The Disney Remix (Better Known as the Disney Kiss Perfected) A PreTR - UPDATED 9/20 - PassPorter - A Community of Walt Disney World, Disneyland, Disney Cruise Line, and General Travel Forums
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The Disney Remix (Better Known as the Disney Kiss Perfected) A PreTR - UPDATED 9/20
The Disney Remix (Better Known as The Disney Kiss Perfected) PTR
It’s getting to be about that time – time for a PTR for our family’s visit to WDW. And yes – since this is only our second trip to the World, I’m considering us tenderfoots when it comes to experiencing all Disney has to offer.
It seems early to start writing this up, but I know as soon as the middle of August rolls around, we’ll be knee-deep in getting our curriculum ready for homeschooling and trying to get a few weeks worth of work completed before we head off to the World. (Not considering all the last-minute trip preparations!) So I’m trying to get some of the early planning written up and add on as things progress…
Our first trip, well – if you want know how much it meant to me as a mother to visit WDW, feel free to read my Pre-TR and TR from 2007. http://www.passporterboards.com/foru...te-10-1-a.html Since it really was a ‘crash course’ in doing Disney, we emerged all the wiser for our experience – but I’ll get into that in just a bit….
Without further ado, let me introduce our cast for this remix…
Me : Nimros (Cathy) 47, homeschooling mom, former martial arts instructor and Believer in Disney Magic. I love everything to do with Disney. I love Disney movies and the old Mouseketeers and every bit of Disney music and all the Cast Members who make your vacation feel extraordinary and the ‘Disney Way’ of doing business and …I could go on and on! I love planning my trips almost as much as taking them. Right now, I’m also Marine Mom (toughest job in the Corps,) chief dog-walker, feral cat rescuer (also known as “The Crazy Cat Lady” in our neighborhood,) amateur ghost-hunter and wannabe-world traveler. My goal is to meet Mickey Mouse. Honestly. On our last trip, The Mouse remained an aloof but ever-present enticing celebrity, keeping his distance from me the entire trip; I cried on the way home.
DH : Kevin 54 – Senior System Engineer, recording artist and musician, and extremely talented martial artist. Actually, I could go on and on, because Kevin really has more talents and skills than most people I know! This is his second trip to WDW and even though he doesn’t fully ‘get’ Disney the way some of us do, surprisingly he is looking forward to returning yet again. His goal this year is to combat his severe motion-sickness and enjoy EE. Yes, he's holding a cake knife behind my back!!
DD: Kelley, 11 – How do I describe her? Well, here’s a song we made up for her when she was a baby, sung to the tune of “Flipper” (okay, go ahead and roll your eyes, but this is a good description of her…)
“Her name is Kelley, Kelley,
Sweeter than ice-cream,
My little sunbeam,
Who lights up the world.
Her name is Kelley, Kelley,
Smarter than Einstein,
I think I’ll make her mine,
My little girl.”
She is quiet and reserved, keeping her emotions inside and really taking to heart all that goes on around her. She lovesDisney – and it was her silent tears after we had to cancel our trip last year that really inspired her Daddy to make sure we planned a trip for this year.
DD: Corinne (Cory), 9 – Have you ever read the book Raising Your Spirited Child? This is Cory. High energy, high emotions, fun-loving – everything that she experiences is always the very best of the best or the worst of the worst. She is my partner-in-planning and owns her very own 2009 copy of PassPorter. Cory makes out to-do lists, reads TRs, peeks in at TourGuideMike’s advice occasionally and generally helps me make sure our vacation plans stay on target.
Then.... ...and Now
Who’s missing from this line-up? DD Alexa, 19, who was with us on our 2007 trip, is not going with us this year. Now, before you all get feeling too sorry for Miss Alexa, keep in mind that she already spent a week in WDW this summer with her dad and his family. It was a tough decision for her to make, but probably the right one. I am really going to miss her though; Alexa’s been my best friend and confidante for so long – it’s hard for me to realize she’s growing into her own person with her own life. But that’s as it should be.
So….. here we are – ready to practice the Disney Kiss once more and see how we can make it better (I’m hearing the voice-over from the Six Million Dollar Man –“We can make him stronger, faster, better than he was before.”)
And WHY do I call it the Disney Kiss?
