I decided to start a PTR, even though I have yet to finish my last trip report, because my 180 ADR date is rapidly approaching and I need to run my plans by some Disney geeks.
I'm Amanda. I'm turning 40 in October (yes, I almost share a birthday with Disney World. I think that makes my addiction a matter of fate!). I work full-time as a pediatric urologist and I'm a mom to 3 wonderful children.
Tom is my DH. He's also a physician. He enjoys Disney World very much but hates getting involved in any planning, especially 6+ months before the trip. It's like pulling teeth! He's fine when we're there. Planning becomes a fine balance between my desire for early planning and Tom's need to make some on-the-spot decisions. So I try to leave a little flexibility in each trip.
Nathaniel is our eldest. (Ok, Tom would argue that our dog Buffy is our eldest but I digress). He just turned 7. He's an amazing kid! He plays violin and chess. He's an amazing artist. He's sweet and funny and painfully shy. And he has a temper.
Jessica is our 5 year old diva. She's a princess through and through. She just turned 5 in January and is one of the oldest and tallest in her class. She's smart as a whip with the attitude to go with it. And she wants to be a Rock Star when she grows up. And drive a pink BMW convertible.
Zachary is our little cuddle bunny. He's almost 3. He was born a little early (34 weeks) and has some significant motor delays. He wears orthotics and gets therapy (PT, OT, Swallow - not psych!). He's adorable and charming and outgoing and delightful. Except at night when he doesn't sleep. Ever.
Poor Buffy the dog stays in NY when we go to Disney. She's a beautiful black lab who flunked out of seeing eye school. She's turning 10 this summer.
We're are Disney people. Not including trips when Tom and I were children, this will be our 7th trip since 2008 (one was a child-free work trip). And in 2007 Jessica and Nathaniel went with us to Disneyland (another work conference). We love Disney because it's easy. We like that we check our bags at our home airport and then they magically appear in our room. We like that we don't need to rent a car and mess with car seats. And we love the magic!
This trip will be August 27th - September 3rd. Jessica starts kindergarten on 9/6 so the timing is good. And Zachary's daycare will be closed for faculty development on 9/1 and 9/2. This is the period of time between when camp ends but before school starts. Perfect timing for a working mom! Last year the crowds were low and the weather wasn't too bad. It rained every afternoon and we had a handful of super hot/humid days. But mostly it was fine.
The plan (for now - subject to change depending on my mood
) is to stay in a one bedroom villa at BLT. I got a 40% room discount. We have APs and a TIW cards (although I may not renew the kids' APs, we'll see).
Amanda
I'm Amanda. I'm turning 40 in October (yes, I almost share a birthday with Disney World. I think that makes my addiction a matter of fate!). I work full-time as a pediatric urologist and I'm a mom to 3 wonderful children.
Tom is my DH. He's also a physician. He enjoys Disney World very much but hates getting involved in any planning, especially 6+ months before the trip. It's like pulling teeth! He's fine when we're there. Planning becomes a fine balance between my desire for early planning and Tom's need to make some on-the-spot decisions. So I try to leave a little flexibility in each trip.
Nathaniel is our eldest. (Ok, Tom would argue that our dog Buffy is our eldest but I digress). He just turned 7. He's an amazing kid! He plays violin and chess. He's an amazing artist. He's sweet and funny and painfully shy. And he has a temper.
Jessica is our 5 year old diva. She's a princess through and through. She just turned 5 in January and is one of the oldest and tallest in her class. She's smart as a whip with the attitude to go with it. And she wants to be a Rock Star when she grows up. And drive a pink BMW convertible.
Zachary is our little cuddle bunny. He's almost 3. He was born a little early (34 weeks) and has some significant motor delays. He wears orthotics and gets therapy (PT, OT, Swallow - not psych!). He's adorable and charming and outgoing and delightful. Except at night when he doesn't sleep. Ever.
Poor Buffy the dog stays in NY when we go to Disney. She's a beautiful black lab who flunked out of seeing eye school. She's turning 10 this summer.
We're are Disney people. Not including trips when Tom and I were children, this will be our 7th trip since 2008 (one was a child-free work trip). And in 2007 Jessica and Nathaniel went with us to Disneyland (another work conference). We love Disney because it's easy. We like that we check our bags at our home airport and then they magically appear in our room. We like that we don't need to rent a car and mess with car seats. And we love the magic!
This trip will be August 27th - September 3rd. Jessica starts kindergarten on 9/6 so the timing is good. And Zachary's daycare will be closed for faculty development on 9/1 and 9/2. This is the period of time between when camp ends but before school starts. Perfect timing for a working mom! Last year the crowds were low and the weather wasn't too bad. It rained every afternoon and we had a handful of super hot/humid days. But mostly it was fine.
The plan (for now - subject to change depending on my mood
) is to stay in a one bedroom villa at BLT. I got a 40% room discount. We have APs and a TIW cards (although I may not renew the kids' APs, we'll see).Amanda
I knew from last year that the longer I waited to book flights, the more expensive they'd get. In fact we ended up driving over an hour to Islip Airport last year to save a few hundred bucks. And the flights were still about $1400 for 5 of us. White Plains Airport is the closest airport to us, although LaGuardia is pretty close, too. I got decent prices on JetBlue out of White Plains so I booked it. I had been watching the prices and they kept going up and up. It was slightly under $1400 (maybe $1350?) although that was partly because I got a free one way flight on my miles. Booking the flights was a complicated matter. I had to book 4 one-way flights paying cash and then 1 one-way flight on miles. Then there were only 3 return flights at the cheaper price so I booked 3 one-way returns and then 2 one-way returns. Got all that? 
It was a bit nuts but it saved about $200 so well-worth figuring out. Continuing the flight story, I decided NOT to tell DH that I had booked the flights. I KNOW we're going to Disney in August. It's that or sitting home with 3 kids that week. 
And I'll pre-pay the hotel and earn some Disney gift cards doing surveys. So I don't know why we play this game. Unfortunately for me, JetBlue decided to change our flight times (for August and September 
So he knows. 
I don't think he was angry, just amused that JetBlue has called him 4 times already about our flight times. 
Sometimes I don't tell my dh those kinds of things either not because I'm trying to be sneaky but because I know he'd rather not know all the details. He's often said he doesn't want to know how much things cost because it only upsets him, so he'd rather just trust that I know we can afford it and that's all that matters. 
I read your half marathon report and am looking forward to your pre-trip report too -- especially since we won't be able to go in 2011~ 
So sad but I love living through everyone else's reports! Looking forward to it. 
I don't get him either!). Maybe lunch at Via Napoli?
