The excitiment is killing me.

[TheCakePopLady]

Hi Everyone,

I'm new to this forum and I happened to find you all by obsessively Googling everything and anything about Disney World. I am anxiously waiting for Tuesday to book our January 2018 Disney World vacation. It is all I can think about, and I'm seriously starting to wonder if I have completely lost my friggin' marbles because I wake up and go to sleep and i'm consumed with planning this trip in my head. A few notes that you guys probably don't give a rat's tail about but please humor me

Booking the vacation for January 2018

It's going to be me, my best friend, my 11 year old daughter and my 6 year old daughter. (My husband is not a "crowd" kind of person and I think he'd probably age a good 20 years waiting in lines for the rides. Sitting with him in traffic is enough to tell us all that this is probably not a good vacation for him, so he told me to just go with my best friend and we would plan a family vacation next.

I am 36 years old and this is going to be MY FIRST TIME GOING TO DISNEY WORLD I opened a bakery last year and I have been working like a crazy person 6 days a week, 12 hours a day on making this business successful so to get an entire 7 days off for fun is like

My kids have no idea that we are going on this vacation. It will be their first Disney vacation as well. My 6 year old loves everything Disney Princess. The plan is to surprise them the morning that we are leaving. These girls deserve this vacation so much, and I get emotional thinking about the moment I get to tell them we are leaving for the airport. The past year, with having the bakery, has been a bunch of sacrifice and a whole lot of missing each other. (I do get up with them in the mornings, drop them to school, pick them up, and they hang out with me here at the bakery - didn't want y'all to think that I have completely neglected my kids ) I work a lot. This week is going to be all about them. Every second. By the way, I am telling them I have a work conference for the time we're going and when I wake them up in the morning to say good bye to me, their luggage will be outside with their Disney airplane outfits and our bands (I haven't thought about this at all )

We are either staying at Grand Floridian, Boardwalk Inn or Port Orleans in the Royal Rooms (the rooms look like something my 6 year old will over, so we're considering it).

We are doing the Park Hoppers, Dining Plans, Character Meals, The Boutique Make overs, and everything else in between that we can fit in to our trip.

I have a very important question: HOW THE HELL AM I GOING TO KEEP THIS TO MYSELF FOR 6 MONTHS AND NOT TELL MY KIDS?

Well, if you took the time to read this, thank you! If you want to throw in some advice, please do so I welcome any and all advice and/or comments.

Which hotel do you recommend?

I'm so excited. Can you tell?

 

[tinkerbellandeeyor]

welcome

 

[amberpi]

Grand Flo or BWI for convenience for sure. Although I love the Contemporary and YC/BC/Swolphin more. Have a FANTASTIC time with your girls and BFF.

 

[Marchand63]

Sounds great - did this to DS a couple times. Loved that look when he realized where we were heading.

We love Boardwalk area, central, fun & awesome.

 

[Kitty 34]

Welcome

 

[runwad]

How fun!! You can keep the secret, just come here and share all your excitement to help quell it for you in real life

 

[low-key]

we were all just like you, so excited about the things Disney has to offer, now we are all broke and just post about it

 

[Felicis]

I have a very important question: HOW THE HELL AM I GOING TO KEEP THIS TO MYSELF FOR 6 MONTHS AND NOT TELL MY KIDS?

Haha, well, I am probably not the best one to ask as we are heading off for our one (and done) to DW in September/October this year. Our initial plan was to reveal to our DD 10 at the airport... then we thought, her birthday in July - but nope, we just couldn't hold it in in the end, and revealed as an early birthday present just after Easter!!!! So yeah. For us it has been great though, as she is a real planner (hmmm, no idea where she gets that from ) And has spend the last couple of months researching. So far she has made something like 100 slides on google slides - so cute! She knows which rides are in which park, and which ones need FP, and so on...

I did tell her in the end for a couple of reasons - firstly, because she is older, I wanted to know if character meets were still important (oh they are, they really are), if she would be keen on the jedi training (she is!) and what other little extras I need to sort in advance are necessary (helpful for the ADRs too). Because you have a younger one, you know that the meets will be important no matter what. The other main reason was that too many people knew about it and I hated the idea of someone letting it slip and spoiling the surprise.

But a reveal on the day will be AMAZING, and so worth the 6 months of waiting!

I am very excited for you - because I feel the same way about our trip too! Trip of a lifetime coming up!

 

[TheCakePopLady]

Thank you all for taking the time to read and respond <3

 

[PollyannaMom]

I loved reading your post!! The excitement is contagious, and I remember planning my own son's first trip!

