All that was standing between me and Disney was 13,000 chickens!! Oct. 2010 PTR

[Lbg206]

Hi everyone!! Some of you may be still reading my ongoing TR from last year where my DH and I went on our honeymoon.....no, I didn't start it last year, just finally getting around to last year's TR. LOL That one is almost finished and I was getting the PTR bug so here goes. I have never done one of these before so bare with me. I could definitely use your suggestions, opinions, ideas, and any thoughts you may have on our plans so far.

Let me first introduce our crazy cast of characters:

Me - Lori 28
My mom - Linda

Here's a pic of us


Also there will be my...

Uncle Dan
Aunt Karen
My cousin Rebekah age 6 now, but 7 by the time of the trip
And my other cousin Jake age 5

Here are some pics of the little Prince and Princess

 

[Lbg206]

So I'm guessing all of you are wondering about the title of my PTR....well, first you need a little background. I have been to Disney four times in the past including on my honeymoon last year, twice as a child, and once as a teenager. I LOVE Disney!!! My aunt and uncle have never been, but ever since my cousin Rebekah was born we've been talking about going. We all decided we should wait until she was at least 5 years old and then go. Well then a year and a half later along came her little brother Jake so then the plan became to wait until we was 5 years old. Oh please no more kids or we'll never get to go!! Haha

Jake turned five this past May and we've been talking for a few months that the time was about right. The original plan was to go next year the first week of April. Before I get any responses asking if I'm crazy yes, I know that is a terrible time to go. It's extremely busy from what I hear especially with Spring Break and if that time happens to be Easter weekend. My aunt is a teacher though so we have to work around her breaks and none of us want to go in the summer so that only leaves a few choices. In addition to being a teacher she and my uncle also own a chicken farm with 13,000 chickens. Yes, I actually said 13,000chickens. I bet you can hear the clucking from there!!

The chickens are all taken away every 10 months so they can thoroughly clean out the facility as well as get new chickens. It just so happens to work out that this will also be the first week of April next year....perfect timing. My mom and I, however, aren't real keen on going then so we suggest October during my aunt's Fall break since there should be lower crowds and the weather "hopefully" a bit cooler and the prices also tend to be a bit less. Her urgent want to go soon (she's never been) and her thrifty side win out and they agree to October. All they need was a babysitter for alll those chickens!

 

[Believeinfairytales]

I'm here! Great start! I love the title, too, btw. That's A LOT of chickens.

I cannot wait to hear how the children react to their first visit to Disney. It is always so magical reliving the magic for the first time through their eyes.

Where is hubby going to be during this trip? Is he not coming along??

 

[Lbg206]

I'm here! Great start! I love the title, too, btw. That's A LOT of chickens.

I cannot wait to hear how the children react to their first visit to Disney. It is always so magical reliving the magic for the first time through their eyes.

Where is hubby going to be during this trip? Is he not coming along??

Thanks for joining in, I absolutely can't wait to go and see it through their eyes...it'll be such a different experience. I can't wait to see if what rides they like best, which park, characters, etc. I remember going when I was their age so I think it'll be so magical for them.

Whoops...poor hubby...I meant to mention that about him not going, but seemed to have skipped it. He isn't able to get off work for the week so he's going to stay home. He's getting to go to Houston for a week the first week of December for work. Yes, it's a business trip, not vacation technically, but for someone who's a space geek it might as well be his Christmas. lol I thought about not going since he can't, but my mom, aunt, and uncle refuse to ride anything that spins in circles or is any kind of fast thrill ride so the kids NEED me to go along since I'll ride all the rides with them. And now that he's going on his trip I don't feel so bad about it....especially since his trip is completely paid for.

 

[Believeinfairytales]

Thanks for joining in, I absolutely can't wait to go and see it through their eyes...it'll be such a different experience. I can't wait to see if what rides they like best, which park, characters, etc. I remember going when I was their age so I think it'll be so magical for them.

