Knocking off items from the Disney Bucket List - Brief Intermission & More TR 9/8

[thewesterberg]

Setting the stage...

It started one Wednesday night, close to two years ago. I can picture where we were sitting/standing perfectly. A perfect moment in time.

A group of us were hanging out at church after our Wednesday evening activities and started talking about how much fun it would be to travel together. And with this group of friends, we dream big. How about a Disney cruise?!

We first decided it would be best to do a test run. Could we handle a long weekend in the Wisconsin Dells together and still be friends after it all? So in April of 2008 a bunch of us (probably 25 people) took off to The Wilderness. And had a great time. And we still talk. BONUS!

So the cruise idea was kicked around some more. But with the economy turning sour last year, people put the brakes on and that idea was abandoned. So sad, but it was the responsible thing to do.

So we went to the Dells instead this past April and this time there were around 75 of us! A big ol' group from church! And once again we had a blast!

In the mean time DH and I bought a small resale DVC contract at AKV back in December and those points were burning a hole in our pocket. And we had a 10th anniversary coming up in August - sounds like the perfect place to celebrate! We then heard that another couple we're friends with (who also have DVC) were planning a trip to celebrate his 50th birthday. Which occurs the day before our anniversary. And her sister and family would be accompanying them. Who we're very good friends with too.

Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm......


And since we'd all be going, another family we're good friends with had to be included in on the fun too! (There coming along ends up being even more special, but I'll get to that later.)



Do I sense a plan starting to form?!






Soon we were booking our flights and rooms (but more on that later too!)


To quote a favorite 80s show character: " I love it when a plan comes together!" (Bonus points if you know who says this!)


Next up: The Cast

 

[disneylovinfamily]

OH OH me first! I am one baord for the ride!

 

[thewesterberg]

Hopefully I don't forget anyone! Without further ado, The Cast:




FAMILY #1:
That'd be us... thewesterberg (which when I signed up on the DIS, I misspelled... it was suppose to be thewesterbergs, but my fingers missed the "S")

DH: Bubbamouse on the DIS. He was introduced to Disney in the Fall of 2007 when we planned our first trip as a family. He rode his first ever rollercoaster on that trip, Goofy's Barnstormer! (He also rode EE & BTMRR too, to give him credit). Favorite character: Grumpy.

Junior: 6 years old and heading to the World for his 3rd trip in just as many years. He loves Goofy's Barnstormer and BTMRR. A lover of Star Wars, just like his dad. And he gets his name Junior for TRs from his love of Indiana Jones. Favorite character: Goofy or Mickey - it's a toss up.


Me: The Disneyaholic of the family that has sucked everyone else in. My first trip was in 1989 and didn't go back to a Disney park until 2005 while at a conference in Anaheim. Disneyland was less than a 1/2 mile away. It was too good of an opportunity to pass up, so some friends and I head over there for a day. It. Was. SO. Much. Fun. And my mind had a single focus... get the family there PRONTO! So in the fall of 2007 we headed there with my parents and sister. And the addiction really took full swing!



FAMILY #2:
Chief: It'll be his 50th Birthday on this trip, fellow WDW lover and DVC member, and encourages our son's love for Phineas and Ferb. He likes to make up obscure "Where's this at Disney World" picture quizzes on Facebook and I tend to be the only competitor! While on a trip to WDW in May, he and his wife made up a scavenger hunt for us to do.

Nana: A great person who we've gotten to know during the last couple years a lot better. Whenever we have to plan something for the Disney trip, we just tell her we're meeting at her house and she just asks the day and time!

Darby: She's in her mid-20s and is a fun person to be around. I'm so glad she's going with us!

Darby's DD, Tink: The littlest tyke on the trip, Tink will be about 23 months old on this trip and it's her first trip to Disney!!! How fun to share that with her! Everyone loves her, boys and girls of all ages follow her around like crazy at church. She proudly can identify Mickey and Minnie, much to her Nana's delight!



FAMILY #3:
Laverne: She'd be Nana's sister and another big Disney fan - decorates her car with Tink items and Mickey antennae toppers, and has a Tink tattoo. She's a dear friend.

Remy: Laverne's husband. A guy with a big heart for everyone, a firefighter by trade and an awesome chef by hobby. (and that's why I'll call him Remy, because he's an awesome cook, not because he's a rat!)

Goofy: The 13 year old son of Laverne & Remy. And he's extremely Goofy. And like a big brother to Junior. This kid always has a joke to tell and his so fun. And a good babysitter! (He washes dishes and cleans toilets!)



FAMILY #4:
Shirley: Another dear, dear friend. She's kind of the ring leader in the group, making sure to get everyone together for whatever the ocassion might be. A hoot to be around. They took their family down to Orlando a couple of years and did a whirlwind tour of it all - WDW, SeaWorld, Universal, plus more - all in one week! We're going to help them focus on Disney this trip!

Mickey: He can be quiet as a mouse but is a big jokester when you get to know him. Not so sure how big of a Disney fan he is... whenever he drives his wife's minivan, the first thing he does is remove the Princess Mickey ears from the antennae!

