It's Our First Thanksgiving Trip (And I'll Start My PTR A Year Early if I Want To!)- COMPLETE 11/16

[Newsies]

Oh yea!
Snacking around the World!

Snack attack around the World, woop woop!

Your snack list looks awesome!

Thank you! There are a LOT of snacks I want to eat this trip... like a LOT... it's hard to narrow it down to a list

 

[SaraSpringsIsHome]

Just found (and subsequently read) your whole PTR. Following along!!!!

 

[Newsies]

Just found (and subsequently read) your whole PTR. Following along!!!!

Yay!! Thank you so much for being here-- welcome aboard!!

 

[Newsies]

A Third Quarter Summer Update
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Yesterday was the closing day of summer camp, which I guess marks the end of about 75% of my summer vacation. This was my third summer at the same camp, and it was my first year being the most experienced counselor in my division. I was working with the kindergarten girls again, with one new hire counselor and three brand new counselors in training. There were a lot of obstacles this summer. We had a few girls with behavioral problems, a tricky incident between two campers that I had never dealt with before, and generally a lot of camper meltdowns and boo-boos. After such an exhausting group, I was pretty certain that this would be my last summer at camp. I really want to do a DCP Alumn program next summer. But yesterday, in the comments section of our staff evaluations, the camp supervisor told me that she was going to recommend me to senior counselor next year. I was shocked, becoming a senior counselor is a really big deal at this camp, and I felt really touched. Being a senior counselor would mean I make approximately $4.50 an hour more than I do already, but more importantly, it just feels really nice to know that I'm doing good work here. So I'll probably return to camp for one more year.



I can't believe it's almost August! And I really can't believe that one year ago today, we were en route to Poly for our summer 2017 vacation. I can still remember every detail of that vacation... the overcast in Magic Kingdom on our first day, getting on Great Movie Ride for the first time, finding out that my family was buying DVC while I was by myself at DHS, exhausted-ly trekking through Epcot so I could buy my unicorn piñata... I miss it all so much. Even though it's weird not having a summer trip this year, I've been thinking a lot about all of the benefits we have in planning a November trip.

• More time to get everything done (which we desperately need)
• More time to buy a bunch of cute clothes, ears, and accessories for the trip (which I've done a LOT of this summer)
• I get to wear makeup to the parks and it won't melt completely off
• I won't die from heat exhaustion
• The family will finally get to really experience a Disney holiday!

So this trip wasn't always ideal, but the concept of going on November has really grown on me in the past few days.

I move back to NY in about a month. Before we do that, there's still two things we really need to get done for the trip. We have to a) buy our park tickets and b) buy our meal plan. We're going to wait until the end of August to buy our park tickets, but we're going to buy the meal plan probably this weekend or next. For those of you who are DVC members, you know that the website had a few changes about a month ago and there were complications that caused them to remove the option to buy a dining plan online. But the option to purchase a dining plan online is back now, so I don't have to call member services anymore, yaaaay!

I hope you guys are having a great weekend and I'll talk to you again later!
-Kaitlyn

 

[missangelalexis]

That's awesome that you will get recommended for a higher position next summer! Despite the challenges of the job, at least you know you are great at it

 

[Newsies]

That's awesome that you will get recommended for a higher position next summer! Despite the challenges of the job, at least you know you are great at it

I'm really excited! The kids definitely keep me on my feet, but it feels great working in an environment where all my bosses and coworkers are great and the kids love me

 

[SaraSpringsIsHome]

For those of you who are DVC members, you know that the website had a few changes about a month ago and there were complications that caused them to remove the option to buy a dining plan online. But the option to purchase a dining plan online is back now, so I don't have to call member services anymore, yaaaay!

1.) SO exciting that you all are DVC now!
2.) Disney websites are the worst.
3.) YAY for not having to call member services! The wait times can be awful sometimes.
4.) Disney in November is amazing!

 

[Newsies]

1.) SO exciting that you all are DVC now!
2.) Disney websites are the worst.
3.) YAY for not having to call member services! The wait times can be awful sometimes.
4.) Disney in November is amazing!

1.) It was the most amazing moment of our lives!!
2.) They really, truly are the worst.
3.) I've heard!! I have yet to make a call to MS, but I'm sure I'll be on the phone with them at some point somewhere along the road.
4.) I seem to remember November being a pretty nice month from my DCP... other than the fact that by November, I was working myself sick every week! I remember being really jealous and upset on Thanksgiving particularly because it was my first big holiday away without my family, and I spent 10 hours loading families in matching t-shirts onto Peter Pan's Flight. It feels really therapeutic to know that this year, my family will be spending time together at our favorite place on earth. I really want to put together cute little thank-you gifts for the CMs we encounter on Thanksgiving.

 

[Newsies]

The Best Friday Ever

Hey everyone... BIG NEWS!

WE'RE GOING TO WALT DISNEY WORLD RESORT!
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... Well, you guys already knew that. But today, we bought our tickets, which makes it SUPER official!

We decided that the best option for our family would be... ANNUAL PASSES!

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We decided Annual Passes would be best for us because they can cover our upcoming November trip and our summer trip next year. We bought the Gold Pass, which is a special option for DVC members (and maybe Florida residents? I don't know everything about it yet). We're so elated right now... annual passholders, how exciting!

It's been a great day. Not only did we become annual passholders, we (finally, after a month!) had air conditioning resorted in our house today, and my latest project is almost ready to be unveiled (I can't wait to tell you guys about it!)

I don't really have anything else to say. I'm just really, really excited about being an annual passholder and wanted to update you guys with a bit of trip-related news!

