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Old 30 Apr 18, 05:29 PM  
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caitlinsmummy
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Join Date: Dec 11
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'Are we going to Mickey Mouse World tomorrow Mummy?' October 2018 *FINAL UPDATE PAGE 22

First I'll start off with a little bit about ourselves.

So on our trip we have, yours truly, Kelly (30) my hubby Chris (32), DD Caitlin (11 turns 12 whilst we're there) DS1 Thomas (9) DS2 Noah (5) This trip is to celebrate my 30th birthday as well as our family holiday. I went to Florida with my family when I was 15 and Chris went with his family when he was 7 ... the children have never been.

I really debated posting this part, but I've decided to bite the bullet and do it ... not helped by the almost bottle of wine I've had ... hic!

Disney holds a very special memory for me. Chris and I got married in September 2010. My dad offered to pay for us to go to Florida with the kid's and my parents for a week, then for the second week he would pay for a cruise for me and Chris and he would keep the kid's for the week before we all headed back together, providing we paid our own flights and spending money, he would pay accommodation, car hire, park tickets and cruise.

Me being young and naive said that we couldn't really afford it with paying for the wedding but we would go in a few years time as we had plenty of time to go ... after all he's only 44. I still dream about that day over and over and my answer always changes to yes.

Sadly in 2011 my dad passed away suddenly and my world fell apart. I instantly regretted not taking him up on the Disney offer and punished myself for being so selfish. My dad loved Disney as much as me and really wanted to take us and the grandkids there.

From that day I vowed I would take the kid's when they were older and I would show them all the places that grandad loved to go. I know for a fact when we go I'm going to be an emotional mess, partly because I'm excited and nervous as well as nostalgia and sadness of my dad not being there.

We planned to take the kid's in 2012 after he died, however, due to unforseen circumstances we couldn't go. He was actually a member of this fourm and every now and then I still go back and look at his posts and read them in his voice




A bit about us:

Myself - (Nervous Wreck) - So I'm the Disney booker, organise and planner and general all round stress head. I love planning and hate surprises so this is the best of both worlds for me!


I'm just finishing the first year of my Business and Management Foundation Degree at a local college. Another year and I will graduate and hopefully be able to do my Honours top up in HR. I really enjoy cross stitching, socialising and just recently started crocheting.

Excited for: Everything!

Chris - (Mr Grump) - He is the laid back one, he goes with the flow and as any hubby should, does as he's told He is no good with organisation and planning so he's happy to leave everything up to me ... as long as he's fed and watered he's happy! We nick name him Mr Grump as he's slowly turning into his dad who also grumps all the time!

He is a computer engineer and enjoys films and days out walking.

Excited for: Universal, particularly Harry Potter World.

Caitlin - (Drama Llama) - Total and utter tweenager, nick named the drama llama in our house (DL for short!) the world revolves around her and unless anything is to benefit her, she isn't interested she keeps trying to pretend she's not excited for Disney but I think deep down she is. She does not like potatoes in any form what so ever ... chips, boiled, roasties ... you get the picture. If she so much as smells potato this is the face she makes



No exaggeration! Now you see where the name DL comes from!

She enjoys most activities, she attends girl guides and drama group which she loves, even bagging herself one of the star roles in Mamma Mia ... the drama llama act comes in handy sometimes

Excited for: The shows and water parks

Thomas - (Cheeky) - He's exactly like his dad, he's so laid back he's almost horizontal. He can have his moments but he is a classic middle child, sometimes we forget he's even there, he's nick named the cheeky monkey as he's too smart for his own good!

He loves anything to do with Pokemon, he loves writing stories, especially his adventures of Tom series he's started making. My little writer.

Excited for: - The roller coasters, he's a total thrill seeker like mum and dad this one ... he just needs to grow a foot or so more (He's the smallest in his class by about a foot )

Noah - (Baby) - Noah's the baby ... need I say anymore? He gets away with way more than he should but his little face just melts your heart. He's a loving, funny clever little boy. He's just recently been diagnosed with Autism and it's a huge learning curve for us all. We're learning how to assist his as best we can as well as seeing how amazing he is in learning how to deal with the difficulties he faces.

Excited for: He's a huge Mickey Mouse fan ... hence the title. When we first booked Noah was just 3, when Chris told him he looked and me and said 'Are we going to Mickey Mouse World tomorrow Mummy?' hence the title of the trip report. He said he can't wait to see Mickey and the princesses and all the rides (another little thrill seeker!)

