Gktw???

[scrapperjill]

AmazingGrace.. .I just wanted to wish you and your family the best for your trip....only one more day to wait. Lot's of pixe-dust and prayers for a safe, fun and memorable trip.

 

[AmazingGrace]

We're just about packed, and ready, but wouldn't you know it?? I have a giant head cold. Thank God the worst of it was yesterday. I just got up, and i feel better than I did this time yesterday.
I'll tale lots of pics and share all the gory details when i get back.
God bless,

 

[meeshi]

Have a great trip!
I know you will and I can't wait to hear about it when you get back!

 

[mommie2angels]

Have fun Loriann! Can't wait to hear all about it.

meeshi, I LOVE your picture from GKTW with Mickey and Minnie!

 

[scrapperjill]

Okay....I have good news and bad news....and I need advise baddly....To my suprise we got our tickets from the wish foundation in the mail on Wednesday . Which I thought was a little strange...For some reason I was thinking we wouldn't get them until the bon voyage party the local wish coordinator is hosting for us a week or two prior to our trip. The tickets came directly from the main office. Then I recieved an e-mail from the person (who sent the tickets) at the main office later that same day...she stated we should be recieving a check in the mail soon...to cover additional expences while at WDW.

Now I wasn't expecting a lot of $$ for expences...but they did tell us when the wish was granted it would be enough so we wouldn't have to worry about money or anything while we were there.

I know, staying at GKTW we will have our meals taken care of...but I also figured we would need some money for snacks and drinks at the parks...not to mention I booked some PS at a few restraunts and figured our daughter would like a souviner or two while we were there....but now that she informed me the check would be here soon and now knowing how much we should be expecting....I am thinking we will need to start comming up with ways to take additional money with us. We now have about 2 months to save what we can. (I am wishing we would have known this last summer...when we started the planning).

So I'm wondering what would be average daily expenses to be expected while we are there??? In other words...how much do you normally spend each day?? Maybe I'm totally wrong in my thinking...I'm just guessing thing cost alot there.

Please don't get me wrong...I am totally grateful for what the wish foundation has done. It's a trip that we could have NEVER gone on if it wasn't for them.

Maybe I have to high of expectations....Just with all the hype the wish coordinatior gave us...and all the talk about wanting the wishes to be some thing that will be remembered forever...and to be done while the child and family could enjoy it...before the progressing of diseasse...and all the talk about it being a time to go away and forget all the worries of money....dr...and such.....
But now am totally worried about money issues and not having enough while we are away.

So any input on what I should expect to spend daily would be wonderful.

 

[meeshi]

Jill, did she give any indication of how much the check was for? I'm not sure why you don't think it will be enough money. When we went we had plenty of money to spend and enjoy ourselves. You should wait until you get the actual check and then if you don't think it's enough, then you'll know how much additional money you need to bring. Like I said they gave us plenty of spending money.

Don't worry....Be happy....

mommie2angels...Thanks, we like the picture too. It's one of my favorites. I like yours too. Where was that taken?

 

[scrapperjill]

Sorry about that...she said the check would be for 600.00. So that will give us around 80.00 a day. Which will probley be just fine...I was just imaging things costing so much more.And since there are four of us...it will break down to abour 20.00 per person per day. The two charater breakfasts we have will be a huge chunck (Just about the whole daily alotment). I am also expecting to have to get breakfast and lunch on our own on the frist day....since we leave the house around 4:30 am and arrive in Orlando around 6:00pm... So I was figuring around 20.00 per day and trying to figure out if that sound good or low.

The wish gal who is local...the one who has came and met us and informed us we would be getting the wish...tryed to get us to do the dophine discovey cove...day with dophines while we were there...said it would be a once in a life time oppurtunity.(she didn't try to talk us into it...just made suggestion)..she also said it cost alot...but thats what the expence money was for...for things like that...we just had to decide how to spend it....After talking with her (last summer) we looked into it and were keeping it in mind but now that we know how much were getting....we can't even think of it..wouldn't have enough $$.

I'm thinking with $20 per day we will really be getting just the bare minimun.


So any ideas of what to expect to spend daily???

 

[mommie2angels]

Scrapperjill, I would say if you are doing Disney and eating out three meals a day for a family of 4 probably $100-$200 per day. Of course that depends on the types of meals you do. Also how much you spend on souvenirs and all that. Our dd was given $60 I think for souvenirs and we were given around $600 to cover our expenses. We didn't plan any characters meals but did end up doing one at the end of the trip when we saw we had enough money. The $600 we were given was plenty because GKTW provided so much as far as meals. I think they intend for you to eat meals or at least most meals at GKTW. Seatdown meals at Disney can be really costly so if you just figure in all that then you shouldn't have a problem. We did mostly counter service meals while we were in the parks. I think you will be fine with the amount of money as long as you do as many meals as possible at GKTW.

meeshi, thanks! We love that picture except that Minnie is blocking Beauty & The Beast. HOW do you tell/ask the gueen of Disney World that she needs to squat down so we can see Belle. LOL!!! That picture was made behind the castle at Magic Kingdom.

 

[scrapperjill]

Yea...after thinking of it more...I'm sure we will be fine. We are planning on doing two charater meals (breakfast with the princesses). Other than that we were going to try and eat at GKTW most meals. I didn't think for lunch we would make it back everyday....don't think we will have enough time (Park hours are shorter in the fall...so I didn't want to take 2 hours out for lunch.)

