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

[Smilelea]

I’m going to try for my first ever pre-trip report. However, this is not our first time going to WDW.


Let’s begin with introductions.


My name, for the purposes of this PTR, is Smilelea and I am 33 years old. I am a Special Education Teacher and have worked in the public school system for 14 years. I love to read and scrapbook.


My husband is C and he is a logistics manager for a popular telecommunications company. He is also very involved in our local church as a Deacon and he is our Worship Technical Director. Basically his second home is our church.


We just celebrated 8 years of marriage. We also have two children.


D is 5 and will be starting to Kindergarten in the fall. He is our worrier and does not like change. He loves superheroes, Disney movies, Disney Jr. shows, books, Legos, and eating mac-n-cheese.


G is 1 and is into EVERYTHING!. He’s been walking for a little over a month and has recently started climbing (see picture below where he climbed up onto the train table). He also has a fascination with giraffes and loves to eat (especially fruit).



I just realized while trying to find pictures for this that we do not have any recent pictures of the four of us or even just of C and I.





A little background on my thread title:


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. C spent months researching and planning and we also made some connections that got us some major discounts. Outside of the fact that G and I were very sick the first part of the trip, we had a very good time. 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.


So that is where this PTR comes in.


Up next: Where to stay and dining plan or no dining plan. (click link below for next update)
<a href="https://www.disboards.com/threads/what-happened-to-going-one-time-and-then-waiting-awhile-–-a-nov-2017-ptr.3612904/#post-57778806">What happened to going one time and then waiting awhile? – A Nov 2017 PTR</a>

 

[Smilelea]

Once we decided we were going back it was time to decide where we wanted to stay. Last trip we stayed at All Star Movies specifically for the Toy Story theme. D is a huge Toy Story fan so we wanted to surprise him with staying in that part of the resort.


(He was so excited!)

We had briefly considered surprising him with the entire trip but almost immediately rejected the idea due to his anxiety issues.


We knew that this trip we wanted to stay somewhere different. C began his research. He is our researcher/planner for everything except parties – that’s all me (a story for another day).


While in the midst of his research for the previous trip he learned that there is usually a free dining promo around the time we went in November and a room discount in February about the time we were considering going. We had decided on November or February due to low crowd projections. That was our first priority. Our second priority was to go when it is NOT hot. This is how we decided on those two months.


While remembering these possible promos he began researching resort options that should be included. We decided Pop was our first choice. We would love to stay at AKL but we were pretty sure it would not be within our budget. After more research, we decided we wanted to try for free dining. This lead to the need for a backup because of how quickly Pop fills up with free dining. So our backup became All Star Sports.


Oh, and I haven't forgotten that we are going with Nana and Mr. B (they were married after the trip was decided upon but before plans were made). Nana told C to just decide what we wanted to do and let her know how much her part would be. She knows how much of a researcher/planner/budgeter he is so it was a safe plan. Side note: She and Mr. B did consider staying offsite until we filled them in on everything they would miss by doing this.

C kept a close eye on rumors of when free dining would be released. The night before it was supposed to be released he decided he would check on it when he got up to use the restroom throughout the night (he gets up at least once if not more). At 1am he was up checking. Nothing. He went back to bed. He got back up around 2am. Nothing. He was on Dis watching with everyone else. Finally he decided that if it hadn’t dropped at 4am he was going back to bed. Right at that time, Disney chat came up and everyone perked up. So he waited. Finally it dropped and he could not get Pop. So All Star Sports it is.


We also decided to upgrade our dining plan to the Disney Dining Plan. We’ve never done the dining plan before so this will be a nice treat for us.


Time to get the boys in bed.


Next up: How are we going to get there? (click link below for next update)
<a href="https://www.disboards.com/threads/what-happened-to-going-one-time-and-then-waiting-awhile-–-a-nov-2017-ptr.3612904/#post-57784432">What happened to going one time and then waiting awhile? – A Nov 2017 PTR</a>

 

[rdkeim]

Following! It's funny how the first trip usually leads to another, then another. Our grandson is 7 mos. old and my DH and I have told them we want to treat them to a Disney trip when he's a little older. My daughter-in-law says they will go ONE time and that's it! Well, we'll see.......

 

[Smilelea]

Following! It's funny how the first trip usually leads to another, then another. Our grandson is 7 mos. old and my DH and I have told them we want to treat them to a Disney trip when he's a little older. My daughter-in-law says they will go ONE time and that's it! Well, we'll see.......

