A Jan 2016 PTR-Disney is taking over my life edition *Update 12/10-MagicBands!*

Oh mother.....this is why I do the research :sad2:

Apparently the other weekend when TLC was running their Disney World highlight special, my mom and sister watched it. My mom has also been looking at rooms online in an attempt to figure out where to stay. Of course the one resort that sticks out to her the most that she (and everyone else in my family) will love has to be Animal Kingdom Lodge. I seriously don't have the heart to tell her how expensive it is and that it's out of our price range :( I really want to make it happen, but she's already talked about possibly not being able to afford the full week and asked me to look into not as many park days and offsite resorts. I haven't given her any prices yet because I'm still trying to figure out options, but it would be amazing if we could swing AKL. Room discount maybe? My entire family LOVES zoos and animals so it would just be amazing. Plus my mom always feels bad that she can't afford much for us so it would be awesome if I could find a way to surprise her with this. I have a feeling my new part-time job is going to be taking advantage of all the free rewards apps and earning Disney gift cards :earseek: If my mom books a value resort using her card, could I then call and upgrade using my card? Assuming I would be able to pull this off which....yeah we'll see :rolleyes1
 
Oh mother.....this is why I do the research :sad2:

Apparently the other weekend when TLC was running their Disney World highlight special, my mom and sister watched it. My mom has also been looking at rooms online in an attempt to figure out where to stay. Of course the one resort that sticks out to her the most that she (and everyone else in my family) will love has to be Animal Kingdom Lodge. I seriously don't have the heart to tell her how expensive it is and that it's out of our price range :( I really want to make it happen, but she's already talked about possibly not being able to afford the full week and asked me to look into not as many park days and offsite resorts. I haven't given her any prices yet because I'm still trying to figure out options, but it would be amazing if we could swing AKL. Room discount maybe? My entire family LOVES zoos and animals so it would just be amazing. Plus my mom always feels bad that she can't afford much for us so it would be awesome if I could find a way to surprise her with this. I have a feeling my new part-time job is going to be taking advantage of all the free rewards apps and earning Disney gift cards :earseek: If my mom books a value resort using her card, could I then call and upgrade using my card? Assuming I would be able to pull this off which....yeah we'll see :rolleyes1


Ohhhhh golly. I know how you feel. My mom hasn't been on a vacation since I was probably 4 years old (Im 25) and her NUMBER ONE place she talks about is a cruise and AKL. I wish I could afford to do either for her but i definitely cant until I get my own life set :guilty: I have never rented DVC points but I feel like this may be a good option for you depending on the math. Im gonna look into DVC points for a land and sea at AKL in a a year or 2 to see if its possible for me to make my moms dream happen. I wish you the absolute best organizing your possible upgrade. I realized today that my part time job is gonna kick it into over drive this year to get my car completely paid and all my debts settled so I can start next year (hopefully!) on a clean slate :) Good luck to you in your updrade <3 I hope you can make it work because that would be such a beautiful surprize!:yay:pixiedust:
 
Good luck saving! I'm working on saving so that nothing sneaks up on us and messes up our vacation plans. My husband keeps saying not to get my hopes up for next year, that it may not happen till 2017, but I say NO! I'm gonna make it happen :rotfl2:

I've been working on swagbucks, and I made a little jar to save spare change/cash-- decorated with disney stickers, but not too obvious since we aren't telling our kids yet! :ssst:
 
Ohhhhh golly. I know how you feel. My mom hasn't been on a vacation since I was probably 4 years old (Im 25) and her NUMBER ONE place she talks about is a cruise and AKL. I wish I could afford to do either for her but i definitely cant until I get my own life set :guilty: I have never rented DVC points but I feel like this may be a good option for you depending on the math. Im gonna look into DVC points for a land and sea at AKL in a a year or 2 to see if its possible for me to make my moms dream happen. I wish you the absolute best organizing your possible upgrade. I realized today that my part time job is gonna kick it into over drive this year to get my car completely paid and all my debts settled so I can start next year (hopefully!) on a clean slate :) Good luck to you in your updrade <3 I hope you can make it work because that would be such a beautiful surprize!:yay:pixiedust:

Thank you! I'm going to be working like crazy to save up that's for sure! I want to ask my brothers to help but at the same time I want it to be a surprise for everyone so I think I'll keep it a secret at least for now. I have not looked into DVC at all but maybe I will now :o Good luck with paying off your car and debts as well! That's probably something else I should get to focusing on but there's just too many other things in life that I want to do more :rotfl2:

