firsttimer4
Mouseketeer
- Joined
- Mar 1, 2013
Welcome to my TR. I have been going back and forth on whether I should write a review or not. I've finally decided to do it!!
The days and months leading up to the trip.....
My name is Liza. I'm 31 and my husband and I have two wonderful kids. Lane just turned 6 and Olivia is 3. Growing up I don't remember Disney ever being a topic in my house. Of course I grew up watching Disney movies and loving the characters, but I don't remember ever wanting to go. As I grew older I wanted to go more and more. Then once I had kids I KNEW it was a must! But unfortunately Disney just wasn't in the cards financially. On December 6th I got a phone call that would forever change my life. My mom had been killed in a car accident. My whole world was flipped upside down. I thank God for the amazing support system that I have. It was the hardest thing I ever had to face. My mom didn't have a lot of money and had just started a new job, so I was shocked to find out she had a small life insurance policy. After everything settled my nanny and best friend told me I should use what was left of the money (after funeral expenses) to take my family to Disney. I fought with the idea for a while. I didn't know if it was the right decision, was it too soon, etc. They told me over and over that it was something my mom would be overjoyed knowing she was able to do for us. My kids were my mom's world and anything that made them smile made her happy. I prayed about it and asked her if it was the right thing to do to send me a sign. Well I got LOTS of signs!! Soon after I booked the trip!
I decided to go through a TA since Disney was all new to me and seemed overwhelming. My DS was in kindergarten so we decided it would be ok to let him miss the last few days of school. We wanted to beat the memorial day crowd. As soon as the trip was booked I went to work booking all of our dinner reservations. I was able to get reservations at all the places I wanted. We live in Louisiana and probably could have drove the 12 or so hours, but after much talk we decided to fly. We thought an hour and a half travel with two small kids sounded much better than 12 hours!!
We decided to keep the trip a surprise from our kids. I was so glad that I only had to keep the secret for about 2 months. I don't think I could of held it any longer!! We made this decision for a few reasons. 1.) Who doesn't love surprises?! 2.) We knew if we told them we would get.."Are we leaving yet?" about a million times.
In the months leading up the trip I did TONS of research and spent countless hours on the DIS. There is no way our trip would have been a success without the help of everyone on here. So I hope my review will help someone else.
All my photos are currently uploading to photobucket so as soon they load I will be back to post pics of the cast.
Quick links:
The cast and the reveal!
May 17th-It's Finally here!!
Day 1 Updates
Our first official day in Disney!!
First Character meeting!
Cinderella Waved at Me!!
Live Life Update
Day 2 Updates
I got to potty!
Can we go on splash mountain now?
T-rex and DTD
Sorry It's been so long
Day 3 Updates
Epcot- "I don't feel so good"
Epcot Continued....
Day 4 Updates
Hollywood Studios
Off to some shows...
Evening at Hollywood
Day 5 Updates
Animal Kingdom
Animal Kingdom Continued....
The Lion King
Art of Animation Tour
Art of Animation Tour Continued
Day 6 Updates
Typhoon Lagoon
Chef Mickey's
Day 7 Updates
Our Last Day
Final Thoughts/Things learned
The days and months leading up to the trip.....
My name is Liza. I'm 31 and my husband and I have two wonderful kids. Lane just turned 6 and Olivia is 3. Growing up I don't remember Disney ever being a topic in my house. Of course I grew up watching Disney movies and loving the characters, but I don't remember ever wanting to go. As I grew older I wanted to go more and more. Then once I had kids I KNEW it was a must! But unfortunately Disney just wasn't in the cards financially. On December 6th I got a phone call that would forever change my life. My mom had been killed in a car accident. My whole world was flipped upside down. I thank God for the amazing support system that I have. It was the hardest thing I ever had to face. My mom didn't have a lot of money and had just started a new job, so I was shocked to find out she had a small life insurance policy. After everything settled my nanny and best friend told me I should use what was left of the money (after funeral expenses) to take my family to Disney. I fought with the idea for a while. I didn't know if it was the right decision, was it too soon, etc. They told me over and over that it was something my mom would be overjoyed knowing she was able to do for us. My kids were my mom's world and anything that made them smile made her happy. I prayed about it and asked her if it was the right thing to do to send me a sign. Well I got LOTS of signs!! Soon after I booked the trip!
I decided to go through a TA since Disney was all new to me and seemed overwhelming. My DS was in kindergarten so we decided it would be ok to let him miss the last few days of school. We wanted to beat the memorial day crowd. As soon as the trip was booked I went to work booking all of our dinner reservations. I was able to get reservations at all the places I wanted. We live in Louisiana and probably could have drove the 12 or so hours, but after much talk we decided to fly. We thought an hour and a half travel with two small kids sounded much better than 12 hours!!
We decided to keep the trip a surprise from our kids. I was so glad that I only had to keep the secret for about 2 months. I don't think I could of held it any longer!! We made this decision for a few reasons. 1.) Who doesn't love surprises?! 2.) We knew if we told them we would get.."Are we leaving yet?" about a million times.
In the months leading up the trip I did TONS of research and spent countless hours on the DIS. There is no way our trip would have been a success without the help of everyone on here. So I hope my review will help someone else.
All my photos are currently uploading to photobucket so as soon they load I will be back to post pics of the cast.
Quick links:
The cast and the reveal!
May 17th-It's Finally here!!
Day 1 Updates
Our first official day in Disney!!
First Character meeting!
Cinderella Waved at Me!!
Live Life Update
Day 2 Updates
I got to potty!
Can we go on splash mountain now?
T-rex and DTD
Sorry It's been so long
Day 3 Updates
Epcot- "I don't feel so good"
Epcot Continued....
Day 4 Updates
Hollywood Studios
Off to some shows...
Evening at Hollywood
Day 5 Updates
Animal Kingdom
Animal Kingdom Continued....
The Lion King
Art of Animation Tour
Art of Animation Tour Continued
Day 6 Updates
Typhoon Lagoon
Chef Mickey's
Day 7 Updates
Our Last Day
Final Thoughts/Things learned