Will my DH kill me before we get to Disney?? OUR FIRST EVER DW TRIP (MAR. 2011 PTR)

[DL55]

So sorry about your job. I'm sure you will have fun any time you go. Since Easter is later maybe it won't be too bad in March. Here's to hoping.

 

[Suellen]

Ey! Sorry about your job!

Every district is different as far as absences. For example we get 15 days ~ sick or personal or vacation. After that you have to present your case to a board to see if your child will go on to the next grade.

Some districts separate excused vs. unexcused.

You just never know until you ask!

As for March ~ we have been in March and it was 1/2 cold and 1/2 nice.

You can see our pictures here: https://picasaweb.google.com/suellenh/UntitledAlbum#

You'll see that we swam and wrapped the kids in blankets during the 4 days we were there!! Sweatshirts one day shorts the next.

I don't remember the crowds being wicked bad... but we don't do lines... so we just skip what has a long line.

 

[amandaluvsgoofy]

I am so sorry about your job! It's amazing when budget cuts come in to play, the first thing to go are areas of education! After working in the public school district for 6 years I had finally had enough. Of course now in the college environment there is no job security whatsoever. Ugh!

Anyway, good luck with your planning! Let us know what the final decision for your dates are!!

 

[BridgetR3]

O.k. so we have been thrown for a loop so to speak. After losing my job and the boys entering a different school district, we can no longer go in May.

We have instead decided to go in March during Mardi Gras break which is a week long for our boys. We will leave Thursday, March 3 and get to Disney on March 4. The first day is going to be off property and we will only be going to Downtown Disney and things like that. We will stay until March 11 and then take a day or two to drive home before starting school that Monday.

We had to change resorts as well since we changed dates so close to the time of our trip. All Star Movies is no longer available which is o.k. because personally I was kinda worried about it after reading all of the negative reviews. We are now going to just have to visit ASMO to take pictures with the Toy Story chars one day during our "down time". We are staying at the Caribbean Beach Resort in a pirate room now. I think my boys will love it!!!

We also had to change dining to quick service dining because I was not able to find restaurant reservations at places and times we could agree on. I know I know.....I will be missing out on all the table service experiences. Unfortunately, I guess that's something I have to give up in order to just "get to Disney!".

I made my new schedule this morning and the great thing is that most calendars don't agree at all for this week. So how do you plan if you have no idea what they want you to do???? Here's what I have so far....

Mar. 5 - Epcot
Mar. 6 - AK
Mar. 7 - MK (I know this is a no no but I want it here......Crazy move? Tell me what you think.)
Mar. 8 - HS
Mar. 9 - MK
Mar. 10 - Epcot
Mar. 11 - Either MK or HS (I've heard a LOT of talk about little kids and people who don't ride thrill rides not enjoying HS as much as MK. I figured maybe by this day we would choose to skip HS in favor of MK one last time before going home.)

Next post: Our Disney countdown photos and our MK schedule for you to critique!!!

 

[Suellen]

We LOVE DHS. We do not bother to visit AK most trips.

I think MK on the 7th is perfect! EMH the night before should make it good for Monday! IF you are avoiding EMH. We love evening EMH and do our best touring after 11PM!

Is POP available by any chance? My DD asks to go there every trip... over AKL! She just loves it ~ we like it too because of the bus setup ~ one stop! Just a thought! We've never found moderate to be worth the extra $$ and tend to only stay there if it is the only option! Food for thought!

I would also recommend adding the QS dining! We LOVE it when not doing deluxe dining! My DD(3.5) is not a big eater so I feed her from my adult meal and that stretches our meals even further! We can easily make it cover all three meals using the snacks as a buffer.

Just think! Less time to wait now!!!

 

[BridgetR3]

I edited my post now to say that we are doing QS dining. I agree that we REALLY needed some dining in there. We had actually switched to that one but I had forgotten to write it.

Pop wasn't available either. The only one was All Star Sports which I was told to "avoid like the plague" because of big rowdy groups. So we will be at CBR for this trip and in the future will probably check out ASMO!

