4th family trip to Disney, 1st in 4 YEARS! AUG 2013(we leave August 9th!!!)

[davidb69]

Ok, we last visited Disneyworld in 2009. It was our 10 year anniversary and we wanted to do it again even though we were all happy we decided to move away from Disney for a bit till the kids got a little older. Now we are planning on heading back. We plan to reserve a hotel probably this weekend and then comes to reserve dining for the few days that we do that would be next week I think because we can do that within 180 days. I'm very intrigued this time because well, the last trip my son's were 8 and 6. This summer they will be 12 and 10. Scary how they get old so fast.

Our first year we flew from Philly to Orlando and that was cool and we stayed at All Star Movies. That trip was awesome, we had a great time but the day we got there and the day we got home we felt rushed.
The 2nd year we stayed at All Star Sports and that trip was awesome too, except for the first day when as soon as we arrived in Orlando my younger son decided to throw up and we were only 15 minutes from Disney and then he was ok and then threw up again after swimming for 30 minutes(thankfully it ended there and it was an awesome week)
The 3rd year was probably the best because we drove again(no one got sick) and every day we drove our car to every place except Magic Kingdom which meant we never waited for disney transportation which wasn't too bad in the mornings but in the evenings when we just wanted the kids to sleep it made things hard.

So here we are 4 years later. We are looking back trying to figure things out for this year's trip. Things are looking to change this summer and the experience should be totally different. For one we are going to include water parks this year. We have never visited the water parks in other years because it was an expense we didn't need to have and the kids had plenty of fun at the parks. It seems like we are going back to All Star Sports. We loved pop century last time but since it's been so long we figured we'd go back to All Star Sports. All we do now right now is our dates for our vacation Aug 10th-18th and the probably hotel. As more plans come in we will post.

 

[MomiTo2SwtGuys]

Sounds like a good plan. We haven't been since 2010. I am so excited to go back this year too. We always drive, from Tennessee, which isn't too bad. This year we have a new baby that will be going with us and our other two boys, 9 and 7. I hope this trip is great for you too!

 

[MomiTo2SwtGuys]

Oh, we love the waterparks. Haven't had a trip yet without them. If your kids love water and swimming, it will be right up their little creek.

 

[davidb69]

We booked Saturday and we are set. Yesterday we made restaurant reservations for the week. So we are all set. Not much more to say. The family is excited in all this cold to think of the warm August Florida sun.

 

[davidb69]

Ok, we have friends that are leaving for Disney world for Spring break today. First off I am happy for them and hope they have a great week but the topic always interests me is how people go to Disney. In 2007, we flew down and took advantage of Disney transportation and had a great week, though the biggest headaches were the mornings and evenings when it was time to go back to the hotels at night and the last night when we had to worry about the bus leaving for us to go home 4 hours before hand. In 2008, we drove and had a great week. We left after work on friday and arrived at disney for lunch, besides Luke puking in the car as soon as we arrived in Orlando the drive was great but we still took disney buses because I didn't want to drive that week when Disney offered free transportation. In 2009, we wised up, did the same drive after dinner and arrived at disney puke free and we drove everyday to the parks except for Magic kingdom. Our friends are driving to Virginia this afternoon and they will transport via train down to Florida. Which doesn't start till 4pm and they dont arrive till around 1pm tomorrow. Feels like you lose so much and then they have the same kind of trip on the way back. I'd rather be exhausted that first day and on the day back then not have the control. We are very excited, my vacation has been approved, longest continuous vacation ever. I can't wait.

MomiTo2SwtGuys - my older son really wants nothing to do with the water parks I think we are going to split a lot of time because my wife and our other boy is a water nut, he'd find water where ever we were that last few times we were there.

I guess we are at 4 months to go, budget is on track.

 

[davidb69]

We are contacting Disney and extending our trip till the 19th now.

We drive overnight on the 9th taking a nap at home prepping for the long drive overnight.

Saturday the 10th
We eat breakfast in Brunswick, GA for Denny's for breakfast around 7am giving the kids enough sleep and it's a nice breakfast location that we hit the last 2 times we drove down. We leave around 8am and drive till we enter Florida and hit the welcome center for fresh Orange Juice and a perfect bathroom break after breakfast. The rest of the drive is straight on, we generally will hit the McD right near the hotels that we arrive at right around 1130-noon. Our plans are to park and check in. If our rooms are ready then we bring our stuff into our rooms. If they are not ready we drive over to Blizzard Beach(maybe mini golf afterwards). I plan on a lot of the lazy river personally after that long drive. After we are done there, then we get dinner and catch some sleep in the hotel.