Now I would have preferred to keep it a secret and tell the kid's closer to the time ... I'd have loved to see the surprise on their faces. My hubby had other ideas and told them

In hindsight this was probably best as we now have leverage for the older two to help out and behave to earn Disney spends! Noah has also just being diagnosed as autistic, so we're expecting to have to jump through a few hoops. We're hoping once we work out all of his triggers we can minimise the disruption for him, but at the moment crowds of people are one of his big triggers If anyone has any hints and tips I would be ever so grateful!

The Plan

Flights

So we're flying with Virgin in economy



We haven't pre booked seat as the little one has special needs and we have requested bulkhead seats with Mr Grump and the other two sitting nearby. Noah struggles with changes and crowds, we're trying our best to prepare him for the holiday but we have no idea how he'll take it. When he has sensory overload he can lash out and thrash about. We're hoping to be able to use distraction techniques and special aids (like ear defenders) to deter this from happening. Just in case I would rather have no seat in front of him as the last thing I want when he's having an episode is someone in front complaining that he's kicking the seat. So sadly we won't know our seats until we're at the airport for check-in.

I've flown this flight with Virgin when I was 15 with my family and we were seated in the bubble. It was great I loved it, so quite and more personal, hubby reckons we should ask if we can have seats there as it will hopefully be quieter for Noah but I'm not too sure just yet. If anyone has experience with this that would be great!

Accommodation

When we began planning we really wanted to stay at Port Orleans French Quarter, however, with us being 5 we have to stay in Riverside. We booked with the free QSDP and $200 disney gift card. We upgraded to the DDP as we want to do a lot of character dining. We plan on using the gift card towards tips in the TS restaurants.



Sneaky Universal Trip

So me being the planning freak I am I wanted to maximize the time that we have. Mr Grump really wanted to do Universal ... mainly for HP, I didn't think it would be worth it as we didn't have a car and we and we had the DDP which would go to waste when we were there.

In the end we compromised and I decided to book Loews Royal Pacific for 1 night to make use of the express front of line passes.



Hopefully this will turn Mr Grump from this ...



to this ...



Who knows we might have to give him a name change!

Shopping

One of the things I am most looking forward too!







I'm not a shop-a-holic I promise



I have always wanted to go to Sephora and never been able to so I'm so excited! I also want to get some colour pop make up, Kate Spade, Michael Kors and Radley bags/purses ... oh and not to forget special Disney Pandora ... I've already pre-warned Mr Grump I intend of spending a lot in here



He'll need to get some extra weddings booked in I think! My excuse is this trip is partly for my 30th. For his 30th I booked Cuba and surprised him with Premium seats. We decided we couldn't do a trip for my 30th and Disney so I agreed Disney could be for my 30th too ... win win I would say!



Drama Llama also turns 12 when she's there. She originally wanted to BBB then changed her mind. She's chose what we do on this day. I've ordered her a surprise gift basket to the room with a mini cake to celebrate.

The Plan So Far

Friday 26th October - Pre Travel Day - we plan to head to Travelodge in Altrincham for around 3pm. There's a cinema nearby so we're going to take the kid's to the cinema and for food before hopefully an early night at the hotel. I have a feeling we won't be getting much sleep and I don't think it will be the kid's either!



Drama Llama and I have a room and the boys are staying with Mr Grump ... that reminds me I need to phone and check that we can have either interconnecting rooms or rooms next to each other as I know Noah won't settle if I'm not there ... he's like my little shadow



Saturday 27th October - Travel Day - alarms will be set for 7am, up, ready and sorted by 8.30am, check out and head to McDonalds for breakfast. After McDonalds pop to Tesco to get snacks and treats for the plane (crisps, fruit, sweets, cereal bars) head to the airport for our VIP Meet and Greet parking at 9.45am. Check in and collect Noah's disability pass, through security and a walk around duty free. Flight is at 12.45pm and should hopefully arrive in Orlando for 4.45pm local time. Fast pass through security and on to the Magical Express. Once we get checked in to POR we're going to head over to Disney Springs to get a quick pizza from Blaze.

This has now changed to a wander around POR then 2QS credits to share a pizza and then bed.


