An Overplanner Takes on WDW – Feb 2019 PTR now with bonus Aug trip (New TR linked 9/2))

[TheOneWithTheTriplets]

A Week At The Beach

Our family always spends the week before labor day down the shore. My mom rents a place in Sea Isle, NJ and my in laws stay up a beach in Ocean City. I'm not a beach person (unless that beach has an unlimited bar, lounge chairs, and a wait staff!) but I'm in the minority. Hubby, the kids, and the grandparents all love it, so here we are.

Unfortunately, my ADRs open right in the middle of our trip, so I had to pack my laptop, tablet, etc to be ready to go on Wednesday. The good news is that the wifi is excellent.

Apparently, my girls thought I needed a test run of my early morning wake up call. At 5:45 this morning, we were beckoned only to find out that C had thrown up in the night and then slept in it. UGH! She has a cough and a strong gag reflex, so the best we can figure she had a coughing fit in the middle of the night that made her sick but she was too tired to realize it had happened. By the time we cleaned her up and stripped the bed, the kids were all wide awake. I took them out to the OC boardwalk for fresh donuts and so that Mom and hubby could sleep a bit more. It was a beautiful sight, but I wouldn't have minded or a couple hours later!

 

[StarWarsMomofGirls!]

I'm not a beach person (unless that beach has an unlimited bar, lounge chairs, and a wait staff!) but I'm in the minority. Hubby, the kids, and the grandparents all love it, so here we are.

We aren't beach people either. We like to go to the beach for like an hour. Then back to the pool for us.

Unfortunately, my ADRs open right in the middle of our trip, so I had to pack my laptop, tablet, etc to be ready to go on Wednesday. The good news is that the wifi is excellent.

YEAH!!! Wednesday will be here before you know it!

At 5:45 this morning, we were beckoned only to find out that C had thrown up in the night and then slept in it. UGH! She has a cough and a strong gag reflex, so the best we can figure she had a coughing fit in the middle of the night that made her sick but she was too tired to realize it had happened.

Morgan has the same thing. But I am glad to report that it has gotten better with age. She is much less likely to throw up on a whim. She still does sometimes, but it is much less frequent. And she did the exact same thing once when she was little.

 

[TheOneWithTheTriplets]

But I am glad to report that it has gotten better with age. She is much less likely to throw up on a whim

Well, that's good to hear. It's been bad this summer because the kids are getting much more courageous in my mom's pool. She'll swim like crazy, get a bad face full of water, start coughing, and get sick. Of course, she says she's hungry 2 minutes later, but I don't want her eating too much right after. I hope she grows out of it soon!!

 

[StarWarsMomofGirls!]

Well, that's good to hear. It's been bad this summer because the kids are getting much more courageous in my mom's pool. She'll swim like crazy, get a bad face full of water, start coughing, and get sick. Of course, she says she's hungry 2 minutes later, but I don't want her eating too much right after. I hope she grows out of it soon!!

Most def, she used to barf up at my in-laws. They live on a lake and she would drink too much lake water and would always barf once a trip up there in the summer. She has def learned to control it better. She did throw up on Christmas this past year. She was eating cake and it just went down wrong and that was it. But it is more the exception to the rule these days.

Enjoy your time at the shore!

 

[cosmicmommy]

View attachment 346300
A Week At The Beach

Our family always spends the week before labor day down the shore. My mom rents a place in Sea Isle, NJ and my in laws stay up a beach in Ocean City. I'm not a beach person (unless that beach has an unlimited bar, lounge chairs, and a wait staff!) but I'm in the minority. Hubby, the kids, and the grandparents all love it, so here we are.

Unfortunately, my ADRs open right in the middle of our trip, so I had to pack my laptop, tablet, etc to be ready to go on Wednesday. The good news is that the wifi is excellent.
!

Not really a beach person either, but that is probably because I live on the Gulf coast. I can tolerate it a couple times a year and I lived on a beach resort island for two years, but I hate the feeling of sand creeping who-knows-where.

 

[TheOneWithTheTriplets]

but I hate the feeling of sand creeping who-knows-where

This is my biggest complaint as well. Meanwhile, my kids lay in it and make sand angels. There are just certain places you don't want sand!