Welcome!
I know it! We are even talking about going again next year! The fact that we can go and G still be free is a big factor for us. He'll be free up until April 2019.

 

[Smilelea]

According to MapQuest, it would take us 9 hours to drive to Disney and that is without stopping. G gets cranky if he’s in the car for more than 30 minutes. So no to driving.


On our last trip we flew. In fact, we flew First Class. After C did all of his shopping around it came out to only costing us $100 more total to upgrade to First Class. I was ecstatic! C had surprised me with First Class tickets for our 5 yr. anniversary trip and I refuse to fly any other way. Yes, I’m spoiled.


So, C began his shopping around for this trip. Right away it started not looking too good for First Class. I was not happy to hear that.


Last trip we were able to watch movies, had plenty of snacks/drinks, lots of leg room, and got to board first. D was so amazed that he got to have two snacks on the way there – we had a layover going and coming so we had to change planes (this part I wasn’t too crazy about). When we boarded the second plane, they came around with drinks and snacks and he said “I get another snack?”


A friend told us about these headbands with ear buds and they worked perfect for D.


This was his first time flying and he handled it like a champ. Now, we did start talking about it months in advance. We found videos on YouTube and checked out books from the library. His biggest concern seemed to be going through security. On the way to Disney, he was asked his name and he wouldn’t answer. Other than that he did great. I was still nursing G so I did that on takeoff and landing and we had very minor fussing. He slept most of the flights.


So back to this trip. After much watching the airlines and shopping around we ended up with tickets to fly Southwest. My three consolations for this are: 1) we can all sit together since there are 3 seats instead of 2 like first class, 2) they’re direct flights - No layovers this time, and 3) We leave a day earlier than originally planned! That’s right. C found that if we left a day earlier we could save $530. This means we had to book an extra night at a resort.


So, why not upgrade for one night. We’ve only ever stayed offsite or at value resorts. Here comes more research. We narrowed it down to POR, POFQ, and CBR to begin with. Then we did more research and decided on POFQ. Now we have a split stay.


Nana and Mr. B have chosen to drive down. They are also not staying the full time. They are driving down the day we originally planned to leave and are staying only 3 nights. Mr. B has some family business to take care of down there so they will be leaving early. We are staying 8 nights.




Next up: We can get how many character meals???!! Planning ADRs (click link below for next update)
<a href="https://www.disboards.com/threads/what-happened-to-going-one-time-and-then-waiting-awhile-%E2%80%93-a-nov-2017-ptr.3612904/#post-57796031">What happened to going one time and then waiting awhile? – A Nov 2017 PTR</a>

 

[rdkeim]

Sounds like your plans are coming together! My DH and I will be there for a week early Dec. I've done our ADR's and I need to start planning out our FP's. Hoping to ride Flight of Passage at least once - maybe more.

 

[Smilelea]

Sounds like your plans are coming together! My DH and I will be there for a week early Dec. I've done our ADR's and I need to start planning out our FP's. Hoping to ride Flight of Passage at least once - maybe more.

That's our plan as well. We want to ride both Pandora rides but we plan on FP FOP and hoping we get lucky on the other one by getting there early enough.

 

[Smilelea]

Wow it has been a crazy few days. Three of the four of us have been sick. We’ve had some bad weather and we lost power for a bit. No power in the summer with two young children is no fun.


Anyways, back to the plan.


I mentioned in a previous post that we upgraded to the Disney Dining Plan which gives us 7 Table Service credits each. Once we learned the differences in the credits I got really excited. This meant we could do 7 character meals if we wanted. Last trip we did one character meal, Tusker House. We also ate at Coral Reef and Rainforest Café. We went through all of the character meal options before the first trip with D and he picked Tusker House for those specific characters. We tried to pick places we thought D would enjoy for the other two.




Tusker House was our favorite. Rainforest Café was fine and D LOVED the mac-n-cheese at Coral Reef. Therefore, when discussing what we wanted to do this trip, Tusker House went back on the list.


When we asked D in the very early stages of “we may go back next year” where he would like to eat, he immediately said “Beast’s Castle”. So we knew BOG had to be on the list. That covered us for 2 character meals. We needed 5 more. Then D mentioned he wanted to eat in the cars. It took us a minute to realize he meant Sci-Fi at HS. So then we needed 4 more.


Now I’m sure some would say “There are other places besides character meals that have even better food,” in which I would agree. My thought was since we are going during free dining (even though we upgraded to the next level), now is the time to take advantage of these meals. We had read that there are some character meals that the food isn’t so great but the character interactions make it worth it (for at least one time). If we were paying OOP there is no way we would want to “waste” our money on yucky or even “just okay” food at table service prices.


