First PTR: The pack of 10 take the world again! FEB. 2010 *12/27: magical express*

[wdwislife]

INDEX!

Cast of Characters/Trip Summary

Yes! And the disney resort is...

Some assorted disney related things...

And another joins in the magic...

A tentative itinerary!

Money Managing (#1)

Magical Express Newbie!
____________________________________________________________________________________________

Thought i'd start my PTR for my extended family's bi-annual WDW trip, can you tell I'm excited?

here goes:

DATES:
2/11/2010--2/20/2010

BASIC TRIP SUMMARY:
This February my family will be continuing our decade-long tradition of a bi-annual trip to Walt Disney World, and I could NOT be happier.
Let me start this off by saying that I'm in now way the head of a household--in fact I'm actually the older of 2 teenage daughters in my family of four. Im am, however, the biggest DIS freak and planner! I plan the trips, my parents make them a reality, and for that I am definitely grateful.
We started taking trips to WDW in February 2000, and have been returning in the same month of every even year ever since.
In 2004 we were lucky enough to be able to purchase a time share at Orange Lake Resort in Kissimee. We love our little condo there!
Then in 2005 my mother's brother and his family also purchased a time share there for the same week! My uncle, aunt, and 3 younger cousins have been joining us in the world since 2006, and will meet us there once again this coming February!

and now for:
CAST OF CHARACTERS:

Me: I've had the WDW countdown going since the 300's, and I'm in the process of making a gorgeous passporter planning scrapbook. In other words, a DISfreak starting at a young age. God only knows what I'll be like once I start a family of my own.

Sister: 2 1/2 years my junior, my little sister was a ride daredevil even before I was. She LOVES disney, though she is nowhere near as obsessed as yours truly.

Mom & Dad: love disney, but sometimes get a bit overwhelmed by it all. Therefore, let me do all the planning. Dad loves rides, Mom prefers fantasyland and shows. All and all they enjoy WDW, and keep us coming back!

Aunt & Uncle: love having the family together in WDW. Uncle is a thrill seeker, and Aunt looks after the younger ones, but they're not so young anymore...

Cousin 1: The eldest kid of his family and 2 months younger than my sister, he's a self-proclaimed coaster buff who loves disney atmosphere, but universal rides. Loves being tall enough to ride everything.

Cousin 2: The middle child. She would love to go on every possible ride, if only she wasn't to short! Small, but fiery.

Cousin 3: The youngest of our WDW crew. A disney princess in her own right. Loves characters, the teacups and Dumbo. Definitely a DISlover in training.

Well, that's it for now!
Coming soon: resorts, plane flights, ADR list, and random disney ranting!
stay tuned!


leesh

 

[wdwislife]

My family once again succeeded in getting 2 complementary nights at a WDW Deluxe Resort!
Not through Disney though. My father is a lawyer who's company coincidentally attends a conference in Orlando in the days leading up to our time share week, and we've been able to utilize this fact in the past. We've had stays at both the boardwalk and the yacht club.

SO, now we're officially staying at the Contemporary, all expenses paid, for the first two nights of our trip! We're excited since it's our first time staying there, and can't wait to take advantage of the monorail! This segment will just be my immediate family, and my aunt, uncle and cousins will meet us in the world on the 13th.

I would love to hear what anyone who has stayed there thinks about it!


leesh

 

[AlternateEgo]

Nice start! Can't wait to see your plans unfold

 

[wdwislife]

i had intended the index to go here, but i moved it up there ^^


leesh

 

[wdwislife]

Nice start! Can't wait to see your plans unfold

Thanks for joining in! Your PTR looks great, I'll be joining in!

 

[jordanyosh]

okay. i'm in.

 

[wdwislife]

I thought I'd share a few pictures from my recent summer '08 (family) and '09 (friends) trips to disneyland. Hope you enjoy!

My sister and I in front of Sleeping Beauty's castle, last year in 2008!

This year, in July 2009. Don't mind that man's head, I just had to take a picture of the WWYC balloons!

strollin' down main st. USA; July 09!

and, of course, a gorgeous castle shot.


Leesh

 

[jordanyosh]

The castle at DL while not big is BEAUTIFUL.

 

[wdwislife]

The castle at DL while not big is BEAUTIFUL.

Haha yes. My friends and I fondly called it "Sleeping Beauty's cottage" last time we were there.
Us WDWers are so spoiled by Cindy's lavish palace..

 

[eliz991]

Okay, ignore the question I asked you in my PTR...found out you will be there the same week as us.

I've never been to Disneyland...love the pics. And woo-hoo on the Contemporary! That is awesome! So does your dad have to go to conference stuff while y'all play at WDW? That would be hard ~ I went to a meeting in Bermuda once and found it hard to concentrate on the sessions!

 

[wdwislife]

So does your dad have to go to conference stuff while y'all play at WDW? That would be hard ~ I went to a meeting in Bermuda once and found it hard to concentrate on the sessions!

Well the conference runs from the first Thurs.-Sat. of our trip. (11th-13th) but yes, he will miss our first morning/afternoon in MK
That's all right though, because my sister and I will be there with my mom, so we can cover the fantasyland and more mild rides. (Since my dad is the thrillseeker of the two)
Then later that night we'll head to Epcot. We did this back in '08, and it worked out well.

