3 middle aged women & one 12 year old boy...

[Mouse's Shadow]

This child might need therapy before this is all over.

I've got to have somewhere to spend all this Disney energy. I figure why not turn to those who can sympathize with the affliction.

Hi, my name is Teri, and it's been 3 1/2 years since I've been to Disney...
Well you can imagine what kind of agony I am feeling, since I have a DH who feels that 2 trips to see a mouse is plenty for one lifetime. How could I have married such a man? (Actually, he's quite wonderful, and after 27 years of marriage, you learn to live with some imperfections. After all, love conquers all. )

So as my longing grew, I knew I was on my own for this one. My friends know of my Disney affliction, so they weren't shocked when I began asking, "You want to go to Disney with me?" Most of them just looked at me with pity in their eyes and politely said, "no".One day I finally got lucky. I knew that with some persistance, I could catch my friend Pam at a weak moment. She too loves everything Disney. So by last July there were 2. Now we wanted to find 2 more with whom we could share this adventure. (No, really we just wanted to split a room 4 ways ) While scrapbooking (my other obsession), last October, we threw the question out to a group of our fellow scrappers. To our delight there came a magical response from our friend Vallery. Turns out that she hasn't been to Disney, since she was a kid, back when there was only one park. So now you know, we're old. She's been wanting to go for years, but her DH has no desire to go. (What is wrong with these men?) Then came the question. In her sweetest voice, Vallery asked, can I bring my 11 year old son? Pam and I just had to exchange glances. We knew we were in agreement. How could we deny a boy his first trip to Disney.And just like that our girls only trip became 3 middle aged women and a 12 year old boy...

 

[Mouse's Shadow]

Now there are four. Deciding when to go wasn't hard. October would be the perfect month. Lower crowd levels, the smallest posibility for rain, temps in the 80's, and COTA day. The one thing that our kids can count on is that on one Friday in mid-October there will be no school, so teachers can gather for an in-service day. It works out perfectly. Pam is a school bus driver so it eliminates a day she has to take off of work and cuts down on the number of days our young traveler will have to be out of school. (Yes, were taking him out of school, but we're not totally negligent when it comes to his education. Though I know some would think otherwise. I'm a teacher by trade, so I understand the arguement.However, I justify it, by vowing to take him to every country in the World Showcase. It's going to be educational. I promise. )

It's time for the next step, planning. I actucally had to wait 3 days to make the 20 mile treck to the nearest book store. The wait dragged on. I had to take my son to a Dr. appointment, and I announced on the way home "We have to make a stop at Borders!" Christmas came early. I ran in picked up the 2010 Uniofficial Guide and and Official Guide. By the end of the week I had read each book from cover to cover. Dreams of Disney have taken over.

Next: Important decisions need to be made, How many nights can we stay? and Where will we be staying?

 

[Mouse's Shadow]

Even though the Christmas season was in full swing, we were all eager to make our reservations. We were all able to carve out some time one evening right before Christmas. Vallery had decided to keep her DS in the dark for a while. So the 3 of us met.

I must preface this part, by explaining that Pam and Vallery have known me long enough to know what they are in for. My family calls me the vacation planner from H---. My vacations alway have an itinerary. Since this is Vallery and son's first trip, we decided to go comando style. Works for me! Pam has some mobility issues, so she's decided to rent an ECV, so I figure we'll be running to keep up with her. So they weren't surprised when they showed up at my house and I had packets for them.

Any unexpected vacationer would have been terrified by now, but these two are brave souls. I handed each a packet filled with the pros and cons of staying at a mod vs deluxe. I had narrowed down the choices with explanations of what kind of transportaion served each hotel. I included information on the dinning plan, and included a list of restaurants with menus so they could compare the cost of the DP to OP.

Let the fun begin! This is only my 4th trip to the World, so I'm still a novice, by all standards. I've always stayed at mods, because I just can't bring myself to pay double for a deluxe. However, this seemed to be an ideal time to try a deluxe, since we get to split it 4 ways. But would they agree?

Up next: their decision.

 

[Mouse's Shadow]

Going Deluxe!

