If I hear the "tinki bird" song any longer I may go nuts

[topherSC]

Hello everyone and thank you for joining us as we prepare and then return from what promises to be a magical trip to Disney.

Let me start with the introduction of all the Cast Members:

Me: 32 father of two. Been to WDW over 40 times
DW: 33 Mother of the two. Been two Disney twice.
DD: 5 Never Been to WDW
DS: 3 Never Been
DM: My mother has been a few more times than myself.
DF: My Father has been a few more times than myself.

Ok a bit of back ground of this crew that is going to visit WDW. I will start with the fact the DM and DF were at WDW the year it opened. So they have years of experience. They started taking their children when each turned around 18 months. The first time the DW ever went to Disney was with my whole family and another family consisting of 14 people in the group. It is a hard way to get to see WDW because you have to juggle so many wants and desires. For some reason we thought we needed to do everything together (Mistake with that many people try to do some stuff together not everything.). So her first visit wasn’t the best. So I decided to take her to WDW this summer as just the two of us so she could know what it was like before we brought the children. So we were there and stayed at the AKL. (I can review our first trip or answer questions if anyone has any). Ok so for years DD has been asking to go so I have promised her to take her when she turns 6. Guess what she turns six in March so I am making good on a promise. I wish all promises were this fun to make good on. SO that is the back ground there is much more I could add but I don’t want to bore anyone.

Ok so after we got back from our trip in June we started thinking (well I started thinking) about the trip with the kiddos. So I sent an email inviting the whole family to join us once I came up with a date that I knew would work for my family and my parents. This was Feb 9-13 in the parks with travel to wdw on the 8th and staying outside the park for the first night. So after inviting the Family I got no takes dues to all my siblings having newborns less than 6 months old at the time. So that left it me and my other 3 and my parents. Nice size group. The trip DW and I took this summer we tried the Deluxe dinning plan and feel in love with it. Wish they had the deluxe plan that included all adult beverages. Not so lucky. So we talked with the parents and they agreed to the deluxe dinning after I broke it down to what the cost per meal came down to. If you want to see how I did the break down ask I will share. It is very affordable if you break it down. So the next question was where to stay. With as many times as most of us have been we have tried a handful of the resort and have stayed the most at the Caribbean Beach Resort (CBR). So we decided it was a great place for kids so then the choice was made. So all that done I call and make the reservations and put down the deposit for both. The Reservations were made Nov. 11th. Once the reservations were made we decided to tell the children. They were very excited and most days we get asked how long till we are leaving. So it is now First Santa Comes then we will go to Disney after Santa. Any time it seems like I take the kids anywhere in the care the topic of conversation is Disney and the main piece of that conversation they are asking if I want to hear what parks we are going to and what symbols they have. So the kids know that there is the Magic Kingdom with Cinderella’s castle, Hollywood Studios with the mouse ears, the Animal Kingdom with the big tree, and then Epcot with the giant golf ball. So that is fun we also have to go over all the Characters they can think of.

So then all of a sudden I am sitting and watching my night time TV when I see a commercial for pay for 4 nights and get 3 free. It also included a $200 gift certificate per room. Light Bulb!!!! Maybe I could get a discount since we have already started paying for 4 nights and 5 day park passes. SO Friday after thanks giving I call and speak to one of WDW’s GREAT vacation planners. She was wonderful it did take quite some time but at the end of the night we end up staying all 5 nights at CBR and get an extra night of the deluxe dinning plan. So WOW this will be a great trip.

So here is the breakdown of what we have reserved all request and all special occasions that will be celebrated during this trip:

Reservations are as follows:

2 preferred rooms at CBR for 5 nights.
• Requested Martinique 25, 26
• Requested connected rooms
• Requested ground floor

5 nights of the deluxe dinning plan

5 day park hopper pass no Water Parks.

Celebrations are as follows:
1. My Birthday
2. My Mother’s Birthday
3. My Daughter’s Birthday
4. Me and DW 10th Anniversary
5. My Mother and Fathers 38th Anniversary
6. DS and DD first trip.

Thank you all for reading along! If any of you have any questions about this trip or past trips I have taken please feel free to ask.

 

[topherSC]

Just checking in.

 

[topherSC]

Well I feel like I am herding cats.

It is time to make my ADR's and not getting the info. The one job that I have given out is for the ladies of the trip to pick where and when we want to eat. Guess what still nothing. So I am having to gently remind. But hey if we dont get to eat where they want to then it is there issue not mine. I am so not a picky eater that I had to let them pick as they are.

Stay tune as this saga continues. Will let you know were we will eat as soon as I know. It is kinda funny I even have the nice organizer put together so we dont lose anything. But not much to put in it as of yet.

 

[karibritt01]

Have them look over the menus at www.allears.net to get an idea of where they would like to eat. I highly recommend Beirgarten with the age of your kids. The music and dancing is fun for the little ones!