So after more research this is what we came up with:


Be Our Guest
Tusker House
Akershus
Crystal Palace
1900 Park Fare
Sci-Fi
Hollywood and Vine


Nana and Mr. B will have 3 table service credits each. After discussing with Nana, we decided we wanted to do BOG, TH, and Akershus with them. They want to go to AK, MK, and Epcot on their 3 days with us.


But, after more research and when it came time to schedule the reservations we ended up with:


Tusker House – 8:35 am – before the park opens (YAY!)
Akershus – 1:20 pm
Crystal Palace – 12:45 pm – we are trying to get this moved to supper
T-Rex – 12:30 pm
Be Our Guest – 8:15 pm – we are trying to get this moved to earlier but we are very thankful we even have it to begin with.
Sci-Fi – 12:20 pm
1900 PF – 6:25 pm - This is on a MK party day so the park closes early anyways. We think it is great timing! And it is our last day there.


A few days after making our ADRs we decided we would rather eat breakfast at Trattoria al Forno instead of lunch at Akershus. So far we have not managed to make that ADR. On our days with Nana and Mr. B we ended up with TH, Akershus, and CP because we couldn’t get BOG for that day.


We traded Hollywood and Vine for T-Rex on our Disney Springs morning (and we may not keep it either).


We also booked Beaches and Cream for our first day but it will be OOP since our dining plan doesn’t kick in until we check in to AS.


So, we didn’t quite stick to our original plan and we still have some changes we would like to make. Overall, we have the most important ones for this trip: BOG, TH, Sci-Fi, and 1900 (my choice). We are happy if this is what we have to stick to.




Up next: A little something extra for the baby (G)! (click link below for next update)
<a href="https://www.disboards.com/threads/what-happened-to-going-one-time-and-then-waiting-awhile-%E2%80%93-a-nov-2017-ptr.3612904/#post-57825171">What happened to going one time and then waiting awhile? – A Nov 2017 PTR</a>

 

[MeghanEmily]

What an exciting trip! It's wonderful that your kids get a chance to travel with you and their grandparents. My grandmother and I are really close, and she took me on my first Disney trip, so that's very special to me. Your ADR picks look great to me! I love Tusker House and Coral Reef. Looking forward to more updates.

 

[Smilelea]

What an exciting trip! It's wonderful that your kids get a chance to travel with you and their grandparents. My grandmother and I are really close, and she took me on my first Disney trip, so that's very special to me. Your ADR picks look great to me! I love Tusker House and Coral Reef. Looking forward to more updates.

I'm so glad you're reading along! That is very special that your grandmother took you on your first WDW trip. I love that both of my children are getting that same blessing for their first two trips (although I know G won't remember). We hope to one day take our first Disney Cruise with the 3rd (and final) set of grandparents. My parents are the cruisers so when G is a little older we hope to try that out.

 

[Jamcgee410]

We just went this past fall with our boys who were 3 (almost 4) and 18 months. Our favorite restaurant is Tusker House too. We did T-Rex for dinner and they absolutely loved it. We let our 3yo build a dino there too after dinner. It was a lot of fun. We thought the food was pretty good at T-Rex much better than Rainforest which we also did that trip.

 

[Smilelea]

We just went this past fall with our boys who were 3 (almost 4) and 18 months. Our favorite restaurant is Tusker House too. We did T-Rex for dinner and they absolutely loved it. We let our 3yo build a dino there too after dinner. It was a lot of fun. We thought the food was pretty good at T-Rex much better than Rainforest which we also did that trip.

That's great to know! A friend of ours (that is a huge Disney goer) said that the food at T-Rex wasn't that good. We are hoping he is wrong or at least that it was just when he ate there . We picked it because we thought the boys would enjoy the atmosphere.

What is this "build a dino" you speak of?

 

[Smilelea]

Back when we were planning our first trip we read all about BBB and the princess packages as well as the pirate packages , etc. D would not do anything like that even if we wanted to spend the money (which we didn't)0.


Then we read about the first haircut packages at the Harmony Barbershop. Well, one problem was that D had had many haircuts and two we didn’t think he would do it without having a meltdown . A third problem was that G wasn’t even close to having enough hair at 7 months old to come close to needing a haircut. So we didn’t go any further with this idea.