We spent 2 hours looking over our options.Thank you fellow disers for having put together such great threads on the hotels. We looked at CR, WL, PR,CBR, and POR. And the decision is....THE POLY! .

It's going to be a dream come true. I have visited a few times to eat at the restaurants, but this will be my first time to truely experience the Poly. It is such a beautiful property. I spend hours perusing your reports and responses to questions. Thank you all for the great pictures. It makes planning so much fun.

I figured we would be doing 3 nights/4 days at WDW, that way only one day of school would be missed. To my surprise, they wanted to leave on Weds. So we get another day.

Now with a hotel in mind and our dates, I'm entering a whole new level of Disney mania.

 

[Mouse's Shadow]

As the Disney planning went into full tilt, my DH couldn't understand why I wasn't as excited about our upcoming cruise vacation.

The first week of January,we would be leaving on our first family vacation in 9 years. I was excited. My DD had just graduated from college, and this trip would be the first substantial time we'd get to spend with her in years. We were taking my DSIL with us, because she's an RN and she would help with our DS who requires 24/7 care. It was going to be a great vacation for all of us. It's not that I wasn't excited, but I was told by both my DH and my DD that there would be NO itinerary while on the cruise. No itinerary ment no obsessing. They put a serious wrench into my need for over planning. Eventhough we had a great upcoming vacation, I just had to turn my attention to Disney.

I followed the suggestion in the UG, and called several times to price out our trip, and of the three quotes I got, one was $200 less than the highest. Go figure. It was done; our reservation was made. I booked 4 nights at the Poly. for October 13-17. I included the DP, because I'm hoping that with some luck the free DP will be offered for then. I know that in the past the cut off date was Sept. 30, but I thought I had heard that it had been extended in 2009 because of the economy. So I'm hoping that in another month a great deal will come out for our dates.

We left on vacation, and for 2 weeks we had a great time and my attention was diverted. But once we returned the madness started all over again.

 

[peekies722]

thanks for sharing your need to be in the World!
I often feel the need and my hubby can very well live without it
I don't understand how?

I have been blessed with several stays at the Poly,
it's my fave outta YC, BW, AK, CB, WL
they are so nice there!
You are bound to have a truly magical experience!

Something tells me that this boy is going to have a blast with you ladies
have a great time!

 

[Mouse's Shadow]

Thanks Peekies722,

This whole thing is so therapeutic.

Hopefully the Disney magic will be stronger than any ill-effect we'll have on the poor child.

 

[Mouse's Shadow]

Let the fun begin.

With our family vacation over, Disney can have my full attention. I spend my evenings looking at park hours for different times of the year, trying to guess what the park hours will be for mid October. Like a good diser, I even checked last years schedule for the time period we'll be there. I've worked out about 5 different schedules based on the different possible combinations of park hours. I've made tentative itinerarys for each day, leaving open my meal slots. (I dream of Disney restaurants )

I've been dedicating my time to reading your trip reports and looking longingly at your pictures, and scouring the restaurant threads to create a list of restaurants for the girls to choose from. Thank you for feeding my obsession!

We've talked about going to a dinner show. I think the SOA or HDDR are our best choices. Pam and I have seen both, so we'll leave it up to Vallery to choose. I'm really trying to gear our choices to the young man in our party. I'm thinking about LC, SA, and RM at Epcot, CP at MK, PT at DHS, and I'd really like to try Boma. Plus we need to try Kona and Ohana's at the Poly. GF Cafe is another restaurant I'd like to try. Any suggestions would be welcomed.I'm going to print out menues for Pam and Vallery.

I've also been watching airfares. It looks like we're going to get round trip airfare between $185 - $210. I hope to book those in the next couple of weeks. We can catch a one stop flight out of Columbus or non-stops out of Dayton, one's 45 minutes away the other about an hour.

We'll be meeting in a couple of days to make our ADR choices and decide our travel choices. I can't wait to see what they choose.

