An everchanging Sept PTR (update 7-15 What will we wear and Day 5 plans)

[JPFamilyMom]

I’m on spring break this week, my kids were off last week, and it’s raining all week, what better time than to start our PTR. This time last year we had just returned from the boys’ first trip to the World. It was mine and DH’s 3rd trip.
Here is my favorite picture from that trip:


Before I can go into any details about what I have planned for this trip, let me give you the back story of how it came to be:
You know you have made a positive Disney impact on your son when he suggests another trip to Disney World and gives you a specific time of year to go. Let me introduce you to Joey, my very opinionated, planning, 4 year old.

He thinks he is the boss in this family, but has been shown otherwise many times.

I of course needed no persuading, you want to go back to WDW, great, let’s go. Hold on, back up, wait a minute, first we need to persuade the man of the house. No planning can truly begin until we get the approval from the head of the house, and he had already let me know that there would be no trips to Disney until 2013. Ugh!!! And that was if I was lucky. He enjoys going to Disney but would plan vacations to many other locations first. So the period of pre-pre-planning began, which also included making my DH’s life easier. First I had to price out and do some fuzzy Disney math, as I knew he would want to see numbers, next I had to call my Mom to see if she would come with us, since I knew he would not let me go alone with the two boys (more on that later), and next I had to get him in a good mood. So keep the house clean, no nagging (me nag, never, but he sometimes views my oh so positive feedback and suggestions as nagging), help the boys stay on their best behavior, cook his favorite meals.

Ok, so I finally had a plan to present to him, had him in a good mood. And so the conversation began, and after some negotiations, he finally caved and the “real” trip planning could begin.

As soon as I got the ok, I was on the phone with my Mom, “yes he said yes, but there are conditions, one being you have to come with me, yes I know you already are planning to come, but that is a condition”

Disney, here we come…..
Ok so who is going on this fabulous trip:
Well there is me, Jessica, the Disney obsessed, mother of two, over-planning, fun and easy going person organizing the bulk of this vacation (though that kid up there thinks he is planning our trip). Grew up as the princess in the family and we frequented Disneyland, since I grew up mostly in California. My favorite characters are Ariel and Tink.


Next you have my Mom, a true child at heart who loves to travel, while she doesn’t have a job she clocks into right now she works hard taking care of my Great Aunt. My Mom is the one who introduced me to Disney and created that spark of imagination which allows me to appreciate all that Disney has to offer. She is the Grandma who loves to give her grandkids the World, ;-), her favorite characters are Tinkerbelle and Belle.


Then there is Joey, remember up there, little boy who got the ball rolling. He is feisty, fun, likes to be the leader. He just turned 4. Loves Disney Junior, he says that is where the magic begins. Favorite character at the moment is Jake.


And of course my older son Jack, he turns 7 this month. He is more quiet, but very active, he was diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder when he was 3. Has come leaps and bounds from where we started, but still has some sensory issues and social anxiety that make planning extra important. Last trip we had a couple meltdowns that could’ve been avoided, but now that we have gone once, I have a better plan in mind. Favorite characters include Stitch and Mickey.


We also have had two additions to the trip in the last few weeks. They went on the previous trip with us and are 95% sure they are going with us again.
My sister and my niece Ella are hoping to join us. Not really sure who their favorite characters are at this moment. My niece adores my boys, we live half way across the states from each other but she plays with them daily (they are her imaginary friends) lol.


So here we are in our groups of three:

I’m excited to begin sharing our plans with all of you and getting some feedback as we will be trying many new things on this trip as well as returning to our favorites.
Up next….. some special plans


Leaving the intro the same, but this is a whole new trip now, new dates, new plans, new fun

[JPFamilyMom]

Some Special Plans

Is that an eating place???

Where will we rest our heads?

It's a whole new trip, the twists and turns

The Food- take two

A change in resort..again

Our ADR plan, take three :-)

Day one plans...The adventure begins

Will a MK park opening happen on this trip? (Day two plans)

Going on Safari (Day three plans)

More changes and a Dole whip on Day 4

Completed projects and plans for a relaxing day 5 in MK

[dara00]

hi there! where in Kansas are you from?

[JPFamilyMom]

Originally Posted by dara00

hi there! where in Kansas are you from?

Well Hello there fellow Kansan I have sent you a private message and also just read through your whole trip report.

[dara00]

Originally Posted by JPFamilyMom

Well Hello there fellow Kansan I have sent you a private message and also just read through your whole trip report.

thanks for your comment and message! I am going to check out your March trip report, and follow along for this one too!

[ColtGurl]

Count me in. I love hearing about trip planning Cant wait for your next post.

[JPFamilyMom]

Originally Posted by ColtGurl

Count me in. I love hearing about trip planning Cant wait for your next post.

thanks, and welcome, hoping to get an update done tomorrow since both my kids will be in school and I have no idea what to do with my 2 free hours

[amandaw]

Joining in! I have a little boy who just turned 4 this month. He loves to help with all of the Disney planning, too. Can't wait to hear about all of your plans!

