"Family means no one gets left behind or forgotten"...Unless you're LATE! A Nvm PTR

[ashlyn721]

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Welcome Everyone to my first ever Trip Report

Table of Contents:
Background on our 6 adult vacation group (this post)
How January at the Beach Club Became November at the Grand Floridian http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?p=52294158#post52294158

Me and my family will be visiting in early November for both F&W and MCVCP. We're staying at the GF for the first time and using DxDP which we normally do. This vacation will revolve around lots of food, seasonal activities, and doing some things that aren't necessarily "routine" during a WDW vacation.

I would definitely say we are not your typical Disney family. Originally we started going to Disney as a family of four adults and one child, but now I’m all grown up and our more recent trips have evolved to five adults. Now this will be the first trip with SIX adults. The original fab five plus an extra, but we’ll get to that later.

The fab five have had many trips together so we are somewhat Disney vets, but there are still many things we have yet to do. This will be a trip of many firsts, great food, and a few major celebrations.

Before I get too into detail lets go through the cast of characters
I’m Ashlyn, the planner of all the trips and totally Disney obsessed. I’m 22 and a recent graduate of Duke and pretty soon I’ll be starting med school.

This is my mom, Tanya, she’s a nurse manager, and her initials are TLC which are perfect for her. She’s the most nurturing and compassionate person I’ve ever met, and she’s probably the only person who has never had a meltdown on our trips. (Yes, adults have meltdowns too lol). She enjoys the family time during our trips.

This is my aunt, Kimi, and she’s a crisis counselor. Totally fits the bill of the fun/crazy aunt and enjoys the food aspect of our trips the most. She is chronically late which causes many of the meltdowns during our trips.

This is my grandpa, Doug or Pa-Pa, he’s 71 and still loves working full-time. Tried to retire, but he only lasted a few months. He is insanely silly, and he LOVES the entertainers at Disney. Like to the point that we have to drag him away from the Jammitors so we can make an ADR…

The last of the fab five is my grandma, Sally or Big G as we all call her. She’s turning 70 in December and is the perfect grandma. Cooks amazingly, extremely nurturing and supportive, just the right amount of nosiness *ahem* I mean interest in my life…she just holds a very special place in my heart. She’s a trooper and has had her gallbladder removed, liver transplant, a big MRSA scare, along with random other health issues and most recently a fall where she fractured her neck and wrist, but she still remains so positive, and I think this trip is a big motivator for her to stay healthy. She is perfectly happy people watching and loves the Christmas decorations and flowers around WDW. Her and Pa-pa will be celebrating their 50 year anniversary while at Disney!

Okay now onto the newest member of our vacation group, Dominic. Dom recently proposed, and we are now engaged!

He’s a 22 (almost 23) year old graduate of NC State, and he works as a district manager for a grocery chain. He surprised me with a day trip to Epcot (my favorite) during our senior spring break while we were in Florida (yes, he’s amazing), and I think that got him hooked-at least on the German beer.

He's missed out on six years of family trips because he played football and ALWAYS had practice. I honestly believe he’ll love everything about Disney. The rides, the atmosphere, the food, the resort, going out in Disney…everything. This is the biggest vacation he’s ever taken so I feel a lot of pressure to make it perfect. That’s ok...all the more excuse to obsess over planning.

I’m writing this PTR for 3 reasons.
1. It will help me see all of my plans fleshed out so I can see if there are any issues or revisions I need to make
2. Dom can an understanding of what kind of vacation this is, and he can really start to get excited.
3. I think this could be a good resource for other groups who are mostly adults or multi-generational. It’s always good to gather information from similar situations.

Stick around for some serious fun!

 

[moe10378]

Love it!!!! Great way to make some great memories!!!! Sounds like an amazing time!!! Hope this trip doesn't have to many meltdowns!!

 

[ashlyn721]

The Decision of WHEN and WHERE​

We used to go to WDW around Spring Break in March/April every year, but around 6 or 7 years ago we took our first January trip-right after New Year’s. Everyone loved it. Cooler temps, lower crowds, getting to experience the amazing Christmas decorations, it was an especially magical time to visit. I mean how could I not love seeing the castle like this!

Now after a few years our love affair with January trips has begun to wane; its getting more and more crowded every year, and I haven’t stepped foot in a pool in 10 years. I mean wait times have literally doubled or tripled in the few years we have been January snow birds. I remember Soarin’ used to top out at 30 minutes for the day and Fantasmic! was practically empty, but last time we went Soarin’ was up to a 90 minute wait and Fantasmic! was ridiculously packed!


We were all due for a change, but my family tends to be creatures of habit (probably the reason we’ve had the same major vacation destination all my life). I knew it would take a lot of convincing. April-September was out because my mom and aunt medically cannot tolerate serious heat. February seemed too close to January, and December is too hectic for us procrastinators to pull off a major trip and Christmas back home. So the choices were down to October/November. At first we chose a week in late October; I knew I could entice them with good weather (but not too hot), Food and Wine Festival, and Halloween decorations. But then the dates for Free Dining came out (we’ve never had it in the past), and the discounts beat our 15-20% off by far since we always do the dining plan. Okay no brainer, November it is! I love not having the constraints of a school schedule; even if its only temporary. We will get remnants of the Halloween decorations, Food and Wine, free dining, MVMCP and the Osborne lights! Something to please everyone which is VERY difficult to do with 6 adults with 6 different opinions.


