Epic Mickey - 10 day girls trip - Aug/Sept! *Updated 8/25 - 7 hours!!*

[Kat in GA]

Epic Mickey – or our Year of Disney!

Welcome to my very first pre-trip report! It will be the report of epic proportions because I am currently planning not one, but TWO trips to the world! (And there might even be a third – but let’s not get ahead of ourselves.)

So…who is going on the first trip??

Me! Kat. (Why does everyone give their ages? I shall not divulge!) I love to plan and I love to travel. I love to plan to travel ! I am a homeschooling mom – and I teach Latin and Mythology to high school homeschoolers a few days a week. I am also a work from home travel agent.

DH – Mike – is an engineer – and is looking forward to doing new things, finding snobby beer, and eating spicy foods. He is not Disney crazy, but willingly goes along with all my travel plans.

DD – Katie (13) – my homeschooler. She likes to read, hangout with her friends, play on her wii, or do anything to prove her nerdiness

DD – Madalyn (10) – she is in 4th grade at our neighborhood elementary school. She is very gregarious and outgoing, but also moody and whiny. She’s very different from her sister – except they both agree about their love of Disney.

DM – my mom, Nina. She is amused by all my planning. She is not that into the rides at Disney – but loves to come along to see the excitement from the girls.

So…how did this happen??

Well, in February, I was minding my own business, sitting at the kitchen table, and my mom says to me: “what do you think about renting a house for a week, having each of the girls bring a friend, and going to each Disney park – this summer?”

Honestly, my first thought was “yuck!” (I know…blasphemy!) But crowds? Heat? Humidity? No thanks. Each of our family trips have been in the off season – so not much in the way of crowds. We’ve been going in September – so it’s been hot – but at least we are hot and sticky and sweaty and wall to wall people.

Then I started thinking about it some more. We’ve always pulled Madalyn out of school to go. But with 5th grade – it gets a little trickier. And with my teaching schedule, planning a week at Disney is challenging, too. So, summer really seems like the best time to go. So, then I had a wild hare. What if we went for not one week, but two. Rental houses are not too expensive, and maybe with this economy, we might get a break if we rent for two weeks.

Before we planned dates, I need to talk to some parents. I knew who my girls would want to ask – and the parents of their friends both said “yes!” We coordinated schedules. Found a fabulous house with a pool and a hot tub – and got it all booked!

Next task – to tell the girls. For our previous trips, we have done scavenger hunts with clues to surprise the girls. And one year, the Easter bunny left the trip in an egg! This year, we were boring – and just told them. But the huge excitement was that they could each bring a friend. The friends are really excited about coming along, too!

DF – Claire (13) – also a homeschooler – she and Katie have known each other since first grade – and have been best friends from the get-go.

(This is Katie and Claire right before the homeschool prom last week - aren't they beautiful??

DF – Hannah (10) – she just moved to our neighborhood last summer – and Madalyn was so excited to have a friend just down the street. They are in the same class this year in school – and are constantly together.

Coming up:

More plans for trip #1
How on earth did trip #2 come about?
How did I get a job from trip #2?
Will there be any surprise guests??

 

[Villainess]

I'm in! 2 trips?! I am sooooo envious!!!! I really want to homeschool my children, but unfortunately I lost the battle with exDH I'm keeping my fingers crossed that I may be able to encourage a try of it in a few years as I think they would both get so much more out of it vs. traditional teachings. Sadly, it just isn't that common in this area.

 

[PixieMama]

Woohoo!!!

I love that photo of you and Michael. I love more the fact that it was taken with a hijacked camera!

I want to read more about your family trip... and then add my .02 when you get to trip #2! SQUEEEEE!!!!

 

[beebeeryan]

I'm in, two trips in a year is a dream! How amazing to invite friends along for your girls!

 

[Kat in GA]

Now that we have a beautiful 4 bedroom, 3 ½ bath home – with a pool, hot tub, and a game room all reserved – and PAID – it was time to figure out tickets.

Our initial plan was just to do 4 days in the parks. And have them really spread out so that we could relax by the pool – and really be ready to go full steam ahead on our park days.

Then I contemplated adding a day at Sea World. My girls had never been. And the last time I was there was when I was 16! Then I started thinking about adding a day at a water park. We have never done that either – though the girls have asked to go each time we’ve been. We quickly decided that Sea World was not in the budget…but a water park would be okay. But which one? Disney or Aquatica?? Finally we figured that we would get the most bang for our buck by adding the Water parks and more option to our tickets (and the girls became ecstatic about the Disney Quest option!).

