Edit: As this PTR spans a year, I have started over fresh. If you want the "short version", check it out here.)
Anyone who knows me knows that I am always planning my next trip. Even when that next trip is a long way off. The only time I am not planning a Disney World trip is when I am actually in Disney World. And even then, there's a good chance I am making mental notes for things to do on future trips.
After our last trip in 2010, I knew it would be a while before we returned. At one point during the trip, my wife told me she would be happy never to return to Disney World again. And she meant it. Since then, her stance has weakened. I got her to agree to a five-year wait. But with the kids' help, she is now ready to go back.
(If you care to read my 2010 trip report for the blow-by-blow, here's a link: http://forums.wdwmagic.com/showthread.php?t=564728)
Getting my wife to agree to go again was but one obstacle in my way. The fact of the matter is that if we went again today, we would almost certainly have a similar experience that would result in my wife swearing off Disney forever all over again. Obviously, I want to avoid that. The next trip needs to involve less agony and more ecstacy.
So I have vowed to hold off our next trip until the kids are old enough to really enjoy it and to make the trip less stressful. Because as magical as Disney World is, traveling with little kids is stressful. This is probably as good a time as any to introduce you to my family.
I'll start with myself. I've been around the boards for a long time. Obviously, I am a Disney fan. That wasn't always the case. While I always enjoyed Disney animation, I was anything but a fan of the company for many years. But after honeymooning at Disney World in 2003, I slowly became interested in the parks and then the company as a whole. My wife would tell you that I am obsessed although I would argue that she uses that word too loosely.
My wife, Mindy, has always been a Mickey Mouse fan. When I found out she had never been to Disney World, I decided to make that our honeymoon spot. She liked it, but it's not her style of vacation. Mindy likes what she calls a "relaxing vacation". Her ideal vacation involves doing all the things she does on weekends in a hotel room instead of our house. There is a lot of daytime TV and romance novels. I find this kind of vacation mind-numbingly boring and frankly a waste of money. Why leave home if you're just going to watch Judge Judy?
Then, there's our two daughters, Josie and Kara. Here they are on Halloween.
(If you'd care to read about how those particular costumes came about, I've written up the story on my blog here: http://lebeauleblog.wordpress.com/2011/11/02/post-halloween-update/)
Josie is our oldest. I will probably refer to her as Joey sometimes. That is what we call her at home. This year, she decided she prefers Josie (her birthname) so I try to use that whenever possible. But I use Josie, Joey and Jo-Jo interchangeably.
Josie has been to Disney World 3 times in six years. Her first trip was in 2007 when she was nearly 2 years old. On that trip, she loved the characters but had very little interest in rides. The next trip was in the fall of 2008 when she was 3 1/2. On that trip, her priorities had reversed. She discovered she loved rides but was scared of characters.
Josie was almost five on our last trip in 2010. On this trip, she was okay with both rides and characters. But she had reservations about them both. The things she liked the best were the gift shops, the hotel pool and the vending machines.
For the last few years, we have gotten passes to our local amusement park, Kings Island. I use Kings Island as a kind of training ground for Disney World. Over the summer, I have finally gotten Josie to the point where she enjoys rides and characters. I think she's ready to go back.
(If you'd like to read about some of our KI trips from the summer, here are some links: Opening Day, UK Day, mid-summer trip, Halloween.)
Our youngest daughter is Kara. When we went in 2008, my wife was pregnant with Kara. So, by my math, she has been to Disney World 1.5 times. When we went in 2010, she was not quite one year old. At the time we planned the trip, she was a very passive infant. She was happy to sit in a stroller or on our laps and just take everything in.
But then she discovered crawling. And shortly after that walking. By the time we went on our trip, Kara was a very busy 11-month old. She had to explore everything all the time. Sitting on our laps during the flight or the many bus rides was not an option. Neither was wearing shoes. She took them off and tossed them. We lost one in the airport at the start of our trip.
In short, Kara was a handful. And having both kids in a stroller made the trip a lot of work. The double stroller was heavy and hard to load and unload on the packed buses. Half the time, one of the girls would refuse to ride in the stroller anyway. So then we had to deal with the giant stroller and carrying one of the girls.