Sunday 28th October - We have an ADR at Be Our Guest at 8.40am (hoping to make it earlier) MK opens at 9, we plan do all the rides in Fantasyland and some in Tomorrowland. Then we need to make our way to the Disney Car Center for 1pm to pick up our hire car. I've found out we need to phone the DCC to arrange a free pick up from MK.

We will be heading to WalMart to pick up Noah's pushchair and some snacks for the room and heading back for a chill afternoon of naps or the pool.

No doubt this will be Noah at some point on this day



Evening plans have now changed and I've managed to secure an ADR at Sanaa. I'm so excited for this purely for the bread service that everyone talks about. ADR is 6.45pm or 5.15pm so I'm really hoping the kid's have a little nap on the afternoon when we get back from Walmart. Will cancel one before we leave.

I have now cancelled Sanaa and hope to pop over to Disney Springs to Blaze for pizza (or D-Luxe burger depending which we fancy).

Monday 29th October - Tusker House ADR at 8am with the ROL package. AK opens at 9 so we plan to do a few rides before heading to Pandora. Satuli canteen for snacks and refreshments.

Afternoon will be chilling by the pool/room then back to AK for 6/6.30pm for food at Pizzafari for the kid's and Yak and Yeti for me and Mr Grump. A little walk around Dinoland then ROL preferred viewing booked for 7.30pm.

Tuesday 30th October

Breakfast is now 1900 Park Fare at 8.20am (previously Hollywood and Vine) then we will be heading to Hollywood Studios. Until the other day I completely forgot about this ...



I know, I know ... I'm a disgrace, I blame this final Uni assignment!

Anyway, this has changed plans slightly as I want to ensure we get to HS for opening ... I still haven't decided yet.

I've now decided if we get FP for Slinky Dog we will probably just go here after our ADR so hopefully in the park by 10am.

The afternoon will probably be pool and rest after last nights late night at AK.

Dinner will be D-Luxe burger (or Blaze depending what we did the night before) at Disney Springs.

Wednesday 31st October

Breakfast booked at Akershus for 8.10am then hopefully a few fast passes for rides and a little wander around Epcot. Nothing planned for this afternoon, so depending how we feel we may do pool/rest or shopping.

4.20pm I've booked Homecomin'. We then have the October/November DIBB meet in Disney Springs at 6.30pm be lovely to meet some of the people I've made friends with on here and followed their journey's and they mine

Then plan to head to Earl Of Sandwich to use QS's to get sandwiches for Universal tomorrow.

Thursday 1st November

Breakfast at 7am in the food court and grab some snacks of pastries and take some small cereal boxes for breakfast in the morning. Plan to arrive at Universal for around 8am if we can.

Check in to Loews Royal Pacific then straight into Island's of Adventure for the day. Lunch will be the sandwiches from Earl Of Sandwich. Once we're finished here we'll head back to the room and get ready for our evening meal



I am so excited for this. We've been to the one in London twice, once for DL's birthday when we took her to see Wicked and I went with a group of friends on our trip to London for my 30th. The cocktails we had were to die for ... honestly some of the best cocktails we've ever had ... and we've had a fair few cocktails!

Friday 2nd November

Breakfast will be snacks that we've brought with us from POR. We will check out and leave our luggage then head to Universal Studios for 8am or 9am depending when we can.


We're gonna head back to Disney for around 6pm quick change then out to Epcot for dinner at Via Napoli at 7.05pm ... may need to change the timing of this one or depending how tired we are we just cancel it and order a pizza to the room.

Or we might just go to Blaze ... unsure just yet


This has all changed now, I have just cancelled Via Napoli so I am thinking of heading to the outlets on the way back from Universal for a bit of shopping and food, but nothing set in stone just yet.

Saturday 3rd November

Breakfast at Trattoria ... current booking is 8.05am, although I have a feeling we may need to push this on later.

This is quite a chilled day, someone mentioned it's Marathon weekend or something, so we're going to try and avoid the parks where possible. Plan is shopping at the outlets. Since I started planning I've been desperate to try Steak 'N' Shake and I found out there's one at the Vineland outlets so we're gonna head there for lunch, the kid's love milkshakes and can't wait.

Afternoon will probably we more shopping before heading back to get ready for Mickey's Backyard BBQ at Fort Wilderness ... I've heard the food isn't up to much but the character interaction is fab and that's good enough for me. I've now decided not to cancel this

Sunday 4th November

This is the day the clocks go back so I'm sure our 8.15am ADR at Chef Mickey's will be fine. Plan is shopping again this morning whilst we still have the car. Return the car at 1pm and hit the pool or Typhoon lagoon depending how we feel.

