What will it be for trip #3? (August 5-14, 2012) About This Page:

[benjiboo25]

Originally Posted by OneLittleSpark

OMG. I forgot about that too! Most definately then. Your welcome! I think you will have time to get your tickets, eat and then do pool time.

Originally Posted by Linnynad

Remember too you can take the nice boat ride to DtD from your hotel also. Cuts down on some chaos of the bus system. If WGP is important to you, then make it happen and treat yourself to something YOU really want too.

IDK the park hours for the WP's but when we went in Sep they didn't open until 10am, so getting there right as they opened was easy enough for us.

I think the boat ride will be great on our arrival day!

Originally Posted by CheerDisney

Your plans look great so far! I would keep your Plaza reservation on your MK day just for the sake of having an air conditioned place to go at dinner time! You won't have to worry about the crowds or hunting for a table. I do think that the inside is a bit smaller than your typical table service restaurant though, so you may want to request an out of the way table to benefit your daughter.

One of the reasons that your children (esp. your daughter) may like EPCOT the best is that it is SO much bigger and more spread out compared to the other parks. Its so much easier to move and get around!

As for your park hoppers, I would use them as an added bonus depending on how your family is feeling. If you do a park, and in the evening everyone is up for it and you want to go to a different park (like DHS for EMH on your EPCOT day) then go for it. If you only end up going to one park per day, no big deal. You got such a great deal on your park tickets it is a nice bonus to have the hopper and the 'fun visits' for the waterparks and DQ.

Your Crystal Palace breakfast should be great and allow you some quiet time in the MK. One time I went on a tour that allowed us into the park before it opened and it was amazing... no one around just us and the castle! Not to mention you should get a great seating location in the restaurant. I would just take a bus to the MK directly from your resort, they run starting about 2 hours before the park opens.

And on your arrival day I would do as someone else said: take the boat to DTD to get your park tickets, walk around, shop, eat dinner at WGP, maybe swim a little bit at the resort and then early to bed. Everyone will be exhaused from your early wake up and from travelling, so an early bed time is a must to make sure everyone is ready to have a magical day in the parks!

I'm looking forward to hearing more about your trip plans!

Thanks for your detailed feedback.

I really never thought of the size differences when assessing our favorite parks. I figured there were more "low key" attractions at Epcot that give Hannah (and all of us) a chance to relax instead of rushing to the next ride. Thinking of it now....we have never had a hard visit to Epcot--never a meltdown. But we have also rarely encountered suffocating crowds. Last trip we went to Epcot 3 times. She has also never had a meltdown at AK, which is similarly spread out, but with less to do, it does not rank as the favorite.

[benjiboo25]

This is our Animal Kingdom day. Last trip, we were not able to spend much time at AK. Because of some kinks in the plan, we arrived close to official park close. Since it was EMH, we did a lot of things in three hours, but we missed the safari. That will be our first stop this trip. This is a morning EMH. We hope to be there at 8am…

We want to fit in Nemo and Lion King…and then as many rides as we can. We have lunch ADR at Tusker House Restaurant at 12:35 p.m. We ate here on our first trip, and Hannah could not get enough of the seafood stew. Back then, it was not a character meal but it had reserved seating for Nemo. I am sooooooooo sad that there is no longer reserved seating for Nemo. What have they done with that portion of the seating? Has anyone heard of any other way to get reserved seating for this? How early do we need to be in line for Nemo to make sure we get a good seat? Recall that Hannah does not do well in lines…..

No matter how we fit things in, I imagine the heat of AK in August will tucker us out long before we see everything and long before the park is closed. I see swimming that evening…

[mfirst]

I'm curious about Nemo as well. We never made it to AK on our last trip for a variety of reasons.

When your daughter gets upset from lines/crowds, etc is she able to vocalize it with you? Just curious because my son has very limited verbal skills. We're planning a couple of smaller trips before our July vacation so hopefully I'll have a better idea of what will/won't work for him.

[sc507]

The one and only time we went to Nemo, we got there when the doors were already opened and they were letting people in and we still got good seats in the second tier. That was during a busy time too (July 4th week....). So maybe check out an earlier show without waiting in the line, and if that doesn't work, maybe you or your DH can hold your place and the other bring the kids to Dinoland for bit?

[benjiboo25]

Originally Posted by mfirst

I'm curious about Nemo as well. We never made it to AK on our last trip for a variety of reasons.

When your daughter gets upset from lines/crowds, etc is she able to vocalize it with you? Just curious because my son has very limited verbal skills. We're planning a couple of smaller trips before our July vacation so hopefully I'll have a better idea of what will/won't work for him.

Her skills and reactions continue to evolve--for the better!

Let me first say that Hannah is quite verbal. Her special gift was "Hyperlexia"--basically she taught herslef to read at the age of 3. Now in 2nd grade, she reads at the 8th grade level and can write in a way I would not expect from a young child. Writing is turning into a great way for her to process emotions and to cope with anxieties. I can imagine it will become more powerful as we move forward.

It used to be that when she was overwhelmed (by lines/crowds or anything else), we completely "lost" her--she would not have words and would look right through us. She would go a bit "stiff" and react against any physical touch. We could not help her through it because it was like we were not there to her. She would sometimes enagge in the kinds of repitive/self-stimulating behaviors common to kids on the sprectrum like spining, hopping or flapping. I think that was at its worst when she was around 5--when we had out first trip.

We do not often subject her to situations that are apt to bring on that kind of stress for her. In her structured and predicatable world, she can "blend" very well.

