The Young Commando Takes On The World Aug 15-20 **Updated 10/6** COMPLETE About This Page:

[Lemap760]

It’s time to add another trip report to the abundance of great reports already in the works.

Let’s go back in time to May of 2007 when we came back from a wonderful, although much too short, trip to Disney World. After we came back home Andrew was immediately asking when we could go again. A boy after my own heart. I’ve trained him well. Of course I gave him the answer that he hates the most “I don’t know”.

Andrew is still under the impression that we can drop everything, hop on a plane and go to Disney whenever he gets the urge. I wish. I don’t see this happening until we win the Powerball jackpot. I told Andrew to start saving his coins (which in reality are MY coins that I put in his bank) so that we could go back. We had many discussions on how Disney was an expensive trip and we needed to save for it. He nicknamed his bank the “his Disney money” and thus started his savings for the next trip.


Secretly I was keeping the idea to myself to go back in ’08 if Uncle Sam was good to me and gave me a tax refund. After years of having to pay self employment tax, this would be the first year I didn’t have to fork over any extra money to the government. As it turned out I got a nice refund and the decision was made to go back this year. I just needed to decide when.
I debated between the end of summer for value season, Halloween time since I wouldn’t have Andrew this Halloween and he would be at his Dad’s, and Christmas time for all the holiday festivities. The decision was made fairly easily. Andrew has never gone back to his routine quickly from having days off from school. Getting him out of bed in the morning is more of a chore after a few days off than it usually is on a normal day. I think it was the Monday after a long weekend when I couldn’t get him moving that the decision was made to go in August while he wasn’t in school. This way he’ll have a good two weeks to rest after countless late nights and early mornings and touring the parks nonstop.

Andrew’s bank was growing nicely and no, I’m not actually going to make the kid pay for his own park ticket or anything. The money is tucked away in his savings account.


My countdown says it’s supposed to be a surprise trip to Disney. Andrew would talk out of the blue about Disney trips and one day told me he wanted me to surprise him next time we went. Ok then. Well, I stink at keeping surprises. I have tendencies to just blurt things out because I need to share the excitement with someone. I had managed to keep this trip a secret for about 4 months. The breaking point came when Andrew had been bugging me for weeks asking when we were going to Disney again. I had picked him up from day care one day to find out that he had a bad day with crashing into other kids with tricycles and throwing sand in the air. My nerves were frayed and when he asked me for the billionth time in the car when we were going to Disney again I lost my temper and basically yelled at him to stop asking me we’re going back in August before you start school. I blew the surprise and not in a good way. My short fuse temper can be compared a lot to that of Donald Duck.


I toyed with the idea of different titles for the trip report like “We’ll see if Tour Guide Mike really knows what he’s talking about”, or “I’m totally stealing the good ideas of my Passporter friends” (FAB anyone?) Remembering what Andrew was like last May, the commando idea seemed more appropriate.
Andrew is constantly on the go and doesn’t like to stop and take a break. He’s like this everywhere, not just Disney. The kid makes the Energizer Bunny look lazy. Last May I had the hardest time getting him to leave the parks in the afternoon to go back to the hotel for some pool time. It was hot out and I thought he would jump at the chance to go swimming. It wasn’t until I mentioned the water slide that he was ready to go back for a break. The water slide reeled him in for a much needed cool down break. I totally plan on using this tactic again on this trip. Andrew is the type of kid who will put himself into overdrive if he feels like he’s about to fall asleep. Last year the only nap he took was on the bus back to the hotel in the late afternoon. He was forced to sit down and relax, then BAM he fell asleep.

I guess I should mention who’s going on this trip. First off there’s -
Andrew, age 5.



Third trip to Disney. His first was when he was 22 months old. Lucky for me Andrew has never shown a fear of the characters and has always walked right up to them. At the moment Andrew is very into Peter Pan and the Power Rangers. However, I never really consider the PR Disney characters but I digress. CARS is always a favorite and probably will continue to be for a very long time. I felt bad last year when I refused to get in the ridiculously long line to meet Lightning McQueen and Mater. Here are pictures of Andrew’s first trip meeting Dopey, his favorite at the time, and being tickled by Minnie.