With that in mind, I decided that we would be down to a single stroller on our next trip. Also, I would wait until Kara was fully potty trained. No more diaper bags. I think we are down to the single stroller by now. Josie never sits in one any more. And we're close on the potty training thing. Kara has gone on the potty. But it's still more the exception that the norm.
I should also mention that Kara absolutely hates rides and characters. She freaks out whenever she sees anyone in a character costume. She is still traumatized by the time the Easter Bunny came to her school. At Kings Island, she won't get near Snoopy. I bought Kara her first Kings Island pass for next summer. Hopefully, by the end of the summer, she will feel comfortable with rides and characters.
I figure that by late 2012, the girls will be ready for our triumphant return to Disney World. The Fantasyland Expansion should be mostly complete. And my girls will be at a great age for the princess-themed additions (3 and 7 - the target demo really). But there are still a lot of variables that need to be figured out.
We don't yet have the 2012 school calendar. Originally, I was against pulling Josie out of school. But the more I have thought about it, the more open I am to doing it as a one-time option. Josie's a great student and should not have any problem missing a few days. So, the idea is to schedule our trip during a week that her school already has an in-service day scheduled. That way, she'll only miss a few days instead of a whole week.
Then there's the matter of discounts. I plan to go during the off-season, so I figure some kind of discount will be available. But I won't know for sure until some time next year.
One idea I have is to stay at the Little Mermaid rooms in the Art of Animation resort. But before I can commit to that, a few things need to happen. Right now, Disney has yet to make those rooms available for booking. They are meant to be open about the same time as the FLE and should be available for our late 2012 trip. But there's no guarantee.
So, right now everything is still very up in the air. So much so, that some might consider it too early for a pre-trip report. I mean, it's possible the trip may not even happen until 2013! So this thread (at least early on) will serve less as a documentation of trip planning than an open journal documenting my family's preparation for our next trip - whenever that may be.
You can expect to read updates on the girls. For example, Kara has entered a major princess phase out of the blue. I'll definitely keep you up to date on her progress this summer as I try to get her used to rides and characters at Kings Island. And as info becomes available, this will transition into more of a traditional pre-trip report.
As always, feedback and suggestions are welcome. Thanks for reading!
Anyone who knows me knows that I am always planning my next trip. Even when that next trip is a long way off. The only time I am not planning a Disney World trip is when I am actually in Disney World. And even then, there's a good chance I am making mental notes for things to do on future trips.
After our last trip in 2010, I knew it would be a while before we returned. At one point during the trip, my wife told me she would be happy never to return to Disney World again. And she meant it. Since then, her stance has weakened. I got her to agree to a five-year wait. But with the kids' help, she is now ready to go back.
(If you care to read my 2010 trip report for the blow-by-blow, here's a link: http://forums.wdwmagic.com/showthread.php?t=564728)
Getting my wife to agree to go again was but one obstacle in my way. The fact of the matter is that if we went again today, we would almost certainly have a similar experience that would result in my wife swearing off Disney forever all over again. Obviously, I want to avoid that. The next trip needs to involve less agony and more ecstacy.
So I have vowed to hold off our next trip until the kids are old enough to really enjoy it and to make the trip less stressful. Because as magical as Disney World is, traveling with little kids is stressful. This is probably as good a time as any to introduce you to my family.
I'll start with myself. I've been around the boards for a long time. Obviously, I am a Disney fan. That wasn't always the case. While I always enjoyed Disney animation, I was anything but a fan of the company for many years. But after honeymooning at Disney World in 2003, I slowly became interested in the parks and then the company as a whole. My wife would tell you that I am obsessed although I would argue that she uses that word too loosely.
My wife, Mindy, has always been a Mickey Mouse fan. When I found out she had never been to Disney World, I decided to make that our honeymoon spot. She liked it, but it's not her style of vacation. Mindy likes what she calls a "relaxing vacation". Her ideal vacation involves doing all the things she does on weekends in a hotel room instead of our house. There is a lot of daytime TV and romance novels. I find this kind of vacation mind-numbingly boring and frankly a waste of money. Why leave home if you're just going to watch Judge Judy?
Then, there's our two daughters, Josie and Kara. Here they are on Halloween.