 

[joules12]

Hello, hello, fellow multiples mama neighbor! Hope you're all having a wonderful time at the shore! (in spite of all that sand, of course...not a beach person myself)

 

[TheOneWithTheTriplets]

Hope you're all having a wonderful time at the shore! (in spite of all that sand, of course...not a beach person myself)

All three kids have thrown up (although it's all mucus related, not stomach bugs, thank goodness), so not our best trip. At least that weather's good...

 

[joules12]

All three kids have thrown up (although it's all mucus related, not stomach bugs, thank goodness), so not our best trip. At least that weather's good...

Oh no! That's great that it's not a stomach bug, but lousy timing all the same. I'm also a mucus puker (lovely!). It was awful awful while I was pregnant. I actually had a coughing fit on the way into work this morning and almost puked in the car; so I think there's something currently driving up my allergies or it's from having the air conditioning turned back on.

Sorry that you've had to contend with the puke, but yay for nice weather! (and it's certainly much cooler than back here at home)

 

[amazingact21]

Sorry to hear all the kids have given you fun puke incidences but glad to hear the weather has been nice. Aside from that, hope the rest of your trip has been relaxing and fun.

 

[TheOneWithTheTriplets]

ADR Day AKA Disney IT Screws With Me

I was up bright and early this morning, and I dragged hubby up with me. He was... less than thrilled but willing to go along with my crazy. Getting up at 5:50 on vacation isn't something he does voluntarily but he is willing to accept my assertion that, if we weren't up at the crack of dawn, we wouldn't get all of the reservations we wanted.

I gave him a small section of my list and took the real prize for myself: Cinderella's Royal Table at 12:00pm on my +1 day. I knew that this was a pretty unlikely get given how early in my schedule it is, but I really wanted CRT here. It fit better into my schedule here from a planning perspective and I wanted the girls to start the trip off with a bang. I mean, what better way for a five year old to spend her first day in WDW than going to Magic Kingdom and having lunch in the castle?!?

As soon as I got in at 6, I started there. Lo and behold, there was an 11:45am still available! I grabbed it, started clicking through the screens, and got an error saying there was an issue with a member of my dining party. My husband was getting the same error on his BoG reservation, too. I tried selecting us again and hitting next, but it wasn't going to work. We both had to close the tabs and start over.

Unfortunately but unsurprisingly, the 11:45 reservation was gone when I searched again. I had to settle for 2:20pm. While I'm disappointed that I had a better time in my hands and it slipped out of my grasp, I can adjust the plan and make the late lunch work. We'll just have to have a couple of late morning snacks, maybe split a QS flatbread from Pinocchio Haus, to make it to 2:20pm. I know that, in the grand scheme of things, I'm lucky to have CRT that early in my trip at all. That doesn't mean I'm not bitter about that 11:45!

Luckily, that was out last hiccup on the site. We got everything else we wanted within 15 minutes of where we wanted it. Here's how the dining plans look:

2/26/2019
10:30am Crystal Palace
2:20pm CRT

2/27/19
11:50am Garden Grill
5:15pm Askershus

2/28/19
12:35pm BoG
4:15pm 'Ohana

3/1/19
12:05pm Tusker with RoL

3/2/19
8:45am Trattoria al Forno

3/3/19
10:30am Crystal Palace
12:00pm CRT

3/4/19
11:45am Garden Grill
5:25pm Askershus

3/5/19
12:00pm H&V

3/6/19
8:00am BoG
12:00pm BoG

In the morning rush, I decided to go ahead and book my double reservations in EP and MK so that I can really take the time to look at my plans before deleting duplicates. I'll end up doing CP one day and CRT the other, same with GG and Ask. The CRT at noon later in the trip is much better in terms of my girls' stomach clocks (they're very precise!) so I'm going to really look at my plans and see if it could be better there. Since I don't want to do Ask and CRT on back to back days, that one decision dominoes into where I put both of my EP meals in addition to the CP breakfast.