Sunday the 11th
We are hitting Epcot for the day staying till close.

Monday the 12th
We are hitting Animal Kingdom for probably the whole day but a lot of times we see everything here and are done early, if we do finish early we can have dinner then head to Disney Quest.

Tuesday the 13th
Full Day at Magic Kingdom through Wishes to wrap up the day.

Wednesday the 14th
Full day at Hollywood studios through fantasmic

Thursday the 15th
Early morning back at Magic Kingdom with possibly split up to hit a water park.(possibly if we dont see Wishes on tuesday we stay for Wishes on thursday.

Friday the 16th
Back to Epcot and another possible split for water park that day too

Saturday the 17th
Universal's IOA

Sunday the 18th
A day at Typhoon Lagoon.

Monday the 19th Hollywood Studios from open till 4pm for the beginning of the drive home

Tuesday the 20th
should arrive home around 8am.

 

[davidb69]

Because the kids are feeling a little scared regarding the trip to Universal and the big scary rides there we might postpone going there this year and make next year a more Universal other parks type trip.

To do this we will probably move Hollywood studios to saturday and have monday as a half day at Animal Kingdom before the trip home unless the kids want to hit a park for a 3rd day instead of AK. We don't mind.

 

[davidb69]

Finally I can say next month we goto DISNEY!!!!

Plan wise, we are waiting and waiting. Next week my boys goto camp. After the camps are over then we will be at less then 4 weeks and we can finalize the prep for Disney. My wife has made, 5 million schedules for our daily plans on which parks to hit. Our thoughts are as follows.

We are thinking when we arrive from our drive we could goto AK, MK or BB.

We are thinking if we hit a park right away, we can use a park day for a half day so we can hit a water park for a full day on another day.

Kids are very excited for Disney as well. Toughest part is the planning and the trip itself. Just very happy that we are only at a month. Interesting part with the kids is it's been 4 years and they barely remember it except through pictures. Very exciting. Can't wait for August!!!

 

[davidb69]

4 weeks to go till we begin our journey!!!! Found that there is an optional different route to take up here. 4 weeks out and I am looking at weather I should take a different route. Wow

 

[davidb69]

Ok, funny things happen. I was talking to a coworker and he used to travel to Disney with his kids and used to take 301 and get on 95 when you get to Virginia avoiding the traffic that always comes with DC. I have mapped it to death and it seems this would add 40-45 minutes to the trip. But I have just learned on constuction in northern VA that could slow us down too. Question is will it effect us. We leave our home in northern DE at 6:30 at night and we should be in VA by 8:30-9pm. Any ideas anyone?

Thanks.

 

[wiigirl]

Following along.

 

[davidb69]

Well, we are at t minus 16 days till our trip to Disney.

We had a kind of fun drive to the Outer Banks this weekend for some time on the beach and fun in the area since we are not vacationing there this summer.

With a 6 hour drive each way we figured some pluses and minuses of the car.

We were shocked to find that the dvd player in the van has seemed to have died and makes random noises which is really frustrating, ugg.

Nice part is kids have laptops and we can adjust.

Anyways, more later. Also it seems we are not part of FP+ testing. With it being 17 days till we officially at Disney, I have not recieved an email. Part of us wants to be part of testing. But I like using the traditional FP.

More later...

 

[davidb69]

12 days to go!!! We've studied the maps and traffic on Friday nights, we r so ready, we have minor purchases to make for the trip and oil change and brake pads. Sadly our gecko passed away today.;( need to Mickey happiness to cheer us up

 

[davidb69]

12 days to go!!! We've studied the maps and traffic on Friday nights, we r so ready, we have minor purchases to make for the trip and oil change and brake pads. Sadly our gecko passed away today.;( need to Mickey happiness to cheer us up

T-minus 11 days to go now. Bring on the mouse!!

