WDW virgins, we're outta here! Coming soon: a trip report!

[debdebdebby13]

I haven't even read many PTRs, but I'm going to start my attempt at one.
We are going to WDW March 17-23rd and staying at All Star Movies.

This is my first trip, DH's second, and 2.5 year old DD's first.

I'm Debby, 26, grad student in speech-language pathology. I'm in my last semester of grad school! This trip is my graduation present to myself. I've always wanted to go and now I finally have a good reason to!! I love to travel, I'm kind of a travel junkie and I love to plan trips! I've been reading on Dis since the beginning of January when I booked our trip and then while researching I found this site. I've mostly lurked since I don't have much to say since I haven't even been yet. So far I've found it to be a fantastic resource, along with allears.net and the Unofficial Guide and their website.

Cory and I, shortly before our wedding 4 years ago, 50lbs less of me and about 20 less of Cory

DH Cory, 26, is an arbitration OCR for Farmers Insurance. He's a laid back guy, who lets me be picky and have my way when it comes to planning vacations. He will pretty much go with the flow. He loves The Office, to play Guitar Hero and photo and video editing. He's very silly and usually hard to annoy (though I have a way of getting under his skin, wonder why that is, lol?!)

DD, Molly, 2 years 9 months at the time of our trip. She's a little stinker through and through She's a great kid, very energetic and opinionated. She's 2 going on 15. She's a good balance between my more particular personality and DH's easy going personality. She's incredibly smart (I swear! I'm not just biased). I think she's going to have a super time at Disney and I can't wait to see her face when she sees Snow White and Cinderella for the first time!

Halloween 2008, our little Snow White

More pics!

This is probably the only family photo that exists of us, I don't like being in pics anymore

Next up, our itinerary!

 

[debdebdebby13]

Our tentative schedule for our days at the park.

Tuesday: our flight arrives at 4:45pm, so hopefully we'll be at ASMo by 7
(anyone know how long the transit from MCO to WDW takes?)
We have ADRs in DTD at 8:10pm, so hopefully we'll make it there in time! Since we are getting there so late we aren't wasting a park ticket that night.

Wednesday: we're going to Epcot! I debated whether or not to visit Epcot at all since I heard little ones don't really love it, but after some great advice from some fabulous dis members I decided we'd do a full day. I'm looking forward to it :

Thursday: Magic Kingdom today! I'm pretty excited. I've actually got a full schedule planned for this day, though I won't get bent out of shape if our day doesn't go according to plan.

• 1st attraction: Dumbo in Fantasyland
• 2nd Peter Pan’s Flight
• 3rd Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh
• 4th Ride train from Toontown to Frontierland (or walk)
• 5th explore Tom Sawyer Island
• 6th Country Bear Jamboree
• 7th Ride railroad round trip from Frontierland
• 8th Big Thunder Mountain Railroad (Try to be there between 10-11am)
• 9th Lunch, counter service
• Back to Hotel for nap/swimming
• 10th Riverboat ride in Liberty Square
• 11th Dinner
• 12th Cinderella’s Carousel Fantasyland
• 13th It’s a Small World
• 14th Mickey’s Philharmagic


Friday: We're going to Animal Kingdom today. I also have today scheduled, but I'm more than glad to have suggestions for better ways to go about it.

• 1st attraction: Kilamajaro Safari
• 2nd Kali River Rapids
• 3rd Maharaja Jungle Trek
• 4th Flights of Wonder
• 5th Its Tough to be a Bug
• 6th Tree of Life
• 7th Lunch
• 8th Camp Minnie-Mickey Character Trails
• 9th Festival of the Lion King
• 10th Finding Nemo Musical OR BoneYard
• 11th Finding Nemo Musical OR Boneyard
• 12th Ride Triceratop Spin
• 13th Parade
Dinner

Saturday: A second day at MK, I figure we'll inevitably want a second day here to catch what we missed during the first day we went.

Sunday: Hollywood studios today! I'm really looking forward to this park. I think it will be a ton of fun. This is probably the park I've done the least planning with. I really need to get a strategy put together for how to attack it.

Monday: Heading home today, but not until 6pm. We're going to try and get an early morning start and get a solid half day in a park, but we're waiting to decide where to go. We'll decide after we've been to all the parks where we want to spend our last WDW hours.

