Got my ADRs! Am so excited! How's my schedule look? About This Page:

[korki-rad]

Whew! Finished getting my ADRs this morning. We are staying off site, so I was quite nervous...had to call 180 days before each reservation rather than being able to book ressies for my entire trip. (And I must say, I will definitely keep this in mind when we book our *next* WDW vacation!)

I must say a huge THANK YOU to everyone here for your helpful tips and advice. If it weren't for all of you, we would have nothing!! When I first started planning, I had no idea how far in advance I would need to do these things...with the expertise of all of you, we have some really special experiences planned and I can hardly wait to leave on our vacation -- just 173 days, 11 hours, 26 minutes and 58 seconds away!!

Here's what I've got scheduled...let me know what you think.

(A couple FYIs about our family...Our trip is May 3-11 and we are staying off-site at Magical Memories villas. We are all night owls and HATE mornings...even the kids. We have a DD4 and a DS who will celebrate his first birthday during our trip -- May 10. We will be meeting with DH's family who lives in several states between South Carolina and Florida -- they will join us for DS's birthday party.)

Saturday, May 3 - we get in late, so we'll just get to our villa and get the kids settled

Sunday, May 4 - go to Magic Kingdom, no real schedule -- ride water rides on this day since DD is going to BBB on Monday and won't want to ruin her 'do

Monday, May 5 - Princess Day for DD4 - BBB appointment @ 12:20; CRT @ 2:20

Tuesday, May 6 - go to AK, then hop to Epcot for Illuminations if kids are up to it -- no ressies, just eat CS when hungry

Wednesday, May 7 - go to DHS(MGM) -- Fantasmic Dinner Package @ Brown Derby @ 5 p.m.

Thursday, May 8 - go to Epcot -- late lunch at Garden Grill @ 2 p.m.

Friday, May 9 - "anything" day -- go back to parks we really liked, go to the beach, whatever strikes our fancy. I am also *really* crossing my fingers that they'll schedule a PPP for that night!!! (I know, I know, it's unlikely, but a girl can dream!)

Saturday, May 10 - DS's 1st birthday!
Family Magic Tour @ 10 a.m. (DS will stay with Gma during this.) Birthday party @ Crystal Palace at 3:50

=====> We do have a glitch during the birthday party and I would appreciate input -- we have 10 people total coming to celebrate DS's birthday (the 4 of us included), but they couldn't get me a table for 10. They said they'd try to put us all together at side by side tables but couldn't guarantee it. My reservation is for a table of 6 and a table of 4. What do you think -- will they be able to put these tables close by? Should I try to schedule something else? I hate to think of these people spending the price of admission and the cost of their meal, then not being near the birthday boy!! DS already loves Winnie the Pooh, so we really wanted Crystal Palace. Do you think if I call closer to the day (maybe 45 days out) that there will be some cancellations and we can get a 10 person table? Or do they not do these?

I also considered Chef Mickey's, especially since it was off-site and DH's family wouldn't have to pay park admission if they didn't want to. But Pooh keeps calling me!

I also thought about going to the Garden Grove at the Swan -- I love the pictures of the decor there with the big tree in the middle -- DS is completely enchanted by trees! (Haven't read the greatest reviews on the food, though, but it is significantly cheaper.) But they just have Goofy and Pluto, I think, as the characters there and for his birthday, I'd prefer Pooh & Friends or Mickey Mouse. But we are keeping this one as an option if DS is scared by the characters...we'll cancel CP and go there instead and not do much interaction with the characters.

Would love your input!

Also, check out the graphic itinerary I put together. I saw a similar one on another board and was inspired! My DD4 is already completely enthralled with it and loves that she can see what we are planning to do....she has a Disney jar where she is saving her pennies for spending at the park and I think it's content doubled after she saw the itinerary...she went penny diving in all the chairs in the house!



Thanks again to all of you! Our vacation will be extra special because of you!!!!



~K

[jimmymac]

Your plans look great. I don't think any restaurant will guarantee seating for a party of 10, but they're very good about getting the tables next to each other. Have a great trip

[amandal]

Wow, Kori. That schedule picture is Awesome!!!! Eileen (caldercup) may have some creative competition. Your plans look fine. Maybe you could call Disney Dining the morning of the bday party and mention it again to see what they could do . . . .

[krisk11]

Your plans look great. Your kids would probably love Chef Mickey's if you can squeeze it in. We had breakfast there once and it was good.

[chezp]

Your plans look great - congratulations on getting what you wanted!

[denily]

Looks good!
And I love your itinerary!! How did you do that?? I would love to make one for our trip!

[lauren-roxy]

Awesome plans!!!

[korki-rad]

Originally Posted by denily

Looks good!
And I love your itinerary!! How did you do that?? I would love to make one for our trip!

