A 2-Week Grand Villa Extravaganza! We leave tomorrow! PTR Complete...

[Duffy Lover]

Hi, I'm Maggie and I have a Disney addiction. I have come to terms with that, and I am not willing to give it up...

Now that my "problem" has been established let the PTR begin! I once attempted a trip report, but I'll be honest, grad school got in the way (pesky education, don't you know I have a Disney obsession to feed?!) and unfortunately I never finished.... This time I promise it will be different. After all, I am now done with Grad School.... This PTR revolves around a "Grand Gathering" of my entire immediate and extended family and spans two weeks in June of 2014, with three different resorts! Before those details, let's establish the crew:

Me:


I am a 35 year old busy Mom to two lovely girls who light up my life. I am a high school math teacher who along with acquiring a Master's Degree also scored a few new responsibilities at my school district: Secondary Dean of Students and District Assessment Coordinator. I love to camp and read, and I have been playing ice hockey since I was 8 years old (I still play for two teams - one a women's team and the other a co-ed recreation team). I have been to WDW 13 times and cruising my favorite Disney web pages is by far my favorite hobby.

My Amazing Family:

This pic is a tad old, but I love it... "E" is my oldest DD and is turning 7 in January. She is kind, thoughtful, caring, observant, smart and an amazing little girl. Next is my totally rocking husband, Caz, who does not share in my affinity for all things Disney. Otherwise, I am truly blessed to have such an awesome man love me. He is a wonderful father and partner and the last 15 years with him have been a fairy tale. Finally is my little "C". She is my gift from above (more on that later) and is the funniest, most verbose and adorable four year old you will ever meet. I know I am biased, but my children have enchanted pretty much anyone they have ever met (not humble at all, right?).

The best role models ever, AKA my parents:

My parents live in Michigan (along with my sisters and my in-laws) and I miss them terribly (we live in Colorado and have so for over 10 years). They are the most generous, loving, wonderful people ever. My DDs call them Papa and Buszia (the Polish word for Grandma). In 2011 they purchased their first DVC contract at OKW, and since then have added contracts at VWL and BCV (They included my sisters and I on the purchases and as such I am a DVC owner too!). It is due to their generosity that we have visited WDW so much in the last decade (more on that in the next installment). My Mom is Pirate Granny here on the boards and we love to talk Disney about every night on the phone.

My Sister Drea and her darling boys:

Drea is my older sister, and is super funny/sarcastic, smart and an amazing Mommy. She is recently divorced, and really happy. Her little ones are just my girls' ages and will be known as "J" (who turned 7 a few months ago) and "R" (who will be five during our trip in June). I am so lucky to be this close to my sister and to have her lovely young men in my life. Although they live over 1200 miles away, we get to spend a good deal of time together (thanks again to the generosity of my parents). In fact my 'rents, sis and nephews were here in CO for thanksgiving:


And last, but certainly not least, is my beautiful, younger, successful, single sister who just bought her own house, Brie:

She would be so mad if she knew I introduced her as single, but she doesn't do Disboards, so I should be good. If you are single, live in the metro-Detroit area and have a wonderful resume please PM me and I will give you her phone number. Seriously.

So there you have the cast.... The trip itself begins on May 31st, 2014 and spans 14 nights at 3 DVC resorts, including 8 nights at an OKW Grand Villa (Hospitality House area!) and a stint at BCV and VGF. The next post will give a min-trip report for the last 8 trips I've taken over the last 9 years, then we'll get into the nitty gritty of this upcoming trip. I look forward to getting to know some new friends and I am so excited to share this journey with the Disboard community!

 

[Duffy Lover]

So you don't have to scroll through the pages and pages of comments (sarcasm there...)

