My first PTR (because my hubby is tired of hearing me talk about it all!) TIME TO GO!

[gray2402]

Hi there! I have been reading disboards since I first found out about it, but never really posted aside from the occasional question here or there! Anyway, my husband keeps giving me 'the look' when I start talking planning, so I thought it was time to come here to like minded people (On a side note, being that football season has started, I give him the same look when he wants to endlessly talk football to me )

Ok, so .... first of all here is a photo from our last trip! This was November 2009 and we had just moved back from England. We were still in transit but managed to squeeze in Disney!

Who:
ME (Kellie)... 33 years old and Disney addict! I grew up in NYS and we never travelled really, so my first trip was not until I moved to Atlanta GA. I was 26 years old and went for a Spring Break trip with a friend/co-worker (my husband was deployed at the time and we did not have kids yet). I instantly fell in love with all things Disney and of course dragged my husband down to Orlando as soon as he got his boots back on US soil!

My hubby (Dennis)... 31 years old and a Disney lover too! He does not like to plan, though he always asks about the budget He DOES enjoy the fact that I do plan things out though! He loves roller coasters and thrill rides but handles all the magic that Disney offers too. Though he tries to talk a tough game, I usually get what I want to do when it comes to Disney

DD (Sammie)... 6 years old and this will be her 5th trip to WDW (6th on Disney property as we went to Disney Paris while stationed overseas). I am slowly trying to condition her to want to get married at WDW She is a great kid and really loves all the magic of Disney! She is smiley and happy and silly and funny all rolled into one big ball of energy She loves rides and shows and parades and, well, EVERYTHING about Disney!

DS (Alex)... 2 years old (but almost 3!) This will be his 2nd time to WDW (though he went to Disney Paris also, but he was just 13 months old). He is a serious little guy and really needs a bit of time to warm up to people (unlike Sammie)... but once he does, he is a silly, sweet, lovable little man He is at the age now where he really knows the characters, though he did not want to go near them on our last trip in November 2009. He did like all the rides he could go on though!

When:
September 11th-18th

Where:
Staying offsite at Liki Tiki Villages (we own timeshare there).

Why:
One week trip to Orlando to celebrate our 11th wedding anniversary as well as a last hoorah before Dennis deploys yet again... we probably won't go back until Spring of 2012 at the earliest, so we are going to make this trip count!
===================================

Day one (Travel) and two (DHS) plans!

Day three (MK)

Day four (1900 Park Fare and DTD)

Day five (Sea World)

Making the tie dye shirts and finally PACKING!

Autograph books and Day Six, Seven, Eight

 

[gray2402]

Ok, so when we travel, I like to plan! EVERYTHING! The whole excel sheet, color coded, planed out day by day itinerary ... luckily I also can roll with the punches so if something needs to change, then I am fine with it. But I do like to plan as much as possible!

We tend to pick one or two big things (ADRs, etc...) to do while there ... we do not stay on property, so the 'magic' for us is day by day as we are in the parks. My husband is military, so we are doing the 4 day military passes and will spend two full days in the parks and then probably go partial days for the other two. We also will do Sea World one day.

So far for this trip:

Saturday the 11th is our travel day. We will be driving down from Augusta and will leave around 8am ... packing a picnic lunch and powering through! Going to check in to the resort, then grocery shop (we do a lot of our own cooking even on vacation). Then back to unpack, organize, swim and relax!

Sunday the 12th... DHS must do's for us are:

1- Making rope drop! Never done this and I desperately want to! Of course with two small kiddos, it is something that may or may not happen.... I hope it does!

2- TSM as many times as possible! We only did this once last time and LOVED it, so I definitely want to do it again!

3- Playhouse Disney Live... my daughter still will love this and my son will get tons out of it.

4- RnRC and ToT for myself and hubby ... I am trying to talk my daughter into ToT but I showed her some you tube videos of it and she is NOT at all interested! (She was not interested last year either, though she was tall enough).

5- Fantasmic! Saw it last time and loved it I love fireworks and the show is just so special! My son slept through it last time, so maybe he will stay awake this year!

6- The 'Honey I Shrunk The Set' playground area... we never made it there on any of our other trips and I know both kids would love it, plus I would love the photo ops!!!

That is pretty much it for DHS! Of course, we will do whatever else we can, but we tend to take it mellow as much as possible. No big plans for eating there or anything (we did 50's PrimeTime last time and it was fun!) I am sure my daughter will want to see Mickey and friends and also catch a parade or the HSM show. Those things we kind of take minute by minute as they come along....

*next day will be MK and will plan that out next*

 

[gray2402]

Monday the 13th... MK Finally back 'home' I love MK so much and even more with my kiddos! Seeing them experience the magic is, well, MAGICAL!

Must do's for this day!

1)ROPE DROP! I have seen photos, read TR's and imagined it for years and now I want to see it for myself! And maybe the magic of all magic will happen and WE will be family of the day (A girl can wish, right?)

