We trust you, just make the plans! Muyahahahaha!!!

[Macdonx]

Since I have to make my ADRs in only a few days, I think it might be time to record the process for posterity. Or something. Yeah... soo...

I'm Mary, and my son Connor (9) planned on visiting WDW in September, but we decided that it might cut into hockey conditioning, and in Canada, it's vitally important that you make it onto the right hockey team, so, we pushed out to December. That's not heartbreaking - we can do Christmas shenanigans instead of Halloween. DH declined as he wanted to go moose hunting, instead. Good enough. So, the date is set.
Then, my sister (Rosemary) says she'd like to come. Woohoo, a sillyfun vacation with two goofy sisters and one not-so-small boy.
Then, my mom (Lorraine) says she'd like to come. Even better, a sillyfun vacation with Coocoolooloo, two goofy sisters, and a not-so-small boy.

So along the way, Connor's been saying that he really wants to eat here or there, or he wants to do this or that experience. I've been dutifully writing all this down, and finally, we're under 100 days, so it's time to make some plans official. We're going for 11 nights, so we have lots of time, right? Yeah, until I started slotting stuff into those days. Man, there's alot of great stuff to do!

Stay tuned for next post when our goofy sisters decide what we should do, and how we're going to shoehorn all this fun stuff into a little under two weeks without it feeling like a forced-march.

On your mark, get set, plan!

 

[reyasmommy]

Woo-hoo.... It's so exciting when you hit the double digits of your upcoming trip. Hope you have fun!

 

[Macdonx]

Last time we went to WDW, we had a flight out of Buffalo at O-Dark-Hundred. It got us there early, sure, but we were tired, so we didn't really gain anything. This time, we booked a flight around noon. That gave us time to get settled into the hotel, and get to the Hoop Dee Doo (which Grandma and Auntie Rosie have never seen) in plenty of time for a decent bedtime.

Except for the part where the airline changed the flight time, so we wouldn't get there in time for the HDD.

But, this being early enough in the planning schedule, we moved the Luau night to arrival day, and HDD to later in the week. That should work, if noone changes the rules of the game again.

So, the schedule so far:
November 28 - Train ride from Smith's Falls, Ontario to Toronto. Auntie Rosie will pick us up and bring us to Grandma's House.
November 29 - Repack suitcases (because some of the stuff is going to Grandma's house at (Canadian) Thanksgiving).
Monday, November 30 - Get Nonno (that's my dad - he's going to eat popcorn and saltine crackers for the two weeks while we're gone) to drive us to the Buffalo airport. When we get to MCO, take the Magical Express to POP. Get the checkin package, and hightail it over to the Polynesian for the Luau.

Then, blissfull sleep in preparation for the next day's festivities...

 

[Macdonx]

Week 1 (Tuesday to Saturday)
Tuesday will be our first park day - hello, Magic Kingdom! We're planning to 1900 Park Fare for breakfast around 9:00 am or so, then have counter service for lunch, and then, because the MK closes early, we'll watch the Flag Retreat, and head over to Hoop dee Doo for the second show.

Wednesday we're going to try to get Connor a reservation for the Albatross Pirate Cruise. If that happens, we'll have breakfast at Kouzzina, and while Connor's on his cruise pillaging Epcot Center, Rosie, Mary, and Lorraine will go to Perriwig's Spa for some girltime. I don't think my mom's ever been to the spa, so it should be interesting.
After the cruise/spa, we'll have lunch at Captain's Grill, and wander around the Boardwalk. If it's warm (pleeaaassseee let it be warm), we might rent a boat to go out onto the lake. Then, we'll head over to Animal Kingdom Lodge to gawk at the resort, have dinner at Boma, and listen to the folktales at the Arusha Rock.

Thursday, if the "historical" schedule holds, it should be a Fantasmic! day at DHS, so that's where we'll be heading. We'll have breakfast at POP, and then have lunch at Pizza Planet. Last time we were there, we told Connor we could go there for supper, but they closed early. Oopsie. So this time, we're going for sure. Early. Dinner will be early, at the 50's Prime Time Cafe, and then get desserrt to go and we'll head over to the Fantasmic line.

