Pre-Trip Party of TEN Birthday-palooza PTR

I wasn't going to do a PTR. It almost feels too late to begin a PTR, but this trip is a pretty big deal, so here we go!

Who: Party of 10! :) :)
Me, I'm Ali (sounds like alley) my husband Jim, our kids (Gwen 8 & Ethan 6) my husband's parents, and his sister, and her husband AND their daughters (11 & 5)

What: Our very first vacation all together (big deal)

Where: Off-site vacation home :-(
I can't lie, I'm a little bummed about this, but my MIL is renting the house for all of us, and there's s private pool...maybe I'm not so bummed after all ;-)

When: July 20th-28th

Why: Birthday-palooza!!!
My MIL is turning 70 and WDW is where she wants to celebrate! (VERY big deal!) My SIL is also celebrating her birthday on this trip, but that's more of a coincidence :) (just kidding, birthdays are ALWAYS a big deal)

106 days to go!
 
Last edited:
Click to expand...
MerMom1981

MerMom1981

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
IMG_20150501_105121.jpg

The hubby, Gwen, Me & Ethan at Epcot this past May. We love Phineas & Ferb :)

The plans:
July 20th - Travel
The hubby & kids & I will fly to Orlando, rent a car & drive to Cocoa Beach.
We'll spend the afternoon at the beach and stay the night at the Hilton Oceanfront. Not a bad way to start a vacation!

July 21st - Kennedy Space Center
My husband has been wanting to take the kids to KSC, so we're going to make that happen! He has a love of astronomy and Space Nerd stuff. He was the dad with the telescope in the driveway, looking at the blood moon lunar eclipse. He deserves this :) There's also a launch scheduled for this day. Cross you fingers it doesn't get cancelled!!!

Sometime after lunch, we'll drive back to Orlando & meet the other 6 of our 10 at the rental house. My SIL & family will be driving down ahead of us and spending a few park days with a friend.
Hopefully they will also go grocery shopping. ;-) It's necessary when you're renting a house, but Wal-mart is NOT where the party is at, ya know?

July 22nd - Epcot
Hopefully arrive at opening & ride the new & improved Soarin' before our 10:30 Behind the Seeds tour. We fell deeply in love with the veggie boats this past May, so when I found out how reasonable the tour pricing was, ($20 per adult $16 per child) it was a no-brainer.
We'll probably meet up with the rest of the family after lunch. I imagine this will be when we try to ride Frozen Ever After and maybe meet Anna & Elsa. I am just a big ole kid, so I'm pretty excited for the new ride! My 5 y/o niece might be looking forward to it as well ;-)

8 of us will head off-property for a swim and dinner while SIL & BIL enjoy a date at Le Cellier. <3

Up next: Birthday Plans!!!
 
Last edited:
LisaBelle

LisaBelle

Well-Known Member
MerMom1981 said:
View attachment 137061
The hubby, Gwen, Me & Ethan at Epcot this past May. We love Phineas & Ferb :)

The plans:
July 20th - Travel
The hubby & kids & I will fly to Orlando, rent a car & drive to Cocoa Beach.
We'll spend the afternoon at the beach and stay the night at the Hilton Oceanfront. Not a bad way to start a vacation!

July 21st - Kennedy Space Center
My husband has been wanting to take the kids to KSC, so we're going to make that happen! He has a love of astronomy and Space Nerd stuff. He was the dad with the telescope in the driveway, looking at the blood moon lunar eclipse. He deserves this :) There's also a launch scheduled for this day. Cross you fingers it doesn't get cancelled!!!

Sometime after lunch, we'll drive back to Orlando & meet the other 6 of our 10 at the rental house. My SIL & family will be driving down ahead of us and spending a few park days with a friend.
Hopefully they will also go grocery shopping. ;-) It's necessary when you're renting a house, but Wal-mart is NOT where the party is at, ya know?

July 22nd - Epcot
Hopefully arrive at opening & ride the new & improved Soarin' before our 10:30 Behind the Seeds tour. We fell deeply in love with the veggie boats this past May, so when I found out how reasonable the tour pricing was, ($20 per adult $16 per child) it was a no-brainer.
We'll probably meet up with the rest of the family after lunch. I imagine this will be when we try to ride Frozen Ever After and maybe meet Anna & Elsa. I am just a big ole kid, so I'm pretty excited for the new ride! My 5 y/o niece might be looking forward to it as well ;-)

8 of us will head off-property for a swim and dinner while SIL & BIL enjoy a date at Le Cellier. <3

Up next: Birthday Plans!!!
Click to expand...
What a great family photo! Your plans sound like fun. Looking forward to reading more.
 
MerMom1981

MerMom1981

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
MK_TSTHEATERCCHAR_7297221333.jpeg

The Birthday Girl, along with Ethan, Gwen and The Mouse!

July 23rd - Birthday at Magic Kingdom
I'm hoping to arrive in time for the welcome show, but we'll get there when we get there :)
If we have time, I'd like to hit 7DMT and a bit of Fantasyland before our morning really begins...

10am Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique for Gwen and my nieces
10am Pirate's League for Ethan and Jim.

I'm so excited that my husband wants to dress up and act silly with our little boy! We always say "they'll never be this age again" and try to make the most of this time. :)
This will be our 3rd trip, but Gwen's first time at the Boutique. The first time around, she wasn't that into princesses, and last year she didn't know she wanted to go until we were there and the magic washed over her... but it was booked solid at both locations. This time she decided well in advance that she'd like to know what it's like to be made over INSIDE THE CASTLE!

I'm thinking the girls will meet up at the castle and the boys will head for Adventureland.
After the makeovers are complete, and since the girls will already be in costume, I'd love to see them in Enchanted Tales with Belle! Cute right?
After Belle, or a M&G or whatever, we have split lunch plans.