Chapters

Mini Past Trip Reports: Play "Guess that Resort" Part 1

Mini Past Trip Reports: Play "Guess that Resort" Part 2

Mini Past Trip Reports: Play "Guess that Resort" Part 3

Mini Past Trip Reports: Play "Guess that Resort" Part 4

Ready, Set, Plan! - General Plans

Resorts Part 1

Resorts Part 2

Resorts Part 3

Dining Plans Part 1

Dining Plans Part 2

Detailed Plans Day 1

Detailed Plans Day 2

Random Saturday Musings

Detailed Plans Day 3

Detailed Plans Day 4

Detailed Plans Day 5

FP+ Selections

Detailed Plans Day 6

Detailed Plans Day 7

Detailed Plans Days 8 and 9

Detailed Plans Days 10 and 11

Detailed Plans Days 12 and 13

Detailed Plans Days 14 and 15

 

[Duffy Lover]

Ok... Despite the lack of response (that's ok, we're still getting to know each other, and no one wants to rush into a trip report relationship), I am going to press on. After all, I'm doing this to chronicle this journey for my girls...

So we can all get to know each other a little better, here are some really quick snapshots of the trips I've taken since I've "grown up." I won't tell you what resort we stayed at, but provide a picture with the resort in the background so you can guess where we stayed. I'd like to say there are prizes involved, but that's not going to happen. Regardless, let's get started! First up, my first Disney Trip as an adult...

Christmas 2004



This trip was with my parents, my sisters and my amazing Gramps. I was very close to my grandparents and my Gramps was 84, almost 85 on this trip. My Granny passed in 1989, and we missed her terribly. This trip was the last time I went on vacation with my Gramps before he passed in 2006, just months before my wedding.



The previous picture of my Gramps *should* let you guess the resort....

It was a great trip, we ate at Narcoosees on Christmas, took a Bay Lake Fireworks cruise and enjoyed Christmas as a family. This trip was nice, as although my older sis and I had our boyfriends (now my DH), we really loved being together as our traditional family unit.

One last pic from that trip:



E's First Trip, September 2007

So since my last trip in 2004, I had gotten married to Caz and had an amazing little girl. My parents had originally planned to take us to WDW every year for mini-vacations. This was the first of those. We went for a long weekend and enjoyed MNSSHP:





My little "E" was almost 8 months old and it was an amazing trip... Guess where we stayed:



That one was a bit too easy, so let's see who gets that one first.... We had a great trip, it was just me, E, DH, and my wonderful parents:



Some more pics:








It was a bit too short of a trip for my tastes... But another trip was on the horizon:

"Not My" Disney Wedding

Guess where we stayed for this one?!?!



My little sis, Brie was in a wedding for her very good friends from college, and they got married in the "World." Brie's deadbeat boyfriend did not want to go so I got to be her +1. As my parents were invited we had a fun mini-trip. I met up with them with out Caz and E, and I missed my little girl something fierce while I was at the "World." Some pics:











It was a great mini-trip, especially since as I left Colorado for Florida (on the last Friday in May) it was snowing. All I remember was thinking "So long, suckers!"

So there you go... The first few trips... Hopefully you'll feel more comfortable and stop by and say "hi." I'd like that! More to come soon...

 

[Pirate Granny]

Smile...I'll read these

 

[Duffy Lover]

Smile...I'll read these

Thanks Mom! I knew I could count on you!

 

[Duffy Lover]

So here I am with part 2 of the "Guess that Resort" mini trip reports with-in a pre-trip report. I'm feeling a little sad that I haven't had any comments except for my Mom, but I don't comment on other trip reports myself - I mostly lurk. Anyways, I ended my last installment with the (Not My) Disney Wedding trip in 2008 - which I stayed at what resort? Anyone? Bueller? Bueller? (A little 80's movie humor there)...

Big Family Vacation

So this trip took place in November of 2008, and was quite bitter-sweet for me. This trip took place just two days after finding out I had miscarried at about 12 weeks. It was a sad time, but in a way it was good healing, especially since I got to see the majority of my family and was at my most favorite place on the planet. On this trip was my little crew, my parents, my older sister Drea and her oldest son - she was preggers with my youngest nephew at the time, my little sister Brie, and my MIL, Donna and my two SILs, Sarah and Amanda.





The majority of us stayed on-site, and my in-laws found an affordable suite hotel off-site. Which resort did we stay at, you ask... Well, here's a tough clue:


It was a great little trip, only 5 days long, and we enjoyed MVMCP. Note the hot chocolate on my DH's shirt - you gotta love having a toddler spruce up your outfits!



