Mama, can we meet ALL of the princesses? September pre-trip report

[jonesephus]

Hello! I am a newbie here, I just find out about the DIS about a month ago when we decided to book a trip to Disney World (yeah!!!!!) I just paid for the whole thing yesterday-- first time I have ever booked a packaged, paid for in advance trip, it makes the worrywart in me a little nervous!!!

DH went to Disney first when he was 9 years old, so he thinks that is the perfect age to go. My great grandparents lived in Kissimmee so I went several times, starting at age 2, so I have been working on convincing him that age 4 or 5 is really the "magic" age for Disney-- the princesses are still "real" to her. So, after not going on a vacation last year, and having several plans fall through this year due to DH crazy ever changing work schedule, I did a little research on the cost of Disney with the free dining, and knowing DH could probably only spare a week....and then DD heard us talking and started to get all excited about going to Disney and seeing the princesses.... and DH finally said "I guess we are going to Disney World."
Let the planning commence!!!!

So, we are going for 5 nights, 6 days, staying at Port Orleans Riverside with the free dining.

Whoops! I think I am supposed to put who we are in here someplace!
DH and I are in our late 30s, and neither have been to Disney since about 1990 We happened to be in Anaheim for business in January of 2009, so we did go to Disneyland for one day with DD1 (then 2.5 yo), so that is our last "Disney" experience, but I think it reintroduced us to how magical it is for the little ones. DH thought DD1 would last a couple of hours, and we were there until 8:00, LOL!!! (and it even rained a good part of the day!)

DD1 is/will be four years old for this trip. She is way into the world of princesses right now, and she is the one that asked to meet ALL of the princesses. But she does not like the bad guys.

DD2 will be 17 months old for the trip. Obviously on the young side, but she has been attracted to Mickey Mouse almost since birth! She would crane her head around to see him when she heard his voice on the TV! So, her first bday was Mickey Mouse themed, and we are looking forward to seeing how she reacts to "Mickey da Mouse" (imagine said in Pete's voice, LOL)

Note: it won't let me post pics yet, so I will try again later!

 

[jonesephus]

OK, so here is our plan right now:

Monday - fly in - arrival at 11:13am, taking the Magical Express. Hoping to be at the hotel and checked in by 1pm, do a quick lunch and some swimming and napping. We have a 4:55 ADR at 1900 Park Fare. This is only night for Spectromagic, so we will head over to MK after dinner (we can take the boat, correct?)

Tuesday - Magic Kingdom. Since we have the littles, this is Disney to them. I made a 2:00 ADR at Crystal Palace after reading good things in some trip reports. I may move it up a little, I figure we will do lunch, and then had back for naps and a swim, and then head out for dinner and more park. I did get the park hoppers so we could have some freedom.


Wednesday - Epcot. Again, park in the morning, head back for naps and a swim, and head back into the parks for dinner. We have 6:25 ADRs at the Biergarten (BIL and family moved to Berlin last year, so we are excited to show the girls a little bit of what Germany is like!)

Thursday - Animal Kingdom. 8:30 ADR at Tusker House. I am trying hard to make sure every day we head back for a nap and swim so there is some relaxation in this trip! Planning on going to DHS in the evening, since there is so not a whole lot for the small ones there, though it might be too packed with Fantasmic that night. So we will see what the crowds are like overall.

Friday - 8:00 reservations at BBB in the castle for DD(4)!!! I have been keeping this a surprise, and am excited we will be in the park before it opens, even if it means getting up at the crack o dawn (we are not realy morning people!) We also have 5:00 ADR at Akershus. So this is the big princess day! So, we will be doing MK in the morning, and Epcot in the evening.

Saturday - day we are leaving. Flight is at 3:56, so I am guessing we will need to pick up the magical express about 1pm. Undecided if we should do Downtown Disney, or DHS, or MK on this day. Open to suggestions!


Please offer your input and suggestions-- this is basically our first trip, since it has been nearly 20 years (YIKES!!!!!)

 

[jonesephus]

Just thought I would share some of my favorite quotes so far from DD(4) about the trip:

"I am going to tell Prince Charming he needs to buy Cinderella a new dress."

"I am going to ask Mickey Mouse to do the hot dog dance with me."

"Mama, can we meet ALL of the princesses?"


"Those stepsisters are mean. I need to tell them no ripping Cinderella's dress."

