Two Pirates a Princess and Parent's conquer the World...now with PICS

[amytheobald]

Trip Dates April 8th-14th.

Cast:

Me- Disney lover. Went on numerous trips as a child, Disney are the good memories of my childhood. I am a full time student, Mother of 3, and wife of 1...I also work PT as a blackjack dealer on weekends at night so that I am still home during the week to take part in before mentioned duties.

DH- As a child he had been to Disney Land once or twice, but didn't really love it. He did however love Disney movies, and Disney in general so I knew there was hope. Anyways Dh is a great dad and husband, and works just as hard as I do to balance our family schedule. (I ll explain in a little bit in the back story)

Ethan- Oldest son, is 6 and loves pirates, and all things Boy and Disney.

This is Ethan and Aly last summer on our Non-Disney family vacation.

Aiden- Middle child, he is 5 and also loves pirates, and has a passion for art, drawing, and wants to be an animator one day.

And Aiden last summer.
Aly- Princess, she is 3 and is a feisty little one. At age 2 she climbed about 35 feet to the top of a rock wall because "If Ethan can do it so can I" Loud noises sometimes freak her out, as does the dark at times.

Backstory: When Ethan was about 2 months old we planned a trip to WDW for the following year, we had the timeshare booked, everything planned but had not yet purchased airfare...and I found out Aiden was on the way, and due the same week as our trip. So what did we do, move it back a month...yep seemed logical to us...but everyone else thought we were nuts.

So Aiden came 2 weeks early, and luckily I didn't have to have a c-section (like with my first) and so we were all set to go. Knowing that we had a 13 month old and a 6 week old, I knew commando park touring was out of the question...so for this trip we did one day at Animal Kingdom, and then did other area attractions, but spent alot of time at the resort (the vistana) just relaxing...so I know all of you dis'ers are thinking one day what a waste...but it served it's purpose, DH was bitten by the Disney bug...and fell in love with the World.

2 years later we couldn't stand it anymore...it was time to go back, and I was pregnant again. So we planned a trip 6 weeks after my due date for thanksgiving, same timeshare...this time we did MK and AK...and we had a great time.

So here we are nearly 3 years later, and we have moved out of the NW to the South and we can now drive to the World...WAHOO!!! This time we wanted to experience the World the whole time, no distractions...and with no infants we feel pretty confident we can!!

So in the past I did no planning other than buying a one day pass...this time however, I am all set...ADR's are made, A pirate cruise for the boys is booked, we are staying at POR checking in April 8th and out the 14th..yep I know....ARGHHH the crowds...but our kids are in school and this is what works for us, so that's another reason I m planning, planning, planning....

This will be our first time staying onsite....

More later today on our itinerary, my obsessive planning, and the master plan!!!

 

[pumba]

I will be going the week after you come home......so keep some good weather for me too....
I am going to move this to the pre-trip reports. and am anxious for US BOTH to have our trips...

Happy Planning

 

[Lovemy3babes]

I'm reading!!

 

[amytheobald]

So I ve booked the trip... we're staying at POR as it really is the only moderate that accomodates the five of us. I ve booked our ADR's... all for dinners, we will be dining on the DDP at Whispering Canyon, Prime-time, Sci-Fi, San Angel, and Ohana, and our last day will be the Princess lunch in Norway. I ve been to San Angel and Sci Fi before, but it will be everyone elses first time everywhere.... You may notice I didn't book any buffets (except for Norway)...well that was intentional. I have 3 young kids and helping everyone's plates, being up and down over and over does not sound like vacation to me... Also, we decided to skip character dining (this trip)...we decided the kids would probably eat better if not constantly distracted by all of the characters...besides most Disney dining experiences have something fun to offer, so I don't think fun will be missing.

Hubby and I began in early December working out at the taekwondo studio our children attend, we've been doing an intense cardio workout for an hour three times a week. I am overweight, and of course worried...will I fit on rides. My main concern though is being physically fit enough to enjoy ourselves, so I am also walking 3 times a week, hopefully that will help with my size, but also give us the energy to enjoy the parks.

