What happened to going one time and then waiting awhile? – A Nov 2017 PTR

[Smilelea]

Thank you so much for taking the time to write all this out! Very helpful stuff. I've been reading mixed things about the crib situation at the resorts. Have you seen the pack-n-plays or have you always gotten an actual crib? I am worried about getting a pack-n-play and considering renting a crib from Kingdom Strollers. I feel like I'd rather spend that money on something else if I can get a crib or quality pack-n-play from the resort for free. Any experience with this?

I think it may depend on where you are staying. I'm pretty sure all of the values only have pack-n-plays. The moderate and/or deluxe resorts may have cribs. We've only stayed at value resorts so far. The one we received was just like the one we have at home (which is what we would have taken with us if we did drive. We don't see the point of an added luggage item when we can get the same thing from the resort). Now I did forget to add that I do take a blanket to put under the sheet to add some more padding. I take one of our small fleece throws that I can fold and make it fit the bottom. I did this at WDW and I do this when we travel to other places. I did this with D when he was a baby and he slept fine. We also didn't have any problems with G sleeping in it that way.

When C put in the request for the room, it was a check box that said crib but we got a pack-n-play which we were fine with. I remember reading somewhere when planning the first rip that some people had problems with the cribs. I don't remember what those problems were or where the cribs came from, though.

I have also read about renting cribs from Kingdom but we chose not to spend the money on that when a pack-n-play will work just fine.

Hope this helps!

 

[Smilelea]

It looks like our “one” trip that has turned into two may just turn into a whole lot more trips.




In my very first post I explained how our first Disney trip came about.


“We took our first trip to WDW as a family last November (2016). The plan was to go with one set of grandparents around the time of D turning 5 and then not go back until G was about that age. This particular set of grandparents take each of their grandkids on trips every so often and they really wanted to take D to WDW. Well, we said that was fine but they weren’t going without us.

So away we all went.”


I also mentioned how a second trip idea started.


“When we returned, Nana (C's mom), said she wanted to go with us at some point. Well, since we saved so much the first time (and we didn’t have to touch our account that we had set-up for this very trip) we decided to look into going again either November 2017 or February 2018.”


Well, it seems that we may be going to WDW a whole lot more over the next 40 or so years. That’s right! We have a contract to join the DVC.


Our friends that are HUGE Disney goers are DVC members. When we found that out, C started doing research . This was a little over a year ago. When he first looked into it, it was “There is no way we would do this! That is way too much money. There’s no way we would go enough to make it worth it!”


So that idea went out the door – or so I thought.


Then we started researching for the second trip and he really wanted to stay at AKL. But it cost so much. Then, he found out you could rent points (after we had already booked this free dining trip). That idea went onto the table for a future trip.


About a month ago we received an email for a free $25 Disney Gift Card if we called DVC for a 20 minute phone tour. I’m off for the summer so I was like “20 minutes! Sure! I can make that phone call while I’m doing the dishes or something. ” I made the call and learned some very interesting information. I passed it onto C and he started doing more research.


Needless to say, we are going the resale route and we are now waiting to hear what Disney will decide about our contract. AKL is now in our sights for future trips! We should be finalizing this around the time we schedule our FPs.




See next post for: "So much for our “down” day."

 

[Smilelea]

So much for our “down” day

After our last trip we decided we needed a “down” day somewhere in the middle. We were so busy last trip that we never had time to check out the playground or pool. We didn’t even walk around the resort to check out the other themes. Last trip we went to Universal in the middle of the trip for me. I’m a HUGE Harry Potter fan. We are not going to Universal this trip so we decided to keep the same number of days but to have a day where we slept in and explore the resort.


So, in the beginning stages of planning we decided to make Wednesday our “down” day. It didn’t take long for us to add Disney Springs to that day as well as an ADR for T-Rex for lunch. Then we thought “what if we went to a park just for the afternoon? We could get a few fast passes to one of the parks.” So we added an afternoon at Epcot to the plan.


When it came time to make ADRs we were only able to get BOG for that night. We originally wanted 1900 for this night. But now we are park hopping on our “not-so-down” day. We still plan to sleep in that morning. If we are lucky that will be 7:00 to 7:30 ish . We also still plan to check out the playground before heading over to Disney Springs. Our pool time has been changed to check-in day at POFQ.