Dinner will be take out from Rose and Crown and hopefully bagging a seat in the outdoor seating area to catch Illuminations.

Mornings plan is still the same however, depending if we've already been to Blaze or not we will head there for lunch. I've got in my planner an afternoon at HS not Epcot. According to TP they're both at level 5 for crowds so may decide on the day


All this has completely changed. We will return the car at 9.30am and head straight to Typhoon Lagoon. We will then head to Sanaa for our 2.35pm reservation.

I've then used TP to plan a later after/evening in MK with a look to Disney Springs after.

Monday 5th November

Leisurely get up and breakfast at the food court.

Morning and afternoon will be MK where we will hopefully cover most of the park, lunch at Pecos Bills and Casey's Corner. Back to the hotel for pool or Epcot depending what the kids want to do.

Dinner is at Tutto Italia at 7.30pm ... I'm going to try and get it earlier as it may be too late for the kids.

Tuesday 6th November - DL's Birthday

So we've let drama llama plan this event today seeing as it's her brithday. So it will be a chilled morning, calling at the food court in POR to grab some breakfast before heading to Typhoon Lagoon.

I really wanted to take the kids to Blizzard Beach but the last day it's open is the day we arrived



I nearly cried when I found out. Mr Grump went to Typhoon Lagoon when he was 7 but he's never been to Blizzard Beach ... Oh well never mind, just means I need to plan another trip!

So after a day at Typhoon Lagoon we'll be heading back to the room and changing for an evening in Magic Kingdom.

She wanted to book BOG but when they announced the Pre-Fixe menu we changed this and booked CRT ... however, I'm now debating trying to book BOG seeing as I cancelled Hollywood and Vine ... still undecided on this!

We have an ADR for 6pm at CRT and 7.55pm at BoG ... we're going to wait and see the BoG menu however, I'm thinking because we're already doing lunch and brekafast at BoG on this trip we will stick to CRT, plus it means we won't be rushing for a spot for the fireworks.

I still haven't 100% decided on the evening meal for tonight. As above I want to do CRT for the experience as we have 2 other meals at BoG (breakfast and lunch) however, I REALLY want to meet the beast

Wednesday 7th November

Another lazy morning and breakfast at the food court then on to Animal Kingdom for the morning.

Head over to Hollywood Studios for our 2.05pm Mama Melrose Fantasmic booking. I hope to get all the rest of the attractions we didn't manage to do the other day done.

Dinner will be Rosie's QS along with snacks for Fantasmic.

I've just noticed 'Jingle Bell, Jingle BAM!' at 8.30pm in HS so we may stay for this.

Thursday 8th November


Leisurely morning no rush to get out, heading to MK for the morning and afternoon with lunch at 1pm at BOG.

Back to the pool for a chill and naps before heading to Epcot around 5pm. Tonight's the night we plan to eat around the world well half the world I don't think we'll manage the whole showcase ... that will be finished tomorrow.

Also have extra evening hours till 11pm so hoping to get a few extra rides done.

Friday 9th November

Final full day. Lazy pool morning then a lunch reservation at Tony's in Magic Kingdom at 12.05pm for our Festival of Fantasy Parade preferred viewing at 2pm.

I have got the evening for Disney Springs however I am debating getting an Uber to the outlets with drama llama to do some last bits of shopping depending on how much room we have left in the cases. Will probably do Disney Springs on the morning to use up the left over credits.

We now have a booking at Raglan Road, one at 5pm ish and one at 8pm ish ... will see which will be more suitable


We will now head to Epcot after the parade and finish eating around the world. We have an ADR for Raglan road at 7.30pm where I think we may just got the kid's some meals and us some starters and pay OOP to save our credit for T-Rex tomorrow.

Saturday 10th November

Finish packing and check out leaving bags at POR. Over to Disney springs to use up the remaining credits. Will keep some QS credits to get some Earl Of Sandwiches for the plane. Lunch will be T-Rex around 12pm using the Landry's card to get a table as we can't get a reservation. Back to POR for around 3/3.30pm depending on when we get the Magical Express.

I will keep adding bits of info to this and pictures x

Day 2

Sunday 28th October - We have an ADR at Be Our Guest at 8.40am (hoping to make it earlier) MK opens at 9, we plan do all the rides in Fantasyland and some in Tomorrowland. Then we need to make our way to the Disney Car Center for 1pm to pick up our hire car. I've found out we need to phone the DCC to arrange a free pick up from MK.

