A dream is a wish...

[Shadowcat70]

For many, many years I have dreamed about going with my parents to WDW. My first dreams of this were when I was still living at home as a teen. Now as an adult, I have the opportunity to take my now retired parents to WDW as our treat. DH and I have been discussing it for a few years now, and decided 2014 will be the year! There is a big part of the puzzle that needs to fall into place for these to happen, and a reason why we are planning for a fall trip - free dining. That will make it financially possible to make this dream come true. My parents know this as well. Our family has always come from, and lived, modestly. My parents worked hard their whole lives to provide for my brother and I, and they deserve to be treated to a great vacation where they don't have to worry about expenses for once.

So far Pop Century will be our resort of choice. It was where DH, DD, DS and I stayed for our only trip to the World so far. It was affordable compared to other resorts, and it had a fun vibe we all enjoyed. The grand plan is to stay 8 nights in two separate rooms. Connecting rooms would be nice, but not necessary since we want them to know they have space to do their own thing if they want.

And there are so many things we are all excited about for the trip! Like MagicBands. We all think they are going to be fun, cool to customize, and make a great souvenier. And even though it's not a given yet, free dining takes the burden out choosing the food from a financial standpoint only. We've all been on many trips where you've stood in line looking to get the burger because it was cheap, but what you REALLY wanted was the ribs!

So there you have it... very early planning stages of a trip were I get to give a bit of well deserved pixie dust to my folks.

 

[colachdec]

What a wonderful treat for your parents! It sounds like your trip will be very magical

 

[Lei]

Agree with PP, what a wonderful treat! You're precious. I'm from South East Asia, so a Disney trip is also very costly for me. And yes, I bet I will often have to choose the burger because of budget! (not going during Free Dining here). But in Disney, you're bound to have a great time anyways

oh and we're going next year too. Have fun planning!

 

[Shadowcat70]

We've set dates and even checked out prices at the WDW resort web site. I now even have the vacation packed saved in my "cart". I'm not sure about anyone else, but when I price stuff out online and save it, it makes it feel that much more closer!

We've even all picked out what color MBs we will most likely get, just for the fun of it. I am really glad I applied for a SW Airlines reward card last year. I recommend it for anyone who flies affordably. It will definetely help us out for this trip.

We visited Disneyland a few weeks ago and everything felt so much more compact as far as walkways go. We hadn't visited there for about 4 years, so it was a bit of a shock to see it so crowded in Oct. Our last (and only) trip to WDW was back on Memorial Day weekend in 2011, and that was nothing compare to how cramped and busy Disneyland was. We had fun in Disneyland of course, but the crowds in the walkways and paths where incredible. To be honest, we thought the waits for the rides were very manageable, it was just getting through the bottleneck of the crowds that was crazy.

But now begins the fun parts of planning... making sure my parents know how much walking is going to happen, and that they have good shoes. Finding out what to bring for breakfast in the rooms (saves times to eat while getting ready!), and all those little things.

 

[Shadowcat70]

We settled on a date in October for sure. Whether or not there will be a discount for our days will determine whether we stay on-site or not. I took a look at my ticker and just about had a heart attack! A little over 9 months?! It suddenly feels A LOT closer now to someone who is a plan-a-holic.

So excited!!!

 

[Shadowcat70]

Things just got real!
We just finished booking the airfare for the trip!
We're still not sure if we are staying on or off site (depends on if there will be any special offers). Needless to say, every one is very excited and my mom already wants to start packing.

 

[Shadowcat70]

On-site is officially a GO!

I called a few days ago and there was a FD pin attach to my name. It didn't start until Oct 19th, and we check in late on Oct 17th, but the CM on the phone helped me get it all worked out. We have a RO for the night of the 17th and 18th, and our FD package begins on the 19th. We planned to do Blizzard Beach during the trip (just buying tickets at the gate), so we decided to go there on the 18th to start our first full day of vacation relaxing since we won't have our 6 day park tickets on that day anyway.

We were able to link the RO and the package reservations together, so we can see them both on MDE. And the reservation for my parent's RO and package is linked to my mom's MDE account so they can see theirs.

We are all soooooo excited!! We can't wait!
We've even decided that since MNSSHP will be closing the parks at 7pm for 4 of the 3 days we are there, we're going to save up and purchase tickets for that.