And she won't wear any of her princess underpants (which is 90% of what we have) because she is "saving it for Disney". (She has also me why I don't have any princess underwear, lol!)

 

[disney<333]

OK, so here is our plan right now:

Monday - fly in - arrival at 11:13am, taking the Magical Express. Hoping to be at the hotel and checked in by 1pm, do a quick lunch and some swimming and napping. We have a 4:55 ADR at 1900 Park Fare. This is only night for Spectromagic, so we will head over to MK after dinner (we can take the boat, correct?)
I would take the monorail to GF and then again to MK. It is much quicker and for the monorail you don't have to fold up the strollers or anything.
Tuesday - Magic Kingdom. Since we have the littles, this is Disney to them. I made a 2:00 ADR at Crystal Palace after reading good things in some trip reports. I may move it up a little, I figure we will do lunch, and then had back for naps and a swim, and then head out for dinner and more park. I did get the park hoppers so we could have some freedom.
We LOVE Crystal Palace!

Wednesday - Epcot. Again, park in the morning, head back for naps and a swim, and head back into the parks for dinner. We have 6:25 ADRs at the Biergarten (BIL and family moved to Berlin last year, so we are excited to show the girls a little bit of what Germany is like!)

Thursday - Animal Kingdom. 8:30 ADR at Tusker House. I am trying hard to make sure every day we head back for a nap and swim so there is some relaxation in this trip! Planning on going to DHS in the evening, since there is so not a whole lot for the small ones there, though it might be too packed with Fantasmic that night. So we will see what the crowds are like overall.

Friday - 8:00 reservations at BBB in the castle for DD(4)!!! I have been keeping this a surprise, and am excited we will be in the park before it opens, even if it means getting up at the crack o dawn (we are not realy morning people!) We also have 5:00 ADR at Akershus. So this is the big princess day! So, we will be doing MK in the morning, and Epcot in the evening.

Saturday - day we are leaving. Flight is at 3:56, so I am guessing we will need to pick up the magical express about 1pm. Undecided if we should do Downtown Disney, or DHS, or MK on this day. Open to suggestions!
I would do DHS this day. They usually have AM EMH here on Saturday. You will be able to do this entire park and leave by 11:30 if you plan it right. I can help you. Then you can go back to MK one last time and have a quick lunch before the unmagical express comes to pick you up.

Please offer your input and suggestions-- this is basically our first trip, since it has been nearly 20 years (YIKES!!!!!)

My advice is in Red. I noticed you have a lot of character dining reservations. I would book a few non-character restaurants now while you can still book stuff just incase your kids are afraid of the characters or something. There are a ton of fun non-character restaurants. I would hate for you to have almost all character restaurants and then once you get there the kids are afraid of the characters and you can't use all of your dining plan credits. You can always cancel ADRs once there.
Subbing!
Barbara

 

[jonesephus]

Thanks Barbara!!!! Good advice about DHS, I'll try to check today on the EMH. And the character breakfasts-- I know the 4 yo is ok, and if itty bits freaks out at the Crystal Palace, I can cancel Tusker House. It will be interesting to see--- on my first visit I wanted NOTHING to do with any characters-- my mom said I would not even go see Alice. But after the parade when everyone is leaving, I broke from my parents and ran screaming "tigger" and walloped the guy from behind. My mom has always said she doesn't know how the person remained standing, lol! Hopefully neither girl will take off on us, but my fingers are crossed that the girls will have fun with the characters!

 

[jonesephus]

OK, as I start to type this, the wee one just handed me her Miceky music player-- I think she's excited and does not even know it!!!!
It was a pretty good "planning" weekend-- I got a few things knocked off my "to do" list--
*Paid for the rest of the package
*Bought a funtainer food storage to try, supposed to keep food cold for 7 hours. If you have not tried these they are AWESOME. They are made by Thermos and are supposed to keep beverage cold for 12 hours. I tried it out on the patio on a 95 degree day-- I put it out at 9am, at 4:30 it still have ice and at 6 the ice had melted, but the drink was still cold! The kids one have Disney characters, and I am watching the adult to go on sale. I am excited to see if the food ones can keep apples and such cold, going to try it at the zoo or the park this week.
*Finally found a Minnie Mouse shirt for the four year old. Been to a couple Targets and could not find her size, and found one at H&M for $5 and the shoes are even glittery-- perfect for my fancy girl!
*Found a package rain coat for the four year old-- Sears had the Lands End ones for 60% off, so it ended up being about $12. I will likely get a couple of dollar store ponchos too, but I have this feeling she is not going to want to wear those. Now the whole family has a packable raincoat. (Can you tell I am an obsessive packer yet?!?!?)
*Trekked out to the Disney store (they have practically closed all of them around here) just to see what they had, and they had the cinderella doll for only $5.99--so I picked that up as a little surprise for DD for either the plane or just at the hotel.