The kids had a great time, and it was my nephew's first trip. My little girl was about 22 months old and my DN was just over two. They were just amazed by it all!


One last pic from that trip, and perhaps one of the cutest of Brie and E


Just the Girls

This next trip took place in May/June of 2009, and you may note that I was pregnant at that time (7 months along)! Yea! So not long after our loss we found out we were with child again, in fact it was 5 years ago yesterday we had the news. Poor E was on the mend in this photo, but it was the only good one of my baby bump...



So this trip had multiple purposes: I wanted to go one last time with just E before she turned 3 (she was almost 2.5 yo this trip), and I wanted this to be my graduation gift from my mother. Long story short, when I graduated college in 2001 my gift from my Mom was a Mother-Daughter vacation -anywhere! So as you can see it was now 2009, and I was pregnant with my second child and I had yet to take that vacation. I decided I wanted to go to WDW, and as interest on the long overdue trip, I asked if I could bring E, and of course my wonderful mother thought it was a great idea!



We had a wonderful time and we stayed at Pop Century, which was great! Sorry, I realized I haven't uploaded a "clue" photo and I don't have access to other pictures right now. So no guessing game for this report! We stayed for just over a week, and although it was hot, we had a blast.



E really warmed up to the characters this time around, and it was also the first time she got sick with a stomach bug on a Disney vacation. Poor thing!





So that will be all for now... There are three more mini-trip reports left to do and then we can get down to the details of this up-coming trip... Only 162 days left to go!!!

 

[wiigirl]

Following along!

 

[Duffy Lover]

Following along!

Woo Hoo! Thanks! I promise to try and post at least once a week until our trip... That means at least 23 posts!

 

[Duffy Lover]

Merry Christmas Everyone! Happy New Year! I hope you all had a wonderful holiday, I know we did! Here's a darling picture of my girls wearing their Christmas best:



So when we last left off, I was 7 months preggers with darling C, and my next Disney trip was over 18 months away! Pirate Granny to the rescue! My Mom treated me and my sisters to a long weekend in Florida: One night at (fill in the blank resort here) followed by three at *gasp* Universal's Pacific Royal. Yep, we were going to the dark side...

One Night at WDW

We went in September of 2010, and my little ones were left home with their daddy...





Yep, we went to MNSSHP! And it was great, but boy did I miss my girls. It really brought me back to E's first trip... As for the resort, here's my clue:



Universal was fun, I enjoyed it, but the real treat was the Harry Potter section. My sisters, Mom and I are talking about going back to check out the new section after it's been opened for a while.







So there you go... Two trips left to go!

C's First Trip

My parents once again took the whole family to WDW during my spring break in April 2011 - just about 6 months after our last trip. We had the dining plan, and were staying in "Grand" surroundings, and let me tell you, the kids had a blast all staying in one location! On this trip was my wonderful parents, my older sister Drea and her family (love those boys!) and my little sis Brie. The girls were 4 years old and about 19 months at the time...





We had an amazing trip that included two grand gatherings- the Illuminations dinner:



And breakfast at Tony's:



We also had a professional Disney photo shoot in France. I have to say I was not impressed. Although the they were aware we had 4 small children in the shoot, they brought no props to make the kiddos laugh, nor did they even really try to engage the kids. They had an assistant there, but the poses were totally typical... We did get a few gems (see my girls) but for the most part it was pretty staged...





Overall it was an amazing trip with pretty good weather and wonderful company.





To wrap this post up let's look at a couple firsts: E's first roller coaster (she asked to go again right away) and C's first ride - the Jungle Cruise.






I'll see ya real soon with the last mini past trip report, and then we can get to the important stuff - our upcoming trip! Only 151 days left! Squee!!

 

[Duffy Lover]

Alrighty! It's time for the final installment of "Guess that Resort" (which in hindsight is really easy - especially considering the answers are in my signature)!