The double BoGs on our final day are a hedge in case Disney bumps the park hours that day. I want the 8am PPO, but if 8am becomes the opening time, we'll cancel the breakfast, RD, and do the lunch instead. I'm holding both of those until the last minute, because I know they're notorious about changing park hours late in the game.

I'm pretty happy overall. I'll put the CRT on a TP reservation finder and hope for an earlier time, but I at least have something I can work with on the books.

 

[cadien]

So many character meals! You'll have so many great photos! That really sounds fun.

 

[joules12]

ADR Day AKA Disney IT Screws With Me

I was up bright and early this morning, and I dragged hubby up with me. He was... less than thrilled but willing to go along with my crazy. Getting up at 5:50 on vacation isn't something he does voluntarily but he is willing to accept my assertion that, if we weren't up at the crack of dawn, we wouldn't get all of the reservations we wanted.

I gave him a small section of my list and took the real prize for myself: Cinderella's Royal Table at 12:00pm on my +1 day. I knew that this was a pretty unlikely get given how early in my schedule it is, but I really wanted CRT here. It fit better into my schedule here from a planning perspective and I wanted the girls to start the trip off with a bang. I mean, what better way for a five year old to spend her first day in WDW than going to Magic Kingdom and having lunch in the castle?!?

As soon as I got in at 6, I started there. Lo and behold, there was an 11:45am still available! I grabbed it, started clicking through the screens, and got an error saying there was an issue with a member of my dining party. My husband was getting the same error on his BoG reservation, too. I tried selecting us again and hitting next, but it wasn't going to work. We both had to close the tabs and start over.

Unfortunately but unsurprisingly, the 11:45 reservation was gone when I searched again. I had to settle for 2:20pm. While I'm disappointed that I had a better time in my hands and it slipped out of my grasp, I can adjust the plan and make the late lunch work. We'll just have to have a couple of late morning snacks, maybe split a QS flatbread from Pinocchio Haus, to make it to 2:20pm. I know that, in the grand scheme of things, I'm lucky to have CRT that early in my trip at all. That doesn't mean I'm not bitter about that 11:45!

Luckily, that was out last hiccup on the site. We got everything else we wanted within 15 minutes of where we wanted it. Here's how the dining plans look:

2/26/2019
10:30am Crystal Palace
2:20pm CRT

2/27/19
11:50am Garden Grill
5:15pm Askershus

2/28/19
12:35pm BoG
4:15pm 'Ohana

3/1/19
12:05pm Tusker with RoL

3/2/19
8:45am Trattoria al Forno

3/3/19
10:30am Crystal Palace
12:00pm CRT

3/4/19
11:45am Garden Grill
5:25pm Askershus

3/5/19
12:00pm H&V

3/6/19
8:00am BoG
12:00pm BoG

In the morning rush, I decided to go ahead and book my double reservations in EP and MK so that I can really take the time to look at my plans before deleting duplicates. I'll end up doing CP one day and CRT the other, same with GG and Ask. The CRT at noon later in the trip is much better in terms of my girls' stomach clocks (they're very precise!) so I'm going to really look at my plans and see if it could be better there. Since I don't want to do Ask and CRT on back to back days, that one decision dominoes into where I put both of my EP meals in addition to the CP breakfast.

The double BoGs on our final day are a hedge in case Disney bumps the park hours that day. I want the 8am PPO, but if 8am becomes the opening time, we'll cancel the breakfast, RD, and do the lunch instead. I'm holding both of those until the last minute, because I know they're notorious about changing park hours late in the game.

I'm pretty happy overall. I'll put the CRT on a TP reservation finder and hope for an earlier time, but I at least have something I can work with on the books.

I’m going to come back and read this post more closely when I get a few kid-free minutes, but I wanted to check how you made out with CRT (I was awake with the dog around ADR time and wondering how things were going). Woo hoo for getting a pretty decent lunch time at CRT!!! Even though things worked out pretty well, I’d also be salty about the 11:45. I had some random error messages on my ADR morning as well and lost a couple of my preferred times — although I was eventuslly able to better adjust things.

