A Reunion 14 years in the Making! PTR June 5-12 Updtd 6/3/10

[joleen76]

Where to begin? At the beginning!

The Disney bug really bit me when we first visited Disney World in 1995. I was a sophmore in college and pregnant with my first child. My DD asked if my sister an I would like to go on vacation with my DSM and him to Disney World. Of course we said YES!!! The trip was in July and over the July 4th holiday. Ummmm yes picture it....1st timers, in July, and I was 3 month's pregnant. Not exactly a recipe for success in theory, but it was so much fun! It was REALLY hot, I mean cook some biscuits and eggs on the pavement hot, but I was young and it didn't matter much. We had a blast. We stayed at the Swan and ate at my still 2 favorite restraunts, Le Cellier and the now Teppan Edo. Yes the seeds were planted. The coolaid was drunk. (all be it a delayed dose of the coolaid).

My next trip was not until I had, had my youngest son and they boys were now 6 & 3. I was finally able to afford a vacation and saw a Disney add. I thought what a great idea. So we were all set for 5 days in the world...in May this time. May turned out to be a great time to go. This is when the bug really bit us all!

We have been back to Disney in May 4 more times. Then I started hearing about all the awesome decorations during the Christmas season. I knew I couldn't miss Christmas with my family, so I started at looking at dates that were doable with school schedules and all. I decided on Thanksgiving after my grandmother passed to help us be distracted while we were missing her. We have been twice during Thanksgiving.

Then unexpectedly after 12 years of being a single mother, I met the man for me. The boys showed him our Disney pictures and honestly he thought they were cool, but couldn't understand why we had been back so many times. We eloped 6 weeks after we met. My family insisted on a wedding everyone could attend. I was happy to agree and planned the wedding in 6 months. DH and I decided this time we HAD to take a honeymoon. We looked at cruises and destinations but I had to mention that we could go to Disney in style for less and for longer. That's all DH needed to hear. We planned a honeymoon for a week at first and then I started looking at extending it. In the end we spent a week and a half in Disney on our honeymoon.

If you are interested in the TR click the link below.

First part....

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2100845

Our next trip was as a new family. There are 6 of us now. DH & I and our 4 boys. We went over Thanksgiving and had a blast.

To see this TR click the link below.

The second part...

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2100845

When we came back we imediately wanted to go back, but the economy troubles hit my work and I was going to be laid off. I started searching for a new job and we were forced to put any Disney plans on hold indefinately.

I was able to find a great job fairly quickly, one catch though....we had to move. Again we had to put Disney plans on hold. Then in November 09 I got a coveted PIN code for 40% off. Seeds were planted again and I looked at the calendar and looked at our finances and was able to see that maybe by June we could go. We decided on June 5-12 and I called and made our reservations...WE WERE GOING BACK!!

Then I thought....hmmm we've been trying to get my dad to go with us for years. I would try again. So I sent him an e-mail with our plans and asked him if he'd like to go with us. A few days later we got a call and he, my step mom and my little sis were coming with us!

This means a grand gathering! Oh no, I've never planned a GG before. I called and made their reservations (June 7-12). Whoo hoo!

We discussed places they would like to eat over Thanksgiving and I was put in charge of ALL the planning.

Up next meet all our characters!

 

[joleen76]

Part 1 - Introductions - Post 4
Part 2 - Where will we stay - Post 8
Part 3 - Dining Reservations - Post 10

 

[joleen76]

reserved for future postings

 

[joleen76]

Who's first....

I guess me...Joleen - 33 (soon to be older) Disney finatic and planner by night and accountant by day. Loves family time and loves a vacation more than anything. My favorite character is Mickey, but I love them all.

DH - Kenneth (younger than me and doesn't let me forget it) now ever since our honeymoon he has been bitten by the Disney bug as hard as I have. Stay at home dad, and all around wonderful husband. (he has me spoiled rotten). He's a jokester and loves his music loud and full of bass. His favorite character is Goofy, and for good reason!

DS 14 - about to be in high school (I'm so not ready), LOVES sports, playing video games about sports, and did I mention he loves sports? Very good as teenagers go, but he has his moments. Has tried in the past to act like he is getting to old for Disney, but quickly changes his toon when we arrive at the world. He had a 4-wheeler accident in Nov. 08 and I thought I might loose him, but he's so strong and has bounced back fully. (more on that story in my previous TR) He is most like Grumpy...but he is a lover of the Mouse too.