And I'll try to get some sort of tentative itinerary up later today

 

[wdwislife]

So you're probably wondering why my PTR title says we're a group of 10 when my cast of characters only lists 9 people..
(well, actually you're probably not because you've never taken the time to really think about it, but now you will )

Well that's because we recently added another member to the crew!
My aunt's mother, and my cousins' grandmother.
She's not my grandmother, but my sister and I have known her since we were little.
My family's not THAT close with her which could make it kind of awkward, but there's no room for awkward in the world! It's the perfect place to get to know someone better!

So, without further ado, our new trip member:
"grandma": the newest addition to our Disney crew. Has never been to the world with us, and is definitely in for a treat! Not the biggest thrillseeker, but can't wait to spend time with her family and look after the younger girls.

Our group is growing!

leesh

 

[wsdl1085]

I'm in. I miss going with my whole family. They tend to make things more "interesting" than friends do. But still so much fun!

 

[wdwislife]

So here's a simple kind of itinerary of what park I plan for us to be at each day that I've been working on in an excel spreadsheet.
nothing too definitive yet, but eventually I'd like to develop some loose touring plans. (We never plan for anything too structured because with all the times we've gotten sick there we know that things don't always go as planned, haha )
Anyways here it is:

TRIP ITINERARY: 2/11/2010-2/20/2010
Thursday, Feb. 11th
Fly to Orlando
Check-in @ Contemporary
ADR Dinner at California Grill
(No Park)

Friday, Feb. 12th
Morning: MK
Evening: Epcot w/ EMH

Saturday, Feb. 13th
ADR Breakfast at Chef Mickey's
Check-out of Contemporary
Check-in at Orange Lake Resort
Meet up with rest of family
Dinner at Downtown Disney (Bongos)?
(No Park)

Sunday, Feb. 14th
MAGIC KINGDOM FOR MOST (if not all) OF THE DAY

Monday, Feb. 15th
HOLLYWOOD STUDIOS FOR MOST OF DAY

Tuesday, Feb 16th
EPCOT!
ADR Dinner at Akershus

Wednesday, Feb. 17th
REST DAY!
stay at resort and rest
(No Park)

Thursday, Feb. 18th
UNIVERSAL STUDIOS/ISLANDS OF ADVENTURE all day

Friday, Feb. 19th
Morning: Animal Kingdom
Evening: Magic Kingdom

Saturday, Feb. 20th
Fly home

Let me know what you think!

 

[wsdl1085]

Now that I have some time on my hands (though I should be in bed), I'm trying to catch up everywhere. I like your itinerary. Though it is always interesting to see how many times someone changes theirs before they actually arrive.

 

[wdwislife]

Now that I have some time on my hands (though I should be in bed), I'm trying to catch up everywhere. I like your itinerary. Though it is always interesting to see how many times someone changes theirs before they actually arrive.

Thanks! haha yes let's see how these plans evolve over the next two months!
I'll try to post another trip update soon!

 

[jordanyosh]

Maybe we'll run into you on the 14th at the MK.

 

[wdwislife]

Maybe Jordan!
We'll be the big group arguing over whether to go to space mountain or haunted mansion next
Actually, there might be a lot of groups like that. Haha

 

[wdwislife]

The big thing that runs up any disney bill, aside from the basics like hotels and tickets, is definitely souvenirs. Disney looves jacking up those prices!
It is for that reason that I've decided to take some money-saving steps to ensure as inexpensive a trip as possible. Here's the first post in my series of $$ saving strategies!

T-shirts and Sweatshirts
Every time I go to WDW I always like picking up some disney-themed clothing item to wear in my post-trip weeks to ease the depression.
Unfortunately, these items run waaay overpriced. Don't get me wrong, I love my WDW merchandise (More on that in my next post...) but it's getting old.
I recently found several nice Mickey and Minnie licensed shirts on the website of the mall store Forever 21. They're, in my opinion, more aesthetically pleasing than some of the real WDW merchandise! Not to mention the fact that they all cost less than $25.00! No doubt I'll be picking up some items from there before my trip.

there's a few of the styles!

For people who might not be in the Forever 21 demographic, don't fret! Many stores outside of the world sell Disney related clothing.
Search around the net for the store that fits you and your budget.

Happy shopping!

leesh

 

[eliz991]

The big thing that runs up any disney bill, aside from the basics like hotels and tickets, is definitely souvenirs. Disney looves jacking up those prices!
It is for that reason that I've decided to take some money-saving steps to ensure as inexpensive a trip as possible. Here's the first post in my series of $$ saving strategies!

T-shirts and Sweatshirts
Every time I go to WDW I always like picking up some disney-themed clothing item to wear in my post-trip weeks to ease the depression.
Unfortunately, these items run waaay overpriced. Don't get me wrong, I love my WDW merchandise (More on that in my next post...) but it's getting old.
I recently found several nice Mickey and Minnie licensed shirts on the website of the mall store Forever 21. They're, in my opinion, more aesthetically pleasing than some of the real WDW merchandise! Not to mention the fact that they all cost less than $25.00! No doubt I'll be picking up some items from there before my trip.

there's a few of the styles!

For people who might not be in the Forever 21 demographic, don't fret! Many stores outside of the world sell Disney related clothing.
Search around the net for the store that fits you and your budget.

Happy shopping!

leesh

This is an excellent idea and I plan to start looking around after Christmas! at the forever 21 demographic...yeah, if I went in there now I think they would assume I was shopping for my non-existent daughter.