Whoops...poor hubby...I meant to mention that about him not going, but seemed to have skipped it. He isn't able to get off work for the week so he's going to stay home. He's getting to go to Houston for a week the first week of December for work. Yes, it's a business trip, not vacation technically, but for someone who's a space geek it might as well be his Christmas. lol I thought about not going since he can't, but my mom, aunt, and uncle refuse to ride anything that spins in circles or is any kind of fast thrill ride so the kids NEED me to go along since I'll ride all the rides with them. And now that he's going on his trip I don't feel so bad about it....especially since his trip is completely paid for.

Yes, those kids NEED you! I'm so glad you are going for them. You're the best cousin ever!

And I know it will be hard for you to leave hubby, but it is sometimes a good thing to get away and do things separate. Makes you appreciate the other all the more. And like you said, he's getting a trip in December, so you're kind of even.

 

[irishsharon]

How do you find a good chicken-sitter?Anyway I hope you have fun planning this trip with the kids.

 

[Lbg206]

How do you find a good chicken-sitter?Anyway I hope you have fun planning this trip with the kids.

What...you mean you wouldn't want to coem babysit 13,000 chickens?? J/k There is actually someone who has another chicken farm just a few miles from my uncle so he and a couple of the workers he has (yes, his is actually bigger!!) are going to come by and check on things, take care of the chickens and ALL those eggs for a few days. Plus they also have someone willing to stay at the house for them to feed the dogs, cows, and horses.

 

[Lbg206]

Yes, those kids NEED you! I'm so glad you are going for them. You're the best cousin ever!

And I know it will be hard for you to leave hubby, but it is sometimes a good thing to get away and do things separate. Makes you appreciate the other all the more. And like you said, he's getting a trip in December, so you're kind of even.

Yep, they definitely need me and i need them as well so I won't have to ride the bigger rides alone either. And you're right...I'll miss Jason, but we just can't afford to both go this time and were planning a trip for next year. This one came up a bit more sudden that first expected. My mom and I are splitting the costs and we have free dining so it won't be so bad. Then when he found out he gets to go to Houston even if it is for work he was excited as a kid in a candy store! Plus I really do think he's lke the few days here on his own.

 

[Lbg206]

Ok so how do you plan a trip for 6 people with COMPLETELY different tastes? Very carefully!! LOL Side note....if there's anyone out there wanting to go to WDW but not wanting to plan it all out I'd be more than happy to help out because I truly feel like an expert by this point.

We have my mom who LOVES Haunted Mansion, Pirates, etc. those type rides, but hates anything that spins and any kind of coaster or thrill ride, but yet for some reason she's dying to ride ToT with me.....go figure

Then there's my aunt who doesn't do thrill rides of ANY kind and doesn't like too many spinning rides, but wants to ride the teacups. Yeah....I don't get that one either!

My uncle who.....well.....is mostly just wanting good food and wants to know where he can find a beer. He's really not into this trip AT ALL, but wants to go to see the kids enjoying it so much.

My cousin Bekah who is a little dare devil. Even at 6 years old (she'll be 7 by the time we go) will ride most anything and everything and there's almost nothing too high or fast for her........my type of girl!!!

Her younger brother Jake who loves rides, but is a bit more timid and will probably do Thunder Mountain and MAYBE Splash mountain, but that's about it in the thrill department. He likes things a bit more tame. He has three requests though, which he thinks MUST be filled. He wants to ride TSMM, wants to see Fantasmic, and wants to ride a boat at some point....gotta love a 5 year old!

Then there's me who says bring it on!!! I'll do anything and everything and do them multiple times.....except Mission Space and that's only because it made me really dizzy and sick. I felt like an elephant was sitting on my chest so I won't be doing that again.

