Disney World Planning 2018

Because one of these days our kids will read this blog, I thought they should know how much planning has been going into our next big trip--Disney World!

Our last trip to Disney World looked something like this.

Kai was 5 and Finn had just barely turned 3. I was 13 weeks pregnant with Bree and felt it. And it turns out neither of them really remember the trip.  Reid and I had thought we'd do a Disney trip every 3 years or so--kind of coordinating with when kids were in Kindergarten.  And last time we went at Halloween and had a fantastic time, but 5 year old Kai saw all of the promotions for Christmas and kept saying he really wanted to see Disney at Christmas.  Well, Disney is expensive (even though we did our last trip really, really cheap).  And when Finn was in Kindergarten Bree was 2 1/2 which actually could of been a good time to go, but it just didn't make sense for us then.  And if Kai didn't remember his Kindergarten trip, then Finn wouldn't either.  And as year after year ticked by we kept thinking that once we got Bree to the right height she could ride more rides and once she wasn't taking naps we could stay longer in the parks, and on and on it went.  Two years ago--yes 2016 we discussed how 2017 was our year.  We were going to return to Disney World.  But then I felt this guilt and obligation to visit my grandmother.  And Finn really wanted to go to Legoland and so the California trip we took last year was born.  It turned out we didn't get to see my grandmother, but we did have a fabulous time in California.  And almost immediately after that trip was over, I began to research and plan our Disney trip in earnest.

The first thing I did was buy the park tickets.  Park ticket prices go up at least once a year and depending on the tickets, they can be good for quite a while.  So in September 2017 I bought our park tickets knowing that they would expire at the end of 2018 and knowing that we wanted to go by then.  And then I began to research resorts.  I decided we would try to do something different--rent DVC points from a DVC member and stay at a deluxe resort property for about half the price (about the same cost as a moderate resort).  We narrowed down the options to either Wilderness Lodge or The Polynesian.  Eventually The Polynesian won out simply because of it's monorail access.  To be able to be successful renting DVC points, I needed to put in my request 11 months in advance.  So last December I put in the request for a stay at The Polynesian for the week after Thanksgiving 2018.  It took a couple of days, but our request was easily granted and our resort was paid for.

Can't wait to see this place and I'm hoping it'll be warm enough to swim a bit!

And I can't wait to see the Christmas decorations.

Somewhere in between buying tickets and booking the resort a new family moved into our ward and gave talks about reading the Book of Mormon daily.  The set a goal to read every day and when they were done the were going to reward themselves with a trip to DisneyLand.  In the middle of sacrament my kids asked if they could do the same thing.  SURE!  Why NOT?!  So, we began reading the Book of Mormon as a family.  We would often listen in the car to the audio version on the way to school or after school activities.  It became quite common for the kids to beg me to turn on the scriptures so that they could keep reading and earn their trip.  The closer we got to the end the more the begging intensified.  By the time we were done with Alma, there was no holding them back.  They wanted to listen to 10 chapters or more a day.  It was amazing how good this bribe was working!

On to step 3--booking dining.  Dining reservations can be made 6 months in advance.  And if you have a resort reservation you can book your dining 60 days from the first day of your arrival and you can do up to 14 days in a row.  So, in other words you can book up to 74 days in advance for some of your trip dates (if you are staying for 14 days).  Our 60 day mark fell on Memorial Day.  That day we happened to be in Utah on the final day of our summer road trip (post is coming--it's in draft).  The booking window opens at 6am EDT, which meant I needed to be up at 4am to make our reservations.  I was sharing a bed with Bree at Kara's house that night and for some reason Bree had woken up in the middle of the night and couldn't go back to sleep.  I watched the clock and started trying to think of excuses as to why I was going to be getting out of bed.  Finally around 3:55am I told Bree I had to go to the bathroom.  I had a list of reservations I wanted and I knew a couple would be difficult to grab (especially if you think that some people had earlier access to the date due to their hotel dates) and so I couldn't be late to get on.  Right at 4am I began refreshing the pages and hunting for the hottest reservation on my list--a pre-park opening breakfast at Cinderella's Royal Table.  This reservation would allow us to walk down to the castle before the park opens and eat inside the castle with the princesses.  It normally books out in 5 minutes.  I was able to grab an 8:40am time (the park opens at 9am) and then I made the rest of our reservations.  I circled back and all of a sudden an 8:20am time was open.  I quickly switched and was excited with my grab.  Our hardest reservation was made!  And at that moment Bree began crying that I had been in the bathroom too long, so back to bed I went.

So beautiful--can't wait!

Bree really wants to meet Ariel so I'm hoping it's her morning when we are there.