This week I will make our second to last payment, and be one step closer to being PAID IN FULL..... WAHOO!!!

Before the new year I found the lovely Creative forum and quickly decided I will make us all t-shirts... for every day we are there...so I m getting to work on those as well.

Next installment...our traveling companions

 

[amytheobald]

The last two trips we have been on my Dad has accompanied us. I think he loves Disney possibly more than me, and certainly loves seeing his Grandkids experience Disney.

Well this trip we invited my Hubby's parents. Suprisingly they accepted, but are only coming for 3 days of the 6 we will be there. So once I knew when they were coming I of course invited my Dad .... he hasn't committed yet, but I will be shocked if he doesn't come.

Hubby's parents have never been to WDW, only DL...and not to be rude but in my eyes there is no comparision between the two. We've already planned our agenda, so they will be free to come with us or do their own thing as they wish...thus alleviating some of that trying to please everyone occurence while we are there. I d be lying if I said I wasn't a little anxious about the trip, because historically my inlaws and I haven't always (ok ever) been the best of friends.

I m so excited about taking the kids though, that I m not about to let anything get in the way of that.... So my big dilemma brewing in my dis obsessed brain is...to drive to the parks or take the bus, we plan on hitting parks early, and coming back for afternoon breaks...so which is the best plan????

 

[amytheobald]

So I made another payment on our trip and should be able to do the paid in full dance next payday...

Everytime I m on the computer the kids ask to see pics of the world. I am still collecting graphics for t-shirts, and trying to plan in my head what to take into the parks, which camera's to take where...do we get a single or a double stroller, do we do buses or drive...so many things to figure out...

I ll be making my way to my TGM plans later this week and start creating some touring documents. Come to find out my kids could compete in taekwondo at Disney in Oct...I would love to go again, but DH says it's probably not in the budget...I guess I ll have to see if we can change that.

 

[amytheobald]

Okay so everyone dance with me...we are officially PAID IN FULL!!!!

We are 40 days away. Here is our plan, for now..

We will leave our overly cramped apartment on April 6th around 4pm (we had planned to leave Thur evening, but DH wasn't able to get Fri. Off) anyhow we will leave around 4 and drive probably 7-8 hours, stop get a hotel...and then drive into FL on Sat. Morning. Saturday we will stay with my Aunt who is about an hour from Orlando. Sunday we will get up go to church do some egg hunting and leave my Aunts around 2pm or so. Check in to the POR around 4, and spend the rest of the evening either at DTD, or at the outlets. Oh and we will have to check in at the timeshare that is booked for my Inlaws as well.

So Sunday the 8th is Easter...so how does one covert Easter Bunny transport goods from LA to FL without anything being seen by three overly precosious children? Well, Easter Bunny is bringing three Mini Mule Camels Backs and some disney pins...all will be shipped to my Aunts house and waiting on us when we get there!!!! Currently my energies are focused on getting my Dad AKA PaPa to join us on Sat and stay until Tue...don't know if it will work..but I m hoping. My Dad (because he is the sweet man he is) booked one of his timeshares so that my Inlaws can join us...well timeshares run Sun-Sun my Inlaws aren't coming until LATE Tues evening...so I m hoping Dad will come soak in a few days of Disney Magic with us (I ve never been to WDW without him, nor have my kids or my DH...we don't want to start now!!!)

So we have park hoppers for 6 days and the Disney Dining Plan.

Keep in mind when looking at our itinerary..we plan to get up early,and take a break mid day.
Monday April 9th- Magic Kingdom ADR's Whispering Canyon
Tuesday April 10th- Animal Kingdom Afternoon at MGM ADR's at Sci Fi
Wed April 11th- Epcot ADR's at Concourse
Thursday April 12th- Boys booked for Pirates cruise in the AM (shh it's a surprise) We will take our Daughter to the barber shop to get hair pixie dusted. Afternoon at AK, with ADR's at Ohana.
Friday April 13th-Magic Kingdom in the AM and MGM in the evening ADR's at 50s Prime Time.
Saturday April 14th- Our going home day...Epcot most likely (this may change) Princess lunch at 12:55 in Norway...
Sunday....POST DISNEY DEPRESSION

My Inlaws will be with us Wed, THur, Fri and leave early Sat morning. Hopefully everything will go smoothly...