We will be heading to WalMart to pick up Noah's pushchair and some snacks for the room and heading back for a chill afternoon of naps or the pool.

Evening plans have now changed and I've managed to secure an ADR at Sanaa. I'm so excited for this purely for the bread service that everyone talks about. ADR is 6.45pm or 5.15pm so I'm really hoping the kid's have a little nap on the afternoon when we get back from Walmart. Will cancel one before we leave.

I have now cancelled Sanaa and hope to pop over to Disney Springs to Blaze for pizza (or D-Luxe burger depending which we fancy).

Day 3

Monday 29th October - Tusker House ADR at 8am with the ROL package. AK opens at 9 so we plan to do a few rides before heading to Pandora. Satuli canteen for snacks and refreshments.

Afternoon will be chilling by the pool/room then back to AK for 5/5.30pm for food at Pizzafari for the kid's and Yak and Yeti for me and Mr Grump. A little walk around Dinoland then ROL preferred viewing booked for 7.30pm.

Day 4

Breakfast is now 1900 Park Fare at 8.15am (previously Hollywood and Vine) then we will be heading to Hollywood Studios.

The afternoon will probably be pool and rest after last nights late night at AK.

Dinner will be D-Luxe burger (or Blaze depending what we did the night before) at Disney Springs.

Day 5

Breakfast booked at Akershus for 8.10am then hopefully a few fast passes for rides and a little wander around Epcot. Nothing planned for this afternoon, so depending how we feel we may do pool/rest or shopping.

4.20pm I've booked Homecomin'. We then have the October/November DIBB meet in Disney Springs at 6.30pm be lovely to meet some of the people I've made friends with on here and followed their journey's and they mine

Then plan to head to Earl Of Sandwich to use QS's to get sandwiches for Universal tomorrow.

Day 6

Breakfast at 7am in the food court and grab some snacks of pastries and take some small cereal boxes for breakfast in the morning. Plan to arrive at Universal for around 8am if we can.

Check in to Loews Royal Pacific then straight into Island's of Adventure for the day. Lunch will be the sandwiches from Earl Of Sandwich. Once we're finished here we'll head back to the room and get ready for our evening meal

Bubba Gumps planned for our evening meal which will be a hit for us all I think.

I am so excited for this. We've been to the one in London twice, once for DL's birthday when we took her to see Wicked and I went with a group of friends on our trip to London for my 30th. The cocktails we had were to die for ... honestly some of the best cocktails we've ever had ... and we've had a fair few cocktails!

Day 7

Breakfast will be snacks that we've brought with us from POR. We will check out and leave our luggage then head to Universal Studios for 8am or 9am depending when we can.


We're gonna head back to Disney for around 6pm quick change then out to Epcot for dinner at Via Napoli at 7.05pm ... may need to change the timing of this one or depending how tired we are we just cancel it and order a pizza to the room.

Or we might just go to Blaze ... unsure just yet


This has all changed now, I have just cancelled Via Napoli so I am thinking of heading to the outlets on the way back from Universal for a bit of shopping and food, but nothing set in stone just yet.

Day 8

Breakfast at Trattoria ... current booking is 8.05am, although I have a feeling we may need to push this on later.

This is quite a chilled day, someone mentioned it's Marathon weekend or something, so we're going to try and avoid the parks where possible. Plan is shopping at the outlets. Since I started planning I've been desperate to try Steak 'N' Shake and I found out there's one at the Vineland outlets so we're gonna head there for lunch, the kid's love milkshakes and can't wait.

Afternoon will probably we more shopping before heading back to get ready for Mickey's Backyard BBQ at Fort Wilderness ... I've heard the food isn't up to much but the character interaction is fab and that's good enough for me. I've now decided not to cancel this

Day 9

This day has changed dramatically.

This is the day the clocks go back so I'm sure our 8.15am ADR at Chef Mickey's will be fine. Plan is shopping again this morning whilst we still have the car. Return the car at 1pm and hit the pool or Typhoon lagoon depending how we feel.

Dinner will be take out from Rose and Crown and hopefully bagging a seat in the outdoor seating area to catch Illuminations.