I took a screenshot of the spreadsheet C put together for the last trip that he has begun the revisions for this trip. It was modified multiple times before our last trip and we did not do a good job of sticking to it on the trip. A lot of it had to do with the fact that we did not take advantage of the EMH as originally planned.

He color coded the attractions by locations. All of the attractions in one area of that park are the same color and the next area is a different color.


The lists of attractions keeps going.




This next spreadsheet is revision # 7 or 8 if not more.



The yellow boxes are things we missed the last trip that we want to try and hit this time. I also had him go back and add a “G” to everything that G can do because I want to be sure and do as much of the things he can do as possible. Things in bold are appointments/reservations that we have.


While looking at it for this update I see more things that have to be revised due to a few ADR time changes and some rides we just read would be closed when we are there. C is not happy The Great Movie Ride will already be shut down when we go. He was really hoping to ride it one last time.


Now I will say this: Yes, it looks like we have every minute planned out … and we do. However, we know perfectly well that with two small children this plan is most likely to end up thrown out either in part or completely. It was last time. We are just planners. This is what we do .


Some may think that we have it all pretty well planned out. The next thing is to make fast passes and we cant do that until September. So, what are we doing in the meantime? We are constantly trying to adjust ADRs! We are watching both the November and December threads in hopes to snag Bon Voyage Breakfast on our Epcot day so we can cancel Akershus. We are also on the lookout for an earlier BOG.


We have a couple extra ADRs at other places “just in case”. Just in case what you may ask. Just in case we get these but on different days or whatever may be the case. We currently have 8 ADRs (not counting our B&C that will be OOP) and we only want/need 7. So something already has to go. We just don’t know what, yet. It all depends on if we get to make the changes we want.


I guess I need to wrap up this update since it is fairly lengthy.

Click for next update: “Have you found a small frying pan, yet?”

 

[MeghanEmily]

Your plans look good, and so detailed! I'm constantly revising my spreadsheet, too. But I don't have quite as much planned out this time as on past trips.

Clint is not happy The Great Movie Ride will already be shut down when we go. He was really hoping to ride it one last time.

I agree!! I expected it would close soon, but I wasn't expecting to miss out on my last chance to ride it. We arrive two days after it closes.

Hope you get your Bon Voyage breakfast!

 

[Smilelea]

plans look good, and so detailed! I'm constantly revising my spreadsheet, too. But I don't have quite as much planned out this time as on past trips.

The more we plan the more we think "does it really matter if we miss something this trip?" I think we are somewhat in denial about the fact that we have many more trips coming .

C is really frustrated about the Great Movie Ride. He also said he isn't so sure about the changes they're making to it. He's very skeptical.

As far as Bon voyage goes, a part of me keeps thinking it might be best to wait until next trip anyways since breakfast is cheaper when paying OOP. We will probably only do 1-2 TS each trip since we will most likely not be doing anymore dining plans.

 

[ariane37]

Congrats on becoming DVC owners! Or almost owners - is it final yet? We've gone back and forth on it more than once but so far haven't decided to take the plunge.
I give Clint lots of credit for his spreadsheet lol, I just can't do it! I actually tried a spreadsheet for the first time for our trip next month but it doesn't work for me. I don't keep it updated, I leave too many things up in the air because we only really plan FP"s and ADR's and where we'll start in each park, and maybe what nights we'll see a night show. I used Touring Plans for the first time for a client a couple months ago and I almost pulled all my hair out The important thing as you said is realizing, especially with small kids, that things don't always go as planned. Even when DH and I do adults only trips we switch up our plans last minute, and it almost always works out great!

Clint is not happy The Great Movie Ride will already be shut down when we go. He was really hoping to ride it one last time.

I'm with him, sad and mad Luckily we do get to ride it a couple more times since our trip is the 5-12th.

 

[Kenzientysmom]

Following along. For our upcoming September trip, we are also flying in a day earlier due to airfare and staying at POFQ.

 

[Smilelea]

Congrats on becoming DVC owners! Or almost owners - is it final yet?

Disney passed on it (we are going the resale route) so now we just have to wait on closing which is estimated to be end of August.

I'm with him, sad and mad Luckily we do get to ride it a couple more times since our trip is the 5-12th.