You see, since our 2007 trip, I’ve come to realize that going to WDW for the very first time is just like your very first kiss. It’s one of the most memorable moments of your life; you never forget it and you never forget who it was with. It’s magical; there are usually fireworks that take your breath away. Sometimes it’s a little wet and sloppy, but you keep going and figure it out. You make mistakes - everyone does. No matter how long it was or how quickly it happened, or how amazingly good or awkwardly bad, you just can’t wait to do it again! You want to practice, to make it better. And if you’re wise, you remember what worked and what didn’t and vow the next time, it’ll be even more fantastic!
(I can think of several other analogies to use, but since this is a family-friendly board, we’ll keep it like it is!)
After lots of time to think over our first trip, we’ve got some things we want to improve this time around. Since this may be our last family vacation to WDW for a few years (note ‘family’ vacation) we want it to be extra-special. Some things we want to stay exactly as they were. And some things we’d like to change but we’ll need to work with what we have for the time being. This could be fun – seeing how much more magical we can make this second trip!!
So what’s the plan?
I made a vow after we cancelled our trip last year that I would not tell the girls we were going to Disney again until I was absolutely certain the trip was a go. Both girls took it really hard last year and I just didn’t want to put them through any more turmoil if we should have to postpone. And I figured it might be fun to keep it a surprise until a few weeks before we left!
Kevin and I started thinking about when we should try and schedule another trip. We looked into going in January or February (cooler weather for Kevin, low crowds) but his projects at work would not let him get away at that time. We looked at May, a beautiful time of year – but my son (a new Marine stationed at Camp Lejeune) was fairly certain he’d be deployed during that month – and I didn’t want to take the chance of having to postpone our vacation again. Sure enough, he was deployed in mid-May. So this brought us to September once more – and even though it was further out than we wanted, it looked like the best time for a trip.
As soon as the Disney VISA cardholder’s Free Dining Offer code was released, I called (7:00am) and booked a room at POR, Alligator Bayou the same as last time (assuming there would be five of us again.) I did not tell the girls, but Kevin would occasionally slip up and make reference to “when we go to Disney again…” Two pairs of eyes would turn from their Dad to look at me questioningly. I always corrected him by saying, “IF we go to Disney…”
But by May, it was pretty much an unspoken fact that we were going. The girls couldn’t help but catch a glimpse of my countdown timer or notice that I was spending a little time at the TourGuideMike website. Cory made the decision final by wishing she could have her own PassPorter “if we were going back this year…” http://www.passporterboards.com/foru...rter-girl.html
By this time, I had marked on my calendar when I needed to call for my ADRs and keep an eye out for least crowded park days from TourGuideMike (I’m a big TGM fan!) Although I had a rough idea of what I wanted our itinerary to look like, there were a lot of big items to consider.
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Great start and isn't it nice to have another planner in the family? I have to do it all myself - nobody ever wants to help. Somedays I feel like I should be the Little Red Hen (anyone remember that story) and say "I planned such and such by myself so I'll enjoy it by myself."
I am so excited that you've started your Pre-TR, Cathy! And I your description of your first visit to WDW as a first kiss! It's perfect! I am so glad you all are going to make it this year.
There were a lot of things we missed on our first vacation – a 4 day vacation - that I wanted to try and catch this time around. Most importantly, we only spent a half day at AK so that we could relax by the pool and visit DTD on our last day. I definitely wanted to make sure we spent an entire day at AK. We also missed Spectro and only saw Wishes as we were leaving the park. And we were rained out of Fantasmic! (after standing in line and waiting in our near-perfect seats for a looonnngg time!) I really wanted to see it this time.
And then there’s MNSSHP….
And ohh – how I wanted to have a really long time to stay at WDW. I’m really envious of those of you who get to stay seven or more days; ohhh the freedom to be very leisurely with your time and to not be rushed all the time!
Unfortunately, 7 days in a row is about the length of time Kevin feels he can be away from his work without a disaster occurring or someone trying to reach him by phone. We would have 5 Disney Days with 2 days of traveling. And yes, I’d love to fly, but with a family of five and only living a day’s drive from Orlando, it’s just more economical to drive than jump on the big bird.
