395 days of planning all lead up to this! Sept/Oct 2012

[HeatherLassell]

Yay!!!!!! We are now officially booked for our first family trip to Disney World! My kids are laughing at me right now because I am so excited!

I am taking my 3 wonderful kids who have never been anywhere but Saskatchewan (middle of nowhere) and Alberta (again in the middle of nowhere) and neither were to do anything very fun.

The Cast of this trip:

Heather (I'm the mom!) I'm 32 years old.

Cole is 14 and will be turning 15 years old just a week after our trip!

Braden is going to be 9 years old on our trip!

My little princess Ava will be 6 years old on our trip!

We are staying in either the Oak Manor or Parterre Place at the Port Orleans Riverside!
http://portorleans.org/magnolia-bend.php


And how do I know this???

I booked us into one of the brand new (opening March 2012) ROYAL ROOMS and they are only currently being put in the Oak Manor or Parterre Place!

I'm so excited to show the kids! We were originally booked in Pop Century but after finding the DIS I discovered so many things that I definately knew I wanted to upgrade. Also because of one great DIS'er who explained to me that I could get the Canadian Free Dining offer even if I was arriving on the LAST day it was offered (thanks again!) it was the push I needed to move to a moderate resort. We now have: 1 snack, 1 cs and 1 ts each day per person!

I have told the kids that we are now booked in at POR but they don't know about the Royal Room! Thank goodness I have everyone here to talk to about this so that I can refrain from telling the kids!!!

 

[HeatherLassell]

Let me try this ONE MORE TIME...I have to make my ADRs on April 2nd!!! That's Monday!!! Ahhhhhh.

PLEASE let me know what you think.



Sept 29 - Arrival day. Checking in *SURPRISE* with the Royal Room! Then off to DTD on the boat for some shopping
ADR: NONE (wanted to do TREX but only time I was given was 10pm!)

Sept 30 - MK day! Heading to the gates FOR 7:30am. Yes we're crazy! MK closes at 7pm that day for MNSSHP is that night. STILL undecided if we're going. Now 50/50. lol
NO ADR *Hoping for QS at Tortuga Tavern if it's open!


Oct 1 - EPCOT day! 9am-9pm *30th anniversary of Epcot*
We're gonna bail and go to MK in the afternoon. MK has PM EMH this day open until Midnight!!
ADR: 'Ohana (Polynesian Resort!) for supper 6:35pm


Oct 2 - DHS day! 9am-8pm and Fantasmic at 8pm!
ADR: Sci-Fi Dine In Theater lunch 12:50pm


Oct 3 - MK day! 9am-9pm / EPCOT has PM EMH open until midnight!
ADR: Crystal Palace breakfast at 8:10am BEFORE PARK OPENS!


Oct 4 - AK 9am - 5pm
ADR: Rainforest Cafe for supper 5:30pm


Oct 5 - MK 9-7 (Maybe over to Epcot since it is open until 10pm)
ADR: 1900 Park Fare supper 6:35pm


Oct 6 - RESORT DAY! Time to enjoy Port Orleans Riverside! (parks will be packed today!) DTD until mid afternoon and then go to the pool at Old Mans Island!
ADR: Planet Hollywood for lunch! 12:15pm
DINNER at Riverside Mill with friends at 6pm! YEEHAW BOBS show after in the lounge! *kids allowed*


Oct 7 - Relax day! Maybe see a movie at DTD. Do more shopping. Rent a boat and go for a fun adventure. MAYBE sending Ava and Braden on the pirate adventure/me and Cole go to Disney Quest.
ADR: T-REX for supper at 4pm


Oct 8 - EPCOT DAY - TODAY IS CANADIAN THANKSGIVING! SO we plan to spend the day at Epcot and we're gonna wear our Canadian shirts! Epcot is 9am-9pm! DHS open until 11pm for PM EMH
ADR: LA CELLIER! for supper 6:50pm


Oct 9 - Our last full day at Disney! We're gonna spend it at the Magic Kingdom!!! 9am - 9pm with WISHES at 9pm!
ADR: Cinderellas Royal Table for dinner 4:15pm!


