The Incredible Shrinking Family Vacation in Summer

[insoin]

The Incredible Shrinking Family Vacation in Summer

Intro
Hi and welcome to my PTR for what is the family vacation that I got put in charge of planning. This is my first PTR so hopefully things will go well for this, if not, well at least it is fun trying to keep this all organized. ;)

Why Shrinking??? Well funny you asked, let me tell you about that part. Oh wait, let’s go on a tangent first and give you some historic background on me and all that fun stuff…

I am Scott; I’m a 35 year old male, living with my wonderful partner Wes. Yes you may have guessed it, by partner and the name, we are a gay couple. I just wanted to get that out of the way upfront so you would know. It will be the only time I mention this, but I wanted everyone to be aware of that little fact. I say I happen to be a guy that is gay, not a gay guy (in my mind there is a difference between those two). Being gay is part of me but it does not define me. OK OK I’m off the soapbox now. :goodvibes So, back to the background on me and my Disney obsession as I like to call it. :lmao:

My first trip to Disney never happened, how so, well at the ripe old age of two months, I was left at home with the grandparents while my family took a vacation to Walt Disney World back in the summer of 1972. I have never forgiven my parents for this :mad: (ok kidding, I have, heck I don’t even know about it. If mom had only kept her mouth shut and not told me). But as a kid I made three trips that I remember and one I was too young to really recall. My family had an RV so we always stayed at Ft. Wilderness. I have a horrible memory so this is what I recall, I was about 8, 11, and 15 for the times I do remember, and 4ish for the one I don’t. I will not go into all of the details of those trips because frankly, I don’t really remember much about them other that I loved Disney and always wanted to go back.

I made one trip when I was 19 years old. My father and I took a Dad/Son trip down there at my request. My mother had just passed away a few months before the trip, and I wanted to go and spend some time with my Dad. That is my most memorable trip ever. My father and I were never that close, but when he said he would go with me, it meant everything to me. I feel that was the start of Dad and me becoming closer in our relationship. Oh the days of being able to go to Disney with only three months notice, and just walk into any restaurant you wanted to. No need for ADR, no DIS, no touring plans, etc……

Little did I know that that would be my last trip for 15 years! I always wanted to go back, but I either didn’t have the money, or could never find anyone that loved Disney as much as I did. I didn’t know about the DIS back then or you can rest assured I would have been on here and looking for someone to go with. So my first trip back to the World was September 2007. I took my dear friend Monica with me. She has had a rough patch of life of late, and I wanted to show her how much of a friend she was, and I called her one day while she was at work, and I asked her to go to WDW with me. We had a great time, I will cherish that time with her. :cloud9:

Well at that trip I get the bounce back offer for next September with free dining. I called Wes (who has only been once in his life at 6, and does not understand Disney is a Life, not an obsession) :rotfl: and asked him if he would like to come down next year for that. He said yes, so my excitement was on. :cool1: I was so happy that we were gonna take a vacation down here. Booking that trip would start the ball rolling on everything that I am about to tell you and boy has it been a strange ride so far and I still have three months before I go….

The start of a family vacation
OK so how did that one trip turn into a family vacation in the summer and how did it become shrinking. Well let me tell you how it started and then the shrinking part. I of course, told everyone in my family that I was going to Disney last year. They were all jealous and wanted to go, but oh well, not my problem. So when I get back and I talk to Wes about our vacation for September 08, I tell him that I would love to take my brother (William) kids (John 13, and Sara 8) sometime. They are still young enough to enjoy it, but not to young that I couldn’t handle them. My brother never seemed to love Disney much, and I just knew he would never take his kids down there. So that got me thinking, would it be fair to my sisters’ children who are all grown? No, but hey, I couldn’t afford to take myself when they were younger, let alone them.

Now before I can even get my thinking cap on of how to get my brothers’ kids down there with me, my sister (Marla) and her daughter (Amie) come over to my house to see the photos, and get the souvenirs I got for them. It is there that my sister says she would love to go back sometime and so does Amie. Lucky me, my sister wants to go, and she said she would like for her kids to go. Problem solved for me about taking the brothers kids but not the sisters. But I really don’t want the entire family there for a special vacation with Wes. I come up with the great Idea that we should take a family vacation some other time. Thus the chaos started of a “Family Vacation.” :wizard: :scared1:

Who all is coming? :confused3
OK so we have to establish the cast of characters for the family vacation and determine when we are going. Here is who joined and in the order they said they wanted to go.

My Sister and her family
Marla, James (husband), Matthew (son 18) and Brianna (step-daughter 13). There was some discussion of Matthew was going to go because he is 18, and we just didn’t know if he wanted to go. He finally said yes he wanted to go, and is now very excited about it, he calls me every so often to ask me about the trip.