 

[goochy18]

this would be a dream vacation for me --- even if i were 12 again. i went when I was 12 with my aunt, her son & his gf (they were in college) and it was GREAT!!! i hadn't been since I was 6 for my first trip & bday! So until the boy turns 21 and spends his 21st bday in las vegas with FOUR SENIOR citizens .... bc that is exactly what happened to me.... one 21yo & FOUR senior citizens (mom, aunt, neighbor & her sister all over 50). it was a ladies trip but man was I tired of sitting in front of slot machines!!!

this vacation i'm celebrating my early bday (june); engagement & our 6yr anniversary ... plus he passed the BAR!!! yay!!!

 

[Mouse's Shadow]

this would be a dream vacation for me --- even if i were 12 again. i went when I was 12 with my aunt, her son & his gf (they were in college) and it was GREAT!!! i hadn't been since I was 6 for my first trip & bday! So until the boy turns 21 and spends his 21st bday in las vegas with FOUR SENIOR citizens .... bc that is exactly what happened to me.... one 21yo & FOUR senior citizens (mom, aunt, neighbor & her sister all over 50). it was a ladies trip but man was I tired of sitting in front of slot machines!!!

this vacation i'm celebrating my early bday (june); engagement & our 6yr anniversary ... plus he passed the BAR!!! yay!!!

Thanks for stopping in.
I think he'll have fun. We're going to make a concentrated effort.

It sounds like you have a lot to celebrate! Congrats on all occasions.

 

[Mouse's Shadow]

I met with Vallery and Pam. They made my day! We were talking about the trip and what the itinerary would look like, when they decided we needed to do another night. I love these people!

So now we're going to be at the Poly Oct. 13-18. 5 nights and 6 days!

Of course I called right away to add the extra night to our reservation. I couldn't get to the phone fast enough.

Coming up: ADR decisions made...

 

[Mouse's Shadow]

I just can't quit doing the happy dance. One More Day at Disney!

I am trying to be a considerate and gentler vacation planner. I'm trying to take into consideration that people get tired and over loaded. Really, I am. My first instinct, for our first day, is to head to a park that's open the latest and go, go, go. But instead, I figure we'll grab some lunch at the hotel, then head to MK for a liesurely initiation to the park. Then we'll do a dinner show. Even though my husband just shakes his head. He thinks relaxing at the hotel would be taking it easy on them, after a long day of traveling, not a dinner show. He's not a Disney maniac, what does he know? We've got to try and get as many restaurants in as possible.

I get so excited when I dream of all the restaurants we have to choose from. Most Disney restaurants may not be fine dinning, but they're so darn fun. Vallery thinks her DS will like SOA. Yea, we don't have to leave the hotel! Less time traveling, means more time at MK. For ADRs we're going to go for PT at DHS, Boma, LC, and SA at Epcot, CP at MK and Kona & Ohana. I haven't been to LC or Boma. Really looking forward to them. (Who am I kidding, I'm looking forward to all of them) Now I'm counting down to the 180 day mark.

We also decided to go to Dayton and catch a non-stop. We'll get there an hour before any Columbus flight will get there, and we don't leave until 7:45 Monday evening. It's a win/ win situation for me!

Pam and Vallery might think they know what they're in for on this vacation, but the reality might be more than they can handle.

 

[Mouse's Shadow]

16 days until I can make my ADRs. I keep checking daily to see if Oct. schedule has come out. I read a thread last week that the fall FD might be released this past weekend. I felt silly. I didn't even realize that DV card holders had the deal offered to them 3 days before the general public. I checked everyday, but no deals were released. I don't think it will extend to our dates anyway, but it gives me something to check. I'll be happy for all of those who can take advantage of it. At least I know to check with DV every day. I learn so much from you guys.

 

[Mouse's Shadow]

I got 2 new Disney books, Hidden Mickeys by Steven Barrett and The Hidden Magic of Walt Disney World by Susan Veness.

I've started reading the one by Veness. It's points out and gives the background of some of the details that the Imagineers built into the WDW. It's fun information. It gives you a new appreciation for all the thought that has gone into every aspect of WDW.

I was excited to see the Oct. schedule is out now. I'm sorting out all our touring options. I make list, redo the list and redo it again. I'm still working on it.

