Cinderellagrl
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Sep 30, 2004
- Messages
- 636
Cast:
Me - Been to WDW once when I was younger...dont remember much about it, so I am considering this my first trip.
DH - Has been to WDW once as a very young child - doesnt remember anything other than mooning two elderly ladies (they were staring at him b/c they thought he was a cute child)
DD13 - Been there twice with other family members
DD5 - First trip to WDW
SIS - My sister has been there twice
DDF14 - DD13's friend - first trip
Let me first start by saying Thank You to everyone on this board who have been so helpful. When I first started planning the trip, I looked into the packages. I compared the prices of the packages and the prices of everything separately. It was obvious I would save a lot of money booking everything myself, which in turn would leave us with more spending money to enjoy ourselves. This made me nervous b/c I had never planned a huge trip like this before. I did a ton of research and thought I could pull it off. This forum has helped me immensely! So, thank you, thank you, thank you!
Anyway, started planning our trip almost a year ago. Originally we were planning for November 2005, but the more research I did on the internet, the more excited I became and decided I couldnt wait another whole year. My sister has always advised me to wait until my kids were old enough to be able to ride all the rides and, most importantly, old enough to remember it. However, I really think my youngest daughter will enjoy herself immensely seeing as she is a huge Cinderella and Ariel fan. I want her to be able to experience the magic of seeing the characters. My older daughter was 10 years old when she first visited WDW. She loved it, but seeing the characters was not a big issue for her at that age. Besides, I plan on this NOT being our last trip to WDW.
Although a part of DD5 is excited about our trip, she at first told me she didnt want to go b/c she did not want to leave our dog. Shes a true homebody. Definitely does not like change whatsoever. I took her on vacation over the summer and she got so homesick....really sick.... that we cut our trip short and she ended up in the hospital due to dehydration. Needless to say, Ive been really worried about how she is going to do on this trip. So, a few months ago, she started receiving letters in the mail a few times/week from the Disney characters (or so she thinks...shhh...our secret!). Theyve been doing the countdown for her, preparing her for the trip. It seems to be working too. She hasnt been as apprehensive about leaving home, because shes so excited that the Disney Characters are sending her personal letters in the mail telling her how they cant wait to see her (although at one point she did ask me why the rest of the family didnt get letters from them...heehee).
When we first started planning this trip, we invited my father-in-law and my parents along on the trip. The original plans were to be that my parents would drive down in their motor home and the rest of us would fly down and meet them there. Since I had made reservations for them to stay at Fort Wilderness and my FIL was going along, we made reservations at the cabins in Fort Wilderness for ourselves. Shortly thereafter, DD13 asked if she could take a friend along and we gave her the okay. Everything was set, ordered airline tickets, reservations were made...we were going to have a great family vacation & Grand Gathering! Then Wham! Everything started unraveling! My parents decided they didnt want to go along after all. So, I cancelled their reservations. Then my FIL couldnt get his vacation from work, which left us stuck with an airline ticket that was already purchased. So, my sister stepped in and took his ticket. Then, as if that werent enough, plans changed with my DDs friend going along which left us stuck with another ticket! So, DD13 invited a different friend and her parents agreed to allow her to go along. Whew! I thought coordinating the reservations was going to be the toughest part of the trip planning. I never expected all of this to happen.
So, now that everything changed and there would be 5 females (two of which are teenagers and we all know how long it takes teenage girls to get ready) and 1 male using one bathroom in the cabin, my sister and I decided we would definitely need to change resorts so we would have two bathrooms. However, when SIS agreed to purchase FILs ticket, we told her that wed cover the cost of the room b/c wed have to pay for it whether she went or not. Now changing resorts would mean needing 2 rooms that DH and I were going to pay for. SIS told me we should just stay at one of the AS Resorts, which are the cheapest. However, after seeing pics of POR I really want to stay there. DH and I realized that this was going to cost us more than staying at the cabin, but we decided to just go for it. So, I called to change our reservations, again. So many changes had been made, so a lot of the info they had in the computer was incorrect. I went over the whole story and they made all the correct changes. When I was quoted the price, it was actually $300 cheaper than the cabin (for two rooms). How can that be? Well, turned out, he gave us a direct mail code and we got the rate for $85/night/room. I dont know if he felt sorry for me or what, but I was and still am ecstatic! Things just might be looking up after all!
So anyway, our plans are as follows (this is all provided my family can get me on the airplane...I really wish we were driving!)
11/6 Saturday - check in at POR then head out to Downtown Disney.
11/7 Sunday - Magic Kingdom
Early Dinner PS for Crystal Palace
11/8 Monday - Animal Kingdom - morning & afternoon
Early Dinner PS for Rainforest Café
Magic Kingdom or EPCOT - evening
11/9 Tuesday - MGM
Lunch PS for Prime Time Café
11/10 Wednesday - Day off from Parks - to be determined
11/11 Thursday - EPCOT
Birthday dinner PS for LeCellier
11/12 Friday - Magic Kingdom & EPCOT
11/13 Saturday - Homeward Bound
I have to say that reading everyones trip reports has inspired me. I really enjoy reading them. YAY! I am so excited!! I am sooo looking forward to seeing the expression on DD5's face the moment she sees the princesses. Its what Im most looking forward to. Oh my gosh, I cant believe were actually going to Disney World!!
