A Disney-Addicted mom plans an August, 2013 Autotrain Trip for 7! *Big Update! 11/19*

[luvpoohandcompany]

Come to Ireland- we have been known to have all 4 seasons in 1 day !!! Seriously in February you could get sunshine though not heat but then again there's no guarantee of heat in July either Fair chance you'd get snow or at least sleet and rain is definitely guaranteed so what's not to love

Oh yeah you wanted nice weather as opposed to just "weather" maybe San Diego is your best bet Wherever you choose have fun

 

[DrMomof3]

Come to Ireland- we have been known to have all 4 seasons in 1 day !!! Seriously in February you could get sunshine though not heat but then again there's no guarantee of heat in July either Fair chance you'd get snow or at least sleet and rain is definitely guaranteed so what's not to love

Oh yeah you wanted nice weather as opposed to just "weather" maybe San Diego is your best bet Wherever you choose have fun

I love that you have 4 seasons in one day. Too funny...
My brother lives in London so it would be tough to bring the kids to Ireland before they've met their cousins in London...

Amanda

 

[natebenma]

Non-Disney trip planning? I'm in!

San Diego- Beautiful weather. Lots to do (the zoo, Sea World, science park, Old Town). If your kids do well on the Hawaii flight, this could be a great choice.

Atlantis- I agree- not in Feb. We have been in Feb (too cold) and April (just right!)

Puerto Rico- no passports required and you can use your phones without huge fees! Love it!
Mark and I stayed at El Conquistador/Las Casitas to celebrate our anniversary. Nice resort, HUGE, small waterpark (extra fee), expensive food. Biggest complaint is that the beach was on an island a boat-ride away. Will have to look into the Windham mentioned above.

We love the Caribbean, but we have really enjoyed the Barceló Maya in Mexico, about an hour south of Cancun. We will be returning there for a 4th time in February. Unfortunately, there are limited rooms for families of 5. But I encourage you to check out other family-friendly resorts in the area. Contrary to popular belief, the area is truly safe. The beaches are awesome and there is a lot of really interesting stuff to do nearby: Mayan ruins, Xplor (ziplines), Xcaret- natural theme park, Xel-ha- snorkeling and other natural wonders.

Happy planning!

 

[DrMomof3]

Non-Disney trip planning? I'm in!

San Diego- Beautiful weather. Lots to do (the zoo, Sea World, science park, Old Town). If your kids do well on the Hawaii flight, this could be a great choice.

Atlantis- I agree- not in Feb. We have been in Feb (too cold) and April (just right!)

Puerto Rico- no passports required and you can use your phones without huge fees! Love it!
Mark and I stayed at El Conquistador/Las Casitas to celebrate our anniversary. Nice resort, HUGE, small waterpark (extra fee), expensive food. Biggest complaint is that the beach was on an island a boat-ride away. Will have to look into the Windham mentioned above.

We love the Caribbean, but we have really enjoyed the Barceló Maya in Mexico, about an hour south of Cancun. We will be returning there for a 4th time in February. Unfortunately, there are limited rooms for families of 5. But I encourage you to check out other family-friendly resorts in the area. Contrary to popular belief, the area is truly safe. The beaches are awesome and there is a lot of really interesting stuff to do nearby: Mayan ruins, Xplor (ziplines), Xcaret- natural theme park, Xel-ha- snorkeling and other natural wonders.

Happy planning!

You always have great ideas! Mexico is definitely on the list...

Amanda

 

[DrMomof3]

What a crazy 2 months it's been...

I finally ordered the 7 dwarves shirts for our trip. Hopefully everyone will like them....
We're strongly considering buying DVC at the new Villas at the Grand Floridian. As much as I love Beach Club and the whole Boardwalk area, there is no doubt that the Beach Club Villas are less than ideal. First, it's a very small home resort which makes it harder to get what you want. Second, the views are mostly lousy. Third, it's not a very long contract and buying resale is time-consuming.
We really enjoyed our stay at the GF for the marathon 2 years ago (staying club level didn't hurt!). Plus the studios at the new Villas will sleep 5. Tom is 100% on board but I think he's about 90% there.

Amanda

 

[ddluvsdisney]

What a crazy 2 months it's been...

I finally ordered the 7 dwarves shirts for our trip. Hopefully everyone will like them....
We're strongly considering buying DVC at the new Villas at the Grand Floridian. As much as I love Beach Club and the whole Boardwalk area, there is no doubt that the Beach Club Villas are less than ideal. First, it's a very small home resort which makes it harder to get what you want. Second, the views are mostly lousy. Third, it's not a very long contract and buying resale is time-consuming.
We really enjoyed our stay at the GF for the marathon 2 years ago (staying club level didn't hurt!). Plus the studios at the new Villas will sleep 5. Tom is 100% on board but I think he's about 90% there.

