UPDATED 08/10!!! - "Third Try's the Charm!" - PTR Aug '18 - Our 1st trip!

[Kippa-Dee-Do-Dah]

*takes a deep breath...*

Hello all! Thanks for taking the time to read my PTR! My apologies off the bat for not knowing how to do hyperlinks and indexes for these things...anyone got a link for that??

Here you'll find the Who/What/When/Where/Why/Etc. for my family's FIRST trip to the World this summer!

Expect lots of "()" (Extra details make the world go round), lots of love for Belle/Beauty and the Beast (original, not faux-Twilight version), and gifs (usually featuring the cast of Friends.)

​

Ready??? Let's get started!

WHO

I'm Kippa! (my family nickname)



I'm a native Texan displaced to the frozen north thanks to my husband's job. We just moved from SoCal, where we lived for a year and a half, and were in Korea before that.

A few of my favorite things: my beloved Texas Aggies; Sephora; traveling; Olympic gymnastics; old houses with character; English and Russian royal history. I'm also a brunette francophile and bookworm...sound familiar?



To say I love Belle is an understatement. She's not just my favorite Disney princess, she's basically my spirit animal. BATB came out when I was 10, so she wasn't around on my last trip to the World in '90. I finally met her at the Land a few years ago and cried. And then cried some more when I first saw the Beast's Library at DCA.





My first trip to WDW was when I was 3 months old. Obviously, I have no memories of it. Probably because I slept through it.


No sunshade, no stroller fan, and my mom's wearing jeans in August.

My next (and sadly, most recent) trip was in August '90. My family went with my cousin's family, and we caravanned from Texas, stopping overnight in Pensacola, before arriving at our condo in Kissimmee. (I was so confused because I didn't understand why it was called a condo when it was a house!) I remember loving the Indy show, Great Movie Ride (RIP), Body Wars (RIP) (I had to ask my TA the name of that ride, ha), and Haunted Mansion. I also remember being mostly bored at Epcot, thinking MGM was ok but being done with all the backstage stuff, and wondering if we were ever going to get to Magic Kingdom. (The adults painfully but wisely saved MK for the last of the parks.)


With my lil sis in '90. Would love to know where this was! MGM I think?

Also coming on the trip are my wonderful husband, "Hubs", and my kids: my son "Bubs", who will be 8 when we go, and daughter "Boo", who will be 5.5 years when we go.


They've stolen my heart.

Living in Southern California allowed us a 2.5 hour proximity to DISNEYLAND ...and we took full advantage of it. We went for the first time in Nov '15, then again with my older sis in April '16, then for a last trip in Feb '17 before we moved away. (Not to mention non-park trips to Downtown Disney every once in awhile.)

My favorite rides there are Peter Pan, Pirates, Big Thunder, and Radiator Springs Racers. Must-have treats for me include...wait for it....the Mickey face cookies at the Starbucks on Main Street. I love the art in the Disney Gallery, and basically always need to find a new ornament or magnet to bring home with me.

Hubs and I met in college and have been together 16 years, and married 11. As you can see, he loves all things Star Wars. He'll also finally admitted that he does love Disney, although he has no problem leaving most (ok, all) of the planning to me. He's happy to just know what time rope drop is so he can wake up accordingly and plan when in the day to get his Dole Whip. He also loves Pirates (he would be happy to ride this all day and nothing else, honestly. I can't say I blame him!) His last (only?) trip was also in the early '90's, and he's excited to do all the things he couldn't do as a child, aka drink beer in Epcot.


One of our favorite parts of DLR - New Orleans Square. There are beignets here, and beignets = happiness.

Bubs is all boy, and loves Star Wars, Cars, Legos, super hero, pirates, basically anything Pixar, and in his words, "NOT princesses." He loves Toy Story Mania and Buzz Lightyear rides, and classic Disney characters. His absolute favorite thing at Disney is Turtle Talk with Crush - he fell in love with it on our first trip to the Land and it's his must-do every trip. The first two trips, he was pretty upset that he wasn't chosen to ask Crush a question. Our third trip was very chilly and rainy and everyone's mood was affected - especially my son. I basically prayed all day that no matter what happened the rest of the trip, he would get chosen to talk to Crush - and he did! It just made his trip, and Hubs and I were definitely those proud parents sobbing behind him. He's dying to do Jedi Training (which he knows from watching the Disney Planning dvd that I pop in every once in awhile), and I can't wait to show him the Indy stunt show that Hubs and I saw as kids!


