Getting our plans together for our 1st WDW family vaction PTR

The Cast:
Me: Lisa the mommy
DH: Joe the daddy
DS4: Tony the Mickey lover
DS2: Zander the baby of the family

When: June 14th-20th 2013
Where: WDW All-Star Movies

Background: I have been to WDW one time in my life around 1996 or so right after Christmas with my mom, step-dad, and sister and have been wanting to go back ever since. On that trip we where only ever able to go to MK and we stayed off property. We had one day to go through the whole park .

So now that I am older and have my own kids I want them to experiance the wonderful world of Disney. My DS4 loves Mickey Mouse and watches MMCH religously. DS2 is getting into it but seems to like Donald a little more. So plans are almost completely set we know the dates we are going, which hotel we are going to stay in, which dining plan we are going to do. Now I just need to figure out where we want to eat and which parks on what days. Oh and we are going to be doing the water parks as well.

We are celebrating several things on this trip, we are going between the boys birthdays one in May and one in July so we will be celebrating that as well as doing an in room celebration. We will be there for Father's day so guess what? Yep we are celebrating that ANNNNNNDDDDDDD we are celebrating DH, DS4, and DS2's first ever trips to WDW.

If you have any tips I would gladly listen. Athough @Alison1975 I would like to "steal" your trip cards with the ADR's and park times on them if that is ok? That was a neat idea and I believe that could be very helpful to me. I will add pics later as I am not at home on my own computer.

 

[wiigirl]

Hope you have a great trip!

 

[Alison1975]

The Cast:


If you have any tips I would gladly listen. Athough @Alison1975 I would like to "steal" your trip cards with the ADR's and park times on them if that is ok? That was a neat idea and I believe that could be very helpful to me. I will add pics later as I am not at home on my own computer.

Oh steal away..I'm on board and will happily help!

 

[Englebabies]

Well this trip should be fun my 2 yo doesn't like standing in lines. We went to an event for trick or treating and the lines where getting long so my 2yo didn't get very much candy because he refused to stand in line. Oh well there's always Halloween.

 

[Englebabies]

The cast
DS2 Zander

DS4 Tony

DH Joe

and Me Lisa

 

[Englebabies]

First off change of dates will be June 17th- 23rd now.
So we are leaving AR on Saturday June 15th around 6 am and little does DH know but we are going to be stopping about midway to 3/4 of the way there and leave out around 6 am from that motel should arrive in FL on Sunday and get another motel close to WDW. Then we will check in on Monday the 17th in the morning and start our trip off at MK! Not sure of ADL's yet but I will update them as I go through menus (I have a pretty picky family) I myself am just starting to want to try new things but haven't gotten DH or DS4 on board yet. Either Day One or Day Two when we get back to the room the boys are going to have a surprise waiting for them in the form of an In-Room Birthday Celebration. I have been debating on doing both at the same time or should I break them up?

 

[Englebabies]

Ok needing to do some ADR planning and really could use some help. We will be on the dining plan with one table and a quick service a day. Since this is our first trip I could use some good suggestions. Let me first say that DH and DS4 will only do American foods. Steaks are always a go. French fries and chicken nuggets or grilled cheese are DS4's favorites. I know we are doing at least one character experience. I will need to start getting my ressies in in about 3 weeks. I am willing to try new things but am a big buffet person I will pick a buffet over pretty much anything especially Chinese buffets. So any suggestions?

 

[HouCuseChickie]

Ok needing to do some ADR planning and really could use some help. We will be on the dining plan with one table and a quick service a day. Since this is our first trip I could use some good suggestions. Let me first say that DH and DS4 will only do American foods. Steaks are always a go. French fries and chicken nuggets or grilled cheese are DS4's favorites. I know we are doing at least one character experience. I will need to start getting my ressies in in about 3 weeks. I am willing to try new things but am a big buffet person I will pick a buffet over pretty much anything especially Chinese buffets. So any suggestions?

Something to remember about the restaurants is that most have at least one or two things on their menus to satisfy picky eaters. So, I'm thinking you might want to go onto Allears and start examining menus to see if there are enough places that interest you that have something more basic for your DH and a more generic kids' menu.

While not buffets, Liberty Tree Tavern and Garden Grill were the first two fairly American TS options that I thought of. I do believe both are all you care to eat though. You might even find that 'Ohana has enough things that you guys would like to try it.

Also, while food quality at buffets is usually not as good as a menu based TS meals, there are lots of options...and most should offer a wide enough variety to please everyone. You may decide Boma and Tusker are too exotic, but places like Crystal Palace, 1900 Park Fare, Hollywood & Vine and Chef Mickey's (just to name a few) might appeal to you guys (although Hollywood & Vine and Chef Mickey's don't have the best reviews).

You're not going to find a Chinese buffet, but you will find Chinese food in a few places and can always grab QS for yourself if that's something you want. You also should find QS a little easier if everyone is picky, although places like Sunshine Seasons in Epcot have a nice variety if you're feeling up for something different.