I booked our trip for five people, assuming Alexa would be coming with us. After she was invited to go with her dad to WDW, I thought she might choose to stay home. Of course, before she went she was, “Yes, I’m coming!” After she got back home it was, “Why would I not want to come?” and a few weeks later it was, “Uhh, I think I’m not going.” With a new car payment, and taking another week off later this summer to be a counselor at Southern Girls Rock & Roll Camp, she really needed to stay.
With Alexa not coming, it really opened up a whole new world of possibilities. We were no longer confined to staying at Alligator Bayou with the extra bed – we could try the Mansions, or even another resort if we wanted!! And could we possibly splurge and stay at AKL or WL? But everyone else vetoed these ideas and insisted we stay at POR again.
We argued PHs or not, finally deciding we could add them on when we got there if necessary.
I was on the phone at 6:00am the day my ADRs were due and (although I feel slightly guilty about it,) I used the Group Dining number and was on the phone with a CM within minutes. After all, we were a party of 5 – that’s a group, isn’t it? I snagged every place I wanted and most of them within the timeframe I planned. Online ressies came out just a short time later; I got to play around on that, adding an extra ADR for my ‘just in case’ scenario.
As it stands, here’s what I came up with…
Sun 9/13 : Travel day. Leave at 6:00am on the dot, driving 10 hours to Orlando. Surprise awaiting us at POR, if I can pull it off! Mon 9/14 : MK with ADR at Liberty Tree Tavern for dinner; Spectro and Wishes. Tue 9/15: DHS with ADR at 50’s Prime Time for lunch or dinner (I’ve got two ressies just in case) and maybe a surprise in the evening… Wed 9/16: Day off. Pool, visit a park, shopping at DTD with dinner at Raglan Road. Thu 9/17: Epcot, ADR at Teppan Edo. Illuminations if we feel up to it. Fri 9/18: AKall day with dinner at Boma; tour AKL. Sat9/19: Departure Day – farewell breakfast at Ohana before the 10 hour drive home.
My park touring days are not optimal. The little girls have their hearts set on being at MK our first day, and I couldn’t refuse them (especially since it was also the only evening Spectro was scheduled!) And somehow, I booked our vacation to start on a Monday…how did that happen? I had intended for our first park day to be on a Sunday or Tuesday…oh well!
Fantasmic! was not in the cards for this trip. It was only being shown one day during our stay – and you can guess how crowded the park would be on that evening! After reading lots of reviews and TGM’s recommendations, we decided the entertainment value would not be worth the crowd levels and wait times we’d have to endure. So Fantasmic! will have to wait until our next trip…
I have a long list of restaurants I’ve been dying to try, and luckily everything is new for us this year with the exception of Raglan Road (my husband’s only request for dining.) Gotta let him have some say – it’s his vacation, too! I had forgotten that LTT was no longer a character meal, so hopefully the food will still make this a memorable experience.
UP NEXT: What We’ve Done So Far…and the Two ‘Biggies’
What a great start Cathy...I was so ahppy to see your PTR as I so enjoyed your PTR and TR from 07 and my heart broke for all of you last year becuase I knew how dissappointed you all were that you had to cancel your trip. I am so glad that everything worked out for you this year.
I love your analogy. It fit perfectly and described the whole experience to a tee I love how Cory has become your jr. planner, I thought it was so cute that she wanted her own Passporter.
Your plans sound great, glad you are getting some extra time in there and I love the idea of O'Hana as a way to end the trip (we love breakfast there).
Cathy, your plans sound great. We aren't going to make it to Fantasmic either. It is such a great show. Hopefully you'll get there one day. Could your 9/15 surprise be MNSSHP? We will be going that night. It will be a first for us that we are totally looking forward to. Great start!
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and booked a room at POR, Alligator Bayou the same as last time (assuming there would be five of us again.) I did not tell the girls, but Kevin would occasionally slip up and make reference to “when we go to Disney again…” Two pairs of eyes would turn from their Dad to look at me questioningly. I always corrected him by saying, “IF we go to Disney…”
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I really wanted to see it this time.
We would have 5 Disney Days with 2 days of traveling. And yes, I’d love to fly, but with a family of five and only living a day’s drive from Orlando, it’s just more economical to drive than jump on the big bird.
But everyone else vetoed these ideas and insisted we stay at POR again.
I had intended for our first park day to be on a Sunday or Tuesday…oh well!
Dreams, Wishes, Hopes... these are the parts of childhood we should never lose.
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