Me - Been to WDW once when I was younger...dont remember much about it, so I am considering this my first trip.
DH - Has been to WDW once as a very young child - doesnt remember anything other than mooning two elderly ladies (they were staring at him b/c they thought he was a cute child)
DD13 - Been there twice with other family members
DD5 - First trip to WDW
SIS - My sister has been there twice
DDF14 - DD13's friend - first trip
Let me first start by saying Thank You to everyone on this board who have been so helpful. When I first started planning the trip, I looked into the packages. I compared the prices of the packages and the prices of everything separately. It was obvious I would save a lot of money booking everything myself, which in turn would leave us with more spending money to enjoy ourselves. This made me nervous b/c I had never planned a huge trip like this before. I did a ton of research and thought I could pull it off. This forum has helped me immensely! So, thank you, thank you, thank you!
Anyway, started planning our trip almost a year ago. Originally we were planning for November 2005, but the more research I did on the internet, the more excited I became and decided I couldnt wait another whole year. My sister has always advised me to wait until my kids were old enough to be able to ride all the rides and, most importantly, old enough to remember it. However, I really think my youngest daughter will enjoy herself immensely seeing as she is a huge Cinderella and Ariel fan. I want her to be able to experience the magic of seeing the characters. My older daughter was 10 years old when she first visited WDW. She loved it, but seeing the characters was not a big issue for her at that age. Besides, I plan on this NOT being our last trip to WDW.
Although a part of DD5 is excited about our trip, she at first told me she didnt want to go b/c she did not want to leave our dog. Shes a true homebody. Definitely does not like change whatsoever. I took her on vacation over the summer and she got so homesick....really sick.... that we cut our trip short and she ended up in the hospital due to dehydration. Needless to say, Ive been really worried about how she is going to do on this trip. So, a few months ago, she started receiving letters in the mail a few times/week from the Disney characters (or so she thinks...shhh...our secret!). Theyve been doing the countdown for her, preparing her for the trip. It seems to be working too. She hasnt been as apprehensive about leaving home, because shes so excited that the Disney Characters are sending her personal letters in the mail telling her how they cant wait to see her (although at one point she did ask me why the rest of the family didnt get letters from them...heehee).
When we first started planning this trip, we invited my father-in-law and my parents along on the trip. The original plans were to be that my parents would drive down in their motor home and the rest of us would fly down and meet them there. Since I had made reservations for them to stay at Fort Wilderness and my FIL was going along, we made reservations at the cabins in Fort Wilderness for ourselves. Shortly thereafter, DD13 asked if she could take a friend along and we gave her the okay. Everything was set, ordered airline tickets, reservations were made...we were going to have a great family vacation & Grand Gathering! Then Wham! Everything started unraveling! My parents decided they didnt want to go along after all. So, I cancelled their reservations. Then my FIL couldnt get his vacation from work, which left us stuck with an airline ticket that was already purchased. So, my sister stepped in and took his ticket. Then, as if that werent enough, plans changed with my DDs friend going along which left us stuck with another ticket! So, DD13 invited a different friend and her parents agreed to allow her to go along. Whew! I thought coordinating the reservations was going to be the toughest part of the trip planning. I never expected all of this to happen.
So, now that everything changed and there would be 5 females (two of which are teenagers and we all know how long it takes teenage girls to get ready) and 1 male using one bathroom in the cabin, my sister and I decided we would definitely need to change resorts so we would have two bathrooms. However, when SIS agreed to purchase FILs ticket, we told her that wed cover the cost of the room b/c wed have to pay for it whether she went or not. Now changing resorts would mean needing 2 rooms that DH and I were going to pay for. SIS told me we should just stay at one of the AS Resorts, which are the cheapest. However, after seeing pics of POR I really want to stay there. DH and I realized that this was going to cost us more than staying at the cabin, but we decided to just go for it. So, I called to change our reservations, again. So many changes had been made, so a lot of the info they had in the computer was incorrect. I went over the whole story and they made all the correct changes. When I was quoted the price, it was actually $300 cheaper than the cabin (for two rooms). How can that be? Well, turned out, he gave us a direct mail code and we got the rate for $85/night/room. I dont know if he felt sorry for me or what, but I was and still am ecstatic! Things just might be looking up after all!
So anyway, our plans are as follows (this is all provided my family can get me on the airplane...I really wish we were driving!)
11/6 Saturday - check in at POR then head out to Downtown Disney.
11/7 Sunday - Magic Kingdom
Early Dinner PS for Crystal Palace
11/8 Monday - Animal Kingdom - morning & afternoon
Early Dinner PS for Rainforest Café
Magic Kingdom or EPCOT - evening
11/9 Tuesday - MGM
Lunch PS for Prime Time Café
11/10 Wednesday - Day off from Parks - to be determined
11/11 Thursday - EPCOT
Birthday dinner PS for LeCellier
11/12 Friday - Magic Kingdom & EPCOT
11/13 Saturday - Homeward Bound
I have to say that reading everyones trip reports has inspired me. I really enjoy reading them. YAY! I am so excited!! I am sooo looking forward to seeing the expression on DD5's face the moment she sees the princesses. Its what Im most looking forward to. Oh my gosh, I cant believe were actually going to Disney World!!