Me and Wes
I am always up for a trip to WDW. And Wes, I will drag with me if I have to.

My Brother
William, Sona (wife) John (13) and Sara (8). I really was not sure if my brother would want to go, he never mentioned Disney to me, or if he liked it. So it took some prodding to get him to agree to go. And to be perfectly Honest, I don’t know if he will go or not. He has about 40 days to make his final payment for the trip. We shall see….

My Nephew and his family
Jeramie (sisters oldest son), Leslie, and Aiden (3). Jeramie actually has been to WDW before, he was 1 ½ when he got to go with us on the vacation when I was 15. He does not remember it at all, did you really expect him to? But my sister really wanted him to go, and he wants to go as well.

Jeramies’ In Laws
Fred and Barbara say they want to go. They want to go and spend time with the grandson on this trip. Now Barbara is a teacher, so that limits our time to visit the park to June, July, or August. Which is right along with when Brianna has to go as well. So this pretty much means we are going at the worst time of the year.

My Niece and her Family
Amie (sisters daughter), Pleas (Baby’s daddy – I don’t really know what to call him, they aint married or the like yet) and Jaden (1 ½). Amie really wants to go and pressures Pleas into agreeing to go. Hahaha, get used to her getting her way LOL.

OK so if you sum up everyone we have a grand total of 18 people. Now all we have to do is pick a date and start planning right? Oh the fun that involves. But this is more than enough for now….

Future topics:
The Planning Starts
When are we going, and are you sure you are going?
Some additions to the group
The start of the shirinking……
The deadlines I force everyone to follow (hahaha my favorite part)
OK well you finally find out why it is called a Shrinking vacation
ADR’s/ Why I don’t care about the ADR’s I still have my September trip with Wes right…..
Starwars weekend, and adding to the trip :darth: :yoda: :chewy:
The big shrink that sucks :(
Flight reservations, and the Jaden Dilemma
Start of the Touring Plans and what we want to do
Deadline approaches for my Brother….

That will pretty much bring you up to date as of when I started posting this

[scottny]

Hi,
Followed you over from my pre tr. great start. Are going to see pics of the cast?

I am going in July 09' and right now it is at 18 people. :scared1:

Looking forward to hearing more.

[insoin]

Hi,
Followed you over from my pre tr. great start. Are going to see pics of the cast?

I am going in July 09' and right now it is at 18 people. :scared1:

Looking forward to hearing more.

Welcome. :banana: Yes as soon as I can get photos of everyone involved. I have a few to add on here soon, just as soon as I get around to it.

[StormTigger]

Great PTR. I'm along for the ride, if I can't go to Disney, I'll get to enjoy living thru someone else's insanity. ((No offense, but 18 ppl? - yea, it's going to be insane.))

[scottny]

Welcome. :banana: Yes as soon as I can get photos of everyone involved. I have a few to add on here soon, just as soon as I get around to it.

:thumbsup2

can't wait to meet the cast.

[JoanieS]

I'm in :)

[insoin]

Great PTR. I'm along for the ride, if I can't go to Disney, I'll get to enjoy living thru someone else's insanity. ((No offense, but 18 ppl? - yea, it's going to be insane.))

I understand, I already know I cant go back in 09 and I’m super sad about that already. And stay tuned, you will find out why its called a shrinking vacation. :confused3

:thumbsup2

can't wait to meet the cast.

As soon as I can get photos of everyone, as you will find out my family is just not all there when it comes to planning getting things ready. Or at least not like me hahaha. :laughing:

I'm in :)

Welcome, hang on for the ride LOL. :banana:

OK I hope to have another chapter posted later today, it all depends on how the vet visit for my little doggie goes. Buddy was a dog that Wes and I adopted/rescued earlier this summer. He was left at an illegal kennel after the owners abandoned it. A lady that Wes works with rescues doggies, and she asked us of we wanted a doggie. When we saw him we could not say no to such a wonderful little doggie. When we got him he was skinny as could be, and a very scared doggie. At his first checkup we found out he had heart worms, and we have been having him treated for them since. So far so good pixiedust:

Here is a photo of Buddy with his smile :)
http://i205.photobucket.com/albums/bb253/insoin/100_13272304x1728.jpg

[scottny]

I understand, I already know I cant go back in 09 and I’m super sad about that already. And stay tuned, you will find out why its called a shrinking vacation. :confused3



As soon as I can get photos of everyone, as you will find out my family is just not all there when it comes to planning getting things ready. Or at least not like me hahaha. :laughing:



