1st Pre Trip Report- A Very Thankful MiniGrand Gathering

[nicolepdonnelly]

Hi All,
This is my first pre trip (or ay trip) report- so bear with me.

I have read through so many over the years- I thought I'd try one, so here goes...

Cast of Characters

Me- Nicole married mom of 2 lovely kids!
Mike- darling hubby of 16 years!
Jacquie- 14 y/o darling daughter
Sean- 10 y/o darling son

going with us

Greg- Mike's younger brother and his super family
Amy- his wife
K1- her 19 y/o daughter
K2- her 18 y/o daughter
J2- his 11 y/o daughter


We're leaving in a couple of weeks
Nov 22- 28
AKV 2 bed suite (1st 2 nights regular- after that concierge level baby!) DDP


This will be Amy's and her daughter's 1st time to DW! Greg hasn't been in over 15 years and J2 went a couple years ago with her mom.

We, on the other hand, have been to DW in June '09, Dec '07, plus 3 or 4 times before that on and off. On our Dec. '07 trip DH bought DVC and we are so happy we can go to DW once a year or more now!

Here's our plans/itinerary ( I am a huge planner)...

Nov 22
arrive at AKV around 6PM- enjoy a CS at Mara and explore resort- get settled
Nov 23
start it off right by heading to MK- We do ride max and have a full day planned of all the great rides and hoping we aren't full out of steam for Wishes
CS- Cosmic rays TS- Liberty Tree Tavern
Nov 24
HS! Can't wait for TT, TSM and RR it's my kid's fav park
CS-ABC Commissary TS- Sci-Fi
Nov 25
EPCOT! my personal fav I love Soarin' and TT even Spaceship Earth- I am a teacher at heart and love learning and love to share that with others!
CS- Sunshiine Seasons TS- Akerhus (Amy is of Scandanavian descent and looking forward to this)
Nov 26
AK- hoping that this park won't be too crowded on T-Day. We are planning a fairly untraditional Thanksgiving. We willl get our fill of turkey and all the trimmings at MK in the beginning of the week, so today it's AK then we back to AKV for dinner at Sanaa. We went here in June not sure if we'd like it! We loved it!
Nov 27
This is our extra day to do what we missed or shop or just relax at the pool- it will be up to everyone as to what to do. We'll meet up at Dinner at California Grill in the contemporary resort. Looking forward to that as a nice dinner and send off because the next day we leave.


To make our trip extra special we (mostly me) have made some goodie bags for the 5 kids (even though some are too big for that I can't help it)

Invitations in envelopes to the ADR's (every morning I will stick it on the fridge for them to open)

I am hoping to hand out a little treat after dinner each night like these candy pockets for chocolate mints on T-Day and these funny eeyore ones for the older girls.

And these TT licences on EPCOT day

I've also made some t shirts for my family from the June trip

We will be getting together (hopefully soon) with G&A to make our gathering shirts for this trip

So, that's it for now- I hope I am doing this right?!?

 

[nicolepdonnelly]

Now, I am getting a little nervous because we ususally go like gangbusters at Disney. I hope we can manage in a large group. I want everyone to be able to experience as much as they can, get their moneys worth, and enjoy the magic!
But, I know we all have different interests, energy levels and the like, so I that's where the worry comes in. I don't want to push them too hard (they know we have to get up early to get to the parks for better crowd control) & I don't want to over do it (sometimes it's hard to contain your love of Disney) so finding that balance will be crucial to a fun trip, I think.
RideMax plas are done, most of the treat are made, reservations and tickets are in order.
What's left?
Packing (and the ever dreaded laundry that comes before it)
Last minute additions to my planner, eg:show tiems, etc
Last minute goodies to make (DD is helping me with that)

 

[eliz991]

Great report so far! I am soooo impressed with all of your goodie bags, envelopes and tee-shirts. I want to plan some things like that for my friend because it's her first trip and I want her to love it so she will go back with me. We're not going until February so I have some time - need to finish the actual plans first.

I have never used ridemax although I did use touringplans last time I went (not that I could get my husband to follow it ). This is probably a stupid question but do you think it is worth it? I'm guessing so if you use it - I just haven't been able to convince myself to spend the money. Plus I do most of my planning at work and I'd have to download the ridemax at home. But if it is fabulous then maybe I should reconsider!

 

[nicolepdonnelly]

Yay- thanks for reading
I do like ridemax- we got a year subscription because we are going 3 times between this passed June and Feb 2010. so it was well worth it for that. we used it in June and loved it. It was so crowded and we really got to do everything on our lists thanks to ridemax. It was sort of hard to get ourselves to follow it, we would be at Tower of Terror and think- let's just head over to Rocknroller Coaster becasue we're right here. But, ridemax was always correct and we never waited any longer than it stated- mostly it was less than it stated.

 

[michaelwilliammidd]

Great start to your first PTR!!! I'm working on my first one as well. I second the thoughts on all the stuff you have put togther for your trip....and thanks for sharing the photos with us!

 

[eliz991]

Thanks for the info! I think I will wait until I am at 90 days and then buy it...because I don't know if or when I will be back. We were there in July and the crowds were terrible. We did most of what we wanted but we stood in a lot of lines too. And this time we're going President's Day week so it will be crowded again.

 

[nicolepdonnelly]

Thanks for the info! I think I will wait until I am at 90 days and then buy it...because I don't know if or when I will be back. We were there in July and the crowds were terrible. We did most of what we wanted but we stood in a lot of lines too. And this time we're going President's Day week so it will be crowded again.

We'll be there again same time as you! Wheeee!

 

[nicolepdonnelly]

Great start to your first PTR!!! I'm working on my first one as well. I second the thoughts on all the stuff you have put togther for your trip....and thanks for sharing the photos with us!

Yay! I'm going to check out your report too!

 

[nicolepdonnelly]

6 days away!!!

I have packed my sons luggage- just need to get his little airplane backpack packed

Daughter has packed mostly all her stuff

I packed my suitcase- just waiting for a few things in the laundry.

DH will take care of his stuff last miute!


We had my brother in law and family over last weekend and we made out "grand gathering" t-shirts and finalized a few details.

Can't wait to get on that plane!!

 

[nicolepdonnelly]

Last minute laundry done- most everything packed in 2 bags for 4 people.
Mail is stopped, cats are being looked after by the nieghbors a few times while we're gone. Kids are doing homework tomorrow, cleaning up their rooms and generally helping us get ready to leave Sun. morning at 9AM.

We will have our "night before disney" party tomorrow night. a tradition they all look forward to. Easy dinner of frozen pizzas on disney themed plates with a salad. Play a few of our Disney games like disney yahtzee and pictionary and maybe a movie.
Here's some pics of the last "night before Disney"

Yay... almost here!