4 kids, 3 adults, 2 Grand Villas, and 1 Split Stay!!!!

[Disney9.9.10]

I'm glad that you found a bag that works for you! I've played with a few different options, but haven't quite found that perfect thing for me yet. Although next time we go, I'll have a stroller to push around, so that will do for a few trips

 

[LB1122]

Loving your camera bag. I have a 31 bag that has moveable compartments I was thinking of trying out for out trip in December?? Yours is much more fun but I know I do not need to but a new one.

Your pirates are so sweet in their picture. If you need help carrying stuff we found the little Vera Bradley backpack worked great with our daughter in the parks. It was small on her and only held her autograph book wrapped in a plastic bag with extra makers for signatures. You could share it among the girls no problem with all the books in if you sue them.

In room gifts!!!!!!!!!! I have ordered form Dis Floral & Gifts 2 times. Once for Daughter and once for a wedding...Both were awesome and they will really work with you. You could get a Family gift instead of just a birthday that might take the pressure off the others feeling odd (I think they will still be happy after all even with the B-day stuff thy are going to Disney)..The snacks in many of these are really good fillers.

 

[taaren]

Do you and your family use the rental car because you're going to non Disney parks as well? We debated on using a day to go to LegoLand but decided against it.

We're getting a rental car because we did not care for the buses.
Getting back and forth to DTD and AK was just annoying for us without the car (we split stayed between BLT & BWV last year). Being from DLR we're super spoiled by being walking distance to parks so the bus thing is just ... weird to us.
However, we will be taking at least 2-3 days to go to Universal. It wasn't high on my list until a friend who worked there offered us free tickets, and we got hooked ... unfortunately my friend left that job but now we can't NOT go since DS is a huge Transformers fan and they've been heavily advertising it on the radio here so he's been begging for it. (And it really is a spectacular park.)

I've been to LegoLand in San Diego, and if the Florida one is comparable, I don't think you'll be missing much. SeaWorld and Universal are much more impressive if you want a non-Disney park.

The always annoying aspect of the parks for me is how it carry all of our stuff. Our "stuff" means the camera, camcorder, change of clothes, cell phone, wallet, water and snacks. I remember being able to go to the parks with nothing but myself, some cash and a small pocket camera (before kids). And then with kids of course there comes a lot of "stuff" that needs to be carried. At least when we used a stroller we could put our stuff in the basket under the stroller. And I used a diaper bag that clipped to the back of the stroller so I had plenty of room for our stuff.

On our last visit we did not use a stroller for the twins, so we lost our storage area. Instead I carried my camera bag, camcorder bag, and all our other things in a nylon backpack. And it was annoying. Very annoying. It was hard to get things out if they fell to the bottom of the bag. And taking the camera out of the backpack and then out of the camera bag was ridiculous. And forget about the camcorder. I used it twice the entire trip. But I still lugged it around everywhere with me.

So I've spent a bit of time researching the best options. There are a few threads on here where people have asked opinions on what kind of bag to bring to the parks. Like anything else it's a matter of preference, but I think I've finally figured it out, at least for me

The best thing is that it's not a bulky backpack but can still hold a lot. There is a zippered slot on the back for a tablet, a cell phone holder, 2 water bottle holders, a bunch of spots inside to hold things, and compartments for my camera and camcorder. And it comes with a rain cover. Nifty

I am so excited to try it out....and dh thinks I'm crazy.

That is a very cute bag! I'm too lazy to carry a backpack; that's what Photopass is for! You must end up with a lot of beautiful shots though ...

We don't take anything but our cell phones/KTTW/sunglasses and if we're planning on a water ride that gets you soaked we take panchos, slippers, and change of clothes. I even forgot my ID when we went to the GF for tea and they wouldn't serve me champagne.

Its so much fun ordering stuff to "prep" for a trip. I've got night vision goggles and binoculars sitting in my Amazon cart waiting for me to pull the trigger for our AKL nights now ...

 

[Irishlisa]

I'm glad that you found a bag that works for you! I've played with a few different options, but haven't quite found that perfect thing for me yet. Although next time we go, I'll have a stroller to push around, so that will do for a few trips

Congratulations!!!!. How exciting. That stroller will come in handy for all your "stuff" .

I'll let you know how my new bag works after my trip.

 

[Irishlisa]

Loving your camera bag. I have a 31 bag that has moveable compartments I was thinking of trying out for out trip in December?? Yours is much more fun but I know I do not need to but a new one.

Your pirates are so sweet in their picture. If you need help carrying stuff we found the little Vera Bradley backpack worked great with our daughter in the parks. It was small on her and only held her autograph book wrapped in a plastic bag with extra makers for signatures. You could share it among the girls no problem with all the books in if you sue them.