2) Meet Princess Tiana and Prince Naveen! I wanted to kick myself for not making that happen last time when we were in MK. They had only been at the park for a month maybe, and we just never made it out of Fantasyland or Tomorrowland to go see them. Now that the kids are older I think we will be able to do more each day and seeing these guys is priority!

3) Haunted Mansion ... never done it, enough said LOL

4) Space Mountain! We have been on it but it was being refurbed last time we were there, so it has been 4 years! I am READY to blast off again!!

5) BTMRR ... my daughter is tall enough and I have never been on it, so this is a must do!

6) Peter Pan ... never been on it

7) POTC ... been on it once (in France) and loved it! Definitely want to experience it at WDW!

SOOOOOO much more we want to do and we should have another day at MK, so we *hopefully* get to do everything and anything we want!

Plans for this day are to eat breakfast in our resort, get to Rope Drop, get the kids some colored gel and pixie dust at the barber shop and hit the parks! My daughter and I made tie dye mickey mouse head tee shirts for all of us, so we will wear these this day too!

Lunch will be CS somewhere (we usually eat at the CS in Tomorrowland... Cosmic Rays I think?) And we plan to stay for Wishes too and maybe try and catch the parade ... never really seen a parade as the kids are not that interested yet ... I think a few more years and they both will want to want!

*Up next... our one and only ADR/Character Breakfast, DTD and resort day*

 

[xanphylus]

Howdy there! It's nice to see another planning freak on here from GA! We aren't actually heading back until next year, but I can start now!

We never made rope drop either and I keep hoping that this time we will. I have faith that one day, one day- I WILL make rope drop.

Your kiddos are super cute too. Tell your hubby thanks for doing what he does too! Can't that the military families enough for everything they do and the struggles that go along with it.

 

[gray2402]

Howdy there! It's nice to see another planning freak on here from GA! We aren't actually heading back until next year, but I can start now!

We never made rope drop either and I keep hoping that this time we will. I have faith that one day, one day- I WILL make rope drop.

Your kiddos are super cute too. Tell your hubby thanks for doing what he does too! Can't that the military families enough for everything they do and the struggles that go along with it.

Thanks for reading Where in GA are you?

Thanks for the compliments on the kiddos! They are good kids Makes it that much easier to spoil them rotten haha!

 

[xanphylus]

We're in Gwinnett, prob about 25 min North of Atl. Close enough to do all our day trips and far enough away not to completely be insane with the traffic. We just hit the zoo yesterday, gotta love the season pass!

My kiddos love going to all the stuff in Atl, but whine on long car trips... the ride to Disney is fun.... sense my sarcasm here please! DS isn't quite so bad as DD, but she doesn't sleep the entire trip anymore like DS does. I miss her being younger and not as vocal with her opinions..... lol

 

[gray2402]

We lived in Cobb County for 5 years and I taught in DeKalb One of my best friends lives in Tucker GA! We try and get up to Atlanta once a month or so. I will probably go up more when my husband deploys again. We miss Atlanta and all it offers but Augusta has most everything we want and way less traffic, which I LOVE!

Luckily my kids are pretty good car riders! We just bought a Honda Odyssey too, with the DVD player, so this will be our first long trip having that for them to watch too!

 

[gray2402]

Tuesday the 14th- 1900 Park Fare Breakfast and DTD

Today was supposed to be a leisurely resort day ... eat in the room, swim, rest etc etc... but I reallllllly wanted to do a character meal this trip again (we had done one in France kind of like Chef Mickey--- here is my DD with Mickey there!)

We also did Crystal Palace last November, for dinner, and all had a blast!

So this time I decided I wanted to try something outside of the parks! I knew I did not want Mickey and friends again (we did that in France) and we had done Pooh and friends... thought about Ohana's but then saw 1900 Park Fare (in someone else's TR LOL) and thought that was PERFECT! We have been to GF once before, to see the Gingerbread house, and it was beautiful! Plus my daughter loves Mary Poppins and from several reports, it looks like Pooh and Tigger will be there too! Score! So we are doing a 9:15am breakfast there!

After that, I figured we would go to DTD so I could get my souvenirs I wanted. I don't like to buy things in the park because we have to carry them around. I plan to get:

-Some character matchbox cars for my son for Christmas (I saw them on a TR and hope I can find them somewhere!)
-A mini snow globe for my daughter for Christmas (I started collecting them for her last year and plan to keep the tradition! I just need to decide WHICH to get her this year haha... last year was easy ... Aurora, who she is in love with!)
-A Disney lanyard for my keys
-A Christmas tree ornament! This is tradition for us, that we started our trip to France!

I also want to just look around and then go to the candy shop to get some goodies!

We'll be back at the resort after that and eat lunch in the room, go swimming, play on the playground etc ... Liki Tiki has an awesome kiddie water park, that my daughter will LOVE this year! (This is not my photo, I googled for one--- but gives you the idea).

That is the plan! Dinner will be in the room too (I am actually bringing my crockpot and rice maker so we can eat in the room without wasting too much time cooking haha!)

