kmc8826
Well-known member
We are home and I am so grateful that I found this site and forums! It was my seventh trip and my fourth trip with kids, and the planning went so well I finally feel like I have it down and a way of doing it in the future. (Because yes, I am already scheming of when I can get my sweet husband to go again). Every trip you learn something, and I definitely did learn some stuff this time.
Our cast was myself obsessive Disney planner. Growing up in the West I went to Disneyland quite a bit, but my first trip to WDW was in 2000. After we were first married, I dragged my husband there the first time in 2005. He likes it okay, but basically tolerates my obsession because he knows how happy it makes me and now the girls. We have three girls who are all two years apart. Ellie just turned 8 in August, Delaney turned 6, and Lilah is 3 and will be 4 in November. Not that they remember the trips, but this was Ellie's 5th trip, Delaney's 3rd, and Lilah's 2nd.
This trip was our second time staying off site. When we went in 2005 through 2011 we stayed at the Values and Moderates usually with free dining. When we went last time, October 2013, the reality of the five of us squeezing into what we could afford meant I tried off site. We were at the Embassy Suites outside of Downtown Disney. Which was basically a nightmare. So, at any rate, this trip I was really hesitant to try off site but still facing the realities of our budget and having 3 kids.
Recommendations on the forums led me to staying at Windsor Hills. We loved staying there! Originally we considered doing a town home, but ended up renting an entire home. It was a 4 bedroom 4 bath with a private pool. The girls kept asking if it was a mansion. (It was about like our house at home but the novelty for little girls of having their own bedroom/bathroom was apparently their dream). The area of WH was so nice. It was the exact opposite of what we saw of Orlando when staying outside Downtown Disney. The surrounding area of WH was so quiet. And the best news was how close it was. I had read that it was close, but the reality of how easy it was and close to in and out of the parks actually shocked me every day! From time in car in driveway to parked at MK the longest commute was 11 minutes. And so nice to not waiting for a bus, have the bus ride, and then drag the kids and stroller up to a room. We just would pull up and go inside. It made afternoon swim breaks entirely easy and completely doable. Oh and from the backyard you could see and hear the MK fireworks.
Our first day, Friday, September 12, we got in and went to Super Target, had dinner at our home and then prepared to hit Epcot in the morning for our first rope drop.
Coming up Epcot...
Will the pink cowboy boots be necessary for Lilah to make 40 inches?
The underwheliming (and expensive) breakfast at Askerhus.
And the long last anti-climactic meeting of Anna and Elsa in our Saturday night at MK.
Our cast was myself obsessive Disney planner. Growing up in the West I went to Disneyland quite a bit, but my first trip to WDW was in 2000. After we were first married, I dragged my husband there the first time in 2005. He likes it okay, but basically tolerates my obsession because he knows how happy it makes me and now the girls. We have three girls who are all two years apart. Ellie just turned 8 in August, Delaney turned 6, and Lilah is 3 and will be 4 in November. Not that they remember the trips, but this was Ellie's 5th trip, Delaney's 3rd, and Lilah's 2nd.
This trip was our second time staying off site. When we went in 2005 through 2011 we stayed at the Values and Moderates usually with free dining. When we went last time, October 2013, the reality of the five of us squeezing into what we could afford meant I tried off site. We were at the Embassy Suites outside of Downtown Disney. Which was basically a nightmare. So, at any rate, this trip I was really hesitant to try off site but still facing the realities of our budget and having 3 kids.
Recommendations on the forums led me to staying at Windsor Hills. We loved staying there! Originally we considered doing a town home, but ended up renting an entire home. It was a 4 bedroom 4 bath with a private pool. The girls kept asking if it was a mansion. (It was about like our house at home but the novelty for little girls of having their own bedroom/bathroom was apparently their dream). The area of WH was so nice. It was the exact opposite of what we saw of Orlando when staying outside Downtown Disney. The surrounding area of WH was so quiet. And the best news was how close it was. I had read that it was close, but the reality of how easy it was and close to in and out of the parks actually shocked me every day! From time in car in driveway to parked at MK the longest commute was 11 minutes. And so nice to not waiting for a bus, have the bus ride, and then drag the kids and stroller up to a room. We just would pull up and go inside. It made afternoon swim breaks entirely easy and completely doable. Oh and from the backyard you could see and hear the MK fireworks.
Our first day, Friday, September 12, we got in and went to Super Target, had dinner at our home and then prepared to hit Epcot in the morning for our first rope drop.
Coming up Epcot...
Will the pink cowboy boots be necessary for Lilah to make 40 inches?
The underwheliming (and expensive) breakfast at Askerhus.
And the long last anti-climactic meeting of Anna and Elsa in our Saturday night at MK.
Last edited by a moderator:
