Two Trips Around the World and a Surprise Trip Next.*A much overdue update!

[KTgE]

Hello, hello!

Let's try this whole PTR/TR thing again. My name is Katie and this spring I tried to squeeze in a quick PTR before our March trip. It fell by the wayside when our youngest was sick right before our trip. Then I never even got to put together a TR for March or a PTR for May due to our youngest being sick with ear infections and cutting her first 8 teeth all at once. (Yes, we've been cutting teeth for the last two months 5 are in and the other 3 are finally starting to come in.) So, I'm going to throw in some pictures and highlights from our week long family trip from March and our anniversary getaway in May along with starting my PTR for our SURPRISE Christmas trip for the kids. (See, this time I might actually get the hang of writing a PTR since I'm giving myself more than a few weeks. )

Here's our family:

Andy and I have been married for 6 years. AG is almost three and a half and Avi-Kate will be 1 in two short weeks!

Due to the spacing of our trips we saw the start of the Flower and Garden Expo and...

...we saw the end of it when we went for our anniversary trip.

We also ran the Expedition Everest Challenge for our very first runDisney race and we LOVED it! We are both planning to run halfs this next year at Disney.

I'll end this first post with a little ginger goodness from our March trip. I've already got lots of details for our next trip to share but they'll have to wait till tomorrow.

 

[KTgE]

So, this poor little PTR has been neglected but that doesn't mean that lots of Disney details haven't happened in the last six weeks...lots to share.

WHO:
Andy and I plus our two redheads.

WHAT:
A surprise Christmas trip to get in the holiday spirit.

WHEN:
November 25-29

WHERE:
Wilderness Lodge! I'm beyond excited about staying here for the first time and doing it at Christmas.

WHY:
Andy and I are annual passholders and our current APs expire the first week in March. With that being said we've done a week on them this past March and we did a long weekend in May to celebrate our anniversary and run the Everest challenge. So, we'd gotten plenty of use out of them to date and we knew going in to Everest that if we got a Bounceback offer we'd go ahead and book a Christmas trip. We LOVED our first Christmas trip in 2010 during this same week. Disney is always magical but there is something about being there during the holiday season. Plus, Andy has been wanting to plan a surprise trip just because for the kids.

I'm really, really excited about the whole thing. This will be our first trip staying in a Deluxe Resort. We even splurged for a room with a view and bunkbeds for the kids. AG is going to be beside himself. I'm really excited about being so close to MK since that's where we spend the bulk of our time anyway. So, that's where we stand with that. As any good Disney planning expert would do I booked ADRs on the day they opened up. Of course, now I'm contemplating tweaking them. I'll post those next. Plus, I'm really hoping we can try Be Our Guest...isn't everyone?

At the moment there is a slight possibility that we'll actually head down in October for a few days. Andy's mom has a timeshare with Marriott that I help her manage/plan family vacations. (That's why we were at Disney for a week in March off property.) Anyways, she has points that will be expiring and she may give us some to use on her behalf. If so, we'll go down for a few days because what else would we do? Our tickets have long been paid for and our accommodations will be free...all we'll pay OOP will be our food, gas, and a few souvenirs. Not to shabby, right? So, we are tentatively keeping that on the back burner. Honestly, I'm not worried about it and having ADRs. I'm sure if we book it that I'll find one or two to book but that will suffice since we will literally be back down six weeks later with several ADRs. As for staying off property...while you loose some of the 'Magic' our resorts are REALLY nice and within minutes of Disney. Plus, they are all villas so the kids have room to run around/spread out a bit. If we do it then it will be really low key since we'll be gearing up for the Christmas extravaganza!

In other Disney news I'm declaring 2013 to be the year of runDisney! I probably should start a PTR for the three half marathons I'm planning on and the two that Andy is planning on. Somehow the one half marathon I've been planning on has spiraled in to three races including one in California! Ambitious? Yes. BUT I'm turning thirty and somehow completing a half for each decade sounds like a great way to kick off the end of my 20s/start of my 30s. At least in my mind. Ask me again come January.

 

[mandas08]

Excited to read all about your trip. We are heading down in November as well with DS that will be 16 months

 

[wdwtwins]

Awesome PTR! You have a lovely family! I can't wait to hear more!

