Pre-Trip "How Many More Days", No POTC, & Lots of Firsts....PTR

My first (Pre) Trip Report! We are headed back to the world for my 7th trip in May!! I honestly think I am the most excited out of my family. Nobody quite gets my fascination with all things Disney. Guess its stems from my childhood.... you could say I am a bit nostalgic! This first post will be long, but once you get to know me, you will discover I am long winded and don’t know the meaning of the phrase ”to make a long story short”. My motto is, “to make a long story even longer”.... but I am just a very detail oriented person!


When: May 26th-June 3rd

Where: Port Orleans Riverside in a Royal Room (1st time at this resort)

How: Flying Delta from St Louis to MCO round-trip with layovers in Atlanta. Arriving at 3:22 pm and on the day we leave, departure is at 7:30pm!

Who: A sarcastic, funny loving family from the Midwest!! Me (33 year old mom-34 at the time of travel), Mr. Linux (my 36 year old, IT loving, hunky hubby), Zoey (9 year old CM In-training), Blake (6 year old son on the Autism Spectrum). This will be our third trip as a whole family.

What(s): We have the Disney Dining Plan, and 8 day Park Hopper tickets as well as the Memory Maker.

Why: One last trip before we have a child in the double digits that costs the same as her parents!! Can someone say, Star Wars Weekend?!?!?!?!?! And because we haven’t been on vacation in almost 3 years!

Celebrations: My 34th birthday (5/19) and our 11th Anniversary (5/14)

Here is our plan as of now. Fastpass availability may change this, but I think that I have finally tweaked our touring plan and ADR’s to our liking.

Tuesday, May 26th
· Arrival Day! Arrive at MCO from St Louis at 3:22 pm. Plan to check out resort and take boat to DTD for food and shopping.

Wednesday, May 27th
· Magic Kingdom for Rope Drop (Park opens at 9 am), Ride as much as we can w/out fastpasses before noon.
· 12:15pm Lunch at Be our Guest

Thursday, May 28th
· Hollywood Studios for Rope drop-hoping to get kiddos signed up for Jedi Training Academy!
· Head to Epcot Mid afternoon via boat.
· 10:30 am Star Wars Galactic Breakfast
· 7:05 pm Dinner at Coral Reef

Friday, May 29th
· Animal Kingdom for Rope Drop; mid afternoon head back to the hotel.
· Epcot in the evening for ADR and EMH.
· 7:30 pm Dinner at Teppan Edo

Saturday, May 30th
· VERY EARLY MORNING ADR!!
· Leave for Magic Kingdom by 6:45 am!!
· Plan to head back to the resort to relax most of the day, nap, swim. Then head back to MK around 7/8 pm for Wishes and stay for EMH.
· 8:10 am Breakfast at Cinderella’s Royal Table

Sunday, May 31st
· This is our FREE CHOICE DAY! No Fastpasses will be scheduled in Advance (well maybe a few days). This day will depend on what the kids are in the mood to do. And of course sleeping in from the 2 am EMH the night before! Will probably hit up AK for sure and then DTD or resort or another park.

Monday, June 1st
· Epcot in the morning. No rush this morning. May park hop to HS late in the day for EMH that evening. Planning to enjoy the Boardwalk too J
· 1:30 pm Lunch at Tutto Italia

Tuesday, June 2nd
· EMH at Epcot (8am-9am)
· Boat to HS mid afternoon
· Working around ADR’s this day. Hoping to catch Fantasmic this night since we have never seen it.
· 10:55 am Buffet at Chef Mickey’s
· 7:30 pm Dinner at 50’s Prime Time Cafe

Wednesday, June 3rd
· The day we leave.
· Planning to go to MK and DTD this day. Have to be back at POR around 4 to catch DME back to airport. Going to schedule FP’s at MK for morning.

FASTPASSES
(This is the plan as our 60-day window has not opened yet)

5/27: Magic Kingdom
1. Anna & Elsa Meet and Greet
2. Seven Dwarfs Mine Train
3. Splash Mountain

5/28: Hollywood Studios
1. Toy Story Mania
2. Star Tours
3. Tower of Terror

5/29: Animal Kingdom
1. Kilimanjaro Safaris
2. Expedition Everest
3. Kali River Rapids

5/30: Magic Kingdom
1. Space Mountain
2. Big Thunder Mountain Railroad
3. Wishes

5/31: FREE CHOICE DAY

6/1: Epcot
1. Soarin’
2. Mission Space
3. Spaceship Earth

6/2: Hollywood Studios
1. Toy Story Mania
2. Star Tours
3. Tower of Terror
*edited because I realized I put Fantasmic and TSM as Fastpasses

6/3: Magic Kingdom (Kid’s choices)
1. Big Thunder Mountain Railroad
2. Splash Mountain
3. Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin

 

[mrdrift]

The plans seem really fun and relaxing. I hope you are able to get all the fast passes that you have listed in the pre trip report. Star Wars weekend is awesome, and you are doing the Galactic Breakfast way cool. Will be watching for more details and the trip report itself.