Okay next where were we going to stay. We have stayed in either the Beach or Yacht club every year except our last visit. We stayed in the AoA suites. It was a disaster. I personally really liked them, and thought they were much more reasonable in price since all of us were able to stay in one suite for ~$250 instead of paying around $800 for two rooms (with a discount!). The rest of the family wasn’t sold. I think they disliked the kiddie theme, and I KNOW they disliked the distance from everything. As I said its hard to please everyone.

So this year we were back to the Beach and Yacht club which to be honest I found a bit boring. Yes, the walking distance from Epcot is nice, but I didn’t like the decorating scheme or the dining options very much. I’ve eaten at Cape May Café and Beaches and Cream way more than I care to. But I’m pretty flexible about the resort so I didn’t fight too much on this. I was pricing everything while we were all in the same room, and just mentioned it would only be about $133 more pp to stay at the Grand Floridian. Pa-Pa immediately said “Let’s do it.” We were all shocked as he is by far the most frugal, but everyone was immediately on board. I mean THIS is a location I can get behind. *Swoon*

It seems especially perfect to celebrate my grandparents 50 year anniversary as well as Dom and I’s recent engagement. Dom was excited as I made him visit during our brief visit to Orlando, and he was mesmerized by the band.

We go at least once a trip for a meal here, and its always been a dream of the family’s to stay there so this is working out to be something of a dream trip. Fingers crossed this becomes our new home resort.

Cost
This trip is working out to be $500 more pp than our last stay, but that’s mainly because we are getting two Deluxe rooms instead of one value suite. We would have to get two rooms regardless because sharing a bed with my fiancé in front of my very conservative grandparents proves to be too awkward for me lol. Gotta love family vacays! But this trip I have convinced them to drive from NC. I have a major fear of flying which Xanax barely touches so I am VERY excited about this, and the plane tickets would be at least another $300 pp. It’s only 8 hours and we will be stopping in Savannah for a day so it’s something to look forward to. Plus my fiancé company pays for his personal car and gas which=FREE transportation for us. So 6 nights with 2 rooms at the GF, 6-day tickets, Deluxe dining, and MVMCP works out to ~1800 pp for 6 adults.
So that’s how our November Food and Wine+early Christmas celebration trip began.

Next onto day by day planning, ADR’s, and FP+.

 

[ashlyn721]

Okay I am very type A-like extremely type A-so please excuse the amount of details in these plans. But that being said these are VERY loose plans. I'm not the type to panic if we deviate from anything or something takes longer than I expected. It's those moments that usually lead to extra special memories, and I truly appreciate them. My family likes order and with six people its almost necessary otherwise people worry if you'll get to what they want to do. So these are definitely more of an idea of what we could do than a rule- with the exception of one thing. ADRs. We always purchase DxDP because the dining experience is just as important to us as the theme park. We LOVE food, especially disney food, and each restaurant has been carefully selected based on firm requests. It's honestly what we as a family look forward to the most because it gives us a long, relaxing break from the parks. So much so that we don't feel the need to take a nap or go back to the room; we can (and prefer) to be in the parks all day.

Okay enough of the disclaimer, Onto the Itinerary! *Red indicates reservations-both FP+ and ADRs*

We are driving into Orlando the day before and visiting with a family member. The 1st will be our first day on-site.

Be at Magic Kingdom by 8:30
Head toward Fantasyland:
• Straight to Anna + Elsa
• Ariel’s Grotto
• Under the Sea-Journey of the Little Mermaid
• 10:30 for Enchanted Tales
• Check for Seven Dwarfs Wait
• Check for Merida
• Check for Gaston by Gaston’s Tavern
• Check for the Tremaine’s behind the Castle
Head through Liberty Square and Frontierland:
• 1:10 Big Thunder Mountain
• 1:30 Splash Mountain
• Haunted Mansion
• Pirates of the Caribbean
• Frontierland Shootin’ Arcade
• If possible Tiana
• Parade at 3:00
• Check for Seven Dwarfs Wait
Head back to hotel
Leave for dinner at Contemporary around 4:45
Dinner at California Grill 5:10
Rest/Listen to the band at GF
Head back to Magic Kingdom around 9:20
Celebrate the Magic-9:45
Wishes-10:00
Tomorrowland
• Check for Seven Dwarfs Wait
• Buzz Lightyear’s
• Space Mountain
• Monster’s Inc Laugh Floor
• Stitch’s Great Escape (time permitting)
• TTA

We will try to get a FP+ for Lunch at BOG, but if we don't we'll just play it by ear for when we're hungry and get another CS or use snacks. We'll eat breakfast otw to check in at GF so we can definitely hold off on another meal until 5:10 if necessary. This is our first year with no ADR in MK (we usually have 2 a day) so we should be able to get even more done than we are used to.

As I said these are very loose plans-for example if we decide we would rather sleep after dinner or just watch Wishes from GF- that's fine. But historically we hit the ground running on day 1 so thats what I've planned for. We have FP+ for all our must dos over today and the MVMCP day so anything else is just icing on the cake. I say "check for...wait" because we may feel like waiting in like for 45 minutes or we may just want to swing by Sleepy Hollow for Ice Cream Sandwiches so again it just gives us an idea and some flexibility, but still somewhat of a plan if we're ever "stuck."

California Grill was the absolute favorite meal on the last trip. (Some were pushing to do it twice this trip ) So I thought there was no better way to celebrate everything than to start the vacation off with a restaurant as amazing as CG.

Between that and getting to ride Splash Mountain after a 10 YEAR HIATUS (thanks January refurbs ), day 1 is shaping up to be hard to beat. But then again so many more yummy meals+F&W+FP+s for all the favorites sounds pretty exciting! More food and fun to come.