With our rental, I got a link to Kissimme guest services for discounted tickets. You should have seen me hunched over the computer with that site, Ticket Mania, and Undercover Tourist all open – trying to figure out the best deal. I found that I had to start the payment process to see what my actual final costs would be when shipping was figured in.

And then as I am playing this game with the websites – with the buy three day tickets, upgrade to 5 day for free – I realized that it would only cost $18 TOTAL to add another day to our tickets. So four park days quickly morphed into 6 park days – and 6 water park days (which is our WHOLE trip! So much for relaxing by the pool!). I ordered our 6 day tickets (no hoppers) with the extras from Ticket Mania – and waited for the post man to arrive so that I could sign off on it.

And when it arrived – what do I find? They didn’t send 6 day tickets after all – but we got 7 day tickets!

Coming soon:
What should we do about July 4th?
Will we use all our days?
Will we add days?
What about that second trip?

 

[Kat in GA]

I'm in! 2 trips?! I am sooooo envious!!!! I really want to homeschool my children, but unfortunately I lost the battle with exDH I'm keeping my fingers crossed that I may be able to encourage a try of it in a few years as I think they would both get so much more out of it vs. traditional teachings. Sadly, it just isn't that common in this area.

Thanks so much for joining in! I am excited to tell how the two trips happened - we'll get there soon!

We have been homeschooling my oldest since 1st grade - it's the best fit for her - and public school is the best fit for my youngest. I am sorry it was a battle with your ex - but if you provide that atmosphere of learning at home then you are doing great! I also think that every year, homeschooling becomes more and more "normal" - so when the time comes, maybe it won't be so hard to convince him.

Woohoo!!!

I love that photo of you and Michael. I love more the fact that it was taken with a hijacked camera!

I want to read more about your family trip... and then add my .02 when you get to trip #2! SQUEEEEE!!!!

I have been peer pressured!! I am writing - and I've even updated. But my wittiness seems to have left my brain - I'll have to be on the look out for it!

And yes...the infamous picture of me and Michael - it's my favorite - We need to go to Vegas again!

I'm in, two trips in a year is a dream! How amazing to invite friends along for your girls!

I think the girls are going to have a lot of fun by having their friends along. And I really like these friends - so it made it an easy decision!!

 

[Kat in GA]

With tickets in hand, I must tell you that they were burning a hole in my pocket. I start running numbers. How much would it be to upgrade them to 10 day no expiring (especially as I cannot figure out how we’d use all those water park days)? What if we upgrade to an annual pass? What if we upgrade to a premium annual pass? AGH! So many possibilities.

After running the numbers again and again…I finally decided that my girls and I would upgrade to the premium annual pass. The girls are saving so that they can contribute to the costs.

With potential APs in hand…I started thinking about other trips we could take. I have family in St. Cloud – so extra trips could potentially be very inexpensive. We talked about the Food and Wine Festival. About Thanksgiving. Christmas. Spring Break. And a 5th grade graduation gift.

I started looking at the Disney YES program – and have begun to ponder taking some of my homeschool students on a field trip!

And then I realized what I really needed: a co-conspirator!

 

[PixieMama]

And then I realized what I really needed: a co-conspirator!

Hmmmmm... I wonder who that could be?

 

[Kat in GA]

I knew exactly who to call to join me for my “Year of Disney” (if you say it with an echo, it’s even more impressive!): my friends Shannon and Angie. They are both as crazy about Disney as I am – and Angie has been trying to plan a girls trip for forevah.

But…my first call was to Shannon. Who was all for trips. But not so much for the year of Disney. And she was already planning a trip with her sister. And trying to get her husband on board for 2012 when the Fantasy Land expansion was done. She was not feeling my “Year of Disney” (echo, echo…). Well…she might have been “feeling it” but she was feeling that the DH wasn’t going to go for it! (Hey...PixieMama...want to weigh in here? Am I remembering correctly??)

So…I checked in with Angie – who said yes before I even finished asking the question!

Now that I have a co-conspirator – when are we going to go?

In mulling things over, we realized we really needed to go the week before Labor Day because with my teaching schedule, if we went after – I’d only be available for a Thursday through Monday trip. We picked the week before – and in conversation, somehow managed to add a few more days in there – and it became more of a 10 day – adults only – girls only trip!

Angie would plan to leave her home in Chattanooga, TN on Thursday, August 25th and spend the night at my house. Then on Friday the 26th, we’d drive to the world and finally head home on Sunday, Sept 4th.

