An OCD Pre-Trip Report - Updated 07/30

[FigmentChick]

Hellloooo!!! I have been contemplating writing a pre-trip report for awhile and, with a little urging from my friends, I am going to do so. I have found the Disboards to be a wonderful place full of welcoming people and I would really like to write and share my family's experience.

So, I guess I best introduce the cast:
DH (aka Donny)

Hubby is the love of my life. We have been together for almost 14 years, married for just over 12. Last July he was diagnosed with agoraphobia. We have been working on him getting better and his doctors tell him this trip is a step in the right direction. We plan on immediately heading for the hotel should the anxiety get to be too much (more on this later). His favorite character is, of course, The Duck!!!

Me (aka The Crazy Redhead or Mel)

Although my whole family are self-professed Disney geeks, my addiction goes further. I never visited the parks until my late teens and ever since then I only wanted back. I have often toyed with the notion of moving down to Florida so I could get an annual pass…..I know, I hang my head in shame. LOL I will not get into the details of what I do for a living or what my boring hobbies are unless you ask it of me….. My favorite character of all time is Figment, but I do so enjoy interacting with them all.

DD9.5 (aka Amy)

Our first born. Always with a smile and the quick wit of her father. She originally looked like me when she was born, but she now has my husband’s fabulous skin tone. She tans, the brat! Anyway, she is involved in dance and baton and, obviously, loves her cat. She can’t narrow down her favorite Disney character, but she loves the Fairies and she can’t wait for the princess breakfast.

DS8 (aka The Boy and Kyle)

Kyle is all boy. He plays sports year-round: football, wrestling and baseball. He has a great attitude and is very sensitive. Unfortunately, he ended up fair skinned like me and he got my lovely cowlicks, too! He is informing me his favorite character is Crush, this is probably because of his conversation from last trip that he still remembers vividly (again, ask and ye shall receive).

DS1.5 (aka The Baby and Quinn)

Quinn is our new addition. We were pregnant with him last trip (he rode everything but Splash and RnRC! – no flames). He is very fair-skinned with strawberry colored hair. He is so lovely. We all dote on him; his siblings help out so much! I can’t wait to see his interaction with the characters.

And last, but certainly not least……
DMIL (aka Mom)

I like this woman better than my own mother. She has always been gracious and loving with me, even trying to pair me and Donny up prior to our actually meeting. She has a wonderful sense of humor and loves her family dearly. Donny is her baby and it shows….she bends over backwards to do things for him. She originally did not want to go on this trip, insisting that she wasn’t going, until she saw how Quinn reacted when we visited the Philly Zoo in April. He was so excited to see all sorts of things (from animals to balloons) and Donny leaned down and whispered “Now won’t it be neat to see him in Disney?” That was it - she was sold. Her favorite character is Eyeore and I have it set up that we are celebrating her birthday while having breakfast at the CP.

OK, I promise to try and write at least two or three times a week and respond everyday. TTFN!!!!

 

[FigmentChick]

Hey! I hope the descriptions of my family were a good lead-in. Now, we move on to what I’m sure you most want to know about: The Trip!!!!

I should preface this entry by saying we normally stay off-site. When DH and I first went to WDW, on our honeymoon, we were able to stay in the Holiday Inn in Kissimmee for $15 per night (I worked for Holiday Inn – it was a benefit for their employees at the time). When we decided to take the family in April 2006, I considered staying on site, but my friend used to take her family to Disney every year and would rent a house. She gave me the website and after some searching, I found that renting a house (with its own pool) was cheaper than staying on site (even when considering a rental car). We went back to the same house in October 2007 because we fell in love with it and the owner. He was great to us and, if you really want to rent a house, he’s the way to go. It’s located maybe ten minutes from the main gate and when we left the parks at night we could easily stop by Walmart of Publix if we needed something.

However, I now have a fair few friends who travel to Disney if not once than several times a year. A couple are DVC members, but most just enjoy staying on site. They made the pitch, I did some comparisons and, after factoring in free dining, I decided to bite the bullet.

