Penny's First Trip to Disney World - PreTrip Report

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Allie's picture
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Penny's First Trip to Disney World - PreTrip Report

At 50 days out it is about that time to start a PreTrip report! I've been meaning to do it since we made our FastPass+ reservations but made a promise to myself that I would catch up on everyone else's trip reports first laugh

THE CHARACTERS

First up is myself and my husband Jon who you may have "met" in our previous trip reports. We are both huge Disney fanatics and LOVE food, characters, and rides so Disney World is pretty much heaven on earth for us.

We will also be dragging my in-laws along on this trip. Karen and Jimm (MIL & FIL) as well as Tom (BIL) will be joining us this time. They have all been to Disney World once before when Jon and Tom were teenagers, but they didn't go on ANY rides because they aren't big ride fans to begin with and they didn't realize how many tame rides there are to experience. Hopefully this will be a much different trip for them this time around! All of Jon's family are super picky eaters too so, while our dining has been tamed down a bit, I'm also hoping to expand their horizons somewhat.

Most importantly however, the lead character this trip is my two year old daughter Penny who we will be taking on her first ever trip to Disney World!!!!! I cannot express how thrilled I am and I tear up pretty much every time I think about it. She LOVES all things Disney Princess, especially Ariel, Rapunzel, Anna & Elsa, and Tiana. She's also a Disney Jr fan and has a big soft spot for Mickey, Minnie, Daisy, Sophia, Jake, and Doc McStuffins. I have no idea how she will react to the rides or meeting characters (she's normally pretty shy around people she doesn't know), so this trip will totally have to be a "go with the flow", wing it trip. Which is TOTALLY not my style. We're going in with a plan but know that Penny will be dictating most of the trip.

THE SCENE

We'll be on property from December 4th - December 11th. We'll be staying at our first DVC resort and first Deluxe this trip with 6 nights in a 2-bedroom suite at Saratoga Springs. I have a request set up to be sent in a few days prior to our arrival requesting Congress Park with a Disney Springs view but we shall see. Our arrival night our flight lands after 7pm so we will just be staying at All Star Sports. So far I have not done online check-in as we've never found this super beneficial in the past, but who knows I might change my mind last second Smile

We do have Memory Maker for the first time this trip since we'll be a slightly larger group then I'm used to and it will be Penny's first trip. Big priorities include character meet and greets, food, and getting Jon's family on some rides that they'll be able to handle! This is our first ever trip during the holiday season and Karen is a huge Christmas nut so we will be focusing on hitting up a lot of the Christmas festivities, as well.

THE ITINERARY

Friday, December 4th - This was an added day for us since December 5th was supposed to be our arrival day. I knew I wanted to hit the parks on the 5th though, so rather then going for a super early flight that would wear us all out and potentially get Penny super crabby, I opted instead to arrive the night before and stay at All-Star Sports. Our flight lands at 7:40pm so we'll be grabbing our luggage and heading straight to the resort via Magical Express. I've heard that if you let ME take your luggage in the evening, they will just hold it at the front desk for you instead of trying to deliver to your room late at night. Can anyone confirm that? If that's the case we will probably tag all of our luggage to get taken except Penny's pack & play and one suitcase with the stuff we'll need that night/the next morning. That way everything will just be at the front desk for us the next morning when we need to transfer hotels. Jon and Tom and I might go out at some point this night depending on when we get in and how we're feeling....maybe Trader Sams?

Saturday, December 5th - We'll probably sleep in a bit this morning, maybe hit up the food court for breakfast, and then check out at our own pace. Luggage will get transferred to Saratoga Springs and we will be headed to Epcot (see, now I'm rethinking the online check in thing again so that we don't need to worry about getting to the check in desk at some point during the day....) I'm thinking maybe the Three Caballeros boat ride as Penny's first ride just because it is super tame and easy and I'm worried about scaring her off. Fastpass reservations for this day include Seas with Nemo and Friends, Turtle Talk with Crush, and Soarin' (during Penny's nap time that crossfingers she will take in her stroller). Lunch will probably be at either the Mexico, UK, or American counter service depending on what I can talk everyone into. Dinner reservations that night are at Turf Club at Saratoga and then Jon, Tom, and I will be heading out to the DISUnplugged special event at Diagon Alley! Jon and I have been to Hogsmeade and Tom has never been to WWOHP at all and we're all Harry Potter geeks so I'm super excited! Short ride lines and alll you can drink butterbeer? Yes please!