Next up: Our dining plans (yum!)

 

[debdebdebby13]

We have the standard dining plan with a snack, a CS meal, and a TS meal. If you are looking closely we have more table service ADRs than we have TS meals. We are planning on paying for Crystal Palace out of pocket. I think it will still most likely be cheaper than the rest of the table service meals out of pocket.

We still have a lot of blanks for our CS meals, I have no idea where to go for most of those. Any suggestions??

Any snacks that can't be missed??

Tuesday (arrival)
Dinner: Spoodles 8:10pm

Wednesday (Epcot)
Breakfast:
Lunch: Coral Reef 11:30am
Dinner:
Snack:

Thursday (Magic Kingdom)
Breakfast: Cinderella’s Royal Table??? (only if we can eventually snag a late ADR, its worth a try, right??)
Lunch
Dinner: Tony’s Town Square (5:20pm)
Snacks: Casey’s Hotdogs

Friday (Animal Kingdom)
Breakfast:
Lunch: Yak and Yeti 11:30am
Dinner: Flame Tree Barbecue
Snack:

Saturday (Magic Kingdom)
Breakfast: The Crystal Palace (8:05am)
Lunch:
Dinner: Ohana (8:50pm)
Snacks:

Sunday (Hollywood Studios)
Breakfast:
Lunch:
Dinner: 50’s Café (5:50pm)
Snacks:

Monday (open)
Breakfast:
Lunch:

 

[mommytothreeboys]

Hi Debby! Welcome to the wonderful world of PTRs!! Molly is totally adorable...you must be so excited to share Disney with her!

Your plans look good. I am getting my kids ready to get on the bus so I don't have a ton of time to comment now, but I'll be back to comment on your itinerary and restaurant choices!

 

[debdebdebby13]

Hi Debby! Welcome to the wonderful world of PTRs!! Molly is totally adorable...you must be so excited to share Disney with her!

Your plans look good. I am getting my kids ready to get on the bus so I don't have a ton of time to comment now, but I'll be back to comment on your itinerary and restaurant choices!

Thanks! I swear I'll try to be interesting.

 

[autumnpalm]

Hi Debby! You have such a cute little family. Hmmm... as far as my favourite snacks go, my top 5 list would look like this:

1. DOLE WHIP FLOAT! MK and Poly
2. Pretzel with cheese sauce
3. Strawberry tart from bakery in France (well, anything from there!!) EP
4. Frozen, chocolate covered bananas
5. Make your own treats at Goofy's Candy Company in DTD

 

[debdebdebby13]

Tuesday we got our luggage stickers for DME and today we got our fat envelope with all our vouchers etc. Its real!! We're really getting to go, and I'm so excited.

I so need a break. I'm extremely tired of grad school and so glad that this is my last semester or I don't think I'd make it. Senioritis has nothing on how I feel. I'm hoping going on this trip will recharge me for the last 6 weeks of school and I'll make it through without too much stress.

 

[debdebdebby13]

Hi Debby! You have such a cute little family. Hmmm... as far as my favourite snacks go, my top 5 list would look like this:

1. DOLE WHIP FLOAT! MK and Poly
2. Pretzel with cheese sauce
3. Strawberry tart from bakery in France (well, anything from there!!) EP
4. Frozen, chocolate covered bananas
5. Make your own treats at Goofy's Candy Company in DTD

Thanks for the reply, that helps a ton!

 

[debdebdebby13]

I changed the title hoping to get a little more interest. Now that the weekend is here I can probably get my post up and running a bit more.

 

[debdebdebby13]

I've got no readers but that's okay! I know I'm new and nobody knows who I am, but maybe someone will read about us, we're a fun little family I promise!

I'm trying to put together a tentative packing list. I've been shopping and I have quite a few things on the way.

DH has new sneakers he's actively breaking in and DD and I have good ones that are nicely broken in already. We've all got new, good socks.