Welcome, hang on for the ride LOL. :banana:

OK I hope to have another chapter posted later today, it all depends on how the vet visit for my little doggie goes. Buddy was a dog that Wes and I adopted/rescued earlier this summer. He was left at an illegal kennel after the owners abandoned it. A lady that Wes works with rescues doggies, and she asked us of we wanted a doggie. When we saw him we could not say no to such a wonderful little doggie. When we got him he was skinny as could be, and a very scared doggie. At his first checkup we found out he had heart worms, and we have been having him treated for them since. So far so good pixiedust:

Here is a photo of Buddy with his smile :)
http://i205.photobucket.com/albums/bb253/insoin/100_13272304x1728.jpg

aaww how cute.

[insoin]

OK everything went well with Buddy at the Vet. :goodvibes He is free of heart worms now. I did not get a chance to do an update yesterday because I had to work late. I will try to get one tonight.

[insoin]

OK while looking a some photos today I found one that has a group of us in it. I will try to get better ones of everyone as soon as I can. Here it is:
http://i205.photobucket.com/albums/bb253/insoin/Jeramie%20and%20Leslie%20Wedding/100_0129.jpg

Here is who is who in the photo, this was taken at my nephew Jeramies' Wedding a year ago.

Front Row Amie, Jaden, and Aiden

Second Row Pleas, Me, Marla, James, Jeramie, Leslie, and Matthew. I will try to get more photos later, but that is what I have right now....

[insoin]

OK I know my brother will not get me a decent photo of his family, but I found one when I was up there visiting, except his son is not in it, and my brother has his back to me, but here is what I have of them so....

http://i205.photobucket.com/albums/bb253/insoin/Newport%20Aquarium%2007/100_1418.jpg
My Brother, his daughter Sara and his wife Sona. For some strange reason I dont have one of his son anywhere online that I can find now, but I will get one later.

Here is a better one of my brother:
http://i205.photobucket.com/albums/bb253/insoin/Newport%20Aquarium%2007/100_1380.jpg

Here is another one of me (holding Aiden), why you would want to see that I have no clue LOL.
http://i205.photobucket.com/albums/bb253/insoin/Newport%20Aquarium%2007/100_1361.jpg

[insoin]

The Planning Starts

When are we going and where do we stay? :confused3

OK with everyone signed up that they like the idea of a family vacation we next need to pick when we want to go. Simple and easy right….not with my family. First off we know we are limited by two major things. First is Brianna, her mother has already stated that she will not be pulled out of school for the vacation. Fair enough, I respect that, so we are limited to the summer. Now James and Marla live a bit north of me, so they tend to get more snow than we do down here. That comes into play when picking a date because if Brianna needs to make up school, we have to plan for that. Second, Barbara is a teacher, :teacher: and is also limited to the summer.

My brothers’ kids are also in school. So knowing my brother, I go online and find out when his kids are out of school. Let me take a moment to explain why I had to do this. I love my brother to death, and I will challenge anyone to say something bad about him. Well anyone but family that is :rolleyes1 William, has in the past been a bit of a fuddy duddy. He will say he will do something, and tell me he will, but then he won’t do it. I just know that is how he is, so it does not bother me really. I had to find out when they were out of school because if left to him, William would just not look and tell me. :rolleyes:

So we know we are going at the worst time of the year, :scared1: but we settle on mid June for the trip. We picked the 14th-22nd as the best time to go. Next we have to decide where to stay while down there. We looked at options of a vacation home, Ft. Wilderness Cabins, hotels off site, and the value resorts. I really liked the thought of staying onsite, and using Disney Transportation, but it may be better off money wise to get a vacation home or two. So I have to do research on all of the options and list the benefits of different locations. I will spare you all the details I went through and all of the options I listed and let you know that we chose to stay onsite, at a value resort. We picked Pop Century because everyone liked the theme of this resort. I called my AAA office and got price quotes for everyone. I then cross referenced this with other places, and AAA had the best deal for us. I used them my last trip, and it worked out fine. So I hope all will work out for this one.:scratchin

Now we have the date and placed picked out. What is next?… That is making sure everyone is going and putting the deposit down to reserve your spot. And the next chapter.

[OhMari]

Hi, Welcome to the Pre-trip board. Love your city-we always get into a major fight when we come to Louisville, we don't know if we should stay on I65, or go East to I75. I usually win, because my Godmother lives in Bowling Green and we usually stop in and say hello. Plus we stay over night at her house on our way to Florida.

Wow 18 people, I can't imagine trying to find ADR's, but it sounds like you will have fun. You should sign up for a Illumination Cruise.

