A Double Dose of Disney Fun-2 Pre-Trip Reports in 1!

[stace208]

Hi Everyone and welcome to my first ever Pre-Trip report! I have so much going on right now, both in real life and Disney life that I am hoping that this pretrippie will help me keep it all together! I'm also hoping that I'll have some readers that will help me pass the next few months quickly!.
First up, let me give you some background about me and the fam...
I'm Stacy, mom and 2nd grade teacher. I'm 38 but will have a birthday here soon. I am the Disney planning nut and just love anything and everything about going to Disney (well, except maybe the drive )
Here's a picture of me from last June at Chef Mickey's. My DS is at the bottom of the pic too.

Next up is my DH, John, also 38. He likes Disney too but is way more reserved about it. I have to *convince* him to go on our trips but soon enough he is excited too. He lets me make most of the decisions but chimes in on food! I am sad to say that I don't have a really good picture of just him-must remedy that this trip. So, here's one of the whole family.

Ben is my DS, 9. Ben is almost always happy. He's my happy go lucky, always making jokes, crazy kid. He is a great student but doesn't like school very much. His favorite character is Goofy and he loves Star Wars. He's gotten really into video games this year. He swims on a swim team but is losing interest in that. So, this seems to be a year of transitions for him. He is still crazy for Disney though!

Ellie is 7 and my sweet baby girl. She is the opposite of her brother-very quiet and shy. She too is a very happy kid but doesn't *advertise* it like her brother-she's much more reserved. She is a good student and loves school. It's interesting this year because she is in the class across the hall so I get to see her quite often. She too is Disney crazy and her favorite characters are Minnie and Tigger.

Here's another picture or two:

This is one my faves-I Sorcerer Mickey!(My niece and fam are in this pic-they were with us last June)

I think that about does it for introductions! Trip details coming in the next post!!
Thanks for reading along and please join in!!

 

[stace208]

Trip 1 has quite a history...
Last year, around this time, I was in major Disney withdrawals. I was back to teaching after 6 years off and although I was having an ok year, I needed something to look forward to and June seemed sooooo far away. So, I started pricing trips for Spring Break. Disney had a special, something about kids play and dine for free but airfare was scary! John claimed he didn't have any vacation time to take so I would have to fly (not making a 12+ hour car trip by myself). The flight prices were a deal breaker, unfortunately!
So I set to work and planned some other things for spring break. We went to Great Wolf Lodge, Potomac Mills (huge outlet mall-with Disney store), and Mt. Vernon. Although it wasn't my beloved Disney it helped me get through the winter doldrums. After spring break I could get excited for our June trip!!

June trip came-had a blast. During our trip and all summer long we debated about buying DVC. Finally I convinced John and as summer ended, we started in earnest looking for something that met our needs. We decided to go resale because we could get the most points for our buck. We researched resorts and decided on OKW. We like many of the other resorts too and if we are able to get them at 7 months, great. But by buying in OKW we were able to get more points than anywhere else. We love the atmosphere there too and will be more than happy to stay there!!

DVC in hand, I was ready to start planning some trips! I wanted to go at Christmas but couldn't get John on board. So, I started again aiming for Spring Break. At this point, I could get cheap flights so I told him I was going with or without him!! Soon enough he was on board with going. Now I hadn't told the kids about the trip because they had gotten really disappointed that we weren't going at Christmas so I didn't want them to feel bad again if the trip didn't come to fruition. After John wised up I decided to leave it a surprise! Well, wouldn't you know it, in a matter of days, flight prices had skyrocketed! John said no prob, we would just drive. Now, we drive in the summer. I don't mind because I like having the car and we're not under much of a time constraint. But this was going to be a quick trip and I wanted to maximize my park time. So, I kept looking. Then one day, for some reason, I thought to look for flights out of Dulles (John's sister lives in Northern VA-45 minutes from Dulles) Sure enough, $54 flights, nonstop, to MCO. One small glitch-it got us there very late-8:15. But, the price couldn't be beat, I wouldn't have to pack in secret as the kids would think we were going to Aunt Laura's for spring break, we'd get to spend Easter with Laura and her family and I didn't have to drive. John was totally on board with this plan and we booked the flights! Yay!!

TRIP #1 Dates: April 4th (Easter Sunday) to April 8th!!

 

[Queenofallthings]

Great start

 

[stace208]

Great start

Thanks so much for joining in!

 

[stace208]

So, on with trip #1:
DVC contract-Done
ROFR-Passed
Flights-Booked
Where would we stay???

We had already decided to stay at OKW for our long summer trip. John was fine to stay there for April too but I really wanted to go somewhere else. I wanted AKL but was open to hearing what else was available. I waited a week to give Disney time to get our points in the system and then I called. First thing I did was bank the points we got from our contract into 2010. Then I booked our summer trip. Then I asked for AKL for April. I could get Kidani for 2 of the nights (6-7th) but would have to be waitlisted for the other two nights. So, I asked, "What else is available". Now as much as I wanted to stay at AKL, what he said next really sealed the deal for me.
So, are you wondering where????

Wilderness Lodge!! 1 BR villa available for all 4 nights. Yes, it is more points but it is also Ben's favorite resort. We stayed here on our first trip in January 2006. I took it! I stayed waitlisted for AKL but called back a few weeks later and cancelled that. I will get to AKL someday but right now it is Wilderness for us!!