Friday is Epcot evening EMH (at least it should be). We're taking a Breakfast-buffet-loving boy to the Princess breakfast at Akershus. We'll see how princess-smitten he is, or whether it's just about Lorraine taking pictures of her grown girls (my sister and I) with the Princesses. We're going to have a staggered counterservice lunch, and then a late dinner at the Garden Grill. Maybe we'll toss Behind the Seeds into the mix there. Connor wants to do it, so we'll see how much time we have.

Saturday is a "day off" (whatever that means) when we'll go to Downtown Disney. We'll have breakfast at Pop or Wolfgang Puck Express, then wander around, go to DisneyQuest for a while. Connor performed a Magic Show for Auntie Rosie for her birthday last year, so they both really want to go to the Magic Shop. Other notables are the Lego Store, Mickey Mart (because my sister and I have never been able to resist surprise packages), and Goofy's. We might go to T-Rex to do the Panning for Treasure activity. In the evening, my math says that it will be a late night (not emh) at the Magic Kingdom. But my math also says that it might be the day for the Christmas Parade taping, so it might be full to the nosehairs. In any case, we might go over there for Spectro and Wishes.

 

[Macdonx]

Sunday - Another non-park day. We're going to go to Winter-Summerland (check!) and Blizzard Beach (check!). Unless it's cold, then either just laze around the pool, or go back to Disneyquest. In the evening, dinner at Whispering Canyon, and maybe (hopefully), the Pirates and Pals tour. My sister's favourite villain is Captain Hook, so this would be awesome if we can score a reservation. Fingers and toes crossed!

Monday - Magic Kingdom again. Breakfast at the Main Street Bakery. Connor wants to do the Family Magic tour (I'm not sure what side my sister's going to take here - she might be like a covert agent for Team Pirate). Then lunch at Pecos (or somewhere else - it doesn't matter, really), and then Pirate's League appointments for Auntie Rosie and Connor. In the evening, a leisurely dinner at Crystal Palace, and (hopefully) Spectro and Wishes.

Tuesday - A non-park day. Sleeping in, then a late breakfast at Kona. From there, we'll go over to the Contemporary so that Connor can use his 30 minute Arcade card. Auntie Rosie is a graphic illustrator, and one of her favourite artists is Mary Blair, who did the mural in the Contemporary. So, I'd guess that she'll be sketching/photographing while the boy plays in the arcade. In the afternoon, we'll have Afternoon Tea at the Grand Floridian, buy some gingerbread from the lobby, and then maybe explore the GF, take the monorail loop to Epcot and back. In the evening, Connor will go to Neverland Club, and the Gals will go to Narcoossee's.

Wednesday - Animal Kingdom. Breakfast at Donald's Safari Breakfast. We're right over near Rafiki's Planet Watch, and Connor wants to see if there are any Animal Doctor Appointments in the morning. We'll see how the troops feel about Flame Tree or Pizzafari. This is an EMH evening day (I think....), so we'll have a late dinner at Yak and Yeti (table service).

Thursday - Epcot. Breakfast at POP. Late lunch at Tokyo Dining (for Candlelight processional), and dinner at Biergarten. Unsure whether we'll do Kim Possible this day or the first Epcot day. Likely we'll do them both days.

Friday - Chef Mickey for late breakfast, and then fly out in the afternoon.

 

[disneyaddicted]

Don't you just love it when people say "We trust you to plan the trip?"
My name is Ty and I am also going to WDW in Dec. 3-11 to be exact and I have been given full power to plan as I choose. I pretended that it was going to be a huge fete, but I am loving it.
Your plans sound great, can't wait to read what's next?

 

[Macdonx]

I've been getting "feedback" about the trip from my fellow travellers. Not like they're not happy with my decisions. Quite the opposite. But I'm feeling like the Peacekeeping troups:

Mom (on the phone): Please tell your sister that she needs to take more than 2 pairs of pants.
Me: (on the phone): Mom, we can do laundry. She's a big girl, she can decide what she wants to bring herself.