I have a lot of pictures of the back of Andrew’s head from his first trip because he was so fascinated with the characters he just wouldn’t turn around.
Andrew is now tall enough to go on rides such as Splash Mtn, BTMRR, and Soarin’. He can’t wait to ride some of the big kid rides and I can’t wait to take him on.

Next -
Pam, that’s me.



Age 37 and 6th trip to Disney. The first time I went to Disney was as a high school graduation present and went with a couple of friends. Let’s just say we had no clue what we were doing. We went in the middle of July when it was stinkin’ hot, crowded, we didn’t have a plan and fast passes weren’t invented yet. We spent a lot of time standing in line and yelling at our one friend not to throw the ice from her drink away. It was another 9 years before I went back. Each trip keeps getting better and now I have a wealth of knowledge I’ve acquired through these boards. Thanks to all for the information and tips. I think this trip will be one of the best because Andrew is able to share more with me in terms of going on rides. He’s also gaining some independence which makes it easier. If I can keep him in my line of sight I’m comfortable with letting him get the napkins or straws and letting him run in the playgrounds without following his every move. The first year I took him I came out of the Honey I Shrunk The Kids Playground with black legs from crawling around in what I think was a big bee hive. The only issue I’ll have a problem with is when he wants to use the men’s room instead of coming with me into the ladies room. I let him do this once last year with a warning that if he wasn’t out in two minutes I was coming in after him. There was another mom outside with me who did the same thing with her son, so I would have some company in my embarrassment of running into the men’s room to grab my wayward child.

More thoughts and planning to come.

[Colexis Mom]

Great start Pam More please

[B.M.]

Great start!

[DyanKJ130]

Great start!! Can't wait to hear more

[mcc0313]

Great start Pam....I can understand about trying to keep it a secret. Our December trip was supposed to be a surprise for the girls - I gave in and told my oldest (she hates surprises and at least I have someone to talk about it too). I am forcing myself to keep it a surprise from the little one but it is so hard...

Andres sounds just like my little one...she never sleeps and is like two energizer bunnies put together....sometimes she tires me out.

Can't wait to hear more of your plans.

[chezp]

Great start.

[emtpej]

This is pretty interesting!

[Nick and Ryans Mom]

Hi Pam! I'm so glad you're doing a TR!! Great start! I love the pictures from your previous trips Andrew is adorable!

[Ciavobella]

Originally Posted by Lemap760

He looks like a little angel. Can't wait for more.

[RobDVC]

Great Introduction!

[ArielsMomto2]

Great start Pam. Can't wait to hear more. We'll be there at the same time . Maybe we'll run into each other. Hurry back.

[Lemap760]

Originally Posted by Nick and Ryans Mom

Hi Pam! I'm so glad you're doing a TR!! Great start! I love the pictures from your previous trips Andrew is adorable!

Thank you. I was going through the pics from his first trip and it's funny to see that he hardly took his eyes off the characters.

[Lemap760]

Originally Posted by Ciavobella

He looks like a little angel. Can't wait for more.

He is 98% of the time. He is actually very well behaved, especially when we go out somewhere.

[Lemap760]

I had become quite fond of the moderate resorts when we stayed at POFQ last May. I liked not having the giant icons of the All Stars staring at me as I walked by. I don’t know why, but they kind of give me the creeps. After doing a lot of research I settled on Coronado Springs. I read good reviews on the bus service and the hotel in general. After looking at the pool slide my choice was made. Remember, I’ll be using the slide as leverage for taking afternoon breaks. I really don’t intend on using the Pepper Market so that didn’t play a part in my decision. Last year when I tried to take Andrew to the food court at POFQ more than once his response was “Oh, no we’re not eating here again are we?” I guess food courts didn’t leave a good impression on him. For the first time ever I’ve requested a specific building on my room reservation. We’ll see what happens when we check in. I just don’t want to be in the Rancheros section. There are too many rocks and little boys and rocks don’t mix well. I would be spending most of my time telling Andrew to not throw the rocks and to stop kicking the rocks. Side story – the shopping center were his gym class was located was (and still is) under construction. I spent a long eight weeks every Tuesday night telling a certain little boy to stop kicking the rocks. He ended up hitting a car one night with said kicked rock. Luckily no damage was done. I’ve had enough rocks.


