4/17-4/22 It only rains for 15 minutes in Florida..Right?

[BelAir3]

Welcome to my trip report.

Sit back, and enjoy the recollection of our recent visit from April 17-April 22

Family info:

Me- Ang 34 I work full time as a buyer for a large manufacturing company, am a Baseball/Soccer/Basketball mom (depending on the season) to one, wife, the Secretary of a non-profit Cervical Cancer Foundation (The Reveal Teal Foundation), part time interior decorator/party planner, and TRIP PLANNER Extraordinar!!
Favorite Disney Movie- Beauty and the Beast
Favorite Character in the Park- Belle

My Husband-Scott 36, is a Police officer, “Super Dad”, Mr. Fix-it, Gear Head, Assistant Baseball coach, husband, antique collector, who works a lot of part time
Favorite Disney Movie- The Incredibles and The Jungle Book
Favorite Disney Character in the Park- King Louie and Baloo

My Son- Evan 6, Blue Eyed Blonde Hair, dimpled chin, only child, who melts my heart every time he smiles, is spoiled rotten, yet always says thank you, please, and never forgets to say God Bless you when people Sneeze!
Favorite Disney Movie- The Incredibles
Favorite Disney Character in the Park- Caballero Donald Duck

Here we are in October at the Maryland Renn Festival

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[BelAir3]

Quick History of how our trip came to be….
Our vacation style is probably unique to most families. Because of Scott’s job. He has to choose vacation weeks in December, for the following calendar year, but only gets to pick when it is his turn in the list of seniority. He has been on the job for eight years, but is below the mid way line on the seniority list for his shift. So, we can never plan a vacation a year in advance, or plan based on Spring Break, or Summer vacation, or Winter Break. It is not FUN, nor easy, nor can we ever catch a deal!

We usually have odd weeks for Family vacations, and never get traditional Summer vacations or holidays. Scott and I have been pretty spoiled over the last 8 years, as we have taken advantage of the odd vacation dates, and have gone to Mexico for one of our three vacation weeks 7 of the 8 years!! (without Evan!!—he gets a vacation away from mom and dad and gets to stay with mom-mom and pop-pop)
Reasons why we didn’t take Evan on vacations to Mexico…1) We both work very stressful jobs, and LOVE Mexico and it was always soo easy to book a last minute trip 2) He was too little to take to Mexico the first 3 years 3) He was in Preschool the next two years 4) We didn’t want to take him out of school 5) It was Mexico!

This pic is from Tulum Mexico April 3, 2009-

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[BelAir3]

The remaining two weeks of vacation typically goes something like this-

We only live about 2-1/2 hours from the beaches, so we are able to take long weekends, or we go out on the boat for a day trip, or we do “staycations” a lot!
Our staycations, are usually weeks where we either (1) do a different day trip within 2 hours from our house to the shore, or to a state park, or an amusement park, or we have parties at our house, or we go Apple Picking/Hayrides in the fall, Daytrips to Georgetown, Washington DC, Williamsburg, VA, New York, etc.. But we have never ever have been on a full weeks vacation as a family away from home. This trip to Disney was our FIRST REAL FAMILY VACATION!!!


I probably should have written a Pre-Trip Report, but here are some of the events leading up to vacation…

We didn’t find out our vacation weeks until the first week of January.
(The first week being 4/17-4/24)
Scott’s father (72 years old) was in Punta Cana, in November, fell and broke his femur- so we were constantly running to the rehab center, then to his home to take care of him.
Maryland had a record breaking snowfall this winter..60+ inches
Evan’s Birthday party for 50 people was in late February
My birthday and Easter are on the same day this year.
Scott had surgery on his leg for varicose veins cancelled in January then rescheduled for 4/9 (Note: only a week before vacation)
I hosted a Huge Tea Party/Baby Shower for a girlfriend on 4/10
I am organizing a Concert on May 8th for the Foundation.
Basketball has been every Saturday, not to mention Birthday parties, Anniversary parties, 3 Funerals, PTA Meetings, Sick Dogs, work, work, work, etc….

Sooo…on February 13th, when we had our taxes done, I said enough is enough WE ARE GOING TO DISNEY!!!! I did a little bit of research, started stalking the DIS board, and booked our trip on March 8th! I was going to book a value resort..Pop..because we had just recently had friends return from there with good reviews…but then Disney offered the 30% off deal for Moderate resorts or the $500 gift card. I ended up booking the Caribbean Beach for 5 nights, 5 park passes, and the meal plan with dining at the discounted rate, as I wasn’t sure if we would actually be spending $500 in the parks oop.


We also did the Give A Day Book Drive, and had received our vouchers for the free day.
(Which I learned from reading the boards that I should use for Fast Passes)

After I booked, I called the 800 # and added a 6th day of park passes, for a whopping $9.59 (for the 3 of us)

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When we discussed the plans, I had not yet decided on transportation, we thought at first that we could save money by driving the 18 hours from Maryland..but then thought about how much Evan asks “are we there yet” just driving the 3 hours to the beach..it was an easy decision..we were going to fly!! But, April 17th flights on March 8th were not cheap. And, I was contemplating that maybe we should just suck it up and drive….but then I thought..who wants to waste two whole days of vacation in the car? (going and returning) And, the ride getting there is fun..but coming home is a bummer..so, I didn’t care how much it was we were flying!!