 

[emmysmommy]

Hi there! You are a busy woman with two kids, vacation planning and running! Awesome! How exciting to be going to WDW during the holidays. I can only dream for now of doing that!

You have an adorable family - love the ginger goodness comment for your little cutie.

I hope the October trip pans out, if not you will still have a couple months left before your APs expire.

 

[KTgE]

one and all! I'm glad you are here.

Excited to read all about your trip. We are heading down in November as well with DS that will be 16 months

That's so exciting! Will it be his first trip? We took AG for the first time when he was 14 months and it was actually a day trip at Disneyland because we were in Southern Cali for a week. We were hooked! We had so much fun with him and he's loved it ever since. I'm sure you're little man will love it too.

Awesome PTR! You have a lovely family! I can't wait to hear more!

Thanks! I actually have much to post...might just need to stay up and post it.

Hi there! You are a busy woman with two kids, vacation planning and running! Awesome! How exciting to be going to WDW during the holidays. I can only dream for now of doing that!

You have an adorable family - love the ginger goodness comment for your little cutie.

I hope the October trip pans out, if not you will still have a couple months left before your APs expire.

Thank you! I really wanted a redhead and my husband use to tease me and say we didn't want a redhead! Ha...and then we ended up with two!

Christmas is so much fun at Disney. We loved it the one time we've done it so I'm really excited to do it again. One day when our kids are older AKA when they can handle massive crowds we want to do spend Christmas week in the parks. Have you been during the holiday season?

I actually need to post about October!

 

[KTgE]

Goodness me...why is it that we are so anal about calling/booking ADRs at the 180 mark but then inevitably the original plan gets tweaked and things get shifted around? Kind of makes me chuckle to think about. Anyways.

ADRs for Christmas. I booked at our 180+10 window in May. But like clockwork I looked at my plans and thought how can I tweak this?! So, here's the current plan as of today because I was shifting things around during naptime.

Saturday the 24th
We are spending Thanksgiving with Andy's family and will just stay with his mom till we leave for Disney. We are UGA season ticket holders for football and so we'll leave the kids for the day to go to Athens for the last home game of the year. The UGA/Tech game is almost always an early afternoon game so we should be back to put the kids to bed early because we are going to stick them in the car hours later!

Sunday the 25th
-Breakfast on the road or when we arrive at the resort.
-QS for lunch
-Whispering Canyon Cafe for Dinner--New to us.

Monday the 26th
-Roaring Fork for breakfast
-50's Prime Time Cafe...a family favorite. Andy has a thing for fried chicken.
-Pizza Planet for AG--New to the kids.

Tuesday the 27th
-Tusker House--New to us.
-QS at AK
-Liberty Tree Tavern...another favorite of ours. We also love Williamsburg and eating here reminds us of it.

Wednesday the 28th
-Roaring Fork
-QS
-Garden Grill...on our March trip AG fell in LOVE with 'The Vegetable Ride' aka Living with the Land! He talks about it all the time. Anyways, we thought we should eat at Garden Grill for him.

Now, I'm sure by all my details you can tell what our plans are for the most part. There are a few extra details about our schedule that I'll post in my plans next.

In other ADR news I booked ADRs today for October! Hooray! So, at the moment that means we are also going to zip down in October for a few days. This will be a first for us during this time of the year. (We were suppose to go last October but we all got sick and I wasn't really up for driving sick to Disney and with a small child+a 4month old.) I have to finalize our accommodations tomorrow but everything seems to be on track for that. Right now we are planning to go when AG has his preschool fall break. I figured it was probably best so that he's not missing tons of school because he's going to miss a whole week in November.

Here's a tentative list of what I booked today ADR wise...and it should be noted that I ended up doing more than the 'one or two' I stated in my previous post. Oh, well! Here's what I've got slated but I may tweak this some more since I did this all today and I need to look at it some more to make sure I like it.

-Liberty Tree Tavern
-Hollywood and Vine for Character Breakfast
-Rainforest Cafe
-Garden Grill...figured if we love it I'll be glad I have it come November and if we don't like it I'll just cancel/book something else.

So, lots of Disney happened here today. Hope everyones week is off to a good start. It's currently pouring down rain (hallelujah!) I'm hoping it helps take the edge off the oppressive heat we've been experiencing. Once I get more details set I'll post our plans for both October and November. It'll be here before we know...which is good I need a little Disney magic. Guess I need to update my ticker...