DS 10 - 5th grader and a sweet kid. Loves spending time with his family and tends to be my sensitive one. Loves the army and police. Wants to be a cop when he grows up. Loves Disney and isn't afraid to say it. Character would be Stitch.

DS 8 - Also a sweet boy. Sensetive as well. Loves video games, especially car racing games (Daddy's boy for sure), and riding his bike. Lives in New Mexico with his mom, so we don't see him hardly enough. We took him on his first trip to Disney 11/08 and he had the time of his life. He is looking forward to this trip maybe more than I am which is hard to believe. His character would be....the Red Power Ranger.

DS 6 - He is a firecracker. Too funny and full of energy. Loves matchbox cars, riding his bike, and playing with his brothers. Also lives in New Mexico. Took him to Disney for the first time in 11/08 and he fell in love. He is counting the days until our trip. His character is ..... Lightning McQueen

DD (won't disclose his age) - my dad. Loves golf, snow skiing, and his family. Planted my Disney bug on my inagural trip. Is excited to be going on vacation will all of us and is a great grandpa.

DSM (again no ages) - my step mom. Loves tennis, snow skiing, shopping, and my DSis. She can't ride all the big rides anymore and is loving that my DH will ride everything so my little sister can ride too.

DSis 10 - Loves competition cheerleading, Twilight, and her friends. She is beyond excited for our trip. Very sweet girl who loves her nephews. It will be the first time we have been on vacation together and I have a special dinner planned for her.

More to come...(I will fill in more pictures later today)

 

[cmp1111]

Sounds like a great trip!

 

[joleen76]

Sounds like a great trip!

Thanks! We can't wait!

 

[Bookstamper]

Hi there! Great start to your PTR - very cool to be planning a Grand Gathering! Looking forward to hearing more

 

[joleen76]

So we knew we were going and when, but where would we stay?

Since I have been blessed to visit so many times I have stayed at a lot of the Disney properties. (Swan, All Star Movies, All Star Sports, Pop Century, Port Orleans Riverside, Port Orleans French Quarter, Beach Club, Yacht Club, and the Contemporary)

Having these experiences, I wanted to stay somewhere perfect for a multi-room group and yet stay within a budget.

I started by calling Disney and asked for a couple pricing options. I wanted to go as reasonable on costs as I could. So I got pricing on a value resort and a moderate resort. I was in charge of figuring out all the accomodations and since my family is a family of 6 I had to look at a couple different options. We knew for sure we did not want to share a room with my dad and company, we wanted to spare them the 24/7 with 4 boys. So that helped to narrow down the options a bit. I started looking at the value resorts and we could do a couple of things. We could get 2 rooms or a suite at this level. For giggles I also wanted to price the cabins that would fit all 6 of us in the same cabin and for a lot less than a suite.

So I held my breath when the computer was calculating my options. I thought yeah no way I could get a comporable price for the cabins as the value. It turns out that the price difference from the 2 rooms to the suite was about $100 for the week and price from the suite to the cabin was $90 for the week. So for $190 more for the week we got the cabin!

I knew this meant research. I could do that. I know that a cart if you don't have a car is a necessity, but we are driving so we will have a car. I know I need to request cabins as close to the transportation center as I can. We are booked for 7 nights at the cabins! Best thing about this trip is none of us has stayed here before so we will all be experiencing something for the first time.

If you have stayed at the cabins, please let me know ANY advice you can!

 

[joleen76]

Hi there! Great start to your PTR - very cool to be planning a Grand Gathering! Looking forward to hearing more

Hey, thanks for signing on! I am both excited and nervous about trying to plan a trip that all 9 people not only enjoy, but love.

Looks like you are going in June too! If you haven't stayed at POP before, you will love it. Just try to get close to the main building and transportation! If you haven't gone in June before, I recomend a sun screen with bug stuff in it. We noticed this by accident. I bought the avon skin so soft sun screen before our first trip to use. We kept overhearing people complaining about the bugs, and we were like "what bugs". Wasn't until later I figured out that the skin so soft had a natural bug repelant in it.

Hope this helps!

 

[joleen76]

For us Dining is a HUGE part of our trip. We are on the dining plan which we really love. When I called and made our room arangements, they told me our dining reservation date would be December 7th. So on December 7th I got up EARLY to be on the phone to get what we wanted.