We are staying at Port Orleans Riverside. I had the choice of this resort, All Star Music and the Fort Wilderness Cabins for my price range. I had to compare sleeping arrangements, walking distance, and smoking areas (for my DMIL). ASM did not have the arrangements I liked and the smoking areas at the Cabins were few and far between. So, I checked out POR further and found I liked everything that it had to offer.

Yes, there will be five of us plus a baby in the room, but we’re only there to sleep and shower. The adults all shower in the morning and the kids can get their showers in the evening, so no problems there. The room has a trundle bed that Kyle will sleep on. Amy has said she would just be happy to roll up with a blanket and the pillow on the floor, but she also has the option of sleeping in the bed with her Mom Mom if she wants to.

From everything I’ve read and the pics I’ve seen, POR is exactly perfect for my DMIL. Remember, this is her first trip, so I want everything perfect. She is an avid gardener, so I think POR will be especially inviting to her. We do plan to spend some time walking the paths while we’re there. Because of her age, we have asked for a room on the first floor somewhat near the main building. We don’t want her walking too much and will rent a wheelchair while we’re in the parks.

So….now that I’ve described how we chose POR, I guess I’ll have to explain why we chose the dates we’re going.

Hang in there…..I promise more for the next post……
TTFN

 

[FigmentChick]

Why an OCD Pre-Trip report????

Well, for starters, I am diagnosed with OCD. I am one of those people that absolutely need to control my environment. Everything. In. It.

So, when I plan a vacation, I plan a vacation. Before I book the room (or house), I research, research, research. I want to see every picture available, read reviews from people that have stayed there, and examine the area on a map. For instance, before making our house reservations the first trip, I located the house on a map, determined where the closest Publix and Walmart were and decided if that was adequate enough. This time around, I went to Mapquest, typed in the address for POR, and then asked it to find a Walmart nearby (as we will need provisions for our trip – to be explained later).

The OCD doesn’t stop there. I generally book and rebook the rental car because I constantly find better deals or am not happy with something the one company doesn’t offer. I review the layout of the airport so I know exactly where we need to go the second we step off the plane.

I have a budget. This is not my Holy Grail, but close to it. We put everything on it: from the room expense to airline tickets to parking (both at the parks and at the airport; although, obviously, park parking will be $0 for this trip). I have columns on the spreadsheet for the estimated cost as well as what has already been paid. Put it this way, four of my friends use some variation of the budget for their own personal use. I’m sad, I know.

Additionally, in regards to the OCD, I start packing well before the trip. I am not kidding…..I started packing as soon as we hit 90 days. I figure at 90 days, I can make ressies, so, therefore, it’s ok to pack. I will tell in another post what I have packed thus far (you’d probably be surprised). I have packing list that a re-revise every few days or so. I constantly think of the “one more thing” that can go on it or decide to remove something that no longer makes sense.

This year I have a binder. Normally, I consider myself organized enough not to need one, but free dining had complicated that a bit. We normally only eat breakfast with the princesses, but now we have a table service meal almost every day! Whew!! So, I have that all written down, as well as a copy of the packing list, copies of our flight itineraries, and a list of tips I have found.

I guess that explains the title (and me!) a bit better. I hope you all have a great night!
TTFN

 

[Marty Moose]

Melanie!!

ROFL...I saw "OCD" and "Figment" and knew it had to be you!

I didn't know you guys were staying at Port Orleans...I thought you had gone with an All Star or Pop?? You have to let me know how you like it there (I'm sure you'll love it!).

Look forward to reading more!

Jen

 

[Nuwanda9]

I look forward to reading your PTR!

 

[FigmentChick]

Hi, Nuwanda!!! Nice to meet you!!! I will strive to keep you entertained!

Hi, Jen!!!! As you know, we normally rent the house, but I wanted to be closer to the parks because if Donny has a panic attack I have to get him OUT OF THERE!!! So, travelling even 10 minutes to a house is not an option. Plus - FREE DINING!!! Whoo-hoo!!! You know we never sit and eat so this will be new for us, but I think it's good with Quinn and Mom because they can both take a time-out and sit and relax while we eat.

