~And It All Started With a Wish...and a Quarter and a Fountain~TR link, page 32!

Can't wait to read all about your plans for Seths first trip!!
I also noticed yout ticker...only a few days off from mine!!! I will be counting down along with you!!
 
Wow, guys....I'm totally flattered!!!!! :blush: Thank you SO MUCH for joining in!!!

Will I seem too stalker-ish if I'm first?

only a little. ;)

Claire will be 11 months when we go on our trip in 2 weeks, so I should be able to share some knowledge on Disney with a baby!

Oh, cool! I will definitely be interested to see how it goes with her. I'm excited for you!

i'm here! Caleb was just 16 months when we went...and NOW he knows all of the mickey characters names and Handy Manny names...so I am thinking we now need to go back...now to convince my non disney husband...hmm...last time was easy because my parents took the whole family! Maybe I should convince my mom instead....lol!

Good luck with that! I think me and mom are gonna do a trip with Seth sometime in the next few years.

I also noticed yout ticker...only a few days off from mine!!! I will be counting down along with you!!

:woohoo:
 
I am looking forward to reading about the planning of Seth first trip.

My nephew and his wife had a boy on Valentine's Day, so my sister is now a grandmother.
 


I'm here...this time with a "passenger"! ;) I will be extra interested in Seth's first visit b/c once my "passenger" is a baby, we'll be doing this same exact thing!
 
Hey Dawn

i'm joining in again. I loved following your baby report and cant wait to hear about the trip with bubby Seth.
 


I'm excited to read about your adventures! We took my little man, Everett last year at 4, 6, and 10 months and we're going back again at 17 months. I love reading reports with infants and young toddlers, its so much fun to see the World through their eyes!
 
Thanks again to all the new readers and returning friends! :dance3:

My nephew and his wife had a boy on Valentine's Day, so my sister is now a grandmother.

Congrats to your sister and family!!!

I'm here...this time with a "passenger"! ;) I will be extra interested in Seth's first visit b/c once my "passenger" is a baby, we'll be doing this same exact thing!

YAY!!!! CONGRATULATIONS!!!! I'm so excited for you. :goodvibes

I'm excited to read about your adventures! We took my little man, Everett last year at 4, 6, and 10 months and we're going back again at 17 months. I love reading reports with infants and young toddlers, its so much fun to see the World through their eyes!

Well, please feel free to chime in if you see anything in my planning that concerns you as far as taking a baby. I will take all the advice I can get!
 
howdy howdy,
hope all is well with you guys, and glad to see you are going back.
:thumbsup2
 
Okay, on to important things like trip details that will probably change 18 times over the next 7 months!!! ;)

But before we get to that, let me explain the title to this little report of mine. If you’ve ever been to the Wilderness Lodge, you probably saw this:

maleficent8.jpg


I visited it in May 2008 but little did I know the power :wizard: of that little fountain. You see, a well-known, beloved Diser named Memom made a little wish with a quarter at that fountain in the summer of 2008 and from that wish came her granddaughter, Bella….

bella.jpg


Then in the summer of 2009 Memom returned to that very fountain and made another wish with a quarter involving a little one for one of my very dear friends, Erica (Diser VandyFan10) and along came Will 9 months later……

180122_498126883868_511208868_6187282_1428163_n.jpg


(Jill/Erica – I hope you guys don’t mind me borrowing those pictures from Facebook!)

Now Memom knew that Ray and I were hoping for a little one of our own, so in December 2009 she returned to that fountain with another magical quarter, and lo and behold 9 months later we were blessed with our precious little Seth-man!!!

DSC06056.jpg


And not to be graphic (I mean, I think we all know how babies are made) but when I told Memom and Jill that I was pregnant, we got into the discussion of when we conceived and I told them December 29th. Jill looked at Memom and said, “That’s the day you went back to WL alone and took pictures!” :eek:

I’m telling you….I don’t know if it’s the fountain, the sweet lady making those wishes or a combination of both, but that thing WORKS!!!!:upsidedow

And since we are both staying at WL and Seth will be the main subject of this TR, I decided referencing that little story in the title would be appropriate.

So thank you, Memom, from the bottom of my heart both for making that magical wish and for naming this TR! :hug::hug:

Now, on to the details of the trip!

~Where: Disney World, of course!
~When: September 29th through October7th (Pop Century September 29-October 2; Villas at Wilderness Lodge October 2-October 7)
~Who: Me, Ray and Seth for the most part; Anna and Luke will join us for the beginning of the trip

I will lay out more detailed plans (well, as detailed as they can be 7 months out!) below. But first, a little background on how this trip came to be.

The last time I was at Disney World was December 2008. Yes, that’s over TWO YEARS ago!!!! I was okay for awhile (I had been there 3 times in 2008 and actually was ready for a Disney break, believe it or not), but about a year later was ready to go back and at this point I need medication for my Disney withdrawals. Planning trips for people helps but it’s, of course, not the same. Anyway, we both agreed to take a Disney break in 2009 and go back in December 2010. Well, about the 2nd week of January 2010 I got a little surprise in the form of a positive pregnancy test that changed those plans!!!! :) Originally we thought we’d reschedule for December 2011, but I have some cousins from Brazil who visit every-other year for the holidays and they are wanting to go this-coming December. I love them but I wanted this trip to be just us, so we decided to avoid that issue and go in October. First of all, great weather (usually). Second of all, Ray’s never seen the Halloween stuff and he wanted to do that. Third, Food and Wine Festival!!! And fourth, the 5K is the first Saturday in October and I wanted to run in it if possible.