So there you have it, I had to combine ALL of those personalities to make the perfect Itinerary. Oh and one other thing I'm not sure I mentioned. We are all going down on a Saturday, but then my aunt, uncle, and cousins will be coming home on Wednesday, but my mom and I are stay until the next Saturday. I know that doesn't give them a lot of time there, but my uncle doesn't want to be away from the farm and my aunt's already a bit freaked over the past so we think doing a small trip to start will give them a good feel of Disney, but leave them PLENTY to come back for in the next few years.

 

[Believeinfairytales]

Ok so how do you plan a trip for 6 people with COMPLETELY different tastes? Very carefully!! LOL Side note....if there's anyone out there wanting to go to WDW but not wanting to plan it all out I'd be more than happy to help out because I truly feel like an expert by this point.

We have my mom who LOVES Haunted Mansion, Pirates, etc. those type rides, but hates anything that spins and any kind of coaster or thrill ride, but yet for some reason she's dying to ride ToT with me.....go figure

Then there's my aunt who doesn't do thrill rides of ANY kind and doesn't like too many spinning rides, but wants to ride the teacups. Yeah....I don't get that one either!

My uncle who.....well.....is mostly just wanting good food and wants to know where he can find a beer. He's really not into this trip AT ALL, but wants to go to see the kids enjoying it so much.

My cousin Bekah who is a little dare devil. Even at 6 years old (she'll be 7 by the time we go) will ride most anything and everything and there's almost nothing too high or fast for her........my type of girl!!!

Her younger brother Jake who loves rides, but is a bit more timid and will probably do Thunder Mountain and MAYBE Splash mountain, but that's about it in the thrill department. He likes things a bit more tame. He has three requests though, which he thinks MUST be filled. He wants to ride TSMM, wants to see Fantasmic, and wants to ride a boat at some point....gotta love a 5 year old!

Then there's me who says bring it on!!! I'll do anything and everything and do them multiple times.....except Mission Space and that's only because it made me really dizzy and sick. I felt like an elephant was sitting on my chest so I won't be doing that again.

So there you have it, I had to combine ALL of those personalities to make the perfect Itinerary. Oh and one other thing I'm not sure I mentioned. We are all going down on a Saturday, but then my aunt, uncle, and cousins will be coming home on Wednesday, but my mom and I are stay until the next Saturday. I know that doesn't give them a lot of time there, but my uncle doesn't want to be away from the farm and my aunt's already a bit freaked over the past so we think doing a small trip to start will give them a good feel of Disney, but leave them PLENTY to come back for in the next few years.

It sounds like you guys may have to split up for a bit so that everyone can get in the things that they want to do. I think overall everyone is going to have the most awesome time! I am glad to hear, too, that they have someone to check on all those chickens!

 

[irishsharon]

So are you going to visit all four parks? Also if you don't mind me asking where are you going to eat to make the grown-ups happy and the kids?Look forward to hearing more

 

[Lbg206]

So are you going to visit all four parks? Also if you don't mind me asking where are you going to eat to make the grown-ups happy and the kids?Look forward to hearing more

We will definitely be visiting all four parks so the kids (and my aunt and uncle) can at least get a taste of each one. Picking our restaurants was interesting because I needed to make everyone happy, but I think I did a pretty good job of that. Again just like the ride situation we're all different. My aunt and mom will eat anything so they were easy, my uncle is strictly a basic meat and potatoes kind of guy. There DD7 eats more like an adult and would much prefer a salad or turkey or somethiing whereas there DS5 is VERY picky and as much as I hate to admit it I'm quite a picky eater myself. I'm getting ready to start giving our daily itineraries which will include all of our meals so if you stay tuned I'll try to get them all covered shortly. Thanks for joining in the PTR!!