In room gifts!!!!!!!!!! I have ordered form Dis Floral & Gifts 2 times. Once for Daughter and once for a wedding...Both were awesome and they will really work with you. You could get a Family gift instead of just a birthday that might take the pressure off the others feeling odd (I think they will still be happy after all even with the B-day stuff thy are going to Disney)..The snacks in many of these are really good fillers.

Ohhh, I like the 31 bag (I just looked online). I need different compartments like the ones they have or my stuff gets lost amongst itself. Wish I checked those out first. Hopefully the backpack will serve it's purpose. We're taking the kids to NYC next week so I'm going to do a test drive and see how it works .

THANK YOU so much for the bag suggestion for the kids, what a great idea . I never thought of that. I could get one for the girls to share like you said, and then ds could use his soccer bag (it's like a sling sack with drawstrings), as I'm sure he would pass on the Vera Bradley .

And again, thank you for your suggestion about doing a family gift instead of just a birthday one. I never thought of that and it makes more sense.

So happy to have all the suggestions, keep them coming .

 

[Irishlisa]

We're getting a rental car because we did not care for the buses.
Getting back and forth to DTD and AK was just annoying for us without the car (we split stayed between BLT & BWV last year). Being from DLR we're super spoiled by being walking distance to parks so the bus thing is just ... weird to us.
However, we will be taking at least 2-3 days to go to Universal. It wasn't high on my list until a friend who worked there offered us free tickets, and we got hooked ... unfortunately my friend left that job but now we can't NOT go since DS is a huge Transformers fan and they've been heavily advertising it on the radio here so he's been begging for it. (And it really is a spectacular park.)

I've been to LegoLand in San Diego, and if the Florida one is comparable, I don't think you'll be missing much. SeaWorld and Universal are much more impressive if you want a non-Disney park.

That is a very cute bag! I'm too lazy to carry a backpack; that's what Photopass is for! You must end up with a lot of beautiful shots though ...

We don't take anything but our cell phones/KTTW/sunglasses and if we're planning on a water ride that gets you soaked we take panchos, slippers, and change of clothes. I even forgot my ID when we went to the GF for tea and they wouldn't serve me champagne.

Its so much fun ordering stuff to "prep" for a trip. I've got night vision goggles and binoculars sitting in my Amazon cart waiting for me to pull the trigger for our AKL nights now ...

, yeah the buses to DTD are the most annoying, especially from AKV. That's why my cousin's husband drives everywhere while we're there. Last year he usually went ahead of us in the car with whoever was ready and then the rest of us would take the bus and meet up with them. He hates the buses.

I'm glad you said that about LegoLand. I have no desire to drive that far from Disney to do another park for a whole day. DS did want to go but we quickly shot down the idea. I would like to do Universal at some point in the future though, maybe our next trip. I haven't been there in 10+ years and our kids have never been there. I hear it's great as you mentioned.

 

[Irishlisa]

That is a very cute bag! I'm too lazy to carry a backpack; that's what Photopass is for! You must end up with a lot of beautiful shots though ...

We don't take anything but our cell phones/KTTW/sunglasses and if we're planning on a water ride that gets you soaked we take panchos, slippers, and change of clothes. I even forgot my ID when we went to the GF for tea and they wouldn't serve me champagne.

Its so much fun ordering stuff to "prep" for a trip. I've got night vision goggles and binoculars sitting in my Amazon cart waiting for me to pull the trigger for our AKL nights now ...

Ugh, I hate carrying any bag at all. I'm hoping this one will work. I should just utilize Photopass more like you said. I'm not going to bring the camcorder to the parks, I never take it out anyway. Now I'm tempted to not bring my camera either . I like this backpack for the airport too, so I'll definetely use it, but maybe not so much in the parks because I like your way of thinking.

And YES, I love ordering stuff for the trip. We have binoculars but we don't have night vision goggles, which is another GREAT idea .

 

[Irishlisa]

I've got night vision goggles and binoculars sitting in my Amazon cart waiting for me to pull the trigger for our AKL nights now ...

I looked online, do you mind if I ask which night vision goggles you are thinking about getting? Some of the ones I saw were $400.00 . But then there were kid's ones for about $20.00.

 

[taaren]

I looked online, do you mind if I ask which night vision goggles you are thinking about getting? Some of the ones I saw were $400.00 . But then there were kid's ones for about $20.00.

There's a pair of kids ones that are about $55, and they see 50 feet ... they get pretty good reviews from adults who use them for night time bird watching. I think they're the "Spy Net" brand. I'm not willing to spend $400 either, but I figure these should be good enough and my DS will enjoy playing with them *after* the trip.

 

[Irishlisa]

There's a pair of kids ones that are about $55, and they see 50 feet ... they get pretty good reviews from adults who use them for night time bird watching. I think they're the "Spy Net" brand. I'm not willing to spend $400 either, but I figure these should be good enough and my DS will enjoy playing with them *after* the trip.

