Cheaper by the Dozen+1? 12 adults & 1 toddler take WDW Oct 2013

[aliwolly]

Even though I haven't posted very much on the disboards in the past few years (I tend to only come on close to a trip because I don't always have a next trip to look forward to and I don't want to feed my Disney frenzy when there's no relief in site!), I've decided to go ahead and do a Pre-Trip Report. I figure it's a nice way to reintroduce myself to the DIS community, and it'll be a fun outlet for my Disney obsessing over the next 53 days!

So here goes... my first Trip Report!! 53 days to go until our trip to WDW!! As the trip gets closer, I'm less able to focus on the mundane and more apt towards daydreaming about the trip. I'm starting to OBSESS!! We knew it was coming.

Let's get down to basics... An introduction:

The Who:
Me - 34 and a reformed plan-a-holic. I tend to get obsessed about things, but thankfully since becoming a mom I've relaxed a ton and am looking forward to my first trip where we'll take it slow! This will be my 4th trip with DH (we've been married for 6 years, but together for 11 years).
DH - a grumpy firefighter (lol). Even though he's got a stereotypical manly man job, he still loves WDW. He's a big fan of fine dining - so this trip will be a change for him as it's our first bringing a toddler. DH proposed on our 2nd trip on the beach at the Poly while we were swaying together in a hammock <3
DS - He'll be 21 months old for the trip and it's his first visit to WDW! He's a big fan of music of all kinds and I think he's really going to enjoy the parades and shows and general atmosphere - you know, all of those things we never stopped to see before.

Wham - the matriarch of our family, my mom (well, step-mom but that is only accurate in words and not in feelings). She's awesome: fun, caring, and all about her family.
Pa - my dad! I thought he did the greatest impression of Mickey Mouse when I was a little girl - turns out he was just talking in a high voice. He's a world traveler (lived in the Middle East for work the past 6 years) and is recently retired. He's definitely having a weird time transitioning to retired life.

BigBro - 40, recently divorced and has 2 kids. He's a computer geek and very much an ANDROID and WINDOWS guy which is so the opposite of me. He's way into aviation and was an air traffic controller in another life when he was a US Marine.
Nephew - BigBro's son, Nephew is in his Sr year of HS and is a Soccer player. He's only 8 months younger than our youngest brother.
Niece - BigBro's daughter. She's 12 years old and this will be her first trip to WDW! She's kind of got no one to pal around with on this trip since she's the youngest "adult" (according to Disney age ranges), but lucky for DH and me, she loves our son and is dying to be a babysitter.

Sis - my only sister! She's 30 and relocated to TX a few years back. This will be her first adult trip to WDW - last time we went as a family, she was 16.
Sis's BF: Sis is bringing her (new as of July!) boyfriend along on the trip. He's the only non-family-member coming, but he's the first actual grown-up-adult-type-person that she's ever dated and we're all so relieved and excited to meet him that we're glad to have him along. I think this is his first trip!

Bro26 - my 26 year old brother is a programmer and so lives up to many of the stereotypes about programmers LOL! He's got an incredible sense of humor and this will be his first adult trip to WDW - he was 12 the last time we were all there together.
Bro20 - my 20 year old brother is a college student. He reminds me a lot of a character that Seth Rogan would play lol! He's incredibly smart and just good at whatever he tries to do. He could definitely handle CompSci or Engineering, but he's thinking of becoming a Business major. He was 6 the last time we were at WDW as a family.
Bro18 - my 18 year old brother just graduated from HS and is entering college. He's the most caring and kind teenager I've ever met. He's funny and he loves the heck out of my little guy. He's a guitar player and the tallest of all of us - he's 6'7"!! He was 4 the last time we were at WDW as a family.

The What:
A HUGE family trip to Walt Disney World! Wham and Pa decided they'd like to take the entire clan - 6 kids, their spouses (well, I'm the only married one so my spouse lol), and kids to Walt Disney World for a once-in-a-lifetime everyone's together trip. This is the trip that they would have loved to have done years ago but life (and, well, Pa's job in the Middle East) got in the way. There will be THIRTEEN of us going on the trip - 12 adults and 1 toddler.