*Next day to plan ... SEA WORLD!*

 

[Trinity524]

I am along for the ride!!! What a beautiful family!!! As you are comg back, I will be coming in! Here's to a fantastic trip!

 

[naholder]

I am here for the ride.

 

[gray2402]

I am along for the ride!!! What a beautiful family!!! As you are comg back, I will be coming in! Here's to a fantastic trip!

Thanks for reading and the compliments on the family

Off to read your PTR now!!! (I am a bit addicted to these )

 

[gray2402]

I am here for the ride.

Yeah!!! It makes it even better to know people are reading

 

[gray2402]

haha! I just realized that I had my hubby's age wrong! WOOPS! He is actually 31 and has been for about 3 months haha! Changed it in the OP!

 

[gray2402]

Wednesday the 15th- Sea World


I first went to Sea World on my Spring Break trip with my friend/co-worker in 2003. (My husband was deployed). She had been before and said it was awesome, and well, I was up for anything! I loved it of course! I then took my hubby the next time we went to Florida... (I am pretty sure the free military deal was going on or he would not have gone but he did enjoy it and of course was happy there were some thrill rides too!)

Anyway, we have gone back every trip we've taken to Orlando, because it is a fun time and it is free! I really enjoy all of the animal interactions and the thrill rides are an added bonus. My daughter loves it too and my son seemed to as much as he could. The kids area is a blast I think too!

So we will go back to Sea World this day... we have seen and done everything there, so no big rush or anything. I definitely want to do these things though:

1) The Pets Ahoy show ... I have seen it many times but it is SO cute!
2) The kids Shamu area ... so much fun stuff for the kids!
3) The dolphins show (Horizons I think?) ... we skipped this last time, so I want to see it this time!
4) The penguins! We missed them last time too ... and I could just watch them for hours.

This will be a leisurely day for us No rushing to a rope drop or anything. As long as my hubby can ride all the coasters, he is a happy guy!

 

[gray2402]

Yeah! I went to Hobby Lobby and got stuff to make our own autograph books! Just simple cardstock albums (5x7 sized ... red for my son and pink for my daughter) and lots of little stickers!

I am debating if I want to make them before we go and surprise them with them (they do not know about the trip yet!) or if I want to surprise them the first night we get there and let them make them.... (just have a list of the characters to add to it etc...)

I will post some pictures of all the stuff later

 

[LaDonna]

there you are! thanks for friending me!

You will enjoy RopeDrop! We will be doing ropedrop at MK exactly a week after you! We will get in ahead of time because we have 8am ADR for CrystalPalace so I can't wait to get some crowd free pics of the castle!

 

[gray2402]

Hey LaDonna! yeah, I hope we make it to Rope Drop! I am going to have to tell Dennis we need to leave like 15 minutes earlier than we do haha!

I am so excited you are going after me Then I can follow along with your trip too!!!

 

[gray2402]

Sharing a few photos

Packing! I am trying something new ... laying everything out as a complete outfit and then folding it all together in the suitcase (the kids share a suitcase). That way I have complete outfits all set each night!

Sammie's outfits:

Alex's outfits:

Making the tie dye tee shirts It was a LOT messier than I thought it would be! Had a few glitches but everything was resolved and we all have mickey mouse sillouhette headed tee shirts to wear YEAH!

 

[gray2402]

Well I decided to make the books myself. Next trip I will let them make them I couldn't help it! I wanted to keep Disney a surprise but I wanted to see them all completed too haha! If I may say so, they came out SUPER cute!!! I am SO excited! I will definitely post pictures of them!

====================

Thursday the 16th, Friday the 17th- No Set Plans, but probably a resort day one day and a partial park day the other...


We will still have two park tickets left to use in WDW so we will play these days by ear ... see how the weather is, how the kids (and us) feel, what strikes our fancy, and really moreso what we did not get to do on our two planned out day.

As of now, I think I will want to go back to MK one day and back to DHS one day, although I am not sure we will need two days in DHS. We might possibly do AK instead. I don't think we will do EPCOT this trip ... my husband and I were not thrilled with it, though I will say I was not on Dis boards when we went and so did not know a lot of what to do there! I definitely want to wait until I have more souvenir money to spend though, before going to the World Showcase LOL

Otherwise we will just be enjoying family time. It will be nice to have my hubby with us for dinner each night! He works some crazy hours and misses dinnertime pretty much every night... plus he is getting ready to deploy again, so we definitely want to cherish the family time. I am sure we will go to the pool a lot, hit the playgrounds up, and definitely head out to get some Friendly's Ice Cream! (They don't have Friendly's near us in Georgia and it is one of the only places down south that sells Maple Walnut ice cream which is my hubby's favorite!)

Well that is it for now! Just two more sleeps until we pack the van and head down south to see the mouse!!!!!!

 

[gray2402]

TOMORROW IS THE DAY!!!!!!!!

Yep, I am excited! I cannot wait to see my daughter's expression when she realizes where we are!

We are all packed, ready to load the car tomorrow and head out the door!

I will post when we are back and I start my trip report!

Thanks for reading