How could I say no? DD turns 13 at WDW. A Sept. 2015 PTR. Updated 8/27.

[TinaMcTeer]

Welcome to my pre-trip report. A place to gather my thoughts, ideas and plans for our upcoming trip to the most magical place in the world.

So who will be joining me on this wonderful birthday adventure? Please, let me introduce you to the cast of characters.

First off is your guide for this fun trip. My name is Christina. I am a stay at home mom who spends her free time going back to school for my accounting degree. I grew up in southern California, where my love for all things Disney developed. We always had annual passes growing up and my mom used Disneyland to keep me from hanging out with friends she did not approve of. My earliest memory is of Country Bear Jamboree from my first trip as a three year old. My favorite princess is Cinderella but she comes in as a close second to the main mouse himself, Mickey. This will be the third trip to WDW for DH and I.


My DH is also known as Deke. He is a wonderful, hardworking man who was born and raised in Canada. He enjoys Disney but is more excited to go to hockey events or racing events (F1, MotoGP). I am slowly working on him. He has always fully supported me in my Disney obsession and I believe is is starting to come over to the Disney side. He doesn't really have a favorite character.

Next we have the birthday girl, we will call her K. She is the reason we are heading to sunny Florida. Just after her last birthday, she came up to me and said, " I would love to spend my first moments as a teenager on Disney property." How could I say no to that? DD12 is obsessed with YouTubers, elephants and her favorite character is Stitch.

We are then brought to DS10, D. I am sure you would not be surprised to find out he is a Minecraft loving boy, most boys in his age group share this Minecraft love. D loves Soccer and plays every chance he can. He is a goalie which is awesome because he is very tall like his father. D also shares his dad's love of racing. D's favorite character is Mickey.

The last member of my family is DD7, L. L is very spunky and is not afraid to tell you her opinion on any subject. L loves cheer and gymnastics and basically anything else that her older siblings like. She is a girly-girl who loves to play dress up and house, but is also rough and tumble. L's favorite Character is Princess Aurora.

This will be my children's second trip to Walt Disney World. The last time being 5 years ago. (We did DL in 2012).
My parents will also be joining us on this trip. They had been planning on a DL trip this summer but when they found out we were planning a trip to the world they decided they should join us instead. My dad looks like a big grisly bear but he is a big teddy bear. He has been to the world twice. He has a great love of mickey since he has had some amazing character interactions with the main mouse, including almost accidentally punching him when Mickey scared him.

Finally we have my mama. She has loved Disney since she was a small child. She went to Disneyland the first time at six years old and has continuously held Disney close to her heart. Mom's favorite character is Snow White. She loves how she feels like that six year old every time she walks through those gates.

Both of my parents have mobility issues due to knee and back issues so they will not be with us all of the time, which I think will be a blessing in disguise.


We have the who, so now it is time for the when. K's Birthday will be on September 6th. So that makes the when fairly easy. Looking at the calendar, Deke and I decided the best time for him to take off of work would be September 5-12 so our dates were set. (Luckily we were able to score free dining during this time as well.) The last few years K's birthday has fallen on the first week of school. This year K will be able to skip the whole first week of school. The last week of school she found out that she will not be allowed to be part of a leadership group at school because she would have to be there on the first day of school. She was slightly upset that she couldn't apply for a position for this leadership group. I offered to reschedule the trip for her but she said she would be okay and that other opportunities would come her way. Yep that's my K. She is always looking on the bright side of things.

Up next will be the where and the first part of the real exciting stuff, Dining!!

 

[Stretchy Shorts]

In

 

[TinaMcTeer]

In

looking forward to finally posting dining choices plus a few extras we planned for. Expect a big update later. Plus a little life update on a short trip up to Mackinac Island for our 10 year anniversary!

 

[TinaMcTeer]

Sorry this post has no pictures. It is dedicated solely to our dining choices,

It is ADR time.

On the 180 day mark I woke up at 5:55 am. I pried open my sleepy eyes and rolled out of bed. I slowly stumbled to my laptop and proceeded to make my dining reservations. I started with those that I thought were going to be the hardest to make and made my way down to the easier ones. I ended up getting all of the reservations we had wanted within a half hour of our desired times. I would say I felt really good because I have heard nightmares about getting ADRs. So without further ado here are our dining plans:




September 6- (K’s Birthday, these dining choices were dictated by her)

• Ohana Breakfast-8:45 AM
  
  
• Chef Mickeys-7:45 PM

September 7

• Mama Melrose Fantasmic Package- 4:45 PM

September 8

• Rose & Crown – 12:00 for 2 people
  
  
• Akershus – 1:25 for 5 people
  
  
• Le Cellier- 6:00 PM (OOP)

September 9

• Tusker House Breakfast- 8:15 AM
  
  
• Paradiso 37 -8:40 PM

September 10

• Be Our Guest Lunch- 1:00 PM

September 11

• Coral Reef- 5:45 PM

I don’t know how we became so fortunate to get everything we had wanted, but I am glad we did.

Now for a couple fun extra things to do that we had planned.