The Where:
WDW of course! We're renting DVC points and will be staying at the Saratoga Springs Resort... Which is kind of funny because we're from Saratoga County, NY and live only 20 minutes from the actual Saratoga Springs.

The Why:
Why not?! Family togetherness! Adventure! Using up all of those Disney Dollars the folks have earned over the past 6 or so years!

The When:
This October! We'll be there over Columbus Day weekend (d'oh!) for 5 nights. (Well, some of us will be there longer, but I'll get into that...)

The How:
I don't know. God bless us, lol! This will be interesting to see how it works with 13 of us together. I expect we'll split up during the days and meet for our dinner ADRs daily.

The sign-off:
TTFN! I'm looking forward to spilling the details on what we've got planned for twelve adults and a toddler. We're probably crazy for attempting some of the stuff we have planned, but we'll see! I've got some surprises in store that I can't wait to share too! See ya real soon!

 

[aliwolly]

Our last big family trip was in 1999. I thought I had a picture with all of the kids in it from that trip, but I guess I don't! Here's one that I would love to try and recreate, assuming that Camp Minnie Mickey is still open...

In the picture above, starting from the far Left is my Sis, the Wham, Bro26, Mickey & Minnie (lol), Bro18 (in front of Minnie), Bro20 to the right of him, Pa (behind Minnie), and me. So almost all six of us kids in the picture, we're just missing BigBro who was on this trip with his family but they must have been off doing their own thing at the time.

We stayed in the All Star Music Resort during that trip with those of us pictured above in two adjoining rooms. We really didn't spend much time at the resort and my two youngest brothers thought the theming was pretty cool!

This time around, since we've all gotten spoiled over the years and have more of an adult taste - and since DH and I will likely be spending more time at the resort than any previous trip since we have a toddler in tow - we'll be staying at the SSR. I'd actually wanted us to try and stay at the BoardWalk or the Beach Club or BLT, but there was no availability at those resorts when I was finally able to mobilize the folks on renting points. Oh well - we'll be within walking distance to DTD and I'm sure my siblings will all appreciate that.

 

[LB1122]

What an exciting trip this look to be.

We stayed at Saratoga Springs in 2010 when my daughter was 4 and we all loved it. You will have to let me know if they had added the horses form Tangles and Brave to the wall inside the lobby!

You are going at a great time. Have to ask if you guys are thinking of attending the No So Scary Halloween Party. We had a chance a few years back and we had a blast. Not much scary about it and meet & greet opps are great.

Looking forward to reading along with you. You are so close. I wish.

 

[Luvchefmic]

well as a Native New Yorker how could I not subscribe to your thread

How wonderful for a big family trip Looking forward to all your plans

Ruthie

 

[aliwolly]

What an exciting trip this look to be.

We stayed at Saratoga Springs in 2010 when my daughter was 4 and we all loved it. You will have to let me know if they had added the horses form Tangles and Brave to the wall inside the lobby!

You are going at a great time. Have to ask if you guys are thinking of attending the No So Scary Halloween Party. We had a chance a few years back and we had a blast. Not much scary about it and meet & greet opps are great.

Looking forward to reading along with you. You are so close. I wish.

Hi! Welcome! I'll keep an eye out for the wall inside the lobby It's track season right now here at Saratoga Springs Racetrack and this year the track frenzy is giving me Disney fever lol!

DH and I went to MNSSHP on the trip when we got engaged in 2006. He mentioned recently that going to the party was one of his favorite things that we've done at WDW - I think in his case because it meant the park was less crowded (he gets extra grumpy in crowds). I'm a fireworks fiend, so I'd love to see HalloWishes again! I'm just not sure if we'll attempt it with a young toddler. He's usually in bed by 8pm and we've rarely kept him up late, so I don't know how he'll handle it. I'm hesitating on pulling the trigger on spending the extra cash... I think I'll let DH decide lol!