[insoin]

Hi, Welcome to the Pre-trip board. Love your city-we always get into a major fight when we come to Louisville, we don't know if we should stay on I65, or go East to I75. I usually win, because my Godmother lives in Bowling Green and we usually stop in and say hello. Plus we stay over night at her house on our way to Florida.

Wow 18 people, I can't imagine trying to find ADR's, but it sounds like you will have fun. You should sign up for a Illumination Cruise.

Hi and welcome :banana: I would think that 75 would also be quicker for you.

[insoin]

Here is a photo of Wes. He had to pick it out cause I would have found the worst one to put on here :laughing:
http://i205.photobucket.com/albums/bb253/insoin/100_12061536x1152.jpg

[scottny]

great pics. this is a learning tr for me as next July I will be planning for 18 people to go. :scared1: thankfully I have a year to wait.

[StormTigger]

The Planning Starts
So I have to do research on all of the options and list the benefits of different locations. I will spare you all the details I went through and all of the options I listed and let you know that we chose to stay onsite, at a value resort. We picked Pop Century because everyone liked the theme of this resort. I called my AAA office and got price quotes for everyone. I then cross referenced this with other places, and AAA had the best deal for us. I used them my last trip, and it worked out fine. So I hope all will work out for this one.:scratchin

Wow... w/o hearing the details I'm exhausted on the research you must have put into this trip. Glad u got on site! I haven't stayed at Pop, but from what I hear it's great and on-site is best!

[insoin]

great pics. this is a learning tr for me as next July I will be planning for 18 people to go. :scared1: thankfully I have a year to wait.

Here are some tips I have learned along the way:

Set Deadlines for the family members to do things and make sure they are before the Disney Deadline. For example, set the date for the deposit ahead of the date that you want it done/to Disney by 5 days. Set the date to have all dining plans finished from the family at 190 days out at least. That gives you time to get them organized by the 180 day out. Also, plan time away from the group, I have heard that on more than one TR on here. I will let you know others if you want.

Wow... w/o hearing the details I'm exhausted on the research you must have put into this trip. Glad u got on site! I haven't stayed at Pop, but from what I hear it's great and on-site is best!

Yup it can be tough trying to get everyone organized and on the same page, but it’s also fun. I love Pop, I got to stay there last year.

OK some news for our little family here. We just grew by 4 feet! Huh what 4 feet I don’t get it??? Well today Wes and I got another little doggie, that has 4 feet. Get it, it’s a pun. OK maybe you don’t, I have a strange sense of humor. Introducing Oscar the Puggle:

http://i205.photobucket.com/albums/bb253/insoin/Oscar/100_14401536x1152.jpg

Here is a photo of Buddy and his new little brother:

http://i205.photobucket.com/albums/bb253/insoin/Oscar/100_14611536x1152.jpg

We think that it will be good for Buddy to have another little dog at home with him when we are gone to work. We have been talking about getting another one, and we found Oscar online at a local animal rescue shelter, and just couldn’t pass on him. He has a “Cherry eye” where he has a some skin growing out of his lower eye lid on his left eye. And he has an under bite, his lower jaw is longer than his snout. But we don’t care he is such a wonderful puppy. Or at least he has been today. Let the fun and adventure start with raising a puppy……..

[insoin]

Some additions to the group

Ok so now back to the PTR. We had finally set a date and picked a place to stay. :woohoo: I told the family to start thinking about where they wanted to eat because we have to get ADR’s at 180 days out for a group our size to say the least! While that happens, James mentions to his mother (Judy) and step-father (Pervus) that we are going to Disney this June. They think that sounds great and say they would like to go as well.

They have a time share in Gulf Shores that they go to every year. Well it just so happens that the time share they have is also the same ones that have that little piece of property “inside” Disney World. :confused3 If you do not know what I’m talking about, apparently when the Disney Company started to buy all the land in Orlando, there is one tract of land that would never sell to them. And now it is home to several high rise time shares/hotels there. I forget the name of it, but sure enough I looked it up online when I first heard of it, and it really is there. You can actually see some of the buildings off I-4, and from some of the Disney Resorts. Well they check into switching the time share to that one for that week we are going to be in Disney. Keep in mind at this point we are only 10 days out from making the ADR’s. :scared1: :headache: So I give them the deadline of 9 days to get this finalized or they stand the chance of not having meals with us. That means we could have a total of 20 people on this vacation ICK!!!!!! :scared: :crowded: :crowded: What will happen? Stay tuned…


