Disney Like it Used to be...And Like it's Never Been Before! Feb. '12 PTR! TR LINK!

[SOUTHERNtinkerBELLE]

YAY!! I am joining in. I loved reading your other reports. Can't wait to hear more about your upcoming trip.

So glad to have you following along!

Yay! Your PTRs and TRs are so well written and a lot of fun to follow, so I'm excited for another!

Thank you so much! So glad to see you here! I'm excited to start another report!

Joining in! I loved your Disneymoon report, so I'm excited to read all about your next adventure!

So glad you enjoyed the honeymoon TR! Happy to have you reading along again!

Joining in... I just LOVED the Honeymoon TR so I can't wait to read all about your upcoming trip in Feb

Yay! So glad you enjoyed the last TR! Thanks for joining in!

 

[SOUTHERNtinkerBELLE]

You know I'm here! I love reading about your preparations - you are so organized and give me so many ideas

Yay! So glad you're here Shannon!

I'm in, can't wait to read about your plans, sounds like it's gonna be a fun trip!!

Woohoo! So happy to see you here!

Your honeymoon TR was the first I found of yours and I loved it so I'm definitely along for this PTR!

Thank you! I'm glad to hear you enjoyed the honeymoon TR! Thanks for joining in!

Joining in. Looking forward to hearing all about it! I enjoyed reading your Honeymoon TR. Thanks for sharing with us!

Glad to have you here! Thanks for joining in again!

 

[SOUTHERNtinkerBELLE]

Joining in! Loved reading your honeymoon TR and can't wait to hear how the planning for this one goes.

So happy to have you here!

Joining in! I loved your Disneymoon TR and can't wait to read all about your family vacation!

Thank you! Glad you're joining in for this report!

joining in

Happy to have you here!

First of all, that is EXACTLY my fiance and me! How funny!!

I am so excited for your new PTR! I'm going to Disney in 8 days!! WOO!

Thanks for joining in! How excited that you'll be in Disney in 8 days! Let me know if you do a TR - I'd love to follow along!

 

[SOUTHERNtinkerBELLE]

I'm heeeeeeeeeeeeere!

I love your family dynamic. Sounds like this trip is going to be a blast! I guess we know where you get your trip planning skills from, dad!

Yay! So glad you're here!

I'm in!

Sounds like it's going to be an amazing trip, we're looking forward to enjoying February in Disney as well!

How exciting you'll be at Disney in February, too! I'm hoping for good weather. Thanks for joining in!

Subscribing! Looking forward to reading about your upcoming trip Courtney


Emma x

So glad you're here, Emma!

So sad that the Honeymoon trip report is over but looking forward to the family trip.

I was sad to see it end, too, but I'm excited about getting back to Disney in February! Thanks for joining in!

 

[SOUTHERNtinkerBELLE]

Hey Courtney, I'm here!! I loved reading your Disneymoon TR and I'm really excited for this one. I'm so happy for you that you get to take another family vacation to WDW, I would love to be able to do that!

Yay! So glad to have you joining in again! I've been dreaming about a trip like this for a while now. I can't wait to see how it turns out!

I am following along too I am used to planning a trip for 2-4 people that have been to Disney everytime with me but my last trip in May I had to plan for 7 (4 of which had never been to Disney Before) So I know how you feel! I can't wait to see how you plan this trip!

So glad to have you here! I may need some advice about planning for a bigger group. This is all new to me!

 

[Joyciemc]

Can't wait to see what the plans look like for this trip. How neat for you to go back with your family and show them all the stuff you and Miguel love about Disney!

 

[TinkerbellinNY6]

So glad to have you here! I may need some advice about planning for a bigger group. This is all new to me!

I would be glad to answer questions you have

 

[klacey1]

I'm here, Courtney! I was so sad that your wedding TR ended, so I'm very excited for this one!!
Also-- not going to lie, I remember your gorgeous Christmas trees and beautifully wrapped gifts from last year and am hoping you sneak some pics of those into this PTR!

 

[UGAFan0829]

Hey, Courtney!! I'm finally here!!

I'm really excited about reading all your planning!! It's going to be an awesome trip!

It's cool that you're so close with your Grandparents! I agree that your Grandmother does look young! It sounds like they are going to be a blast to vacation with!!

I can't wait for more...

 

[Mrs T 2009]

YAY I'M HERE!!!!

Can't wait to get started with this PTR! It sounds like it's going to be an awesome trip!

 

[CandleontheWater]

I'm here! We are going in Feb also, so reading your PTR will help me get psyched for my trip as well!

 

[SOUTHERNtinkerBELLE]

Can't wait to see what the plans look like for this trip. How neat for you to go back with your family and show them all the stuff you and Miguel love about Disney!

Yay! Joyce is here! I'm so excited to share our love for Disney!

I would be glad to answer questions you have

Great! Thank you! I'm sure there will be many!

I'm here, Courtney! I was so sad that your wedding TR ended, so I'm very excited for this one!!
Also-- not going to lie, I remember your gorgeous Christmas trees and beautifully wrapped gifts from last year and am hoping you sneak some pics of those into this PTR!