We knew we wanted to eat at:

Coral Reef because the kids will think it's awesome to eat at a place that has a huge fish tank in it. Also, DH and I decided we needed to give it another shot since the "dinner that will live in emphany" (for those who have read my honeymoon TR)

Ohana - because none of us have eaten here and it's all you can eat...with a teenager these are especially awesome.

Cinderella's Castle - because we want my little sister to have a special meal for her.

Teppan Edo - we all love habachi.

Le Cellier - this place is just awesome.

Grand Gathering breakfast - this is appealing because we get to have breakfast with the characters with out having to go through the Chef Mickey congestion etc.

And we need a place in Disney Studio's so, I think Mama Melrose.

These were my rough list and I had a basic idea of what place what day when I called.

I knew the first two days are just us and our boys. My dad and company will arive Monday, but I still don't know what time their flight is. (yes still to this day but that's a side bar) So I didn't make any dining reservations on Monday.

So when I got up at the crack of dawn on December 7th I was suprised at what I was able to get. This was like dream dining come true!

Sat 6/5 - Coral Reef 5:20 pm
Sun 6/6 - Ohana's 5:30 pm
Mon 6/7 - Open
Tue 6/8 - Mama Melrose 5:25
Wen 6/9 - Tony's Breakfast 9 am & Cinderella for lunch at 12:30 pm (I wanted dinner but at the time they didn't have the characters for dinner)
Thur 6/10 - Teppan Edo 6 pm
Fri 6/11 - LeCellier 5:50 pm

I was pumped! When disney announced that Cinderella's Castle had added the princesses to dinner, I immediately called and changed our reservation to 5:35 pm. Can you believe these reservations? I guess bookings are down?

We decided this year to skip the water parks and save some money there and we didn't go on vacation last year, so I understand why they might be down.

So...here are some pictures of our experiences at some of the places we are going to eat. I am really just looking for a reason to stroll down Disney memory lane!

Cinderella on our honeymoon

I loved this desert!

DH looks a little too happy in this picture.

Le Cellier

We love desert!

Coral Reef

The couple next to the tank got engaged while we were there.

Mama Melrose

Teppan Edo

I can't wait to experience these places again! What do you think of our dining plans? Also, if you have any questions please ask, I love to share Disney experiences.

The next update will be our park schedule. The sights I look have changed 3 times, so I'm still a bit undecided!

 

[hlrababy]

Hey girly!!!!!

I am here!! YAY!!! I can't wait to join in and hear all about your trip!!

 

[GreatBiscuit]

Signing up for another round! I'm excited for you guys to get to stay in the cabin! That sounds like it will be a blast! Dining options look great. My DIS time is constrained of late, but I'll stop by as often as I can.

 

[joleen76]

Hey girly!!!!!

I am here!! YAY!!! I can't wait to join in and hear all about your trip!!

YAY!! Welcome aboard!

Mini update coming soon.

 

[joleen76]

Signing up for another round! I'm excited for you guys to get to stay in the cabin! That sounds like it will be a blast! Dining options look great. My DIS time is constrained of late, but I'll stop by as often as I can.

BISCUIT!!!! How are you?

We are so excited. We are getting to the count down days stage now. We are talking about it more and more.

I talked to my dad the other day and they are doing the same. My little sister is so excited she has people to ride EVERY ride with.

Glad you like the dining options....silly as it is, it's one of the things I stress about the most. I mean really we will be in Disney...I could eat cardboad and be happy.

I'll try to do weekly updates until the trip so just stop by when you have time. Hope things are going well with the Biscuit clan.

 

[joleen76]

So, Spring break was two weeks ago for our two oldest boys. We took a "warm up trip" to our local Six Flags. (I will write an update with pictures this weekend.) Our two little guys are on Spring Break this week. DH has been looking forward to this for months! We get to see them this weekend, which we absolutely can't wait for! Yesterday my DH and DS14 were playing HORSE with the basketball and trying to one up each other. Typical boys of course. Well DH decides he needs to really go over the top and run across the street into the neighbors driveway and throw it back at the goal. Well the problem with this is DH is not 14 anymore, but in his mind he is. So...needless to say it didn't go according to his plan and instead when he turned sideways to throw the ball at the goal....his body turned but his ankle did not. Ummm yep...he heard a loud pop! So now he is barely walking and has an ankle the size of a grapefruit. Moral of the story is ..... don't act 15 years younger than your body is.