Amanda

That sounds wonderful! We stayed at the GF for our anniversary in 2008. We were upgraded to one of those turret ( spelling???) rooms CL with windows all around. It was so beautiful!!! Good luck!

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[DrMomof3]

That sounds wonderful! We stayed at the GF for our anniversary in 2008. We were upgraded to one of those turret ( spelling???) rooms CL with windows all around. It was so beautiful!!! Good luck!

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Thank you!

Amanda

 

[DrMomof3]

Trip Update: I think we're finally getting down to the final details. Dwarf shirts arrived (note to self: take pictures and post them!). They are very cute! I also booked a golf outing for Tom and my step-dad. Now I need to figure out what to do with the 3 kids while the 2 men are playing 18 holes... Maybe a character breakfast? If I can still get one?

DVC Update: We bought 160 points at VGF. Closing documents are sitting on my dining room table waiting to get signed. SO EXCITED!

Amanda

 

[cogero]

Trip Update: I think we're finally getting down to the final details. Dwarf shirts arrived (note to self: take pictures and post them!). They are very cute! I also booked a golf outing for Tom and my step-dad. Now I need to figure out what to do with the 3 kids while the 2 men are playing 18 holes... Maybe a character breakfast? If I can still get one?

DVC Update: We bought 160 points at VGF. Closing documents are sitting on my dining room table waiting to get signed. SO EXCITED!

Amanda

Congrats on your DVC purchase you are going to love it. I am sure I am going to get when are we staying there.

 

[DrMomof3]

Congrats on your DVC purchase you are going to love it. I am sure I am going to get when are we staying there.

I can already see that 160 points isn't enough but that's where my husband was comfortable starting. I think we'll probably add on another 160 when the Poly opens...

Amanda

 

[DrMomof3]

I had a 40% off photo books coupon so I made an autograph book for our August trip. Should arrive in the next week or so...
Also order Disney gift cards for each member of the trip. I love picking out individual characters for each person...

Amanda

 

[cogero]

I can already see that 160 points isn't enough but that's where my husband was comfortable starting. I think we'll probably add on another 160 when the Poly opens...

Amanda

This happened to us too.

I had a 40% off photo books coupon so I made an autograph book for our August trip. Should arrive in the next week or so...
Also order Disney gift cards for each member of the trip. I love picking out individual characters for each person...

Amanda

Great idea of the autograph books.

 

[DrMomof3]

This happened to us too.



Great idea of the autograph books.

Do you have multiple home resorts? How many points total do you have now?

I've made the autograph book before. I only made one for the whole family to share because I refuse to carry 3 of them!

Amanda

 

[DrMomof3]

Seven weeks for now we should be arriving at Sanford Station! I've heard it takes about an hour for the train to unload the cars. I figure we'll hit Disney property around noon.
Unfortunately I was unable to get a reservation for the Gospel Brunch. It was a good idea that didn't work out. I did, however, get a breakfast ADR at Cape May for those of us not playing golf on Wednesday morning. It's a short walk over to Beach Club for us and it should be fun to have a mellow breakfast.
I still have no arrival day plans. And I haven't really decided which park on which day. There is work to be done!!!
One idea is to spend Sunday afternoon at the pool. I'm sure we can grab lunch at the pool. Maybe we should have dinner at Splitsville? The kids and I had a blast when we played over Memorial Day weekend. Tom wasn't too keen on bowling and it is pricing but it might be a fun start to the trip. Another idea is to spend the afternoon at a park (Epcot or DHS would be my choice) and have an early dinner somewhere. My kids now love 50's Prime Time and I'm sure it would be even more fun with a big group...
I also need to look at park hours and decide on a daily plan!

Amanda

 

[cogero]

Do you have multiple home resorts? How many points total do you have now?

I've made the autograph book before. I only made one for the whole family to share because I refuse to carry 3 of them!

Amanda

We have 2 home resorts BLT and Kidani. Over the years we have bought a lot of points to the tune of over 1000 but we now just get a 2 br, also Disney makes me feel like I am getting a vacation. For October I was able to get a magic kingdom 2br for us and my parents and then a lake view studio for my sister. I have never had a problem with getting a room.

