also kicking around the idea of Teppan Edo at Epcot. I'm just not sure how well that would work out with the kids???

We definitely want to do Crystal Palace. Pooh is my favorite, plus we had a really cute meal there in 2006. Hannah was in love with Pooh and gave him a kiss on the nose! It was such a special moment! Hannah was 15 months old and so happy to meet Pooh, Tigger, and Eeyore!

We have done CHef Mickey's twice - our first trip when Brooklynn was just 11 months old and she loved it! and then this past Thanksgiving.

We did Ohana this past summer and that was a nice way to start the morning, plus the characters were so cute in their flowered shirts and leis.

We also did Crystal Palace this past summer and really enjoyed it.

I have friends that ate at Teppan Edo this past October with their four kids, ages 9, 8, 2, and 6 months and absolutely loved it.

 

[Happy Elf]

We have done CHef Mickey's twice - our first trip when Brooklynn was just 11 months old and she loved it! and then this past Thanksgiving.

We did Ohana this past summer and that was a nice way to start the morning, plus the characters were so cute in their flowered shirts and leis.

We also did Crystal Palace this past summer and really enjoyed it.

I have friends that ate at Teppan Edo this past October with their four kids, ages 9, 8, 2, and 6 months and absolutely loved it.

Glad to have you along!

Your pictures from O'hana are one of the reason's we are thinking about going. It looked really fun!

 

[kathleen27]

Cute pictures from Crystal Palace. Hannah looks like she is having a great time! The character meals should be lots of fun! My kids both love Chef Mickey's!

 

[Happy Elf]

We had a snow day yesterday! The whole family was home because we got a foot of snow! Ben had to shovel a path for the dogs, Daisy and Spot. The snow came up to Hannah's knees, but that didn't stop her from having fun!

Hannah loved playing in the snow!!


Just for some messy cuteness (and because I don't have an updated picture of Owen on here yet)! Owen was 6 months old that day and we celebrated by having peaches....which he hated!!!

 

[Happy Elf]

Well after thinking, deliberation, and more thinking we added hopping to our park tickets. I wanted to have the flexibility to go to EMH and then hop to another park if we wanted. I'm glad we did it, because it will help in the planning. We have one day for each park and then an extra day to see our favorites...probably MK. Now that they have the May hours out, I can patiently (ok not so patiently ) wait for the June hours to come out!

 

[bertegirl]

Joining....love the photos. Just gave my DS the liquid vitamins and got the exact same face. Too funny!

 

[Happy Elf]

Joining....love the photos. Just gave my DS the liquid vitamins and got the exact same face. Too funny!

Glad to have you along!

DS makes some of the funniest faces when he eats! He does NOT like most of the fruits, so we see that face a lot!