Woohoo! So glad you made it over! There will definitely be some Christmas decor pictures here!

Hey, Courtney!! I'm finally here!!

I'm really excited about reading all your planning!! It's going to be an awesome trip!

It's cool that you're so close with your Grandparents! I agree that your Grandmother does look young! It sounds like they are going to be a blast to vacation with!!

I can't wait for more...

Yay! So glad you made it! My grandparents are great - I love vacationing with them.

YAY I'M HERE!!!!

Can't wait to get started with this PTR! It sounds like it's going to be an awesome trip!

Yay! I'm so glad to have you following along again!

I'm here! We are going in Feb also, so reading your PTR will help me get psyched for my trip as well!

Thanks for coming over! How exciting you'll be there in February, too! Can you believe how close it is?!

 

[SOUTHERNtinkerBELLE]

PLANNING A FAMILY VACATION STEP 1: DECIDE ON A HOTEL!

So, before I explain how we came to decide on our resort choice, I should probably tell you about how we picked the time of year that we did. I know that February isn't the most popular time to go to Disney, and that's a lot of the reason that we chose it! I had two main criteria in mind when I threw out some different options for the month that we took our trip:

1) No peak travel times (for two reasons - crowds and cost!) I want my family to absolutely love Disney, and I don't think throwing them into the parks when they are super crowded will really achieve that. Since we always went during Spring Break (and sometimes the summer) when I was a child, my family only remembers long lines! When I tell them that Miguel and I rarely wait more than 30 minutes (and that's only if we REALLY love that attraction) they can't believe it! Also, I wanted to make sure that we got the best deals possible. My family definitely prefers nicer hotels, so I wanted for us to be able to afford deluxe accommodations!

2) Good weather! We've already determined that we don't do cold well, and I found out on the honeymoon that Miguel doesn't handle the hot summer sun well. The last thing I wanted was for my family to be uncomfortable.

The first month that came to my mind was October (2012), but that was over a year away when we started planning! I didn't want to wait that long, so I knew we needed to pick a date before the summer of 2012. I ruled out January (as I'm forever scared of having another freezing trip like we did in January 2010) and April (because of Spring Break, of course) immediately. That left me with February, March and May. February was the cheapest and closest so February it was!

Ok, so finally we could move on to the fun stuff: picking out a hotel!

What I didn't want for this trip was for me to just decide on everything myself. I wanted to make sure that everyone had a say, and that their opinions were heard. We decided that that was what we would do, and then I would make the "executive decision" about what I thought was best. I spent a lot of time researching and I decided on four hotels for us to vote on. Since we couldn't really get together to do planning sessions, I thought that emailed newsletters would be our best bet! My first newsletter (which was sent back in July) detailed these four hotels and what I thought their pros and cons were.

Option 1:
The Contemporary

Option 2:
The Beach Club

Option 3:
The Wilderness Lodge

Option 4:
Port Orleans French Quarter (because that's where we stayed when I was a child)

Then I told them to vote! The vote was nearly unanimous - only my grandfather voted differently (and thankfully he's very laid back)! What did we choose?












































THE BEACH CLUB!!!

Miguel and I are so excited. We've been dying to stay at the Beach Club! My family is pretty excited too, since I told them about how great it is! I know we'll be spending lots of time at Epcot, so this is going to be a great location for us. I can't wait to walk through the International Gateway and explore more of the Epcot resort area!


Up Next: ADRs!

 

[TinkerbellLuvr7]

I'm here!!! I'm going back to read now

 

[klacey1]

After reading your newsletters, I totally knew you guys would pick the Beach Club! It definitely seemed like that was the one you were leaning toward!
Being so close to the WS will be great! Can't wait to hear about your ADR's!

 

[ariel1025]

Yay for the Beach Club I want to stay there SO bad! However, the villas don't appeal to me and I hate the thought of paying for the regular rooms when I can get the villa on points being DVC

Very excited for the ADRs - it's my favorite part of planning

 

[ronnmel]

I'm here! The Beach Club, what a great choice!

 

[Mrs T 2009]

Beach Club is a beautiful resort! YAY

It's a dream of mine to stay there! I have family and friends who've stayed there and boast about it and makes me want to stay there someday even more

And wonderful that the vote was unanimous (almost) so no back and forth for further deciding

 

[xoktenox]

for the Beach Club! Next to the Polynesian, that's my 2nd "dream resort". We're hoping to be able to stay there for our Disneymoon! (depends on DVC availability at 7 months) I think your whole family will just love it there. The decor is just perfect and the proximity to Epcot is a big for me!! Congrats on getting everyone (almost) to agree

 

[disneybarbie]

So excited you'll be staying at the Beach Club Courtney!

It's beautiful there .. I stayed there in 1998 and then at the Yacht Club in 2009 and loved the resort - it's great being able to walk or get on a boat to Epcot and the Studios

Great idea with the newsletters! Are you pretty much in charge of planning this vacation?


Hope you're having a lovely weekend,

Emma x