Seven weeks for now we should be arriving at Sanford Station! I've heard it takes about an hour for the train to unload the cars. I figure we'll hit Disney property around noon.
Unfortunately I was unable to get a reservation for the Gospel Brunch. It was a good idea that didn't work out. I did, however, get a breakfast ADR at Cape May for those of us not playing golf on Wednesday morning. It's a short walk over to Beach Club for us and it should be fun to have a mellow breakfast.
I still have no arrival day plans. And I haven't really decided which park on which day. There is work to be done!!!
One idea is to spend Sunday afternoon at the pool. I'm sure we can grab lunch at the pool. Maybe we should have dinner at Splitsville? The kids and I had a blast when we played over Memorial Day weekend. Tom wasn't too keen on bowling and it is pricing but it might be a fun start to the trip. Another idea is to spend the afternoon at a park (Epcot or DHS would be my choice) and have an early dinner somewhere. My kids now love 50's Prime Time and I'm sure it would be even more fun with a big group...
I also need to look at park hours and decide on a daily plan!

Amanda

I have so much planning to do on this trip. Today I am making lists of what to do.

 

[333disneymom]

I can already see that 160 points isn't enough but that's where my husband was comfortable starting. I think we'll probably add on another 160 when the Poly opens...

Amanda

This happened to us too.

Great idea of the autograph books.

Us too! The autograph books are a great idea! Hope you can post a pic

We have 2 home resorts BLT and Kidani. Over the years we have bought a lot of points to the tune of over 1000 but we now just get a 2 br, also Disney makes me feel like I am getting a vacation. For October I was able to get a magic kingdom 2br for us and my parents and then a lake view studio for my sister. I have never had a problem with getting a room.

I have so much planning to do on this trip. Today I am making lists of what to do.

Wow! You have us beat! We started with 100 points at AKL, then just purchased, via resale, an additional 150 points at SSR. That should hold us over for a while. We still do studio stays, so we should get at least 2 weeks out of these points a year.

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[Denovagirl]

Hi I have been lurking on your PTR tonight because I noticed you were going in Aug, like me, and now I am completely enthralled, lol...

Sounds like a lot of fun you have had lately with your spur of the moment trip!

Just wanted to say your plans look awesome, it's too bad you couldn't get the house of blues brunch because its awesome, maybe as a walk in?

Can't wait for pics of your shirts and autograph book! 7 dwarfs for 7 people is genius! I recently made some for our group of 7 featuring toy story characters, wish I'd thought of the dwarves!!!! Next time....

 

[momto3gr8boys]

Congratulations on your DVC purchase!! When are they officially opening?

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[luvpoohandcompany]

Trip Update: I think we're finally getting down to the final details. Dwarf shirts arrived (note to self: take pictures and post them!). They are very cute! I also booked a golf outing for Tom and my step-dad. Now I need to figure out what to do with the 3 kids while the 2 men are playing 18 holes... Maybe a character breakfast? If I can still get one?

DVC Update: We bought 160 points at VGF. Closing documents are sitting on my dining room table waiting to get signed. SO EXCITED!

Amanda

Congratulations!

I can already see that 160 points isn't enough but that's where my husband was comfortable starting. I think we'll probably add on another 160 when the Poly opens...

Amanda

Caught Addonitis already lol

 

[DrMomof3]

We have 2 home resorts BLT and Kidani. Over the years we have bought a lot of points to the tune of over 1000 but we now just get a 2 br, also Disney makes me feel like I am getting a vacation. For October I was able to get a magic kingdom 2br for us and my parents and then a lake view studio for my sister. I have never had a problem with getting a room.

I'm glad DVC has worked so well for you. I think we'll want a one or two bedroom but we can certainly start with a studio.


I have so much planning to do on this trip. Today I am making lists of what to do.

My main things are Garden Grocer and stroller rental. Need to decide single stroller vs. double stroller....

Us too! The autograph books are a great idea! Hope you can post a pic



Wow! You have us beat! We started with 100 points at AKL, then just purchased, via resale, an additional 150 points at SSR. That should hold us over for a while. We still do studio stays, so we should get at least 2 weeks out of these points a year.

Sent from my iPad using DISBoards

I think we need about 300 points total when all is said and done. Once I pay off the loan (which I plan to do quickly), I can try to convince Tom to buy more...

Hi I have been lurking on your PTR tonight because I noticed you were going in Aug, like me, and now I am completely enthralled, lol...

Sounds like a lot of fun you have had lately with your spur of the moment trip!

Just wanted to say your plans look awesome, it's too bad you couldn't get the house of blues brunch because its awesome, maybe as a walk in?

Can't wait for pics of your shirts and autograph book! 7 dwarfs for 7 people is genius! I recently made some for our group of 7 featuring toy story characters, wish I'd thought of the dwarves!!!! Next time....

Welcome! I'm not the best PTR'er in the world. I tend to come and go. I need to check out your plans...

Congratulations on your DVC purchase!! When are they officially opening?

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Late October is the schedule opening of the new Villas.

Congratulations!

Caught Addonitis already lol

Yup! Already have Addonitis. Realistically we're going to want a one bedroom every year. Just need to convince Tom!

Amanda