DD K has loved Cirque du Soleil since she was a small girl and saw her first show. Last time she was at WDW she really wanted to see La Nouba but we did not have time. I planned on doing it during this trip. In fact tickets are bought and are sitting with my trip planning bag. K is going to be so surprised.

Finally the last fun surprise is thanks to my mom. My mother wanted to do something nice for us since we allowed them to tag along on our trip so she made reservations for all of us to do the IllumiNations Sparking Dessert party. I tried talking her out of it because it does not seem like the price is worth it for the seven of us, but she insisted that it would be a magical way to end our trip. So we will be doing that on September 11.

So there you have it. Dining reservations made. Dessert party reservations are done and paid for and La Nouba tickets are waiting to be used. Looks like this trip is going to be so much fun!

Now I just need to stress over the fastpass+. This is new to me since we were there 5 years ago. Trying to read up as much as I can in order to utilize them the best way we can for our family. Does anyone have any thoughts or suggestions on how to best use the Fastpass+?

 

[Stretchy Shorts]

Absolutely LOVE Le Cellier. We used to order all kinds of food now we just have the soup and pretzel bread

 

[TinaMcTeer]

Absolutely LOVE Le Cellier. We used to order all kinds of food now we just have the soup and pretzel bread

Le Cellier is on our must do every trip. We went there the first time on our Disneymoon. Since hubby is Canadian he feels at home talking to the Canadian staff and usually finds someone who is from an area close to his hometown. He also ends up spending about $50 in Canadian candy while we at the Canadian pavilion, which will be gone in a week.

 

[Stretchy Shorts]

Le Cellier is on our must do every trip. We went there the first time on our Disneymoon. Since hubby is Canadian he feels at home talking to the Canadian staff and usually finds someone who is from an area close to his hometown. He also ends up spending about $50 in Canadian candy while we at the Canadian pavilion, which will be gone in a week.

 

[TinaMcTeer]

Well my Fastpass+ day was last week. I spent hours trying to decide what would be the best way to utilize the fastpass+. Last time we were at the World was in 2010 so this is all new to me. Needless to say it took me 45 minutes to get the attractions and times we wanted. It took some rearranging but I was even able to get A&E for my little L. (Don't tell her I called her little L, she would be so upset with me, after all she is 7 1/2. She reminds me all of the time that she is not so little.) So far so good!

Oh and I called to add our flight info for the Magical express and paid off our trip. Looks like all that I have left to do it to arrange for K's 13th birthday cake through the Contemporary and put in room requests. 48 days to go!!!!!

 

[woodynjessiesmomma]

Well my Fastpass+ day was last week. I spent hours trying to decide what would be the best way to utilize the fastpass+. Last time we were at the World was in 2010 so this is all new to me. Needless to say it took me 45 minutes to get the attractions and times we wanted. It took some rearranging but I was even able to get A&E for my little L. (Don't tell her I called her little L, she would be so upset with me, after all she is 7 1/2. She reminds me all of the time that she is not so little.) So far so good!

Oh and I called to add our flight info for the Magical express and paid off our trip. Looks like all that I have left to do it to arrange for K's 13th birthday cake through the Contemporary and put in room requests. 48 days to go!!!!!

Glad you got your FP's done. Our 60 window starts tonight and it's new to me too. Yay for A&E FP+. That is my primary FP and everything else will be great.

 

[Stretchy Shorts]

Well my Fastpass+ day was last week. I spent hours trying to decide what would be the best way to utilize the fastpass+. Last time we were at the World was in 2010 so this is all new to me. Needless to say it took me 45 minutes to get the attractions and times we wanted. It took some rearranging but I was even able to get A&E for my little L. (Don't tell her I called her little L, she would be so upset with me, after all she is 7 1/2. She reminds me all of the time that she is not so little.) So far so good!

Oh and I called to add our flight info for the Magical express and paid off our trip. Looks like all that I have left to do it to arrange for K's 13th birthday cake through the Contemporary and put in room requests. 48 days to go!!!!!

Nice! Yeah the Fastpass+ 'thang' can be a pain in the rump, especially trying to imagine when/where and all that. Almost there!!!

 

[TinaMcTeer]

Glad you got your FP's done. Our 60 window starts tonight and it's new to me too. Yay for A&E FP+. That is my primary FP and everything else will be great.

I hope you had as much luck as I did with FP+.

 

[TinaMcTeer]

I will be down to the 10 day mark in a few minutes. After all of the hours trying to make this trip amazing, I can't believe that the planning has come to an end. I received my magical express packet and my magic bands all in the last few weeks. I love seeing new packages come from Disney, they make the trip seem even more real. K's 13th birthday cake has been ordered, it will be served at her birthday dinner at Chef Mickey's. I also placed my order with Garden Grocer to have some room essentials. The only thing I have left to do is to do online check in. It looks like we are down to the final countdown. Everyday my youngest L(7) asks how many days until the trip. I think she is more excited to fly in the airplane than to go to WDW.