Surprise Trip for My Girls

After the last trip in the March of 2011, we began planning for the next big family trip - the one that this pre-trip is for: in May/June of 2014. That meant my next trip was over 1000 days away! In the throes of post-trip depression, I decided to go ahead and plan a trip that was not sponsored by my parents. I of course invited my whole family along, and in the end my little sis and my parents joined me and my girls for a week in June 2012. It was a week between two of my grad classes, and boy was I looking forward to some down time! I also decided to surprise the girls - I told them we were going to meet my parents and sister in Kansas and then the morning of the trip gave them the news! They were a little young for such a surprise, but eventually they got really excited!



The original plan was to stay at the newly opened AoA in a suite, but my lovely parents decided to purchase DVC so that changed the original plan. For a first night surprise we stayed at:



Which the girls just LOVED!





I love the monorail!





We had great character interactions this trip... Goofy even tried to "steal" little C:













Little C even got her first haircut at the Main Street Barbershop!



For the rest of our trip we stayed in a 2 BR villa at:



We got some great Photopass pictures (no professional shoot needed)!













So there you go... 8 "Trip Reports" all worked into one all powerful pre-trip report! Waa Haa Haa Haa! Um, I don't know what came over me there.... Ahem. Beginning sometime soon, all the minutiae of our upcoming trip will be delved into, leaving no rock unturned, no FP+ selection left behind (seriously - choosing those FP+ are serious business). Until then HAPPY NEW YEAR!

 

[Duffy Lover]

I can't help it... I love reading this trip report! I look at it again and again...This report is for me, my Mom and my girls. �� Happy New Year to all!

 

[momofmaz]

Loving your mini reviews of previous trips. Certainly sets the stage and I'm obsessed with watching your family grow and change over the years at the World!

 

[Duffy Lover]

Loving your mini reviews of previous trips. Certainly sets the stage and I'm obsessed with watching your family grow and change over the years at the World!

Awwww.... Thanks! I'm almost sad the mini-trip reports are over. But it just means we're all that much closer to our next trip! Thanks for reading...

 

[liemge]

I'm in

 

[liemge]

I'm in, love the planning as much as the trips!

 

[Duffy Lover]

I'm having a bit of hard time wrapping my brain around how to go about the rest of this pre-trip report. What I'm thinking is I will begin with a general post about our plans (this post), then discuss our resorts and ADRs. Then I will devote one post to each one of our 15 days in the world. It's not quite 20 posts, but I'm sure we can get *almost* one post per week. I actually meant to post earlier this week, but as a teacher/administrator it was my first week back to work after 17 days off and I was wicked busy!

So I mentioned way, way back in my first post that our departure date is May 31st of this year (yea)! I am really happy to put 2013 behind me - not because it was bad - I graduated with my masters, got my dream job and did great traveling, but because it was the first year I hadn't been to WDW since 2007. Shall I post a gratuitous picture to break up this monologue? Sure!

Here's a picture of C telling Mulan something shocking about her boy barbies... I'm trying to recall exactly what she said... I'll have to get back to ya'll about the exact words.. If I recall correctly she told Mulan the girls went potty and the boys went poop. Yep, I think that was it. What a silly little two year old!


Ok, so where were we? Oh yes, planning.... So we arrive on a Saturday. The original plan was to leave the previous Saturday, but with my new job, my contract was extended by a week and that was when I could leave. There are 10 of us on the trip for the most part (see post 1 for the details), but my hubby (person 10) is actually joining us for the second week. Since he doesn't have enough time off for the full two weeks then his sister's wedding (Amanda from post # 3) just two weeks later, that's all he can make it for. The original plan had us staying two night nights at BCV, then 10 at OKW in a Grand Villa, followed by one night at BLT - possibly also at a Grand Villa. These plans morphed and changed as time went on...

Since DH wasn't coming until later in the week, we were able to all fit into a 2 BR at BCV. Yep, 9 folks legally fit in a 2 BR -Go figure! I won't go into details here since I'll have an entire post about it, but we will fit very nicely and it should be awe-some! And since we only needed one 2 BR, not that AND a studio, my DM decided to stay there for four nights instead of two. I'm just bummed by DH will miss SAB. Ready for a great pic of BCV? Courtesy of the MDE site:



Lovely, right?