Sunday, December 6th - Magic Kingdom day! We'll be getting up when Penny decides it is time to get up and then will be heading to the Magic Kingdom. I'm hoping to get Penny's first haircut at the Harmony Barber Shop first thing this morning, but when I called today to make a reservation they were booked up so we'll just have to attempt a walk-up. Fastpass reservations today are for Cinderella & Rapunzel Meet & Greet, Ariel Meet & Greet, and Peter Pan's Flight. I'm expecting lunch to be at either Cosmic Rays or Pecos Bill (dying to try their new menu!) and dinner reservations are at 6:30 at Tony's Town Square. It is a MVMCP night which we do not have tickets for so I'm hoping that we'll have a slooooow meal and will be able to catch some of the snow on Main Street on our way out. We'll probably head to DHS after dinner to check out Osbourne Lights and then Grandma and Grandpa will take Penny back to the hotel while Jon, Tom, and I stay for some EMH.

Monday, December 7th - Again, Penny will be dictating the schedule so when she says it is time to get up, we will head to Animal Kingdom. We're planning on starting out with exploring the trails and taking the Wildlife Train back to Rafiki's Planet Watch before the 10:45am Flights of Wonder show and then our Fastpass for the 11:45 FOLK. Lunch will probably be at Flame Tree (though it is painful to not be eating at Yak & Yeti table service) and then we have a Kilimanjaro and Finding Nemo Fastpass. I'm hoping Penny will nap through Nemo and maybe some after (while Daddy and Mommy ride EE and Dinosaur) and then we'll head out. If we have time, we might stop by Animal Kingdom Lodge to see the Christmas decorations before going to Epcot for our 6:30pm Akershus reservation. After dinner we'll either explore the World Showcase or explore the Epcot area resorts to see their decor. This night or the next night MIGHT have to be a Disney Springs night for Jon, Tom, and I.

Tuesday, December 8th - I'm hoping to get out the door early today to make it in time for our Disney Jr live Fastpass first thing in the morning. With all of the shows we need to hit in DHS, this is probably our most scheduled out day so I'm once again crossfingers that Penny is in a cooperative and patient mood! After Disney Jr we'll hit the Voyage of the Little Mermaid show and the Sophia and Jake meet & greet before our TSMM Fastpasses. Not sure I'll be able to convince Karen and Jimm to do this one. We'll hopefully then make it to the 12pm Beauty & the Beast show before lunch. I really want to try the new menu at Studio Catering but if the in-laws can't find anything that appeals to them there we might be meeting up at Pizza Planet. After lunch and before her nap, we HAVE to find time for the Mike & Sulley meet and greet because I will have Penny disneybounding as Boo this day. We'll hit up Muppetvision next (if Penny's ready for naptime I'll stay out with her but I'm hoping she'll make it because she adores Kermit) and then Jon and his family will do Indiana Jones and Lights Motors Action while I supervise naptime in the stroller ( crossfingers ). When Penny wakes up we'll let her play for a bit on the Honey I Shrunk the Kids playset, maybe squeeze in the Great Movie Ride, and then our Fastpass for the Frozen Singalong should be open. Penny should DIE over this attraction so I'm excited for that. Dinner is at 50's Prime Time and then we'll be keeping Penny up a bit past her bedtime for Fantasmic as I think she'll really like that show.

Wednesday, December 9th - Another bright and early morning to get to the Beach Club in time for our Minnie, Donald, and Goofy breakfast at Cape May at 9:15am. Today is another Epcot day with Fastpasses for Imagination, Spaceship Earth, and Test Track (during Penny's nap). We have a late lunch/early dinner at Coral Reef scheduled at 3:45pm for the Candlelight Processional package. They haven't announced who the celebrity narrator is yet for this night so I'm crossing my fingers for someone good, otherwise we'll have to rework our plans a bit to hit up Whoopie Goldberg on one of our first couple of nights instead. Hopefully Illuminations will be in the cards for us tonight, as well, but I might cut out with Penny before that depending on how she's holding up.

Thursday, December 10th - Our last day at the parks so it pretty much has to be at Magic Kingdom, right? Fastpass reservations today include Winnie the Pooh (another favorite of Penny's), Anna & Elsa Meet & Greet, and Seven Dwarfs Mine Train. We have BOG lunch reservations (which Jon and I LOVED on our last trip so I'm hoping it holds up) and Ohana dinner reservations at 6:45pm. We also have a potential WDWFG meet up this night at the Top of the World lounge to catch the Holiday Wishes fireworks.

Friday, December 11th - Departure day Sad Hopefully we'll be sleeping in and then going over to Disney Springs after checkout. No real concrete plans other then we must do Wolfgang Puck Express for lunch. I've been wanting to try this place FOREVER and it was the one request that Jimm made based on a recommendation from a co-worker so this is a must. Our flight leaves at 7:20pm so we'll probably need to leave Disney Springs by around 2:30 to make the Tragical Express.

