Howdy! I’m Jennifer. I have lived in Texas all my life, except for the year I lived in Florida (in 1989-90) working in Mickey’s Mart in Tomorrowland. It wasn’t until my hubby and I were expecting our first son (13 years later) that the inner Disney enthusiast came out. It was like lightning hit me, and I realized all I had been missing.
Here’s the rest of our family - the hubby, Lance, and sons, Cameron and Wyatt (with our dog, Annabelle). I hope the boys don’t tell Belle that our dog’s name is Belle. She may not think it’s very flattering. Not pictured are our cats, Phineas and Candace. Yes. Yes we did.
Our first and only family trip was January 2009 (We stayed at CBR – great trip).
I’ve been planning (or plotting as the hubby would say) another trip since then. This trip – four people over 44 inches tall, one birthday (but three birthday celebrations), two non-stop plane rides, eight nights, two resorts, six days in the Parks, four ADRs, countless smiles, laughs and hugs, but lots of tears on the way back (mainly from me). We will have some firsts on this trip – Mickey’s PhilharMagic, Splash Mountain, FLE, visit to DTD, Fantasmic, ToT, at least six new dining experiences, two new resorts, and many more. And I’m glad to hear Splash Mountain will be refurbed before the summer. Oh, Disney, please give it lots of love!
This time, the planning was a bit more stressful. We waited and waited for June discounts to materialize. Regardless of any discounts, we booked a standard room at Coronado Springs because the pool looked really fun and, although it is a big resort, the buses are not shared with other resorts and it’s centrally located. We were hoping for a great room only discount and possibly stay at Animal Kingdom Lodge. We weren’t planning on spending much time at the resort and really couldn’t justify the added expense, but the décor and the animals made it really, really hard to turn down. I read a rumor of low discounts and my heart sunk, but WDW came through (mostly) on December 27th with 30% off at AKL, so we decided to split our stay (with encouraging responses from @worldtraveler, @docdebbi, @fredtom and @BWI FAN 4 EVER that it wouldn’t be too difficult and how to proactively ensure a seamless move) four nights at each resort. Then the Le Cellier disappointment was announced on January 16th. The one menu/one price format made the lunch cost prohibitive. A few choice words I can’t repeat were uttered. But I digress.
I logged in on our ADR date, December 7th, and got our ADRs at good times. I planned out our itinerary based on morning EMHs and Star Wars weekend. Our plans and ADRs are:
Wednesday, June 5th – pick up the boys from school about an hour before school lets out on their last day. jetBlue direct flight from AUS to MCO, arriving at 7:30pm. ME to CSR, our first home for the week. Plan to get a great night’s sleep.
Thursday, June 6th – Magic Kingdom for a.m. EMH
Friday, June 7th – EPCOT for a.m. EMH
Coral Reef for lunch at 11:30. Going for the view, but will be nicely surprised if the food is good. Maybe, we’ll celebrate our sons’ birthdays here, or maybe ‘Ohana. Their days are in April and May, but we don’t want them to feel left out. I did recently add an ADR at La Hacienda at 8pm in case we want to watch Illuminations there. Is this is a good idea?
Saturday, June 8th – DHS for Star Wars Weekend with a heavy dose of Star Wars and a sprinkle of Star Wars on top. Thanks to @Master Yoda, @figmentfan423 and @WDWFigment (via disneytouristblog) for all the good tips.
As a side note, last year during my scouting phase, I told the hubby that Disney does these Star Wars Weekends at DHS where they have a lot of events, characters and the parade, and we’ll be there for the last weekend. He said, “You had me at Star.”
Sunday, June 9th – day off to sleep in (or at least try), pack up and move to AKL, explore and shop at DTD, early lunch at Earl of Sandwich (since y’all have said so many good things about it), and some serious pool time – hopefully at both pools. Boma for dinner at 6 pm
Monday, June 10th – Depending on how much we get done on Saturday at DHS, maybe AK for a.m. EMH and hop over to DHS to finish up. 50’s Prime Time Café for the hubby’s birthday dinner at 5:50pm
Tuesday, June 11th – EPCOT to finish up.
We were going to have lunch at Le Cellier, but I cancelled that ressie in January. It’s a big non-plus for me. I’ll miss the pretzel bread, cheese soup and the filet mignon.
Wednesday, June 12th – maybe AK for a.m. EMH (if we don’t go on Monday) and then MK to cap off our fabulous vacation. ‘Ohana for dinner at 5:20pm. This wasn’t on my radar until I heard about kids’ entertainment and bread pudding.
Thursday, June 13th – check out of our second home for the week. ME back to MCO. jetBlue flight back to AUS at 2:38pm. Too early but that’s what we got.
@HouCuseChickie shared in her trip report her daughters’ pin trading, so before Christmas, I got a wild hair and bought some pins, including two special Mickey/Star Wars pins, and Disney lanyards on Ebay. It was fun. We gave them to the boys, and they really seemed interested.
I hope we can make mickey tie-dyed shirts in May. If the boys don’t want to, then OK. Or I may order some iron ons from Miss Morgan’s Designs. We’ve got lots to do before we go, so no rest for the weary.
I understand that we can’t do everything in six Park days, but that can’t stop me from trying. OK, just kidding. We know we need good nights of sleep to be up and ready for a.m. EMHs. If we take it at less than breakneck speeds, I think we’ll do well. Bottom line, we will prudently decide to slow down the pace if we need to. Tired, cranky and sore is no way to go through Disney, son.