Thanks for the reassurance on doing MK on a Monday. I've heard it's a big no no but since we've never been to Disney, I figured we wouldn't know the difference right?!?!?

Bridget

 

[Suellen]

FWIW ~ Pop is available now and A LOT cheaper!

JMHO ~ perhaps your boys would really like the pirate room!

 

[BridgetR3]

So you will finally meet us!

I am (err....was and maybe soon will be) a teacher. Right now, I am a stay at home mom with Disney on the brain.

My DH allows me to plan the vacations because I get really OCD about everything and he doesn't really care as long as he enjoys himself. That's where you guys come in! I can't tell you how many times I've started a conversation with him and with one "Hmmph...." I know he's tired of hearing Disney!

Here's a pic of us on a recent 10th anniversary trip.

DS8 is a planner as well so we have enjoyed talking to each other about our Disney plans. He is very interested in hands-on stuff as well as the Kim Possible missions. I think that is what he is looking most forward to.

Here's a pic of him in front of our Disney Countdown Calendar.

A BIG THANK YOU to moikturtle for the many Mickey Heads we used in our project! She made them all and sent them to me to celebrate our first ever trip to DW.

DS4 is my daredevil and ladies' man. He can't wait to ride on everything. He has already explained to us that we are all going to DisneyWorld so he can ask Cinderella to dance. He "NEEDS" to dance with her. I sure hope she honors that request!

Here's a pic of him in front of the Countdown calendar.

Now that we've introduced ourselves, let's talk about Magic Kingdom!!!

 

[BridgetR3]

I'm not sure how many of our 7 days to give this park. I don't think I can do all that I want here in under 3 days so I'm thinking of giving it three days and only spending one at HS. If you remember from our previous posts only DH will ride thrill rides. The rest of us are chickens.

Also, DS4 isn't really the sit and watch shows type. I'm sure that some of the action and stunt shows will be fine but I really don't think he would do well in the longer "productions". If he's miserable, mom's miserable. So do you think we could do HS in one day if we skip some of the shows?

If we do end up with three days in MK, I would feel MUCH better about our plan! There is SOOOOOO much here to do that I don't think we will ever finish. Here's what I'm thinking:

Day 1 at MK - Start in Tomorrowland and work counterclockwise.
Day 2 at MK - Start at Adventureland and work clockwise.
Day 3 at MK - Start at Fantasyland and go do what we didn't get to finish on the other days or what we want to ride twice.

Here's Day 1's plans (overly ambitious I think)!!

* Get there at RD.
* Head to Buzz and ride it. Grab FP?
* DH ride SpaceMountain while we ride TTA. Yes TTA lasts longer but I was figuring there would be a line to SM by then.
* Ride the Speedway
* Winnie the Pooh
* Snow White (will it still be open in March?)
* Dumbo (if the line is long for this we will skip)
* Mickey's Philharmagic
* Grab FP for Peter Pan
LUNCH
* Peter Pan
* It's a small world
* Haunted Mansion
* BTMRR
Parade - is the afternoon parade good? Should we see it?
* Splash (if it's not too cold)
* POTC
* Jungle Cruise
* Railroad back around
DINNER - we usually eat around 5.
* Use fast passes
* Evening Parade and Wishes

Yes I know that we will probably never get all of it done in one day. What are some problems here? Where should I use FP's that I don't already have FP's? HELP!!! Thanks!

 

[DL55]

If you want to go to MK three days ..do it! It's your trip. DHS will be there for another trip.
BTMRR, Splash and Jungle cruise you need to have a FP (if there are any crowds). I'm sure your kids would like the parade. Your itinerary looks like fun.

 

[Suellen]

If you want to go to MK three days ..do it! It's your trip. DHS will be there for another trip.

I agree!! And if you finish up MK and want to head to DHS then do it. That's just how I roll!

 

[Suellen]

* DH ride SpaceMountain while we ride TTA. Yes TTA lasts longer but I was figuring there would be a line to SM by then.