Mornings plan is still the same however, depending if we've already been to Blaze or not we will head there for lunch. I've got in my planner an afternoon at HS not Epcot. According to TP they're both at level 5 for crowds so may decide on the day


All this has completely changed. We will return the car at 9.30am and head straight to Typhoon Lagoon. We will then head to Sanaa for our 2.35pm reservation.

I've then used TP to plan a later after/evening in MK with a look to Disney Springs after.

Day 10

Leisurely get up and breakfast at the food court.

Morning and afternoon will be MK where we will hopefully cover most of the park, lunch at Pecos Bills and Casey's Corner. Back to the hotel for pool or Epcot depending what the kids want to do.

Dinner is at Tutto Italia at 7.30pm ... I'm going to try and get it earlier as it may be too late for the kids.

Day 11

Tuesday 6th November - DL's Birthday

So we've let drama llama plan this event today seeing as it's her brithday. So it will be a chilled morning, calling at the food court in POR to grab some breakfast before heading to Typhoon Lagoon.

We have an ADR for 6pm at CRT and 7.55pm at BoG ... we're going to wait and see the BoG menu however, I'm thinking because we're already doing lunch and brekafast at BoG on this trip we will stick to CRT, plus it means we won't be rushing for a spot for the fireworks.

I still haven't 100% decided on the evening meal for tonight. As above I want to do CRT for the experience as we have 2 other meals at BoG (breakfast and lunch) however, I REALLY want to meet the beast

Day 12

Wednesday 7th November

Another lazy morning and breakfast at the food court then on to Animal Kingdom for the morning.

Head over to Hollywood Studios for our 2.05pm Mama Melrose Fantasmic booking. I hope to get all the rest of the attractions we didn't manage to do the other day done.

Dinner will be Rosie's QS along with snacks for Fantasmic.

I've just noticed 'Jingle Bell, Jingle BAM!' at 8.30pm in HS so we may stay for this.

Day 13

Leisurely morning no rush to get out, heading to MK for the morning and afternoon with lunch at 1pm at BOG.

Back to the pool for a chill and naps before heading to Epcot around 5pm. Tonight's the night we plan to eat around the world well half the world I don't think we'll manage the whole showcase ... that will be finished tomorrow.

Also have extra evening hours till 11pm so hoping to get a few extra rides done.

Day 14

Final full day. Lazy pool morning then a lunch reservation at Tony's in Magic Kingdom at 12.05pm for our Festival of Fantasy Parade preferred viewing at 2pm.

I have got the evening for Disney Springs however I am debating getting an Uber to the outlets with drama llama to do some last bits of shopping depending on how much room we have left in the cases. Will probably do Disney Springs on the morning to use up the left over credits.

We now have a booking at Raglan Road, one at 5pm ish and one at 8pm ish ... will see which will be more suitable


We will now head to Epcot after the parade and finish eating around the world. We have an ADR for Raglan road at 7.30pm where I think we may just got the kid's some meals and us some starters and pay OOP to save our credit for T-Rex tomorrow.

Day 15

Finish packing and check out leaving bags at POR. Over to Disney springs to use up the remaining credits. Will keep some QS credits to get some Earl Of Sandwiches for the plane. Lunch will be T-Rex around 12pm using the Landry's card to get a table as we can't get a reservation. Back to POR for around 3/3.30pm depending on when we get the Magical Express.

Edited at 07:41 AM.
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Old 30 Apr 18, 08:29 PM  
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caitlinsmummy
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Today was ADR day ... no one apart from my best friend understood my excitement ... especially not the laid back husband who still probably doesn't even know where we're eating!

Me being the organised planning freak I am, have had to plan for which dining experiences we want to do for a long time (probably a year before!) I also made a rough plan of what to do on what days based on the ADR's we wanted and the parks we wanted.

Chris really wanted to do Universal (I wanted to leave it till next time, he seems to think this will be the first and only time ) Little does he know I'm already planning our return trip! So to keep him sweet I 'let' him book them, being the good wife that I am )

After posting on here about our itinerary I decided to change a few days around. I will edit the plan as and when. Here is the plan.

The breakfast ADR's I am hoping to be able to secure earlier times as I keep checking.
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Old 30 Apr 18, 08:56 PM  
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Hiya looks like you are going to have a wonderful time and it's not too far away now! You're going at a great time of year weather wise and crowd wise especially for a child with autism. DS has autism. He is a teenager now and lessons we have learnt with him are...

keep surprises to a minimum

go to Guest Services at Disney and ask about the DAS card - really has helped us

also use FP+ - essential for avoiding queues as much as possible

don't plan long days - allow sleep if needed and time around pool...