Good luck saving! I'm working on saving so that nothing sneaks up on us and messes up our vacation plans. My husband keeps saying not to get my hopes up for next year, that it may not happen till 2017, but I say NO! I'm gonna make it happen :rotfl2:

I've been working on swagbucks, and I made a little jar to save spare change/cash-- decorated with disney stickers, but not too obvious since we aren't telling our kids yet! :ssst:

Thank you! I know EVERYONE in my family has been saving. We each have our own Disney jar and my grandma is going to contribute some even though she's not going, I just feel like the price will still be a shock to everyone. I wish we could have kept it a surprise from my siblings but I had originally talked to Devin about just taking him down (and then of course he blabbed to Macy) which made my mom spill the beans on our family trip. It's worked out great though because everyone has been really excited about pitching in :goodvibes
 

Well I figured it was time for some more touring plans! I'm excited to try out Epcot for the first time.

Epcot
If we end up having a full day, awesome. If we end up going for a day and a half, there are just a few must-dos. If we somehow end up only going for one day I will be sad but at least we get to go.

Must Dos
Seas with Nemo

Coral Reefs

Turtle Talk with Crush

Test Track

Soarin

World Showcase-Mulan meet & greet, Phineus & Ferb missions

Dinner at Garden Grill

Illuminations

Would Like To Do

Living with the Land


Mission Space

Advance Training Lab

Spaceship Earth

Project Tomorrow

Innoventions

Journey Into Imagination

ImageWorks Lab
 
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Last but not least on our park plans is Animal Kingdom! I can tell you all right now that this is going to be a huge hit with my family. Heck I loved it even though I only spent three hours there! I almost wish we had two days to spend here but I'll take what I can get :) This will probably end up being our departure day park.

Animal Kingdom

Must Dos

Oasis Exhibits

Tree of Life/Discovery Trails

Festival of the Lion King

Kilimanjaro Safari

Pangani Trails

Maharajah Jungle Trek

Expedition Everest

Flights of Wonder

Dinosaur

Extras

Finding Nemo

Meet Pocahontas

Meet Russell & Dug


I really don't understand how people do this park in half a day :confused3
 
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You guys! Exciting news! We've actually made progress toward the trip! :dogdance: We booked our flights today, which means this is actually happening. AHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!:scared1:

In all honesty though it's actually a funny story. We fly out of Detroit which is a little over two hours away, and I have been keeping an eye on airfare. Spirit has had these cheaper $85 one way tickets for a while now, but the times weren't ideal. Just for fun I decided to text my mom as a joke and let her know the times. This was our conversation:
Me: "Haha if we want an 8:30am flight from Detroit they are only $85 one way right now :P"
Mom: "That's fine by me!"
Me: "0_o I was just being funny? Are you serious?"
Mom: "Well can we get a one way back that cheap too?"
Me: "Well there's one on Saturday for $65 but it leaves at 9pm so we wouldn't get back to Detroit until 11:30"
Mom: "Let's do it!"

So we did! Booked our flight tickets for $138 per person round trip! :cheer2: Only thing about it is that it haves us leaving on Saturday instead of Sunday, but I figure we have most of the day Monday and Saturday for the parks and we weren't planning anything for our original departure day anyway so it works! I am so excited! :jumping1: I've flown Spirit before so I know all about their bag charges, no free drinks/snacks on flight etc. That's fine with us! Now I just have to go back and readjust our park plans a little. We'll probably head over to Epcot on arrival day now. The next thing on my list is to convince my mom that we HAVE to stay on site. Everyone is going to want to get up and go to the parks and leave at different times, it would be too much of a hassle only having one rental car. Of course she's been looking at really cheap vacation rental condos offsite so we'll see what happens.:confused3

Oh, the last piece of news? Carter's girlfriend Emily will be joining us now. Up our total to 9! Looks like it's back to the drawing board in regards to rooms. More on her later :dance3:
 
Loving your pre trip report. I actually had one started but so many things were up in the air it was driving me nuts, so we deleted it! I can't wait until I have something official booked like airline tickets! Way to go!!!
 
:yay: hooray!! I'm thinking about starting a PTR, so I can stop bugging my DH about the trip lol, but there are SO many unknowns, I'll probably start it soon anyway :rolleyes:
 
Loving your pre trip report. I actually had one started but so many things were up in the air it was driving me nuts, so we deleted it! I can't wait until I have something official booked like airline tickets! Way to go!!!

