Pre-Trip Who Says You Can't Go Home? Final Days!

In planning for my trip (only 75 more days!) I have become obsessed with this Bon Jovi Song. I can picture my family doing all sorts of fun things in WDW when I hear it! You can bet I will be using this song for our vacation video -



I've been eagerly planning this trip to WDW since we ended our last trip in Feb 2012. F&W, MNSSHP and taking my son for the "first time" - okay he was there last time but he was only 11m so this is the first trip he can really participate in.

Here are the kids on their first trip to Orlando (we don't have lots of pictures of the two of them because Alec slept most of the trip).

So who is who?

This is me - Traci and my two kids Lily and Alec at the carnival earlier this summer. They will be 4.5 and 2.5 on our trip.

Here is my husband Chris with the kids on our resent nature walk. They made it to the river but not all the way back.

We are staying at the All Star Music from October 20 - 26. My DH has insisted on the DxDP. So there will be lots of food on our trip!

We will be driving for our home in the DMV (DC,MD,VA) to Orlando making stops along the way at some touristy places and an over night most likely in Atlanta. My daughter does really well in the car. My son tends to get bored faster so we shall see how it goes. Extra stops may be needed as he is a ball of energy!

The plan is to check in and head to MK at 4:00 to take advantage of our MNSSHP tickets. My daughter has decided that she will be Vanellope and Alec will be Wreck It Ralph. So I will be working on making them some costumes. Thankfully Alec is still to young to care what I dress him up as so they will be matching again this year.

Last year they were bugs

and the year before a witch and a skeleton

I LOVE Halloween! My favorite holiday and I'm really looking forward to sharing MNSSHP with the kids. We have only been once in 2007 but we had a great time and my hope is after spending a day and half in the car they will make it until the fireworks. My kids normally go to bed at 8:00 so it will make a late night with the fireworks at 9:30 but I'm keeping my fingers crossed. Lily should be able to do it. Alec is iffy. Hopefully he will lay down in the stroller if he gets to tired so every one else can watch but if we have to leave after the first parade we will.

I will add more of our plans in the coming days. Thanks for reading!

 

[RandomPrincess]

So here is our plan for the week - We will be staying at the All Star Music for 6 nights with 5 day base tickets and Deluxe Dining and attending the Halloween Party.

Travel Day #1

We are leaving our home on Sat. October 19th and making the drive down to Orlando. My husband hasn't decided if we will rent a mini van or drive our own mini van. I thought one of the reasons we bought the mini van (only a year old) was to be able to use it on drives like this but what do I know

My husband will plan the stops later but I'm guessing South of the Boarder will be one. We all like the road side tacky Mexican theme. Last trip we spent the night in Atlanta so I'm guessing it will be the travel goal for this trip too. The lesson we learned last time is we need a ground floor room. My kids were so excited to be out of the car they were running and crawling around and we got a noise complaint within 10 minutes of checking in - oops

Travel Day #2 and MSSHP

Sunday the 20th we will finish the drive to WDW. This was the hardest part of the drive last year. The first day in the car was okay for the kids but strapping them in for a second they were both not happy. Luckily it's a much shorter drive. Whatever time we arrive we will check in at All Star Music. The goal is to be at MK at 4:00 so we can take advantage of our MNSSHP tickets. And hopefully get a few rides in before the party officially starts at 7:00. I'm excited for the parade and fireworks and hopefully some Halloween Magic shots. My daughter is really excited to trick or treat in the MK.

Epcot World Showcase and F&W & Boardwalk

Monday the 21st we are doing WS at Epcot (we like to break our days at Epcot in half with the kids). Our main goal for this day is to use lots of Snack Credits (we have 36!) trying out the different F&W Festival booths. We haven't done F&W since 2007 so we are really looking forward to this trip back. We can get a late start if needed since F&W starts at 11:00. My daughter has been very adventurous lately when it comes to trying out new foods and we are looking forward to picking up some F&W passports for the kids to get stamped when they try a new food.

Last trip Epcot was my daughter's favorite park. She loved getting her passport stamped around WS and we collected pressed pennies in the different countries as well. The other thing that made Epcot so cool for her was the characters ! She loved meeting Belle and Jasmine oh and she fell in love with Aladdin...

My daughter is very outgoing and had no problem telling her whole life story to each character. We also met the Fab 5 at the Character Spot plus her favorite Daisey out front so she was in love with Epcot!

We have a 6:00 ADR at the Flying Fish Cafe on the Boardwalk and I know my son will love taking the boat over from Epcot. If the kids are up to it we will watch Illuminations if not we will skip it as it our least favorite of the night time shows.