I have to admit that I really am happy with the way the itinerary turned out!

In my "former" life before becoming a SAHM, I was a marketing director, so I have some professional graphics software that I used to make the calendar. But honestly, it could just as easily be created using PowerPoint or some other similar program. I just made a table that filled up the whole page (I made mine to fit a legal sized paper) and did a Google Image Search to find photos of the things we kinda planned on doing that day.

It was SOOOOO much fun to do -- I think it really brought the trip to "life" for me and for my DD. (DH thinks it's crazy that we have to plan so far in advance and DS...well, he's only 6 months old, but I *tell* myself he's really excited for the trip!! )

Now the **really** hard part -- waiting for 173 days, 7 hours, 47 minutes and 36 seconds for the vacation to begin!

~K

[Luv4My4]

On our last trip there were 12 of us total and we never had any problems getting either a table big enough to seat us all together or table right next to each other and they never guaranteed it for us either. Disney is really good about accomodating large parties, you might just have to wait slightly longer for two tables near each other to open up at the same time Your plans look great!! Have a great time!

[korki-rad]

Originally Posted by krisk11

Your plans look great. Your kids would probably love Chef Mickey's if you can squeeze it in. We had breakfast there once and it was good.

Chef Mickey's is probably one of the more difficult quandaries I found myself in while planning. I've been there on a past vacation (with my immediate family -- no DH or kids) and liked it. I seriously considered it for the birthday party, especially since it would mean the other family members not "doing Disney" wouldn't have to pay park admission. (Although when we checked with them, they all said they kinda wanted to spend at least one day in the parks.) And I kept coming back to the fact that DS really *does* like Pooh...well, at least as much as a 6-month-old can like anything. But he does choose to "wrestle" his stuffed Pooh more than his stuffed Mickey.

And I did think about making it an additional character meal, but was worried that I was over scheduling for my family. Unfortunately, we are not breakfast people...we would be highly unlikely to make a morning ressie and if we did, the groaning, moaning, kicking and yelling that would have to occur that morning in order to make it happen would put a damper on our whole day.

(And that would be my **DH** doing the loudest groaning, moaning, kicking and yelling. )

So, as much as I hated to do it, I think we will have to save Chef Mickey for our next visit. DH's only restaurant request was the Garden Grill in Epcot because he remembers thinking the revolving restaurant was super cool when he was a kid. As I understand it, the meal is served family style versus a buffet, which works a little better for us since our kids are so small AND it turns out that's a Mickey character meal. When we learned *that*, it clinched the deal -- the kids will still have a Mickey experience and DH gets his restaurant request. (Of course, I was hoping to eat at the Coral Reef, but you can't win them all!)

Thank you so much for the suggestion, though. Chef Mickey will be at the top of our list for our next visit -- which I think will be much sooner rather than later!

[Colexis Mom]

Great plans Love the graphic

[Jookiba]

I love your plans.....and the graphic! Hope you have a tremendous time!

If you've got your heart set on the Crystal Palace for Pooh Bear, then book it. Speaking by experience here, nothing else will stand up to it and disappointment will set in.

[scarlettsmom]

Are you going to do naps or down time at the hotel? It makes for a long cranky day

[korki-rad]

Originally Posted by scarlettsmom

Are you going to do naps or down time at the hotel? It makes for a long cranky day

We will go back as needed, but being night owls, I'm not exactly sure how much that will be. We are kind of a bizarre family in that way -- all of us, kids included, are extreme night owls. (I'm talking staying up until 3 or 4 a.m., sleeping until noon or later when left to our own devices....please don't blast me on this...notice I said, "when left to our own devices." We work very hard to get kids to bed at a reasonable time, get DD to preschool on time, get to work on time, etc. But when there's not a schedule that dictates our sleep and wake times, we all naturally drift to a very late night schedule -- and are MUCH happier than when trying to get out the door by 8 a.m. My entire family and DH's are this way, so it must be genetic or something. )

Not being morning people, we are not planning on arriving at the parks until after 10 and more likely 11 each day...it's better for all of us if we sleep in. Afternoon naps usually bring everything to a screeching halt for us -- I doubt we'd get back to the parks. But we'll just have to wait and see.

Also, my MIL and SIL are coming down from South Carolina, and another SIL lives one hour from Orlando. Since we live 1500 miles from DH's family, they are eager to see the kids and have offered to babysit as needed, so I don't know that we will *always* have DS and DD with us....it may even be that we spend a few hours in the park, take the kids back to be with Gma (she is staying in the same villa that we are) and then come back on our own.

We'll really just play it all by ear, which is one big reason I tried not to schedule too many ADRs.

[kabelle]

Your plans look great! I love the itinerary.