We're FINALLY going to Disney? I won't believe it until I am on the plane!!!

[DisneyPride072308]

Hello There!
Welcome to my first PTR! I've just joined, and have been reading a lot of yours and am excited to write my first! So, bienvenidos!

First off, some basics

WHO:

That's my partner and I! We have been together for 6 years and this will be her first trip to Disneyworld.
I love Mickey and Mulan, and she does not have a favorite character.


The main man of the trip! Our nephew! It's been 2 years since I've seen him (when we went to Disney back in 2012). He's now the big OH-5 and is so excited to be going back to Disney. He also loves Mickey but his second favorite is Buzz and Wreck it Ralph--Whom he refers to as "The Red Guy" Here he is looking extremely dapper on his way to church with abuelita.


This is my wonderful older sister. Why is she so wonderful you ask? She surprised us with this trip! (More on that later!) She loves Princess Tiana. On our last trip I refused to wait in the line to see Tiana, so she is on a mission to see her this time!

Not pictured: My sister's new wife. It is rare to see her in pictures, though I hope this year she will join in, especially since we decided to get memory maker. She loves Goofy.

WHERE: We are staying at OKW in a 1-bedroom Villa from May 26th-June 1st

WHAT: We booked using the military discount (40% off), are on the Disney Dining Plan and have 4-day park hopper tickets utilizing the Disney's military salute. We will also be spending one day of our trip at Universal Studios.

WHY: My Grad gift! I graduated with my bachelor's in Political Science from the University of Washington in June of 2013.
My sister was deployed at the time and was unable to come. We are sooo close, so that was devastating for both of us. She emailed me the day of my graduation to say, "I know I can't be there, but to make up for it, I'm taking you guys to Disneyworld in September!" As you can tell, we did not go in September.

What follows is an explanation as to why we didn't go in September and an explanation of the name of this PTR.

We booked for September and guess what? IT WAS CANCELLED! My sister's deployment was extended and we couldn't go. So, we booked again for February 2014. Just 27 days BEFORE we left, she called me devastated. She got notice of an unscheduled underway period and we wouldn't be able to go again! We rescheduled for May and looks like we will actually have luck going!

Quite a bit has happened since we initially started planning this trip. I joined AmeriCorps, my partner got a new job and, most importantly, my sister and her partner of 8 years finally got married!

Though this is my graduation trip, we will instead be celebrating their marriage and my partner's first trip .


Up Next: The Family decides to get involved...

 

[Belle stitch]

Following!

Sounds like you have a lot to celebrate on this trip. I sure hope you get there!

 

[DisneyPride072308]

Following!

Sounds like you have a lot to celebrate on this trip. I sure hope you get there!

Yay! Thanks for joining in. Pretty sure we're actually going this time. Her ship was unloaded, and her leave got approved last week

 

[diznee25]

I'm in for the ride as well! My husband and I had a trip planned for Oct. 2012, and had to cancel just 4 weeks prior. Ugh! So I totally get what you mean about 'not believing it until you're on the plane.' That's how I feel about our upcoming trip!

I've also been reading tons of trip reports. I'm looking for inspiration on how to format one.....everyone has different layouts and writing styles. But all are fun to read!

So hopefully I'll be writing my first PTR soon!

Michelle

 

[DisneyPride072308]

I'm in for the ride as well! My husband and I had a trip planned for Oct. 2012, and had to cancel just 4 weeks prior. Ugh! So I totally get what you mean about 'not believing it until you're on the plane.' That's how I feel about our upcoming trip!

I've also been reading tons of trip reports. I'm looking for inspiration on how to format one.....everyone has different layouts and writing styles. But all are fun to read!

So hopefully I'll be writing my first PTR soon!

Michelle

Yeah, cancelling that soon is so disappointing! I'm usually brimming over with excitement and starting to pack around the 30 day mark! lol

I wasn't sure how to write mine either. Everyone has different ways of doing it I've seen--some are really long and interesting and, while I'd love to be that detailed, I quickly run out of things to say! lol Thanks for joining in, and stay tuned for some short but interesting posts .

