Devon's Make-A-Wish PTR! Departing for Magic on Feb 16th!

[Moodyzblu]

Joining in ! Devon is a doll and is eyes are amazing !
Glad you got your dates .. now the REAL fun begins .. the planning.

My wish kid is Jayden .. we haven't met with the wish granters yet but he's hoping to go to GKTW. He really want's to visit Harry Potter World and Disney.

 

[starienite]

We are having a party for Devon in January to celebrate one year of his survival. He wants to invite his wish grantor. If they aren't planning something to revel his wish to them should we announce it then?

 

[starienite]

So many people are coming along now.
So I found out that my brother and sister in law are going to surprise Dev! He is in the navy and has leave during his trip. We are planning on either them surprising Dev at the park or at GKTW.
My mother in law, sister in law and her husband are going to come too. I don't know if they want it to be a surprise, but we haven't told him about that yet either.

So much planning to do and to make sure what dates they will be there for and letting them know that Dev is running the show.

 

[starienite]

Dev got an awesome gift for his trip. A Flip Camcorder! He is super excited to film everything. Better stock up on the batteries!

They also got some Walmart giftcards. We are going to stop by the Walmart by GKTW so they can get some Disney stuff like autograph books.

We still haven't told them yet. I want to know from his wish grantor is they want to tell him or if we can spill the beans at his party we having to mark his one year of survival from his AVM.

This is getting soo close. We are all getting excited.

 

[Moodyzblu]

The Flips are awesome ! I have one and use it all the time.

He must be getting SO excited !

 

[S'sMom]

I think that this is an awesome journey for you guys! I am happy that you were able to get your dates.

I am subbing if that is ok

 

[starienite]

The Flips are awesome ! I have one and use it all the time.

He must be getting SO excited !

He is excited, but he thinks he is going Sept of 2013! We are evil parents, but he is going to lose his mind when he finds out when he is really going.

 

[starienite]

I think that this is an awesome journey for you guys! I am happy that you were able to get your dates.

I am subbing if that is ok

We're really happy getting our dates too. My husband we got them right before he could request those dates off, so it was also lucky to get them when we did. Still hasn't sunk in yet that we are leaving so soon.

 

[TheInfoMouse]

Subscribing

Yay for dates! He is going to have so much fun with the Flip!

 

[RMAMom]

This sounds like so much fun! I can't wait to read along and see pictures when you reveal the surprise! So excited that so much of your family is able to join you! My DH is retired USN and my son is currently USAF and it is so much fun when we can all be together, I am really excited for you!

 

[starienite]

Ok we are less than two months out! It seems that keeping the pretense that we are leaving next September to the kids made me forget about

I realized that I have not started to figure out what to pack, how much luggage with we need. Can the kids share a suitcase, leaving me and Daniel to have one each. Will that leave enough room for all the souvenirs that we will be bringing back?

With soo many people tagging along is it easier to announce our schedule, which will really be playing by ear. What days will be Disney days with what parks are most likely, and what we will be doing the other days. For rides that me or Cassidy may not want to do, we can swap who uses the GAC. Do we need a reservation for the casual dining or buffets or can we risk a walk in and a bit of wait? We won't be leaving the park to eat at a resort and counter service for most meals will do us fine. When we have gone to Disneyland, we just power the day out, but with Dev's button and all we may have more time than usual. Help!

 

[lorasmom]

Ok we are less than two months out! It seems that keeping the pretense that we are leaving next September to the kids made me forget about

I realized that I have not started to figure out what to pack, how much luggage with we need. Can the kids share a suitcase, leaving me and Daniel to have one each. Will that leave enough room for all the souvenirs that we will be bringing back?

With soo many people tagging along is it easier to announce our schedule, which will really be playing by ear. What days will be Disney days with what parks are most likely, and what we will be doing the other days. For rides that me or Cassidy may not want to do, we can swap who uses the GAC. Do we need a reservation for the casual dining or buffets or can we risk a walk in and a bit of wait? We won't be leaving the park to eat at a resort and counter service for most meals will do us fine. When we have gone to Disneyland, we just power the day out, but with Dev's button and all we may have more time than usual. Help!

I am a SUPER light packer, and would probably fit all of us in 2 suitcases with room to spare. But it completely depends on what you need and are comfortable with. Remember that if you're staying at GKTW, they have washers and dryers, so you can get multiple uses out of items!

You DO NOT need reservations for any casual dining, only table service!

Regarding planning an itinerary... personally, I'm just a strategist and love planning that type of stuff , but I think with the GAC/MaW magic button, you'll be able to fly through most things and not really need to worry about crowd levels and stuff, y'know? I wouldn't stress about planning each day ahead as much as I would with a regular trip.

