A Grand Gathering that better be better than last year!!

Princess_Michelle

DIS Veteran
Joined
Apr 18, 2007
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780
OK, so I am super jealous of all the people posting trip reports and stuff, so I figured I would post my own PRE-trip report, even though I doubt many people will find it interesting ;)

So, Last year we went from Sept. 26th till Oct. 2. It was a disaster. I guess a little pre-story is required.......

My last trip to DW before 2006 was in June of 2000, 2 months before I joined the Army. Once I joined I was in training for about 2 yrs. (I was a linguist) which meant no big vacations for me! I met my hubby and after we got married we were shipped to Hawaii for 3 years; not complaining, but lets just say DW is too far away from a rock in the middle of the Pacific. ANYWAYS, we finally get out of the Army, and finally get settled into the civilian world (plus a kid now) and are ready for vacation.

My 2 aunts and cousin (living in Louisiana) are (like me) Disney fanatics. My mom and sisters (plus one niece, living in GA) are always up for a trip. So we all decided to go together. My cousin also brought her (loser) boyfriend and his son and my pepaw also tagged along. So that made.....13 of us. Let the mistakes begin........

Big M #1.....Going during free dining. It was way to crowded for the "low" season.

Big M #2.....Expecting a 2 and 3 year old to be happy when they are woken up at 6 am in order to make a breakfast at 8 am, multiple days in row :scared:

Big M #3.....Not having a game plan and just doing whatever we feel like doing, when "we" is 13 different people.

So, as I said, it was a disaster. The kids (mostly my DS) were exhausted. My DS cried around the characters and generally transformed into one of "those" kids that people are :scared1: of...... He was NOT happy. And I couldn't really blame him. Also, it was hot, REALLY hot, which wasn't that big of a deal, EXCEPT when you are trying to deal with a cranky 2 yr. old and your dysfunctional family, while trying to dodge the completely clueless masses who think their strollers/ECV's are bumper cars and they get "points" for taking you out. So, I won't get into EVERYTHING that went wrong....but did I mention that my poor child gets car sick and threw up the entire 12 hr. car ride down there and back???? Needless to say....It wasn't the trip I was holding out for after 6 years of Disney Deprivation :sad:

BUT, this time, having learned from my mistakes, I have vowed to make this next trip GREAT!! Read on (unless I'm just talking to myself) to see how I plan to make this trip better!! :woohoo: :woohoo: :woohoo: :woohoo: :woohoo:
 
SO, this year it is basically the same crowd, let me introduce, well "us"....

ME- 26, generally easily to please, can get extremely irritated and irrational; about 60 lbs. overweight, but plan to lose as much as possible for the trip.

DH-25, very easy to please, never gets too irritated, extremely logical and helpful, (also drop dead gorgeous) :love:

DS-3, adorable and "generally" well behaved, not a "gimme" kid; but all bets are off when he's tired, hot and cranky. Big for his age and LOVES sports.

DM (Dear Mom)- 47, kinda pessimistic at times, but has a good time wherever she is. Loves her some wine and food. would spend the entire time at F&W, if we didn't drag her elsewhere. Content to just do whatever everybody else is doing.

DSi (Dear Sister)- 22, mom to dear niece, kinda ghetto, also content to just do what everyone else is doing. Great mom.

DN- 4, princess: enough said. refuses to wear anything that is not pink and spoiled rotten, but cute as all get out.

A1- my Nanny (aunt), dare not release her age. No kids or hubby, so she spoils the rest of us rotten. LOVES all things Disney, just wants to enjoy her family w/o all the arguing.

A2- mom's and A1's youngest sister, also dare not release her age. mom to dear cousin, very kind and generous, but also the "I wanna talk to your manager" type, has been known to get multiple "jump to the front of the line" passes b/c of complaining, to someone, about something....

DC (Dear Cousin)- 23, has a good time, a bit eccentric, FINALLY getting over the "wearing all black" thing and FINALLY found a decent BF.