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[SaraSpringsIsHome]

We decided that the best option for our family would be... ANNUAL PASSES!

Woohoo!!!! APs are so exciting because they mean more Disney trips!

We bought the Gold Pass, which is a special option for DVC members

Love that you all are DVC now! It’s also sooo nice to be able to use the perks Don’t forget to go to the DVC lounge at Epcot when you’re there!

 

[Newsies]

Woohoo!!!! APs are so exciting because they mean more Disney trips!


Love that you all are DVC now! It’s also sooo nice to be able to use the perks Don’t forget to go to the DVC lounge at Epcot when you’re there!

I hope they mean more Disney trips!!! I keep thinking, "I CAN GO TO DISNEY WHENEVER I WANT TO NOW!!!"... you know, like airfare, hotel rooms, and free food are included in the passes

We can't wait to see the DVC lounge at Epcot, and we really can't wait to enjoy Passholder and DVC events down the line. I don't think anything is going on during Thanksgiving week (except for the DVC member dinner), but hopefully we'll be able to catch more stuff next summer when we return!

 

[sheri18]

Just joined in...all caught up..great reading.
Love the bow pins...will have to look into them ..we are going in January ...11 of us which makes planning and ADR's that much more difficult, I started a PTR my self...not really sure how to make one. But plugging along.
Your lucky your whole family loves Disney...for us it's mostly DS1 and the grandkids..my DH does not enjoy, but will begrudgingly come along for the ride. Can't wait to read the rest.

 

[Newsies]

Just joined in...all caught up..great reading.
Love the bow pins...will have to look into them ..we are going in January ...11 of us which makes planning and ADR's that much more difficult, I started a PTR my self...not really sure how to make one. But plugging along.
Your lucky your whole family loves Disney...for us it's mostly DS1 and the grandkids..my DH does not enjoy, but will begrudgingly come along for the ride. Can't wait to read the rest.

Hey Sheri! Thanks for joining us!

11 people?!? That's one big Disney trip! But it's great that you're planning things, it'd be impossible to do an 11 people trip without making ADRs! It sounds like you're going to have a big, fun trip planned in the end!

I'll go check out your PTR right now! Thanks again for being here!

 

[missangelalexis]

Congrats on becoming Annual Passholders!!

 

[the2ndstar2theright]

YAY for APs!!!! It's seriously the best feeling ever to be able to say you're a Passholder

 

[Newsies]

Congrats on becoming Annual Passholders!!

Thank you so much!!

YAY for APs!!!! It's seriously the best feeling ever to be able to say you're a Passholder

YAY!! It seriously is!!!

 

[Newsies]

The Double Digit Dance!
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Wow. I can't believe that today, we get to celebrate the coveted double digit dance after almost nine months of planning.

A few days ago I went to check our countdown, thinking we were still ~120 days out, and then it said we were at 101 days out and I was like.

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But then when I brought it up to mom today, she said "No, we're really at 97 days out because my vacation starts the Friday before the trip" (she's taking the Friday before our trip off of work). And then I told dad, and he said, "No, we're at 98 days because we start the drive down the day before we get there."

So now I have a question for all of you: When you do your countdown to your Disney trip, do you countdown until the day you arrive, the day you leave (if you have multiple travel days), or the day your vacation begins (if you take off from work/school/life responsibilities beforehand)?

I personally countdown until the day we arrive at Walt Disney World, but clearly, two members of our party think otherwise . Now I'm curious to see what you all countdown until.

Other than that, I don't really have much to update you all with. I'm going back to school in just under two weeks, I can't wait to be back in the city with my best friends! I've missed doing work with my sorority and being in the center of the theatre action in Manhattan.

I gueeeessss I should mention that this week, I launched my newest blog: tinkerkait.com! tinkerkait is a new, millennial-geared Walt Disney World Resort travel blog that I'll be updating every Friday.

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This is the first self-owned domain I've ever worked with, and I'll be posting regularly every Friday about different aspects of Walt Disney World Resort vacation planning. Next week I'll either be posting my Mickey's Not-So-Scary Halloween Party Touring strategy or my Food and Wine Festival favorites!

-Kaitlyn

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[SaraSpringsIsHome]

Wow. I can't believe that today, we get to celebrate the coveted double digit dance after almost nine months of planning.

Eeeep! The double digit dance is the best!

I tend to countdown from the morning we leave for our vacation. I guess for us it’s also technically the same as when we arrive at WDW, though.

For our January trip, we will be leaving January 1 around 6 a.m. and have about a 10 hour drive which we’ll do in one day. The goal is to arrive to AKL around 4:30. But I have our “official” countdown starting at 6 a.m. (141 days and counting for us!!!)

ETA: your blog is adorable!!!

 

[Newsies]

Eeeep! The double digit dance is the best!

I tend to countdown from the morning we leave for our vacation. I guess for us it’s also technically the same as when we arrive at WDW, though.

For our January trip, we will be leaving January 1 around 6 a.m. and have about a 10 hour drive which we’ll do in one day. The goal is to arrive to AKL around 4:30. But I have our “official” countdown starting at 6 a.m. (141 days and counting for us!!!)

ETA: your blog is adorable!!!

We love the double digit dance!! Next stop... SINGLE DIGIT DANCE! Only 88 days away!

That makes sense! If we ever got to Disney in one day, I'd be counting down 'til we left the house, too.

Thank you so, so much! It means a lot, I spent a lot of time making sure this blog was ready to debut

 

[DaddysPrincess]

Following you back!
And, to answer your last question up there: I start my countdown for the day we leave. Travelling is half the fun imo