 

[starienite]

It seems like a day of a million updates! We got a call back today from our wish manager with the flights. My dad will be able to get the same flight if he books soon.

So we will probably do Universal on the 17th and 21st, the WDW parks 18th-20th. Trying to find a reasonably priced place for lunch or dinner to fit 11 people at most. Yikes.

 

[Corrine 1973]

I just found your PTR and I am so excited for your family. You are going to have a wonderful time.

My family went on a Wish trip in September 2009, so feel free to ask any questions that you might have.

Are you guys going to do Sea World? We only did a half day at Sea World, but my kids loved feeding the dolphins, sharks, and sting rays (and it is free with the GKTW button).

As for things to do at WDW, you can't do everything so have a list of things you must do so they won't be missed. but it is truly amazing how many things you can do when you have that magic button and GAC card.

I don't know if things have changed in 2 years, but I believe that family member would be able to eat dinner at the Gingerbread House at GKTW for a very small fee. You might want to ask your cordinator about that.

Can't wait to read more.

 

[starienite]

Are you guys going to do Sea World? We only did a half day at Sea World, but my kids loved feeding the dolphins, sharks, and sting rays (and it is free with the GKTW button).

We aren't sure yet, to many things to do and not enough time to do it.

As for things to do at WDW, you can't do everything so have a list of things you must do so they won't be missed. but it is truly amazing how many things you can do when you have that magic button and GAC card.

That is what we are narrowing down, there is something at every park that Dev **has** to go. Star Wars, Dinosaurs, Splash Mountain, Test Track, etc.

I don't know if things have changed in 2 years, but I believe that family member would be able to eat dinner at the Gingerbread House at GKTW for a very small fee. You might want to ask your cordinator about that.

Can't wait to read more.:

I am pretty sure they still do that, but I am only planning on one sit down place the whole time at the park. Breakfast, maybe dinner on days we do Universal at GKTW. Our family never only ever eats at counter service when we have gone to DL, so I wanted to something special for one meal....but trying to find an affordable place at the parks that has space for maybe 11 people? Yikes.

 

[Corrine 1973]

I am pretty sure they still do that, but I am only planning on one sit down place the whole time at the park. Breakfast, maybe dinner on days we do Universal at GKTW. Our family never only ever eats at counter service when we have gone to DL, so I wanted to something special for one meal....but trying to find an affordable place at the parks that has space for maybe 11 people? Yikes.

Wow, 11 people, that is a tall order isn't it. My suggestion to you (feel free to ignore me if you want.) is to check out the boards in the dinning section and maybe post a question there to see what they might think. You can also call disney and tell them your delema and see what there suggestions are and even make the reservation for you (if you want one at WDW you will need a reservation especially with 11 people.) Unless you are set on eating in the parks, it might be more cost effective if you find a resteraunt in the orlando or kissemee area.

 

[starienite]

Wow, 11 people, that is a tall order isn't it. My suggestion to you (feel free to ignore me if you want.) is to check out the boards in the dinning section and maybe post a question there to see what they might think. You can also call disney and tell them your delema and see what there suggestions are and even make the reservation for you (if you want one at WDW you will need a reservation especially with 11 people.) Unless you are set on eating in the parks, it might be more cost effective if you find a resteraunt in the orlando or kissemee area.

Just a bit . I just need people to let me know if they are in or out, then maybe that will shrink the numbers down.

 

[TheInfoMouse]

It seems like a day of a million updates! We got a call back today from our wish manager with the flights. My dad will be able to get the same flight if he books soon.

So we will probably do Universal on the 17th and 21st, the WDW parks 18th-20th. Trying to find a reasonably priced place for lunch or dinner to fit 11 people at most. Yikes.

For your lunch/dinner for 11 people, do you want to do character dining or does that not matter? Since your dates are getting close (in terms of Advanced Dining Reservations, anyway), you might want to have a back-up or two when making reservations (just in case Devon has his heart set on a certain place or character and it is full.)

 

[starienite]

Well it may be down to 9 people for the meal. My brother and his wife are coming to WDW, he has leave from the Navy, and she had vacation from 12th-18th and are leaving on the 18th. So they may not get to eat at the park with us and we will probably figure something else out.

I found the Rose and Crown Pub and that sounds yum for us, so we may try there when I get a consensus from the rest of the fam.

Also Dev is ride person, as long as the place has something he would eat he doesn't care.

 

[miprender]

Joining in on your PTR

Your trip will be coming up fast.