Rosie (on IM): Why is it so important to mom that I take more than two pairs of pants
Me: I don't know, but can you please, please just pack another pair.

Mom (on the phone): Your sister's feet are going to hurt if she only brings her flipflops.
Me: She walked all over New York City for 3 months in flipflops - she probably knows best whether her feet can handle flipflops. And she's not going to wear flipflops in Canada in December - so she'll be wearing *something else* to at least get to WDW...

Me (on IM): You know, some nights it's going to get chilly, maybe you should bring another pair of shoes - just so you don't get cold.
Rosie (on IM): Did Mom put you up to this??

Sheesh!!

 

[Macdonx]

Thanks Ty.
I took on planning for our last trip to WDW in 2006. That time it was me, Connor, and my husband. Part way into planning, his parents decided to come. We were only on DDP last time (we're on DxDDP this time), but my mother in law said that it was such a great vacation because you looked forward to a great sit-down meal every day (we shared the Ts over b, l, and d sittings, and we did Hoop Dee Doo). Connor was only 6, so we missed alot because we got going on his schedule, so we didn't get to the parks until almost noon some days. Now, he's 9, and he's all excited to show his Auntie Rosie around the parks because she hasn't been since she was his age. And he's a little older with a little more endurance.

We book ADRs on Tuesday... here's hoping that the Pixie Dust gods look favourably on my schedule!! Good luck to you, too!

 

[Macdonx]

I did most of my ADRs online (15 of them), and then called (got a 4 minute wait), and booked the rest (the ones that I wanted to make sure they didn't charge on the credit card because we're using DxDDP credits). For a grand total of 24 reservations (including Pirates and Pals, Pirate's League, Albatross Pirate tour, Neverland Club, and the Family Magic Tour)

Whew.

::crickets chirping::

So now what??

 

[Macdonx]

1900 Park Fare (breakfast)
Hoop Dee Doo
Kouzzina (Breakfast)
Captain's Grille (Lunch)
Boma (Dinner)
Kona (Breakfast)
Garden View Lounge Afternoon Tea
Narcoossee's (Dinner)
Akershus (Breakfast)
Garden Grill (Dinner)
Sci-Fi Drive in (Dinner)
Whispering Canyon (Dinner)
50's Prime Time Cafe (Dinner)
Crystal Palace (Dinner)
Donald's Safari Breakfast
Yak and Yeti (Dinner)
Tokyo Dining (Lunch, with Candlelight Processional Package)
Biergarten (Dinner)

Woohoo!

 

[BELLE1109]

impressive!

 

[disneyaddicted]

Holy cow, what a gorgeous list of ADR's, I might be a little jealous.

I agree with your mom in law about looking forward to nice sit down meals, I have had to explain to my mom that Disney does have the typical Hamburger/chicken nugget places but we are on the dining plan, no worries, trust me you will love the food.

I book my ADR's this Friday, I'm crossing the fingers and toes. I really am hoping to get Akershus. That is the only request my mom's friend made.

 

[Macdonx]

Ty - I hope yours goes as easily as mine did. I'll toss a little luck your way on Friday morning.

 

[Macdonx]

So imagine my surprise when I said "The Luau on Monday night, please!" And the CM said, "Um, there's no Luau on Monday nights".

D'oh!!

So I consulted with my very wise travel consultant (my 9-year old son), and he decided that if it's EMH evening hours at the Magic Kingdom, let's just go there and eat hotdogs and ride Splash Mountain.

And problem solved!

 

[Macdonx]

I just booked Chef Mickey online for the day we leave WDW. Our reservations are now complete.
So now I can... um... start packing? Start threatening my son that if he doesn't keep the schoolwork up, and balance that with hockey practise and games, that I'll turn this Disney Bus around? ... hee! I actually said it with a straight face. As if...

85 days to go. I'd better haul out the suitcase.