 

[amytheobald]

So now I m starting to freak about all of the little details. I know I want to have a touring plan in place at least for the first days we are in each park. I think I ve settled on renting a double stroller, that way the kids can swap in and out and no one will get over tired. I just ordered the kids each a camelsbak backpack(everyone got a different color, so no "that's mine"), they've all been wanting one and we will use it other than just for disney too. We took them to the store and tried them on, and the Mini Mule really fits all of them well. I plan on keeping water, some sort of small snacks and few little toys for when we are waiting in lines (hopefully not too much waiting with help from TGM) for them, best of all if they each have their own they can carry them themselves!! (I ll let you know after the trip how it all works out)

I need to figure out how to post pics, maybe I ll work on that this morning. Also, I want to make a countdown to Disney thingy... maybe with some sort of trivia fact of something on each day.

 

[amytheobald]

Aha...I figured it out!!! So anyways. This is the camelsbak we ordered for the kids, notice the sternum strap and waist strap, all very key in keeping it on kiddo's bodies!!!

 

[amytheobald]

Last night DH asked me, so what do I need to do to help you with our trip... So I explained to him how anxious I am about getting around while we are there, and how he could help by looking at the maps and figuring stuff out.

Truthfully, my anxiety about this is rooted in the fact that I am HORRIBLE with directions...DH however is a walking GPS. He looked at me and said, just print out our touring plans, and chill out it will be fine. Easier said than done, my sweet husband...

 

[solgent]

Since you say you're bad with directions I recommend taking the bus. It can be tricky to find your way around WDW. I find the buses are convenient and cool and keep me in the Disney mood. They are a big benefit of staying onsite.

 

[amytheobald]

Since you say you're bad with directions I recommend taking the bus. It can be tricky to find your way around WDW. I find the buses are convenient and cool and keep me in the Disney mood. They are a big benefit of staying onsite.

We're planning on it...I m just hoping that they run ok with it being such a busy season!!!!

 

[amytheobald]

It's less than 30 days until we leave for Disney!!! Everyone is starting to get excited, even DH is now asking me questions about what we are doing on what day. This morning he asked me a question about AK and I said well we could do it one of three ways and he says "What does Tour Guide Mike say" Aha he has been listening to me!!! Last weekend we took the kids hiking. We hiked 1.6 miles, and the kids walked the whole way. Now they will be in and out of the stroller, but at least I know they can handle walking, and with the assistance of the stroller they should be fine!

 

[amytheobald]

So we left Lafayette Friday around 2pm and drove to Tallahassee, stayed the night at a Red Roof Inn, ate breakfast at Steak and Shake (love Steak and Shake) and headed to my Aunt's house which is about 40 mi from WDW. Sat. afternoon we visited with family and Sunday morning we did our Egg hunt, had lunch and left my Aunt and Uncle by about 2 pm. We arrived at POR at about 4 and checked in. There were 3 people in front of us, so we it wasn't too long until we had recieved our keys to the world, and headed off to find our room... We were in Alligator Bayou, far, far far from the main building, but SO close to the West bus depot. So we settled in, and headed off to check in to the offsite condo that my inlaws would be staying in. We were quickly reminded that all customer service is not like Disney's and got through that process as quick and painlessly as possible. By 5:30pm we were officially on Disney Time. We headed to POR parked the car, and bid it farewell for the remainder of the week. We got on the boat and rode over to Downtown Disney and had dinner at Earl of Sandwhich. I had the Cannonballs, Hubby had the Full Montague, and the kids had turkey and cheese, grilled cheese, andham and cheese...everything was super yummy, and the portions were huge...3 of our deserts went back to the hotel with us. We headed back to POR and off to bed by 9 tomorrow was going to be an early morning at MK!!