So for our next 8 nights, we will be staying at OKW in a Grand Villa in the Hospitality House area. For those of you familiar with OKW, you should know what a feat that is... But more on that in the resort post. My DH will join us late Friday the 6th of June. Although we will be at WDW for 15 days, we're only getting 10 day park hoppers... So that means besides our arrival and departure days, we will be spending 3 days not going to parks. Some of those will include water parks and DTD, but there are at least two (I think), that will be days lounging at resorts. Here is yet another pic courtesy of MDE of OKW. I just love this one because I know that every morning and night I will leave our villa and see this amazing view:



Finally our last two nights.... As time went on we decided we would see if we could score a 2 BR lock-off at the newly opened VGF. We thought it was a sign that these villas could handle 10 people and that we should stay there if we could in fact get the elusive 2 BR lockoff.... It is my fondest hope that by our next extended family trip we will need more space. My sister Drea, who is newly divorced is already seeing a nice man - time will tell how that works out, but more than anything I want my little sis to find a great, loving man - a man much like my DH. She broke up with her loser DBF almost three years ago, and she's kind of shut herself off from any type of social life. I am hoping this is the year she opens herself up to love. She just bought a house and perhaps not living with my folks will make her more apt to seek out companionship. Anyways... VGF. I am actually really excited to stay here. As you may have deduced from my mini trip reports, we stayed there for a short spell for a Wedding. It was lovely. I just wish there was a way to walk to MK. I am super duper excited to stay here! Here's a photo to wet your whistle:



So in general our trip is going to be pretty planned out. I'm curious to see how FP+ plays out. I'm not a fan of only 3 FP per day, but ok, we have to run with it. I also am looking forward to all our dining! We are going with Tables in Wonderland as opposed to the DDP. I did an extensive analysis that demonstrated the DDP would not be good for us even though we have something like 12 ADRs. More on that later! I hope to also go out at without the kiddos at least three times.. Once with my sisters and not my DH (Jelly Rolls or DTD?) once with just my DH (Epcot and Jelly Rolls?) and then finally with my sisters and DH at least once. Where should we go? I love that we stay in one "room", it makes having the rent's watch the girls (and DNs) so much easier. Especially since we live thousands of miles away from my parents and family in law - thus no easy free babysitting...

We are also going to have the kiddos in the Disney Child Care Centers twice this trip: at the Sand Castle Club and hopefully at the Neverland Club at the Poly. Currently we have ressies at the Sand Castle Club and the Cubs Den (I think I have these names right, but I'm not certain). Since the Neverland Club is under a reno we can't make ressies, so we planned for the Cub's Den at WL. When they are there we have dinner ressies at the Yachtsman's Steakhouse and the Cali Grill. The kids also have reservations at the BBB and the Pirates League, and a pirate's cruise stemming from the GF. What a trip!

I also have at least 6 matching outfits for the girls. Two of which come from Etsy, and the rest are from other sources, including the Disney Store (another post perhaps?). So there you go... Our plans in a nut shell. What do you think?

 

[Leleluvsdis]

Love love love it!!!!!!

 

[Duffy Lover]

Love love love it!!!!!!

I'm in, love the planning as much as the trips!

Thanks folks! These trip reports really get you in the mood for Disney... Only 139 more days... Squee!

 

[Duffy Lover]

I drove to work yesterday listening to the "Four Parks, One World" CD. I was driving through at least a foot of "powder" (as it is referred to here in CO) belting out the "Welcome Song" with my girls. Anyhow, I couldn't help but think about how when I hear some of the music from that CD "live", it will be HOT. Like really HOT.

I. CANNOT. WAIT.

I am so over snow. There you are. Want a great photo of my lovely home town? Here you go...



Enjoy. FYI: people pay more to visit and ski here than they would to go to WDW in the same period of time. Go figure.

 

[Pirate Granny]

Great post....wewill be here with you in that snow in a couple of weeks...THEN the Disney trip...can't believe it's finally "this" year...