Over the summer the Book of Mormon was finished.  Our final chapter was listened to on our drive to Estes Park the weekend before school started. We were all in the van together as we heard Moroni's promise.  And then Reid and I began teasing the kids about when we would go to Disney. Maybe we could go in 5 years when Kai could drive us there?  The kids groaned as we went about the typical parental teasing.  But we still gave them no indication of when the big day would be.

Our Book of Mormon chart that was in our kitchen for nearly 9 months as we worked our way through.  It was so fun to finally color it all in and then I promptly took a picture and threw it away.

This week we hit the 60 day mark on the countdown to our trip.  At 60 days we can begin to book Fastpasses.  The same deal applies to Fastpasses as dining reservations.  So, some people could be booking up to 74 days in advance (based on the start date of their trip and their hotel reservations).  The system for these opens at 7am, though, which meant I had to be up at 5am.  On Tuesday I got up at 4:45 am and got my computers open and ready for battle.  I had a plan for all of our park days and Fastpasses I was targeting.  And then......the system crashed.  Repeatedly.  It was a nightmare.  By 6:45am I had only booked 3 fastpasses (you can book up to 3 for each day of your trip).  Luckily I got the one I was most worried about before the first system crash (at 5:03 am).  I got us tickets for Flight of Passage--the Avatar ride in Pandora (Animal Kingdom).  What I failed to realize is that Slinky Dog Dash in Toy Story Land is just as hard to get as Flight of Passage.  So when the system finally roused itself long enough for me to get most of our passes, Slinky Dog was all gone.  By 10am (after getting kids ready and out the door and trying to refresh the system and make reservations as best I could while the kids were around) I finally had most of what we had wanted.  Slinky Dog is the only big exception to that.

I spent way too much time staring at this screen on Tuesday morning.  I had both the desktop and laptop going, and I was using the app on my phone.  I even called into Disney and was told the wait was over 2 hours to talk to someone because of the extreme high call volume.  Ugghhh.....it all eventually worked out.

And that brings us to today.  We are 57 days away to arriving in Disney.  Our hotel is booked (and we can do on-line check in whenever I'd like now), our Magic Bands are customized and ordered, our park tickets are linked with Fastpasses chosen, and our character meals and restaurants are booked.  This morning the celebrity narrator for the Candlelight Processional that we have tickets for was announced as Helen Hunt.  I'm super excited.  All that remains on my list is getting park items such as an autograph book, pressed penny collection book, shirts, etc. And figuring out how far we can go without telling the kids.  I'm hopeful we can make it all the way to the airport before they figure out where we are going.  But they are getting suspicious about things now.  Reid stayed home one day  this week and Finn said, "Daddy normally stays home before we go on a trip.  Maybe we're going somewhere this weekend?" Haha--Nope, not this weekend.  I wonder how many more truths I will have to stretch over the next 57 days.  Honestly, it's getting kind of fun.  I'm super excited and I can't wait to see their reaction.  But better than that, I can't wait to go to Disney World with all of my kids and see the magic through their eyes again.  It's going to be great!

The app I use to create our daily plans and help me know what Fastpasses to target.

Milestones--The Bree Edition

This little girl has grown so much in the last 12 months.  I love her baby face here!  And I love that she's helping me.  We were making Rolo cookies.  She is definitely my shadow and my helper.

Bree took swim lessons at Safe Splash from May to December of 2017.  She had a great teacher who helped her learn to float on her back and even pick up rings off of the bottom of the pool  They get ribbons when they advance a level and she was SO excited to get her pink ribbon for level 1.

Getting ready to go to the Daddy/Daughter campout of 2017.  She was so excited!  The campout was held on vacant property owned by a ward member.  She came home with a wet yucky cough that lasted for quite a while.  Everytime I have gone to this property I have come home with horrible allergies.  I think burning whatever it is we are allergic to makes it even worse.  Now we know that she needs a boat load of allergy meds if she wants to go back!

Around the campfire.  I heard that for the first hour she never had to take a step as the Young Women passed her back and forth.  She was the smallest daughter there and she loved it.

In the tent with daddy NOT sleeping!

Around the fire the next morning

Is this considered helping with laundry?  Apparently a warm towel from the dryer feels good!

Ready for her ballet/tap class

We went to the birthday party for Safe Splash and she loved the little horse.

Getting her face painted by her swim teacher, Ms. Ashley

With Ms. Ashley

Halloween 2017 she chose to be Twilight Sparkle, her favorite My Little Pony

At our ward trunk or treat she went around with her friend Eleanor.  Eleanor is about 9 months older than her and is ahead of her in Primary and school, but they are cute little friends.

This is the face she makes when she is asking for something she wants.  She sure has the system figured out at such a young age.  We are going to be in big trouble as she gets older!