My DS loves WDW but really struggles with his emotions over the first few days... He settles in to it slowly and gets very upset when leaving... We have to repeat certain rides for him and I make sure he knows the schedule of rides so he knows he will be getting on the rides he wants to...

I know this is probably a bit different for a 5 year old but hope these tips help a little bit... It really is our favourite family place and despite the meltdowns etc it gives us some wonderful memories. I look forward to reading more of your plans and please let me know if you have any other questions about autism in general or autism at Disney
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Old 30 Apr 18, 09:22 PM  
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Originally Posted by Buggles94 View Post
Hiya looks like you are going to have a wonderful time and it's not too far away now! You're going at a great time of year weather wise and crowd wise especially for a child with autism. DS has autism. He is a teenager now and lessons we have learnt with him are...

keep surprises to a minimum

go to Guest Services at Disney and ask about the DAS card - really has helped us

also use FP+ - essential for avoiding queues as much as possible

don't plan long days - allow sleep if needed and time around pool...

My DS loves WDW but really struggles with his emotions over the first few days... He settles in to it slowly and gets very upset when leaving... We have to repeat certain rides for him and I make sure he knows the schedule of rides so he knows he will be getting on the rides he wants to...

I know this is probably a bit different for a 5 year old but hope these tips help a little bit... It really is our favourite family place and despite the meltdowns etc it gives us some wonderful memories. I look forward to reading more of your plans and please let me know if you have any other questions about autism in general or autism at Disney
Yes, my little one struggles with surprises too, at home we use a visual timetable and hope to do the same for Disney so at least he know's where we are going each day.

Someone mentioned DAS to us but I didn't really understand it tbh. Do we just get it at guest services in the park? Do we need to do it each time we go into the park?

Most days the first week we have plenty of time in the afternoons free for the pool, I'm hoping he'll be in routine by then.

He was only diagnosed this month and we don't really know much at all about autism so any help at all is great. We still feel a little out of our depths at the moment! X
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Old 5 May 18, 08:05 PM  
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So Monday was ADR day ...



I was like a cat on a hot tin roof! Think



Even more so when my phone alerted me an hour before to be ready for booking the reservations. My alarm went off at 11am and I thought I'd just have a quick check see if maybe it opened earlier ... as it happens they were available for my first days ... I was sure it opened at 12pm but nevertheless I was on it like a car bonnet!

So I managed to secure the following:

28th October - Be Our Guest at 8.40am

29th October - Tusker House (ROL Pacakage) at 8am

30th October - Hollywood and Vine at 8.20am

31st October - Akershus at 8.10am - T-Rex at 4.30pm

2nd November - Via Napoli at 7.05pm

3rd November - Trattoria at 8.05am - Mickey's Backyard BBQ at 5.30pm

4th November - Chef Mickey's at 8.20am

5th November - 1900 Park Fare at 9.20am

6th November **Caitlin's 12th Birthday - Cinderella's Royal Table at 6pm

7th November - Mama Melrose (Fantasmic Package) at 2pm

8th November - Be Our Guest at 1pm

9th November - Tony's Town Square (Parade Viewing) at 12.20pm

As you can imagine I was over the moon ... I wasn't too dissimilar to this!



All the while Mr Grump looks on disapproval



In case you didn't guess he's Woody ... I'm Buzz.

At least the children were excited.



Some of the bookings I've made aren't at the times I'd like but I keep checking regularly in case other times come up. So far I've managed to reduce a few of them so I'm happy with that.

I've managed to book a gift basket to be delivered on 6th November for Caitlin's 12th birthday from the lovely Fairytale Personal Shopper, super excited to see what she does!

To Do List:
  • Holiday Clothes Shopping
  • Trainers and Shoe Shopping
  • Autograph Books
  • Sweet Boxes
  • Travel Bags
  • Change times of the car hire
  • Print all confirmations off
  • School holiday forms
  • Order magic band skins

Next milestone is to pay the holiday off next month!

Edited at 10:26 PM.
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Old 9 May 18, 09:32 PM  
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Drama Llama Issue Number 1

So, we've set the older 2 a chores list up to earn spends for Disney, such as tidy bedroom, polish, empty dishwasher, put clothes away, make bed etc. For each chore they do they get a certain amount of money. I thought it was a good idea to teach them to help out and also learn responsibility.

