cj9200
04-14-2008, 12:20 AM
Pre flight check list
A while ago, I finished the trip report of our Thanksgiving weekend. The title was “Thanksgiving at Disney, are you nuts?” a response I heard from friends and colleagues when they hear we are going to Disney World again. The trip report was tortuous to get through but it was worth it once I finished. Great way to relive the trip and also keep a record I could read when I need a Disney fix. Decided what the heck, try it again.
Work has been a bear (I raise money for a non-profit mental health provider) so I have postponed this report for a while. Memories are not as fresh as I would like so if there are gaps in our experiences, forgive me. Armed with pictures and most of the receipts on what we spent (ouch) here goes.
The Thanksgiving trip was a spur of the moment thing and we put together a nice stop at the Animal Kingdom Lodge with a few decent ADR’s. This trip was the fifth time we had gone to Disney in 2007. The past summer I moved back to Miami after spending five years in New York and it was either use it or lose it time for our DVC points. We burned a lot of points this year and the annual passes were smoking before we were through. They actually had to replace mine. For this trip I went into hyper planning mode and we were ready. There were some cool plans including some great dinning ADR’s. So who is going? The Cast?
Me-AKA Dad. Disney trip planner, charming, witty and only my modesty keeps me from going on. Actually I am a just a big kid at heart, DVC member since 1996 and Disney Veteran. I know I am lucky to live in Florida and belong to DVC. I was able to brainwash my daughter who is totally indoctrinated in all things Disney. Which brings us to:
DD-AKA Princess, AKA Pooh. Now fourteen and an all around good kid. We are now immersed into Magnet High School shopping. Hey, when I went to high school they said you go here, not so any more. In Dade County it is a competitive process and wherever she goes will require a summer school acclimation session. This severely restricts our planning for a summer trip (not that I am bitter). Also a Disney veteran and is a coaster junky like her dad.
DM-AKA Mom. Mom has developed a degenerative neuro-muscular disease that has limited her mobility. She moved in early November to be with her sister in Georgia. One of the reasons for the T-day trip for DD and I was to have a distraction from what was going on. Her favorite character is Tink and also a Disney veteran.
Background
As I said, this was a well planned trip. I decided that we would spend Christmas at Disney and after some cajoling of Mom and DD the trip was a go. For the first time in my DVC life I actually called 11 months out to reserve each day. We have a standard view at the Boardwalk checking in on Sunday, December 23 and checking out Friday, December 29. I later added the 22nd at Port Orleans French Quarter, my favorite moderate.
Dinning was also meticulously planned and we scored some great reservations. They are in order - December 22, Tea at the Grand Floridian; December 23, Crystal Palace breakfast; Christmas Eve, breakfast at the Kona Café, dinner at the Coral Reef for Mom; Christmas day at Victoria and Albert’s; December 26 a California Grill dinner; and at DD’s request, dinner at Spoodles for December 27.
Two other arrangements were made before the trip including getting a wheel chair from Care Medical (we have used them before and I am mentioning them because they are reasonable and very efficient). The other was the reason that Mom was dining alone at the Coral Reef. DD and I were scuba diving at the living seas on Christmas Eve! DD got her certification the previous summer and we did this that summer and enjoyed it.
As an aside, last year I totally psyched her out with the diving surprise. I kept telling her she had a big surprise coming during the trip and each day she would ask is it today? Midway through, I broke it to her the surprise was cancelled. It was a teen cruise that had to be cancelled because of bad weather. Not that Disney had a teen cruise although it might not be a bad idea. We even went to Typhoon Lagoon earlier in the trip and I commented that it would be a good idea if you could scuba dive at Disney. “Yea that would be very cool, why don’t they do it.” Let the cat out of the bag the next morning, the day of the dive.
So armed with our maxed out plans we are ready to spend our Christmas holiday at Disney World.
Up Next: We are off to the World
A while ago, I finished the trip report of our Thanksgiving weekend. The title was “Thanksgiving at Disney, are you nuts?” a response I heard from friends and colleagues when they hear we are going to Disney World again. The trip report was tortuous to get through but it was worth it once I finished. Great way to relive the trip and also keep a record I could read when I need a Disney fix. Decided what the heck, try it again.
Work has been a bear (I raise money for a non-profit mental health provider) so I have postponed this report for a while. Memories are not as fresh as I would like so if there are gaps in our experiences, forgive me. Armed with pictures and most of the receipts on what we spent (ouch) here goes.
The Thanksgiving trip was a spur of the moment thing and we put together a nice stop at the Animal Kingdom Lodge with a few decent ADR’s. This trip was the fifth time we had gone to Disney in 2007. The past summer I moved back to Miami after spending five years in New York and it was either use it or lose it time for our DVC points. We burned a lot of points this year and the annual passes were smoking before we were through. They actually had to replace mine. For this trip I went into hyper planning mode and we were ready. There were some cool plans including some great dinning ADR’s. So who is going? The Cast?
Me-AKA Dad. Disney trip planner, charming, witty and only my modesty keeps me from going on. Actually I am a just a big kid at heart, DVC member since 1996 and Disney Veteran. I know I am lucky to live in Florida and belong to DVC. I was able to brainwash my daughter who is totally indoctrinated in all things Disney. Which brings us to:
DD-AKA Princess, AKA Pooh. Now fourteen and an all around good kid. We are now immersed into Magnet High School shopping. Hey, when I went to high school they said you go here, not so any more. In Dade County it is a competitive process and wherever she goes will require a summer school acclimation session. This severely restricts our planning for a summer trip (not that I am bitter). Also a Disney veteran and is a coaster junky like her dad.
DM-AKA Mom. Mom has developed a degenerative neuro-muscular disease that has limited her mobility. She moved in early November to be with her sister in Georgia. One of the reasons for the T-day trip for DD and I was to have a distraction from what was going on. Her favorite character is Tink and also a Disney veteran.
Background
As I said, this was a well planned trip. I decided that we would spend Christmas at Disney and after some cajoling of Mom and DD the trip was a go. For the first time in my DVC life I actually called 11 months out to reserve each day. We have a standard view at the Boardwalk checking in on Sunday, December 23 and checking out Friday, December 29. I later added the 22nd at Port Orleans French Quarter, my favorite moderate.
Dinning was also meticulously planned and we scored some great reservations. They are in order - December 22, Tea at the Grand Floridian; December 23, Crystal Palace breakfast; Christmas Eve, breakfast at the Kona Café, dinner at the Coral Reef for Mom; Christmas day at Victoria and Albert’s; December 26 a California Grill dinner; and at DD’s request, dinner at Spoodles for December 27.
Two other arrangements were made before the trip including getting a wheel chair from Care Medical (we have used them before and I am mentioning them because they are reasonable and very efficient). The other was the reason that Mom was dining alone at the Coral Reef. DD and I were scuba diving at the living seas on Christmas Eve! DD got her certification the previous summer and we did this that summer and enjoyed it.
As an aside, last year I totally psyched her out with the diving surprise. I kept telling her she had a big surprise coming during the trip and each day she would ask is it today? Midway through, I broke it to her the surprise was cancelled. It was a teen cruise that had to be cancelled because of bad weather. Not that Disney had a teen cruise although it might not be a bad idea. We even went to Typhoon Lagoon earlier in the trip and I commented that it would be a good idea if you could scuba dive at Disney. “Yea that would be very cool, why don’t they do it.” Let the cat out of the bag the next morning, the day of the dive.
So armed with our maxed out plans we are ready to spend our Christmas holiday at Disney World.
Up Next: We are off to the World