Family Trip: Texas Meets Florida: 12/3-12/10

[kabbie]

Who:

Me, 26, Devoted Disney Veteran
Mom, 58, Disney fan (not as devoted)
Dad, 59, Would prefer sleeping to Disney (not sure how he's my dad)
Allison, 28, my Sister, Fairweather Disney fan, thinks I talk about it too much
Rick, 29, my Brother-in-Law, Along for the ride
Lauren, 2.5, Daughter of Rick and Allison, Loves Mickey & Goofy
Greg, 33, My Brother, Disney fan, Thinks he's old for thrill rides
Tara, 30, Wife of Greg, new mother learning to tackle Disney with an infant
Lydia, 2.5 months, spends her days eating, sleeping and burping

Pre-trip Report:

Disney has been one of my loves for as long as I can remember. I poured over my Steve Birnbaum's book everyday dreaming about the perfect trip when I was kid. Gotta love the pictures in the official guide. Remember when the park maps were color coded by land. Fantasyland was pink, Adventureland green, Tomorrowland blue, Frontierland brown and Liberty Square yellow. I'm sure everyone here can relate. There is something magical about the World that gets in your system and makes you want to visit as often as you can. I have never stayed on property yet due to finances, but am tentatively planning a trip in Sept/Oct 06 to stay at one of the Moderate properties.

We just returned this past Saturday 12/10 from a week long vacation with my immediate family. The idea was originated from my other brother, who wanted to take his two school age kids, but unfortunately had to cancel due to changing jobs. That was a bummer, but knowing my brother, not entirely unexpected. I can't imagine what it was like for his kids knowing about the Disney trip then all of sudden it being cancelled. I am hoping that his kids will get to go eventually.

We started to plan the trip in July and first things first searched for a vacation home to rent. We decided to go with AllStar vacation homes who is endoursed by one of my fave websites, allearsnet. We reserved a 7 bedroom in the Formosa Gardens area off 192; minutes from Disney. AllStar has a great website with virtual tours and the homes are nicely decorated.

Second, we started thinking about the meals. I read about the Cinderella character bfast in the castle and decided to take a crack at trying to book it. So I counted back 90 days and started calling Sept 3 for Dec 5. Two days in a row spent holding for 15 minutes before finally talking to an agent. Of course they were booked at that time. Third time the charm. Both my sister and I got up ten minutes before 6 am central time (7 am eastern) and managed to get a table for 9 for Wednesday, Dec 7th at 9:55am. Wished it could have been a earlier time to see the park before it opens, but I won't push my luck. I also made an ADR for Whispering Canyon at WL on Tuesday, Dec 6th at 2:30 after reading all of the good reviews for it.

After purchasing tickets in advance at our local Disney store using the adv purchase discount, we were all set to go.

 

[fizz13]

Great start, lets hear some more,

Claire xx

 

[kabbie]

Day 1: Just the Beginning

Dec 3rd: Arrived in Orlando at 12:14pm via flight from DFW to MCO. Paid approx $170 per person on american airlines website. Had Budget car rental reservation for minivan for the week. Total with Costco membership discount was approx $270. Passed alot of families leaving MCO after a week in the world. Lugging all of their Disney shopping bags. I always feel so excited at the start of the vacation and I look at all of the people leaving with pity. Hate to think that it will be me in 7 days.

Met up with my brother Greg, wife Tara and 2 month old Lydia at the airport. Waited forever for luggage before taking the long hike down to the Budget counter. Saw the even longer long for the Magical Express. Don't know if I can ever come to Orlando and not get a rental car. Like the freedom too much. Rented a Pontiac Montana, which had the most annoying automatic side doors that never seemed to work.

Check-in at All Star Home Rental (not to be confused with the value Disney resorts) is strictly 4pm unless you pay an extra fee for early check-in so we had lunch at Cracker Barrell to kill time.

Promptly at 4pm, picked up our keys and headed to find our house. We rented home # 7976 in the Formosa Gardens subdivision. The area is nice. I don't have anything bad to say about it. The house, however, had some maintenance issues with the a/c and the pool heater. Made some calls and the problems were fixed. After getting settled, we headed to the nearby Publix to do our shopping for the week. Picked up some breakfast items, drinks, lunch fixings, etc. Looking around Publix, you see pretty much the same thing in everyone's carts. Telltale signs that you're a tourist in Publix: you've got beer (maybe some wine coolers), potato chips, cereal, doughnuts, soda (coke or pop, depending on the part of the country you're from) small containers of mustard, ketchup and mayo are in your cart.

For the rest of the night, we relaxed in the home and visited with the family. Spent lots of time oohing and aahing over new baby, Lydia. I can tell my 2 yr old niece, Lauren got a little jealous. My brother decided the next day that he thought we should head to ESPN for Sunday football. He loves that place. More later!

 

[swankybeth]

Sounds like a nice start. Can't wait to read about your park experiences.

 

[Cinerama]

Great start---looking forward to more!

 

[kabbie]

Sunday, Dec 4th- Resting before Chaos

When I left you last, my brother had decided that we all should go out to ESPN on Boardwalk for Sunday Football. He said that people start to line up outside early. We have separate cars so Greg and his family went up there to stake out a table. The Texas family members take forever getting out of the house as normal. We are on the road to Epcot Resorts when my dad gets lost and can't find the road to take him to Boardwalk. Had to turn around twice. My brother calls to say that we better hurry because tables are almost gone. No easy task. We fianally arrive and try to hunt down my brother inside ESPN. Luckly we are allowed to bypass the looooong line by just letting them know that our party is inside. Not enough chairs for all of us so I decided to take my niece for a stroll over to Yacht and Beach Club. Very tiring work I must say. On the way, I stop at Epcot's back door to check my parents passes at Guest Relations. They had some leftover days, but weren't sure how many. Luckily they had 3 on 1 pass and 2 on another so they would only have to buy 1 day. Good savings. Tip: Whenever you have leftover days, use a Sharpie and jot down how many days. That will help plan your next vacation.

"SANDBOX! SANDBOX!" That would be my niece spotting the sand volleyball court by the Beach Club and insisting that she must stop to throw sand and play for awhile. Lauren also had to stop at the Yacht Club's playground by Stromalong Bay to make Aunt Krissy go down the slide with her. Tight squeeze, but I oblige. This is a common thread, you'll see.

We returned to Boardwalk in time to meet up with the rest of my family. We had lunch at I can't remember where. After a brief rest period at the house, we ventured out again to Downtown Disney. I like to scope out what they have to determine what I definitely have to buy inside the parks. The crowds were my first indicator that this is no longer the slow season.

After lots of browsing and trying to maneuver throught World of Disney and Days of Christmas, we retreated home to sleep before 1st day at parks.

*****Next installment should include pictures once I go home and figure out how to do that*****

 

[exwdwcm]

Howdy neighbor! I live in Plano and work in Dallas and we were there the same time and I am just a few years older than you. we left on a AA flight at 6am out of DFW on 12/3. came home 12/11. had a great time as well and had a 2.5 year old.

can't wait to read more about your experience. Did you enjoy the vacation home rental? it's a great idea for a large party and we had 8 in ours- that might have worked well for us. just look for my 8 texans report probably on the second page now.

waiting for more!

 

[ckmommy]

Sounds like fun so far!! Can't wait to hear more! Great tip about writting on your ticket how many days you have left!! I will have to use that one!!