To be continued....

 

[TheMouseFan]

Sounds like you have a great trip planned! My youngest two were the same age as your two when we took them the first time and they were the perfect age! We had some early nights, but it was so great to watch them interacting with the characters and just taking everything in! My daughter is Lily also. Have a great trip and I can't wait to hear about it when you get back!!

 

[RandomPrincess]

Animal Kingdom and Downtown Disney

Tuesday Oct 22nd we are planning to get to AK at rope drop and make our way back to KJ Safari. This was both the kids favorite ride last year. Animals+Bumpy Jeep=Happy Kids. We have had great success hitting this ride first thing in the morning and seeing all the animals as they make their off into the shade.

We are having a late breakfast at Tusker House with Donald, Daisy, Mickey and Goofy at 9:50. We ate here for the first time on our last trip and we really liked the variety of food. The non traditional (to us anyway) items are a lot of fun to try. Plus the kids get to meet Mickey and friends!

As for the rest of the day we will play it by ear. I think the kids would enjoy FOTLK and Nemo but we won't go out of our way. If the parade is still running we might hit that. My daughter will be tall enough for Dinosaur but I'm not sure how she will handle the scare factor. We will play that by ear.

For dinner we are heading to DTD to hit Raglan Road. I'm really excited to talk my daughter here. She just started talking Irish Dance this summer and is loving it. So I can't wait for her to see the dancers. My husband and I love the food so we will hopefully have a great meal.

More to come ...

 

[RandomPrincess]

Disney Hollywood Studios

On Wednesday the 23rd we are heading to breakfast at Kouzzina. We are very exited to try the breakfast menu it looks great! The ADR is for 8:45 I'm still trying to get something earlier but no luck yet.

This will be our first time at DHS since 2007. We skipped it last trip in favor of a day at Islands of Adventure (I'm a big Harry Potter fan as well). We can hopefully get a FP for TSMM I think the kids will enjoy this ride. Lily will be big enough to ride Star Tours and I'm looking forward to seeing it after it's make over. She's also big enough for TOT but we will play that one by ear. I really want to take my son to see LMA. He loves vehicles, cars , boats, trains he's all in! I think he will really like the show.

We have a late lunch planned with the Fantasmic package for Brown Derby at 3:30. After that I will probably leave the park with Alec for a rest time. Lily we will be playing by ear as she no longer naps. I really want to see Fantasmic and my daughter loved watching the video online so we will be returning to see the show.

Epcot and Ohana

Thursday we will be hitting the front half of Epcot. We have an early lunch planned at Coral Reef. The kids should love the fish tank. Lily should really enjoy TT, especially the outside part. We skipped this last trip. It either wasn't open yet or we just skipped it because the kids were both to little. I'm interested in checking out the changes for myself. Of course we will do Nemo and check out the Seas Pavilion. Alec LOVES Nemo and the interior should really appeal to him. He has taken my Finding Nemo Snow Globe for himself and says good night to the Tank Buddies every night

Last time Turtle Talk freaked Lily out and we had to leave part way through the show. It was the only attraction that really bothered her. So we will se how it goes this time. Soarin' is also on the to do list since Lily is tall enough but I will not be standing in line FPs will be a must!

For dinner we will be taking the monorail (Alec loves trains) and heading to Poly to eat at O'hana. We have never eaten here before. This is the new meal I'm most looking forward too.

More to come ...

 

[RandomPrincess]

Magic Kingdom and maybe California Grill

Our last Park Day will be at MK. We are have a pre park opening reservation at CRT. This will be our first time having breakfast here. We have lunch and dinner here many times and both kids enjoyed the princesses when we ate dinner her last year. Alec loved Snow White! He couldn't stop staring at her as she made her way around the room.

As for rides we will play it by ear. I love HM and hope to take Lily on Splash and BTMRR for the first time. Buzz should be fun for everyone too.

Right now we have ADRs at the Plaza on MS but I'm hoping California Grill will open up and we can get an ADR.

 

[fractal]

Flying Fish is very good and I think you will love 'Ohanas. They usually have somebody singing and trying to get the little ones to play fun games.

 

[mousefreak]

Looks like a fun trip planned. Ohana is awesome.

 

[RandomPrincess]

Downtown Disney

Our last day/checkout day we always hit DTD aka Souvenir City. We use any left over snack credits getting yummy treats at Goofy's and hit the different shops. Since my husband insisted on the Deluxe Dining plan we have 2 ADRs! Breakfast at Whipering Canyon We have only ever done dinner here but I am looking for ward to trying the breakfast menu and a late lunch at 2:00 at Portabellos. This was the one restaurant my husband insisted we eat at. We ate her once in 2004 but I remember the service being great but no much about the food. My husband ate her on a business trip last year and loved it.