 

[Lovemy3babes]

You're back! Can't wait to read more.

 

[amytheobald]

Sunday night when we got to the hotel we tucked the kids in, and hubby and I showered and laid out everyone's clothes for our day at MK. We also packed the kids Camelsbak's... filled them with water, put in a few snacks, a jacket (in place of a poncho), a hat and their disney fans. We packed our camelbak fanny pack with sunscreen, ibuprofen, our water of course, and decided just to carry our poncho's and maybe seek out a locker at the park.

Monday morning everyone was up by 6:15am, we dressed everyone, sunscreened and handed the kids a breakfast bar. The kids discovered that Tinkerbelle had visited and left a note, a trail of pixie dust, and instructions of what to do today!! (there was no whining "why can't we see Mickey?" it was ok Tinkerbelle said get to fantasyland fast, and what did tourguide mike say to do next?) We were bright and early at the bus stop at 6:55, can you believe we weren't the first one's there?
The MK bus came at 7:10, and we arrived a MK at 7:45. We headed through the turnstiles, and it started to sprinkle, so we all suited up in our poncho's and jackets...for some reason they let us all the way through to the stroller rental at 7:52 so we were able to purchase our multiple day rental and get a stroller before the rope drop countdown.

So the park opened and everyone took of running, except for us!!! We walked quickly to fantasyland and proceeded to hit all of the rides. All were walk on! After fantasyland we headed to adventureland and frontierland. By 9:30 (thanks TourGUideMike)we had ridden about 12 rides (not counting the ones we rode twice) and headed over to tomorrowland to fastpass space mountain. Tomorrowland was packed, so we went on the TTA, and ate lunch. We went back to use our fastpasses and the ride was closed (we found out later someone had lost their hearing aide) so we went ahead and headed to the resort for a nap.

After a much needed nap for everyone (except for hubby) we all took showers and got some jeans on (it was chilly) and headed back to Magic Kingdom, and across the lake to the Wilderness Lodge for dinner at Whispering Canyon Cafe. We were seated within 10 minutes, service was prompt, food was good. Hubby, I and Ethan all had the skillet and the other two kids had mac and cheese and nuggets. We all had milkshakes to drink. It was 9:00 by the time we made it back to MK, so we went on Buzz, and Space Mountain while everyone else was watching the first spectro. We then watched Wishes. After doing a few more rides and watching everyone leave the park, we went and found a spot right on Main Street for the second Spectro.

..we found our spot about 15 min before it started right on the curb...and the kids were invited into the middle of the street to "help dim the lights" by a few cast members. We watched an amazing Spectro and A few characters stopped and hugged, or shook hands with the kids...it was truely amazing. We got back to POR at midnight, the kids were asleep within a minute flat. Hubby and I repacked the camelsbaks and laid out clothes because tomorrow was another early morning.

Today was a great day...but we only found one photopass photographer the whole day...bummer!
Edited to add pics.

 

[amytheobald]

Day 2
We got up at 6:45am (yep that's right the kiddo's had a whole whopping 6.5 hours of sleep) got everyone dressed (everyone in matching pink polo shirts today), sunscreened etc. and headed to the bus stop. Amazingly tinkerbelle visited again with more pixie dust and instructions for the day. We got there about 7:08am and were the only ones there. It took us about 35 minutes to get to AK. As we were waiting in line for the turnstiles to open a cast member came out and asked us if we wanted to be the first family in the park for the day...we of course said yes. So they took us into the park dressed up two of the kids in Cast Member Shirts gave them bells and tamborines and let us open the park with alot of yelling, and dancing.

We also got a magical moments certificate...it was a great way to start out the day!!

As a side note as we were following the CM into the park some woman says "Are you cutting in front of me? Who do you think you are?" in a very rude voice, I smiled at her and said no were not cutting just following the cast member...I wanted to stick out my tongue at her...but I refrained!!!