DCBF (Dear Cousin's BF)- (?) Never met the guy, sounds nice and couldn't possibly be worse than the last guy....

PP (Dad to mom, A1 and A2; aka PePaw)- 73, has some mental paranoia issues, but in good shape and loves DisneyWorld; slows us down, but we don't care.

Well, that's it, so that makes, 11 this time. We are staying at All Star Movies, except for A2, DC and DCBF, who will be camping at FW. Requested Preffered Room location in Toy Story building b/c DS LOVES Buzz Lightyear. We'll be flying this time, whcih eliminates the whole throwing up thing. Also, we'll be going Oct. 6th -15th; hopefully, it will be slightly less crowded b/c of no free dining and "maybe" it will be tad bit cooler than last year..........here's hoping. Next, I'll discuss my awesome Itenirary and ADR's. :cloud9:
 
Car sickness makes road trips miserable. I would check with your pediatrician to see if there is a Dramamine-type drug you could give your son to help prevent the nausea. From what I know of motion sickness (mainly through observation of family members), those who get car sick are susceptible to getting sick on airplanes to some extent as well... particularly if you encounter any turbulence.

Anyway, here's hoping your trip goes well.

(BTW, I've been in October, and it was terrific. Cooler weather, but still shorts & short sleeves. I highly recommend it.)
 
OK, so here's how our trip this year is (hopefully) going to go.....

We'll fly in on Oct. 6th, early hopefully, haven't got tickets yet. I want to spend the day at the hotel getting checked in and relaxed. We'll bring swimming stuff in our carry ons so we can spend the day by the pool until our room is ready. the only other thing on the agenda is to have dinner at Kona Cafe, which I can't wait for after reading reviews on it!!! :cool1: At this point, we'll be the only ones from our party there.

The next day (7th) we don't have to get up until 7:30 a.m. :woohoo: I made it so we get up everyday at that time, giving us plenty of time to make it to the parks by the 9 am openings. I made all of out breakfast ADR's later, around 9:30 ish. My thinking is that we can ride or see one thing when we get there, then go to breakfast....Anyways, we'll be meeting A2, DC & DCBF for breakfast at Akershus by 9:30. We are staying in EPCOT and doing the F7W fest for "lunch" and we have ressie's at Le Cellier at 6:20 for dinner. By dinner time, the rest of our party will have arrived and met us in EPCOT.

Also, we are staying away from the parks that have EMH for that day. Last year, we went to the parks that had EMH and I remember standing in the atrociously long bus lines at POP and looking around at bus lines to the other parks...they were COMPLETELY empty.:headache:

On the 8th we'll be in MK and just getting breakfast at Main St. Bakery. I want to try the Terrace Noodle Station for lunch and we have ADR's at Liberty Tree Tavern with A1 and PP.

On the 9th, we'll be at Animall Kingdom and have 9:50 ressies for Donald's Restauranosaurus, yummy. I enjoyed this one last year. For Dinner, all 11 of us have ressie's for Ohana, can't wait for that one!!

On the 10th, is MGM. This park is my least favorite and we only devote 1 day to it....Breakfast is at Starring Rolls Cafe, lunch at Pizza Planet, and me and DH have a "date" that night at Mama Melrose's. That's the cool thing about going with family; always someone to watch the youngins.

On the 11th, we have Ohana best friends Bkfst. I LOVED this one last year!! We'll all meet there and then head over to EPCOT. Later, We (Me, DH, DS) have ADR's with DM, DSi, and DN at Les Chefs de France. I'm a little nervous about this one, but I want to try everything atleast once.....

The 12th is another MK day. Bkfst at Main St. Bakery and lunch and Pinocchio Village Haus, with Dinner ressie's at 1900 Park Fare; never done the dinner here. Looking forward to it.