Bree was lucky enough to have her daddy as her Sunbeams teacher for the last half of the year.  For Christmas they did the nativity and she got to be Mary (because her daddy said so).  The other kids in her class are Xander (the shephard), Corey (Joseph in the chair), and Kate (the Wiseman).  These 4 have been together since nursery and are a good little group.  Kate and Xander are with her in Kindergarten now and Corey is in another full-day Kinder class.

Too cute!

Selfie with mom at a CF clinic day.  We were recruiting families for the Great Strides walk.  Bree liked handing out the toys to all of the kids.  

In January Bree started the same music class that Finn is in.  They started doing homework together with Finn teaching Bree her notes and helping her through her songs.  I love watching Finn take her under his wing. 

The dance teacher's daughter came to class one day dressed as Moana.  All of the little girls loved dancing with Moana!

In March Bree traveled with me back to Virginia for my dad's funeral.  It was a quick trip and she was a good traveler.  She did get cranky and thrown off schedule quite a bit but I was glad to have her with me.  

Her cousin counter part on the Hickman side.  She had never met Daniel before but they had a great time playing together.  It was so fun to see her click with her cousins.

With my brother's three boys--Jacob, Daniel, and Zachary

On our way home...poor thing was exhausted at this point

At the zoo she has loved feeding and brushing the goats

Easter 2018 spoils

So excited that her recital costume had arrived!

It started warming up outside and so we went out to play and she started to squirt me with water.

Dance class with her friend Evie.  They had such a fun teacher.

We had two parties for her this year.  One on her birthday with just our family and one with her friends.  We allow friend parties at the age of 5 and she had been looking forward to having one.  We did it in the afternoon on a school day so it was just me, her, and her friends and it was really low key.  But she loved it!  This is from her actual day with us as a family.

My Little Pony cake

Friend party!  She had Corey, Wally, Eleanor, Abby, Evie, Xander, and Avery (from music class) at her party.  And then Kate showed up late and stayed late.  They ate pizza, decorated a horseshoe, played pin the cutie mark on the pony, played in the toy room, and then did cake and presents.  She was so happy!

Kate and Bree after the party.  They stood on my table and threw the confetti all over the place.  They thought it was awesome.

Who else looks this cute at the doctor?!  She was ready and excited for her kindergarten shots as she wanted to go to school so bad.  She tried so hard to be brave, but shots hurt.  Luckily they can combine a bunch of them these days and so she only had to get two.  She was proud of herself and so excited that it meant she could finally go to Kindergarten.  I personally, wasn't so sure I was ready to send her!

Hitching a ride with her dad at the Great Strides walk.  Her friend Abby is on her dad's shoulders just to the left of her.

I can't believe she's five!  I'm so glad the Lord sent us our peanut.  We love having her in our family and are so grateful for the laughter and spunk she brings us.  

My Dad

Dear Dad,

You taught me how to tie my shoes, ride a bike, and drive a car.

You taught me to work hard and to never give up.

You raised me on the "best" music--Al Jolson, Buddy Holly, the Beach Boys, the Beatles, and Billy Joel.

You shared your love of traveling and together we saw so many amazing places and did some pretty amazing things.

You taught me to appreciate a good Root Beer Float and barbecue beef.

You are the reason I made it through AP Physics in high school.

You nurtured my love of gymnastics and always supported my dreams.

You never missed a meet from the time I was ten until the time I turned 18.

Because of you, I have amazing memories of white water rafting, visiting National parks, and yes, of visiting many empty fields where you would stand and imagine the Civil War battle in your head.

My friends called you Mr. Hickman, and I actually think most of them thought I had a pretty neat dad.

You were the original "helicopter parent" but in a way that kept me safe and still allowed me to pursue my dreams and interests.

You always told me I could do anything I set my mind to.

You built me a bedroom in an unfinished basement with your own hands. Oh, and a Reader's Digest How-To guide for the electrical wiring. I was terrified you were going to electrocute yourself.

We had good times and yes, we had some rough times. But you were always there. I knew my dad would always, always be there.

You promised me you would live to be 90 years old. We teased you about being older than dirt, and I was convinced that living to 90 was more of a threat than a promise. But gosh, I wish you could have kept that promise.

The last 10 years have been some of your hardest. I'm glad for your last visit out here and I'll always remember the last words you said in the car on the way to the airport, "I'm still your father."

Dad, I've missed you. I am glad you're free from this earthly body that's been holding you back from your dreams. It hasn't been fair. But I will continue to miss you. You would have been an amazing grandpa. Don't worry, I taught my kids all of the important games like "elevator", and "dump truck", and "touch". but I wish you could have played them with them.

Please keep an eye on us Dad. Please know that we love you. I can't wait to give you one more hug. Until then, enjoy a good concert with some of your favorites. Love always, me.

Donald Eugene Hickman July 11, 1943-March 12, 2018