Getting ready for our first trip!

jojoandhb

Mouseketeer
Joined
Aug 23, 2006
Messages
349
I have never been to Disney. My fiance hasn't been in over 20 years. Our daughter is almost 4, and I thought this would be the perfect time to take her. We leave in 57 days! The first thing I did was order the DVD from the website and sign up for promotional offers. If we like Disney, and I suspect we will, we plan on going back every year until our daughter gets too old for it. After watching the DVD, I bought the Unofficial Guide to Disney and joined *****************. We first chose POFQ resort for our stay. When the spring special ZHE promotion came out, we switched to AKL. We are staying one more night and paying a mere $200 more for AKL than POFQ would have cost. We got the dining as a money saving strategy. My fiance is a HUGE eater. Being on the dining plan will force him to eat one counter service and one TS meal a day. Otherwise, he would go nuts and order a lot of food. I'm taking snacks and I have made ADR's at buffet restaurants almost every day to help fill him up. We'll be at Disney for 6 days, and I have budgeted $1,000 spending money for the trip. I have no idea if this is enough, but we're not knick-knacky people. I don't think we'll be buying too many souvenirs, and our food is paid for via DDP. I also bought my daughter really cute Disney outfits and dresses on Ebay for the trip. I bought myself two shirts so far, and I plan on buying another every week until we leave. My plan includes saving $150 every week to help pay for the trip. So far, I am actually ahead of things on that front. We have managed to put more aside each week than planned. We're just so excited that we have been skipping the trips to the mall where we easily spend $200 on a movie, lunch, Build-A-Bear, ice cream, and the Disney Store. Instead, I bought a 1-year membership to the zoo where I spend $4 on the carousel and $10 on lunch. Huge savings, and she loves it.
I have made a reservation at the kennel for our dogs and made arrangements to rent a car. We are driving from Nashville! My fiance refuses to fly. He's so scared that he has scared our daughter, too. So, she won't fly either. Guess who is doing all of the driving. Yep, me. We're leaving on a Sat morning and taking all day to get there since we will have to stop occasionally for food, exercise, and bathroom breaks. We're spending that night at a nearby Orlando hotel for $55. In the morning, we'll eat from the free breakfast and head to the park. At lunch time, we'll break and check into the hotel. I have gotten touring plans for 3 of the parks so far. I plan on one park per day. The MK will take 2 days, and we'll also be visiting the AK two days. My fiance and daughter LOVE animals. So, we have to visit twice.
Those are my plans so far. I am in the process of making a list of EVERYTHING we will need during the trip. I'm a list maker by nature, and my lists always take a super long time because I keep thinking of something else we might need. I have also begun packing! Only 57 days to go!!!
 
Great start to your trip report. What are your dates there? I know you said 57 days, I am just too lazy to figure it out.
The first time to Disney is ALWAYS exciting:banana:

We are going in June, and I think it will be my 15th time(Ive lost count;) )and its STILL exciting.

I am sure your 4 yr old daughter will have a blast. Who couldnt love Disney:confused3

We are always driving to Disney with the 3 kids(12,7, and 2 1/2). I would love to Fly, but its not in the budget this year. We are driving down from Va beach.We are first actually spending two nights with my parents in the Ft Lauderdale area, then heading to Disney June 19-25:cool1:

We will be doing Disney and Universal Studios.

I am looking forward to reading more of your pre trip report:thumbsup2
 
We are leaving May 12 and taking all day to drive down from Nashville. We're spending that night in a $55 hotel that is 1.8 miles (according to Mapquest) from the park. We're going to get up Sunday morning and make our way to Epcot for Sunday brunch at 11:20. Then, we'll spend a few hours there and take an afternoon break to check into our AKL room. We're having dinner at Akershus.
I made all of our ADR's this week. We're eating at Hollywood & Vine for the LIttle Einstein's breakfast on the 14th. The 15th, it's off to Whicpering Canyon for dinner. The 16th, it's Boma for dinner. My DF cannot wait to eat there. The 17th, it's Chef Mickey's, and the 18th it's 19000 Park Fare. I went for buffets mostly because DF is a huge eater, and I do not want most of our spending cash spent on food.
I'm estimating this trip to cost about $4,000. Our AKL room for 5 nights, tickets for 6 days, and DDP are just over $2,000. Boarding the dogs is just under $500. Renting a car is $200, and gas and snacks will be around $300. The hotel room is $55. Taking $1,000 with us for spending makes it a little over $4,000. That makes this our most expensive vacation ever. Still, I have this feeling that it will be worth it!
I packed some of my daughter's clothes so far. I bought her some cute Disney outfits off Ebay, and I don't want them to get ruined before we go! So, some of the nicer ones are packed. I'm going to buy Spacebags to cut down on the number of suitcases we take. My DF overpacks all of the time. He'll pack all of his socks, all of his shorts, all of his shirts...he can't just narrow it down to a few. I haven't bought clothes for the trip yet. I found out last month that I have PCOS. I got on a low glycemic diet, and the weight has been falling off. I figure I'll buy clothes a few days before we go. I also need some new sandals, and I am buying an umbrella type stroller for my daughter. I know she won't be able to do all that walking, and I don't want to drag our large folding stroller down there or spend $48 renting one.
I have not finished my list of things to take with me. So far, I'm thinking camera, film, band aids, sunblock, snacks for the car ride...I'm sure I'll think of more.
 
Sounds like you are going to have a great time!!! You are going to love AKL...I will be staying there for my 3rd time in Oct for my Honeymoon. The planning sounds great and the Dining Plan is great also. Make sure you take lots of pictures of your daughter. Here are some pictures for ya!

The pool
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Some Zebra's on Arusha Savanna
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The Lobby
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