DD's list:
6 Disney shirts (I decided if we're going, we're going ALL OUT!)
4 other shirts
1 princess hoodie
6 pairs of shorts
1 skirt
1 pr. jeans
1 pr. sweats
4 sets of pajamas
10 pr. socks
10 pr. panties
1 pr. flip flops
1 pr. sneakers
12 diapers (2/day for nap and overnight, just in case)
Snow White dress
Swimsuit
pony tail holders
toothbrush, toothpaste, shampoo, sunscreen, lotion
2 Carebears and 1 pony (can't sleep without them!)

Carry on:
DVD player & headphones (don't forget the charger!)
bunch of movies
Colorwonder markers and paper
new books
magnetic scene toy thingy
snacks

Any suggestions??

 

[kgle]

Hey Debby! We are Disney World virgins too My son is about the same age as your dd! Rylan will be 3 in April! I am sure you guys will have a total blast. And don't worry, it took me about 3 pages on my PTR to start getting readers, you'll get there!

 

[autumnpalm]

Hey there... I'm reading!!!

Don't worry, I was terrified at first I wouldn't have any readers. I almost didn't write a PTR! But it's so much fun now... just takes a little time!

As far as packing goes, there is a great comprehensive guide on the Tips board (I think?) that I would highly recommend checking out.

Looking forward to hearing more about your planning!

 

[Reese'smom]

Hi! I'm subbing! I'm a newbie too and have no one reading my PTR. Maybe us newbies can stick together. I have a little girl who will be a little over 2 when we go in September. we gotta get these trips in before we have to pay for the kiddos, right? I'll be taking some of your dining suggestions to heart. We're lost as to where we should eat.

 

[leamom2princesses]

Hi I'm subbing! Looks like a great plan so far. We've been several times and love to visit WDW. I have 2 princesses. It is so fun to see WDW through their eyes. You are going to have a great time!

BTW, in my opinion, EPCOT is the best location to see the princesses, especially Snow White. She is in Germany throughout the day and usually we find her with Dopey. Makes for some really cute pics. The only princess we can't find there is Cinderella (although we did see her once at Akerhaus). The great thing is that you aren't waiting in a queue for 2 hours like Toontown! Toddlers don't fare well in long lines...at least mine haven't.

 

[mommytothreeboys]

I'm still here!! I told you I'd be back....sorry it's taken me so long. Believe me, the more you keep up with your trip report, the more readers will come! Until then, I'm along for the ride!

Ok...now to comment on your plans....

Tuesday: our flight arrives at 4:45pm, so hopefully we'll be at ASMo by 7
(anyone know how long the transit from MCO to WDW takes?)
We have ADRs in DTD at 8:10pm, so hopefully we'll make it there in time! Since we are getting there so late we aren't wasting a park ticket that night.

Good plan...not sure how the time will work out, but better to relax and settle in on day one than to try to squeeze in a park.

Wednesday: we're going to Epcot! I debated whether or not to visit Epcot at all since I heard little ones don't really love it, but after some great advice from some fabulous dis members I decided we'd do a full day. I'm looking forward to it :

FWIW, my family LOVES Epcot. I'm so glad you decided to give it a chance! Your DD can find the Princesses around the World Showcase, Snow White in Germany, Belle in France, Mulan in China. Also, Mary Poppins is sometimes in the UK and the bears from Brother Bear can be found in Canada.

Thursday: Magic Kingdom today! I'm pretty excited. I've actually got a full schedule planned for this day, though I won't get bent out of shape if our day doesn't go according to plan.

• 1st attraction: Dumbo in Fantasyland
• 2nd Peter Pan’s Flight
• 3rd Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh
• 4th Ride train from Toontown to Frontierland (or walk)
• 5th explore Tom Sawyer Island
• 6th Country Bear Jamboree
• 7th Ride railroad round trip from Frontierland
• 8th Big Thunder Mountain Railroad (Try to be there between 10-11am)
• 9th Lunch, counter service
• Back to Hotel for nap/swimming
• 10th Riverboat ride in Liberty Square
• 11th Dinner
• 12th Cinderella’s Carousel Fantasyland
• 13th It’s a Small World
• 14th Mickey’s Philharmagic

Looks like a LOT to try to get in before lunch, but my kids could explore Tom Sawyer island all day so maybe that's what is throwing me off!

Friday: We're going to Animal Kingdom today. I also have today scheduled, but I'm more than glad to have suggestions for better ways to go about it.

