We Did It Before and We Can Do It Again - PreTR - UPDATED 8/13 About This Page:

[Nimros]

“We Did It Before and We Can Do It Again” Pre-trip Report

……I seriously considered naming this the “Que Sera, Sera Whatever Will Be, Will Be” Trip Report (from the old Doris Day movie) as that seems to have summed up the planning phase of this second vacation to WDW. Before we jump in to the details (and I promise to keep it short and to the point so as not to have you all nodding off!), let me introduce you to our cast of travelers…

First we have me, Cathy (46) – homeschooling mom, former martial arts instructor, chief dog-walker, amateur chef, herbal healer, ghost hunter (I could keep adding titles but we’ll leave it at that.) I love Disney, love all the warm childhood memories it invokes – the Mouseketeers, Davy Crockett, Zorro, the beauty and wonder of our National Parks, the friendship between a Mouse, a Duck and a very Goofy dog. If you want to know why going to WDW meant so much to me before my very first trip last year, you can check out my pre and/or TRs here :
HowI got My Act Together and Went to Disney
Our Crash Course in Disney 101

Next we have my DH Kevin (54). This will be his second trip to WDW and okay, I’ll admit it – he’s a bit more on “the Dark Side” and loves Universal Studios, but luckily he’s discovering that WDW is a fun adventure, too. Kevin’s real love(s) in life are music and martial arts. He’s been doing both since he was 4 years old, and even though he has a myriad of skills and interests, chances are if you look, he’ll either be practicing his jiu-jitsu or playing his guitar. (Would that be “The Fighting Troubadour” or “The Singing Ninja” ???)

Kevin’s musical interest is all over the board from classic rock to jazz; for now, he mainly writes and records Christian music. And since he’s owned a martial arts school, he’s had the opportunity to meet some incredibly talented martial artists such as Chuck Norris.


(Kevin and me meeting Chuck at the Martial Arts Expo in Chicago)

(Kevin in the studio with granddaughter Emma.)

Between the two of us we have 6 children. (I can already hear someone whistling the tune to “The Brady Bunch.” ) Kevin’s oldest two, Sarah and Michael, are grown and living in Michigan. My oldest son, Tyler, is a new United States Marine stationed in Camp Lejeune, NC.

My daughter Alexa (18) is the next traveler in our adventure. Alexa is a very creative artist and graphic designer, but her heart belongs to her music. She plays keyboard, guitar, bass, a little banjo, has a phenomenal singing voice (but won’t sing in front of anyone) and is completely self-taught. She and her band played for almost three years in and around the Nashville area – but recently broke up due to ‘creative differences.’ This will be her third trip to WDW as she went as a child with her dad’s family.
(Self-portrait by Alexa)

Next on the list is Kelley (10). Kelley loves Disney – so much that we’ve had some sad crying spells last year, “Mom, I just want to be in Disney World right NOW and I feel so sad!” She also dabbles in music and is teaching herself keyboard, drums and guitar – but really hasn’t found her place yet.


Cory (8) is our final adventurer. Even though she also loves music, she’s our ballerina and is getting ready to start her third year of training with the School of Nashville Ballet. Last year Cory had a small part in “The Nutcracker” and that really brought the stars to her eyes; she can’t wait to be onstage again.

So there we are – and here’s how this next trip came to be…

The planning for this trip really started last year, about a mile after we drove under the WDW arches to begin our journey back home after our very first visit. Everyone wanted to go again; our time in the World had definitely not been long enough and so the girls all begged, “Please Mom – can we go again next year?”

All of you know how it feels to take your first trip to WDW. No matter how much fun you had; no matter how magical everything was – once is just not enough. After our first trip, I realized what a newbie I really was – and I wanted to do it all again! There were things I wanted to tweak; changes to make here and there, new ideas to try and activities missed to go back and experience.

One of the activities missed that really bothered me was not attending MNSSHP on our first trip. And as a family that LOVES Halloween, to miss it just didn’t seem fair. The other subject that kept coming up was my intentions to be able to take a family vacation every year. Since we had never been on a true vacation the entire time Kevin and I had been married, and had worked so hard to create our first Disney trip last year, I wasn’t willing to go without ever again.

So when they kids started asking if we could go next year, without really thinking about it I told them IF free dining was offered again and IF it coincided with MNSSHP dates, we would go again. I didn’t really feel like thinking ahead to how all of it would work out. I simply marked dates on my calendar as to when to start watching for the release of MNSSHP dates; when to call for ADRs and when to keep an eye out for the VISA cardholder’s Free Dining Offer – and then I let it go. “Whatever Will Be, Will Be…”

Why I didn’t really want to think about it all was because of how many changes would be happening to our family in the up-coming year…and had I known that more changes than I thought would be happening, I might have waited before making that promise…

UP NEXT: To MNSSHP or Not to MNSSHP?

[mom to 3 princesses and 1 prince]

Looking forward to reading all about it!

[valegirl5292]

Great start Cathy, can't wait to read more. Keep it coming.

[carters_mom]

Can't wait to hear the details, great start!

[KatMark]

Can't wait to read more.

[DyanKJ130]

Great start, Cathy!! Can't wait to see what the next installment brings!

[DyanKJ130]

Great start, Cathy!! Can't wait to see what the next installment brings!