 

[Englebabies]

Something to remember about the restaurants is that most have at least one or two things on their menus to satisfy picky eaters. So, I'm thinking you might want to go onto Allears and start examining menus to see if there are enough places that interest you that have something more basic for your DH and a more generic kids' menu.

While not buffets, Liberty Tree Tavern and Garden Grill were the first two fairly American TS options that I thought of. I do believe both are all you care to eat though. You might even find that 'Ohana has enough things that you guys would like to try it
Also, while food quality at buffets is usually not as good as a menu based TS meals, there are lots of options...and most should offer a wide enough variety to please everyone. You may decide Boma and Tusker are too exotic, but places like Crystal Palace, 1900 Park Fare, Hollywood & Vine and Chef Mickey's (just to name a few) might appeal to you guys (although Hollywood & Vine and Chef Mickey's don't have the best reviews).

You're not going to find a Chinese buffet, but you will find Chinese food in a few places and can always grab QS for yourself if that's something you want. You also should find QS a little easier if everyone is picky, although places like Sunshine Seasons in Epcot have a nice variety if you're feeling up for something different.

Thank you for your input. I will defiantly try I think I had started to look at it once but the site I got it from is currently down because of Sandy I didn't remember the exact site. I am thinking Chef Mickeys for sure due to he is both DS's favorite character right now. I was also thinking about Cinderella's?? Not sure yet.

 

[mamamouse]

YAYYYYY I'm super excited for you,you're going to have so much fun(I know this because you'll be there on my bday so it's a given) and @Alison1975 I need to see these cards you guys r talking about.
@Englebabies wherever u are on June 19th please have celebration drink for me ( it doesn't have to have alcohol it just has to be delicious)

 

[Alison1975]

YAYYYYY I'm super excited for you,you're going to have so much fun(I know this because you'll be there on my bday so it's a given) and @Alison1975 I need to see these cards you guys r talking about.
@Englebabies wherever u are on June 19th please have celebration drink for me ( it doesn't have to have alcohol it just has to be delicious)

Message #193
http://forums.wdwmagic.com/threads/the-dumbo-or-die-pre-trip-report.830304/page-10

 

[mamamouse]

Message #193
http://forums.wdwmagic.com/threads/the-dumbo-or-die-pre-trip-report.830304/page-10

THankyou I just read that entire report n I saw the cards ,ever neat!

 

[Alison1975]

THankyou I just read that entire report n I saw the cards ,ever neat!

I did em for the trip last year too..those will be in either the Ponchos TR or the PTR for that one!

 

[Englebabies]

Sure thing on the drink @mamamouse So we have gone through the menus and here are the ones we will eat at
ESPN Club
The Wave
Whispering Canyon
The Plaza
Tony's Town
Biergarten
50's prime
Mama Melrose
Sci-Fi Dine-in
Chef Mickeys for Breakfast
LeCellier
and 1900 Park Fare for Breakfast
everything else is dinner and we will do quick service for lunches. We also get two extra TS credits because two days we will be doing the waterparks. Any input on which six or seven to choose?

 

[Englebabies]

Looks like day one is going to be DTD and possibly Epcot because we are not sure what time we will be getting in to the resort.
Day 2 is going to be MK
Day 3 is Blizzard Beach
Day 4 AK
Day 5 MK again
Day 6 Typhoon Lagoon
Day 7 Epcot again and leaving

That's the prelim.

 

[mamamouse]

ooohhhh Espn has a killer cheese steak sandwhich yum yum!!!

 

[Englebabies]

Update in the plans so yea we are adding a day on and making it 8 days instead of 7. We have also figured out dining plans at least the restaurants we will be going to. So here we go:
MK day will be Plaza Restaurant
AK day we will be going to DHS for 50's Prime
DHS day will be Sci-Fi
Epcot day will be Biergarten
Blizzard Beach day will be Chef Mickey's for Breakfast
Typhoon day will be Whispering Canyon
2nd MK day will be Crystal Palace
Day 8 will be a do whatever day with 1900 Park Fare for Breakfast (probably shopping for mommy)

So the plan so far is to leave AR around 6-7 am on Sunday and arrive at WDW around 7-8 on Monday driving straight threw (with potty breaks and food stops) According to google maps and my GPS it would take 19 hours straight but we will be traveling with the two little ones so I anticipate at least 4-5 stops with them awake and none with them asleep unless we need gas or really really gotta pee. For the most part most of my plans are coming around and I am even getting DH ready for the trip he no longer thinks of it as my wishful thinking and now is helping me plan a little (I think he knows that if he doesn't help I will be making all the plans my way) LOL.

 

[Cassie S.]

so excited for you!! I am also planning my family's first WDW trip but ours is in May 2013. Sounds like you're gonna have a blast!

 

[Englebabies]

We chose June because it is between our boys birthday's and we are going to celebrate them both while we are there. DS4 is a May baby and DS2 is a July baby.

 

[Englebabies]

How can I get my pictures smaller so they don't take up so much space?