The drama llama disagreed, being a pre-teen with hormones and a room that would rival a pig sty, she took a hissy fit when she was asked to tidy it

The face that followed this confrontation was something similar to this



In her hissy fit state she declared she didn't want spending money as she doesn't want to go on rides and we can't make her tidy it. Let's just say a few harsh words along the lines of how privileged she is to get a holiday to Disney and how some children don't have half of what she gets got her thinking. Once she had calmed herself down she came and apoligised very sheepishly.



Drama avoided we set back to finishing off our plans.



So I've been thinking ... I really REALLY want to meet the Beast. Now I know you can only do this at Dinner service. I changed the plans when I found out they were bringing out the Pre-Fixe menu as we're quite fussy eaters and I didn't want to waste 2 TS credits on it.

I just don't know what to do!

I've cancelled our Hollywood and Vine breakfast as looking at the Disney Jr characters that are there wouldn't interest Noah (and this was mainly for him) and I only booked T-Rex because we had 1 TS credit each left and I didn't want them wasting, not too bothered about QS credits as we can turn them into snack credits.

I'm on the hunt for this



I've managed to get 2 Minnie ones for me and DL and got 1 of these for the boys but I now need another one if anyone can help! They're from Primark, however, they've stopped selling them as of 2 weeks ago. Cue me in Primark Metrocentre and Newcastle on Friday ...



Hubby



If anyone know's of anyone selling any please point me their way!
  • Holiday Clothes Shopping - Still need Mr G, DL to finish off - DONE
  • Trainers and Shoe Shopping - DONE
  • Autograph Books - DONE
  • Sweet Boxes - DONE
  • Travel Bags - Need to find one for Cheeky - DONE
  • Change times of the car hire - ABORTED
  • Print all confirmations off
  • School holiday forms
  • Order magic band skins - DONE

Edited at 04:17 PM.
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Old 9 May 18, 10:31 PM  
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Loving reading along. Our once in a lifetime was may 2016 which was followed by our second in a lifetime in nov 2017 and our third time lucky seems forever away but we’re addicted, maybe even hubby more so than me as I was adamant we were not going back (I’m a huuuuuuggggge Disney fan so it wasn’t because of that) 😂

You’re going to have a great time
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Old 9 May 18, 11:08 PM  
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Originally Posted by Excited6910 View Post
Loving reading along. Our once in a lifetime was may 2016 which was followed by our second in a lifetime in nov 2017 and our third time lucky seems forever away but we’re addicted, maybe even hubby more so than me as I was adamant we were not going back (I’m a huuuuuuggggge Disney fan so it wasn’t because of that) 😂

You’re going to have a great time
Yeah, unbeknownst to Mr Grump I am already planning our 2020 return ...

ssssssshhhhhhh

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Old 12 May 18, 09:00 PM  
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Cases - Men!

Anyone else have totally illogical men?

Mr Grump seems to think that we can manage with 2 suitcases between all 5 of us for 2 weeks (I ain't doing no washing!)



He expects to be able to bring back any shopping we do within this too! We get 20kg per person ... don't get me wrong I don't expect to take a case each



This will be me ... I'm joking! But I think that 2 large cases and a medium inside one of the large on the way out should be sufficient enough.

We have this disagreement EVERY holiday! I think he fails to realize that we all need at least one outfit per day, possibly sometimes even 2!

Anyway I always win the argument but I'm sure he does it on purpose to wind me up



We were discussing it last weekend when a couple of friends were over and I was getting so annoyed with him, whilst he's sat at the other side of the room like this



My friend said he was doing it on purpose for a reaction ... I need to learn to stop biting.

So yesterday I decided I need to lose this weight before Florida! I have Fibromyalgia and I was given meds in September and since then I have had different ones and I have piled on 3 stone ... I feel disgusted with myself. So I signed up to Slimming World online and I'm determined to lose it!

I'm going to keep this updated with my progress and hopefully it will spur me on!

3 stone to go!

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Old 12 May 18, 09:33 PM  
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It sounds like you will all have a magical time! I'm sorry to hear about your Dad, I'm sure you will have some emotional moments but will also create new memories with the kiddies.
Your DH sounds exactly like my OH, winding me up is a hobby of his! He also doesn't think we need a suitcase each, but he will NEVER win that argument. Shopping is MY favourite hobby
Have a fab time
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