Great, thanks again for the info.

 

[Irishlisa]

Being new to the whole split stay thing, and staying on property only once before, I'm learning as I go. One of the many exciting things about Disney for me is that you can always pick up on things you never knew on previous trips. I've been to WDW so many times I thought I knew so much. Now I realize that I was missing out on a lot. Staying on property gives me a whole new perspective. I'm not saying that you can't have a great Disney trip if you stay off property, just different.

So what did I learn this morning? That we will have to move ourselves to BLT when we leave AKV. First, let me just say that I didn't expect that we would be moved but quite honestly I was hoping . I spoke with a very nice CM this morning and she explained that the resorts are not linked to each other, once you check out of one and are checking into a different one, you make your way on your own. No biggie. The CM said we could use the bus to get over to BLT (not going to happen with the 7 of us plus our luggage), or we could take a taxi for about $15.00. "Insert cousin and her vehicle to move luggage here" .

One small issue will be our food. I like using Garden Grocer and love that your order is delivered directly to your villa. But now I'm wondering how much I should order, especially perishable items. Last year we ate breakfast in everyday before heading out for the day. It was a great cost saver. We also had snacks and some lunch items that made our days easier. We do have more ADRs than we've ever had so I probably won't need as much anyway. My sister suggested asking our cousin to bring a cooler to move our food for us with our luggage, and I'm sure she wouldn't mind, but I don't want to be annoying.

 

[coltink]

Finally found your PTR..I'll catchup a little this afternoon.

 

[Irishlisa]

Finally found your PTR..I'll catchup a little this afternoon.

Yeah, I finally figured out how to add the link to my signature.

 

[coltink]

Ok. All caught up. Your kids are adorable and the shirts are so cute. I'm tempted to make my group wear matching shirts....but I couldn't do that to them. I will see them again in the outside world. They know where I sleep.

I am not a huge picture taker but I do like to take some. The trouble was that I would bring in my digital camera and leave it in the bag and forget about it because I didn't want to carry it around. Now we are in the times of iphone's, instagram, and facebook....so I guess I'm just going to take my cell phone. Just makes the most sense to me. I can carry it in a pocket and it won't be buried in a bag.

 

[Irishlisa]

Ok. All caught up. Your kids are adorable and the shirts are so cute. I'm tempted to make my group wear matching shirts....but I couldn't do that to them. I will see them again in the outside world. They know where I sleep.

I am not a huge picture taker but I do like to take some. The trouble was that I would bring in my digital camera and leave it in the bag and forget about it because I didn't want to carry it around. Now we are in the times of iphone's, instagram, and facebook....so I guess I'm just going to take my cell phone. Just makes the most sense to me. I can carry it in a pocket and it won't be buried in a bag.

Thank you. And I think you should get 4 matching shirts for your trip, that would be hilarious.

Your comment about the camera, along with others saying the same thing, has me rethinking my strategy. I always bring my camera with me but end up taking more pictures with my iPhone. I'm now thinking about not lugging it with me to the parks.

 

[taaren]

Being new to the whole split stay thing, and staying on property only once before, I'm learning as I go. One of the many exciting things about Disney for me is that you can always pick up on things you never knew on previous trips. I've been to WDW so many times I thought I knew so much. Now I realize that I was missing out on a lot. Staying on property gives me a whole new perspective. I'm not saying that you can't have a great Disney trip if you stay off property, just different.

So what did I learn this morning? That we will have to move ourselves to BLT when we leave AKV. First, let me just say that I didn't expect that we would be moved but quite honestly I was hoping . I spoke with a very nice CM this morning and she explained that the resorts are not linked to each other, once you check out of one and are checking into a different one, you make your way on your own. No biggie. The CM said we could use the bus to get over to BLT (not going to happen with the 7 of us plus our luggage), or we could take a taxi for about $15.00. "Insert cousin and her vehicle to move luggage here" .

One small issue will be our food. I like using Garden Grocer and love that your order is delivered directly to your villa. But now I'm wondering how much I should order, especially perishable items. Last year we ate breakfast in everyday before heading out for the day. It was a great cost saver. We also had snacks and some lunch items that made our days easier. We do have more ADRs than we've ever had so I probably won't need as much anyway. My sister suggested asking our cousin to bring a cooler to move our food for us with our luggage, and I'm sure she wouldn't mind, but I don't want to be annoying.

Okay, about the split stay ... we've done several. Here's the best thing to do. Check out of your room in the morning, and have four sets of bags ready to go:

Set A) The stuff you absolutely want to keep with you: your purse, your camera, anything that was in the room safe, and whatever you need for a day in the park (be it panchos/jackets/backpack/whatever), and anything you can't afford to not see until 4p (eg. take any medicines, etc).

Set B) Your food that needs to be refrigerated.

Set C) Any valuables that are too bulky to take into the park, eg. laptops.