I think the walk UP Space Mountain (and down Space Mountain? Why do you go up then downstairs then up again??) takes longer than the TTA ride does! So I wouldn't worry about him out waiting for you. My guess would be a twice around TTA or a TTA and another trip to Buzz!

I didn't see Monster's Inc Laugh Floor on your list.... GREAT show! Not to be missed!

 

[BridgetR3]

I think the walk UP Space Mountain (and down Space Mountain? Why do you go up then downstairs then up again??) takes longer than the TTA ride does! So I wouldn't worry about him out waiting for you. My guess would be a twice around TTA or a TTA and another trip to Buzz!

I didn't see Monster's Inc Laugh Floor on your list.... GREAT show! Not to be missed!

Thanks!!! There are a few things not on the list right now because we either planned on doing that on Day 2 or we were only going to do it if there was a day 3. I have Monster's Inc on Day 2!! Thanks again for all the advice! We definitely need it!

 

[BridgetR3]

I'm beginning to think that no one bugs Disney more than I do.

Today DH and I had a talk about not doing the regular dining plan. It has really bothered me that we dropped it just because we couldn't get all the same restaurants. I mean, let's live a little and try new things right!?!??! By some miracle, he dropped what he was doing and helped me find 6 table service reservations that we could agree upon so I could have my dining plan back!!! YAY!!! For only $132 more, I now have 6 table service meals instead of quick service meals!!! Yes I know I should have had free dining IF I had known I was going in March BEFORE a week ago! But you live and learn!

So here are our NEW ADR's!!!! YAY!!!!

Sat. - Epcot - None
Sun. - AK - Trail's End Restaurant (this is one DH REALLY wanted....not sure why)
Mon. - MK - Plaza Restaurant
Tues. - HS - 50s Prime Time Cafe (repeat of our original plan)
Wed. - MK - Grand Floridian Cafe'
Thurs. - Epcot - Cape May Cafe'
Fri. - MK/HS - Planet Hollywood

Our new ADR's take us out of the parks for a meal but I'm o.k. with that because I get to see other resorts and ride the other forms of transportation (which my kids will think is a ride anyways).

So advice? Would you change one of these? I know we lost a couple of character dinners that I will miss but it's the best I could do.

 

[Suellen]

They look good!

We really liked Cape May AND Grand Floridian Cafe was great when we were there!

The Plaza I haven't tried yet ~ but it is on our agenda for May ~ so you'll have to let me know how it is!

Planet Hollywood ~ the only complaint I have about that is the NOISE! It is very loud.

I will also add if there are places that you really want that you didn't get ~ keep trying!! You may be surprised!

 

[Colleen27]

We have instead decided to go in March during Mardi Gras break which is a week long for our boys. We will leave Thursday, March 3 and get to Disney on March 4. The first day is going to be off property and we will only be going to Downtown Disney and things like that. We will stay until March 11 and then take a day or two to drive home before starting school that Monday.

We had to change resorts as well since we changed dates so close to the time of our trip. All Star Movies is no longer available which is o.k. because personally I was kinda worried about it after reading all of the negative reviews. We are now going to just have to visit ASMO to take pictures with the Toy Story chars one day during our "down time". We are staying at the Caribbean Beach Resort in a pirate room now. I think my boys will love it!!!

Just found your PTR and had to jump in! Our trips overlap a bit - we're going March 2 through 8 at Pop Century.

Hey, at least the trip got closer instead of further away, right? TouringPlans.com has a crowd calendar and your dates are within the free preview window right now if you want to get an idea of forecasted crowd levels. They're predicting them to be quite moderate, and not significantly higher than you'd have had for May.

You will LOVE CBR, I'm sure. It has by far the best pool of all the moderate resorts, with a really cool pirate ship themed splash area and a zero-entry section perfect for younger kids. Make sure you allow for some time to enjoy the resort, because it is worth it!