Thank you! :hug: Things have been up in the air for us since the beginning but I figured since Disney is always on my mind I could at least share my thoughts and findings. I'm sure I'll run out of things to post eventually (maybe?) :scratchin

:yay: hooray!! I'm thinking about starting a PTR, so I can stop bugging my DH about the trip lol, but there are SO many unknowns, I'll probably start it soon anyway :rolleyes:

Haha sounds just like me. I talk to Austin about it at least multiple times a week and all he does is nod and tell me good luck o_O He says it doesn't bother him because he really does love Disney, he could just care less about what we end up doing and tends to just go with the flow. Plus he knows how much I love planning so he's always up for listening (at least he hasn't told me otherwise) :P
 
Meet the newest (and final) addition to our Disney trip! This is Emily and she is my brother Carter's girlfriend of almost five years :o I didn't know this until recently but apparently her and Carter went to Disneyland last summer (JEALOUS!) Then again Disney World is way bigger and we've gone twice so that counts for something right? ;) It's funny though because aside from my mom, Tony, me and Austin, nobody else has ever even been to Florida! I am so excited for this trip ^_^
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In addition to Emily joining us, I have more news. I finally got to sit down and talk to my mom about resorts, and I convinced her to rent DVC points! I've already been in contact with someone who can rent us the points for a 2 bedroom villa at AKL Kidani, and my mom gave me the go ahead to get more information (which in her speak is: let's book this room) :cool1: They have the nights and points available, and it looks like it will be costing us $2,000 for the five nights. I COULD CRY I AM SO EXCITED :sad::jumping3: I know this is a little more than what my mom wanted to spend, but it gives us more space, easy access to the parks, and so many other perks that I think I finally won her over (actually I think she just really wants to stay at AKL) :laughing:
Last but not least, I updated a few of my older posts and marked them (mainly dining, dates and lodging) I will also be updating our park plans a little because of the added day and Macy picking out a few things she doesn't want to do anymore. Overall this week has just been crazy :rotfl:
 
That's awesome we found a man through another Dis member to rent points from as well. We have "6" of us going and fingers crossed we will get a 2 bedroom villa at the Beach Club. AKL looks gorgeous too!
 
That's awesome we found a man through another Dis member to rent points from as well. We have "6" of us going and fingers crossed we will get a 2 bedroom villa at the Beach Club. AKL looks gorgeous too!

I am so glad I found out about the whole "renting points" process. Good luck getting Beach Club! Austin told me I set the standard too high for future Disney trips now XD Nothing like taking your first Disney vacation and staying at Animal Kingdom Lodge! We actually lucked out that it's the cheapest of the deluxes or else I don't think my mom would have gone for it :P
 
Look what I got in my email today! party:

d7ee3ade-c4bf-49e5-ac17-6a5d0214a170.png
It actually happened you guys! We're booked! :earseek: I actually did it! I convinced my mom to rent points and couldn't have found a better person to rent from. She got us all set up today and I was able to hook it right up to my MDE. We're going to wait to customize our magicbands when we're all together, but it's legit now! I CAN'T BELIEVE THIS IS ACTUALLY HAPPENING! WHY OH WHY MUST I NOW WAIT 10 MONTHS?!:sad:
 
Update 7/1
You guys this is bad....I think I've officially hit a stand-still...and it's only March! :headache: Now that we're booked I don't have to obsess over resort details, and until park hours are released in June I can't officially plan our days...this is sad :(
When I go home for Easter we are all going to customize our magic bands but I know we won't get them for a long time. I do have two rough outlines of how our park days will be setup so I can share those at least....other than that I'm at a loss! :scared: I'm sure something will come up to talk about, but for now here are the two scenarios I've come up with.

Option 1-If Hollywood Studios still has Osborne Lights up
Monday (Arrival)-Flight arrives at 11am; Check in and head to Hollywood Studios
Tuesday-Magic Kingdom
Wednesday-Epcot
Thursday-Free Day (AK?)
Friday-Magic Kingdom
Saturday (Departure)-Check out and head to Animal Kingdom; Flights leaves at 9:30pm

Option 2-The Most Likely Option
Monday (Arrival)-Flight arrives at 11am; Check in and head to Epcot
Tuesday-Magic Kingdom
Wednesday-Epcot
Thursday-Hollywood Studios
Friday-Magic Kingdom
Saturday (Departure)-Check out and head to Animal Kingdom; Flights leaves at 9:30pm

It's going to be hard saving Animal Kingdom until our last day since we will be right next to it the entire time, but it makes the most sense. We can stay close to our resort and don't have to budget as much time getting back for our MDE pickup, Hollywood Studios is out because we would miss Fantasmic, and Epcot/Magic Kingdom are busy with the half marathon which we would like to avoid.
 