For my tip, I'll start your "acronym cheat sheet". We use a lot of abbreviations here on the DIS, and collecting them will help you understand people's posts as you enjoy reading here:

MK = Magic Kingdom
AK = Animal Kingdom
DHS = Disney's Hollywood Studios

DD = Disney Daughter
DS = Disney Son
DH = Disney Husband

...etc. There are tons for individual rides and resorts as well. - I think there is a "sticky" somewhere with a list. (That's a post that stays at the top, even though there are newer ones.)

A big to the DIS, and enjoy planning your trip!!

 

[Party.Of.4-NY>>>FL]

https://www.disboards.com/threads/a-list-of-common-abbreviations.1660743/

 

[Domo]

Heya! Welcome to the DIS! We're all a bit nuts here so don't get too freaked out You are gonna LOVE WDW as will your little ones! You sound like you've picked a brilliant itinerary and that the holiday dance is soon to start! I wish you the best, the most magical, the most fantasmagorical holiday in the world

 

[kimblebee]

I can feel the excitement coming off your post lol

Have a super time! There are a lot of subforums that will help you with menu planning, ride planning etc.

 

[TheCakePopLady]

Thank you all so so much!

 

[momz]

I just want to add that January is a wonderful time to go. The crowds are smaller and the temperatures are cooler. But, keep in mind that some attractions will be close for refurbishment. I think splash mountain is always closed in January. But, I wouldn't let that change my plans.

Also, don't expect to "see it all". I recommend a leisurely pace, enjoy the moment and the people around you. You will not be able to do everything. If you know that from the start, you will have less pressure to get from place to place and more time to just soak it in. Maybe choose the top two or three things in each park and let the rest just fall into place.

 

[TheCakePopLady]

I just want to add that January is a wonderful time to go. The crowds are smaller and the temperatures are cooler. But, keep in mind that some attractions will be close for refurbishment. I think splash mountain is always closed in January. But, I wouldn't let that change my plans.

Also, don't expect to "see it all". I recommend a leisurely pace, enjoy the moment and the people around you. You will not be able to do everything. If you know that from the start, you will have less pressure to get from place to place and more time to just soak it in. Maybe choose the top two or three things in each park and let the rest just fall into place.

This is great advice I think. The important things for me at this point is the make overs for my daughters, Frozen Ever After, character meals...and then after that I have no clue. I typically don't stress out about things not going as planed so as long as I see the happiness in both of my daughters, I'll be good. ❤

 

[bjscheel]

You know your kids best, but not all react to a day-of surprise exactly the way you imagine it. It can be a lot to process. For first-timers, it can be really helpful to know ahead of time so they can learn about what is ther. My girls have been surprised once, at 10 days out and they thought that was perfect. Time to plan a little and anticipate, and mentally prepare, especially since they were going to miss a couple days of school.

 

[Party.Of.4-NY>>>FL]

You know your kids best, but not all react to a day-of surprise exactly the way you imagine it. It can be a lot to process. For first-timers, it can be really helpful to know ahead of time so they can learn about what is ther. My girls have been surprised once, at 10 days out and they thought that was perfect. Time to plan a little and anticipate, and mentally prepare, especially since they were going to miss a couple days of school.

I agree with this. Although, there's no wrong way to go to Disney!

The first time we took DD she was 6 and we told her the night before we left. It was well-received but more of a shock than anything.

For her second trip, we told our then 8yo about 2 weeks before we left. She then took it upon herself to learn as much as she could about the parks, their layout, and all the attractions, characters, etc.

Our dinner table conversation was filled with everything Disney-related for the 2 weeks leading up to our trip. She seemed to enjoy the anticipation the second time more than the big surprise the first time.

Again, there's no wrong way to go to Disney. Just sharing our experiences.

 

[NFLDERS]

I hear you about keeping the trip a surprise. We took our dgs (=darling grand son) on a Disney Wonder cruise when he was 7, and kept it a secret for 3 months. It was hard for me 'cause I'm the kind of person one does not really want, to tell a secret to.
He thought this bed was HIS!

But, this bed was his! lol, and love!

 

[NFLDERS]

Heya! Welcome to the DIS! We're all a bit nuts here so don't get too freaked out You are gonna LOVE WDW as will your little ones! You sound like you've picked a brilliant itinerary and that the holiday dance is soon to start! I wish you the best, the most magical, the most fantasmagorical holiday in the world

AND, some of us MORE than others, Nuts that is!