Anyhow, I originally had booked at All Star Music because that's where we could fit all in one room (one of the family suites). But Mom smokes and the designated areas weren't as close as we would have liked. Plus she loves gardens, so I thought Riverside would be more her style. Believe it or not, we saved money by switching from the family suite to a moderate. Not much, but it's still something. I can't wait. I'm so exicted!!!

I will write more this afternoon, but I have a meeting I have to prepare for.

Have a great day!

 

[FigmentChick]

Hello again! Sorry for the long lag in posting, but I have been extremely busy at work. But I am on the path again and shall show you how OCD I truly am.

Well, let’s see where I left off……explaining myself and my obsessiveness. Now I shall move on to more fun things….like my ADRs and how lucky I was!

Now, we are traveling September 24th to October 3rd. Prior to last week, the dates I chose were the last of the free dining promotion. Now, all that has changed and I admit I am upset; I would have loved to go towards the end of October. Less heat and humidity to deal with. But, alas, I got an excellent deal on airfare and it would cost me a small fortune in order to change now. So, we move on…..

As I said in a previous post, we normally only breakfast with the princesses in Norway and just get CS or snacks when we’re hungry. However, the free dining allows us to try new and interesting restaurants that we have always wondered about. Well, my 90 days hit on June 26th. I had called two days prior to talk to the dining reservations people because that was when they had just started doing the online dining reservations. I was told that yes, it does open up at 6am, but no I could not use it because it didn’t do the 90 plus 10, just 90 days. I, of course, found out that the 90 plus 10 information was incorrect after I was on hold for over an hour that morning. Ah, well….

Believe it or not, I got all of the ADRs I wanted. I had to adjust a couple, but DH was okay with that. It actually turned out better. Our current ADRs are:

· 09/24 – Boma at 4:55pm
· 09/25 – Tokyo Dining at 6pm
· 09/26 – no ressies
· 09/27 – Akershaus – 8:15am
· 09/28 – Tusker House – 11:30am
· 09/29 – California Grill – 6:10pm
· 09/30 – Tutto Italia – 1:45pm
· 10/01 – Crystal Palace – 8:05am
· 10/02 – Coral Reef – 12:00pm

Our first day in the parks will be the 25th as the day we fly in we do DTD, go to Wal-Mart for provisions, and settle in. Friday the 25th is a MNSSHP so it is the perfect opportunity to hop over to Epcot and see Illuminations (our favorite). We had originally wanted to eat at Coral Reef that night, but nothing was available for around a 6pm time slot. I think there was a 7pm available, but I did not want to chance not having a great spot to watch Illuminations. So, we switched Coral Reef with our Japanese dining experience.

Tuesday is our day off. One, I have to do payroll that day (which will take about two to three hours) and two, we always take a day off in the middle of the week. So, we thought we would do a fancy-schmnacy dinner that night since our original plan went down in flames.

We have never seen Fantasmic and we were really looking forward to taking my MIL to it this time. However, it only shows once our entire week there. We were planning on doing the dinner and show package and eat at the Brown Derby, but that was not to be. Hence….the fancy-schmancy dinner. But I am soooo looking forward to it! I have heard really great things about the California Grill and I even bought a new sundress to wear (I don’t do dresses too often!). After I made the ressies, I started to worry that maybe my 18 month old would not be welcome there. So, I called back to Disney Dining and the nice CM told me not to worry….all restaurants (save Victoria & Albert’s) are child friendly and no one will have a problem with my child. Now I can only hope and pray he won’t throw pieces of his food on the floor (we have a gameplan so that won’t happen).

Anyhow, except for moving the Coral Reef ressie and not being able to do the Fantasmic dinner package, we are really excited about our ADRs.

Well, I hope you liked the update. Next I will have to tell you all about the airline drama…….