We are about halfway between Philly and Baltimore/Washington Airports…and got a way cheaper deal from BWI. And…come to find out, we are actually about 15 minutes closer to BWI. I booked Southwest, a FIRST for us..and we broke the news to Evan that 1) He was going on Vacation to Disney 2) He would be flying on a plane for the first time 3) We would be taking him out of school for a whole week!! He was SOOOO Excited!!!

I then told him that we had a project to work on, and we made a count down calendar!

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[Tnkrbelle565]

Great start!!! I'm in!

 

[nessz79]

I'm in!

 

[OhMari]

It's sort of fun planning last minute vacations. The adrenalin is always there.

Home Depot Mickey Heads, or did you make the Mickey heads yourself. Everytime, I walk in Home Depot, I grab the Mickey heads, and then I'll mail them to someone that needs them.

 

[AlexJB]

I'm in!

 

[BelAir3]

It's sort of fun planning last minute vacations. The adrenalin is always there.

Home Depot Mickey Heads, or did you make the Mickey heads yourself. Everytime, I walk in Home Depot, I grab the Mickey heads, and then I'll mail them to someone that needs them.

Home Depot Mickey Heads, and Michaels Clearance scrapbook Disney Paper!

When I was teaching my son colors...I stocked up on the primary colors then too!


Yay! I'm excited that people are actually reading my little report!!

On with the show!!!!!!

 

[BelAir3]

I’m one of those people that over researches everything!
I was almost in panic mode booking our vacation with only a month’s notice, but thanks to the forum, I think that I was able to make pretty decent plans.

Evan is one of those kids that likes Pixar movies more then traditional Disney movies. And, he isn’t so much into Characters in Costumes….but loves Characters that are more Human like. (ie. Jack Sparrow, the Princesses, Power Rangers, the Incredibles)

I wasn’t sure if he really would really be “into” Mickey and Minnie.

Scott is the same way, he’s a “tough guy” on the outside, you know, when you fall and scrap your knee…”get up and put some dirt on it”
He would NEVER EVER be caught dead wearing a Mickey T-shirt!!!

Now me, I’m the softy of the three.I love characters of all kinds, but have never owned a Mickey shirt...and I never really got the whole “Adults being obsessed” with cartoon characters. I mean I actually have friends that have tattoos of the Mickey head design that used to be on the plates at chef Mickey’s..and other friends that only decorate for Christmas with Disney ornaments, and other friends whose bathroom and kitchens are Mickey-fied..as I like to call it. But, I just didn’t “get it”

So, when booking our accommodations, I wanted to pick a place that I didn’t think would be “over-done” So I booked the Caribbean Beach Resort, PIRATE themed room, water view.

And here is the “Agenda” that I had planned for the week.. I felt the need to have Character dining as well as interesting dining choices based on forum feedback.

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The agenda includes park hours, including magic hours, and ADR’s.(Which we didn’t stick to..you’ll see!!)

 

[BelAir3]

The month of March seemed to FLY by! Honestly, All I remember doing in March was recovering from all of the snow, and one day completely out of the blue, my yard had green grass, and daffodils starting popping up!

Here’s a pic of the snow that we had in January/February!

April 4th was Easter and My Birthday! My Birthday hasn’t been on Easter since I was a kid, and my grandmother always baked me a homemade bunny cake when it was! Here’s the cake that Scott made me! Awwww, he’s sooo sweet! Go ahead you can say it!

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Then, on April 9th, Scott had surgery on his leg for returning varicose veins….a 30 minute surgery turned into 2 hours..and 28 incisions!! I was VERY concerned about him, esp. since out Disney vacation was only 8 days away!

And, on April 10th, a friend and I hosted a Baby Shower High Tea for 36 guests!

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Honestly, Between Easter, surgery, and the baby shower.. I hadn’t even though about the Disney trip..I guess I just kind of blocked it out! (Can you believe that!)

 

[OhMari]

My dh birthday is April 20, and his birthday lands more on Good Friday, than on Easter. He always gets so mad, because of our religion, fasting etc.,

I remember when we were in our teens, his mom made him a bunny cake. He was so mortified.

I live in Wisconsin, and I think you had a lot more snow than we did. Wow. Did you guys loose the evergreen tree, or did it pop back up.

 

[BelAir3]

My dh birthday is April 20, and his birthday lands more on Good Friday, than on Easter. He always gets so mad, because of our religion, fasting etc.,

I remember when we were in our teens, his mom made him a bunny cake. He was so mortified.

I live in Wisconsin, and I think you had a lot more snow than we did. Wow. Did you guys loose the evergreen tree, or did it pop back up.

We had over 60 inches of snow this season..a record!! We got hit with two weekends back to back of 24+ inch snowfalls.

Unfortunately, we lost 2 Evergreen trees, and 3 Arborvities.