Well, that’s it for now. Thanks for reading. I hope you enjoyed our PTR – I tend to ramble about superfluous stuff. If y’all are interested, I’ll post a TR once we’re back.
Here’s the rest of our family - the hubby, Lance, and sons, Cameron and Wyatt (with our dog, Annabelle). I hope the boys don’t tell Belle that our dog’s name is Belle. She may not think it’s very flattering. Not pictured are our cats, Phineas and Candace. Yes. Yes we did.
Our first and only family trip was January 2009 (We stayed at CBR – great trip).
I’ve been planning (or plotting as the hubby would say) another trip since then. This trip – four people over 44 inches tall, one birthday (but three birthday celebrations), two non-stop plane rides, eight nights, two resorts, six days in the Parks, four ADRs, countless smiles, laughs and hugs, but lots of tears on the way back (mainly from me). We will have some firsts on this trip – Mickey’s PhilharMagic, Splash Mountain, FLE, visit to DTD, Fantasmic, ToT, at least six new dining experiences, two new resorts, and many more. And I’m glad to hear Splash Mountain will be refurbed before the summer. Oh, Disney, please give it lots of love!
This time, the planning was a bit more stressful. We waited and waited for June discounts to materialize. Regardless of any discounts, we booked a standard room at Coronado Springs because the pool looked really fun and, although it is a big resort, the buses are not shared with other resorts and it’s centrally located. We were hoping for a great room only discount and possibly stay at Animal Kingdom Lodge. We weren’t planning on spending much time at the resort and really couldn’t justify the added expense, but the décor and the animals made it really, really hard to turn down. I read a rumor of low discounts and my heart sunk, but WDW came through (mostly) on December 27th with 30% off at AKL, so we decided to split our stay (with encouraging responses from @worldtraveler, @docdebbi, @fredtom and @BWI FAN 4 EVER that it wouldn’t be too difficult and how to proactively ensure a seamless move) four nights at each resort. Then the Le Cellier disappointment was announced on January 16th. The one menu/one price format made the lunch cost prohibitive. A few choice words I can’t repeat were uttered. But I digress.
I logged in on our ADR date, December 7th, and got our ADRs at good times. I planned out our itinerary based on morning EMHs and Star Wars weekend. Our plans and ADRs are:
Wednesday, June 5th – pick up the boys from school about an hour before school lets out on their last day. jetBlue direct flight from AUS to MCO, arriving at 7:30pm. ME to CSR, our first home for the week. Plan to get a great night’s sleep.
Thursday, June 6th – Magic Kingdom for a.m. EMH
Friday, June 7th – EPCOT for a.m. EMH
Coral Reef for lunch at 11:30. Going for the view, but will be nicely surprised if the food is good. Maybe, we’ll celebrate our sons’ birthdays here, or maybe ‘Ohana. Their days are in April and May, but we don’t want them to feel left out. I did recently add an ADR at La Hacienda at 8pm in case we want to watch Illuminations there. Is this is a good idea?
Saturday, June 8th – DHS for Star Wars Weekend with a heavy dose of Star Wars and a sprinkle of Star Wars on top. Thanks to @Master Yoda, @figmentfan423 and @WDWFigment (via disneytouristblog) for all the good tips.
As a side note, last year during my scouting phase, I told the hubby that Disney does these Star Wars Weekends at DHS where they have a lot of events, characters and the parade, and we’ll be there for the last weekend. He said, “You had me at Star.”
Sunday, June 9th – day off to sleep in (or at least try), pack up and move to AKL, explore and shop at DTD, early lunch at Earl of Sandwich (since y’all have said so many good things about it), and some serious pool time – hopefully at both pools. Boma for dinner at 6 pm
Monday, June 10th – Depending on how much we get done on Saturday at DHS, maybe AK for a.m. EMH and hop over to DHS to finish up. 50’s Prime Time Café for the hubby’s birthday dinner at 5:50pm
Tuesday, June 11th – EPCOT to finish up.
We were going to have lunch at Le Cellier, but I cancelled that ressie in January. It’s a big non-plus for me. I’ll miss the pretzel bread, cheese soup and the filet mignon.
Wednesday, June 12th – maybe AK for a.m. EMH (if we don’t go on Monday) and then MK to cap off our fabulous vacation. ‘Ohana for dinner at 5:20pm. This wasn’t on my radar until I heard about kids’ entertainment and bread pudding.
Thursday, June 13th – check out of our second home for the week. ME back to MCO. jetBlue flight back to AUS at 2:38pm. Too early but that’s what we got.
@HouCuseChickie shared in her trip report her daughters’ pin trading, so before Christmas, I got a wild hair and bought some pins, including two special Mickey/Star Wars pins, and Disney lanyards on Ebay. It was fun. We gave them to the boys, and they really seemed interested.
I hope we can make mickey tie-dyed shirts in May. If the boys don’t want to, then OK. Or I may order some iron ons from Miss Morgan’s Designs. We’ve got lots to do before we go, so no rest for the weary.
I understand that we can’t do everything in six Park days, but that can’t stop me from trying. OK, just kidding. We know we need good nights of sleep to be up and ready for a.m. EMHs. If we take it at less than breakneck speeds, I think we’ll do well. Bottom line, we will prudently decide to slow down the pace if we need to. Tired, cranky and sore is no way to go through Disney, son.
Well, that’s it for now. Thanks for reading. I hope you enjoyed our PTR – I tend to ramble about superfluous stuff. If y’all are interested, I’ll post a TR once we’re back.