[lissybri]

Great start. You have a wonderful family. Can't wait to read more. Come back soon.

[B.M.]

Great start!
Hurry back with more.

[KandJluvdisney]

great start
can't wait to hear more
you will love mssshp
hurry back with more

[amandal]

Cathy, I did enjoy your past TR and I'm looking forward to this one!!!

[Nimros]

Luckily the upcoming holidays distracted all of us from pining over WDW too much. But as soon as January rolled around, and the year began in earnest, I knew it was time to get busy making plans.

Two of the things we wanted to do differently for this next trip was 1.) Stay longer and 2.) Plan a ‘day off’ from touring. We learned last year that four days of non-stop touring was exhausting to some members of our family. (Alexa and I are the exceptions; we had been conditioned to ‘commando’ touring of parks like Cedar Point and King’s Island – so it was no challenge for us.) Seven days of vacation sounded as though it was exactly what we needed. And yes, 10 days (swoon!) would be heavenly – a goal to shoot for!

Unfortunately, Kevin’s IT position at work made it difficult for him to take more than 5 or 6 days off in a row – and many times depended upon what project he was involved with at the time. The most we could reasonably plan for would be 5 days at WDW, with 2 days of drive time added on. That would give us 2 days to tour, a day off in the middle with MNSSHP that evening, and then a final 2 days at the parks. Not ideal, but an improvement over last year…

I can’t remember when MNSSHP dates were released, but in March I subscribed once again to TourGuideMike’s excellent online site so I could begin to decide what days in September looked best for MNSSHP and which parks to tour on which days. It was time to make those ADRs and I wanted to be on the phone at that 180 day mark!

ADRs were no problem – I had a long list of restaurants I wanted to try and with the exception of Le Cellier, I was able to snag each time and date I wanted! My basic plan was to try new places each time we go – unless there’s some place that is so spectacular that we felt we couldn’t visit WDW without going.

Animal Kingdom had me up in the air between Yak & Yeti or Boma; the huge variety of choices at Boma made me decide it might be the best decision for the picky eaters in our group. Epcot is always a hard choice! My goal is to have us try some new cuisine that we don’t often (if ever!) eat at home. But after reading so many trip report reviews both positive and negative, I decided that Le Cellier was a restaurant I just had to try at least once. Unbelievably, it was already booked for dinner on the day and time that I wanted. My back-up restaurant was Tutto Italia (for Kelley, who loves Italian food.) But I just couldn’t shake the feeling I had to cancel Tutto Italia – and so I switched it over the Biergarten, which sounded like lots good German food and a fun time – something new.

Our ‘day off’ ADR was a challenge, as I really wanted to return to Raglan Road. But after giving it lots of thought, I figured it might be best to eat somewhere closer to MK for a quick entrance to MNSSHP – Whispering Canyon Café was also on my list of ‘must-do’ restaurants, so it was a go. Liberty Tree Tavern was our choice for MK the following day (and glad we did, now that the character dining will no longer be offered.)

DHS called for 50’s Prime Time (it looks like a lot of fun!), although my family insisted we make an ADR for Sci-Fi Dine-In again – just for shakes. None of us were impressed with the food last visit – but we loved the whole drive-in theme.

And finally – our farewell breakfast was to be at ‘Ohana. What a great excuse to check out the Poly before we head for home!

It felt rather strange to have ADRs made but no room ressies yet – but in my best Scarlett O’Hara attitude, I couldn’t “think about that today – I’ll think about that tomorrow.”

But of course, there were other things happening this year that I hadn’t had to deal with last year. One in particular was that Tyler had shipped off to MC boot camp in January – and was soon to graduate in San Diego. There was absolutely no way I was going to miss this special day in my son’s life – but it also meant the expense of flying to California would cut into our vacation budget. I also had to remember that I had two graduating seniors this year; Tyler had graduated in January and Alexa would be receiving her diploma in May. More expense. To top it all off, Kevin was offered a job at a new company and was making the switch – would he be able to secure time off for our vacation? Then there was the issue of Tyler possibly being deployed; I‘d have to be able to drop everything at a moment’s notice and fly out to see him off.

I was beginning to think that maaaayyyybbe going to MNSSHP might not be the best idea…Ticket prices had gone up a bit this year…and then there was the added expense of costumes, etc. Adding an extra day this time had already increased our budget – could I really justify spending more? And maaaayyyybbe , just maybe, this entire trip might need to be postponed for a while….

The good thing was, I knew I didn’t have to decide right away…so I just figured, I really want to go - if it happens, it happens.

UP NEXT : How I Let It All Work Out…

[mom to 3 princesses and 1 prince]

wow...you are a lot like Crush with your "go with the flow" attitude! Can't wait to read how it all works out!

[mcc0313]

Cathy I was so excited to see the start of a new PTR (I loved your TR from your trip last year so much). You had so much going on this year but your attitute was so great about this trip...and I am so happy to see that everything fell into place and that they trip is happening after all...

Can't wait to hear more.

[mcc0313]

Cathy I was so excited to see the start of a new PTR (I loved your TR from your trip last year so much). You had so much going on this year but your attitute was so great about this trip...and I am so happy to see that everything fell into place and that they trip is happening after all...

Can't wait to hear more.