And yes, I might be crazy trying to pack so much in. With a two year old. But it's just my nature. Hopefully I'm able to Let It Go (I know, I'm sorry. Terrible, overused pun) once I'm down there and not get too stressed about sticking to the plan because I just know that it will get turned upside down. Hoping this will be a super magical vacation for everyone involved, though! Wish me luck! muchlove mickey

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It all sounds wonderful, I am totally in shock that Penny is 2 where has the time gone from reading your pregnancy blog to now? G had his hair cut last year and we did a walk up, go there first and put your name down. They are good at knowing how long you will have to wait. It was great fun and you will so enjoy it

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Good to know, thanks Sally-Ann! I had heard that walk ups were not too difficult to get so I was shocked when I was told today that they were already booked up for the week that we are there eek I'll just have to, once again, crossfingers (are you sensing a theme here)?

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Eeeekkkk!!! I've been waiting in this TR! I can't wait to hear all about it! Will Penny be dressing as a princess?!? I thnk she will get her own little flow and things will be wonderful!

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I'm sure you will all have a great time! Looking forward to hearing more about your trip.

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This is gonna be awesome! I just had my first DG last weekend - a new little princess!

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So of course the day after I put this together they announced the rest of the celebrity narrators! laugh laugh Ana Gasteyer was announced for our originally planned day. I think she's great so we'll hopefully stick with our plans unless the in-laws greatly prefer Whoopie.

JMed wrote:
Eeeekkkk!!! I've been waiting in this TR! I can't wait to hear all about it! Will Penny be dressing as a princess?!? I thnk she will get her own little flow and things will be wonderful!

You can bet on it! She's got a Rapunzel dress, Cinderella dress, Elsa dress, and the Boo outfit I put together. She's unfortunately a little too young for the Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique but we have so much going on this trip that it's probably for the best that we have to delay it for a future trip!

JanJ wrote:
I'm sure you will all have a great time! Looking forward to hearing more about your trip.

Thanks, Jan!

disneydoc wrote:
This is gonna be awesome! I just had my first DG last weekend - a new little princess!

Aw congrats!!!! muchlove muchlove muchlove Make sure to indoctrinate her with all things Disney from day one!

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Absolutely awesome! awesome Looking forward to your TR and have a truly magical trip with your princess and family mickey

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So excited for you Allie!! And that Penny is a cutie!! She will have a great time. Can't wait to hear all about your trip!

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I can't wait to see your little Princess in all her outfits, especially Boo muchlove

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Sounds like it'll be a wonderful trip for your daughter. Can't wait to see Penny's princess pictures, she's adorable. My daughter lived in her princess dresses and nightgowns when she was young. And now she Disneybounds- it's nice that she grew up to love Disney as much as my DH and I do. Looks like Penny may be on her way to becoming a lifelong Disney fan too!

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Lots of pictures please! You all are going to have so much fun. awesome

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I can't wait to hear about Penny's first trip.

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Thanks all! There will of course be lots of pictures to share when we get back, I'm sure! awesome

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Penny is adorable!!! I would love to meet up with you guys or for you guys to stop in at Trolley Car Cafe! It sounds like you guys have an awesome trip planned!

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Thanks, Mandy! Tuesday the 8th is our DHS day so I'll message you when it's getting closer to work out the details!

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Sounds awesome Allie!! Super excited for you! Can't wait for the TR and all the adorable pics of Penny Smile I've never been to WDW over the holiday season, so I'm looking forward to hearing about some of the festivities as well!

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I'm so exited for this TR Penny is such a cutie and LOVE seeing pictures of her she is just going to love it!!!!

Allie's picture
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Thanks Manda and Amy! We're super excited! It's going to be a totally different type of trip for us but I cannot wait! 39 more days....

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You're welcome! That sounds good.

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I'm so excited for Penny's first trip. I can't wait to see all the photos. Also I giggled at Tragical Express. It's a shame we're missing each other but I'm going to imagine I'm there too haha. mickey

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have a super-special trip making memories awesome

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Thanks Lauren and Ray! Lauren, we'll just have to overlap next time! Wink

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I did end up breaking down and doing online check in. I couldn't resist the direct to the room option when we're getting in late Friday and switching resorts Saturday!

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29 days and I'm over the moon excited!!!! yeah

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Allie wrote:
29 days and I'm over the moon excited!!!! yeah

yay

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I can't wait for your TR! Your trip sounds awesome mickey

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Mickey Mail Day!!!!

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yay clapping yay clapping

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Allie wrote:
Mickey Mail Day!!!!

Woo hoo! banana yeah yeah banana

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Yay!! yay