 

[Stretchy Shorts]

I will be down to the 10 day mark in a few minutes. After all of the hours trying to make this trip amazing, I can't believe that the planning has come to an end. I received my magical express packet and my magic bands all in the last few weeks. I love seeing new packages come from Disney, they make the trip seem even more real. K's 13th birthday cake has been ordered, it will be served at her birthday dinner at Chef Mickey's. I also placed my order with Garden Grocer to have some room essentials. The only thing I have left to do is to do online check in. It looks like we are down to the final countdown. Everyday my youngest L(7) asks how many days until the trip. I think she is more excited to fly in the airplane than to go to WDW.

Almost there! I can't believe you guys didn't do a countdown chart

Planning the trips is half the fun!

 

[TinaMcTeer]

Almost there! I can't believe you guys didn't do a countdown chart

Planning the trips is half the fun!

It never even occurred to me to do a countdown chart. I will definitely do one for our next trip. Next summer we are going to be going to visit family in California and I will sneak in a trip over to DLR for a couple days.

Real Life Update
DH surprised me with a weekend getaway to Mackinac Island. He had told me he had something planned for our tenth anniversary but I was not expecting this. On Thursday, my dear friend Holly asked if she could take the kids for the weekend because she wanted to go the Toledo zoo. (Her children are the same ages as my three.) So the kids were coincidentally away for our anniversary weekend (I found out later that it was planned). DH told me to pack a bag for the weekend, he was not telling me where we were heading. We hopped in the car, took the pups to the boarding kennel and we were on our way. I knew where we were headed as soon as we passed Traverse City. We pulled into Mackinaw City almost 5 hours after we left. We parked the car, handed our luggage over to the porters and headed to the ferry to take us over to the island. Once we arrived on the island we explored some of the shops, had lunch and then caught a carraige over to the hotel. He had booked us a room at the Inn at Stonecliffe. It is a breathtaking mansion that has been turned into an Inn. It has some of the most breathtaking views on the island and overlooks the Mackinac Bridge.


After getting settled in, we went to have dinner in the Inn's restaurant, The Cudahy Chophouse. DH had the bone-in ribeye with Gouda dauphinoise and wild mushroom confit while I had the roasted pork chop with maple-thyme glaze and sweet potato gnocchi. Both dishes were absolutely amazing. We then went back for the night and rested up for the eventful Saturday.

Saturday we woke up early and ate the complementary breakfast. It was nothing special just eggs, potatoes, bacon, biscuits and gravy, fruit, yogurt and pastries served buffet style. After breakfast we headed to catch another carriage ride to the downtown area. After a nice 30 minute horse drawn carriage ride we arrived at our starting point. We had plans on walking to all of the amazing attractions within the small island. Our 4 1/2 hour exploration of the island took us to almost all of the notable locations within the island. Some of the more notable locations we visited were Arch Rock

Post Cemetery, where hundreds of soldiers from the war of 1812 are buried in unmarked graves.


The Grand Hotel. An amazing hotel with amazing grounds. I would never want to stay here though because they have a dress code after 6 PM. If I am on a relaxing getaway I do not want someone telling me how I have to dress to go get a drink from the bar.




Little Stone Church. It has some amazing stained glass. Some of the best stained glass pieces I have ever seen.


Fort Mackinac. Interesting fact is the the grassy area below the Fort was used as a farm to supply the fort with food. We relaxed on the grass after our explorations. DH feel asleep on the grass for about 30 minutes. After his power nap we continued.


We visited the butterfly museum. It was nice to get out of the sun for a bit. The butterflies really like DH and they kept landing on him.



We visited a few other places all different rock formations on the island. After our exploration we headed to Main Street for an early dinner. We headed to one of our favorites on the Island, Yankee Rebel. DH had the Prime Rib and I had the Pot Roast. Both were amazing once again. We finished our day shopping and grabbed a carriage back to the Inn. We went back to the room settled down with a glass of wine. The sun was almost setting and DH had wanted to go for an evening stroll. We walked around the grounds of the Inn and we found the trail that lead to Sunset Cliff. A viewing area of the sunset overlooking the bridge. It was the most beautiful sunset that I have ever seen.

I turned around to comment on the sunset to DH and he was holding this box. He went on to tell me about how amazing these last ten years have been and how he looked forward to the rest of our lives together and the amazing moments and memories that we get to share as husband and wife. I cried, he cried. It was really special. The box contained a replacement engagement ring. I had wanted one ever since my son lost my original one in first grade. (he took my engagement ring to school because he wanted to ask a girl to marry him. Well he dropped it in the sandbox and the ring was never seen from again.)


The next day we were up early had breakfast and checked out of the Inn. We has some last minute shopping to do. Shirts for each of the kids and Fudge, lots of fudge. We then were back on the ferry on our way home.
.

 

[Stretchy Shorts]

It never even occurred to me to do a countdown chart. I will definitely do one for our next trip. Next summer we are going to be going to visit family in California and I will sneak in a trip over to DLR for a couple days.

We've been doing them every year since '97. The kids won't even put stickers on them anymore... the wife has to do it. We still make them stand next to it the morning we leave for a photo. They used to love it.... not so much anymore.

 

[Stretchy Shorts]

What a great get-a-way!