(If you'd care to read about how those particular costumes came about, I've written up the story on my blog here: http://lebeauleblog.wordpress.com/2011/11/02/post-halloween-update/)
Josie is our oldest. I will probably refer to her as Joey sometimes. That is what we call her at home. This year, she decided she prefers Josie (her birthname) so I try to use that whenever possible. But I use Josie, Joey and Jo-Jo interchangeably.
Josie has been to Disney World 3 times in six years. Her first trip was in 2007 when she was nearly 2 years old. On that trip, she loved the characters but had very little interest in rides. The next trip was in the fall of 2008 when she was 3 1/2. On that trip, her priorities had reversed. She discovered she loved rides but was scared of characters.
Josie was almost five on our last trip in 2010. On this trip, she was okay with both rides and characters. But she had reservations about them both. The things she liked the best were the gift shops, the hotel pool and the vending machines.
For the last few years, we have gotten passes to our local amusement park, Kings Island. I use Kings Island as a kind of training ground for Disney World. Over the summer, I have finally gotten Josie to the point where she enjoys rides and characters. I think she's ready to go back.
(If you'd like to read about some of our KI trips from the summer, here are some links: Opening Day, UK Day, mid-summer trip, Halloween.)
Our youngest daughter is Kara. When we went in 2008, my wife was pregnant with Kara. So, by my math, she has been to Disney World 1.5 times. When we went in 2010, she was not quite one year old. At the time we planned the trip, she was a very passive infant. She was happy to sit in a stroller or on our laps and just take everything in.
But then she discovered crawling. And shortly after that walking. By the time we went on our trip, Kara was a very busy 11-month old. She had to explore everything all the time. Sitting on our laps during the flight or the many bus rides was not an option. Neither was wearing shoes. She took them off and tossed them. We lost one in the airport at the start of our trip.
In short, Kara was a handful. And having both kids in a stroller made the trip a lot of work. The double stroller was heavy and hard to load and unload on the packed buses. Half the time, one of the girls would refuse to ride in the stroller anyway. So then we had to deal with the giant stroller and carrying one of the girls.
With that in mind, I decided that we would be down to a single stroller on our next trip. Also, I would wait until Kara was fully potty trained. No more diaper bags. I think we are down to the single stroller by now. Josie never sits in one any more. And we're close on the potty training thing. Kara has gone on the potty. But it's still more the exception that the norm.
I should also mention that Kara absolutely hates rides and characters. She freaks out whenever she sees anyone in a character costume. She is still traumatized by the time the Easter Bunny came to her school. At Kings Island, she won't get near Snoopy. I bought Kara her first Kings Island pass for next summer. Hopefully, by the end of the summer, she will feel comfortable with rides and characters.
I figure that by late 2012, the girls will be ready for our triumphant return to Disney World. The Fantasyland Expansion should be mostly complete. And my girls will be at a great age for the princess-themed additions (3 and 7 - the target demo really). But there are still a lot of variables that need to be figured out.
We don't yet have the 2012 school calendar. Originally, I was against pulling Josie out of school. But the more I have thought about it, the more open I am to doing it as a one-time option. Josie's a great student and should not have any problem missing a few days. So, the idea is to schedule our trip during a week that her school already has an in-service day scheduled. That way, she'll only miss a few days instead of a whole week.
Then there's the matter of discounts. I plan to go during the off-season, so I figure some kind of discount will be available. But I won't know for sure until some time next year.
One idea I have is to stay at the Little Mermaid rooms in the Art of Animation resort. But before I can commit to that, a few things need to happen. Right now, Disney has yet to make those rooms available for booking. They are meant to be open about the same time as the FLE and should be available for our late 2012 trip. But there's no guarantee.
So, right now everything is still very up in the air. So much so, that some might consider it too early for a pre-trip report. I mean, it's possible the trip may not even happen until 2013! So this thread (at least early on) will serve less as a documentation of trip planning than an open journal documenting my family's preparation for our next trip - whenever that may be.
You can expect to read updates on the girls. For example, Kara has entered a major princess phase out of the blue. I'll definitely keep you up to date on her progress this summer as I try to get her used to rides and characters at Kings Island. And as info becomes available, this will transition into more of a traditional pre-trip report.
As always, feedback and suggestions are welcome. Thanks for reading!
If I can get a flight for around $2000 for the four of us, I consider that a steal! 
(I noticed it's in dollars, but I'm assuming they accept pounds?) 