Fun for you all! Ride it once for us . I see your link to your PTR so I'm going to go check it out.

Following along. For our upcoming September trip, we are also flying in a day earlier due to airfare and staying at POFQ.

Please let me know how your stay is. We are excited about "upgrading" even if it is just for one night.

 

[Kenzientysmom]

Please let me know how your stay is. We are excited about "upgrading" even if it is just for one night.[/QUOTE]

You will love it. We have stayed there before. It is a nice quiet resort and I love the theming.

 

[Smilelea]

Well, I finally made it back. I knew once school started back it would be very difficult for me to stay up-to-date on the Dis (reading the reports I’m following as well as my own report). What I did not count on was the emotional roller coaster we would all be riding in addition to the changes August would bring.


Three weeks ago a friend (and coworker)’s child went into Anaphylactic shock during a food trial at the hospital and ended up passing away 5 days later. This was the scariest and most shocking thing I’ve ever experienced. I can’t go in to details for a number of reasons but the main one being, it isn’t my story to tell. I will say that having two small children myself that are very close in age to her two made this event hit very close to home. Needless to say I spent the last few weeks keeping my children close.


The next event, that we were actually expecting, was the first day of Kindergarten.


By day three, we managed drop off without tears. Now, I wish I could say there were no tears on days 4 through 8 but that is not the case. We did avoid tears at drop off but not the entire day. When I asked D what parts upset him he told me he didn’t want to talk about those parts. So we didn’t.


G didn’t have a very good start to his Toddlers class either. His first few mornings you could hear him screaming all of the way out in the foyer. His teachers said he did better when left alone. They said they’d never had a child like that. Usually they want to be held all of the time. By day 4 or 5 he was smiling and responding positively to them so that is good.


I have of course gone back to work and it’s been insane. The beginning of the school year is always crazy but this year has been made worse with the sadness and absenteeism of our coworker.


On a happier note, we are officially DVC members! The only thing we are waiting on now is for Disney to finish up their end and send us our welcome packet.


So, sorry to dump all of that non-pretrip report stuff on you but I needed to get that out before I could get to the really good stuff.


Finally a new update in the next post.

 

[Smilelea]

“Have you found a small frying pan, yet?”

So for this update, I plan to explain my title and fill you in on a few other odds and ins. Then the next update will probably be after fast passes are booked so I can begin the day-to-day plans.


Last trip we did the usual autograph book. The meet and greets were D’s favorite. Therefore, we know we have to do them again. However, this time I don’t want to do the typical autograph book. We’ve discussed a t-shirt, a cap, a bag, and a few others I’ve already forgotten. As of right now, I like the pillowcase idea. C did read somewhere what kind of special markers we need to get so I have to be sure and look that up again. The plan is to get everybody’s autograph (those that actually sign) on the pillowcase that we can. We know it will take multiple trips to make this happen and that is okay. But, we do have one exception for this upcoming trip - Rapunzel. When the movie Tangled came out on DVD we rented it. D was addicted almost immediately. So we just had to buy it. I cannot tell you how many times we watched that movie over and over. He would act out certain parts with the movie and even had props. One of those props was a miniature black frying pan that came from Dollar Tree. He loved that thing! It went everywhere with us for months. So C got the bright idea to have Rapunzel autograph a frying pan this time. Has anyone ever looked for a plastic toy frying pan that isn’t black? Well, I have….and they are more difficult to find than you would think. I didn’t want to purchase an entire set for one pan. I was okay with the idea of buying a small set if necessary but that’s it. Well, the only one I found that wasn’t black was orange. ORANGE! We don’t do orange in this house. Not even for something this important. Excuse me - Especially not for something this important.


Well, D, G, and I went to a play-date yesterday. Going to this little friend’s house is like going to Toys-R-Us. He has everything and even has multiples of everything. Let’s just say he has some generous grandparents. D almost always leaves with at least one toy that RJ has given him because he had 2 or more of the same thing. (We’ve even had to have a talk with D and explain to him that a play-date isn’t where you get new toys typically). Anyways…G was playing with a little metal pot at one point and it made me think of the frying pan I still hadn’t found. I mentioned it to L just in case she knew of a place that might have one. The next thing I know she’s saying “be right back.” “A couple minutes later, she comes back in the room with a pink wooden toy pot and asks if it will work. By gosh, it was a Melissa & Doug wooden pot with a lid! It would work perfect but I couldn’t take it and I told her so. I mean come on! Melissa & Doug! She proceeds to tell me that yes I can take it because RJ has two exactly the same and good grief have I seen the number of toys he has. Before I can respond she goes and puts it in the diaper bag for me. So there you go, the hunt for the not black (or orange) frying pan is over.