I was just shocked at first...since the wish coordinator strongly suggested we do the dolphine swim at discovery cove...we just thought there'd be enough to cover that. I mean we wouldn't have even thought of doing the swim..if it wasn't for her suggestion.

But I think we will have plenty to do with out that...and we will have plenty of $$ to have a great time.

Thanks....for letting me express my worries and concerns.

 

[meeshi]

I think you will be surprised at how much you will actually get to see in the parks. The CM's are really wonderful about getting you to the front of the lines for rides and seeing the characters without waiting.

Something I did before we left was ask everyone to tell me what they wanted to see in each park and I made a list of the "must sees". We made sure to do those and then everything else was a bonus. We really were able to do and see everything we wanted and it was really very relaxing. We also made it a conscious effort to ENJOY every day, sometimes you can get caught up in the frenzy of making sure you get everything done that you plan to do, that you don't take the time to enjoy what you're doing. Does that make sense?

As far as eating, we usually ate lunch in the park at counter services and headed back to GKTW for dinner. At least two nights we headed back to the parks after dinner to see the fireworks.

Also don't forget they have different characters come around GKTW in the morning for breakfast so you may want to bring your camera. One morning we were there it was actually DH's 40th birthday. I made him wear a birthday shirt And while we were eating breakfast Goofy came out with stack of pancakes with a candle in it and everyone started singing "Happy Birthday" to him with Goofy leading everyone. Unfortunately, I didn't have my camera with me that morning.

We did get a couple of souveniers in the park, but I'm a cheapie at heart and we went to a couple of the outlets. They had great stuff and excellent prices. That's where we got a lot of our souveniers.

You will have a wonderful trip, just keep planning. For me that was almost as much as actually going! Although it did drive my family nuts.

 

[AngelStar]

scrapperjill,

I have the same concerns as you. I remember our wish coordinator telling us at the start way back that we would get $500 for all four of us (my dad, mom, brother and me), and since we're all older, we'll have to pay full price for everything - meals, excursions on DCL, etc. Also, since we are staying on-site at a Disney resort, we will have to eat all meals/snacks at the park/resorts.

Since then, the coordinator hasn't told us any approx. amount of the expense cheque, but she did tell us that we'll have to book all of the excursions ourselves and they cost a pretty penny, not to mention tips and extras on the ship, and ALL mels at the park.

I really doubt that $500 is enough but what to do? My dad said that we'll have to bring more money for sure and that's difficult in our already-hard situation. I definitely am greatful for the trip, but the "extras" (necessities) cost so much!

Just a quick q, what foundationare you going through? And is AmazingGrace's family going through a different wish place (since they got a nice cheque for the three of them!)?

Talk to ya soon!

 

[scrapperjill]

Does any one know what times the fireworks are done at the parks. The park hours just came out yesterday....and now I'd like to see what time to expect shows. I also came up with a less expensive after park hour event for our family Nights of Joy will be going on durring our stay. I e-mailed disney yesterday and recieved a responce this morrning. The event starts after park hours in the MK and go untill 12:30 am...select attractions are still in opperation durring the event. So after hours, special christian music concerts in the park and attractions to boot. Sound good. It is however just one night that we were planning on being at the park....Hmmm gets me thinking....it said seperate admission would be required to attend....I wonder if we could get tickets for Thursday and Friday (we are already planning on doing WDW friday and US or SW on Thursday) But maybe we could do Nights of Joy both nights....That will give me some thing to look into.


AngelStar...I sent you a PM..so be sure to check your box

 

[Schmeck]

If you go to the official WDW site for the park hours, the fireworks/parade schedules should be found by clicking on the date on the monthly calendar. Let's see if I can do a link for you:

http://disneyworld.disney.go.com/wd...MKCalendarParkHoursMonthlyViewPage&date=92004

If the above link works (I stink at links, LOL!) all you have to do is click on the date you want to know about and you'll get redirected to the info.

Hope this helps,

Schmeck

 

[Cheshire Figment]

I would not suggest Night of Joy for someone involved with MAW. It is a separate ticket event and primarily rock groups. The CMs consider it the worst possible assignment due to the lack of parental control over teenagers; almost every CM I know does anything possible to avoid having to work NoJ.

 

[scrapperjill]

How bad could Nights of Joy be??? It's christian rock??

 

[Talking Hands]

Very bad. The kids tend to be wild. They do things like jumping between boats on Small World and tilting the boats so they jam the exit you if you are behind them you are stuck.

 

[dclfun]

Night of Joy is very crowded, lots of pushing and shoving...not all the teens who attend behave in a "Christian" fashion either. Also, it is not inexpensive, esp compared to the cost of an E-ride ticket. ---Kathy

 

[scrapperjill]

Well the more thought I've put into it....I'm not sure we will do Nights of Joy....I don't want to have to deal with large out of control crowds.....Maybe we will just do a nice dinner at one of the restraunts...I was thinking about 1900 park fare. I just though it would be nice to have a late night in the MK.

Thanks for the insite on the event.

 

[dclfun]

Jill- I'd rather you know ahead of time than to be dissappointed. I chaperoned a group of teens from our church several years ago and was almost squished as the crowd pressed in, pushed and shoved ( I was walking then), just trying to get in the gates. Then inside I heard offensive language, and saw behaviors that I certainly wasn't expecting. I was glad that I wasn't there with young children! ---Kathy

 

[scrapperjill]

Thanks for the information....Nights of Joy....is starting to sound more like a Night of ...(bleep).

I think we will probley have enough time at WDW with out putting ourselves through that.