So we followed TGM plan this morning and by 11 we were done with all we wanted to do...including Everest! Our plan was to knock it all out as quick as possible and spend some rest time at the resort...so that's what we did. And even though it was a "quick" day we got alot done. We did most of Dinoland, the kids saw a few characters out and about in AK as well as at Camp Minnie and Mickey.

There were street performers out and the kiddo's loved making music of their own.

We headed back to the resort, ate lunch at the Riverside Mill...which was fabulous..the make your own pasta is huge, and SO yummy! Then we all took about a 3.5 hour nap. Tonight we were supposed to go MGM but it was pouring and I knew Fantasmic would be cancelled if it was raining so we decided to stay at the resort. I quickly(at 5pm) called Disney Dining to attempt to get us a ressie at Boatwrights for dinner and the only thing they had was at 9:15pm...so I took it. We went and rode the boat to DTD and back, letting the kids look for wildlife with some binoculars ( a great activity to pass time) and at about 7 I walked into Boatwrights, smiled my sweetest smile, crossed my fingers and asked if they could get us in early...they gave me a pager and said it should be about 30 minutes. About 8 minutes later we were seated. I had the prime rib, hubby had NY strip...it was really good, service was great, and we were able to get into bed by about 9:30.

Even with the rain we had a great day AK, and at the resort...tomorrow the inlaws arrive. Great news today there were a few more photographers out so I think we added 10 or so pics to the photo card.

 

[amytheobald]

Today was our EPCOT day.

Grandma and Grandpa met us at 8 at the main bus depot at POR. They were staying offsite, so they just met us and rode to the parks with us. Today we were all in our Mickey Stick Figure shirts which we got ALOT of compliments on...I thought they were pretty cute! We got to the park in plenty of time for rope drop, got our stroller and followed the TGM plan for a peaceful morning...and it was exactly that. The kids loved Nemo, and Crush (or is it Flush )

Soarin was great, but oh I get motion sick easy! Around 10:45 we were all hungry (breakfast bars, and snack crackers only tide you over for so long) we headed to world showcase and ate at the Counter Service in France. We got 4 CS meals and it fed the 7 of us quite nicely. The kids also really wanted to see France, since they go to a French school, and 80% of their day at school the teacher speaks French to them.

The World Showcase was empty, and quite peaceful.

So the day was absolutely great, and we were ready to head out...until my FIL decided that he had to see the executive Lounge for HP employees inside Mission Space. So we did that, then the boys decided that they had to ride Mission Space (which hubby and I had decided against because of the deaths on this ride) well, we decided the mild side should be ok, and because FIL was an HP employee he got to take them on the fastpass entrance (with no FP) but that took about an hour of the afternoon that I had planned to spend in my bed at the resort. Oh Well....
So after that we went back to the resort and DD and I napped while the others rode bikes and messed around at the hotel. (I wonder why the kids weren't as well rested once the inlaws came...hmmm?)

We all got freshened up and headed to dinner at the Contemporary at Concourse Steakhouse. Which was wonderful! We made it back to epcot in time to ride living with the land and find a spot for illuminations. We had a great walk up view in World Showcase right on the water, and we arrived about 15 min before it started (thanks TGM)
Epcot during the flower and garden show is so pretty.

While at Dinner Tinkerbelle dropped off notes at our table saying that the boys were booked for a pirates cruise, and my DD had a special date with Mommy in the morning. Hubby missed a few things in Innoventions he wanted to see, due to our Mission Space detour, so he and the inlaws would head back to Epcot in the morning.

 

[Lovemy3babes]

Looks like a lot of fun so far! Where did you make the Mickey stick figure shirts? I LOVE them!

 

[amytheobald]

Looks like a lot of fun so far! Where did you make the Mickey stick figure shirts? I LOVE them!

Thanks I loved them too...I got the design off of the creative board here on DIS and edited it to fit our family. I then printed and ironed on....if you want I d be happy to do a design for you.

Thanks for reading!