On the 13th, we'll be in AK again, Bkfast at Kusafiri Coffee shop and lunch at Restaurantosaurus, Dinner is at Rainforest Cafe. After dinner, we're off to DTD to shop and get Ghirardelli's. **This is a must do for us. My hubby and I met at DLI, which is a military language school in Monterey, CA. We went to Ghirardelli's for most of our dates and before our first Army Ball. We also visited the original in San Fran while we were dating; as well as the day after we married :)**

The 14th is our last day in the parks, we'll be in MK of course!! We have 12:20 ressie's for Cinderella's Castle (all 11 of us) for lunch. I've never eaten in the castle, so I can't wait, even though I headr the food stinks....We're hoping to grab dinner at El Pirata and Y El Perico, b/c its always been closed before.....maybe it will still be open when we get there :confused3 We are planning to go back to DTD for another Ghirardelli's stop tonight :)

The 15th is our last day and I'm planning to sleep in, check out and swim until its time to board ME for our flight home :) I CANNOT WAIT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

:dance3: :dance3: :dance3: :dance3: :dance3: :dance3: :dance3: :dance3:

Up Next: My packing list for backpack and other tidbits I want to keep in mind :)
 

Yay! I bought my plane tickets today!! :woohoo:

I got 3 tickets on a non-stop flight from DC to Orlando for a total of $476!! :banana:

I started out checking on Expedia, they had one US Airways flight for $163 a person, so I went to get them, but forgot my stupid password and had to reset it; by the time I found the flights again (5 minutes, tops) they went up in price to $193!!

So, I just checked the US Airways site and got the exact same flight for $158 a person!!! My usually high opinions of expedia are starting to dwindle.....anyone else had issues like that when using Expedia??

Anyways, I'm so :goodvibes excited b/c we arrive around 2 p.m. and the only thing we have to do that day (besides check-in) is to go to dinner at Kona Cafe around 7:00!!!

Only 136 days to go!!!!!! :woohoo: :woohoo: :woohoo: :woohoo: :woohoo:
 
OK, so, after some changes, here are our ADR's for the trip....this time, they are set in STONE!!!

10/6- Dinner at Kona Cafe

10/7- Breakfast at Akershus
Dinner at Le Cellier

10/8- Dinner at Liberty Tree Tavern

10/9- Breakfast at Restaurantosaurus
Dinner at Ohana

10/10- Dinner Date Night at Narcoosee's

10/11- Ohana Best Friends Breakfast

10/12- Dinner at 1900 Park Fare

10/13- Dinner at Rainforest Cafe

10/14- Lunch at Cinderella'a Royal Table

Woohoo, only 90 something more days to go!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :dance3: :dance3:
 
OK, so, after some changes, here are our ADR's for the trip....this time, they are set in STONE!!!

10/6- Dinner at Kona Cafe

10/7- Breakfast at Akershus
Dinner at Le Cellier

10/8- Dinner at Liberty Tree Tavern

10/9- Breakfast at Restaurantosaurus
Dinner at Ohana

10/10- Dinner Date Night at Narcoosee's

10/11- Ohana Best Friends Breakfast

10/12- Dinner at 1900 Park Fare

10/13- Dinner at Rainforest Cafe

10/14- Lunch at Cinderella'a Royal Table

Woohoo, only 90 something more days to go!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :dance3: :dance3:

Sounds like a great dining lineup! CAn't wait to try Kona myself on our trip!
 
