Little Sister’s First Trip to the World! – PTR February 2013

[TangledMama]

Hi! I’m Lexi, and I’m attempting my first PTR (that will hopefully turn into a TR!)

We’re leaving in 15 days for an 8 day trip! And we are getting APs for the first time!!!

Who’s going:

Me (of course). I’m 31 and mama to Alexander and Madeline. During the day I work as a Program Analyst for the government. I’ve been a Disney fan ever since my grandparents took my brother and me to Disneyland right before I turned 7. I’ve been to DLR 3 times and I’ve been to WDW several times. My favorite Disney character is Rapunzel.

DH (33) – DH is the one who makes my dreams happen (I know that sounds cheesy, but it’s true). We’ve known each other since I was a freshman in high school but lost touch over the years. We reconnected on Facebook back in 2008 when I was a single mom and we got engaged in May 2010. We went on a trip with DS back in October 2010 shortly before we got married. He had been there once before when he was in middle school and wasn’t a huge fan. I think he was converted on our trip. Every once in a while he would mention that we should go back to Disney, but then he would crunch the numbers and decide it wasn’t the right time to go (he is also the CFO of our family, among other things). Finally, this past Fall, my best friend said she was thinking about going, so he started looking at the numbers again and decided we could go this February!

Here’s a picture of us on our trip in October 2010.



Next up is DS, Alex, who just turned 7 in December. He’s been to DLR once, and has been to WDW in December 2009 and on our October 2010 trip. He is a huge Disney fan. He loves Star Wars, and like a lot of 7 year olds, he is obsessed with Legos – I can’t wait to take him to the Lego Store in DTD. This trip is a surprise for him. We’ve watched some “surprise” videos on Youtube, and one day he told me he wanted me to surprise him with a trip to Disney. It’s been very hard keeping this from him! (I’m horrible at keeping secrets).

Here are the 3 of us from Oct. 2010:



Here is a picture of him from before Christmas:



And last we have the youngest member of our team, Little Sister, aka Madeline (Maddie). She just turned a year old last Sunday and she is a very busy toddler. She loves to go new places and I can’t wait to take her to Disney.

Here she is in her Halloween costume:



And here is a picture of her and her brother from her birthday party (she has a little less hair than Rapunzel):



Stay tuned for the next post: When we’re going and where we’re staying!

[TangledMama]

Trip Dates: February 2nd through 9th

We got an amazing deal for flights through Southwest back in October (40% off)! We leave super early on Saturday the 2nd and arrive at MCO at 9:30 am. From there we will be taking the Magical Express



to ….





All Star Sports!

We stayed at All Star Movies on our last trip and loved the fun atmosphere of the All Stars. DS is into all sports, so I know he will love this resort.

We will be doing our first split stay during this trip. After 3 nights at All Star Sports, we will be moving to….





Port Orleans Riverside!

I’m really excited about staying here. I’ve had it on my Disney bucket list for years and I’m finally getting the chance to stay here! I’m hoping to take advantage of the boat to Downtown Disney and one night we are planning to go to the River Roost to see Yehaa Bob perform.

Up next: Where we'll be eating!

[TangledMama]

Last night DS went ice skating with a friend, so DH and I had a few hours to discuss our trip without having to speak in code. We pored over the menus on AllEars and added a few more ADRs to our itinerary. We also have a good idea of which counter service restaurants we will be visiting on this trip. Since we'll be AP holders, we are going to purchase Tables in Wonderland.

While browsing the DIS last night, I found this thread with a link to a fabulous dining calculator tool!

http://www.disboards.com/showthread....ing+calculator

http://www.seeyareelsoon.wix.com/seeyareelsoon

We plugged in our restaurants and found out that we will save money on this trip alone with TiW (we're planning to go back 2 or 3 times within the year, so we'll definitely save a lot using this benefit).

Here are the ADRs we have:

-50's Prime Time Café at DHS
-Nine Dragons at Epcot
-Tony's Town Square at MK
-'Ohana at the Polynesian Resort (we're meeting up with my BFF, her DH, and DD for this dinner)
-Trail's End Restaurant at Fort Wilderness
-Boatwright's Dining Hall at Port Orleans Riverside
-1900 Park Fare for a late breakfast

DS and I went to 1900 Park Fare during our December 2009 trip. Here's a picture of him after Mary Poppins visited our table and gave him a kiss!



Counter Service:

I'm really excited about going to the Boulangerie Patisserie now that they've expanded. This is my favorite place to go (love the chocolate mousse), in my favorite Epcot Pavilion.



We'll probably be visiting Toy Story Pizza Planet again



I can't wait to see Be Our Guest. I tried to get Dinner ADRs, but that proved to be impossible. We're really looking forward to trying it out for lunch.

There will be other meals (and snacks! Dole Whips!), but these are the highlights.

[pld5]

I'm subscribing! If only because I'm jealous you have a shorter wait until your trip than ours......

Your son is adorable! So is your daughter, but I love the intelligence behind a 7 year old boy's eyes. Especially one who is reading his sister's birthday card for her.