We are hoping he starts feeling better by Friday when we get the boys, and bigger picture he is good for our trip in 2 months!!!

I will post more this weekend and hopefully a good update on the ankle.

Whew Boys!!

 

[joleen76]

Well, I just spent an hour typing a great update, then the internet ate it!

I will try to type it again...but now I have to cook dinner.

 

[joleen76]

I'm going to try this again. Hopefully the internet won't eat this try too.

Our spring break this year was mid March and of course all of our boys couldn't have spring break at the same time. We didn't really have anything planned because of this, but I had 2 1/2 days of vacation I rolled over from last year that I had to take by 3/31 or loose it. So of course plans or no plans I was taking it this week. Did I mention DS 14 was going to his dad's for the week?

We started off the week with a basketball game for DS 14. He's been asking me to get our tickets from work all season for Baylor vs Texas. Texas is his favorite team. So this happened to be the game, which was perfect timing to start his break off right. Only problem is there are only 2 tickets. He wanted DH to take him, which I thought was too cool. His dad picked him up at home after the game. Oh by the way Baylor beat Texas. Poor DS, although judging by their performance in March madness there was a reason for this.

So I started off the week missing DS 14. I had to work the first 2 1/2 days. Let me tell you, it's hard to get up on those mornings knowing there are sleeping family members upstairs. Although I do have to give DH cudos. He got up in the mornings with me and made me my coffee as he always does. He's such a sweetie.

On Wens. I was suppose to get off work at 11 am since I presented our shiftwide meetings this week. That means 6am to 6pm days two days in a row. Nevertheless, I ended up getting off work about 1pm. That still was nice. We didn't really do much this day which was good.

Our first planned activity for our time off was ...... our taxes. It went well so it was really a good start. We decided to finish the day by updating our flower beds a bit. We added new boarder which I think looks good.

For the next couple of days, I really wanted a mini vacation to San Antonio, but when I crunched the numbers and looked at park hours, it just wasn't ment to be. Which this is okay considering it was less than 3 months till our Disney trip. I wanted to still do something to practice for Disney.

I looked at park hours for Six Flags Arlington and they weren't open during the week. This meant we would have to go on a Saturday which worried me crowd wise. I was hoping that since that area's spring break was the next week and they would be open daily for that week we'd be okay. I was still nervous though. We decided Saturday it was. We went online and bought cheaper tickets at the kids price. This saved us almost $20 a person. DH bought the parking pass online too which saved us $3-$5 so that was good too.

We decided to get up early and drive the 2 hours that morning and be there for the 10 am opening. We did pretty good too. We were up and out the door by 8 am. We made good time and were on target until we got to Arlington and about 5 miles from the park. The highway was closed for construction. Luckily I grew up in the area and knew some side roads to get there. We ended up driving up to the parking que by 10 am. There was quite a line to park though which made me nervous again about the crowds. We were parked and in the gates by 10:20. Not bad timing.

They have adopted a disneyesk approach these days and had character picture ops when you walk in the gates. My only slight complaint would be that the character photographers/handlers do not take pictures with your personal camera's, so I only have pictures with one of us missing.

We took some pictures in front of the fountain too.

We headed to the bobsled for our first ride. We all love it and on a "normal" crowd day this would be an hour plus wait time, we made it on in 10 min's. This was a good sign.

Next we headed to the Titan. Now, I don't ride HUGE rollercoasters or anything that goes upside down. DS 10 though is a ride enthusiast (sp). No fear. He was not tall enough on our last trip here and he was pumped he would get to ride this year. The line was short so I was happy to wait at the end of the ride for them. When I started seeing people come off the ride that I watched get in line far after DH & DS I started to worry. About 30 min's after they got in line I called DH to see if they were ok. They were fine, they decided to take advantage of the shorter lines to wait for the front seat on the ride. Apparently it's the most "intense" seat for the ride. This made me worry for entirely different reasons now. DS's first ride on this monsterous coaster and in the most intense seat? He's so little and I worried about the bar to keep him in the seat. Of course this was worry for no reason, but I'm a mom and it goes with the territory. I took a quick shot of them coming back into the loading zone then headed over to see their ride photo.