 

[DisneyPride072308]

Hello all,
The past two days have been surprisingly hectic with our trip planning.
I am the one everybody comes to when they want to plan a vacation. I enjoy researching to find the best deals, am very detail oriented and just enjoy planning overall.
Whenever we go on a trip together my partner makes me plan everything and just gives me her half of the money when it's time. Works for me because I don't have to deal with her "I'll do it later" attitude, and works for her because she doesn't have to deal with me screaming "WE NEED TO DO IT NOW WOMAN!" lol jk

When we started planning our trip I asked everyone for input, what they wanted to do, where they wanted to stay and where they wanted to eat and everybody said "Just do whatever you want! We'll be happy with whatever you choose." You guys saw that right? I can do WHATEVER I WANT?!?!?!

Yeah, it so did not go down like that. I've gotten a host of complaints from every member in this travelling party over the past 2 days. Mainly:

1. My partner, my sister's wife, and my nephew did not like any of the FP+ selections
2. I did not reserve any Princess Dining
3. They all thought the menu at Kona Cafe sounded unappetizing.

It's all squared away now, but I was rather frustrated with them. I asked for their input on more than one occasion. Now I'm having to cancel things and hope to find new ones.

Luckily, after stalking the May ADR Cancellation Thread, I was able to connect with another user (muchas gracias SYDCOLEMOM) who was cancelling a BOG reservation for 2 on the 27th, our Magic Kingdom Day! After doing some switching around of other things, we got our reservation and scheduled The Crystal Palace for my sister and her family at the same time.
My partner and I are very excited to be going to BOG. Beauty and the Beast was one of my favorite movies as a child, and I'm looking forward to seeing the restaurant.



Funny story: When I called to schedule The Crystal Palace (MDE would not let me schedule it online since BOG was at the same time) the representative said, "HOW THE HECK DID YOU GET A BOG RESERVATION ONLY 28 DAYS AWAY?" I joked with her and said, "cuz I'm a boss"



As for the Princess Dining, I assumed that my nephew just didn't want to do it again. I couldn't remember exactly, but for some reason I had it in my memory that he didn't enjoy himself last time. Apparently he did.
Looking back at this,

and this,

and this precious photo, which I've had hanging in to my office forever,


I should have realized that the little dude liked the Princess dining! I'm not necessarily willing to change any of our other reservations, so I'm not sure what to do. My partner said that he will get interaction with the Princesses in the parks so maybe that'll be good enough. I hope so! This vacation is for his enjoyment as well!

As for Kona Cafe, they all suck--I've read such good reviews about that and was looking forward to it! Maybe on the next trip

Up Next: Planning Done! And some gratitude from la familia

 

[diznee25]

DisneyPride072308, Just read your update....how exciting that you a BOG ADR! Congrats! I was able to snag one for our August trip and we are really exciting to be dining there too.

LOVED those video clips by the way. Bob's Burgers is my favorite show, ever!! Tina is probably my favorite character. (I like when she goes "uuuugh." So funny!) I had to call my DH over and show him that clip!

Sorry it's been frustrating, but sounds like you're getting everything settled, and soon you'll be at WDW enjoying and having a blast!

ETA - Cute pics by the way. Your nephew is so adorable!!

Michelle

 

[Hardheadedwoman]

Yay, following along! Lots to celebrate on this trip! We are hoping to take a family trip to Disney in the fall - we haven't done that in FOREVER so it'll be fun to see how other families do it.

Lissette

 

[DisneyPride072308]

Yay, following along! Lots to celebrate on this trip! We are hoping to take a family trip to Disney in the fall - we haven't done that in FOREVER so it'll be fun to see how other families do it.

Lissette

Thanks for following along! Hope you guys are able to take that family trip! We're trying to make it a new tradition with my sister's family and my partner and I--but so far the only ones who REALLY like Disney are my partner, my nephew and I. lol

DisneyPride072308, Just read your update....how exciting that you a BOG ADR! Congrats! I was able to snag one for our August trip and we are really exciting to be dining there too.