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Well as mentioned before I have run out of things to plan at the moment, so I've decided to take a new Disney approach to this ptr. Introducing.....

Taylor's Disney Bucket List! pixiedust:
I actually got this idea from seeing it on other ptrs, and since I am officially addicted I thought I might as well make a list of the things I want to accomplish! I may add to it as other things come to mind, but I'd say I have a pretty good list so far :cutie: Let me know what you think and what things you've done that are amazing.

Disney Bucket List Items
Attend Mickey's Not-So-Scary Halloween Party:earseek:
Stay at Art of Animation Resort
See all shows at least once
Have a pre-park opening ADR for MK (anywhere)
See the Osborne Lights
Attend a 24-hour event (graduation celebration present next year?)
Ride every ride at least once (okay maybe not teacups because I will get sick) :sick:
Stay at Port Orleans Riverside
Go on a night safari at AKL

Visit every attraction at least once (yes even Captain EO)
Meet all the fairies
Participate in the Epcot seas encounters (dolphins in depth, divequest, seas aqua tour)
Visit during Epcot Flower & Garden Festival :shamrock:
Spend a full day at each of the water parks
Take the Wild Africa Trek
Learn to surf at Typhoon Lagoon
Visit during the Christmas parade taping
Stay at the Polynesian Resort
Try every character meal at least once
Celebrate New Years at Epcot
Take my way-in-the-future kids to Disney and turn them into addicts :rolleyes1

Disney Bucket List Items I Have Completed (or will complete in Jan)
Take a legit Disney vacation:drive:
Attend Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party (check)
Visit Epcot/World Showcase
Stay at Animal Kingdom Lodge
Visit Animal Kingdom (check)
Stay for the Kiss Goodnight at MK :love1:
Eat at Cinderella's Royal Table
Visit Hollywood Studios (check)
Be at MK for Rope Drop
Watch the Magic Kingdom Welcome Show
Have Breakfast at Ohana (check)
Stay on property
Take my siblings to Disney:grouphug:
See the Sorcerer's Hat at HS (check)




 
Finally a bit of news! I came home yesterday and we all customized our magic bands :) I showed Macy some ideas on how to decorate the bands after we get them (in December :crazy2:) but hey, at least we have one more thing to look forward to! Macy and Emily picked blue; Devin and I got green; my mom and Austin got yellow; Carter picked orange and Ethan and Tony picked red. I am definitely decking mine out with Tinkerbell stuff and Macy wants hers to be Stitch themed, so I think when we finally get them we will get either the temporary tattoos or stickers to make them awesome :D Austin may also decorate his Mickey-themed. I hate how we have to wait so long to get them :guilty:
Last little bit of news I finally got my first free $50 Disney gift card thanks to Swagbucks! Now I'm just trying to decide if I want to use it toward my ticket, dining, or something else. 276 days to go!
 
After some re-looking at our itinerary and considering what my mom said about some people potentially not wanting to go to a park on arrival day, I've decided to twist our arrival day plans a bit and plan something special for Austin and I.
DATE NIGHT pixiedust:

I'm going to assume at this point that most everyone is going to want to relax the first night (except for Austin and I because I can't NOT go to a park when I'm at Disney) so I've come up with this alternative. Once we arrive and get settled, Austin and I are going to take off (most likely for Epcot) and spend the night together just the two of us before we start our crazy week with the whole family. Epcot I feel like is a nice choice because nobody else cares how much we get done there, and one day will be enough for them, just not for me. We may just plan a nice dinner, wander world showcase and watch Illuminations. We'll also probably hit a ride or two since we will have a good 6 hours to spare. Then later in the week we will hit Epcot again for a full day with everybody and take it easy. Now I just have to re-tweak our plans and start looking for a nice (cheap?) place for dinner :lovestruc
 
Caught up on your PTR. I was worried that I'm the only Disney addict. My family is going roughly the same time as you and I was starting to feel crazy planning everything already. Looking forward to reading more.
 
Caught up on your PTR. I was worried that I'm the only Disney addict. My family is going roughly the same time as you and I was starting to feel crazy planning everything already. Looking forward to reading more.

Why thank you! :hug: I feel bad hardly having things to post now but I just couldn't help myself. I knew things would die down eventually but it's been so fun! I love planning these trips and I wasn't able to do that for our upcoming one (heading to South Carolina in a week but that's required zero planning aside from where to stay) so it's fun to look back and find new things to do at Disney :cutie:
 



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