Ready for rope drop - we've got them well-trained by now! And I promise their faces are even cuter than the backs of their heads on a high-humidity, rainy day.

Boo is our little princess. She loves all the girly-girl characters, from the princesses to Tink to Minnie. She loves Star Wars too, and was a little more brave on Star Tours than big brother was. She also LOVES the carousel, and her must-do every trip is meeting Anna and Elsa. She pretends to give them flowers and basically recites the movie to them. She loves to draw and has been drawing pictures of princesses to hang on every door of our house (she's currently on a big Rapunzel kick.) On our last trip to the Land, we passed the Evil Queen and she leaned down and said, "Good day, my dear" to Boo. So, every once in awhile I have to replay that for her because she loved it so much!

We're also really hoping that my older sis, "Rex" , will come on our trip. She joined us for our second Land trip and loves Disney as much as I do. We also talked to our other siblings to see if they wanted to join us...they haven't confirmed so it's likely they won't.

Thanks for reading this far! On to the WHAT!

(also, feel free to share with me how to post more than 10 photos - I got cut off!)​

 

[Kippa-Dee-Do-Dah]

WHAT

The "What" is that this is our first family trip to Disney World!



As mentioned above, Hubs and I both went as kids in the early 90's. So we both feel like it will be a new experience since there's a good bit that has been added (like NEW FANTASYLAND, where I'm gonna hang with my homegirl Belle all day), or has been changed almost entirely (here's looking at you, MGM.) The kids, of course, have never been.



We originally began planning this trip in the fall of 2014. Here's how that went:

Planning our trip, round 1: We were living overseas (military) but knew we'd be moving back to the States in the summer of 2015. So we started working with our awesome TA to visit WDW in November 2015, over the Veteran's Day holiday. But then....



After we moved, we found that my husband's new work schedule would hardly allow him any downtime at all, and that flying to WDW for a week in November was just not going to happen. So we scrapped our plans, and instead spent a few days over Thanksgiving break down the road at Disneyland, at the start of the Diamond Celebration.


Sleeping Beauty's Castle on our first trip, in all it's Diamond/Christmas goodness.

Planning our trip, round 2: We decided to replan our trip to WDW for spring break in April '16. Our son had about 12 days off from school with Spring Break and Easter, and my husband would have an easier time requesting leave then, so we could plan a longer trip and have a better chance of getting the ADR's we wanted. In fact, we got every single one of them: BOG dinner, Akershus lunch, V&A, O'hana dinner, Park Fare dinner. THIS was going to be the make-up trip of our DREAMS!!!

And then...



That Christmas ('15) we found out there was a chance that Hubs could get slated for a different position - one that wouldn't even really give him time for leave when almost everyone else would have it. So...we scrapped our plans again. I actually cried when I called my TA.

It was frustrating for sure, the very definition of a first-world problem. Hubs felt terrible, but there wasn't much he could do....except suggest that I take the kids to the Land for Spring Break, and that my sister Rex should fly in and go with us. So we did! And we had a fantastic time, of course!


Me and Rex, on the back row, pretending to be scared

Ironically, Hubs didn't end up in the new position, which means we basically canceled our trip for nothing.

Good news was he got to come with us!


Getting dizzy together on Astro Orbiter

That summer ('16), Hubs began the process of leaving active duty and job searching in the civilian world. We had a good long talk about all the changes coming up and decided that WDW would just have to wait indefinitely. We found out we would be moving to the northern Midwest (where "frozen" has taken on too literal of a definition for me!), and we just were going to have to wait and adjust and then see when it would be possible to plan a new trip.

Before we left California last spring, we had one good long weekend to explore the area one last time. It was between visiting Koreatown and a few other spots in LA, or Disneyland again.

Drumroll please....

Of course, Disneyland won. (was it really much of a contest?)


Hello, gorgeous!

I'm glad we went because it was our last time to see Paradise Pier before it was announced it would become Pixar Pier.

So we moved, and y'all....Disney Depression is real. It is SO REAL!