 

[jlthomas81]

The plans seem really fun and relaxing. I hope you are able to get all the fast passes that you have listed in the pre trip report. Star Wars weekend is awesome, and you are doing the Galactic Breakfast way cool. Will be watching for more details and the trip report itself.

Thanks! As this will be our third trip as a family, I think we've figured out how to space things out really well and enjoy ourselves so no one feels too overwhelmed! IMO, 8 nights and 9 days is the perfect amount of time to spend there.

 

[EnchantedRose]

Awesome plans!! I'm waiting for my window to open up to make our Fast Passes as well! A suggestion - if you cannot get Anna and Elsa for your first MK day - try checking your last MK day first. Chances are you'll have a wider variety of times than you will the first day. The Jedi Training is AWESOME! My oldest who turned 7 our last trip did it and had A BLAST! He is a huge Star Wars Fan....and he even got to use the Force on some Storm Troopers! Don't forget to make sure you have both kids to sign them up, you have no idea how many parents ran to sign up their kids and got turned away because their kid/kids weren't with them!

Cant' wait to read your Trip Report!

 

[jlthomas81]

So, here are the two offspring in all their glory. They are the reason we spend months upon months planning and save up to give them the most magical experience we can. This year I must say that we are even more excited because of their ages...no diapers, no strollers, and of course giving them a voice in the planning.

Now to explain the reasoning behind part of my title. In the past we have done the whole "Surprise, we are going to Disney World" thing.




As you can see, it didn't go over too well in our house. So we decided to include the kids pretty early so they could help us choose ADR's, Fastpasses, even the resort. And so that I could stop the every day (some times multiple times a day) assault of "How many more days?" I found a super cheap countdown chart at Hobby Lobby and the countdown began. We moved it for a few days due to a function at our house, and when I forgot to put it back, I was reminded about it until I did. So here we are at 83 days and counting just hanging out watching Big Hero 6. All DIsney, all the time. 365 days a year

 

[FlaggNL]

Great plans! Enjoy the pre feelings! And love the countdown board! Looks great!!

 

[jlthomas81]

77 days to go! And can I just say that after my last two weeks, I am more than ready for that countdown to hit 0!! Both of the kiddos have been sick Blake had some weird virus last week that resulted in stomach issues and an impromptu carpet cleaning session Then today, Zoey tested positive for Influenza B. The Lysol and Hydrogen Peroxide cleaner has been used on every surface, multiple times! Thankfully Kevin (thats Mr. Linux's real name) and I have yet to exhibit any symptoms. So, this mama needs a vacation...like yesterday!

As for the trip updates, there isn't much to tell right now. Just waiting for 60 days to roll around so I can start checking out this new Fastpass system. When we were there in September 2012, we were able to be testers of Fastpass plus. We booked our Fastpasses a couple weeks before we left and received a special card to use at the appropriate rides. It was kind of fun for us at the time. So I am anxious to see how that experience compares with the system that is in place now.

Lots of firsts on this trip!

1st Time using a travel agent
1st Time using My Magic +
1st Time staying at Port Orleans Riverside
1st Time to see Fantasmic (or at least thats the plan)
1st Time at Chef Mickey's
1st Time at Be Our Guest
1st Time at Cinderella's Royal Table
1st Time riding in First Class (an unexpected upgrade that I am surprising the family with!)
And of course, 1st Time NOT riding Pirates of the Caribbean

Thanks so much for reading all! I promise to have a detailed Trip Report and lots and lots of pictures upon our return!!

 

[jlthomas81]

Awesome plans!! I'm waiting for my window to open up to make our Fast Passes as well! A suggestion - if you cannot get Anna and Elsa for your first MK day - try checking your last MK day first. Chances are you'll have a wider variety of times than you will the first day. The Jedi Training is AWESOME! My oldest who turned 7 our last trip did it and had A BLAST! He is a huge Star Wars Fan....and he even got to use the Force on some Storm Troopers! Don't forget to make sure you have both kids to sign them up, you have no idea how many parents ran to sign up their kids and got turned away because their kid/kids weren't with them!

Cant' wait to read your Trip Report!

Thanks for the tip about Anna and Elsa! I will check with my daughter and see if she thinks she can wait until the end Also, the plan is most definitely to drag both of them all the way over to Jedi Training sign-ups!! HAHA, if they want to both do it so bad, then they are going to be there!! Thanks for reading.

 

[jlthomas81]

Great plans! Enjoy the pre feelings! And love the countdown board! Looks great!!

Thanks for reading!

 

[FlaggNL]

Thanks for reading!