ETA: I just looked at your ticker. It looks like we're going to be there at the same time! And you have on your ticker about your 1st RunDisney experience. So, I'm assuming, you're doing the ToT race. My DH will be running the ToT 10 mile race, it'll be his 1st Disney race.

[jeremysdisneymom]

Joining in! I love fall at WDW. The MK is stunning.

[JPFamilyMom]

Originally Posted by amandaw

Joining in! I have a little boy who just turned 4 this month. He loves to help with all of the Disney planning, too. Can't wait to hear about all of your plans!

ETA: I just looked at your ticker. It looks like we're going to be there at the same time! And you have on your ticker about your 1st RunDisney experience. So, I'm assuming, you're doing the ToT race. My DH will be running the ToT 10 mile race, it'll be his 1st Disney race.

Welcome and thanks for joining me on this adventure. That is cool we'll be there the same time, maybe we'll bump into eachother

Originally Posted by jeremysdisneymom

Joining in! I love fall at WDW. The MK is stunning.

Welcome and thanks for joining in. The fall decorations at MK is something I'm looking forward to most of all. And hopefully some smaller crowds

[JPFamilyMom]

So from my signature countdown I’m sure you have figured out what time of year Joey wanted to go and what “special plans” we have in mind. These are all first time things for us, so I got the pictures off google and welcome any tips anyone has if you have done these things before. Or even just any tips as to planning for weather the end of Sept.

Let’s begin with the whole purpose of our trip, the one thing that sparked the trip, and the main reason my DH said yes. That would be Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party. My children share a favorite holiday and that is Halloween, I don’t know why because they don’t eat much candy and we really don’t go trick or treating. But they have wanted to go to a MNSSHP since they were introduced to pictures and videos of WDW.



Special plan #1: MNSSHP- hoping to do this on Sunday (hoping that will produce a lighter crowd, anyone know)
What are we most looking forward to: the decorations, dressing up, and fun pictures. (I can't wait to have my very own pictures like this next one)


This brings me to special plan number 2. When we began planning this trip, it was originally planned for the weekend before but then I got word there was going to be a special event happening one week later and so our dates got moved to Sept 27- Oct 1. It’s something I have been wanting to do for a few years now…. What is that you ask, well I have been wanting to Run Disney. I would prefer to do the Princess half in February, but if my boys want to go for Halloween then I’m happy with the ToT race. I’m leaning toward attempting the 10 mile race, but I haven’t run in 2 yrs so I’m just getting back into it and not feeling very confident right now. We actually had semi nice weather today so I planned to jog to pick Joey from school since it’s only .8 miles from our home. Well yeah that jog was not what I hoped for and I ended up walking 80% of the time and arrived to his school out of breath. Yikes!!! My soon to be 7 yo however is an excellent runner and he will be doing the kids race and is really excited about adding a medal to his collection. Joey will also run just because big brother is and he doesn’t want to be left out of the Race fun.

Special plan #2: ToT Run Disney Event

What I'm most looking forward to- getting back into shape and running right in the middle of the magic which only Disney can provide.


Our next special plan ties into MNSSHP. The boys would like to be transformed into pirates, especially with the new addition of the Jake make-over. So the day we go to the MNSSHP we will spend our morning and afternoon at MK just so the boys can visit The Pirates League and be transformed into little pirates. I’m currently working on a plan for the costume part of their make overs. I want something comfortable, cool, and that will look great in pictures. Jack wants the bone face pirate and Joey wants the Jake hair and sword.


Special Plan #3 Pirates League

So far those are the things outside of regular Disney planning, unless you want to include F&W but we won’t be spending too much time there as my boys need to keep moving or meltdowns can occur. Plus I worry about the crowds I've read so much about during this event. More on the F&W planning will be included in our Epcot plans.

Up next: Where will we fill our bellies? I'm 9 days away from being able to make my ADR's so I need to get this figured out soon.

[amandaw]

I think that's great that your boys are planning to run, also! Are y'all going to try & stay for the Villains Bash party after the 10 mile race? I want to meet some villains but I know it's going to be tough in the morning to get up after such a late night.

We're also planning to do MNSSHP on that Sunday night. I'm worried about the crowds because of everything I've read on the boards. But, I figure we'll just go for it & see how long we can handle it. The Pirate's League seems like so much fun. I love the new Jake makeover. I think your boys will really enjoy it.

I'm so excited for ADR-making day! I wish it would just get here already. I know all of the ADRs I need & I've prioritized them. Here's hoping we both get what we want!

[MRYPPNS]

Hi Jess! You'll need to teach Joey how to make spreadsheets!

[KathyRN137]

Hi Jess!

I love your list so far! MNSSHP is such fun; and the boys are the perfect ages for the Pirate League!

Good for you on running Disney!

I know from FB that more family has been added to "the cast." Sending pixie dust for good planning and communication karma!




Kathy

[DisMomAmy]

Thanks for posting the link on facebook or I might have missed it!

Your plans sound great so far!! Good luck getting back into shape! Running at Disney is a great motivation!