 

[davidb69]

We r now at 10 days!! Plans are set just need to move the calendar along faster. 90% sure we are hitting mk when we arrive. So excited to begin our journey. As it stands now. I deliver the dog and birds to my inlaws in the morning. Feed the kids lunch then take a nap for a few hours. Then feed kids dinner and wait for my wife to come home so our 15 hr drive will begin. We are looking at leaving an hour early compared to other years so we might not eat in Brunswick ga this year. We are talking 30 minutes difference but we have to base this on the kids sleeping and How hungry we are. We always had mcd for lunch when we got there it would be nice to not do that this year. Got to verify the cat sitter later this week or early next week. Everything else like packing and stuff is stuff for next week. These next 10 days take forever!!

 

[sunfun94]

Joining In! Hope you have a fabulous trip! Looking forward to hearing how the drive down is... Safe travels!

 

[davidb69]

Thanks Sunfun, we are so looking forward to our trip.

We have hit 8 days till departure. Things are looking really good.

Cat/house sitter has been confirmed. Tomorrow night is traffic watch where we watch google for traffic updates and issues. We can only do this on a friday night since the constuction schedule is different on different days.

Tonight and tomorrow we go crazy wishing we could do something for prep but probably can't. This weekend lawn gets mowed and small shopping trips are made for extra clothes and items that we might need.

Sounds like what we are going to have is wednesday night, we do laundry then pack and then thursday night is a small load to finish off packing. So ready for Disney World and the trip is the big part of it. This weekend or monday or tuesday we will hit the store for snacks for the trip to help keep us up for the drive.

 

[davidb69]

According to Google it takes 14 hours and 14 minutes to get from our house to Disney. With no stops We left our home at 6:45 and arrived at 11:30am last time in 2009 with 1 major stop for breakfast(doing my math, that's about
16 hours and 15 minutes) Now since I know we only stopped once for breakfast but a few times for gas and bathroom breaks plus hit some traffic, we might do better then this but here is my guess times based on that trip.


Left our house: 6:45pm from Delaware Our change is 6:00pm 45 minutes in savings
Enter VA @ 9pm or so? adjust to 8:15 or so
10 min. Bathroom stop @ 9:20pm (Wendys- DH had frosty ) still a stop for bathroom for 10 minutes will occur at some point
Traffic @ Fredericksburg, VA
Richmond, VA @ 11pm approx arrive in Richmond at 10:15(not really out of the question, we are talking about hitting Richmond in 4 hrs and 15 minutes with a 10 minute bathroom break. It says 3.5 hours from google so in 2009 we hit 35 minutes worth of traffic
North Carolina @ 12:05am We probably will arrive at 11:20pm. If we hit no traffic we could arrive by 11pm
Gas stop, Wilson, NC @ 1am Estimate time for gas time should be around midnight now(good time for kids to turn off laptops and games and goto sleep)
South of the Border/South Carolina @ 2:50am estimated to hit South Carolina will be around 2am
Georgia @ 5:40am we should now hit GA around 4:55am
Gas/bathroom, 10 min., @ 6:40am, kids awake...
Breakfast, Denny's, Brunswick, GA @ 6:55am..., until 7:45am gas/bathroom/breakfast combo stop at 6am, leave at 6:50am
Florida @ 8:19am arrive in FL around 7:30am
Stopped at FLA Welcome Center, until 8:35am. stop and leave welcome center around 7:50am
McD in Disney World(no longer Disney decorated) @ 11:30am.
Check-in to Pop Century, @ 12:30pm(8/8) should be able to go straight to All Star Sports by 11am, Magic Kingdom possibly by noon or even earlier if we have no traffic?

 

[davidb69]

Ok we leave in 1 WEEK. We planned last night our dinners for the next week. We will mow the lawn saturday, We will also food shop for the week as well on saturday based on what we said we will have for dinner. Suitcases were brought out last night and we are looking at pre packing on tuesday night and doing final laundry load on thursday night for final packing.

My day on friday should be good. I will drive and drop off our birds and dog to be watched by family for the time we are away around 11am. I should get back home by noon to feed the kids and pack the van. Then I will take a nap from 1-4:30. I then will feed the kids around 515 and we should be ready to go by 6pm.

1 week to go so let's home time goes fast, we are all excited to make the trip.

 

[davidb69]

5 days till departure, actually less since we past 6pm. My wife has officially driven me nuts. All stores have been hit plus she's packing medicines and we are more prepped then any other trip. We are also packing a blow up mattress for my 12 year old who doesn't want to sleep with our 10 year old.. We look good for the schedule. More updates tomorrow.