You are welcome! Love to read and watch other ppls PTR's and TR's! Helps us with the pre feelings! And always great to read how other ppl experience their WDW trips! And how they come to the world!

 

[mrdrift]

Hope the kiddos gets better soon and you can avoid getting something yourself. That was a large list of 1st time for this trip and I hope you enjoy all of those activities. Flying first class, I'm a little jealous.

 

[jlthomas81]

Hope the kiddos gets better soon and you can avoid getting something yourself. That was a large list of 1st time for this trip and I hope you enjoy all of those activities. Flying first class, I'm a little jealous.

Well, we like to go by the "you can't do everything in trip" mentality. So it helps when we get to talk about what firsts we have for each visit. We do have a lot this time!!

 

[jlthomas81]

10 Days out from Fastpass+ Selections! And I still don't know what or when! It would be helpful if I had done this before. Guess I'll figure that out as I am making them

Also, I was able to snag us an ADR for the new BOG Breakfast offering...8:05 am which means we will have yet another day of getting into the Magic Kingdom before park opening. As you can tell, we are not sleep in while on vacation people!! We are more the get there early, rest in the afternoon, and go back at it at night kind of people. This will also be a first for us, and I cannot wait to have those glorious no people castle pics!! Does anyone know if the photographers will be out at that time?

 

[mrdrift]

Congrats on the BOG breakfast ADR, I hear those are going as fast as they put them out. I have never been to the parks before opening, that is something I should try. Good luck on the fast passes

 

[jlthomas81]

DAY 60 has arrived!! Managed to get all the Fastpasses we wanted booked, and all before 11:30 pm CST. That was after researching touring plans and just plan old guessing!! No matter what happens with the Fastpasses, I know we are going to have a magical time Can't believe we are within 2 months now.

I will leave you with this little glimpse from my evening....day dreaming about this Magic Kingdom night with EMH already!! Evening EMH in Magic Kingdom is truly my most favorite time in any of the parks.

 

[jlthomas81]

Congrats on the BOG breakfast ADR, I hear those are going as fast as they put them out. I have never been to the parks before opening, that is something I should try. Good luck on the fast passes

Thanks! I think I had a very successful first try at Fastpass +!!

 

[mrdrift]

Thanks! I think I had a very successful first try at Fastpass +!!

Well done on the fastpasses, you were able to get the most popular choices without an issue.

 

[FlaggNL]

Great fastpasses Hope to get mine in the right place later this year Have to wait 'a little' longer

 

[jlthomas81]

Oh my, oh my! Is it really only 43 days?! When changing the calendar this week, I realized we are right at about 6 weeks until wheels up!

Last week we had some tornadoes come through our area (Southern Illinois just outside of St. Louis), and it reminded me of our trip in 2011 when a tornado came through and hit St. Louis and Lambert International Airport....that was 3 1/2 weeks before our May trip that year. They managed to keep the airport open, however arriving to boarded up windows and caution tape was a little daunting! Praying for the communities that were hit by the storms last week.

The kids have each earned well over $50 in Disney Dollars so far, and my husband and I are regretting starting the earning process so early!

Now we just sit and wait a few weeks for our Magic Bands to arrive! I did some research and wanted ours to stand out a little, so I found these cute little vinyl stickers to put over our bands to jazz them up. Which will be nice since both kids wanted a blue band!

Well, since I am day dreaming about Disney way too much these days...I will leave you with this cute pic of us from 2012!!

 

[jlthomas81]

This arrived a few days ago, hot off the presses!!

We have used a Passporter for every trip since 2009, and I just love them! I keep all of our daily receipts, park maps, show schedules, and anything else we may collect for each day in the pockets at the back. I also am able to write what worked and what didn't work after each day so I can remember for future planning. I have been able to go back over receipts to plan a budget for this trip. I highly recommend this travel guide (and no they aren't paying me to say this...just a happy customer!).

So here we sit at 39 days. Our Magic bands should be shipping in about 10 days and all other travel documents and Magical Express tags should be arriving to our TA any day now! It is really hard to believe that we are merely a month away when the planning started back in December! And as I looked at our calendar over the next 39 days, I think it will get here before we even realize it!

The husband's Business trip and 2 training classes, Field day for the kids, Field Trip to the St. Louis Magic House, Dance recital, Variety show at school, hosting the school book fair as part of the PTO....and thats just what I can think of off the top of my head!

And did I mention I dropped over 10 punds in the last month!! Well I kind of had to, or else I would have been buying an all new Disney wardrobe!

Speaking of wardrobe, in my next post I will add some pics of some of the cute shirts (for me and hubby) and outfits I have for the kiddos! Yes, we are one of those crazy families who really likes to dress the Disney part This year I even plan to throw a few Disney Bounding outfits together for myself!

Until next time.....Have yourself a Magical Day!!