Glad to hear you did 1900 PF already for breakfast and are planning it again. I've gone back and forth on that one many times, but have decided we have to do it. First everyone in my family loves breakfast buffets and second, I like characters and eating while seeing them is a much better way for me to do that than make my family wait in line in the parks.

[TangledMama]

Originally Posted by pld5

I'm subscribing! If only because I'm jealous you have a shorter wait until your trip than ours......

Your son is adorable! So is your daughter, but I love the intelligence behind a 7 year old boy's eyes. Especially one who is reading his sister's birthday card for her.

Glad to hear you did 1900 PF already for breakfast and are planning it again. I've gone back and forth on that one many times, but have decided we have to do it. First everyone in my family loves breakfast buffets and second, I like characters and eating while seeing them is a much better way for me to do that than make my family wait in line in the parks.

Yay, my first commenter!!!

From your signature, it looks like your DS is about the same age as mine - he just turned 7 last month.

I loved 1900 Park Fare for breakfast. I thought the character interaction was great and it's a good mix of characters, so there is something for everyone. You get Pooh and Tigger, who are always fun, but the face characters are what really made it great for us last time. We went for my son's 4th birthday and he was opening presents during our breakfast and got a book as one of the gifts. Alice came to our table and spent quite a few minutes looking through the book with DS. The Mad Hatter was hilarious, and of course, the kiss from Mary Poppins was very memorable.

[pld5]

Originally Posted by TangledMama

Yay, my first commenter!!!

From your signature, it looks like your DS is about the same age as mine - he just turned 7 last month.

I loved 1900 Park Fare for breakfast. I thought the character interaction was great and it's a good mix of characters, so there is something for everyone. You get Pooh and Tigger, who are always fun, but the face characters are what really made it great for us last time. We went for my son's 4th birthday and he was opening presents during our breakfast and got a book as one of the gifts. Alice came to our table and spent quite a few minutes looking through the book with DS. The Mad Hatter was hilarious, and of course, the kiss from Mary Poppins was very memorable.

Thank you for the welcome!

Yes, our son is close in age to yours. He will turn 7 during our trip next month.

Our first character meals were in January 2012. We did H&V, CRT and Chef Mickey's. DS loved all of the characters and really likes to hug the soft ones and flirt with the princesses. We met Mary Poppins at Animation Courtyard on our trip and she just grabbed his hand and walked away with him. He was in love.

[pld5]

Just had to pop in wish you safe travels tomorrow! Hope the video slideshow goes/went well for Alex!

Can't wait to hear about how your trip goes. Have fun!

[TangledMama]

Originally Posted by pld5

Just had to pop in wish you safe travels tomorrow! Hope the video slideshow goes/went well for Alex!

Can't wait to hear about how your trip goes. Have fun!

Thanks!!!

[TangledMama]

I am FINALLY finished with my video slideshow for Alex. You can see it here: http://youtu.be/X--wVKNFiOE.

I hope he likes it!

Can't believe that 24 hours from now we will probably be on the Magical Express!!!!!

A week from today will be our last full day. We'll be spending time at Animal Kingdom and Magic Kingdom.

We will also be heading over to Fort Wilderness in the evening for our ADR at Trail's End Restaurant.

Then Saturday we will spend some time in Epcot. We booked a late flight, so we should have a good portion of the day to spend in the park.

This trip I'm hoping to take lots of pictures - I will probably be Instagramming our trip (my username is jordana21 if you'd like to follow me there).

Happy planning everyone! I hope to be starting my trip report when I return next weekend!

[WDWCP96]

Have a fantastic trip!

My daughter is 20 months, oh wait she will be 21 months on the 3rd! She does well traveling as she is quite accustomed to it. We have to make a lot of long trips to see family.

Off to watch the video and follow you on instagram!

[Alysa]

You must be on your way now - have a fantastic trip! Cute kids - love the Halloween costumes! Looking forward to hearing about it when you get back!

[TangledMama]

We are here and on Day 3 of our trip! Having a great time so far. Alex was able to do Jedi Training yesterday and had a blast. We decided to sleep in this morning and stay at the hotel until it's time to leave for our breakfast at 1900 Park Fare at 11.

The weather has been great and the crowds seem heavier than my last two trips, but they still aren't too bad.

[pld5]

Glad to hear you are having a good trip!

How did the sign up go for Jedi Training? Mad rush or reasonable? What time slot did he get.? Happy he enjoyed it!

Is your little girl loving everything?

Have fun at 1900 PF!

[TangledMama]

Originally Posted by pld5

Glad to hear you are having a good trip!

How did the sign up go for Jedi Training? Mad rush or reasonable? What time slot did he get.? Happy he enjoyed it!

Is your little girl loving everything?

Have fun at 1900 PF!

Oh my goodness, the sign up for Jedi Training is intense! We did it on Sunday and then on Thursday. You MUST get there at park opening, but earlier is better. We got to the park gates about 8:45 on Sunday, and then on Thursday we got there right about 9. What a difference those extra 15 minutes made. We did get a slot both times, but when we got there at 9, they were probably about 80% full by the time we got to the front of the line.