 

[Mouse's Shadow]

This is my week. I get to make ADRs on Friday. This is one of my favorite parts of Disney planning. I'm going to try the online booking. I've never done it and I'm technology challenged. Signing on to the DIS and browsing with the occasional posting is stretching it for me. I still need to figure out how to post pictures. A fellow DISer shared an instructional thread with me. This weekend, I'm hoping to take a picture of the 3 middle aged woman to post.So Friday will be a whole new experience. I'll be up and on line by 5:30. I've been doing some practice runs for the last week.

Our flight will arrive at MCO around 9:30am. We'll catch a bite to eat at Capt Cook's then head to MK and spend the afternoon there until about 6:00. I think this will be the best night to see SOA at 8:00. Epcot will be open until midnight. If everyone's exhausted we can go back to the room, but if they still have energy to burn we can spend a couple of hours at Epcot. Unfortunately Epcot is the only park that has late hours during our stay. I like the late nights. I wish MK would be open until the wee hours of the morning.

Day 2 is an Epcot day. I'd love to find a way to fit in two TS meals while we're there, but it doesn't seem practical. It's the only time we can catch Fantasmic, so we'll have to leave the park around 6:00 to get to DHS on time. The dilemma is what to do for dinner. I'm leaning on grabbing something before we head to DHS. It just seems too late to wait until after Fantasmic. Then we'll go to DTD to the Lego store. That's important for our young friend.

Day 3 will be spent at DHS.We'll be doing lunch at PT. Then heading to MK to see Spectro and Wishes.

Day 4 is AK day. I love Flametree BBQ, but I don't know if everyone will want to do lunch there. I'm going to make a 5:00 ADR at Boma. None of us have ever been there, but I'm looking forward to it. After dinner we'll head to MK. It's open till 11:00.

Day 5 will be breakfast at CP. I'm hoping to get an 8:00am ADR. We'll go back to the hotel in the afternoon for some pool time and dinner at Kona. Then we'll go watch Illuminations.

Day 6 is our final day. We'll start with breakfast at Ohana's, then let our young friend choose what he wants to revisit. I'm hoping for Epcot, because I know we won't get to see everything on our earlier visits. Regardless, we'll do lunch at LeCellier, then head back to the hotel by 4:00 to catch our 8:00 flight.

It looks good on paper. We'll just have to see how it plays out in the real world.

 

[Mouse's Shadow]

I did it! I made my ADRs on-line. I was up at 5:30 Friday morning. I got logged on and made a few practice restaurant inqueries. Then at that magical hour, I went to the restaurant of choice made my request and crossed my fingers and my toes and hoped I'd get the requested time. It worked! I'm just glad I wasn't trying to get times for the peak times of the year, because I was kind of slow. It took be almost a 1/2 hour to make 6 ADRs and a reservation for SOA. I'll probably book our airfare this week. There is only one morning direct flight available and I'm afraid it will book up if we don't get our reservations made. I was holding out for a great deal, but the price is inching up. It's about $10 higher than it was last week.

 

[Mouse's Shadow]

Airline tickets - check!

I just purchased our airfare. April has become my favorite month.The days are getting longer. My flowers are growing. I can work out in the yard. Park hours were released for our trip. I got to make our ADRs. And now we have plane tickets. Man, April's great.

However, I wish we could have done the plane tickets a month ago. I can't believe how much airfare has increased. We still got a fairly decent deal through Airtran, but Delta's flight have increased by over $100. We were able to get a 7:00am nonstop flight out of Dayton with a return flight that leaves at 7:57 pm from Orlando. We'll get back to Dayton at 10:15. The arrival time is earlier than most of the 1 stop flights that leave earlier in the day. It's almost like having a whole day on our departure day. We get the most Disney time of any flights available.

I don't fly often, so its always a new experience.I went through all the reservation stuff only to get to the end and be asked if I wanted to select our seats for only a $6 fee per flight. Now what should I do. Should I spend the extra money for assigned seats or wait and get what ever we get. I'm easily confused, so I asked my husband to help with the decision. He looks at me with a blank confused look on his face and says, "it's $12, get seats together". He's such a man of reason. So that's what I did. Now we don't have to worry about being split up. A comfort since we're traveling with our young friend. So in the end, our tickets were about $25 more than I thought we'd be able to get them. Not bad. Now I have to go to Disney.com and enter my flight info for ME.