What began as a value trip....became a WL CL Family Fiesta!

[disney meema]

What a fabulous last day and a happy birthday for your Dad being with his family the entire day and really the vacation overall. Beautiful trip report and I love how you mixed park times with CL leisure time and pool time ... Thanks so much for letting me follow along with you and your family : )

 

[annaaidan99]

June 12,2014 Departure Day

My brother had a 12:30 ME pickup, so we took our time leaving.





We lounged upstairs and let the girls play until around ten.

From there, dad and I took the girls for a walk to Fort Wilderness.



Destination...pony rides.



These are $5 per ride, which is more than I remembered. The cast member who was running this was actually the only unfriendly CM we encountered on our trip. Despite this, the girls had a ball.





We explored the barn, and then headed home via the boat.




Back at the Lodge, we sat in the lobby one last time while the valet got our van.



We had a fantastic vacation. It's tough to please ten people but by all accounts, it was a success. There were some less than magical moments, but we found magical ones almost immediately after. I look forward to returning after the MK Resort area is done being refurbished. The kids have been asking about the disney cruises...that may be our next adventure. I thank everyone on these boards for all their information, without which none of this would have been possible

 

[disney meema]

What a great way to end your trip with he girls having a pony ride ... Nice! Yep I wants to try something new and stay at the lodge and had just changed to CL when I read the construction was going until Thanksgiving ugh! We switched to GF which I love love but wanted something new so it's a disappointment. Plan on on bringing my family to WL sometime in 2015 and I hope our stay is as nice as yours certainly was .... : )

 

[maryandtyson]

What a wonderful trip! It sounds like you made some wonderful memories for you and your family. I love how your Dad's birthday was made special by everyone wishing him a happy one.

 

[annaaidan99]

What a great way to end your trip with he girls having a pony ride ... Nice! Yep I wants to try something new and stay at the lodge and had just changed to CL when I read the construction was going until Thanksgiving ugh! We switched to GF which I love love but wanted something new so it's a disappointment. Plan on on bringing my family to WL sometime in 2015 and I hope our stay is as nice as yours certainly was .... : )

I know it will be! And the GF is beautiful. I think it's wise to go where they are done refurbishing. They had only just begun at WL, I don't know how a pool closure would have affected us. While I personally preferred the quiet pool (the pool games are very loud and not relaxing. My only grievance with the whole trip was the length of time that went on. My last poly trip, it seemed like the pool game time was much shorter in time and the music wasn't nearly as loud.) .....my kids loved to slide in the main area.

 

[annaaidan99]

What a wonderful trip! It sounds like you made some wonderful memories for you and your family. I love how your Dad's birthday was made special by everyone wishing him a happy one.

He told me that he didn't think much of the button at first but afterwards he said it really did make for a memorable birthday.

 

[LindseyLou2222]

Looks like a great trip!! Thanks for sharing!

 

[quandrea]

Just read the whole report. Well done. You seemed to have a great time. Your report is timely in that I've just started planning a group trip. Myself, my three kids, 11, 5 and 5, my best friend and her two daughters 13 and 7. It's great to see that a group trip can go well with some good planning. I'm quite excited and your report only adds to that.

 

[annaaidan99]

Just read the whole report. Well done. You seemed to have a great time. Your report is timely in that I've just started planning a group trip. Myself, my three kids, 11, 5 and 5, my best friend and her two daughters 13 and 7. It's great to see that a group trip can go well with some good planning. I'm quite excited and your report only adds to that.

What worked best with us is the planned together time. I would debrief the group every evening of what I planned to do the following morning. We'd decide what worked best as a group and what was best to split for. For example, dumbo and the mermaid ride had zero appeal for my brothers family, and they were able to jump away and do things they wanted to try. CL was very helpful for us because almost all food related decisions were gone. It was so awesome for getting people assembled early. And the coffee was the best. I also made tons of unplanned time, especially in the evenings. This was critical for Aidan and the boys to be able to go and pursue coasters in the late nights without messing with plans. Also, if people just wanted to sit in the hot tub and relax, no one was upset with that either.

 

[LvsTnk]

Loved reading your report thank you!

 

[quandrea]

What worked best with us is the planned together time. I would debrief the group every evening of what I planned to do the following morning. We'd decide what worked best as a group and what was best to split for. For example, dumbo and the mermaid ride had zero appeal for my brothers family, and they were able to jump away and do things they wanted to try. CL was very helpful for us because almost all food related decisions were gone. It was so awesome for getting people assembled early. And the coffee was the best. I also made tons of unplanned time, especially in the evenings. This was critical for Aidan and the boys to be able to go and pursue coasters in the late nights without messing with plans. Also, if people just wanted to sit in the hot tub and relax, no one was upset with that either.

That is a lot of good advice. We are dvc and spend about five weeks a year there. I figure my friend and her girls will want more park time than us there will be things we do together and in the afternoons my little ones will want to swim and she can go off and hit the parks commando style. We will have a full kitchen and are planning only one meal out a day. Really looking forward to showing my friend the world for the first time.

 

[annaaidan99]

That is a lot of good advice. We are dvc and spend about five weeks a year there. I figure my friend and her girls will want more park time than us there will be things we do together and in the afternoons my little ones will want to swim and she can go off and hit the parks commando style. We will have a full kitchen and are planning only one meal out a day. Really looking forward to showing my friend the world for the first time.

Also, I had to resist being the know it all at times. I had us not waiting for anything...so we walked right past a lot of interesting queue activities. When my brother opted to ride rides at times with 40 minute waits, sometimes this was actually better for his kids.

 

[quandrea]

Also, I had to resist being the know it all at times. I had us not waiting for anything...so we walked right past a lot of interesting queue activities. When my brother opted to ride rides at times with 40 minute waits, sometimes this was actually better for his kids.

So true. I could have the trip planned in half an hour flat but I have to hold back.

 

[annaaidan99]

So true. I could have the trip planned in half an hour flat but I have to hold back.

I actually typed up my plan of attack for him and my parents and emailed it before the trip...in case anyone had anything they were dying to do that they wanted to do as a group. Did anyone read it? Probably not. This is why I had to discuss it nightly. He is my polar opposite...so while he enjoyed the structure of getting up and to the parks before the crowds came, he tended to like to aimlessly drift at some point. So having my plan already inked out made it easy for him to know when he was going to wander off and when he was going to rejoin us. My dad and I are very much the same so he felt happy with a detailed plan.

 

[fabulousfive]

Loved your report!!! We're trying to decide between a cruise or Disney Paris for our next trip! Loved hearing you've caught the Disney bug too.

 

[kastoney]

What a wonderful last day and trip. You certainly did a great job of coordinating so many different choices for a group that large. Thanks for letting us tag along.

 

[annaaidan99]

I owe all the good planning to these boards.

 

[INPartyof5]

Loved reading your trip report. It has made me even more excited for our next wilderness lodge stay!