OK, MAJOR changes on the horizon!!! :scared1: Well, as I said before, last year was not that great. Ever since I booked for this year, I have been dreading the fact that we have to stay in a Value Resort again....not knocking people who love the values, btw. My main things that I didn't like.....(1) too many darn people. It was crowded EVERYWHERE. Pool, walkways, lobby, store, food court, people everywhere 24/7. I expect this in the parks, but I would like some form of escape, you know, especially when also dealing with a 3yr. old all day!! (2) The rooms are just way too small for what you pay. I just realized we were paying $111 a night and I don't think it is worth it. (3) We hated using the buses last year b/c of all the people at the hotel. Several nights in a row, after the park closed, we waited in line for an hour (!!) just to take a bus back to Pop. (4) It was too much work. It took several minutes to walk to the car. Several minutes to walk to busses, in other direction. When you get there, you wait, sometimes 20 min. or more for a bus. (5) For whatever reason, a large "portion" of the people there were just not as civilized/well behaved as I was comfortable with. People (including children) were constantly (loudly) cursing and screaming. Kids with their Heelys, UGH. Kids who just didn't have ANY manners at all, and adults who made them that way. CONSTANT smoking around children, pool, bus lines, walkways, etc. it was just nasty.
So, anyways, I finally found out about Windsor Hills. I have found several 3 BR condos for only $99-$109 a night!! It also rocks b/c my mom/sister/niece will be staying there too, so we will split the cost. It is SO much cheaper and you get so much more. We haven't booked it yet, I think I'll do it next week. (Need to do more research, just to be sure) Anyways, one thing that I am worried about is that once I cancel my Disney reservation, they will also cancel my ADR's. :scared1: Does anyone know about this/ever had this same issue?? Half of our Grand Gatherings party will still be onsite, so will that have any affect on the situation??? we are going on October and I realize that there will still be people at WH (duh) and I know there will always be classless oafs wherever you go, but I honestly think it will be more peaceful there. It's only 1.5 miles from Disney, so no biggie there, and last year, we preffered driving to taking the bus, so also no biggie. I am just so worried about losing my ADR's......
Anywho, we won't be able to do the DDP, but I figure it will be OK considering the moeny we'll be saving on accommodations. The way I calculated, even adding in a rental car, it will still be $500 cheaper than staying onsite. (I have calculated the cost of food based on the online menus in that figure.) So, when all is said and done, we might spend the same amount, but we'll be staying in a nice big condo and don't have to deal with Disney Transportation, so I think it is the way to go..........

Anyone have some advice relating to this??????????????????
 
Yay!! We got the Condo we wanted!! Treasure Cay at Windsor Hills!! SO, next on the agenda, WDW tickets and a rental car. I figured I would do that around first week of September. I'll order some groceries about a week out.....Also, I cancelled two of our ADR's; Chefs de France and Narcoossee's. We decided to take 2 days off from the parks to spend at Windsor Hills. I think this vacation will be a lot more relaxing than last year!! ANother round of itenirary....not even going to pretend that it is set in stone this time :)

Saturday- check-in, unpack, rest, Dinner at Kona Cafe

Sunday- EPCOT, Bfast at Akershus and dinner at Le Cellier

Monday- MK, dinner at Liberty Tree Tavern

Tuesday- Free day at Condo (mini-golf maybe??) and dinner at Ohana

Wednesday- MGM, dinner at Mama Melrose's

Thursday- EPCOT- Bfast at Ohana, FOOD & WINE FESTIVAL!!!!!

Friday- Totally open condo day :)

Saturday- AK, Bfast at 1900 Park Fare, dinner at Rainforest Cafe

Sunday- MK, lunch at Cinderella's Royal Table

Woohoo!! Only 2 months to go!!
 
OK, so, noone is really reading this, but I don't care, it'll be neat for me to look at when we get home. :thumbsup2 OK, so what's new??? Well, I have just bought our 6 day MYW tickets from Undercouver Tourist and they should arrive in about 12 days. I also reserved a rental car today, $158 for 9 whole days, I used my USAA discount!! :woohoo: Condo was fully paid off a few weeks ago and airline tickets were bought months ago. :woohoo: :woohoo: Everything else will be paid for when we get there, ie, food & souvenirs. Also, since my last post, I cancelled an ADR at Liberty Tree Tavern. Our ADR was for 5:40 and I couldn't get later, and I didn't want to waste the last two hours that MK was open in a restaurant.
Well, I am beyond excited and can't wait!!! :dance3: :dance3: :dance3:
 






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