On another note, we still have not managed to get a Bon Voyage ADR or move BOG any earlier. We have however received 2 alerts from TP that we jumped on immediately and still missed somehow for earlier BOG and scheduled a swap with a fellow Diser for Bon Voyage that didn’t work. So disappointing.


Some good news - we now have a ride to the airport and home from the airport and we don’t have to park our car there for the week. Last trip, Nana was in town when we left so we managed to squeeze all of us in for her to take us. Then a friend/neighbor was able to pick us up. It was a very tight squeeze both times. Poor C had to squeeze in between the two car seats in the back.




This time, a different friend/neighbor is going to take us and pick us up in his suburban – so no squeezing necessary.

Well, I had more to add but the kiddos are not cooperating. Hopefully I'll remember to add it to the next post.

Click for Next update: “Are we really going to add a ninth night to the trip?”

 

[Kenzientysmom]

Sorry to hear about your friend's child. My thoughts and prayers are with that family.

You guys go back to school early. We don't start here until the Tuesday after Labour Day. My little guy is starting Junior Kindergarten this year and we are not sure how he will adjust.

 

[ariane37]

I am so, so sorry about your co-worker's child. I can't imagine. I co-worker of mine lost her son last month to cancer and even though I've never met her (since my company is based in NC and I haven't met most of the other agents) it was heartbreaking; I just can't even imagine.

The next event, that we were actually expecting, was the first day of Kindergarten. (I had a picture to upload but I'm having technical difficulties).
By day three, we managed drop off without tears.

Aw, that's actually pretty good to be tear-less by day 3! On our first day of school we (the PTA) do a "Boohoo, yahoo" coffee for the K parents. The kids don't ride the bus that day, the parents drive them in and after the parents escort them to their rooms, they come to the cafeteria for coffee, some pastries and fruit, to grab a tissue and both the Principal and PTA President give brief talks

On a happier note, we are officially DVC members!

Congratulations

We’ve discussed a t-shirt, a cap, a bag, and a few others I’ve already forgotten. As of right now, I like the pillowcase idea.

I like the pillowcase idea, too. One year we did a big photo frame and it came out really nice. It was just a pain to carry, we kept it in the backpack but I was anal about checking to make sure it hadn't bent lol!

(We’ve even had to have a talk with Dallas and explain to him that a play-date isn’t where you get new toys typically).

On another note, we still have not managed to get a Bon Voyage ADR or move BOG any earlier. We have however received 2 alerts from TP that we jumped on immediately and still missed somehow for earlier BOG and scheduled a swap with a fellow Diser for Bon Voyage that didn’t work. So disappointing.

Do not give up! When I have alerts out or clients, I am constantly getting them what they want within 2 weeks, and sometimes within days, of them traveling. People tend to cancel while they're away and right before they go when they do last minute switching and dropping. Yes, it might be a pain to wait that long but if you can hold out, you have a very good chance of getting lucky

 

[MinnieWebster]

Following along! Congrats on becoming DVC members!

 

[Smilelea]

I am so, so sorry about your co-worker's child.

His birthday was this past weekend so it's been a rough week.

On our first day of school we (the PTA) do a "Boohoo, yahoo" coffee for the K parents. The kids don't ride the bus that day, the parents drive them in and after the parents escort them to their rooms, they come to the cafeteria for coffee, some pastries and fruit, to grab a tissue and both the Principal and PTA President give brief talks

That's a nice idea! We had kindergarten camp the week before and that is when they talked to us parents. We are also allowed to actually walk them into school the very first day. But after that, it's car rider line only. He's doing great now so we are thrilled. I finally got a picture to load so I added it to that post.

One year we did a big photo frame and it came out really nice. It was just a pain to carry, we kept it in the backpack but I was anal about checking to make sure it hadn't bent lol!