I can't count how many times I've taken my kids to the Disney Store just to get my "fix". (Clearly I'm in need of an intervention!)

Hubs and I would talk every once in awhile about when we could possibly take our trip, finally, ever. Sometimes, reality wins, and you just have to wait. And wait. And wait some more.



Finally, back in October, after looking at our kids' school schedule, we decided that THIS UPCOMING SUMMER we'd be able to go to WDW! Finally! Hoping our 3rd try's the charm!



We're still hoping for BOG dinner, O'hana dinner, V&A, but are planning to do Sci-Fi Drive-In and the new character breakfast at Boardwalk instead of the princess meals. We might add Garden Grill too. ADR day is coming up in just a few more weeks!

Thanks for reading! On to the When! (I promise it won't be as long as this one!)​

 

[Kippa-Dee-Do-Dah]

WHEN

My apologies for taking awhile to update this!


No, really, I am!

The next installment of our Definitely-Happening-This-Time family trip to WDW is the When. This one is pretty easy. We have kids who are school age and are therefore tied to the school holidays.

We basically have three choices: spring break, summer break, and Christmas break. Since we live so far from Orlando and this might be our only trip for the unforseeable future, smaller breaks won't work for us. We really want to maximize our time but allow for rest days as well. This really leaves us with summer break as the best option.


Feel that sun!

We decided on an 11-day trip beginning August 19. (This may change based on whether or not we drive, which we are discussing. So we would need two travel days on the front and back ends.)

Yes, August is hot.


That is BRAND NEW INFORMATION!!!


Yes, it is crowded.


Actual photo of Disney World rope drop (probably)

BUT, our kids don't get out until the 2nd week of June, and they don't start school until after Labor Day. My hope is that is won't be as crowded as the beginning of the month, with other districts having already started school by the time we go.

Besides, apparently I've only been to WDW in August, and as I told my husband, I'd hate to break a family tradition!
(I also told him I'd start looking for little personal fans. )

On to the next chapter...the WHERE!​

 

[bluejasmine]

Im here!

 

[Kippa-Dee-Do-Dah]

Im here!

Thanks for reading! I really need to do an update!

 

[MamaJessie]

Following along! That picture of you, Minnie and Rafiki is the BEST!

 

[Kippa-Dee-Do-Dah]

Following along! That picture of you, Minnie and Rafiki is the BEST!

Thank you!!! It was so funny, I turned around and there he was!

 

[Kippa-Dee-Do-Dah]

Where

Um, wow. Apparently I last updated this in February?! And now it's almost Father's Day!

Super duper sorry, y'all!

The past few months have been filled with some surgery for me (yay! Not really, though...) and end-of-school stuff for the kiddos, which means it's now 70 days until we leave and I'm just now getting to the WHERE of our trip report!

Just keep swimming, just keep swimming...

So, the "Where?" is pretty simple. We basically had 3 options to choose from:

1) The FREE option: Yes, ladies and gents, we have a free option for accommodations at Disney. My aunt lives about 20 minutes from the parks and has room for all of us. If we were super smart, we'd stay with her and save all our glorious $$$ for food and souvenirs.

Alas, we're not that smart. (At least not for this trip. However, if go again anytime soon, we'll likely stay with her. Because she's awesome. And #free.)

2) Shades of Green: Since my husband's a vet, we could stay here, in a "deluxe" room, near the Poly, for a cheaper price than at the Poly. However, SOG is technically off-property, and doesn't get all of the perks that Disney resort guests get. Which brings us to...

Have faith in your dreams, and someday...

3) Disney Resorts! : We did the math and figured out that we could stay at a Disney moderate resort for about the same price we would pay at SOG (based on our SOG rate category). Since my trip to WDW when I was 9, I always wanted to stay on-property. I remember we rode the monorail, and I remember we stopped in the Contemporary. I thought, "Wow, these people are so lucky. Their hotel has a TRAIN in it." And I vowed that as an adult, when I took my kids to Disney, we would stay at a Disney hotel.

So, I looked up all the resorts, and Port Orleans Riverside is the lucky winner!

Right now we have a standard room booked. Since we don't know yet if my sister Rex is joining us, we could end up in the mansions, although I'm hoping for Alligator Bayou anyway (I think Bubs will like it better than the Mansions.) We decided to drive (yaaaaay four days in the car!) so we don't have to be near a bus stop.