• 1st attraction: Kilamajaro Safari
• 2nd Kali River Rapids
• 3rd Maharaja Jungle Trek
• 4th Flights of Wonder
• 5th Its Tough to be a Bug
• 6th Tree of Life
• 7th Lunch
• 8th Camp Minnie-Mickey Character Trails
• 9th Festival of the Lion King
• 10th Finding Nemo Musical OR BoneYard
• 11th Finding Nemo Musical OR Boneyard
• 12th Ride Triceratop Spin
• 13th Parade
Dinner

AK is our second favorite park! You can see the Pooh characters just before the entrance to DinoLand...don't miss that! Are you skipping the Pangani Forest trail? The gorillas are awesome there...you might want to consider adding it....it fits in great right after the Safari.

Saturday: A second day at MK, I figure we'll inevitably want a second day here to catch what we missed during the first day we went.

YAY!! Day 2 at MK! Definitely hit ToonTown. Your DD will like Mickey and Minnie's houses! Also, the Jungle Cruise is always a hoot!

Sunday: Hollywood studios today! I'm really looking forward to this park. I think it will be a ton of fun. This is probably the park I've done the least planning with. I really need to get a strategy put together for how to attack it.

This park is fun, but our least favorite and hardest to navigate in my opinion. Try the Beauty and the Beast show as well as the Little Mermaid.

Next up: Our dining plans (yum!)

YUMMMY!!


I'll be back to comment on your dining choices!

 

[mommytothreeboys]

We have the standard dining plan with a snack, a CS meal, and a TS meal. If you are looking closely we have more table service ADRs than we have TS meals. We are planning on paying for Crystal Palace out of pocket. I think it will still most likely be cheaper than the rest of the table service meals out of pocket.

We did the standard DDP on our 2007 trip and LOVED it!

We still have a lot of blanks for our CS meals, I have no idea where to go for most of those. Any suggestions??

Any snacks that can't be missed??

We are doing th QSDP this time around so we are looking forward to trying a lot of new counter service places. Some of the ones we are most excited about are Columbia Harbor House and Pecos Bill's in the MK, Sunshine Seasons at Epcot, Yak and Yeti CS at AK, Casey's at MK, Pizzafari at AK, Backlot Express and Starring Rolls at DHS, and Pizza Planet at DHS. Some we really liked from the last trip are Flame Tree at AK, Cosmic Rays at MK and Sommerfest in Germany at Epcot.

Snacks are my favorite and if you look on the Dining board here at the DIS you will find some AWESOME suggestions...too many for me to cover!!

Tuesday (arrival)
Dinner: Spoodles 8:10pm

Wednesday (Epcot)
Breakfast:
Lunch: Coral Reef 11:30am
Dinner:
Snack:

Never done Spoodles, but I'd love to hear about it on your return!

We really enjoyed our meal at Coral Reef. The boys enjoyed watching the Sea Turtles in the tank as we waited for our food.

Thursday (Magic Kingdom)
Breakfast: Cinderella’s Royal Table??? (only if we can eventually snag a late ADR, its worth a try, right??)
Lunch
Dinner: Tony’s Town Square (5:20pm)
Snacks: Casey’s Hotdogs

I'll never eat at CRT.....my boys would die! I'm so JEALOUS!!!

We are looking forward to trying Casey's on this trip.

Friday (Animal Kingdom)
Breakfast:
Lunch: Yak and Yeti 11:30am
Dinner: Flame Tree Barbecue
Snack:

My in-laws just came back and had only good things to say about Yak and Yeti. We ate at Flame Tree and really enjoyed it. Sit out on the deck area..very nice!

Saturday (Magic Kingdom)
Breakfast: The Crystal Palace (8:05am)
Lunch:
Dinner: Ohana (8:50pm)
Snacks:

We're doing OHana for breakfast because we wanted characters....I really like the look of the dinner menu though.

Sunday (Hollywood Studios)
Breakfast:
Lunch:
Dinner: 50’s Café (5:50pm)
Snacks:

My DH and I ate at the Prime Time Cafe on our honeymoon and had a great time. We chose Sci-Fi for our last trip and enjoyed that as well, although the food was only OK. The atmosphere was well worth it though.