I debated about waiting to see if the free dining plan was offered, but thought about it some more. It’s too much food for us and although it’s a great deal, I would feel bad about all the wasted food. That’s Catholic guilt talking here people. I also don’t like to be tied to having to do a sit down meal just because we have it on a meal plan. If we don’t want the sit down meal I like to be able to just do counter service or a snack instead.

I was lucky to get almost all of the ADRs I wanted. I waited too long on Chef Mickeys. I tried calling about 60 days prior to our trip and they were booked for breakfast for the entire length of our stay. All is well and good because Ohana had room for breakfast with Stitch. See, even if you make last minute ADRs you can make out great.

I knew I didn’t want to do any buffet type meals. Just being me and Andrew would mean that I would be leaving my meal to cater to what Andrew wanted. I also don’t like having to time going to the buffet line with how soon the characters will be at your table. After realizing how much gas was going up and the cost of coming back to Disney in the near future might not be possible, I added some ADRs at signature restaurants that I’ve wanted to try – Jiko’s and Narcoossee’s. Yummy.



Trying to find dates to travel while staying within the confines of your divorce and child custody agreement is always fun – NOT. I was also having trouble deciding on dates because the kindergarten that Andrew will be attending won’t send out the school year calendar until August. How the heck is anyone supposed to plan anything? Frustrating, very very frustrating. Anyway I figured out what weekend I would have Andrew and planned the vacation around that. I figured school would start soon after Labor Day. Well it does for all the students except Kindergarteners who start on September 8. Yep, the school put a “tentative subject to change” September only calendar on their website finally. Where was I? Oh yeah. So I had the dates of August 15-20 picked out. I had planned on our workplace giving us summer hours again and chose flights that left Philadelphia at 4:30 pm on Friday the 15 and returning home on the 20th landing around 8pm. Luck was on my side as work announced we would be getting our summer hours and have ½ day Fridays for the summer.


A very loose itinerary looks something like this:
Friday August 15th
Leave work at 12pm and rush home to scarf down lunch and pack last minute items.
Plane departs PHL at 4:30pm
Taking Magical Express to Coronado Springs.
We’ll probably just go to the market and buy breakfast items then swim for the evening.

Saturday August 16th
Magic Kingdom morning.
We have the Family Magic Tour today.
Lunch at Kona
Afternoon at MGM

Sunday August 17th
Magic Kingdom morning
Lunch at Tony’s
Afternoon at Animal Kingdom
Dinner at Jiko
Back to Magic Kingdom at night and possibly the Dole Whip meet. Possibly EMH at MK

Monday August 18th
Sleep in day and swimming
Once we feel ready to go to a park we’ll head to EPCOT for the duration of the day.
Dinner at Garden Grill

Tuesday August 19th
MGM morning
Lunch at Sci Fi
Magic Kingdom in Afternoon and Evening
Dinner at Narcoossee’s (we’ll see how Andrew is feeling at this point. We might not make it)

Wednesday August 20th
Breakfast with Stitch at Ohana
We’ll go to whatever park Andrew wants to repeat. It will probably be the Magic Kingdom.
Flight home at 6pm.



I’ve realized there will be loads of other Passporters there at the same time we are. Please say hi if you see us.
I've also noticed that some of you have kids around Andrew's age. If the kids are looking for someone to hang out with or if they're tired of being around their siblings feel free to PM me before August 15th and I'll give you my cell number. Wow, that sounded like a shameless plug for a playdate. It really wasn't.

[disneydani]

Glad you have started, Pam! Everything seems to be shaping up nicely.

danielle