November 15' PTR-An 18th birthday celebration vacation for my baby!

[jpmom97]

Welcome everyone to my Pre Trip Report 2015!

As my title says, I am going to Disney World in November with my son for his 18th birthday! I am so excited!

Soooo.....Let's do this Thing!

Cast of Characters
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Me! My name is Jeneen, I am 38 years old. I am a wife and mother of 3. I am a secretary by day, dance mom by night and weekends. (My daughter danced in Disney World this past June, PTR is in my siggy. Never did a TR on it but I will post some things here about it.) I work to fund my Disney addiction. My favorite character is Minnie and my favorite ride is Big Thunder Mountain Railroad.

Hubby and I at Christmas party.

and
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Jace! My wonderful, amazing, handsome son. He will be

entering his senior year of high school in the Fall and turning

18 in November. He loves Disney like his momma. He likes

to collect Vinylmations while we are there. His favorite Disney

character is Mickey, his favorite ride is Test Track and favorite

restaurant is Sci Fi Dine in Theatre.

Jace waiting for his sister at dance.

You may be wondering since I have 2 other children and a husband why they aren't going. Well, my husband is not a Disney fan. At. All. It's sad really. We went in January 2013 and he is good for a while. My daughter and I were just there in June like I mentioned. We are going in October 2016 because my daughter is dancing again at Disney so the whole famiy minus my oldest will be going. I figured since he wasn't going on that one because he will be just starting college and since he is turning 18 I would take him on a mom and Jace trip. The other kids aren't too happy but my husband is thrilled he doesn't have to go.

Up next....how this trip came to be, dates, ADR's, hotel.

 

[ariane37]

Following along! I'd love to do a mother/son trip one day, can't wait to hear the details. We'll be there in Nov., too

 

[jpmom97]

Thank you so much for following along! I have done a mom and daughter trip which was so much fun! I expect this to be exactly the same!

 

[jpmom97]

So sorry for the delay! My kids are done with school, my daughter has a break from dance so I have a little bit more time for the time being, will change in a month when my daughter goes back to dance but....I will continue my report.

So, just wanted to give a little background on how we decided to go back to Disney this year...
Since my son was turning 18 I wanted to do something special for him. He isn't one for parties, he has a car (an older used car), he has every video game under the sun...what to get him? Do for him? He loves NYC but didn't want to go to a show or anything like that. Plus a weekend in the city is just as much as a week in Disney.....wait a minute! A week in Disney? Great idea! And that's how we decided to go!

Now we chose to arrive 11/15 and stay until the following Sunday. I originally had thought we would do the week before, his actual birthday week, but the crowd calender I was looking at had that week less busy . When I was putting in the dates on the website, it came as free dining too! Score! I found a travel agent, booked it and then started the countdown!

 

[deedee2177]

Following along! We will be arriving on 11/15 as well! Can't wait to read about the details

 

[jpmom97]

Hello everyone! I am so sorry that I haven't posted lately. This summer flew by and sadly we didn't do anything. I really hate working, I wish I hit the lotto

So my 60 days is coming up Tuesday at Midnight (or is that Wed?) but I have all my fast pass selections ready to go. Not sure on times, need to work on that. I am definetly going to fast pass Seven Dwarfs, Soarin, Test Track, Space Mountain, Jungle Cruise and BTMRR. When I went last year I spaced all my FP apart, some of them ending late. I didn't get to book the 4th one because by the time our last one expired, there was really nothing left or it was so late it wasn't worth. Since the parks close so much earlie in November I am thinking maybe making my FP in the early afternoon. What do you think? We will certainly do rope drop most mornings so we can ride as much as we can.

I did make all my dining reservations and I have to say, they were not easy to get. I guess the free dining promo made it difficult. I didn't get everything I wanted but I am still trying. What I did get I am happy about though. Here is what I got:

Kona Cafe dinner
Biergarten dinner
Cape May Cafe, breakfast and dinner
Crystal Palace Breakfast
Boma breakfast and dinner
Sci Fi
Chef Mickey

We have never been to the Kona Cafe and we have never tried Boma for breakfast so I am excited to try it. I really wanted BOG for lunch and Liberty Tree for dinner but I think it reopens our last day so I know everyone else was trying for that too. I also wanted the Grand Floridian tea and 1900 Park Fare, no luck. If I could swap out the Boma dinner for 1900 Park Fare I would, I have always enjoyed the food but I love the characters. My son is over them but I am a little girl at Disney and just love Cinderella. I also wanted Via Napoli (I crave that pizza) but no luck. I am going to keep trying and if I don't get it there is always next year when we go.

I am also going to pay out of pocket for Sci Fi and Boma breakfast since I went over on my meals by 2 credits, those are my cheapest options to pay cash for. I can't help it. I love to eat!

So what do you think of my choices? What is your favorite thing to eat at Kona for dinner? We are adventurous eaters so we will try anything. I leaning towards the scallops or salmon. My son will most likely want to try sushi but not sure what he would get as a meal.

I am also going to be trying so hard to lose some weight before this trip. I need to lose 30 lbs. I think I can do it. I did the 21 day fix a few months ago and lost 10 lbs in a week! But then I got distracted and gave up. Will let you know how I do!

 

[deedee2177]

My FP day is Tuesday night/Wednesday morning as well. Still hard to believe it's that time already. Looks like we are taking similar approaches with the rides...we will do Rope Drop at all the parks, and saving our FP for the afternoons.

Your ADRs look super yummy! I wish my DH was more of adventurous eater because there I plenty of places I would like to try, but he is more of a meat/potatoes type of guy so we are sticking to "safer" options.

Well, good luck tomorrow night...I will be logged on at that time as well.