Mar. 5 - Epcot
Mar. 6 - AK
Mar. 7 - MK (I know this is a no no but I want it here......Crazy move? Tell me what you think.)
Mar. 8 - HS
Mar. 9 - MK
Mar. 10 - Epcot
Mar. 11 - Either MK or HS (I've heard a LOT of talk about little kids and people who don't ride thrill rides not enjoying HS as much as MK. I figured maybe by this day we would choose to skip HS in favor of MK one last time before going home.)

We'll be at Epcot the same day (the 5th).

DHS is my least favorite park so I'm probably biased, but I don't think there's really two days worth to do there unless you're on a long trip and have time to kill or really must ride the headliners more than once. If you aren't big on thrill rides, I'd take a 3rd MK day before a 2nd HS day because 2 or the top 3 draws at DHS are pretty extreme.

My DH allows me to plan the vacations because I get really OCD about everything and he doesn't really care as long as he enjoys himself. That's where you guys come in! I can't tell you how many times I've started a conversation with him and with one "Hmmph...." I know he's tired of hearing Disney!

My DH is the same way. He's not coming on our March trip, so it is worse even than usual - he couldn't possibly care less, and I couldn't possibly talk about it more!

Also, DS4 isn't really the sit and watch shows type. I'm sure that some of the action and stunt shows will be fine but I really don't think he would do well in the longer "productions". If he's miserable, mom's miserable. So do you think we could do HS in one day if we skip some of the shows?

Absolutely, though you might find your 4yo surprises you with some of the shows at Disney. With boys, I'd recommend skipping the princess shows (Beauty & the Beast and Voyage of the Little Mermaid) unless you really want to see them, and you're definitely going to want to catch Lights Motors Action. That show is pretty much made for little boys - car chases and stunt falls and all sorts of action-fun!

If we do end up with three days in MK, I would feel MUCH better about our plan! There is SOOOOOO much here to do that I don't think we will ever finish. Here's what I'm thinking:

Day 1 at MK - Start in Tomorrowland and work counterclockwise.
Day 2 at MK - Start at Adventureland and work clockwise.
Day 3 at MK - Start at Fantasyland and go do what we didn't get to finish on the other days or what we want to ride twice.

Here's Day 1's plans (overly ambitious I think)!!

* Get there at RD.
* Head to Buzz and ride it. Grab FP?
* DH ride SpaceMountain while we ride TTA. Yes TTA lasts longer but I was figuring there would be a line to SM by then.
* Ride the Speedway
* Winnie the Pooh
* Snow White (will it still be open in March?)
* Dumbo (if the line is long for this we will skip)
* Mickey's Philharmagic
* Grab FP for Peter Pan
LUNCH
* Peter Pan
* It's a small world
* Haunted Mansion
* BTMRR
Parade - is the afternoon parade good? Should we see it?
* Splash (if it's not too cold)
* POTC
* Jungle Cruise
* Railroad back around
DINNER - we usually eat around 5.
* Use fast passes
* Evening Parade and Wishes

Yes I know that we will probably never get all of it done in one day. What are some problems here? Where should I use FP's that I don't already have FP's? HELP!!! Thanks!

That is pretty ambitious. Rope drop to closing with a 4yo probably isn't going to make for the best day, and if you're going to take 3 days at MK you may as well slow down a bit.

I'd structure things more like this:
Day 1 - start in Tomorrowland, take your time and see what you want (and I second the recommendation to catch Monsters Inc, it is so much fun!). Be sure to grab Buzz fastpasses before you ride because you will want to ride again!

Day 2: start with Fantasyland, get Dumbo especially out of the way early because that line builds FAST. Do Fantasyland and move on to Liberty Square and Adventureland.

Day 3: start with Frontierland, and then move on to anything you missed or want to repeat from days 1 and 2. This way, you're hitting all the long-wait-time rides early in the day so you're not criss-crossing the park to gather and use fastpasses or waiting in many lines.

On the day you plan to stay for the fireworks, I'd strongly suggest taking a rest/swim break in the afternoon. Rope drop to fireworks is just too long of a day for most people, and even if you get through it without any meltdowns you'll be wiped out the next day!

I'm beginning to think that no one bugs Disney more than I do.