I saw that idea and some others on Pinterest and that was my concern. I didn't want anything difficult to carry or keep up with.

Do not give up! When I have alerts out or clients, I am constantly getting them what they want within 2 weeks, and sometimes within days, of them traveling. People tend to cancel while they're away and right before they go when they do last minute switching and dropping. Yes, it might be a pain to wait that long but if you can hold out, you have a very good chance of getting lucky

Thanks! We expect there to be a lot dropped when its fastpass time in a few weeks, as well.

Following along! Congrats on becoming DVC members!

 

[MeghanEmily]

Three weeks ago a friend (and coworker)’s child went into Anaphylactic shock during a food trial at the hospital and ended up passing away 5 days later. This was the scariest and most shocking thing I’ve ever experienced. I can’t go in to details for a number of reasons but the main one being, it isn’t my story to tell. I will say that having two small children myself that are very close in age to her two made this event hit very close to home. Needless to say I spent the last few weeks keeping my children close.

Oh my goodness, how tragic and scary. I'm so sorry to hear this for your friend. I'm sure it shook you up and reminded you how precious your own children are!

By day three, we managed drop off without tears. Now, I wish I could say there were no tears on days 4 through 8 but that is not the case. We did avoid tears at drop off but not the entire day. When I asked Dallas what parts upset him he told me he didn’t want to talk about those parts. So we didn’t.

That's hard! School is just soo different from what they're used to! I took to Kindergarten easily, but I still remember many kids in my class who didn't. It takes time. Good luck!

On a happier note, we are officially DVC members! The only thing we are waiting on now is for Disney to finish up their end and send us our welcome packet.

YAY! That's so exciting! Congrats!

So there you go, the hunt for the not black (or orange) frying pan is over.

Haha that's going to be so neat!

Also, extra tidbit: if you ever do need to get something black signed, the silver metallic sharpies work quite well!!

 

[Smilelea]

Wow! I feel like so much has happened and I don’t know where to start – or if I’ll even remember everything. I really do need to start writing this stuff down so I can refer to it once I actually have time to sit and type out an update.

So I know I mentioned in my last post that we are official DVC members. Well, now I’m here to tell you that we have already booked our next trip for May 2018 at ….






Can you guess where….






That’s right…..













Animal Kingdom Lodge and …… We don’t know yet. We are pretty sure we are going to stay somewhere else on our last night just to start checking out the other deluxe resorts. We just have to wait for the 7 month mark to book it.




We are also going with our church friends that are also DVC members (one of the main influences for us joining DVC to begin with). D is so excited. He actually seems more excited about going with them and their 2 young children in May than he is about going with his Nana in just 59 days!!!! SShhh! We won’t tell Nana, though.


I’m pretty sure I won’t do a separate pre-trip report for May. I will however add brief updates to this report (obviously) and probably to the Nov trip report I plan to do once we get back.


Then we plan to wait awhile before going back to Disney. 2020 to be exact. We shall see if we stick to that this time.


In response to my post title, “Are we really going to add a ninth night to the trip?” the answer is no. However, it was pretty darn close to being a yes. C really wanted to add a night and use a few of our points (that we will have left over from the May trip) and go ahead and check-out a deluxe resort. I on the other hand, do not want to travel back on a Sunday and everyone have to return to school/work the next day. I want that one day to unpack, unwind, and do laundry . Some might suggest taking Monday off. Nope. Not going to happen. It wouldn’t hurt G or C but it would D and I. There is that one little rule that students only get 10 parent excuses all year. Well folks, we need all 10 so we can go to Disney TWICE in one school year. I’m pretty sure the doctor won’t fax in an excuse so we can go to Disney. It would be nice though. On a funny note, we do plan to have Doc McStuffins sign a doctor’s excuse while we are there. I think I’ll copy it and send it to the school just to see what they say (working at the central office of the school system your child attends has its perks ).


This week was our Fast Pass time. We got everything we wanted and all within 5 – 10 minutes of when we wanted it. C got up in time to be ready at 6am and he had everything booked and moved around to this schedule before lunch.