I CAN'T WAIT to see our new "home" in just a few short months!!!

"We'd like to offer you a complimentary upgrade. It's a Royal Room, with a view of the River.
I think you'll find it satisfactory. It was recently vacated by a princess."

*please pretty please*

Next up: The Why!​

 

[suse66]

Hello from a fellow August traveler. Looking forward to hearing all about your trip plans!

 

[juuuliebeth]

Thanks for following my trip. Excited to follow yours. Belle is the best! Made me feel not so uncool as a kid who loved (and currently still loves) to read. Also, your Friends GIFs are appreciated.

 

[Kippa-Dee-Do-Dah]

Hello from a fellow August traveler. Looking forward to hearing all about your trip plans!

Thank you and welcome!

 

[Kippa-Dee-Do-Dah]

Thanks for following my trip. Excited to follow yours. Belle is the best! Made me feel not so uncool as a kid who loved (and currently still loves) to read. Also, your Friends GIFs are appreciated.

Haha, Friends gifs are the best, aren't they?! Thanks for following!

I definitely got grief as a kid for being a bookworm! But Belle understands, doesn't she?! You're in good company here!

 

[Sailormoon2]

although he has no problem leaving most (ok, all) of the planning to me. He's happy to just know what time rope drop is so he can wake up accordingly

OMG! This sounds exactly like my DH!

He's dying to do Jedi Training

I LOVE Jedi Training (says 40 year old woman without kids!) I know it sounds creeper of me, but I love watching the show, even though I don't know any of the kids in it. I love star wars and seeing Vader always makes me happy, and there is always something totally hilarious that some kid says or does!!

It is wonderful that you finally get to go with your family!

 

[Kippa-Dee-Do-Dah]

OMG! This sounds exactly like my DH!


I LOVE Jedi Training (says 40 year old woman without kids!) I know it sounds creeper of me, but I love watching the show, even though I don't know any of the kids in it. I love star wars and seeing Vader always makes me happy, and there is always something totally hilarious that some kid says or does!!

It is wonderful that you finally get to go with your family!

Thanks! We actually never watched Jedi Training at Disneyland so it'll be our first time to see it! Hoping my kids make the list!

My husband gave me a little grief with all of my planning for our first DLR trip...until we got there haha. He hates crowds, so then he thanked me for all the laminated lists I made.

 

[Sailormoon2]

He hates crowds, so then he thanked me for all the laminated lists I made

As does mine!! Everytime we go!

 

[Kippa-Dee-Do-Dah]

WHY

So....WHY are we going to Disney?!

Is this a serious question?!

That's why!

(Ok, this may or may not have been an excuse to post some awesome Disney gifs. )​

 

[disney-inspired]

You guys will have so much fun!

 

[Kippa-Dee-Do-Dah]

You guys will have so much fun!

Thanks! I can't wait!

 

[Kippa-Dee-Do-Dah]

Etc.

So anything after this post will just be updates about our trip!

I wanted to share this adorable letter that my kids got from Mr. Mickey Mouse in Orlando, FL. There are several templates that you can find online. I looked at several and figured out the wording that worked best for us.

The day after my kids were done with school, this letter came in the mail! They were SO excited!



I just used the Pages app on my MacBook and put a free clipart Mickey and clipart signature that I found searching Google. (Google Docs will not download custom fonts, such as Waltograph - I tried, I searched, it ain't possible.)

Feel free to borrow this for your kids!​

 

[disney-inspired]

Etc.

So anything after this post will just be updates about our trip!

I wanted to share this adorable letter that my kids got from Mr. Mickey Mouse in Orlando, FL. There are several templates that you can find online. I looked at several and figured out the wording that worked best for us.

The day after my kids were done with school, this letter came in the mail! They were SO excited!

View attachment 331479

I just used the Pages app on my MacBook and put a free clipart Mickey and clipart signature that I found searching Google. (Google Docs will not download custom fonts, such as Waltograph - I tried, I searched, it ain't possible.)

Feel free to borrow this for your kids!​

This is so cute! I would love to do this for my niece but she's too young and would be asking every day if we were going to Disney World.