Nah, I'm pretty sure I've got you beat. Our Dec '09 trip cycled through 3 sets of dates, 3 resorts, and 2 dining plans before everything was finalized! And you don't even want to know how often I was on the phone with Disney Dining back before the online ADR system was introduced.

So here are our NEW ADR's!!!! YAY!!!!

Sat. - Epcot - None
Sun. - AK - Trail's End Restaurant (this is one DH REALLY wanted....not sure why)
Mon. - MK - Plaza Restaurant
Tues. - HS - 50s Prime Time Cafe (repeat of our original plan)
Wed. - MK - Grand Floridian Cafe'
Thurs. - Epcot - Cape May Cafe'
Fri. - MK/HS - Planet Hollywood

Our new ADR's take us out of the parks for a meal but I'm o.k. with that because I get to see other resorts and ride the other forms of transportation (which my kids will think is a ride anyways).

So advice? Would you change one of these? I know we lost a couple of character dinners that I will miss but it's the best I could do.

Trail's End is a bit of an odd choice, quite off the beaten path. You're going to want to drive to that one, because getting back to CBR from the Fort is a bit convoluted and time consuming.

We love the Plaza. The food isn't anything fancy but the sandwiches are huge and yummy, and the desserts are even huge-er and yummier.

Grand Floridian Cafe is a nice choice for a MK day. You can take the monorail in one direction and the boat back for two "rides" (we're that way too - no public transit where we live, so my kids even think the bus is an attraction!). It has been a long time since I was there, but when we were the food was fabulous and it is a very pretty restaurant.

Planet Hollywood is way out of the way for either of your potential park plans for the day. Even driving, that's probably 20-30min each way and on the buses it is even longer because there are no buses from DTD to the parks. You'll have to transfer at a resort. The food is good and the memorabilia is cool, but be warned, it is VERY loud!

In my opinion, you really should look at planning one meal somewhere in Epcot. That's where Disney's best theme park restaurants are, and there's bound to be availability somewhere because there are just that many choices. Our favorites so far are Teppan Edo (Japanese hibachi grill, same menu for lunch & dinner so you can pick whatever time works best) and Tutto Italia (good, homestyle Italian), and this time we're most excited to try Chefs de France to see Remy.

And keep trying for some of those character meals, cancellations do pop up from time to time and the online dining system makes it so much easier to compulsively check for availability.

 

[BridgetR3]

Thanks Colleen for jumping in!!! Yes we are excited that in spite of it all we are still able to go and we were able to move it closer. After all, we had just hit double digits last week and now we are less than one month. That's the quickest countdown I've ever had!

Oh cool!!! My DS is so excited about Epcot and wants to do it first because of the KimPossible Missions. We aren't big thrill riders so I think we are going to attempt to complete ALL the missions while we are there!!!

Yes I think DHS and AK will be our least favorites as well. We are NOT thrill riders at all (except DH but he'll live either way) so we are not interested in RNR or TOT. DH wants to ride those and I think once will be plenty for him. We do want to ride TSM but I don't want to do a whole park just to ride it more than once so I'm really considering making our last day a MK day 3. MK seems to have more of our "caliber' of stuff with the smaller rides.

Wow, I guess I should be thankful then that my DH is actually going!! I talk about it all the time. Earlier tonight he called out to me, "Honey what are you doing?" and my answer was, "Looking at food porn!" He choked on his coke and came to see what I meant. At least I know how to get his attention!

Yes we do plan on seeing Indiana Jones (DS4 loves him) and the Lights Motors Action Stunt Show but none of the 'girly" ones. I don't think we will even attempt Lion King just because there is so much to see and do outside.
O.k. o.k. so it is very ambitious. I figure I'll have to scale it down but my thought was "I DON'T WANT TO DROP ANYTHING!!!!" o.k. better now. Your plan sounds great!!! So you just basically ignore the other lands when it's not their "day"?? Or do you just do as much as you can and then nap and come back later?? This does seem to give you more time to re-ride the rides. Hmmm....something to TRY to discuss with DH......