Oct 10 - Breakfast at POR. Pack up and LEAVE

 

[HeatherLassell]

TRIP REPORT LINKS:

Day One
Day One- continued
Just a little bit more Day One lol


Day Two
Day Two - continued

MNSSHP
MNSSHP - continued

Day 3 - Epcot

 

[HeatherLassell]

These are my parents who will be going down to Orlando at the same time.

They were just in DisneyWorld a few months ago!

 

[kokotg]

Yay--I love first trips!

Should be a great week to go...we always go mid September, and the crowds are really low.

 

[HeatherLassell]

Yay--I love first trips!

Should be a great week to go...we always go mid September, and the crowds are really low.

Thanks!! I can't wait to show them DisneyWorld! And well experience it again. I remember alot since I was a teen but then by the time we go it will have been like 17 years or so since I've been there!

 

[HeatherLassell]

Made this on Facebook!

So cute! It's my profile pic alot! Especially with the excitment of booking the trip today! lol

My way of passing the 13 months till our trip is disBoards and the DisneyStore.com

It's so much fun getting the package in the mail from Disney!

So the first thing I got (and they were on a sale *YAY*) was a carry on bag for each of us!

And then instead of my daughter dressing as a Disney Princess we decided she would be Princess Ava and have her own dress. So we found this beautiful dress on Ebay! Got it for less than $20 CDN (and that includes shipping costs!)

This had to be one of the most exciting things to see on the Walt Disney site today:

Thanks for reading so far! I am sure I will have stuff to add to this often in the next 13 months!

~Heather~​

 

[HeatherLassell]

Grabbed MickeyMouse shirts for all of us today on DisneyStore.com! Because the mens shirts are on sale 2 for $28 and then I found a promo code online I ended up saving almost $17 which then balanced out with the added $25 shipping fee. The nearest DisneyStore for me is over 7.5 hours away....so the $25 shipping fee is much less than the $160 in gas. lol

Mine was the most expensive (I found a regular tee that I liked but for some reason it was the ONLY one that said *cannot be shipped internationally* ***?)

The kids shirts were each under $12!

Coles shirt

Bradens shirt

Avas shirt

That's all for now! I'm gonna hide my credit card for a month before I can make another DisneyStore purchase. I'm going to work on building up my fun stuff for the kids to put in their carry on bags and all the other awesome tips I find on these boards!

Goodnight!

 

[HeatherLassell]

Ok am I missing something here? I am trying to order the Disney Vacation Planning DVD. I have even refreshed the screen a few times...but there is *NO* submit button showing up...

Guess I have to call and request one?

 

[goofytiggerfan]

Subbing cannot wait to here more. we are going September 9th to the 15th 2012 hopefully we will get to extend our stay. Love Love the carry on bags.

 

[let'sgo]

I'm in. Looks like you'll be all set by the time the trip rolls around.

For the one day that you don't have park passes you could play a round or two of miniature golf. Or maybe you'd like to catch MNSSHP.

I like your shirts and the carry ons. And Ava is going to be beautiful in that dress.

 

[Terkina]

I'm loving your posts so far
I really liked the cary on bags you got for the whole family. Where did you get them?

 

[HeatherLassell]

*heehee* You'd all laugh at how excited I got that you guys posted in here!

Thanks for the compliments! Ava really wants to try her dress on for fun so I'll post a picture if I let her! We took family portraits today out in the country! I hope they turned out. It will be atleast a week before we get to see a preview!

We are still trying to decide on MNSSHP. It would cost us around $200 and then costumes on top of that. I really don't know much about it other than it is during the time when the park is closed to regular guests. But do they still get to ride on the rides? Then there is a special parade and fireworks and trick or treating. Am I right?

 

[HeatherLassell]

I'm loving your posts so far
I really liked the cary on bags you got for the whole family. Where did you get them?

Thank you! I got them on the DisneyStore website in the section for personalized gifts. But now that I go and look I can't seem to find them. We did get them on a sale so perhaps they were discontinuing them? There isn't alot left in the "luggage" section of the disneystore.com anymore.

Woo hoo! I'm not "earning my ears" anymore....I'm a MOUSEKETEER! lol How exciting!

