G'Ma, Mom & Mini escape 10/17/13 - 10/24/13 No Boys Allowed!

[KSUWildcat]

Hi all! I wanted to go ahead and start my pre-trip report and I have had SUCH amazing luck so far.....

First, introductions!!! We are 3 generations of females, wanting to celebrate life in the happiest place on earth!! (My family line has rarely had more than 3 generations alive at once, so it's a big deal to us)

Myself (aka "Mom"), 33 years old, single mom, finishing college and working full time. This will be my 3rd trip to WDW.

My daughter (aka "Mini"), will be 7 years old in a week and going into Second Grade during our trip, very curious, outgoing, and super excited! Loves to read (Have done Magic Tree House series, and currently reading BoxCar Children books! A new one every few days!) This will be her 2nd trip to WDW.

My Mom (aka "G'Ma"), 71 year old widow, 11 year survivor of Breast Cancer. Unfortunately, due to the chemo treatments years ago wrecking her health, she can't walk long distances, and is still battling a broken foot/leg from 3 years ago. BUT! Thanks to ECV's, she can party with the best of them! This will also be her 2nd vacation to WDW.


I took both my mom and daughter to WDW in 2011 and I was worried my daughter wouldn't remember it (having just turned 5, worried she was too young for life-long memories) and worried my mom would be bored. WRONG on both accounts!!!

My daughter is still randomly saying "Hey mommy, remember when we were at Disney World and...."
And my self-proclaimed old-fashioned mom is looking forward to getting away, seeing all the scenery, and having fun laughing with us at Disney!
Me, heck.... I'm in full-on OCD mode now that we're into double-Digits! (97 days!!!)

 

[KSUWildcat]

We are flying from Kansas City to Orlando -- will be my daughters first ever plane ride and she's so SUPER excited!!

We originally planned on leaving Friday Oct 18 and returning Thursday Oct 24. (Staying at Caribbean Beach Resort). I searched for weeks, watching airfares, flight times, signed up for airfare watches, subscribed to SouthWest & AirTran's newsletters (they had the overall cheapest fare/best flights. Also, SW own's AirTran). I was budgeting $1400 for 3 roundtrip flights, worse case scenario. Scary, but hey, we gotta get there!

Last time, we drove the 27 hours. Wouldn't care to do that again. I think we stopped every hour for a potty break between my DD (5 then) and my Mom (70). Plus, they both get cranky when they need a nap LOL. I'd rather fly; less time wasted traveling, even though it's cheaper to drive.

SO.... SW and AirTran had some special fares once in a while but only for limited times. Kept missing them for various reasons. THEN.... SW had a special fare to locations that have Sea World (ORLANDO!) bc they got a new plane with penguins on it. Saved quite a bit using that on our original itenarary but still was around $1150 bc not applicable to Friday flights

Then my OCD planning kicked in. I started running cost comparisons, spreadsheets, you name it! After some phone calls, found out an extra day at CBR would be $200. Parking at airport an extra $7. And MNSSHP is held on the 17th, so wouldn't need a park ticket if we did the party that day. Special rate applies to the 17th plus it'd be a direct flight down to Orlando! Much less risk of losing luggage (my irrational fear).

Final plans:
Fly on Thursday, Oct 17th DIRECT on SouthWest from KCI at 9:40am (not the crazy 5am like I have in the past) and arrive at MCO at 12:50. Use DME to get to CBR (free!). relax and have time to get our costumes on (packed in carry on luggage) and head to MNSSHP at 4:30 for an evening at MK!

Return on Thursday, Oct 24th with one 30 min layover in Atlanta on AirTran, leaving at 6:55pm getting back to KCI at 10:17pm. Then the 2 hour drive home. But our leave time is late enough that we can get an almost full day in at the parks to hit up favorites one last time

Final cost: $845 for 3 roundtrip fares. Saved almost $300 by leaving a day earlier (and over $500 cheaper than original budget!!) Spent $207 for the extra day's stay. Meaning: Disney is paying us $93 to come a day early!!! LOL

On a side note: SW has a 2 free checked bags policy. AirTran has a $35 charge for checked bags. BUT since I booked the flights through SW website, their luggage policy overrules AirTran's (I called and checked). So bonus on the free luggage!!

Also, we bought our airfare on June 23rd (also called WDW and added our flight info) We received our DME tags on July 2nd. How's that for a quick response!!

 

[KSUWildcat]

We are staying at Caribbean Beach Resort. Checking in Oct 17, out on 24th.

Previously only stayed at Shades of Green so am anxious to see how much more "Disnified" this is going to be. Don't get me wrong, I LOVED SoG, the people, the rooms, everything.... But I divorced my ex and lost the military privaleges. I'm soo excited about the palm trees, sand beaches, tropical theme... SO very different than living in Kansas LOL

My only concern is that my mom can't walk very far/long anymore. She had very aggressive chemotherapy/radiation for breast cancer years ago and it weakened her bones. She's had 4 broken bones since then and still battling from a broken foot 3 years ago that won't heal. So we rent her an ECV and everyone's happy!! Mom feels bad about it (because there's nothing visually wrong with her, until you see her limp when she gets off the scooter) but i told her that an ECV is crucial to her having a good time and about the only way she'd get to do much without being in pain constantly.

So, I've requested Jamaica because it's a short walk/ride over the bridge to OPR and possibly one of the first bus stops. Since we'll have to load mom's ECV onto the bus, it'd be nice to be "first" so that there's room for her and us. I also requested a ground floor since there's no elevators. And while ECV's are pretty awesome, they don't climb stairs haha! Crossing my fingers we'll get our requests. I know we'll get the ground floor one (disability purposes) but hoping for a good location.

I'm excited about the good things I've heard at Caribbean too.... the nighttime movies by the pool, cooking a s'more on the beach, the music piped into the grounds.... Little things that make something awesome!!

 

[KSUWildcat]

So, Today was FREE DINING DAY!!! Now, don't get me wrong, we made our reservations back in February. We were going whether or not Free Dining extended into October. BUT.....

We will now get to go to character meals, "fancy" sit-down dinners, and NOT have to worry about pinching pennies. I just can't see spending more than $20/person for food and some of our meals will be $60 each!! Truly going to be a memory-made and a once in a lifetime occurance (unless they still have Free Dining offers in 5 years LOL)

This also helped solidify our daily park plans... I've been waivering on those for weeks! But we have park hoppers added to our tickets so we're not worried about changing park plans.

ALSO.... ordered our MNSSHP tickets!! We are officially going to be there on the 17th of October!

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