LOVED those video clips by the way. Bob's Burgers is my favorite show, ever!! Tina is probably my favorite character. (I like when she goes "uuuugh." So funny!) I had to call my DH over and show him that clip!

Sorry it's been frustrating, but sounds like you're getting everything settled, and soon you'll be at WDW enjoying and having a blast!

ETA - Cute pics by the way. Your nephew is so adorable!!

Michelle

Yay for BOG reservations! I'm hoping the food is delicious. I've read some reviews that were exemplary, but others said you're paying more for the experience. I appreciate the experience, but this girl LOVES to eat. Hopefully it is delicious!
And I LOVE BOB'S BURGERS! Tina and Louise crack me up! My partner hates it sooo much--but I watch it over and over again on netflix lol It annoys her. Glad to find someone else who also appreciates the genius that is Bob's Burgers
Thanks! He's a pretty awesome kid! We love him to pieces!

 

[DisneyPride072308]

Hello again! Sorry that it has been a few days. We've had a good 3 days of 70-80 degree weather here in Seattle so we've all been off of our computers and out in the sun--such a rare occurrence in this gray, rainy state. It'll be back to rain by tomorrow. Just gives me even more impatience to get to Disneyworld and the heat and sun. As much as I despise the rain here, I don't even mind it in Disneyworld.

I've got quite a few updates, so let's get started:
Primero--


Our magic bands arrived in the mail yesterday!

We are so close! And this will be the last piece of Mickey mail that we receive before we arrive in 24 days.

On the first of every month, I've been sending my nephew this same picture with a different tag line for our countdown. They are doing their own little countdown at home, but this has been my way to connect with him about our trip:

Lol. I'm such a weird Tia. We then Facetime and he gets extremely excited and talks about all the things he's going to do. When he realized how close we were yesterday, his reaction was priceless! I regret that I did not capture it! He told me that he's doing the Haunted Mansion, Splash Mountain, Tower of Terror, and he wants to do Expedition Everest (he's too short).

Seriously, the dude's got a thing for mountain and "scary" rides this go round. I'm nervous for the inevitable meltdown about EE. We've told him he's too small but he's either really in-denial about it, or it just hasn't hit him yet. I'm also nervous for ToT. He is only 5, and, while he is a dare devil, I'm not wanting to be the adults with the kid who's crying and freaking out.

I am in the process of making my nephew's autograph book. My mom's a seamstress so she sewed on this cute Mickey fabric and ribbon on the bottom. I bought Disney stickers and puffy letters to make it all fancy. Our go-to glue is E6000, and we've used that to ensure that the stickers will not fall off at all. I'll post a better picture when I'm done with it this weekend but here are the front and back covers:


What do you think? Anything missing? I think the front is a little busy, but everyone seems to love it. It's also a little big (we've always bought one of the smaller ones), but I've read here on the forums that that makes it easier for some of the costumed characters to hold and see. Lastly, we've finalized all of our ADR's for our trip--my planning is almost complete!
Monday:
Raglan Road--Sis and her wife
Ohana dinner--Nephew, my partner and I
Tuesday:
Chef Mickey's Breakfast
Crystal Palace dinner--Sis and her family
Be Our Guest dinner--Partner and I
Wednesday:
Boma Dinner
Thursday is our universal day, so we hadn't planned any ADR's this day.
Friday:
Hollywood and Vine Lunch with Disney Junior Pals *sheesh, I almost called it Playhouse Disney--I'm getting old y'all*
Saturday:
Via Napoli Lunch
Funny thing: I went to pick up my partner yesterday and guess what?! She's already packed! The woman who loves to wait to until the last minute to plan things has her bags packed 24 days in advance. I love that the excitement seems to be building up in our travel group. It's all my nephew and I have been able to talk about, so it was only a matter of time before they either got annoyed and banned Disney trips forever or they just finally gave in and got excited as well! My sister's wife even sent me a text saying, "Thanks for being an awesome trip planner. I know we are paying, but our trip would suck if it weren't for you planning everything out."
I guess I'm not too annoyed with them anymore for throwing all those changes at me on Sunday and Monday. [/FONT]