I’ve had great luck with the reservation finders for BOG the closer I get to the meal day, so maybe CRT is similar — I know that CRT is a pay ahead TS, so what’s the cancellation policy (days out) for it? You probably also know, but two other good times to check for ADRs are 1) after FP day as folks shuffle their days and 2) after the cancellation date for packages.

 

[cinderaimee]

Just catching up with all your plans - looks like you did great with ADR day!

I know this was a topic awhile back but RE: rides with 1 adult and 3 kids, I know on Triceratops Spin and Magic Carpets at least, I sat in the back row of the car and my 4 year old sat in the front. I think the CMs will accommodate you. You're outnumbered! What do they expect you to do, not ride anything? Leave one kid at the entrance?

Have fun at the beach! We went last week with my IL's too and well... the kids had fun. I am not a beach person.

Your daily plans look great

 

[TheOneWithTheTriplets]

So many character meals! You'll have so many great photos! That really sounds fun.

I'm pretty sure the only way my kids would tolerate this many sit down meals in a trip is with characters involved. Hubby and I get to sit, have an adult beverage, and chill a bit, the kids get the characters.

And, while I know most folks find these meals to be loud and chaotic, that's just my life. If I can rest and recharge while my kids are singing into their karaoke machine at the top of their lungs, I can do it in a crowded restaurant.

 

[TheOneWithTheTriplets]

I know that CRT is a pay ahead TS, so what’s the cancellation policy (days out) for it? You probably also know, but two other good times to check for ADRs are 1) after FP day as folks shuffle their days and 2) after the cancellation date for packages.

I think it's 48 hours instead of 24. I think I'll lock things down by FP day at the latest, so within plenty of time on the cancellation window. Also, since we're on the ddp, it's only a credit card guarantee, not a true pay ahead.

If I have to keep the 2:20, so be it. It's good enough, and maybe I can do better.

 

[TheOneWithTheTriplets]

I know on Triceratops Spin and Magic Carpets at least, I sat in the back row of the car and my 4 year old sat in the front. I think the CMs will accommodate you. You're outnumbered! What do they expect you to do, not ride anything? Leave one kid at the entrance?

I'm hoping that we could do those rides 1 on 3, but I'm keeping up with plan B just in case. From reading through other posts, it seems to vary greatly depending on how particular your CM is.

And, yes, at Sesame Place, I leave 1 or 2 kids at the entrance when we have to ride one on one. It's obviously a much smaller park, but I've been doing it since they were 3.5. We started testing it on small rides where they were stuck at the entrance and I could see them the whole time and worked our way up to the rollercoaster. For that, they're at the point where I let them exit and reenter the line while I'm riding with a sister. It helps that they have never been runners or wanderers; they know the only reason they get to go do fun things with me is because they follow directions and stay together.

 

[cinderaimee]

Well, it sounds like your 3 girls equal 1 of my boys! My youngest is a fast runner - literally ran away from me at Target and out the doors one time.

 

[joules12]

I think it's 48 hours instead of 24. I think I'll lock things down by FP day at the latest, so within plenty of time on the cancellation window. Also, since we're on the ddp, it's only a credit card guarantee, not a true pay ahead

Oh no doubt, but I was actually referring to the opposite — that others’ cancellations may help open up a time for you that’s closer to noon.

 

[cmarsh31]

ADRs are fast approaching, which means I’m trying to really lock down where I want to be each day. Here’s what I’ve got so far

Monday, February 25th
Flight lands at 2pm, then ME to Boardwalk Villas
If the weather is nice, the kids will want to swim approximately the whole afternoon/evening and we’ll use 4 QS and 5 snacks at the hotel QS options. If it’s not warm enough to swim, then it’s a boat to DS to use those same credit on what I can only assume will be much tastier options.
I’m planning on trying Walmart grocery delivery for breakfast food and snacks, with a scheduled delivery between 6-7. We should definitely have our room by then and can unpack groceries around the same time we’re receiving our luggage, if all goes well. We’ll have breakfast in the room just about every morning, as well as packing granola bars, crackers, and applesauce pouches for the park each day.
4 QS, 5 Snack

.

Just a note - no boat to Disney Springs from Boardwalk - only POR, OKW, and SSR.