To finally book and have a plan set in place makes my heart so very happy!
I cannot wait to be back in Disney with my little family!
Tarl and I had been tossing up dates for the longest time. I was happy to go any time, but plans are still set in place for me to be a stay at home mom come Spring next year and he made a very valid point of my last day of work being the first day of our trip.
We were tossing around either spring break when Cadence is out for school, or the end of May, when she gets out of school for summer. Although I had originally planned to be a SAHM come March next year, it only makes sense to work until our trip to save that money and take it with us as extra.
I told Tarl I was happy with either month. They both made sense as we wouldn't have to pull Cadence out of school. The great thing about her spring break is the fact that it's not the same time as every other schools which is normally Easter. Hers is completely different and later, so Disney crowd calendars are really low, and let's face it, the weather will be much cooler in April than the end of May - this was Tarls deciding factor, so April it is!
We booked and paid our down payment today and oh, what a great feeling it was!
Low crowds, low heat, not missing any school and knowing that I will have no more work is a super big cherry on top of a sweet cake. I told Tarl that I had absolutely no problem working until Cadence got out of school next year if he needed me to, but May is jam packed and full of field trips, school parties and other functions that I had to take time off for this year, so he said there would be no need to give my work notice, just to have to request time off my last month of work, which makes perfect sense if you really think about it.
"Hey, here's my months notice, I adore working with you and this great company, but I have this wonderful opportunity to stay home with my child and I cannot pass it up. Oh, by the way, I need next Monday off, a half day the following Friday, and I'll be in late on the 22nd..." I don't think work would appreciate that too much.
In all honesty. My boss is great and truly understanding. He and I have had this discussion several times before and we've had several conversations where I told him that one day the time will come when financially I will be able to stay at home, and I'm going to jump on that like white on rice :)
Anyways...onto our trip...
As I've said before, we had so much fun last September! We stayed six nights at Coronado Springs resort located in Disney and had six park days. We drove down to Orlando really early, from Jacksonville, on a Saturday morning, checked into our resort and then headed straight to Hollywood Studios. By two, we were exhausted and had to go take a nap. Waking up at 5am did all of us in and Tarl and I both agree'd that when we went back, we would drive up the night before our first park day, so we could avoid getting up at the ass crack of dawn. We enjoyed six wonderful park days last time, but could have easily had an extra day, so we did just that this trip!
Eight nights, seven days in Disney - come on April!
The second hardest part was deciding where to stay. We've stayed in Disney's Caribbean Beach Resort and Disney's Coronado Springs Resort. We always try something new when we go. This year we had three resorts tossed up in the air and that was French Quarter, Riverside and Art of Animation. All Disney resorts located on property. I fell in love with French Quarter. The rooms online looked stunning, but their pool looked kind of lackluster. We usually always use the resort pool and water slide. It's something we look forward to, so when booking a resort, we take that into consideration. Riverside was as equally pretty, the pool seemed nicer, but the price for April was through the roof, almost as expensive as a deluxe resort, so that quickly left us with Art of Animation. Once I saw their rooms and their resort pool it was no question! I'll just let these pics do the talking...
(via)
When I saw how the standard rooms were decorated with The Little Mermaid, I was SOLD! Cadence is going to love laying her head on that pillow every night, not to mention that Art of Animation has the largest pool on Disney property, and when you swim under water, they have special under water speakers that blasts Disney music so you can hear special tunes while swimming, you think of everything don't you Disney?!
Art of Animation has other themed rooms too, including Cars, The Lion King and Finding Nemo, however The Little Mermaid was obviously our first choice due to our little princess!
Once we chose the dates and the resort, Tarl handles over the rest of the planning to me. I handle all of our food choices, his only request was Ohana's, which is located in the Polynesian resort and the food is served family style. Big platters on your table and a lot of meat on kabobs passed around by servers. I happily obliged because the food truly is incredible and what a stunning view while you eat, Cinderella's Castle!
As always we added the dining plan to our reservation. I couldn't imagine a vacation to Disney without it. If this is your first time reading my blog, it's where you pay in full for your food before your trip. Then when you arrive, all the servers have to do is scan your magic band and voila, you can eat without worrying about prices or paying! It grants each person in your party one snack per day, one lunch per day and one dinner per day. It also includes a mug that you can get filled for free at any resort on property. It's worth it's weight in gold!
Our itinerary:
Friday night - Resort Check in
Dinner at Chef Mickey's (the perfect restaurant to kick off your vacation, eating with all the originals! Mickey, Minnie, Donald, Pluto and Goofy!)
Saturday - Magic Kingdom
Breakfast at Kona Cafe in the Polynesian
Quick Lunch
Dinner at Cinderella's Royal Table with Cinderella and the Princesses, located in the castle. I'm also going to reserve a time at Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique for Cadence to have a princess makeover prior to our dinner at Cinderella's castle
. Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique is incredibly expensive at around $300 and we've never allowed her to do it after visiting Disney twice now. I told her this year we would let her do it, but it would most likely be a one time thing and not to expect each trip. I've already stacked a little cash here and there to pay for this magical experience because I know she's going to love it.
If you are unfamiliar, it includes a manicure, your hair styled, a tiara, princess shoes of your choice, princess sash, princess dress of your choice, glitter and makeup. The dresses are the same dresses that they sell in the Disney store, so the quality is great. The price is a little steep in my opinion, but like I said, it's most certainly a treat that I know she'll enjoy!
Sunday - Epcot
Quick lunch in Epcot
Dinner at Akershus Dining Hall with all the Princesses.
Monday - Open Day
We use these days to do whatever we want. Whether it be swim at the pool, look around downtown Disney, resort hop or go to a park of our choice. Last trip we only had one open day, this trip we have two. It's always nice to wind down a bit since you're always walking when you go to Disney.
Quick lunch somewhere.
Dinner at Ohana's that night.
Tuesday - Hollywood Studios
Breakfast at 1900 Park Fare located in the Grand Floridian. This is another character dining experience. This time it's with the Mad Hatter, Alice in Wonderland and Mary Poppins.
Quick lunch and a quick dinner.
Wednesday - Animal Kingdom
Lunch at Yak and Yeti.
Quick dinner.
Thursday - Open Day
Quick lunch.
Dinner at Garden Grill in Epcot. This is a restaurant that slowly turns which gives you a 360 degree view of their Living with the Land attraction. This is another character experience with Chip and Dale and friends.
Friday - Magic Kingdom
Quick lunch.
Dinner at Be Our Guest, Belle's castle.
We always check out on a Saturday, regardless of how many days we travel. This way we can get home, unpack, clean, do laundry, and still have an entire day to rest before going back to work on a Monday. Only this time, I won't be going back to work. Holla!
I truly can't wait to be sprinkled with a little pixie dust...
xo
P.S. I don't know why my font changes from small print to large print. Bare with me as I figure it out!