Glad to know I'm not the only one who calls the Disney hotline 24/7. Hi I'm Bridget and I'm addicted already......

We had chosen Trail's End because Animal Kingdom closes earlier than most parks so that was an early day. It was DH's choice and I hated to override one of the few decisions he's made but I had read a few places on the boards about it taking forever to get there so I let him know. He decided that we would try Captain's Grill that night at the Yacht Club! I'm pretty excited because Captain's Grill has snow crab legs and I love snow crab legs!!!

Yes, we live in a rural area with no city transportation. Truthfully my DS8 rode the school bus for the first time this week and thought it was super cool. Yes they are sheltered but there's no need out here when they come with me everywhere. SOOOO....we treat all "rides" as "rides"!!!

Yes Planet Hollywood is out of the way but it is our last stop on the way out. You see we will be traveling that night for a while to get closer to home so we figured that we would stay in the park until around 2 or so....go get our car and drive to DTD, eat at Planet Hollywood and head home. Loud is o.k. with us....this is also another of DH's choices!

Unfortunately DH looked at menus in Epcot and did not see anything he would like. I think if he didn't know what the seasoning was or what the side dish was he threw it out as an option. My family is NOT very adventurous in food either. I would love to try Chefs de France myself but no one else was on board. Soooo...in order to keep everyone happy I'll settle for a Grey Goose Slushie in Epcot instead of a table meal. We will eat counter service there but it's more than likely going to be at Sunshine Seasons because they had food that we could all agree on.

I definitely will keep trying for Character meals. We had Garden Grill for our May trip and I'm sorry I lost it. It really sounded like a neat restaurant!

Thank you so much for your advice!! I deeply appreciate it and so desperately need it!!! Keep it coming!!

 

[BridgetR3]

Yesterday we stopped by Party City and bought Disney lanyards for each of us for only 99 cents!!! They don't have a "pouch" on the end but I'm sure I can find some type of pouch/coin purse before our trip!!! YAY for saving money!

We also picked up DS4 an Indy "costume" (it's really just the shirt, hat, and whip) for our HS day. He really wants to be IN the show with Indy but that is NOT going to happen. Both of my boys want to dress up for the trip. I've limited it to two different days so each of them get two costumes. I figured since I'm not doing matching shirts that this would be a way for them to be different somehow.

DS8 is going to be Darth Vader at HS while DS4 is Indy. Then for one of our MK days, DS4 is Buzz and DS8 is a pirate. I don't care for DS8's Darth Vader idea because of the mask so I may make him change that.

My thoughts on Animal Kingdom -

Dinosaur - Is it too scary for children? I'm really thinking of just letting DH ride this one and staying with the kids. (Same for It's Tough to be a Bug - can my DS4 sit on my lap for this one? I really WANT to see this!!!)

Affection Station - Is this hard to get to? My guide book seems to think so. How hard is it? How long does it take to get there (and back)?

I'm not sure about Kali River because I don't think I want to be soaked in March. We will see though.

Definitely do -
Safari
Jammin' Jungle Parade
EE (DH only)
Triceratop Spin
Camp Minnie and Mickey
Trails

What are the must do's in Animal Kingdom for someone who's never been?

Thanks for all of your help!!!!

 

[DL55]

Dinosaur is definitely scary! I wouldn't take the kids on this. I've heard that Bug can be scary. I think if your kids aren't afraid of bugs in real life they will be fine. And what boy doesn't like bugs?
Affection Station just takes a short train ride. If there isn't a huge line it's not bad. I don't know how long it takes. I seldom look at my watch on vacation.
I agree the Darth Vadar mask might be too much. You'll probably end up just carrying it around.

 

[amyrella]

Festival of the Lkon King is very good!! i wouldnt miss it!! it is very interactive witht he kids! i saw it for the first time a few years ago and i was so happy i didnt miss it! i say chek it out if you have the time!

your son should be able to sit on your lap during its tough to be a bug... i cant remember if it is scary or not... maybe you should have them watch the movie a few times so they get to know the characters. maybe they will feel more comfortable??