 

[KTgE]

Ah. It's been several weeks since my last update. Life. We had a bunch of family come to town and then we went to the beach for the week with my family. Last week was chaos as we got ready for our oldest to start preschool and today was his very first day. So, like I said it's been crazy and things have been neglected. Here's an update on October:

At the moment I have not tweaked anything on our dining reservations. I seem pretty well set in to everything I've lined up. I've got our park plans mapped out and I've made some tweaks on our Christmas plans based on the fact that we'll now be there six weeks prior. The only thing I need to do is book a hotel for Thursday night. I've decided that I want to drive to Valdosta on the Thursday of our trip. This will actually take out a huge chunk of our traveling on Friday. (We are about 9 hours from Disney...driving to Valdosta will cut our drive on Friday to 3.5/4 hours.) We'll leave once Andy gets done with work and have dinner before hitting the road. We are both night owls so we shouldn't have too much of a problem with this. And the kids should crash out and get a few hours of sleep before we arrive sometime between 12-1am. We'll sleep for the night and then get up the next day and grab breakfast on the road. We should make it to Disney before lunch. My hope is to have lunch inside MK once we arrive. At the moment I doubt we'll go to the resort before heading to MK just because it'll be so early I doubt our room will be ready. Plus, MK closes early this night for MNSSHP anyway. We'll head out before the mass exodus and go to the resort. So, that's the start of October. I'll post park plans next for this trip.

November/Christmas Trip:
Nothing new here. The biggest thing I'm waiting for is to see if Be Our Guest becomes available and if so I'll try and snag an ADR for it. I'll post park plans for this trip soon since my decisions have been decided somewhat by us now taking the trip in October.

Running Updates:
Well, I registered for both the Walt Disney World Half and the Princess Half a few weeks back. In addition, I've gotten accommodations for both trips lined up. For the Disney World Half it will be Andy and I without the kids. We wanted to try DVC to see how it compares to Marriott so we ended up with a studio at Saratoga Springs! We are really excited to try it out and to stay there was cheaper than a moderate room rate. We'll only be staying three nights for this trip since Andy's busiest time of the year falls during this time frame. Thankfully, the race is Saturday and we can fly home Sunday. At the moment I've got two ADRs on the books but I'm not sure if I want to tweak them. Still mulling the possibilities.

Princess Half will be me and two Carolines. Yes, two Carolines. My sister and one of my sister-in-laws are both named Caroline. We decided we wanted to stay at Port Orleans Riverside for the half. I think it'll be perfect for a girls weekend trip. I booked it the day I registered for the race, actually. Now, I'm just waiting for our 180+ window to open up so that I can begin booking dining stuff.

In other Disney related news I had to switch my planning notebook in to a bigger binder last week since I've got four different trips in the works. I guess it's a good problem to have, right?

 

[khertz]

Joining in! Lots of exciting trips coming up for you!! Your little gingers are SO adorable. I bet AG is going to be so excited being surprised for a trip. Hopefully we can work something like that out someday...I don't know if I'd be able to keep the secret for very long though!!

 

[KTgE]

Joining in! Lots of exciting trips coming up for you!! Your little gingers are SO adorable. I bet AG is going to be so excited being surprised for a trip. Hopefully we can work something like that out someday...I don't know if I'd be able to keep the secret for very long though!!

Glad you are here! I'm sure you could pull off a surprise trip! Thankfully, your DH loves Disney and you can 'talk shop' with him about the planning. Every so often something will happen and we'll look at each other and say I can't wait to surprise them. It's actually been really fun to plan together/map out. Now, I will say what was funny about our May trip, when we ran Everest, we stayed in a moderate...however, my DH had intentions of upgrading us to deluxe. Well, it then dawned on him one day that there was no way he could pull that off since I being the planner would totally figure it out. If not, my attention to details would surely notice the label on our ME tickets. So, I ended up with an iPad thanks to the difference that he would have paid on the deluxe upgrade.

And thanks...we love having two gingers.