 

[leamom2princesses]

I've got no readers but that's okay! I know I'm new and nobody knows who I am, but maybe someone will read about us, we're a fun little family I promise!

I'm trying to put together a tentative packing list. I've been shopping and I have quite a few things on the way.

DH has new sneakers he's actively breaking in and DD and I have good ones that are nicely broken in already. We've all got new, good socks.

DD's list:
6 Disney shirts (I decided if we're going, we're going ALL OUT!)
4 other shirts
1 princess hoodie
6 pairs of shorts
1 skirt
1 pr. jeans
1 pr. sweats
4 sets of pajamas
10 pr. socks
10 pr. panties
1 pr. flip flops
1 pr. sneakers
12 diapers (2/day for nap and overnight, just in case)
Snow White dress
Swimsuit
pony tail holders
toothbrush, toothpaste, shampoo, sunscreen, lotion
2 Carebears and 1 pony (can't sleep without them!)

Carry on:
DVD player & headphones (don't forget the charger!)
bunch of movies
Colorwonder markers and paper
new books
magnetic scene toy thingy
snacks

Any suggestions??

Just a thought...you might want to pack some cheap $ store rain ponchos. They were a lifesaver on our last trip and they were only $1 or $2...much more expensive at Disney. They are small and fit just about anywhere. I bought an adult size for the stroller also and it worked great. There is usually one, one-hour torrential rain every trip we take...lol. I usually pick up one of the small purse size first aid kits and keep it in my bag too. They're nice for skinned knees, minor cuts, etc - especially when the nearest first aid station is halfway across the park. Hope you find this helpful

 

[debdebdebby13]

Hi! I'm subbing! I'm a newbie too and have no one reading my PTR. Maybe us newbies can stick together. I have a little girl who will be a little over 2 when we go in September. we gotta get these trips in before we have to pay for the kiddos, right? I'll be taking some of your dining suggestions to heart. We're lost as to where we should eat.

I'll read yours! You're right us newbies do have to stick together :

Just a thought...you might want to pack some cheap $ store rain ponchos. They were a lifesaver on our last trip and they were only $1 or $2...much more expensive at Disney. They are small and fit just about anywhere. I bought an adult size for the stroller also and it worked great. There is usually one, one-hour torrential rain every trip we take...lol. I usually pick up one of the small purse size first aid kits and keep it in my bag too. They're nice for skinned knees, minor cuts, etc - especially when the nearest first aid station is halfway across the park. Hope you find this helpful

I've got the $1 rain ponchos from Target and a first aid kit. I need to pick up a few more still, better safe than sorry.

 

[debdebdebby13]

The scary snow white ride...yay or nay for a 2.5 year old who doesn't show any fear of the movie?

Its her favorite Disney movie, and she does just fine with it. She's seen it so many times that its not a big deal.

She also loved all the scary things out during Halloween last year. She would always point out the "scary guys" when we were at the mall or wherever we'd see skeletons etc. She didn't seem to bothered by them, more fascinated with them.

I THINK she'll be okay so long as we explain that its all pretend. She understand that (to the degree a two year old can).

If we do decide to take her on it any advice as a way to explain it to her just to make sure she won't be terrified.

 

[leamom2princesses]

The scary snow white ride...yay or nay for a 2.5 year old who doesn't show any fear of the movie?

Its her favorite Disney movie, and she does just fine with it. She's seen it so many times that its not a big deal.

She also loved all the scary things out during Halloween last year. She would always point out the "scary guys" when we were at the mall or wherever we'd see skeletons etc. She didn't seem to bothered by them, more fascinated with them.

I THINK she'll be okay so long as we explain that its all pretend. She understand that (to the degree a two year old can).

If we do decide to take her on it any advice as a way to explain it to her just to make sure she won't be terrified.

My youngest turned 3 at the end of September. She has ridden Snow White 3 times and it has never scared her a bit. The storybook Pooh ride terrifed her though when she was 20 mos....it has a lot of darkness and scary looking trees. Every child is different though...you know her best-go with your gut. It is a super short ride so if she does get upset it won't be for long. You might be able to try to redirect her attention on the cute drawfs..