 

[Lbg206]

Ok, so let's just jump on in with the Itinerary and I'll back track later to give a few details I've left out with our planning. Please feel free to comment as you wish to make suggestions or tell me I'm crazy or maybe even tell me I'm not crazy which is good too. lol

Saturday Day 1

Our flight leave Louisville, KY at 12:10 and thankfully is a nonstop flight and we get in at 2:10. This is a GREAT thing because for me I just like the queckness since I'm so eager to get there, but my aunt and uncle hate flying and the kids have never flown before. Jake (5) is really excited and I think will be fine. Bekah (7) however, is already terrified and dreading it.....I think her mom talks WAY too much about how scared she is of flying. We told her she needed to immediately stop talking about her own fears in front of the kids which she has and the past month Bekah hasn't mentioned flying at all which is good.

Our plan is to take the Magical Express to our resort....We are stay at Pop Century by the way!!!! I'll explain more about this choice in a later post, but the plan is to "hopefully" drop our things there and immediately leave for Magic Kingdom and be there around 5:30...not sure if this will happen but we'll see.

We didn't plan a TS meal this night for two reasons...1.) in case our flight is delayed or anything I don't want to be rushed getting there and 2.) the kids will be so excited ot be there they won't eat two bites if that so I don't want to waste the money on the food. Our plans our to hit a CS....either Pacos Bills or Cosmic Rays IF the kids will let us. LOL Bekah is already asking if we HAVE to stop and eat that night so we'll see. She aso insists that our first ride be Pirates of the Carribean....gotta love a girl with opinions!

There are EMH that night until 11 pm so our plan is to stay as long as the kids can hold out. Bekah thinks once 8 o'clock comes she should be asleep (gotta love a kid like that) but Jake will shut the place down if we let him which is the plan. We want to stay with Pirates and then do Splash and Thunder Mountains and Jungle Cruise (because it's the BEST at night) and Haunted Mansion and just work our way around from there saving Fantasyland and Tomorrowland for the next day probably.

So how are we looking so far??


Sunday Day 2

Magic Kingdom opens at 9 a.m. and we have an 8 a.m. ADR at Crystal Palace. At first it was Chef Mickey's, but we changed to Crystal Palace because I LOVE getting in before the park opens since you can get great photos of Main Street and the Castle with hardly anyone around. Plus you're already in the parks when it opens and can quickly do two or three rides with basically no waiting.

We'll be doing Fantasyland and Tomorrowland first and then just do any other rides we have time for. Most of us aren't real big on eating lunch....we almost never do it at home and especially not when we're at Disney, but my uncle is insisting he'll need food and the kids might get hungry too so if so we'll do either Paco's Bills or Cosmic Rays, whichever one we didn't do the night before. We are planning on hanging around MK until about 1 or 2 and then heading over to HS.

We want to get as many rides in as we can in about two hours and then have a 5:00 ADR at 50's Prime Time Cafe. Now I personally don't LOVE the foold....I don't hate it, in fact it's pretty good, just don't LOVE it, but the atmosphere is run and my uncle likes that he can get pot roast or meatloaf so we all agreed on eating there. After dinner if we have time we'll do another couple rides and then have to head to Fantasmic around 7 since it's at 8 that night. Jake INSISTS we must "see the show with all the fire on the guide map" haha he's too cute. I think they'll love it....I saw it last year for the first time and think it's the best nighttime show Disney has. AFter it ends we'll see how the kids are doing. We're guessing they will be exhausted by now so pobably my aunt and uncle will go with them back to the hotel and my mom and I are going to hang around since the park has EMH until 11. It's the only night of the trip it's open that late and in my opinion this is a MUST DO park at night because it's one of the prettiest and most fun in the dark.

Alright well, that's the arrival day and first full day. I'll stop there for now and continue in a later post. Feel free to comment or make any suggestions.

Thanks everyone who is reading and planning along with me!!

 

[pooksma]

Sounds like you are planning a memorable trip.

An early ADR at CP is such a great idea. We've done it a coupe of times and there is such a cool feeling being one of a few in the park at that time


I'll go find your TR now...

 

[Lbg206]

Sounds like you are planning a memorable trip.