AK - Navi River Journey 10:05AM



AK - Kilamanjaro Safaris 11:20AM



AK - Meet Mickey @AOP 2:00PM



EP - Soarin 9:45AM



EP - Mickey & Minnie @ Character Spot 10:50AM



EP - Space Ship Earth 11:50AM



MK - Meet Mickey @ Town Square 9:00AM



MK - Meet Cinderella & Elena 10:00AM



MK - Meet Rapunzel & Tiana 12:50PM



EP - Test Track -just me and D 1:55PM



EP - Frozen Ever After-just Smilelea 1:55PM



HS - Toy Story Mania 11:05AM



MK - Pirates of the Caribbean 10:00AM



MK - Haunted Mansion 11:00AM



MK - Peter Pan 12:00PM




He had to do the same thing the next morning for Nana and Mr. B. He was a little concerned he wouldn’t be able to get theirs to match (just the first 3 days of course). But he did and all before 6:30 am – and that was with having to shuffle and retry a few times. I have to say that I was impressed.


We also did our online check-in yesterday but apparently Disney is having issues so we couldn’t do our room preferences. Bummer! Hope that gets fixed soon.


We decided that we are going to upgrade our tickets to season passes when we go this trip since we will be going back in May. C did the math a hundred different ways and it does work out better to do that. I have to say that I am so excited about having the PhotoPass for these next 2 trips. I mean you have no idea how excited! C will never purchase it on his own because he doesn't think its worth it when we can take our own pictures. so by gosh by golly, I'm so taking advantage of the magic shots and the ride photos. I cannot wait!!!




So, I started working on this update 4 days ago and I got interrupted. Since then, C has already moved around a couple of our FP and one of our ADRs. It’s so crazy how these things can be constantly adjusted.




On another note, we think we have D talked in to riding Pirates and Soarin!!!! He is so anxious and scared so we will call it a great success if he rides even just one of these.


So now that everything is scheduled than can be scheduled. It is time to start making packing list so I can start buying what we don’t have. One of those things would be the shirts so we can have matching shirts. I have two designs picked out that I want and they are probably the only 2 that I will get C to wear. So now I have to decide if I want the boys and I to match or just the boys match. Any thoughts?

I think that covers all of the updates for now. I'll probably only do one maybe two more updates before we leave. I hope to post pictures of at least some of our matching shirts once I get them all figured out.

Next: "You want me to wear what!?!" (click here for next update)

PS. I finally figured out how to do the links between updates correctly. I've had to keep editing so I could play with the links between posts. I plan to save this information for the actual trip report too so I can do chapters. So sorry it took me so long.

 

[tazdev3225]

Looks like a fun trip. When are you going in November? I may have seen it but missed it I am known to do that. Just curious as I will be at All Star Sports from Nov 26 to Dec 2nd and if you are going in 59 days that puts you there around the same time as we will be there.

 

[MeghanEmily]

Animal Kingdom Lodge and …… We don’t know yet. We are pretty sure we are going to stay somewhere else on our last night just to start checking out the other deluxe resorts. We just have to wait for the 7 month mark to book it.

Yay AKL! And it'll be excited to see where you end up on the last night.

Then we plan to wait awhile before going back to Disney. 2020 to be exact. We shall see if we stick to that this time.

Easy to say...hard to wait though...good luck!

On a funny note, we do plan to have Doc McStuffins sign a doctor’s excuse while we are there. I think I’ll copy it and send it to the school just to see what they say (working at the central office of the school system your child attends has its perks ).

Love this!! I'm curious how it'll go over!

We decided that we are going to upgrade our tickets to season passes when we go this trip since we will be going back in May. Clint did the math a hundred different ways and it does work out better to do that. I have to say that I am so excited about having the PhotoPass for these next 2 trips.

Great plan! We did the same when we knew we'd be taking two trips. Absolutely worth it, financially, and otherwise. And the photopass is an awesome perk!

On another note, we think we have Dallas talked in to riding Pirates and Soarin!!!! He is so anxious and scared so we will call it a great success if he rides even just one of these.

Yay Dallas! It took me till I was 23 to ride Soarin', and then I wished I'd ridden it much sooner. Hopefully he'll follow through with these.

 

[Smilelea]

Looks like a fun trip. When are you going in November? I may have seen it but missed it I am known to do that. Just curious as I will be at All Star Sports from Nov 26 to Dec 2nd and if you are going in 59 days that puts you there around the same time as we will be there.

We will be there the same time! We leave 11/24 and come back on 12/2.