The start of the shrinking

Well here is where you will find out about the shrinking part of the vacation. When I last left you (ok when you finished reading the above paragraph really) I had laid down the law that Pervus and Judy only have 9 days to be on our ADR’s. Well they did some thinking over the next couple of days; and they decided that they really did not want to go down to Florida in the heat of the summer so they would pass. OK no big deal, we still have about 5 days till the ADR’s are due. At least they let me know in a reasonable amount of time. :goodvibes

Oh the agony of buying a house. :sad2: That is what my nephew Jeramie has been saying because he and Leslie are saving up to buy a house at this time as well. They finally find one they like and is within their budget. So they do the smart thing and realize that if they go on the vacation to Disney, they will be spending more money than they really should. Instead they decide to take the money they were spending on the vacation and use it for the new house. ::yes:: I respect that and think they made the right choice. So now we are down to 16 people because my sister still wants to take Aiden (her grandson) with her.:confused:

So Marla is talking to Leslie about the trip and with Fred and Barbara (Leslie’s parents) to make sure they still want to go. Because I have laid down the deadline that everyone has to make the deposit for the trip at 182 days out. :rolleyes: I did this to ensure they were serious about going, and so I could have everything confirmed before I started to call for the ADR’s. Well after some more discussion it was decided that Aiden was not going to go. They didn’t not want him that far away for so long from his parents. I respect that decision. Well because Aiden is not going to go, Fred and Barbara decide they do not want to go. :eek: WOW within five days, I lost five people and two others that were thinking about going.

Well I thought that was the end of the shrinking, but oh no. :headache: The day before our ADR’s are due, Wes comes to me with some news. He works in an accounting department, and just got a new job within that department. Does it mean more money I ask? :cool1: Nope, just different responsibilities he says. :mad: :headache: "Oh well no biggie as long as you can still go to Disney I don’t care" I say to him. Right then he gives me that look that everyone recognizes when good news is not coming. :sad1: :( He can’t take off in June because it is quarter close! What!!!!! I wanted to scream. I was bummed out about that, but not the least bummed out about what we would find out later. And that is for another post.

Next up I will cover why ADR’s do not matter to me and I let the family pick whatever they want.popcorn:: :rolleyes1 :drinking1

[scottny]

I won't have a problem we will do what we did last year, reserve all the rooms in the names and then they have to call to pay it off. Or just put it all on my credit card and then they pay me.

Thanks for the help about the adr's.

It sounds like your not going.

You could go back to September with Wes.

[scottny]

dogs r so cute

[insoin]

I won't have a problem we will do what we did last year, reserve all the rooms in the names and then they have to call to pay it off. Or just put it all on my credit card and then they pay me.

Thanks for the help about the adr's.

It sounds like your not going.

You could go back to September with Wes.

Not gonna spoil it, but I am going for sure.

[scottny]

Not gonna spoil it, but I am going for sure.

:thumbsup2

[Native NYer]

Joining in!!! Great ptr :)

[insoin]

Joining in!!! Great ptr :)

Welcome :banana:

I'm not really sure how to do one of these, as I have never done one before, and I just write down what I think of. I'm sure it will not be as detailed as some I've seen.

[insoin]

Well today let’s talk about to dining plan or not along with ADR’s and the process of picking them. I tell my family that we have to plan them at least 180 days out. This is because if we want to eat anywhere with a group this big, we have to plan, plan, and plan. I tell each family that they need to look around and figure out where to eat. I also tell them to pick anywhere because I don’t care. See don’t forget that Wes and I are going back in September with Deluxe Dining. We had the bounceback free dining, and we added Deluxe to it because we would try some of the nicer places to eat. Adding the deluxe would only cost us about $30 more per day. And as you can tell, I can eat LOL. So that is why I don’t care where they pick to eat. It really does not matter to me, I still have a trip in September to plan with my baby!

So I try to explain how the dining plan works this year and I tell them if we do not do at least one sit down place each day, it will not pay for itself and not be worth it. I also say we have to look at where we are eating and figure out if it’s better to go out of pocket or if we will each eat what the dining plan costs each day. After talking about it some more, we did go ahead and get the dining plan.

The best way I can figure out to get this all planned is to make my brother and sister talk on the phone and figure out where to eat. One evening, I get a conference call going and here is what we come up with as far as where to eat. My brother had one simple request, that one day we go to Medieval Times and eat there. That was all he cared about really, I was shocked, but happy because he was ready to go along with whatever was picked. As of now we have not picked any of the Counter Service places to eat at yet. We do want to do some things as we feel like it, so that is the best way to do that I think. Here is the list of what we are doing when:

6/14 Arrival Day (or at least it is to start)
Hoop Dee Doo 7:15
Maybe go and see the Electric Water Parade or the campfire if we can see one late enough

6/15 Animal Kingdom
Tusker House 5:20 PM

6/16 Magic Kingdom
CRT 9:15 AM Breakfast
Eat Counter Service for Dinner

6/17 Studios
Sci-Fi 6:00 PM
The family really wanted to eat here, but I wanted to do the 50’s Prime Time, but again I don’t care because I’m going in September.

