Deer vs Harley Trip twist

[lgcountry]

Hello Everyone!
This is my first trip report. Since this trip has already taken an interesting twist, I thought I would share all the pre-trip fun, and also be able to ask the many questions that I know we will have. We have all been to WDW, but not all together.

Cast Members:
Me: Mom, 48 years of experience. Disney World wannabee expert. When I worked as a travel agent several (more than 10) years ago, I actually got a certificate in Disney Knowledge or some such thing. Last trip to WDW in 2004 with DS, and a lot of people I really don't want to remember.

DH: 36 years of experience, went to WDW on Senior trip in High School. (MGM and AK didn't even exist). Great guy, loves to travel and go new places. Excited about this trip, but not quite as into it as I am.

DS: 10 years old, still learning about life. Went to Disney 3 years ago, but really didn't get to do much. Had to follow a crowd, and had fun, but didn't have much fun to do with Disney. More on that later.

Previous Experience: I've been twice in 1982 and 2004. The last trip was not what I expected. My Stepmother-in-law invited DS and I to join her, her ex daughter-in-law, her grandson, her granddaughter (whom she had never seen) on a trip to WDW. She would rent the house and we would celebrate all the grandchildren's birthdays. Figures that all her grandchildren were born in March! She also ended up inviting 2 friends, their granddaughters, and my nephew, Total of 5 adult women and 6 children ages 2-10. Because of unorganization, I consider this trip a waste of time, money, and a perfect example of how not to see the world. DS was with me on this trip, his first, and unfortunately, he didn't get to see much.
DH has been to WDW, but it's been so long I'm not even going to count it. Hee hee it only counts if I'm there!

How this trip idea came about:
A stock I inheirited from my mother merged with another company, and included a cash payment. Disney with my family, staying on site, was always a dream, so this was the way to achieve it. I told DH that I would really like to spluge on this, and he said it sounded great. We have previously been on several cruises (non Disney) and had a ball, but this was something I really wanted to do RIGHT after my experience in 04.

So, I started planning a bit, going back to the websites and message boards I had joined in 04, researching resorts, etc. Hubby missed that trip (thank goodness, people would have been dead) but he was going on this one, so an idea I had in 04 resurfaced.

 

[lgcountry]

DH read the first post, and said I was being a tease, and had better get to the deer part. Since that part stars him, I guess he really wants it out here, lol.

Anyway, as a quick rundown, I started researching resorts, came to the conclusion that POR in Alligator Bayou was my first ideal choice Then I started reading about DVC.

OK, now we are really talking Disney! I had looked at DVC briefly in 2004, enough to understand the basics of how it worked. This time I really pursued it once I found out that our stay at POR would be around $2500.00 including DDP. For 1/2 of that as down payment, I could stay longer at a more deluxe resort, and look forward to 47 more years of vacations. Yes, I do plan to do Disney well into my 90's

ok, Call DVC, get Susan Schell as my guide, she explains a couple things, sends info, I call back with credit card numbers, she sends paperwork, I send back with check, less than 1 1/2 months, we're officially DVC owners at SSR. Yay! That was easy.

As soon as Susan had our temp member number, I called and reserved a studio at OKW, Aug 5-13 so we will be there for our anniversary. Made a couple ADR's and show reservations, and by March 20th, basically all I really HAVE to do is pack, and it's a bit early for that.

March 23, 5:20am Phone rings. DH left for work on his pride and joy Harley-Davidson 5 minutes before that, so I figured it was his job calling trying to catch him. Wrong! It's DH "I just got hit by a deer" I honestly don't remember the next few hours very well, but I know I called 911 for him, grabbed DS out of bed, and took off to find him. What we figured later was the deer came straight out of the woods into his side and rammed into his left leg. Somehow he kept the bike up, and was able to get his helmet off and call me. Turned out his leg was broken in 3 places below the knee and he had to have a rod put in the tibia. Prognosis: Crutches for minimum 3 months.

 

[lgcountry]

So far, everything is going well with DH recovery, and we are hoping he will be walking for our trip August 5-13. Even if it is with a cane. We have pretty much stopped the planning process because we just don't know what he will be able to handle. We do want to take a mid afternoon break for naps/swimming.

This is what we have so far:
Sunday: Explore OKW and DTD.
Monday: MK, dinner at Hoop-de-Doo, 9:30pm
Tuesday: AK in morning, Epcot in evening,
see Illuminations
Wednesday: MGM in morning, possibly go to the
Boardwalk pool, and possible make
DVC member open house.
O'Hana's dinner and Wishes
Thursday: Open a few possibles that I know may
seem a little crazy are riding the
Monorail to resort/pool hop, boat rides,
mini golf. In the evening, we would
like to go to the Adventurer's Club.
Friday: AK or TL in the AM, MGM with
Fantasmic Dining Package at Hollywood
& Vine.
Saturday: MK day,
Sunday: Our 12th anniversary! We will do what
we've missed in morning. DS is going
to the Sand Castle Club, and DH and I
are eating at the Restaurant Marakesh.
Monday: Leave WDW

Time for all you experts to weigh in with opinions, especially what you think my hubby might or might not be able to handle ride wise or otherwise. We are pretty sure all the roller coasters are out, but since a lot of the rides are new to us, we just don't know. Any and all advice is welcome.

Thanks!

 

[lgcountry]

What have I done? No one to help with advice, or opinions on what we have planned so far


Please peeps, let me know what you think, or I feel I will have done a horrible pre trip in vain.

 

[Steph9072]

I can't be much help as this will be our first WDW vacation. Sure I have been three times myself but not staying on sight for more than one night

Your poor dh. That is one of my greatest fears is a deer coming out of the woods after me. When I was a kid a couple had a deer hit their windshield and its feet got stuck inside the window and stampeded the couple to death. That was like 10 minutes from where we lived and I have been terrified of that for years. Hope dh has a quick and easy recovery.

 

[anut4disney]

Your trip sounds so awesome! I can't really tell you what dh can ride because I don't do coasters. Last year the DIS ladies got me on Splash Mountain and that was a major accomplishment.

You just have to love VA deer don't you? My dd's 2003 car has just about been rebuilt because of the daredevil deer from around here. The roof of the car is the only thing that hasn't been replaced I believe.

She swears they stand in the fields or in the woods and wait for her to come by and then just jump at her. I tease my dh because as a hunter he will sit in the woods days at a time and lucky if he sees one deer, dd can go on the road and the deer are drawing straws to see who can go and hit her car. Safe to say she isn't a deer lover.

I understand about going with someone else and not getting the Disney feel that you want. We went with another couple and their kids about 20 years ago and it just wasn't the same. They had never been and even though at the time it was only 2 parks you still had to kind of plan what parks you were going to be in and make certain reservations (back then you could go up and almost get in anywhere you wanted to eat). They pretty much let their son decide where we were going. We would do a ride in one area of the park and he would want to go ride something all the way across the other side.

I tried to explain that you miss so much doing that but to no avail. Then the kids decided they wanted to go to the pool and swim, well dh and I decided we weren't doing that. We have to save money (other guy was in business for himself and acutally bought an rv to drive down ) for about 3 years to go to WDW and we weren't spending it swimming (besides that is a fun thing to do after the parks). The nice thing is dd wanted to go with them (little traitor, lol) so dh and I had the time together and enjoyed it so much. We and they missed a lot on that trip but still enjoyed ourselves. It was a good reason to save to go back (just the 3 of us this time). We did other trips together just never WDW again.

Sorry about the rambling, can't wait to hear more about your trip.