 

[KTgE]

A while back I had read about a family that takes pictures of their kids in the same spot every single trip. And I actually thought it was a great way to show just how much they've grown between trips. So, on the kids last trip in March I spent the week scouting places inside the MK to snap a picture of each of the kids. My requirement was that it had to be some place in the MK and that probably would go unchanged over the years. So, AG ended up with this little spot:

It was slightly humorous that he kept trying to hold the player's hand. I ended up with several but for some reason I love this one because of the hand holding.

Avi-Kate ended up here:

I loved that we stuck her behind Minnie because the reality is that she probably would have face planted on the concrete trying to monkey around to get down. Plus, she may not be able to squeeze behind there again. I'll be glad when all the work on Main Street is complete. I think I read somewhere the other day that they are done? If so, that'll make October's pictures that much better.

Now that we have their spots established I want to try and take their pictures early in the day. This particular day was quite busy and there was just a lot going on around us. Plus, they were tired since it was the end of the trip. I think in the morning and early in the trip gives you a better chance to a good photo op. Lastly, I really need to play around with photosharing sites to find the one I like best. I know I probably need to resize my pictures so that they are 'normal' but some sites it appears are easier to do that on than others.

Now, on to October...

 

[KTgE]

OCTOBER 2012 Game Plan

Thursday
~AG off to school so that I can finish last minute packing and preparations.
~Depending on Andy's work load for the day we may leave late afternoon and grab dinner on the road. If not, we'll eat before we leave something quick and then head out.
~Andy has decided that we'll just book a hotel once we get on the road so that we can gauge how far we want to go. My goal is Valdosta but if we got further than that I wouldn't mind.

Friday
~Breakfast on the road.
~Depending on the time we'll either go check in early to Marriott's Harbour Lake or will head on to the Magic Kingdom.
~Lunch will be QS in MK.
~I'm sure we'll spend lots of time in Fantasyland since it is one of the kids' favorite spots. Today is all about what they want to do and very relaxed.
~Dinner will be QS as well unless we leave to head to the resort and grab something on the way.
~MK closes early for MNSSHP and we'll head out before the mass exodus. The rest of the night we plan to relax at the resort and if it's warm enough maybe go for a swim. Our resort also has a putt-putt course that Andy wants to take AG on at some point.

Saturday
~Up early and on the way to Hollywood Studios to eat breakfast before the park opens with our Disney Jr. pals at 8am. The park opens that morning at 8am for EMH
~Plan is to let Andy make the dash over to TSMM at 9 if we are still finishing up to grab a set of fastpasses.
~Plan is to do Toy Story since it is one of AG's all time favorite rides and maybe one or two more things. Probably the Muppets. We don't have to ride the other big headliners since we did them in May.
~After an hour or two in DHS we'll hop over to AK for the rest of the day. Plan is to ride the Safari and do the Maharaja Jungle Trek because AG absolutely loves it. See...

If the times for Everest's single rider are doable then we'll do this with the aid of the rider swap. And eventually, we'll end up visiting with Chester and Hester.
~I have a late lunch for 2pm at Rainforest Cafe set up. If, we are done with seeing things then we may just slip out of the park after lunch.
~The rest of the afternoon we are hoping to take advantage of the great water features for kids at the resort.
~Dinner at this point looks like it will be something from the resort or we'll run pick something up from Publix.
~Again, low key night. Unless, we get a wild hair and decide to brave DTD on a Saturday night.

Sunday
~Breakfast in the room...most likely Dunkin' Doughnuts. It's kind of become a tradition when we stay at a Marriott in Orlando.
~Off to the MK for a full day of fun.
~Lunch is QS and will most likely be whatever we happen to be near at the time.
~Now this is also a party night...right now I'm planning for us to do it. If we need to we may head back to the resort for naps. If we decide not to do it we'll stay in the park.
~Either way we'll be eating dinner at Liberty Tree at 5:45. I did this so that if we do opt for the party we'll already be in the back of the park when everyone is streaming in. (I plan to get our arm bands before dinner. ) When we finish we'll make our way to whatever the kids want to do first. Is there anything better than the magic of Disney at night?

And check out this Dumbo shot Andy took in May...