OK, now some planning questions for the wise members of the DIS board---
Are the in room fridges at Port Orleans big enough for a half gallon of milk? We would like to order from Garden Grocer if possible at least for milk for itty bits.

Also, how did the little girls feel about wearing princess dresses to the parks? I am worried it will be too hot for them in early September (plus the itch factor on some of them.) Thank you!!!

 

[jonesephus]

Our Magical Express information and tags arrived in the mail today!!! YEAH!!!!!

 

[pinkxray]

Hi there
It looks like you are all set to have a great trip. I wish I was heading back to POR in Sept. too.

Your girls are so adorable and must be so excited to go see Mickey.

 

[taymacsmom]

Just found your PTR. Looks good so far. Yes, a half gallon of milk will fit in the fridge at POR. You may have to take the shelf out though. I am not quite sure. Looking forward to more plans!

 

[LutheranChick82]

Just thought I would share some of my favorite quotes so far from DD(4) about the trip:

"I am going to tell Prince Charming he needs to buy Cinderella a new dress."

"I am going to ask Mickey Mouse to do the hot dog dance with me."

"Mama, can we meet ALL of the princesses?"


"Those stepsisters are mean. I need to tell them no ripping Cinderella's dress."

And she won't wear any of her princess underpants (which is 90% of what we have) because she is "saving it for Disney". (She has also me why I don't have any princess underwear, lol!)

I love the Prince Charming comment - that's hilarious
I can totally understand the no wearing her princess underpants until Disney, even though I'm 27 - I'm still in touch with the little girl in me

 

[my3squeals]

Hi!! Just subbing to your trip report. We will be at POR same time as you. We arrive on Sunday though and leave Friday. I think alot like you "anytime is the perfect time to take your girls to Disney" I'm just lucky I have convinced DH it's a good vaca!

 

[jonesephus]

Hi!! Just subbing to your trip report. We will be at POR same time as you. We arrive on Sunday though and leave Friday. I think alot like you "anytime is the perfect time to take your girls to Disney" I'm just lucky I have convinced DH it's a good vaca!

That's awesome! I think DH is looking forward to it, though he does not get nearly as excited as I do!!!

 

[jonesephus]

OK, so I lack patience, and I tend to get frustrated with things like sewing when I can't get it to be perfect. Oddly (or not) motherhood has made me far less of a perfectionist. I have been wanting to try sewing some things for the wee ones, and I have had this pattern ofr over a year but just could not get started.
Well, with the trip, and DD1 wanting to wear princess dresses and my being concerned they would not last long in the heat, and of course a lot of inspiration from etsy and the sewers on this board, I finally dove it.
So, they are definitely not perfect (and this was this morning, when I was trying to decide on sleeve elastic or not, which I will add), but I am quite pleased with the results. What do you all think?!

 

[taymacsmom]

OK, so I lack patience, and I tend to get frustrated with things like sewing when I can't get it to be perfect. Oddly (or not) motherhood has made me far less of a perfectionist. I have been wanting to try sewing some things for the wee ones, and I have had this pattern ofr over a year but just could not get started.
Well, with the trip, and DD1 wanting to wear princess dresses and my being concerned they would not last long in the heat, and of course a lot of inspiration from etsy and the sewers on this board, I finally dove it.
So, they are definitely not perfect (and this was this morning, when I was trying to decide on sleeve elastic or not, which I will add), but I am quite pleased with the results. What do you all think?!

ADORABLE!! Just keep doing more and more. Like anything else, the more practice you have the better you get at it!

 

[LutheranChick82]

They are so precious. Your little one looks so adorable in that dress The older one looks cute in hers too, she looks like she loves dresses

 

[jonesephus]

Oh my goodness, only a few days left!
Still have to get my Garden Grocer order in!
And a little bit (ok a lot of packing), and I am heading out with a friend to try and finish my autograph books today!
So excited
I can hardly stand it!!!!