Now as far as staying at WL, those of you who read my December 2008 TR may remember that Ray promised me we’d stay there next trip b/c we didn’t get to go there for a visit that trip. Here’s the story:

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
on the way to anna, chris and luke, ray and i had a little discussion about the rest of our evening. our plan after the parade was to leave AK, go to the WL to see the christmas decorations and change clothes, then head to MK for MVMCP. well, ray was REALLY needing a break. he just needed about an hour to CHILL OUT. like i said before, i think i just run on pure joy and adrenaline at disney world but i know not everyone is like that. my only hangup with changing our plans was that i wouldn't get to see the WL and that's the one i REALLY wanted to see at christmas! ray looked at me dead in the eyes and said, "what if i told you that i promise you we will stay there when we come back in 2010?"

OKAY!!!!!!!

i couldn't turn that offer down! a PROMISE to stay there???? sure!!!!!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Back to the present.....

We played with the idea of staying at BCV or BWV to be close to EPCOT for the F&W Festival. But we just couldn’t get WL out of our heads and how we fell in love with it the first time we visited the resort. So we are renting points for VWL from a dear DVC friend for the last 5 nights of our trip. I’m super excited because I feel like with a 13-month-old we’ll spend more time at the resort and I’ve heard that some people could stay at WL and never even leave the resort property! :cloud9:

As far as the first 3 nights, I booked those back before the free dining offer expired because I knew I’d need to be there before October 1st for the 5K. After some discussion, Ray decided he couldn’t take more than 5 days off for the trip, so Anna and Luke are now taking advantage of that free dining offer instead of Ray and are joining Seth and I for that portion of the trip. Anna has so graciously volunteered to watch Seth while I run the 5K. I know she’s really excited about taking Luke back to Disney World, even if it’s only for a couple of days!

And I didn’t realize this until recently, but October 1, 2011 is the 40th Anniversary of Magic Kingdom, so we’ll be there for that. Actually, WE won’t, but Anna and Luke will. I want to wait until Ray is with us before I take Seth to MK because it’s such a special place to us, but she and Luke will visit for part of the day that Saturday, which I will lay out below. Exciting! :thumbsup2

Here is our (very) tentative schedule based on last year’s hours:

Thursday, 9/29 –
Anna, Dawn, Luke & Seth drive down, arrive around midnight, check in at Pop Century

Friday, 9/30 –
Sleep in
Animal Kingdom (open until 8pm)
Boma for dinner around 5:00

Saturday, 10/1 – (Ray will arrive at some point this day)
5K for Dawn (around 7am)
Anna & Luke – MK; Dawn & Seth – rest/pool
Meet up at EPCOT around 1:00 and graze the F&W Festival
Dinner at Kouzzina around 6:00
Back to EPCOT for Illuminations (if Seth holds out)

Sunday, 10/2 –
Check out of Pop/into VWL
Breakfast at Cape May for everyone
Anna & Luke leave
Epcot evening – graze F&W Festival

Monday, 10/3 –
Free morning
DHS evening – Fantasmic! Dining package at Mama Melrose

Tuesday, 10/4 –
Maybe late breakfast at Crystal Palace
Completely free day
Dinner at Flying Fish around 7:00

Wednesday, 10/5 –
Free morning
Kona Café dinner around 5:00
MK evening – MSEP @ 8:00; Wishes @ 9:00 (if Seth holds out)

Thursday, 10/6 –
1900 Park Fare breakfast
Free morning
Chill out at resort all day (to prepare for late night tonight!)
MNSSHP

Friday, 10/7 –
Late breakfast at WCC
Check out and hit the road

As you can see, I've left our days pretty much open. I don't want a set plan - I want to be able to go to whatever park we want for however long we want, relax at the resort, shop at DTD, WHATEVER! Our evenings are kind of dictated by ADRs but that's fine with us. And as far as nighttime shows, I doubt Seth will make it through most of them but that's our favorite part of Disney World (and it's our trip, too) so he will probably end up snoozing in the stroller for those.

So that’s all for now. These plans will definitely change, especially after the official park hours are released. But for now you get the general idea. Thanks for reading!
 
There's some major magic in that fountain:upsidedow We threw some pennies in there a few weeks ago, I'm glad we didn't throw any quarters, we don't need any quarter wishes for a while yet ;) Penny wishes are good for now......maybe in a few years we'll try a quarter :thumbsup2
 
Dang!! I should have checked my email earlier!! lol! Already to page 4..you go girl!! ha ha
 
Ahoy, Dawn! Been a very long time!


Wonderful about Seth being made from a wish! A MeMom wish is a special one indeed! He is such a cutie!

With travelling with a little one, you will need open plans.
 
I think those are three cutest fountain wish babies ever! I am so excited for you and Ray to take Seth on his first trip to Disney!
 
Does Seth need a Mickey postcard? We'll be seeing the Main Mouse next week, and I am sure he would be more than willing to send him one.

I told Jill I'd give her a break until Bella is three, and she's not even two yet, but next year, I'm going to be throwing in some more coins to try to conjure up a baby brother or sister for Brooklynn and Bella. ;)
 
Hi Dawn. I've been a lurker on most of your reports, but thought I would come out of hiding for this one. I will be in Disney 10/4-7. I am planning on going to MNSSHP on the sixth as well.
Seth is such a little cutie. It will be fun reading about his first adventures in Disney World.
 
I agree! All of the "wish babies" are adorable! ;)

Who will be the next..... :wizard:

I was wondering if a perk of being a WDW travel agent get's you the Park Hours ahead of time....would be great if you did!

Are you able to make ADR's early?

Do you know the MNSSHP dates?

I had no idea you were going on this trip so early... there will be several of us going to be at POP the same time.... hope our paths cross for a quick DIS meet. :hug:

It's so nice that you and Anna will have a little friend time together at WDW with your two little guys.
 

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