 

[HeatherLassell]

Ava has a really cool auntie on her dads side who went to Disneyland last year! She got Ava these beautiful pink ears. They say Princess on the front and then have AVA embroidered on the back (hard to see cause of the veil) and also a beautiful bracelette. Ava is definately taking her ears with her for the trip! (these pics are from last year)

 

[HeatherLassell]

Her dresses are too big for her to wear right now so she decided she needed a picture posing beside each! LOL! She's so funny. Not the best pics cause they were taken on my Blackberry.

I forgot about this dress!! It's a beautiful Minnie Mouse dress from the Disney Store. It has a pink stitched Minnie walking a pink stiched puppy. So cute! I got this one also on Ebay for less than $20 (including shipping)

And this tiara I found in my room. Not sure when or where it came from but she is bringing it on the trip to wear with her princess dress. lol She's gonna need a big suitcase!!!

That's all for tonight!

 

[iluvtheworld]

Coming here to follow your Pre-trip report. You are going to have so much fun! We planned our trip at 11 months out, so I know how long the wait seems, but today we are only 117 days away!!!

Some things we did to help pass the time:

1) Watch the vacation planning dvd. (Have you been able to get it ordered yet?) My 3 kids have watched it almost every day!

2) We made a countdown paper chain. We wrote the number of days on each link, hung it up (it's pretty ugly!) in the dining room, and the kids take of a link each day. We decorated special days (like birthdays, Halloween, Christmas, etc. ) with stickers so they could see when something exciting was coming up.

3) Made Dining Reservations as soon as our 180 day window opened. Up until that point I made plans of where I wanted to eat on which day (with some help from the crowd calendar at touring plans) and made sure to have a back up plan. I was able to get EVERY reservation that I wanted!

4) Made tie-dyed mickey shirts with the kids. Messy, but very fun. Pretty easy too. I got the directions from the creative boards here on the DIS.

5) Read the disboards MULTIPLE times a day! It is ADDICTING!

Have fun planning! Can't wait to read more about it. Now, I am off to check out ebay to find some cute stuff for my kids! (my wallet is not thanking you right now!)

 

[mymickeyfans]

Hi,
I'm really enjoying your pre trip report. We'll be down there around the same time as you. Oct 2-8th,2012 and staying at CSR which I'm excited about, but can't stop thinking about WL...maybe a good pincode will arrive before then! This will be our first family vacation as well. We did take our son William for one day when he was 3 while we were in Florida visiting family. He'll be 8 when we travel. Our daughter Emily will be 3.5 when we travel. I love your carry on bags. I need to look into those next. We're surprising the kids the morning of...I am so excited for this trip.

Kirsten
DH -Brad
DS- William
DD - Emily

 

[HeatherLassell]

(Have you been able to get it ordered yet?)

haha! Funny story about that. I tried to enter all the information again and still no "SUBMIT" button came up. So I got mad and hit the ENTER button....VOILA! It changed screens and now said my video would arrive in 2-3 weeks! lmao Silly Disney website!

Have fun planning! Can't wait to read more about it. Now, I am off to check out ebay to find some cute stuff for my kids! (my wallet is not thanking you right now!)

We are having alot of fun planning! lol I apologise to your wallet! But it's so much fun! We have a dollar store here called "Dollarama" and it has disney stickers and sticker books and window clings all for $1 each! Ava saw the threads with the window decorating and she wants to do it now! lol

Thanks for joining in on our fun!

 

[HeatherLassell]

Hi,
I'm really enjoying your pre trip report. We'll be down there around the same time as you. Oct 2-8th,2012 and staying at CSR which I'm excited about, but can't stop thinking about WL...maybe a good pincode will arrive before then! This will be our first family vacation as well. We did take our son William for one day when he was 3 while we were in Florida visiting family. He'll be 8 when we travel. Our daughter Emily will be 3.5 when we travel. I love your carry on bags. I need to look into those next. We're surprising the kids the morning of...I am so excited for this trip.

Thank you very much! lol I'm sure we're all on the watch for a pin code or free dining for October! I love the carry on bags too...and have discovered that they are now discontinued so no one else can buy them unfortunately.

Wow! I wish I could surprise my kids but there is NO way I could have kept this a secret. I'm thinking maybe the second trip (which I plan to start planning right after this trip! *lol*)