Im a Disney Newbie

[katmiller79]

And Im skeered! lol I ve lurked and soaked up SOOO much information from the Dissers here and I m SWIMMING in paperwork lol.
A little info, we plan to take a WDW family trip December 2007.
We are planning the first week of the month roughly.
We are going w/ a grandparent (papa bill) who has gifted the trip to us.
So there will be roughly 6 of us maybe 7 (if he brings his gfriend).Plans have changed to one of the All star resorts.
Thats pretty much the gist of things.
Im reward programming my booty off, selling on ebay, and on my own personal website to help save w/ costs.
I just have some questions..
We would like to drive from Texas to FL to carry more back w/ us and see things along the way (if that makes sense).Our kids havent even been out of the state which is unheard of to me since I grew up w/ my dad truckdriving lol.Ive been to 46 states

So thats the plan so far.. Im pretty sure bill will fly in a few days after we start out driving so we can meet up in FL at the resort.
I have to ask a few things tho since its been a LONG time since Ive been (obviously by my siggy) and Im doing this w/ kids.
When do I book our resort ? What other activities would be fun for my kids ? (no scary things since they are a bit sensitive) What clothing would be best to expect to take ?

Has anyone else drove this far ? how long did it take you and where did you stop on the way ??
anyway thats it for now ,like I said Ive gotten alot of info etc already
oh and any book recommendations to read are super too! Thanks kat

 

[Sunny Soph]

Welcome

 

[Kimi313]

to the DIS boards. WARNING: they do become addicting.

As for booking your resort, I say book it now since you already know what you want and where. This way you don't have to worry about something coming up and forgetting about it and then the hotel is booked up. Then if a discount comes up that you can apply you can just call them and they will do it without cancelling and re-booking, I have don't this several times and have never had a problem. As for the drive I don't know how far for you but I can tell you from Marrianna Florida, on I-10, it is about 5 hours from there. Hope you have a great time and welcome again!

 

[Desnik]

Welcome to the boards!!!

As for booking the resort, you can do that now. We have stayed at the BWV many times and have a trip planned there for this April. It is a fantastic resort and the location is great. The 2 bedroom will spoil you and you will have so much space! If you want to save alittle money why not look into renting points from a DVC member? We did that a few times before becoming members.

There are some great activities for kids, with an extra cost. Here's a link to some info on that:
http://www.allearsnet.com/pl/grandadven.htm

As far as what type of clothing to bring, alittle of everything!LOL Remember you will have a washer and dryer in the room so you can pack lighter. I would bring a few shorts, jeans, jacket, t shirts.

I'm not sure how long your drive is but we have driven many times from NY. It takes us about 18-19 hours. We found it best to just drive straight through. We would leave our house by 4am and arrive at WDW by 10pm. Then we would stay at a value or mod resort the first night, then check into DVC or deluxe resort the next day. I would have a cooler in the car with drinks, snacks and breakfast. We would eat fast food lunch in the car, and eat dinner at a sit down place. We would make sure everyone goes potty everytime we stop for gas. Of course with 2 woman we stopped more for potty breaks!LOL We had a ton of activities for the kids as well as DVD player, hand held games, and little dollar store items I wrapped and would give them as a surprise along the way. It worked out well, but now we fly, it's faster!LOL

The guide books I like and use are the Passporter WDW and Birnbaums guide to WDW. Birnbaums even has a kids version which is great. Both can be found at most book stores or online.
http://www.passporter.com/wdw/
http://search.barnesandnoble.com/booksearch/isbnInquiry.asp?z=y&EAN=9781423100515&itm=1

Happy planning!

 

[katmiller79]

thanks for so much info!! I appreciate it! kat

 

[tadamom]

Hello and Welcome!

 

[laura001]

Welcome to the DIS!

 

[sticker231]

Welcome to the DIS.

Enjoy planning your trip!

 

[DisLUV]

Here is some info from someone in Louisiana. It is about 12-13 hrs from Southeastern Louisiana and it is 5 hours for me to get to houston or 8 hours to get to dallas. So from Houston you are looking at abour 17-18 hours and from Dallas it will be 20 - 21 hours. When we have drove from Louisiana we always stopped halfway. (we usually fly now) We have stopped in Alabama in Foley, and in florida in Tallahassee (sp?). PM me if you need more info about the drive or anything in general. Have a great day and welcome to the DIS!!

 

[byoung]

Welcome to the DIS!

 

[sleepingbean]

Have a great trip!

 

[MickeyT]

Welcome. The more you read, the more you learn, the more you enjoy!