Now I got to see this picture before they ever made it down from the ride. I looked, saw DH, but no DS? I was like "wwwaaattt"? The nice photo guy said oh, wait just a second, adjusted the picture and I saw DS halfway under the bar!! Apparently this picture is taken in the sideways corkscrew part of the ride and the G's are quite intense. LOL The funniest part is DS's face after the ride. The ride goes so fast that it tears your eyes. Well his tears didn't go down his cheaks, instead they went straight back into his hair. LOL He loved this ride!

We rode a few more rides and decided we were hungry. We went to a burger place in the park and got our food and sat down. I decided I needed more sauce or my chicken and went to get more. When I was coming out the door, I saw a guy I could swear I knew, but couldn't imediately make the connection. He knew me too because he also did a double take. It turns out it was the couple that taught DS's Sunday School class at the church DH and I met and married at. How cool is that? His wife and he came over and talked to us a minute and we realized another couple from the church was there too. Too cool. It was awesome to bump into people we knew!

Next we went to the mine train and the swings. DH sat out the swings to let his food settle.

Yes I do feel like one of your teddy bears as a child that you shove into a Barbie car or something. LOL

We rode several more rides and about 5-5:15 we decided it was time for one more ride and we should go. We still had a 2 hour drive home.

DS decided he wanted another 1st and rode the Flashback with DH. I managed to get a couple of pictures of them on the ride.

All in all it was a great day and a great warm up for Disney!

Have I mentioned we are SO excited?

 

[joleen76]

DH's ankle is getting better and better.

So much better now that I can tell him it's played out! He hates it by the way, but I think it's hilarious of course.

We are putting new sod down in our back yard this weekend....I'm sure I will have lot's to post after that. DS 14 is already dreading the work. I know the horror of being 14 and helping the rents with a major job. Oh to be 14 again!

I'm in the process of trying to find a way to get custom matching t-shirts for the 9 of us for not to much $$. If you have any great ideas or hints, I would love to hear them.

I'm traveling for work next week and this would be a great thing to have checked off my list if I could!

Also, DSM called tonight and they have booked their flights so tomorrow I can call Disney and get their Magical Express set up. It's getting so close and I think everyone is now officially excited!

Would love to hear from you guys!

 

[joleen76]

We are getting so close. The excitement is building and we can't wait.

I have ordered matching shirts for all of us. We are going to wear matching shirts for 2 days. I am thinking it will make for some great pictures.

I was glad to see that the prepurchase of the picture CD was on sale again this year. I definately got it. I think it will be great to share all those pictures.

Here is what the shirts will have on them.

I also had shirts made for me & DH's.

DH's ankle is doing lots better and almost back to normal.

Sadly I followed his footsteps last weekend. I went to get up from my chair and I got my big toe caught in my pajama pants. Ummm yeah miss graceful. I bent my toe all the way down...and then came my greatest moment. I fell face first to the ground. I skinned my knees and I felt every bump for the next week. Yeah I'm getting old. LOL

I will update more soon.

 

[joleen76]

21 days and counting!!!!

We are getting more excited everyday. We get DS 8 & DS6 in 2 weeks!

We are starting to get things ready to go.

So I've been making matching t-shirts for years. Here's a few examples through the years.

2006

I had been doing similar shirts for our trips for 2004-2006. Each shirt had that person's name on it.

In 2007 Disney stopped making these kinds of personalized shirts so I decided to save the money and do something myself.

2007

Then for our Disneymoon, I made a couple of Bride/Groom shirts.

2008

In between my planning for the "family wedding" and our Disneymoon I found a lot of different pieces on these lovely DIS boards but didn't have time to use them for our Disneymoon shirts...so of course I wanted to have some made for our grand gathering. I posted the artwork before, but now the shirts have come in!!!

Lots has been going on since I posted last. I think I have finalized our iteniary. I'll post that in the next update.

I am such a dork, I am already wanting to pack. DH is a last minute kind of person and I'm a planner. I have made him make a list of stuff we need to take with us. Since we are staying in the cabins, I am thinking we will bring stuff for breakfast and some snacks to take with us each day. Not to mention the car ride. Convienence stores are so expensive! Or maybe I'm cheap? Either way! LOL

Isn't it funny how when vacation is coming work makes you want it even more? Work has been so crazy, complete with the backflips and cartwheels. I am counting the days! 20 days and counting now!!