6/18 Epcot
Coral Reef 4:30 PM
This is where I am thinking of doing a surprise cake thing for the family. See there will be 5 of us that have a birthday for the stay, and William and Sona will have an anniversary. So I want to have a nice cake to say happy birthday for everyone etc.

6/19 Sea World
Medieval Times

6/20 Epcot
Beergarten 5:30 PM

6/21 Magic Kingdom
Chef Mickey’s Breakfast 10:00 AM (will go to the opening of MK, hit some shops or something then head over to the CR for breakfast).

Crystal Palace 8:00 PM with a big breakfast, we did not want to have to early of a dinner.

6/22 Departure Day

Next time I update, The Big Shrink that Sucks…

[scottny]

the adr's look great. The cake idea at CR sounds good. :thumbsup2

[insoin]

I have not forgotten about this, but we have been super busy here recently. Oscar, the new puppy, is making life fun and interesting. Wes is working extra long hours, which means I spend more times with the dogs. Gotta give them lots of play time I feel. Wes is looking for a new job, and we are looking for a new house/condo. I will have an update by tomorrow night. I can tell everyone is just waiting for one LOL.

[insoin]

OK the property in WDW that is not owned by WDW is called Bonnett Creek.

[scottny]

I have not forgotten about this, but we have been super busy here recently. Oscar, the new puppy, is making life fun and interesting. Wes is working extra long hours, which means I spend more times with the dogs. Gotta give them lots of play time I feel. Wes is looking for a new job, and we are looking for a new house/condo. I will have an update by tomorrow night. I can tell everyone is just waiting for one LOL.

looking forward to it.

[insoin]

:darth: :yoda: Star Wars Weekend and adding to the trip

Well time for another update. I have always been a big Star Wars fan, I guess it comes from my dad. I remember him taking us kids to see the movies in the theaters when it first came out. And when the first three chapters finally were being made into movies, I returned the favor and took dad to them. All except the last one, he died suddenly right before it came out, so I didn’t get to take him to that one.:sad1: So it was special for me to be able to take him to the movies.:upsidedow

I did not even know that there was a Star Wars Weekend at DHS till last year. I saw information about it on here, and was like well shoot, I will miss it. I found out most of the dates are usually in May, and that just does not work with my schedule. But I noticed that last year it was held in June. I held out hope that maybe it would also have some June dates this year. pixiedust: Well sure enough, it is. Woohoo! :woohoo: Ok, sorry about the geek moment there.

Now the issue is we have already made all the ADRs and it would require us to park hop to see it and I was not sure how the family was going to go for that. So what brilliant idea do I come up with? Why not extend the vacation by a day and use that for the Star Wars Weekend!!!!! :cool1: So I get a hold of my brother and sister and ask them if they would like to go. Keep in mind my family is full of us geeks, so I was sure they would want to.

Well, Marla and James say yes, my brother says no. Fine I said, then don’t go to it:furious: . But for those of us that do want to go we deiced to go ahead and fly down a day early. So I get our stay to start on Friday the 13th of Sept. :scared1: Let’s hope that date does not come back to be a bad omen. We are going to DHS for all of the geeky activities that day. If anyone wants some SWW items, let me know, and I will see if I can get it for you. We added the Cape May Café for dinner that night. I saw pictures of some of the food there today on the food pictures thread, and I’m really excited to be eating there.:wizard:

The Big Shrink that Sucks!!!!:confused:

OK well do you recall how I said that Wes and I are going for a 12 day trip this September with bounce back free dining? We went ahead and added the deluxe dining because we wanted to try several of the signature dining places, and what better way of doing that than the $30 price difference? popcorn::

I am planning where we are going to eat, getting the planning started for what parks on what day. Wes and I talk about wanting to move to Florida and live there, so we think we will take some free time and actually go and look for jobs. This will be our first real getaway as a couple. :hug: We found air fare online for only $120 each, which we go ahead and reserve. Everything is working out perfectly, to perfect as a matter of fact.