Monday
~Breakfast again will either be Dunkin' or something like it.
~Last park day and we are off to Epcot! I did this on purpose so that we can enjoy the F&W without all the crazy crowds that I read about that over take the park on the weekends.
~Lunch is munching along in the World Showcase.
~We'll ride whatever the kids want to ride. At the moment AG is adamant that he doesn't like Nemo. Not sure why...we keep telling him that Avi-Kate LOVES it. Ha.
~Dinner is later at 6:55 at Garden Grill. Since AG is in love with Living with the Land!
~If the kids are still going strong then we'll stay for Illuminations. If not, we'll head back to the resort to pack and hit the sheets.

There you have it. We'll trek home Tuesday and gear up for our return six weeks later! Andy and I were talking that this trip actually ends up being a perfect decoy for our surprise trip. Now, we spent very little time at DHS this trip and I did that intentionally. Since the Christmas trip was already planned I knew that I had us slated to spend lots of time there to see all the lights and take in the sights. Lastly, we are REALLY relaxed in our touring style. Since we are AP holders we know we are coming back. We do what we can and what the kids want as long as we don't wait in lines more than 20min. Since our kids are younger this flexibility works great. When they get older I can see it being a bit more structured. Plus, the fun at this age is to just soak it up through your kids...they are only little once.

 

[khertz]

Your October plans look great! I totally love the relaxed pace. We try to do that too, it just makes you and your little ones so much happier when you are not trying to rush from one thing to the next.

I love the pics of the kids with the statues. What a great idea! So cute how AG wanted to hold the baseball players hand. That seems like something Paxton would do, he is all about holding hands right now.

 

[KTgE]

All right.

Months ago when we planned this trip we said we would try for an ADR...I booked other stuff as a backup...and so the waiting began to see when and if ADRs would be made available.

And more waiting.

Then we found out that previews would begin starting November 19th and ADRs would be open today. I sat down this weekend and mapped all manner of possibilities...including booking in January for the 1/2 even though it will completely require me to overhaul my plans. I set my alarm and got up bright and early this morning to begin the craziest day ever.

At 6:55 I sat down at the computer desk where my Disney nb stays stashed unless I'm traveling and it's with me. At 6:57 I called and got the normal chimes message but was told they were not open yet. Ok, fine. I called back less than 30 seconds later and got BEEP! BEEP! BEEEEEEP! And so began my morning of calling and hearing BEEEEEEEEEEEEP! All the while I'm on the Dis and in the BOG thread reading about people having the same problems as me or people getting thru without a hitch. Oh. My. Gosh. Pure chaos. Nuts, really. Eventually I have to resume my normal 'mom activities' for the morning...like feeding my kids, getting them ready, taking AG to school, paying tuition, and cleaning the house all the while calling and recalling Disney from every single number I can get my hands on. (Thank heavens for the DisBoards!) Eventually, it starts alternating between the incessant beeping and 'all circuits are busy! Please try again.' Finally, I'm getting ready to mop the floor and I sit down for two minutes long enough to try again before I put my phone down so I can mop with two hands. And wouldn't you know I got thru! Hot Dog! So, I start going about the whole automated process and every. single. day that I want for our November trip is booked. Are you kidding me?! Fine. Let's try January. Wouldn't you know January is available and at the time I want. Seriously?! Sign me up. So I secure said reservation. Then while I'm at let's try and book ressies for my Aunt and best friend who both have trips in December. (Best friend was also trying all morning and the plan was if either got in we'd book for the other.) My aunt and uncle went and saw Beauty and the Beast for their very first date in the theatres when it was released. They celebrate their 20th anniversary this year days before their trip. So, what's her first pick of days on her trip...December 25th. And would you believe it that they had a wide variety of times for me to choose from. So, I booked her reservation. Then I moved to my friend's reservation and there was NOTHING for her dates. Really?! This is bordering on crazy. It's at this point that the automated message decides that because I have searched for multiple reservations that I should speak to a CM. Fine by me I'll get them to add my CC info to my reservations. I then am serenaded for a solid half hour to Disney music...which in all reality is much preferable to the crazy beeping I had listened to up to this point. Finally, I get a CM on the phone and he is extremely helpful! At this point this Dis is blowing up with if you used automated reservations you will lose them...I ask the CM if this is the case and he says YES! Tonight at midnight the reservations secured today without a CC will cease to exist. He said it was good that the system kicked me over to speak with a live person so that he could adjust everything for me. While I had him on the phone I had him cancel my original reservation that night at Teppan Edo and check for my November dates/best friend's December dates. Well, he said those weeks are completely full. Boo hiss. Oh, well. At least I got January, right? And Christmas day for my aunt?