An early ADR at CP is such a great idea. We've done it a coupe of times and there is such a cool feeling being one of a few in the park at that time


I'll go find your TR now...

Thanks, I'm really looking forward to CP. I've been before, but love getting in before all the crowds. Hope you like the TR, I'm almost finished with it, still have a night and morning left to go and will try to get that finished in the next day or so. Thanks for reading along!!

 

[Believeinfairytales]

I think you're off to a great start! I am liking that your cousin wants to go on Pirates first. That's my all time favorite family ride!

 

[irishsharon]

Your plans sound great, what time do you have to be up and ready to be at CP by 8am?Just know that sometimes getting up and out the door can take a little more time with kids.

 

[Lbg206]

I think you're off to a great start! I am liking that your cousin wants to go on Pirates first. That's my all time favorite family ride!

Mine too!! And my mom's as well so we're excited she's so excited about it.

Your plans sound great, what time do you have to be up and ready to be at CP by 8am?Just know that sometimes getting up and out the door can take a little more time with kids.

We'll probably be up around 6:30 or so, perhaps a bit earlier and actually I just noticed today I was wrong it's not at 8:00, it's at 8:15. Here at home though my aunt and the kids are up every morning around 5 to get ready for school and my uncle gets up at 4 to take care of the checkens so I think they'll all be fine with the time. My mom and I will be the ones dragging a bit. LOL

A quick funny story.....when we were first making ADR's and I asked my aunt about the time for that morning her EXACT words to me were "Well, we'll all probably be tired from traveling the day before and staying at MK so late that night so we'll probably want to sleep in a bit and should make our breakfast a bit later.....how about 6:45?" I kid you not....she thinks a 6:45 breakfast is LATE!!!

 

[Lbg206]

Monday day 2

8:00 a.m. ADR at Animal Kingdom for Donald's Safari Breakfast - I am really looking forward to this one for some reason and so are the kids. I also like that we'll be in that park early again and can immediately grab FP's for Kilimanjaro.

After breakfast the plan is to stay at AK as long as the kids want to. In the beginning my mom and aunt were thinking the kids would like this park the least because they both don't care for the zoo, but for me this is my favorite park and probably will be my mom's as well. She hasn't been to Disney since AK was opened. Recently, however, the kids have been to the zoo both of class field trips and practically had to be dragged out of the place because they loved it so much so I guess we'll see. Bekah also really wants to ride Everest with me so that's exciting since she'll be the only one riding with me.

If everyone....meaning my uncle and possibly the kids, LOL.......gets hungry we'll probably grab something at Flame Tree

Once AK loses its appeal for the kids we'll head to Epcot. We'll only have one afternoon there with them so our plans are to hit Soarin' (if possible) Nemo and Friends, Turtle Talk, and Test Track, and also the Visa Meet and Greet. Also we have to do Spaceship Earth because Jake(5) can't believe there's really a ride inside the Goofball as he calls it....I love that he calls it the goofball instead of golfball or giant ball or anything else that kids might call it....so cute!! Oh and my mom INSISTS on Figment....she loves that little dragon.

Anything else we get to will be great too before our dinner ADR at Rose and Crown at 7:40. Our plan is to stretch dinner out until Illuminations at 9 since it's a perfect place to see the show...assuming we get an outside table. (fingers crossed everyone) I CAN'T WAIT for the Chocolate Scotch Cake....I've literally been having dreams about it lately.

After dinner and Illuminations it'll be back to Pop for some much needed sleep!!

 

[Believeinfairytales]

A quick funny story.....when we were first making ADR's and I asked my aunt about the time for that morning her EXACT words to me were "Well, we'll all probably be tired from traveling the day before and staying at MK so late that night so we'll probably want to sleep in a bit and should make our breakfast a bit later.....how about 6:45?" I kid you not....she thinks a 6:45 breakfast is LATE!!!

Okay, that really is funny!