12:30pm ADR @ BOG party of 4
12:55pm ADR @ CRT party of 6

I know, it seems crazy to split up for lunch, but we just did breakfast with the princesses last May, and my kids don't really want to do it again. That's more money than I'm willing to spend on something they aren't all that excited about. Gray Stuff cupcakes rank higher on their list, so to BOG we'll go!

After lunch, all I really want to do is meet Gaston! :) :)
He was on my list last year, but the timing didn't work out. :-(

We're all pretty eager to see the new stage show, so hopefully we can catch a show and do Tomorrowland before Festival of Fantasy at 3pm.

Then we leave the park for an afternoon break and swim.
Hopefully we'll all be refreshed and ready for our evening plans!

6:40pm ADR @ The Wave party of 10
This place is a hidden gem! It's not very popular, but that's cool with me :)
We had a fantastic dinner there last year, and Birthday Girl wants to start the evening right!
After dinner we might shop the monorail loop looking for a special birthday momento, (I've never shopped the monorail resorts, so suggestions welcomed) but we have to be back at the Contemporary for our next ADR!

9:10pm ADR @ Cali Grill party of 10

Yep, I scored a Wishes table people.
This is the ultimate Birthday moment for MIL. Tears of joy will be shed.
I still can't believe I got this ADR! Since we will have eaten dinner earlier, we'll probably just order one of everything on the dessert menu. I've always wanted to do that! :)
 
Last edited:
MerMom1981

MerMom1981

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Tell me I don't need to panic!

I was looking at the park schedule for the big day, and Wishes has been moved from 10pm to 9pm. Yikes!
I scheduled our ADR at Cali Grill for 9:10pm, based on a 10pm show. :(:arghh::arghh:
 
Last edited:
MerMom1981

MerMom1981

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
July 24th - Animal Kingdom
Since we will be up late for Wishes and Birthday hoopla, we will sleep in and take it easy this morning.
Jim and his dad want to play golf in the morning while the rest of us swim and lounge.
We'll head to AK after lunch. I'm planning to FP+ KS, EE and KRR. We want to catch Festival of the Lion King, but not planning to stick around for the evening.
Dinner will probably be grilling back at the house. Nice relaxing evening!

July 25th - Hollywood Studios
All the kids want to do Jedi Training, so we will be there at rope-drop!
We'll have to let JT dictate our schedule, but I'm planning to FP+ ToT, TSMM and ST

3:20pm ADR at Beaches and Cream

10 people, one goal. The Kitchen Sink

6:20pm ADR @ 50's Prime Time Cafe party of 10

This is a first for my 4, but I've heard good things! I'm a pretty sassy chick, so we should have fun with the server!
After that, we'll probably just find a spot for the SW fireworks! They look epic!

July 26th - Magic Kingdom
We will be a party of 6 this day, as SIL and family will be at Uni for Harry Potter
Planning to do Adventureland, Frontierland and Liberty Square this day. We had a picnic on Tom Sawyer Island last year and it was so much fun, we're gonna do it again!

6:15pm ADR @ Grand Floridian Cafe party of 6

This is another first for us. I like the idea of getting out of the park for a little break, but still being close.
Originally I had an ADR for Whispering Canyon, but I thought a quieter atmosphere might be nice. Thoughts?
After dinner I'd like to return to MK and stay for the parade and Wishes.

July 27th - Epcot
This is SIL's Birthday, and she has plans for her 4 to take a picnic to a lake she likes, so will be down to 6 again
We'll probably stroll around World Showcase and just go with the flow on this, our last park day.
I have promised Gwen that we will do pick-a-pearl :)
MIL has offered to take the kids back to the house so Jim and I can enjoy a date!

6:20pm ADR @ Chefs de France party of 2

We had dinner here on out first trip, and I just fell in love! I know it's not signature, but I think the food is fantastic and the atmosphere is romantic :)

July 28th - Departure
We have to check out of the house before 10am, so...

9:30am ADR @ Kona Cafe party of 4

Decent farewell don't you think? This is yet another first for us, but you people are always singing it's praises, so I'm gonna go and get myself some Tonga Toast!

Depending on our flight home, we will either head for Disney Springs, or do some canoeing at Shingle Creek. I stumbled on this place on TripAdvisor, and it looks beautiful! I hope we can book a later flight so we can check out the cypress trees!

So that's it, those are my plans! What do you guys think?
 
JustKeepSwimming

JustKeepSwimming

Member
Your trip sounds like it will be tons of fun! Some of my best memories are from going to Disney with my grandparents and all my cousins (we usually ended up being a party of 10-12).
I hope your ADR for California Grill works out for you :(
 
MerMom1981

MerMom1981

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
JustKeepSwimming said:
Your trip sounds like it will be tons of fun! Some of my best memories are from going to Disney with my grandparents and all my cousins (we usually ended up being a party of 10-12).
I hope your ADR for California Grill works out for you :(
Click to expand...

Thanks, I really hope the Cali Grill works out too. My mother-in-law has a pretty short wish list, and this is at the top. I really want to make it happen for her!
It's great to hear that you have fond memories of large family trips :)
I'm hoping my kids and nieces make some of their own :)
 
Dawg4Mickey

Dawg4Mickey

Well-Known Member
WDWDarling

WDWDarling

Well-Known Member
Your plans sound awesome! Definitely the makings of a super fun trip and a great birthday :). I agree with you about CRT. I think it was really fun to do once but a Master's Cupcake at BOG is where it's at! :hungry: I hope you all have a wonderful time and enjoy your DD dance!
 
MerMom1981

MerMom1981

Well-Known Member
Original Poster

Register on WDWMAGIC. This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.

Back
Top Bottom