Then two things dawn on me...my sister and SIL BOTH want to eat at BOG in February when we run the Princess 1/2. I decide to double check when I can make that reservation. What do you know I get to do this ALL over again in five days! Thankfully, the date we want is in the 180+10 days window and I have already secured our room. So, the date I want won't be available to everyone when I call to book it. Hoping that works to my advantage.

TWO...I could still book a reservation for November...TOMORROW. All the reservations not secured with CC today will be wiped at midnight tonight. Online booking doesn't open till Wednesday. I could call in the AM and try again. While tempting, I think I might actually pass. After the hoopla of today I think part of me is okay with not eating there in November. The nice thing about January is that it will be just me and Andy. Our kids are really good at eating in nice places but after the chaos part of me wants to be able to REALLY enjoy my meal after the effort I put in to secure it. Know what I mean?

There you have it. Craziest ADR day in the history of the Dis. At one point while texting the best friend I asked if this makes us crazy or die hard? Probably a bit of both.

New update hopefully, later, today. Whew.

 

[cfw213]

Hello, hello!

Let's try this whole PTR/TR thing again. My name is Katie and this spring I tried to squeeze in a quick PTR before our March trip. It fell by the wayside when our youngest was sick right before our trip. Then I never even got to put together a TR for March or a PTR for May due to our youngest being sick with ear infections and cutting her first 8 teeth all at once. (Yes, we've been cutting teeth for the last two months 5 are in and the other 3 are finally starting to come in.) So, I'm going to throw in some pictures and highlights from our week long family trip from March and our anniversary getaway in May along with starting my PTR for our SURPRISE Christmas trip for the kids. (See, this time I might actually get the hang of writing a PTR since I'm giving myself more than a few weeks. )

Here's our family:

Andy and I have been married for 6 years. AG is almost three and a half and Avi-Kate will be 1 in two short weeks!

Due to the spacing of our trips we saw the start of the Flower and Garden Expo and...

...we saw the end of it when we went for our anniversary trip.

We also ran the Expedition Everest Challenge for our very first runDisney race and we LOVED it! We are both planning to run halfs this next year at Disney.

I'll end this first post with a little ginger goodness from our March trip. I've already got lots of details for our next trip to share but they'll have to wait till tomorrow.

I haven't read any of your plans yet, but I saw how adorable your kids are and had to comment! I'm married to a redhead and he is praying for ginger babies They are so cute!

 

[KTgE]

Your October plans look great! I totally love the relaxed pace. We try to do that too, it just makes you and your little ones so much happier when you are not trying to rush from one thing to the next.

I love the pics of the kids with the statues. What a great idea! So cute how AG wanted to hold the baseball players hand. That seems like something Paxton would do, he is all about holding hands right now.

Thanks! Relaxed is just the way to go with small kids. There's just a lot less frustration that way and that just makes for a much more pleasant trip. I know you understand! You should totally scout out a picture spot for Paxton. Use it as an excuse to pick out a new picture frame. Don't you replace a picture in a frame for Paxton each trip? I feel like I read that in your report...

 

[KTgE]

I haven't read any of your plans yet, but I saw how adorable your kids are and had to comment! I'm married to a redhead and he is praying for ginger babies They are so cute!

Glad to have you here!

Thanks...we love the hair. I really wanted a redhead and my husband (jokingly) would tease me when I was pregnant with our oldest that we didn't want a redhead. Ha. And now we have two! Any red on your side of the family?

 

[rachel09985]

Congrats on your BoG ressie!

Thank the lord I didn't have to call this morning. I will be gone when it opens, which is sad but I am almost thankful I didn't have to deal with this. I can't believe the madness!

 

[Fantasyland Mom]

So glad you made it through that BOG ADR craziness!! I can't believe there was availability on Christmas and not on your November dates!

Your plans (for all trips!) are sounding great to me . We're trying Garden Grill this trip for the first time because of our family's obsession with Living with the Land, too! Great minds .

 

[starann]

Joining in.

That is CRAZY about BOG!!!! I am hoping that by the time we go in Setp (13) that things will have died down. I would like to try to CS but doubt I could have DH go there for a TS (he's not a fan of French food).