I owe her progres to early intervention. The social worker at her school is amazing. She only sees him once a week this year (progress!) and they either to a "circle of friends" group or have an individual meeting. He will teach a skill individually, and then challenge her in group. He tries to put her in situations that will be uncomfortable for her so she can practice in the real world--he will have other kids invade her personal space or change the rules mid-game. He has even admitted to instigating minor conflicts to help her learn how to resolve them! I think they have about 2-3 group meetings for every individual. She gets to choose friends from her class to invite to "circle of friends" and the other kids always seem eager to leave class to play games.

The other reason for her tremendous growth has been her music teacher. Hannah has taken voice lesson for about a year and a half. We started it just as a way to get her into an activity and to allow her to explore her love of singing. It was not long before we started seeing gains in her developmental skills. If you think about it--learning to be a performer involves understanding and connecting with your udience. She has learned how to better control the tone of her voice, how to keep her body controlled and about the importance of eye contact. Her voice teacher is also incredible and really understand the unique gifts and challenges of kids on the spectrum. She, too, will occassionally force Hannah to work through something difficult for her, and because there is that long and trusting relationship, Hannah does not want to let her down.

At the rate Hannah is going, she is not likely to qualify for services from school by the time she reaches middle school. That would be an amazing milestone!

[benjiboo25]

That was probably a longer answer than you were looking for...

[benjiboo25]

Originally Posted by sc507

The one and only time we went to Nemo, we got there when the doors were already opened and they were letting people in and we still got good seats in the second tier. That was during a busy time too (July 4th week....). So maybe check out an earlier show without waiting in the line, and if that doesn't work, maybe you or your DH can hold your place and the other bring the kids to Dinoland for bit?

That is a good suggestion!

[sc507]

Originally Posted by benjiboo25

At the rate Hannah is going, she is not likely to qualify for services from school by the time she reaches middle school. That would be an amazing milestone!

That will be amazing! She's obviously got a super support system at home too . Good for her with the singing! One of my former students who was on the spectrum was cast as the lead in our elementary play and went on to study at a performing arts high school - pretty impressive for a boy who made limited eye contact with people in his early years of school

[benjiboo25]

Originally Posted by sc507

That will be amazing! She's obviously got a super support system at home too . Good for her with the singing! One of my former students who was on the spectrum was cast as the lead in our elementary play and went on to study at a performing arts high school - pretty impressive for a boy who made limited eye contact with people in his early years of school

We met the voice teacher through a woman who used to direct plays for our community ed program. When Ben had a small role in Willy Wonka when he was in 2nd grade, I helped out backstage and got to know the director a bit. One of the leads was an aspie boy. The director told me how he started out when he was young as extras in the play, and she often had to have her own daughter help him off stage. She said she LOVED with with aspie kids because they were natural performers and she saw how good theater was for them. It seemed counter-intuitive at the time. But Hannah, like many others, can memorize things in an almost unbelieveable way. It has made me think of child actors in a new way....

[Cam22]

I was sad to learn that Tusker House at lunch no longer at the priority seating for Nemo as that was such a bonus.

[Colexis Mom]

Great plans for AK! We were able to walk into the theater and get good seats for Nemo in the 1st row of the upper tier in April, a week after Easter. I think we showed up 15 minutes before the 1st show of the day (11 AM)!

[benjiboo25]

Originally Posted by Cam22

I was sad to learn that Tusker House at lunch no longer at the priority seating for Nemo as that was such a bonus.

Originally Posted by Colexis Mom

Great plans for AK! We were able to walk into the theater and get good seats for Nemo in the 1st row of the upper tier in April, a week after Easter. I think we showed up 15 minutes before the 1st show of the day (11 AM)!

Thanks for sharing your experience!!!!

[KMB733]

More great plans!!!

[benjiboo25]

Our 15th wedding anniversary!

This is another “off” day for us… But read carefully because I will need much feedback on this day because…this is also the day we change resorts from POR to OKW. We have never done a split stay and want some feedback from those of you who have done this. I am thrilled to be able to stay at OKW and grateful for a 30% pin code—although in 2010 we would have been able to use a 45% pin code! After 5 days of being cramped in the room at POR and doing as much as we can, we will really appreciate the opportunity to slow down and spread out—and do laundry! LOL!

Once again, we plan to sleep in as long as we need to before packing up and checking out of POR. As you all know…we need to be out of POR at 11am but will not be able to check into OKW until 4pm…

This is also the day that we pick up our rental car. Unless we find a better deal…we are renting from National and can pick it up around noon. This is also the first time we have ever had a car at WDW and are only getting one because we will be driving down to the Fort Lauderdale area to visit family. We were going to rent for a full week, but decided to add one more day so that we would not have to fit the car pickup in on an actual park day. I am also looking forward to having a car at OKW because it is so spread out.

Should we have POR store our luggage and come back with our car to retrieve it? I *believe* we can have WDW transport our luggage from POR to OKW, right? Is it best to checkin to OKW early just in case the room is ready or to wait until after 4pm? Should we ask for a late checkout of POR so they do not need to store our luggage?

What is the most efficient and least frustrating way to manage the resort change and to pick up the rental car and to still have some fun experiences this day? HELP!

I *think* we will spend this day at DTD so that we do not have to fuss with swimsuits and changing clothes when we are not sure where our luggage will be. We expect to visit DQ and Babycakes… J

We have a dinner ADR at Olivia's Cafe at 6:05 p.m. Once again, I am re-thinking this ADR time as I fear it may cut into the flexibility of our day. However, I want to be able to spend time in our room at this resort as much as we can. I envision going back to our room after dinner and enjoying the space.

[Cam22]

When we have done a resort change, we always have WDW transport our luggage from one resort to the other, so much less stress. We checked in early at our 2nd resort, but unfortunately, our new room was not ready. But you all might get lucky as I know some folks have been.