 

[aliwolly]

well as a Native New Yorker how could I not subscribe to your thread

How wonderful for a big family trip Looking forward to all your plans

Ruthie

Welcome aboard!! Always glad to know other New Yorkers

 

[aliwolly]

Did I mention yet that I'm a crafter? Well, I am. I work full time, I'm a mom to a toddler, and in my "spare" time, I like to be crafty. I like to sew, embroider, cross-stitch, stamp, and do all manner of crafting with my Silhouette Cameo. Anyway, I've been thinking about doing a Disney Countdown craft for a while and finally did mine last night! Here it is:

It's simple and cute, and I like it! I did it with craft supplies that I had on hand, so the best part is it was basically free! I wrote up a blog post on how I put it together, for anyone who's interested. http://aliwolly.com/2013/08/19/countdown-to-disney/

Back to the plans...

I mentioned in my first post that there were some surprises... Well, there's one big surprise, anyway! My DH and I are heading down a couple of days before the rest of the family. They will be all driving down to NYC (about 3 hours South) to take a flight out of JFK down to Orlando. This is a very good plan if you live in my area and want to save money on a flight (so long as gas/tolls/parking don't eat up your savings). It is NOT a good plan, however, if you have a toddler. Could you imagine getting up very early in the morning to drive three hours, to navigate one of the world's busiest airports, to then get on your kid's very first flight? Um, no, that is NOT happening.

So I looked into booking flights for me and DH and DS from here to MCO. I realized that it was about $250 more expensive to fly out that Friday versus flying out on the Wednesday before that, as it's the Friday before a holiday weekend (Columbus Day is that following Monday). So I thought about it and decided that I'd rather fly down on Wednesday and use that $250 towards a hotel room and get some bonus extra time at WDW! DH thought that was a great idea and he's looking forward to having a couple of days with just me and our son before the rest of my crazy big family arrives.

So we'll be flying out on Wednesday and we have a direct flight which will put us in MCO before noon. We'll be taking the Magical Express to our resort. Which resort? Well, that was the question. DH was dead-set against staying at a value and I kind of agree with him. I mean, on the one hand, if you just want to stay on property and aren't planning on spending much time in your room/your resort, they're a great option. But when DH and I go on vacation, we like to *feel* like we're on vacation. So I looked into trying to stay at the Boardwalk (where we stayed when we got engaged), but of course, it was all booked. It's F&W while we're there, so the Epcot resorts were looking pretty out of reach. In fact, a lot of the places we wanted to stay were either all booked up, or only had incredibly expensive rooms left.

We talked about it and did some research and decided that we'd like to stay at Port Orleans Riverside. We'd never stayed at a moderate resort and the idea of staying at one that had bonus boat transportation to DTD sounded good. So I looked online and saw that there were rooms available. BUT I *also* saw that there were rooms available at a discount at the Yacht Club! I toyed with the idea of booking a room at the Yacht Club and surprising DH, but even at a discount the room would cost more per night than we were saving by taking an earlier flight. BUT it's *vacation* and we don't usually take vacations... So I slept on the idea and the next day, I decided to book the Yacht Club!

But... The reduced rate was no longer available the next day! Boooo!!!!! I was *so* upset at myself for not booking it when it was there. I even tried calling Disney to see if they could find the rate for me. The cast member I spoke with was really helpful and very nice, but unfortunately, he couldn't help me. Dispair!

So, I got home from work that night and I told DH how I'd wanted to surprise him with a room at the Yacht Club, but I didn't move on it quick enough and now the discounted rate was no longer available. I could tell by the look on his face that it would have been an EPIC surprise. Argh!! I went upstairs later on that night, after I put our son to bed, and got on my computer to book Port Orleans. AND LO AND BEHOLD the rate had reappeared!! So I booked it!

So DH, DS, and I will be staying at the Yacht Club from Wednesday until Friday, and then will be moving over to SSR to meet up with the rest of the family for the remainder of the trip. I'm so excited!!

 

[aliwolly]

OK so....

Hotels.... CHECK! Yacht Club surprise for DH followed by SSR.
Transportation... CHECK! Flights booked and... well, still need to call to add Magical Express.
Food... CHECK! Well... still have ONE dinner to figure out.

