Andrea1975
Mouseketeer
- Joined
- Aug 20, 2017
Hi all—in a fit of what may prove to be insanity I’ve booked flights and a Disneyworld package for late August for my hot-weather hating family. As I dig into the planning process I’m realizing I need more than my excel spreadsheet to track my thinking, and am hoping that this way I can benefit from the wisdom of the DIS collective!
The Basics
I’ll be adding day by day details in subsequent posts, but the basics are:
Tuesday, August 28—Monday September 3. We’re staying at Pop Century and have 6-day park tickets. I’m hoping for a free dining offer which I’ll upgrade to a standard Dining Plan. Currently I booked non-hoppers, but am leaning towards upgrading even if I don’t need to for the free dining deal.
The Background
So who am I? Andrea, a 42yo single mom to two great kids from the DC area. I think this will be trip #5 for me to Disneyworld, and I’ve also been to Disneyland once.
Which brings us to 2018! While none of us are fans of hot weather, we are Disney fans. I am really looking forward to not having to accommodate whiny adults (whiny kids I can handle!) and to planning things the way I think makes the most sense. I’m a little nervous about the heat/humidity and a lot nervous about handling both kids by myself.
The Who
So, I’ve introduced myself--who are these kids that I’m dragging with me?
I’ll add jump links here for each day of planning—as well as other updates/planning thoughts. I hope you’ll come along with me and weigh in on my many questions!
Dining Plans
Day 1: Magic Kingdom
ADRs Revisited
Day 2: Animal Kingdom
Day 3:EPCOT and HS
Day 4:Magic Kingdom
Day 5: Hollywood Studios
Day 6: EPCOT and MK
FP Day Tomorrow
The Basics
I’ll be adding day by day details in subsequent posts, but the basics are:
Tuesday, August 28—Monday September 3. We’re staying at Pop Century and have 6-day park tickets. I’m hoping for a free dining offer which I’ll upgrade to a standard Dining Plan. Currently I booked non-hoppers, but am leaning towards upgrading even if I don’t need to for the free dining deal.
The Background
So who am I? Andrea, a 42yo single mom to two great kids from the DC area. I think this will be trip #5 for me to Disneyworld, and I’ve also been to Disneyland once.
- Trip 1—Family trip as a young child. All I really remember is the parking lot shuttle and that I was too short to ride Space Mountain, which was a bitter disappointment and probably the last time in my life I was too short for something!
- Trip 2—Family trip as a high school junior with a cousin visiting from overseas.
- Trip 3—Post grad school trip with 3 friends. It was October 2001 and everything was still pretty deserted after 9/11. We stayed offsite in my friend’s parents’ timeshare.
- Trip 4—January 2016. First time in the Disney bubble (Port Orleans-Riverside Princess room). Family trip with my (now-ex) husband, his parents, and our two kids. We had to do a bit of scrambling because we were scheduled to fly and there was a massive snowstorm—so we ended up driving instead. Unfortunately, ex was (unbeknownst to me) already done with the marriage at that point so not the best travel companion. We split up about 2 weeks after getting home. My in-laws are not the easiest travel companions, so ex and I were at the parks early with the kids every morning and they’d wander in around 11 and complain about the prices and the crowds and how far away they had to park.
Which brings us to 2018! While none of us are fans of hot weather, we are Disney fans. I am really looking forward to not having to accommodate whiny adults (whiny kids I can handle!) and to planning things the way I think makes the most sense. I’m a little nervous about the heat/humidity and a lot nervous about handling both kids by myself.
The Who
So, I’ve introduced myself--who are these kids that I’m dragging with me?
- My daughter E will be 7 this summer and has not stopped talking about our last trip since it happened. She is a lover of all thing princess and has recently swapped her Moana obsession for a Coco obsession. She’s a daredevil who isn’t scared of anything. She’s fairly adventurous when it comes to food though the typical kid favorites are also high on her list. She’s strong-willed and a bundle of energy.
- My son J will be 4 this summer. He is on track to hit 40” tall by this summer so I’m keeping my fingers crossed that he does. If not, he’s not nearly as adventurous as his sister, so we weren’t going to be hitting too many wild rides anyway. He’s a super-snuggly goofball. He LOVES Mickey Mouse and his friends, but is still very cautious about meeting characters (he prefers them from a distance.) He’s my relatively picky eater—I see a lot of mac and cheese and chicken nuggets in his future.
I’ll add jump links here for each day of planning—as well as other updates/planning thoughts. I hope you’ll come along with me and weigh in on my many questions!
Dining Plans
Day 1: Magic Kingdom
ADRs Revisited
Day 2: Animal Kingdom
Day 3:EPCOT and HS
Day 4:Magic Kingdom
Day 5: Hollywood Studios
Day 6: EPCOT and MK
FP Day Tomorrow
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