We didn’t know if we would stay onsite or with my aunt. We didn’t know if we’d split the stay. We didn’t know if there might be some free dining involved. All we did know was that we were going to Disney World – and my “year of Disney” was off to a rockin’ start!

 

[Becc1]

All caught up on your report! Yay for a year of Disney! We stayed at a villa a couple of trips back and really enjoyed it. It was great and I would totally do it again! So looking forward to hear more about your plans!

 

[PixieMama]

But…my first call was to Shannon. Who was all for trips. But not so much for the year of Disney. And she was already planning a trip with her sister. And trying to get her husband on board for 2012 when the Fantasy Land expansion was done. She was not feeling my “Year of Disney” (echo, echo…). Well…she might have been “feeling it” but she was feeling that the DH wasn’t going to go for it! (Hey...PixieMama...want to weigh in here? Am I remembering correctly??)

Yep, except it'll be a 2013 trip instead of next year. I don't think I can convince my hubby to go more often than every 3 years.

 

[Kat in GA]

What we have so far:

Trip #1 – June 24 – July 9th

1. We are renting a house offsite. Should I call it a villa? Sounds lovely when it’s called a villa. Our villa has 4 bedrooms, 3 ½ baths, and a pool/spa. We got a deal because we rented for two weeks. Does the word “deal” cancel out villa and revert it to house?
2. My girls are each bringing friends – giving us 7 people for our adventure.
3. We each have 7 day water park and more tickets – but the girls and I are upgrading to annual passes.

Trip #2 – August 26 – Sept 4th

1. It’s Angie and me – girls only – adults only!
2. We will both have annual passes.
3. We are praying for a dining plan to be released.

While my planning continues with trip #2 – trip #1 still has a few kinks to be worked out. We are going to be at the world over 4th of July – but we don’t actually plan to go to the parks this day. What I really wanted to do was plan a dinner on site where we could watch the fireworks and not have to deal with the chaos of main street. But…with Disney holding my wallet hostage with the purchase of the APs, dinner reservations are really not in our budget. One of the least expensive places would be Whispering Canyon café – but I soon discovered that we can’t watch fireworks from the Wilderness Lodge.

So, changing gears, we decide to have a pool party for 4th of July and invite my aunt and all my cousins over to our house for a cook out. At the moment – it looks like we are going to have THIRTY people over! I am thinking that we need a picture of all of us in the pool together!

On trip #2 – Angie and I decide that we are going to go ahead and make reservations rather than waiting for free dining. There were discounted room only rates available that we could keep if free dining does not come out – or I was going to see if we could pay for dining with a discounted room.

I was ready to make our reservation. I could easily do it myself. But…I thought that if I was going to go, someone ought to make a commission. So I called my friend Tammy who has a travel agency that specializes in Disney trips (long story short – I actually met Tammy and her family at Disney back in 2009 – we kept running into them at the parks and at restaurants – and we became facebook friends!).

I talked to Tammy at the end of March and explained what we wanted – what we hoped would happen – and some logistical issues. And she said: “Why aren’t you doing this??”

 

[Kat in GA]

I think my response was something along the lines of “ummm…’cause I have no idea as to how to do that!?”

Well, no sooner than the next day, I was set up – doing Disney college and learning my way around the Carnvial website. Who knew that a Disney trip would land me a job?! And who knew that I could add yet another hat to my repertoire?!

Now that I was all “official” – I made my own reservation – for Pop Century – still hoping for that free dining! We did not make reservations for our first two nights – hoping that I might use my agent discount to try different resorts – or that maybe we’d still stay with my aunt to save some dineros.

In the hopes of free dining, I went ahead and made ADRs:

Sat/Sun – no reservations
Mon – Aug 29 – 50’s Prime Time 12:05pm
Tues – Aug 30 – Boma – 7:05pm
Wed – Aug 31 – Yak & Yeti – 12pm
Thurs – Sept 1 – Rose and Crown (and pray for patio so we can watch Illuminations) – 7:45pm
Fri – Sept 2 – Teppan Edo – 5:50pm
Sat – Sept 3 – Crystal Palace - 8:10am

Where will we stay our first two nights?
How will those reservations drastically change?

 

[PixieMama]

The pool party sounds like fun!

I was wondering how you got a job out of this. And I'm getting a kick out of reading the plans for yours and Angie's part of the trip... this way I can pretend I'm there with you the whole time!

 

[Kat in GA]

The pool party sounds like fun!

I was wondering how you got a job out of this. And I'm getting a kick out of reading the plans for yours and Angie's part of the trip... this way I can pretend I'm there with you the whole time!