Well…we decided to go back (obviously) to WDW. So all of our plans from the previous posts were made and then we came across the first haircut package again. C mentioned it and I really started to think about it. This would be our last chance to do this and I mean truly do the First Haircut. G has hair and it is just now getting long. He is also our last child. So I said “Why not? We won’t get another chance to do this .” C’s first question was would G need a haircut by then. I believe that he will even if it isn’t a lot. His next concern was that D would get upset. I agree that is a possibility but I don’t want to not do it for that reason. D gets a Disney gift card to spend on whatever he wants. We aren’t doing that with G just yet.


So, we made the appointment for G to have his very first haircut at the Harmony Barbershop in Magic Kingdom. We also decided to make the appointment on the day that we will be there with Nana and Mr. B so they can be a part of the magic.





Up next: Disney-ing with a baby (click link below for next update)
<a href="https://www.disboards.com/threads/what-happened-to-going-one-time-and-then-waiting-awhile-%E2%80%93-a-nov-2017-ptr.3612904/#post-57827662">What happened to going one time and then waiting awhile? – A Nov 2017 PTR</a>

 

[meganc]

Joining in! Will be taking my baby to WDW for her 1st birthday in November! Interested to read your post for any tips Disney-ing with a baby that age!

 

[meganc]

Also, just curious... why did you decide to ditch the Hollywood and Vine ADR? We are planning to do the breakfast one morning. I've never done it before...

 

[ariane37]

Joining!

According to MapQuest, it would take us 9 hours to drive to Disney and that is without stopping. Griffin gets cranky if he’s in the car for more than 30 minutes. So no to driving.

I WISH I was 9 hours away - we're 24 However since my DS11 starts complaining fairly early into an hour's road trip, even a 9 hour car ride wouldn't be pleasant for any of us lol

Last trip we were able to watch movies,

One reason we always fly JetBlue is because the kids (well, all of us) can watch TV or movies!

2) they’re direct flights - No layovers this time,

Awesome When my DS15 was an infant I did a couple layover flights to Ga. to visit my mom. They weren't bad even though it was just me with him. However now, especially with my not so patient DS11, we're lucky the airports by us offer direct flights.

Be Our Guest – 8:15 pm – we are trying to get this moved to earlier but we are very thankful we even have it to begin with.

BOG is one of our favorite TS meals in all of WDW! I do hope you can get an earlier time slot but since the live-action movie was released it seems even harder than before to get a reservation there. We got one at about 2.5 months out for our Aug. trip but it's at 4:55 and I'd prefer a bit later, but like you I'm just happy we got in.

1900 PF – 6:25 pm - This is on a MK party day so the park closes early anyways. We think it is great timing! And it is our last day there.

I've booked this dinner about 3x and cancelled because my boys aren't excited to do it; finally for our upcoming trip I booked it and I'm NOT cancelling! They'll have to deal with the stepsisters One of the few character meals we've never done and I hear so many great things about the character interaction.

We also booked Beaches and Cream for our first day but it will be OOP since our dining plan doesn’t kick in until we check in to AS.

Love Beaches and Cream!

Look forward to reading more, we love going in Nov. and have gone for Thanksgiving the last couple years. Unfortunately due to older DS's sports commitments it's just too hard to go again this year, which is really bumming DH and I out

 

[Smilelea]

Joining in! Will be taking my baby to WDW for her 1st birthday in November! Interested to read your post for any tips Disney-ing with a baby that age!

Disney-ing with a baby:


I’m just going to tell you what we learned when we went last November when G was 7 ½ months old. Everyone is different so you’ll have to decide what is best for you and your little one. These are the things we are planning on doing again this upcoming trip.


1. Have a stroller with a rain cover. We rented a double from Kingdom Strollers and requested the rain cover (for free if you request it when you first reserve it). It was a huge lifesaver our last day when it came a downpour for about 15 minutes. Both boys could sit in the stroller and stay dry while the adults dawned ponchos and still got wet . The stroller itself was just a life saver in general - Very comfortable for both boys.


2. Take a baby carrier so that you can also wear baby. I took two carriers but only used one – Baby Bjorn – because it was mesh and cooler. I wore him from the resort to the parks and then we put him in the stroller. I also wore him once we left the park until we got back to the resort. Much easier than doing the whole in/out thing every time we had to fold-up the stroller. D could climb in and out quickly so that didn’t matter.


3. We did not take advantage of morning extra magic hours. We originally planned to. However, once we arrived and had our first park day, we realized we all just needed to sleep in and not rush things if we wanted to make it the rest of the day . Our kiddos still woke up fairly early but not as early as we would have if we wanted to be there for rope drop. We had one early ADR for Tusker House and that was the only morning we woke up “early”. Evening extra magic hours are a little different. We didn’t take advantage of any last year but we may this upcoming trip.