 

[MeMom]

Looking forward to following along with you!

By the way, in case you didn't see on our TR already, I'm also a second-grade teacher, as is wigd.

 

[wigdoutdismom]

Reporting for your new PTR and going back to read!

 

[MHTeacher]

Great start.

Congrats on you DVC..I would LOVE to do this, but DH is such a party pooper sometimes. Also, gotta love the WL. We stayed there in 2005 and fell in love. Since then, we became guardians of my 7 year old nephew, so now we have to do a resort that sleeps 5.

I'll be looking forward to reading more!

 

[MeMom]

Note that all the teachers are enjoying our day away from school as we gather 'round the Disboards!

 

[wigdoutdismom]

All caught up Stacy!
Aren't 2nd graders fun?
Congrats on your points! We love your home resort and have stayed there twice, be sure to request close to the general store. It's a great area!
Have you written a trip report? I think I've followed....
Looking forward to more!

 

[wsushocker]

subbing​

 

[wsushocker]

Looking forward to following along with you!

By the way, in case you didn't see on our TR already, I'm also a second-grade teacher, as is wigd.

I taught 2nd grade for 2 years! ​

 

[MHTeacher]

Note that all the teachers are enjoying our day away from school as we gather 'round the Disboards!

LOVING my day off!

 

[stace208]

Looking forward to following along with you!

By the way, in case you didn't see on our TR already, I'm also a second-grade teacher, as is wigd.

Yay! MeMom is here!! Thanks for coming over!!

2nd grade is THE grade this year! I've been following along on Anita's and your trip reports and love having folks in similar situations as me in "real" life in addition to our love of Disney!!

Reporting for your new PTR and going back to read!

Woohoo!! Thanks for coming over Wigd!

Great start.

Congrats on you DVC..I would LOVE to do this, but DH is such a party pooper sometimes. Also, gotta love the WL. We stayed there in 2005 and fell in love. Since then, we became guardians of my 7 year old nephew, so now we have to do a resort that sleeps 5.

I'll be looking forward to reading more!

Thank you and welcome! I was debating whether to start a PTR but decided to just take the plunge. Thanks for joining in!
Trust me, getting my DH to agree to DVC was something. He wouldn't even go on the tour last June. Really, it wasn't until I started following wigd's TR last summer and talked to her about resale that I got him interested. When he started pricing resale he realized that it could work for us!

Note that all the teachers are enjoying our day away from school as we gather 'round the Disboards!

Oh yes, I am LOVING this day off! We took an afternoon trip to the zoo. I tried to pretend I was at AK (big stretch as our zoo is very small)

All caught up Stacy!
Aren't 2nd graders fun?
Congrats on your points! We love your home resort and have stayed there twice, be sure to request close to the general store. It's a great area!
Have you written a trip report? I think I've followed....
Looking forward to more!

2nd graders are a blast, most of the time!! They keep me on my toes for sure! I have an interesting bunch this year but they are all sweet kids which is something I don't get most years!

Our reservation is listed for "close to Hospitality House". Is that where the General Store is? The MS DVC guy encouraged me to put that on my reservation so hopefully that is good?? I am excited to stay there. I think we might go over in April and check it out in person!

I did write a TR last summer. Then I went on 2 vacations and it got lost/closed I learned later that I could've asked for it to be reopened but I was mostly done and had a rough start to the school year so the Dis kinda got lowered on my list. Got a handle on everything and back into full Dis mode now!

subbing​

Woohoo! Shocker is HERE! NOW it is a party!

I taught 2nd grade for 2 years! ​

I know you taught K, and now also 2nd at some point. What do you teach currently?

LOVING my day off!

Wonderful, isn't it?? It's beautiful here today too-sunny and mid 50's.

 

[SoonerGirl]

Hi Stacy, I'm jumping on board to hear all about your trip(s)! Congrats on getting your DH to agree to DVC - think you could get him to give mine a call and convince him of what a fabulous idea it is???

 

[stace208]

Hi Stacy, I'm jumping on board to hear all about your trip(s)! Congrats on getting your DH to agree to DVC - think you could get him to give mine a call and convince him of what a fabulous idea it is???

Hi Michelle! Thanks for coming over!

We better wait a month or two on that phone call...they just pulled our first month of dues out of the checking account Now my DH needs that shirt that you gave yours about bring Grumpy back!

 

[SoonerGirl]

Hi Michelle! Thanks for coming over!

We better wait a month or two on that phone call...they just pulled our first month of dues out of the checking account Now my DH needs that shirt that you gave yours about bring Grumpy back!

Oh no!!!!

 

[wigdoutdismom]

Never mind.....
It's the hospitality house
You are taken care of! You will love it there, it's soooo laid back!
Close to the big pool. Shuffle board. The counter service, out by the pool, community hall, it's all right there!
Be sure to plan some resort time.

 

[wsushocker]

​

I taught kindergarten for 24 years, 2nd grade for 2 years, 5th grade for 3 years, 6th grade for 2 years, and I currently am in my 2nd year of teaching At-Risk Math for grades K-5.

 

[Queenofallthings]

Wilderness Lodge....how wonderful!!! I can't wait to hear all about it. We've never stayed here but have gone to WCC a couple of time and we always go early so we can sit and enjoy the lobby!!!