We're doing the DDP during the SSR stay and on our own for the first two nights. Here are the ADRs we have booked:

Wed - Me, DH, and DS only. We'll be getting in before noon that day and I'm *hoping* our room MIGHT be ready when we arrive, but not counting on it. I booked an earlyish dinner so that we're feeding our little guy at his normal time and I picked somewhere in a park so that if he flips out, I at least know he won't be the only one We're doing Rose & Crown Pub for dinner that night.

I actually would have been cool with just sampling some food at the F&W booths, but DH is ALL about a sit down meal every night. So the sampling will probably be lunch!

Thur - Me, DH, and DS only. Raglan Road! DH and I are big into Irish music and beer We've enjoyed Raglan Road in the past and definitely want to make sure we get there at some point during the trip! I *may* try changing this, though... I don't know if I want to get over to DTD that Thurs already when we're still at the YC and the rest of our trip will be spent in such close proximity to DTD. I'm sure my parents will watch DS at least one night so we could head over there.

Since I'm still toying with the idea of doing MNSSHP, we may do it Thur night and that would definitely change our dinner plans. To where? Not sure! I'd be fine with corn dog nuggets at Casey's!

Fri - This is the night the whole rest of the crew arrive! It was pretty hard booking a dinner for all 13+1 of us that night since my family's arrival time changed and they decided they wouldn't be doing a park that day so our original plan had to be revised. We found seating for all of us at Whispering Canyon Cafe. I've never been! I've heard it's a good time, and we do have a couple of ketchup fans in our crew....

Sat - We're hitting up AK that day and so we'll be dining at Boma afterwards. Another restaurant I haven't been to before! I figured that a buffet would probably work great with our crowd and we have a lot of adventurous eaters (although, how adventuresome will the cuisine at an African Buffet in WDW be?).

Sun - We'll be at Epcot on Sunday and have an ADR at Restaurant Marrakesh! This is my parents' favorite restaurant - for sentimental type reasons. They snuck off for an adults only trip about 20 years ago (OMG THAT'S A LONG TIME. I'M OLD.) and really had a fun time dining there. They also lived in the Middle East with my two youngest brothers for a few years and saw their fair share of belly dancers, so they're looking forward to this!

Mon - This is our Hollywood Studios day and the Wham was really excited to try 50's Prime Time Cafe. Her friend had gone there with her family on a trip a few years back and said it was a lot of fun. This is another restaurant DH and I haven't been to since we're snobby (apparently lol) and pretty much have just done Signature Restaurants on past trips - but I bet it'll be a fun experience with our crowd!

Tues - Our last night We don't have any ADRs booked! My parents said that they would definitely take DS with them that night, so DH and I have a chance to have a date night! We'll have one TS credit left.... but since it's our only date night on the trip, we're leaning towards a signature restaurant. Our ADR at 50s Prime Time on Monday is more of a lunch thing, so we might use that TS credit for dinner that night (or maybe lunch on Wed since our flight out isn't until that evening) and just pay out of pocket for our date night dinner. We would have LOVED to go to the CA Grill, since that's where we dined the night DH proposed, but there are no times available. But... I wonder if that's because they're currently closed for rehab? There are some times available at Citrico's and Narcoosee's (we'll be at MK that day, so I'm focusing on that area). I guess we should make a decision too. OR maybe that night we'll head over to the Boardwalk and go to the Flying Fish (one of our favorites!) and hit Jelly Rolls (because that is a MUST DO for us!).

So it looks like we'll be sampling a bunch of places that DH and I haven't been to before and we still have a couple of nights to nail down. I'm really second guessing Raglan Road on Thursday... I guess if I could decide about MNSSHP that might help make the decision!

 

[aliwolly]

I feel so out of touch planning this trip. Now that I've got a little one, I can only mildly obsess over the trip and planning, vs being Incredibly Over The Top Obsessive Obsessed like I've been in the past LOL!

For example: I've just been making ADRs willie nillie and making assumptions and had I actually done *any* research *at all* I'd have seen that there's an ADR watch for the CA Grill and it looks like in 5 short days they will likely begin taking ADRs. So wish me luck! Hopefully I can make that surprise #2 for DH on this trip! Wouldn't that be a wonderful last night surprise?!