4. Take snacks for baby and a sippy cup (I’m sure this is a no-brainer). Also, take advantage of those buffet meals. Baby can have her own plate for free. G is a big eater ! We already know we will get our money’s worth on those buffets because he will eat whatever we don’t .


5. I was still nursing when we went last time so a light weight, large, muslin blanket was my best friend. Sadly, yet thankfully, he is now on whole milk so we only have to figure out how to manage that in the parks. We expect we will be purchasing some milk OOP this trip.


6. We requested a crib/pack-n-play for our room for G to sleep in. It came already set-up with a sheet. I went ahead and put my own sheet over it just because I wasn’t sure what detergent they used and how he might react to it being that young. We will do the same this upcoming trip.


7. Baby Care Centers in the parks – know where they are located before or as soon as you enter the park and take advantage of them when you are nearby. The one at Animal Kingdom was my favorite. Nice changing stations as well as nursing rooms with rockers. The one at Magic Kingdom was my least favorite because it was so small and was very crowded. I actually went back outside to a bench in an out-of-the-way area to nurse him. I don’t remember going in the ones at Hollywood Studios or Epcot.


I think that is everything that helped make our trip that much smoother. I had actually planned to post these things but kept forgetting. Thanks for asking so that I would remember!

Up next: It looks like our "one" trip that has turned into two may just turn into a whole lot more trips. (click link below for next update)
<a href="https://www.disboards.com/threads/what-happened-to-going-one-time-and-then-waiting-awhile-–-a-nov-2017-ptr.3612904/page-2#post-57843262">What happened to going one time and then waiting awhile? – A Nov 2017 PTR</a>

 

[Smilelea]

Also, just curious... why did you decide to ditch the Hollywood and Vine ADR? We are planning to do the breakfast one morning. I've never done it before...

C kept reading about how the food isn't so great at HV so we decided to forgo it. However, please note, we were going to do lunch or dinner there - not breakfast. Most of the breakfasts buffet are pretty much the same and I've seen only positive reviews for those. So I would definitely keep the breakfast if I were you. We absolutely loved the breakfast buffet at TH.

The reason we try to stay away from breakfast is because we'd rather use our QS and TS credits for lunch/dinner. We keep reading how breakfast is a poor use of credits and we prefer to eat something in our room before leaving anyways. We are of course making an exception for TH and will make another if we can get Trattoria (yet we would like more of a brunch time if we can get it).

 

[Smilelea]

Joining!


I WISH I was 9 hours away - we're 24 However since my DS11 starts complaining fairly early into an hour's road trip, even a 9 hour car ride wouldn't be pleasant for any of us lol


One reason we always fly JetBlue is because the kids (well, all of us) can watch TV or movies!


Awesome When my DS15 was an infant I did a couple layover flights to Ga. to visit my mom. They weren't bad even though it was just me with him. However now, especially with my not so patient DS11, we're lucky the airports by us offer direct flights.


BOG is one of our favorite TS meals in all of WDW! I do hope you can get an earlier time slot but since the live-action movie was released it seems even harder than before to get a reservation there. We got one at about 2.5 months out for our Aug. trip but it's at 4:55 and I'd prefer a bit later, but like you I'm just happy we got in.


I've booked this dinner about 3x and cancelled because my boys aren't excited to do it; finally for our upcoming trip I booked it and I'm NOT cancelling! They'll have to deal with the stepsisters One of the few character meals we've never done and I hear so many great things about the character interaction.


Love Beaches and Cream!

Look forward to reading more, we love going in Nov. and have gone for Thanksgiving the last couple years. Unfortunately due to older DS's sports commitments it's just too hard to go again this year, which is really bumming DH and I out

Thanks for joining!

Yikes on the 24 hours away! There is no way we would drive that (or so I say)! I can't imagine the state our nerves would be in mid-way through that drive .
We are very exited about BOG and 1900. We've read a couple of concerning reviews about 1900 but I'm determined for us to try it out ourselves. You can't believe everything you read, right?
Beaches and Cream is my husband's pick (but I'm certainly not complaining).
We like going the week after Thanksgiving. Less crowded

 

[meganc]

Disney-ing with a baby:

6. We requested a crib/pack-n-play for our room for Griffin to sleep in. It came already set-up with a sheet. I went ahead and put my own sheet over it just because I wasn’t sure what detergent they used and how he might react to it being that young. We will do the same this upcoming trip.

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?