Set D) Everything else; luggage, non-perishables, etc.

Call bell services at AKV at about 9:30am. Tell them you are split-staying, and moving to BLT. When the bell guy gets to your room, point out to which bags need to be refrigerated (set B). They will load up set D first, then on top they will put the refrigerated stuff on the cart, and write "x"'s with a Sharpie or otherwise mark it. They will also take any of Set C and put it into a "cage" that is secure. DH did this with his laptop ... they have a cage specifically for smallish valuable items that you want kept more secure than normal luggage. Then they will take sets B, C, and D downstairs, put it in the fridge, the cage, and storage, and you grab Set A and go to the parks via bus or monorail or however you would usually go with the stuff you can't leave behind, have a great day.

When 4p rolls around, go to your new resort from the park via whatever you would have originally. Tell bell services that your stuff was sent from your previous resort. Tell them the number of bags you had, and whether any were from the fridge/cage. They bring your stuff to your room!

It really is just magical. We used this service twice last year. We tipped generously on both ends, and it was totally worth not having to deal with lugging our stuff ourselves. Only thing to be aware of is from the time you hand your stuff over to them in the morning until the afternoon, you won't have access to it. Some DVC'ers go the cab route because then they know exactly where their stuff is. I'm not that picky.

 

[Irishlisa]

Okay, about the split stay ... we've done several. Here's the best thing to do. Check out of your room in the morning, and have four sets of bags ready to go:

Set A) The stuff you absolutely want to keep with you: your purse, your camera, anything that was in the room safe, and whatever you need for a day in the park (be it panchos/jackets/backpack/whatever), and anything you can't afford to not see until 4p (eg. take any medicines, etc).

Set B) Your food that needs to be refrigerated.

Set C) Any valuables that are too bulky to take into the park, eg. laptops.

Set D) Everything else; luggage, non-perishables, etc.

Call bell services at AKV at about 9:30am. Tell them you are split-staying, and moving to BLT. When the bell guy gets to your room, point out to which bags need to be refrigerated (set B). They will load up set D first, then on top they will put the refrigerated stuff on the cart, and write "x"'s with a Sharpie or otherwise mark it. They will also take any of Set C and put it into a "cage" that is secure. DH did this with his laptop ... they have a cage specifically for smallish valuable items that you want kept more secure than normal luggage. Then they will take sets B, C, and D downstairs, put it in the fridge, the cage, and storage, and you grab Set A and go to the parks via bus or monorail or however you would usually go with the stuff you can't leave behind, have a great day.

When 4p rolls around, go to your new resort from the park via whatever you would have originally. Tell bell services that your stuff was sent from your previous resort. Tell them the number of bags you had, and whether any were from the fridge/cage. They bring your stuff to your room!

It really is just magical. We used this service twice last year. We tipped generously on both ends, and it was totally worth not having to deal with lugging our stuff ourselves. Only thing to be aware of is from the time you hand your stuff over to them in the morning until the afternoon, you won't have access to it. Some DVC'ers go the cab route because then they know exactly where their stuff is. I'm not that picky.

YOU ARE AWESOME!!!! I actually printed this out. Thank you so much for the info.

 

[Irishlisa]

New development on the planning front....My mother in law has decided to join us for the trip .
So we are now 4 kids, 4 adults, 2 Grand Villas, and 1 Split Stay (although I have no plans to change my PTR title). Plus my cousin's family makes 12 .
Now I have to add her to all our ADRs, resort reservations, and ME. And I already purchased our Pirates and Pals Cruise tickets and MVMCP tickets.
Just when I thought I had everything under control .

On an exciting note we recieved Mickey Mail today!!!! :

Our ME vouchers and luggage tags came already.

 

[taaren]

On an exciting note we recieved Mickey Mail today!!!! :

Our ME vouchers and luggage tags came already.

Ooh. I want my ME vouchers! Guess I should add ME to my reservation ... I was going to wait until I had the rental car solidified, but ...

Awesome that your MIL is joining! So much easier with more hands for the kids. My favorite travelling group is one that has 5 adults:3 kids ratio (two couples + one brother). Its just awesome to be able to hand the kids back and forth when we need to, or have couples time when uncle takes over, or moms night out or guys night out.

 

[Irishlisa]

Ooh. I want my ME vouchers! Guess I should add ME to my reservation ... I was going to wait until I had the rental car solidified, but ...

Awesome that your MIL is joining! So much easier with more hands for the kids. My favorite travelling group is one that has 5 adults:3 kids ratio (two couples + one brother). Its just awesome to be able to hand the kids back and forth when we need to, or have couples time when uncle takes over, or moms night out or guys night out.

Yes, adding my MIL will make the parks easier. DS was all about thrill rides on our last trip so he and DH would take off on their own while my sister and I would switch between the three girls. With another adult our options are even better.