Yummy treats and tired eyes at the end of our last trip....

Yes he was only 11 months and I gave him chocolate! I'm a horrible mom

After Portabellos we will start the drive home. It's 12 hours no stops. Last time we had budgeted to split the drive but the kids were so tired we drove straight through and they sleep pretty much the whole way and then through the light. We had to wake them up for potty breaks and diaper changes and to get some food in them they they would pass out again. I'm hoping it's the same this time.

Thanks for checking out my Pre- trip report. If you have any thoughts or advice, feel free to share.

 

[RandomPrincess]

Here is a quick break down of our Park Days and ADRs

Sunday October 20, 2013

• Check in All Star Music
• Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party

Monday October 21, 2013

• Epcot - World Showcase
  
• Food & Wine Festival
• Flying Fish Cafe - 6:00 pm

Tuesday October 22, 2013

• Animal Kingdom
• Tusker House - 9:50 am
• Raglan Road - 5:45 pm

Wednesday October 23, 2013

• Disney Hollywood Studios
  
• Kouzzina - 8:45 am
• Brown Derby - 3:30 pm

Thursday October 24, 2013

• Epcot - Future World
• Coral Reef - 11:30 am
• Ohana - 6:40 pm

Friday October 25, 2013

• Magic Kingdom
• Cinderella's Royal Table - 8:30 am
• The Plaza - 5:15 pm (hoping to switch to California Grill).

Saturday October 26, 2013

• Check Out
  
• Whispering Canyon - 9:05 am
• Portabello's - 2:00 pm
• Drive Home

 

[farrellbarrel]

I love the plans!!

 

[Obi Walt Kenobi]

Great plans! October is such a wonderful time to go, great weather, Mickeys not so scary Halloween party, and food and Wine make for a good trip.

 

[FlaggNL]

Enjoy your trip in October Hope for a nice trip report with lots of pics

 

[RandomPrincess]

Well on 55 days out. We got our final ADR on Monday for California Grill. I'm very excited this will be another new place for us. I'm hoping we can get a FP for BOG lunch closer to our trip. I would love have lunch there and check it out.

 

[RandomPrincess]

37 days left!

Today I logged into My Disney Experience and surprise surprise....We are able to get Magic Bands and FP+. I am very excited! We each picked out a band color... the kids picked blue and pink. DH green and I choose red.

I then spent 2 hours making our FP+ choices. Now I could have done this in 30 minutes or less but I was very picky about what times I wanted -For example I wanted all my ADRs after 4:00pm one day - so I had to pick from one of the four time tables Disney gave me and then go in after an change each FP+ to the time I wanted.

We also have split FP+ since my DS isn't 40 inches yet. So I wanted a 2 FP+ for my DH and my DD on the 40 inch rides and then a FP+ for the same time at a neighboring ride for myself. My DS is under 3 so not able to make FP+ choices but he can enter any FP+ ride he is tall enough for with an adult that has FP+.

I noticed the system has a few glitches. It was giving conflicts where I had none. This overlaps with lunch- we have no lunch ADR on that day though. It would let me pick the FP+ anyway but the conflicts could confuse people - it did me at first.

 

[Lexi]

Sounds like it is going to be a great trip! The same thing happened to us with the Magic+, we just logged in one day and were asked if we wanted to customize our magicbands. We just got them in the mail and I secretly want to start wearing mine because our trip cannot come soon enough!!

 

[star77kc]

I'm just curious...why didn't she like Turtle Talk? I'm bringing our 2 year old twins soon, and figured they'd love it. What did I miss??

 

[RandomPrincess]

I'm just curious...why didn't she like Turtle Talk? I'm bringing our 2 year old twins soon, and figured they'd love it. What did I miss??

There is nothing scary about the show my DD was just bothered by it for some reason, I'm not sure if it was the crowd or the show it's self. She could have just been in a mood. It's hard to say. We are going to try again this time.

 

[RandomPrincess]

So I was putting all our ADRs, FP+ etc into my calender and it looks like a busy week - We will see if we being this scheduled. I didn't think it was a lot until I saw it on "paper" Our Magic Bands have been shipped and are due to arrive on Monday. Only 29 more days!

 

[tiaragirl]

So much cuteness! I love the matching costumes - can't wait to see this years!

Also, I read this PreTR because of the Bon Jovi reference - I love Jon (first name basis) and this song is wonderful