Wes comes home from work one day and says his work has offered him a new position. Same company, same pay, but the title looks better, and he will be doing more important things which will make him more marketable for other jobs if he wanted, which may come in handy when we look for jobs in Florida. Then he drops the bombshell. The new job has restrictions on when he can take vacation. I just look at him and said does that mean it is during our vacation we have planned? I know the suspense is killing you right….. YUP sure does. :headache: :mad:

Not only that, but he cant take off the last month in any quarter, or the last quarter of the year. He works for an accounting firm and they basically suck (note if anyone from there happens to be on the Dis, and sees this that is my opinion only, and does not reflect Wes, or his opinion of the company). Gotta cover his butt if anyone sees this LOL

So we are left with the knowledge that we are going to have to call off our trip. This really sucks, and I am heartbroken over it for a while. I get over it but I’m not a happy camper at all about it.


But let me insert a little bit of new information here for now. If you see my Siggy, you will notice that we have a weekend getaway planned. When free dining came out that today would be the day for general public, I asked Wes if he would hate me for taking a solo trip down there? I was able to get a room at All Stars Music for only $340 for a long weekend. Wes then states he can get a Friday and Monday off. So we plan a quick weekend getaway for us. I’m super excited about that. I will not do a PTR for that one, but I will just include it in here at the end.

That is it for now
Scott

[scottny]

:woohoo: for going to see SWW. in WOD here in the city they sell SW merchandise. I love it.

that stinks about the trip but hey that is good about the long weekend.

[stagemomx3]

:thumbsup2 Great start to your pre-trip report!

great pics. this is a learning tr for me as next July I will be planning for 18 people to go. :scared1: thankfully I have a year to wait.
Interesting, I want more details on that statement.


Right then he gives me that look that everyone recognizes when good news is not coming.

Yep know that look.

:. So we plan a quick weekend getaway for us. I’m super excited about that. I will not do a PTR for that one, but I will just include it in here at the end.


Sorry about the 12 day trip, but at least you get the long weekend one!

[scottny]

[QUOTE=stagemomx3;24396105 Interesting, I want more details on that statement.
[/QUOTE]

which statement????

[stagemomx3]

which statement????

The one about the trip with 18 people. Did I miss that info in your ptr?

[scottny]

The one about the trip with 18 people. Did I miss that info in your ptr?

that is for the July 2009 trip. I think I mentioned but not much, still in planning mode.

off to bed have a goodnight.

[stagemomx3]

that is for the July 2009 trip. I think I mentioned but not much, still in planning mode.

off to bed have a goodnight.

Good night.

[insoin]

:thumbsup2 Great start to your pre-trip report!

Yep know that look.

Sorry about the 12 day trip, but at least you get the long weekend one!

Thanks, I am not as detailed as most of them, but I just wante to tell the basic story. Maybe I will be more detailed if I can ever convince Wes to let my buy into DVC at WL or at the CR when it opens :rotfl:

[insoin]

:woohoo: for going to see SWW. in WOD here in the city they sell SW merchandise. I love it.

that stinks about the trip but hey that is good about the long weekend.

Yup, it took a while for me to get over it, cause it was going to be his first trip there. But I'm all :banana: :banana: now for the long weekend :goodvibes

[stagemomx3]

Any updates?

[insoin]

OMG How could I have gone so long w/o posting. Heck this will be the never finished PTR soon. I leave in 8 days. I will be posting tonight and this weekend. I promise!

[heath-and-javens-mom]

I am HERE NOW!! :P
Looks like you are leaving VERY Soon....hope you have a wonderful trip and I cant wait to read the TR!!!:thumbsup2

[insoin]

Flight Reservations

Wow I guess I am a horrible PTR person. I have gone months without updating. I kept waiting for my 45 day mark to hit because as I stated earlier, my brother has a bad habbit of backing out of things. So I was waiting for then to see if he really would go. But that is another post.

I had some time to kill here at work so :surfweb: I thought I should post the next grand set of events that happened. Don't tell the boss ok :goodvibes

So we are trying to figure out how to get down to WDW. I have gotten used to flying places for work, and I admit it, I’m a bit spoiled and I think my time flying is worth the cost I pay over the cost savings I have if I drove.:rolleyes: Plus it gets me down to Orlando a lot faster. Two hours flying time vs. 14 hours driving! That means more time at WDW.:woohoo:

So I told the family that I would fly down and be more than happy to meet up with them all when they get down there, and they could either fly or drive, doesn’t matter to me. I can understand why they would want to consider driving, it has a lot of advantages and the drive down would be fun, but that LONG drive home, not for me.

So I go ahead and book my airline tickets months in advance, well before everything that has been going on with the airlines as we have today. I just hope that for some strange reason my flights do not get changed this close to vacation.

I booked non-stop flights there and back and I leave it up to everyone else if they want to fly, I gave them my flight numbers and said get on this one if you can.