Another trick that worked well for us... the kids got a $20 Disney gift card from Santa in their stockings before our last trip. They earned allowance + extra money for doing chores around the house. We loaded their gift cards with their saved money the week before our trip. (Write names on the cards!) That was their spending money for the week. They knew they had no limits as to what they spent their money on, but once it was gone... that was it. The gift cards made it really easy since we didn't have to keep up with cash/change.

 

[topherSC]

Thank you so much that is a great Idea. I hope you enjoy as we move throught the planning then a over Tr everyone with pics and stories when we return.

 

[topherSC]

Ok well last night I decided to send out an email and ask again for peoples requests. Got only one response from DGD. He is easy to please as I am.

Soooooo ...... I still wait.

Do I go ahead a make a few reservations???

 

[karibritt01]

I would go ahead and get the ones you want. Once you finally get everyones' requests, you can call back and change your ADRs. But at least that way you don't get stuck with nothing.

Have you considered breakfast in the castle? It is expensive, but an incredible experience for a first trip for the kids. Chef Mickey is also fun.

 

[topherSC]

Thank you so much for the replies. I did just make reservations. And everyone was happy. It is nice to have the plan and not worry about the cost of the food. Again thanks for the tips. I am getting T's printed for the family as a secret they dont know and I hope they are great. Should be fun.

 

[luckylady]

I'm in to read all the fun you have planning. Just remember to plan on a stroller for the girls. Life will be so much calmer with it.

 

[topherSC]

Hey all and welcome you new comers,
Well here is where we stand at this point. All ADR's are made and room reservations are being paid for. I have come up with a sneaky little surprise for the group not even the wife knows. I have asked a friend of mine to design a T-shirt for me and I am going to surprise everyone with two shirts each. I will share the design as soon as it is available. I hope you all are enjoying the adventure. As of today I am now being asked everyday if we go to disney tomorrow. and even starting to ask about the rides so this should be fun.

 

[karibritt01]

What about making a calendar that they can cross off daily, or a paper chain? That will help them to count down the days a little easier. My kids also like to watch WDW parks and rides videos on youtube... especially Haunted Mansion!

 

[topherSC]

Well I have finally setup everything we need minus one or two other things.
This has been a learning experiance. The trick was to make a grid where everything could be layed out so it can all be seen in a snap shot. After putting all of mine down I noticed we didnt have a day setup for DHS. So I made some adjustments. We were lucky enough to be able to adjust times and move resturants but lose nothing. So yeah. If anyone wants to see the grid I will be happy to share. Please join us as we travel and this pre trip stuff cause my kids are getting funnier about it all and I will be shareing the stories of them.

 

[topherSC]

well this whole time I thought I was going to Disney world ... I was wrong acording to my 3 year old. We are going to Magic World.

 

[topherSC]

Hope all is going well. Starting the countdown once Christmas is here. I am loving the reports and reviews. At this point there is nothing to excutung happening with the planning. Next step is to decided do I order food to be delivered or do I just take it down with me. Good news for us is we are driving. So as long as we have room we can take the food. But I hear so many that order food. Which is better any hints tips or suggestions.

 

[karibritt01]

We drive, too, and we always take our food with us. We generally have a case of water, a case of soda, some cereal, milk, goldfish, cheese and yogurt. I also take some snacks I can toss into the top of the cooler bag and carry into the park. I think ordering it would cost a whole lot more by the time you add in delivery fee. Also, taking it from home, you probably have snack stuff in the pantry you can take without buying new stuff.

How long of a drive do you have? We are in NC, so it is about 9 hours for us.

 

[topherSC]

Merry Christmas everyone,
I hope everyone has a very happy Christmas. After this week we have just over a month till we go to the happy place.

 

[topherSC]

Good morning all.

Well I am in the twentys when it comes to number of days till we go to WDW. I took this opprotunity to make a reward chart and count down chart for my kids. I created a calendar with the number of days till we go on it. Each day has another character on it. The kids earn Stars each day sometime multiple stars a day. and each star they recieve between now and we leave they get a dollar. They are so excited. They also can loose stars if they stop behaiving.

 

[VroomVroomLightning]

Good morning all.

Well I am in the twentys when it comes to number of days till we go to WDW. I took this opprotunity to make a reward chart and count down chart for my kids. I created a calendar with the number of days till we go on it. Each day has another character on it. The kids earn Stars each day sometime multiple stars a day. and each star they recieve between now and we leave they get a dollar. They are so excited. They also can loose stars if they stop behaiving.

That is such a good idea. My family went back in October (i didn't cause of school) and we had made a chain for my nephew to count down the days! He loved being able to take down a chain link for each day. I m liking your TR look forward to hearing more when you get back!

 

[topherSC]

thank you to everyone who is following us. We are so close to going th kids can taste it. My DD learned to spell disney just for the trip. I also realized something this week. If you want to do the 4/3 you dont get to add dining.

But if you first do a normal package with dining then change to the 4/3 you get to keep the dining plan but it isnt discounted the rest is.

So the lists are being made and the count down calendar is in effect.

Hope everyone has a blessed week.

 

[topherSC]

so close I can taste it. And if I hear the twiki bird song one more time I could scream.