 

[MarbleBob]

This is awesome for so many reasons. Treating your parents to the magic, so cool! And then your kids getting to enjoy Disney with their grandparents! They'll make memories to last a lifetime Free dinning too. Nice! And then top it off with MNSSHP. Looks like you will have an amazing trip!!!

 

[Shadowcat70]

Got our WDW "Incredible Vacation" packet today!
It's a nice little booklet, personalized with our hotel, trip dates, and other little tid-bits. On the last page is a handy magnet that has the specific dates of when we can book FP+ and ADRs. It has migrated to the refrigerator!

We got one for each of our reservations, and my parents got their two as well. Nice to know Disney sends them their stuff directly. I was wondering if they were going to send me everything, and then I would have to mail it to my folks.

Excitement is GROWING!

 

[Shadowcat70]

Under 3 months now and counting!

I finished paying off my parent's reservations, so now all they need to do is show up at the airport and catch their flight!
Everyone went shopping for summer clothes for the trip, and new crocs/comfortable sandals.

We were also able to get a little bit extra off our room only reservations via the new fall offer that came out a few days ago. That helps pay for our lunch at Sci-Fi Dine-In during the trip.

What even makes our trip feel closer was shopping for sunscreen, and the travel-sized amenities. We got them all a week or so ago and they are now sitting in our near empty suitcase awaiting our trip.

Hubby will be buying our MNSSHP tickets very soon, as well. We decided instead of wearing traditional costumes, we will all be disney bounding! We should be a lot cooler and more comfortable that way, and still be in the spirit of things.

 

[moe10378]

For many, many years I have dreamed about going with my parents to WDW. My first dreams of this were when I was still living at home as a teen. Now as an adult, I have the opportunity to take my now retired parents to WDW as our treat. DH and I have been discussing it for a few years now, and decided 2014 will be the year! There is a big part of the puzzle that needs to fall into place for these to happen, and a reason why we are planning for a fall trip - free dining. That will make it financially possible to make this dream come true. My parents know this as well. Our family has always come from, and lived, modestly. My parents worked hard their whole lives to provide for my brother and I, and they deserve to be treated to a great vacation where they don't have to worry about expenses for once.

So far Pop Century will be our resort of choice. It was where DH, DD, DS and I stayed for our only trip to the World so far. It was affordable compared to other resorts, and it had a fun vibe we all enjoyed. The grand plan is to stay 8 nights in two separate rooms. Connecting rooms would be nice, but not necessary since we want them to know they have space to do their own thing if they want.

And there are so many things we are all excited about for the trip! Like MagicBands. We all think they are going to be fun, cool to customize, and make a great souvenier. And even though it's not a given yet, free dining takes the burden out choosing the food from a financial standpoint only. We've all been on many trips where you've stood in line looking to get the burger because it was cheap, but what you REALLY wanted was the ribs!

So there you have it... very early planning stages of a trip were I get to give a bit of well deserved pixie dust to my folks.

I LOVE this!!!! Hope u all have an amazing time!!!

 

[Shadowcat70]

As of a few days ago, we are now paid in full!


We got our MNSSHP tickets, made final choices on our magic bands, and I am half way done with our Disneybounding outfits for MNSSHP. We wanted to 'dress up' without being uncomfortable in the weather or on the rides, so disneybounding was the logicial choice.

DS will go as Beck in the white armor from Tron Uprising. I bought him a white t-shirt which has been fabric paint sprayed to match. We even used some glow int he dark fabric paint too! Should look awesome in the black light.

DD is going as Vanellope Von Schweetz. Dyed a white t-shirt a mint green and liquid stitched on the red hoodie ties and pocket embellishments. I just finished her twizzler hair tie this weekend, and we're working on her hair candy bobby-pins.

My mom and dad will be going as Lightning McQueen and Sally with red and baby blue shirts respectively.

DH and I will be going as the relatively new Star Wars Rebels characters Kanan and Hera. More t-shirt painting will be envolved as well as making some light-weight felt 'shoulder armor' for hubby's shirt sleeve.

I will start posting some pre-trip pics in a few weeks.

Getting SO EXCITED!

 

[vleeth]

Please post pics of how your shirts come out.

 

[Shadowcat70]

Had a few days of higher than expected temps, but we had a great time nonetheless. Once things settle down, I will post a trip report and I'll make sure I get pictures of the Halloween t-shirts too. They worked out pretty well with the heat.