William decides they will drive down, they simply don’t want to spend all the money it would cost a family of four to fly.:car: I say that is fine as long as you are there by 5:00 on the 14th to check in and meet up for the HDDR diner show we have at 7:30.

Now Marla and her family is a bit harder to pin down what they are gonna do. She would like to fly but they have to consider the cost of a family of 4 flying, and they would also like to get a rental van so that her family and Amie’s family can all drive down together. They checked into the price of renting a van for this. And they figured by the time they did that, and the cost of gas, it would be expensive to do. Add to that the fact that Amie can’t really afford an extra day for SWW,:darth: :yoda: they don’t want to leave early. So it is decided that Marla and her family would go ahead and fly down with me, and Amie and her family would drive down by themselves.

Yippee all is set. They are able to get on the same flights I have so even better that we will all be arriving/departing at the same time.:goodvibes

[insoin]

The Ever Changing Airline Flight Issues

Well, as time progressed, I kept checking my flights because my good friend Nic works for Delta. He said he would bid on the flights so that he may be on the same one. I have this issue of worrying way to much about stuff.

So I keep checking the flight online and one day I look and it has changed!!!!!:scared1: I was like what the heck, so I look at the details, and its got a layover, oh great. The layover is in Cincinnati, just up the road from me here in Louisville. But the flight time changed from 7 AM to 6 AM for an hour layover in Cincinnati. Just to fly back over Louisville on the way down.:headache: Grrrr I am not a happy camper about this. I did check and made sure that Marla and her family were still on the same flights, and yes they are, so that is not gonna be an issue.:mad:

Well I keep checking every so often online to see if they add a non-stop flight back into the system. Did I mention how much I hate having a layover? Well sure enough one day they had added some back in.:banana: So thinking that Delta would do the right thing and put me back on the non-stop, I check my reservation online. NOPE!:headache: So I call Delta and ask them why they didn’t do that, the response is that they simply don’t move people off one flight to another unless they have to. I stated that since it is the exact same flight that Delta canceled on me, then why wouldn’t they put me back on it? :idea: :furious:

Anyways I was able to get them to change me back to the non-stop along with everyone else. :woohoo: And they did not charge us anything to move the flights because we had booked that to begin with. So that did make me happy.

On a side note, I really hope that with everything going on with the airlines right now, that nothing changes here in the next week. I have really been worried, but not nearly as I am for my September trip!:eek: :scared1:

[insoin]

The Jaden Dilemma

OK so at this point in planning we are about 57 days out from the trip. I have called my brother and reminded him that he has to pay his trip off in full. He is telling me that his work is having work issues still and they may go on strike. Since both he and his wife work at the same company, that means they could both be on strike at the same time. So they are not sure if they are going yet. I tell them they have to cancel by 45 days out if they are going or they are gonna get penalized and not get a full refund.

My sister and Amie came over for a visit that day for some reason. And then Amie goes ahead and tells me that she can’t go either. They simply can’t afford it because Pleas got hurt and is off work. Bummer that she wont be going because they were not cutting Jaden’s hair so he would be able to have his first haircut at the barbershop on Main Street. My sister has the bright idea that she would still like to take him but we can’t because of the flights and he is not on them. Well I proceed to open my big mouth:eek: and say oh since he is a baby he can sit in your lap no problem.

We then proceed to call Delta and try to have him added. Since we do not have Marla’s reservation number, we have to add Jaden to me. No worries he will sit with his Granny on the trip, not me for sure!:laughing:

Well a couple of days later I check online for my reservation, and WHAM, I’m not listed anymore.:scared1: I proceed to call Delta and ask them what is going on now. They said that since I now have an infant in my lap, I cant sit at a window seat. However since there are no seats on the plane that are not reserved then I am booked for the flight, I am just not guaranteed the flight. So I then go through a process of about an hour getting him switched off my reservation and over to Marla’s. It was not easy, but I got a very good person on the Delta end of the phone and they helped me a lot.:hug: So now I have my guaranteed seat back, and Jaden is with his Granny!

A couple more days go by and I’m talking to James, my brother-in-law. I asked him if he is happy that Jaden is going. I get the look of don’t ask me that.:headache: :rolleyes1 Needless to say this is his first time going to WDW. He really didn’t want a 15 month old to watch after for the entire trip. So I call Marla and I try to state how hard it will be on them to have Jaden. It is finally determined that since his parents are not going, then we would never get a break form him, and that may not be the best thing for a trip.:wizard:

So after all the flight mess with figuring out where he was gonna sit, we take him off and tell his parents, sorry but we don’t want to watch a baby that long, in that heat, with no breaks from him. It was gonna be different with the parents going because we would then watch him to give them a break, but not constantly.