I wonder if we really do that picture in the pool - if when we get out - will there be any water left??

I can't believe I didn't tell you about getting the job?!

Oh, and those plans, they will change soon. I just somehow kept all my notes for what they were to start with!

 

[Becc1]

Love how you got a job out of planning your trip! I keep saying that I should become a tavel agent because all of my friends turn to me when it comes to Disney! I just had a friend call me tonight to help plan her families last minute trip in 3 weeks and my SIL has been calling me several times a day with questions about the trip they are going on this weekend that they won.

Definately call the house a villa, it sounds more fancy, lol. We love the villa that we stayed at in 2008!

 

[Kat in GA]

Love how you got a job out of planning your trip! I keep saying that I should become a tavel agent because all of my friends turn to me when it comes to Disney! I just had a friend call me tonight to help plan her families last minute trip in 3 weeks and my SIL has been calling me several times a day with questions about the trip they are going on this weekend that they won.

Definately call the house a villa, it sounds more fancy, lol. We love the villa that we stayed at in 2008!

I love that I got a job too! Now, to just get people to actually book

I called the house a villa last night and my older daughter took to speaking with an English accent for the rest of the evening.

 

[jeremysdisneymom]

Kat, I'm here!!!

Wow, a year of Disney---I it! You are going to have so much fun!

A family cookout in Florida sounds great for the 4th of July!

Yay, you became a travel agent! I need to look into doing that.

Can't wait to read all your plans.

Erika

 

[beebeeryan]

Well congrats on the job how funny how that happened. and for getting some ADR's and things nailed down a little.

 

[Kat in GA]

And now we interrupt this PTR with a mini TR:

So…our plan is in motion for our two trips. But honestly, I am lamenting that Sea World did not make the budget cut. It’s been forever since I’ve been. And the girls have never been. Naturally, my reaction is to plot and plan and finagle.

I start researching rates for Sea World. And then I find that Sea World is offering adult tickets at the child’s price. AND we can come back for a second day for free. Really? Yes. Really. So, I email my cousin and my aunt to see if we could stay with them for a few days over the girls’ Spring break.

Budget wise, we are looking good! And then I decided that I wouldn’t tell the girls about it. I figured that they would not suspect – especially with our Disney trip this summer. And, I had scheduled two doctor’s appointments for Spring break so that the girls wouldn’t have to miss school. We would even tease the girls about their exciting vacation – where they would get to go to the doctor! (Yippee!!)

My plan was to take the girls to their annual check up on Monday. And then on Tuesday, Madalyn had a 10am appointment with the dentist – and we would head south right after that. With me not telling them anything. Waiting for the questions to come.

But…the week before spring break, Katie asked me if she could go to Six Flags with her church youth group. Unfortunately, they were going on Tuesday, so it was not an option – but coming up with a reason as to why she couldn’t go was a challenge. We started with “we can’t afford it because we are saving for Disney.” But then she offered to pay for it herself – and I had to re-direct that, too! Finally we just told her that her dad would take a day off later in the week and take her to Six Flags. And to make the week more palatable, we told the girls that we would go to the aquarium after the dentist. We just omitted the fact that the aquarium was really in another state!

On Monday while I was with the girls at the doctor, my mom packed for the girls and put their duffel bags in the trunk of her car in the garage. Which led to the tale of many a white lie. Starting with Katie coming home and opening one of her drawers and wondering where all her bras were. And Madalyn asking why hers and Katie’s pillow pets were on the washing machine. We told them that the cats had a hair ball and that they needed to be cleaned. To which, Madalyn said “on both of them?!” But again. They really didn’t suspect. And they know that my mom is a cleaning nazi. And it would be totally in character of her to decide that Katie’s drawers were a mess and thus the clothes needed to be washed again.

I packed for myself that night. I even packed all our toiletries for us to share. And DH loaded up the car. The only things I needed to get in the morning was the DS and cell phone chargers. The girls knew they had to bring their DSs , mp3 players, books in the car. I knew Katie had put her DS charger in our basement, so I got that and packed it up. Naturally, I was thwarted AGAIN as Katie decided to go looking for it – only to accuse her little sister of messing with her stuff. I just told Katie we’d find it later in the afternoon!

We drove to the dentist. Finished up there. And headed south. Drove around Atlanta. And the girls were asking if we were going to eat lunch at the aquarium or stop somewhere. After about an hour of driving, we stopped to go potty and pick up some Chick-fil-a to eat in the car. And we kept going south. Katie asked me “how much longer” – and I answered “about eight hours.” And she just didn’t believe me.

To be continued….