Aurora: 12 years old and such a kind, fun kid. She came out of her shell a couple of years ago and has been such a delight to get to know better. Has a beautiful smile and always willing to lend a helping hand (and another great babysitter! Junior has a bit of a crush on her.)

Ariel: 9 years old and another great kid. She's a lot like her Dad, that she's sort of quiet, but this last year I've heard her talk in complete paragraphs! She is very firm in who she is and stands true to what she believes in.

Belle: 5 years old and a spit fire like her mom! This kid is a riot! Her and Junior "married" about a 1 1/2 years ago when they sneaked upstairs to the sanctuary one Wednesday night (us adults may have been distracted planning the trip). They told us they go married and kissed 3 times. Yikes! Gotta keep an eye on those two!


And that's all 15 of us!! Whew!! That was tricky coming up with names for all of them!


Up next... Resort planning.

 

[thewesterberg]

OH OH me first! I am one baord for the ride!

Thanks for stopping in!!!

 

[Flossbolna]

Hi there, this sounds like a fantastic trip in the making!! I am looking forward to hear all about the planning and eventually about the trip! I think the idea to try wether travelling together works out for you before you spend a lot of money on a big trip is very wise.

 

[teruterubouzu]

That's a big group! Looking forward to reading more...

 

[thewesterberg]

Hi there, this sounds like a fantastic trip in the making!! I am looking forward to hear all about the planning and eventually about the trip! I think the idea to try wether travelling together works out for you before you spend a lot of money on a big trip is very wise.

Thank you for stopping by (and for the compliment!) We're all good friends, but we didn't want to lose that friendship over a Disney trip gone bad! I think we all have similar expectations about how much we'll be together and a part. The way we treated things at the waterpark is that each family was on their own, but we'd try to do some things together, in different configurations of people. So it'll be one of those if someone doesn't want to do RD, oh well, we'll just meet up later! Takes the pressure off big time!

That's a big group! Looking forward to reading more...

It's a pretty big group! I was concerned I was going to forget someone!

 

[kindra657]

ooooh!!! can't wait to hear bout some GGEs!!!

 

[brookelizabeth]

Yay! I'm here!
It really sounds like a great group, I can't wait to hear all about your plans.

75 people at the Dells?! Whhhhhhhhoa.

 

[thewesterberg]

ooooh!!! can't wait to hear bout some GGEs!!!

Yay! I'm here!
It really sounds like a great group, I can't wait to hear all about your plans.

75 people at the Dells?! Whhhhhhhhoa.

It was crazy but so much fun! The best part was no matter where you turned, there was someone you recognized.

 

[thewesterberg]

I'm thinking this might be the reason DH waited until his late 30s to go to WDW...

I think seeing this duo would scare me away from Disney for quite some time too!

 

[thewesterberg]

Some play the great resort roulette, changing resort, debating which ones, signing up for one, and changing 3 more times, before ending up with what they started. I love reading those trip reports! There's comfort in knowing others have those inner dialogues about all things Disney, and it's just not me!

But, alas, this trip's resort was decided on before the trip was planned. See, back in December we decided to buy in to DVC with a teenytiny contract of 40 points atAKV. And those 40 points were burning a hole in our pocket (as well as the next UY's points!) It was going to take all that for a Value Studio (and then some!). There was no debate - we were going to AKV, baby.

But what about the rest of the group? Well, Chief and Nana have DVC and we were quite happy to learn that they were planning on a 2 bedroom for themselves, their DD, and their DGD. Also, Remy, Laverne (who is Nana's sister), and Goofy would be joining them there.

And Chief and Nana were great to us - we were short a couple of points to stay the last night, so they booked the last night using their points. We appreciate their generosity so much!!

Now what about Mickey and Shirley?

There was discussion of if they would even be able to go with because, they announced in April that Mickey's job was taking him to Fargo. And he wouldn't be doing a 4+ hour commute. Which meant the whole family would be leaving us. Mickey started the new job at the end of April and Shirley said she'd stay in Duluth until the girls finished up school and went to camp. They'd move the beginning of July, they thought. Despite my best efforts (as well as many other people attempts) to sabotage the whole thing, it was just confirmed tonight that the moving truck will be there next Thursday and as of Friday, July 3 this wonderful family will be leaving our neighborhood and moving away. And this is where I have to get the kleenex to blow my nose and wipe away a few tears. I love all the moments that all of us have had together as friends, moments like this:

Kids 2, 3, 4, 6, 7, 8 (and 9 is 8's mom) are going on the trip. (brookelizabeth - recognize the location?!)


But back to the story.... my good, smart pal Shirley used this move to her advantage. She told Mickey if they were moving, she and the girls were doing this trip with her friends. Whether he went with or not.

Now where to stay? They're a family of 5 so that limited the possibilities We priced out a bunch of different options. And then free dining was released, and the room was booked at POR.

YA!!!

We all have a place to stay!


Now the getting there...

 

[thewesterberg]

We had our dates all picked up for the resort, now we were just waiting on airfare. One morning at work I got a fare update deal thing from Travelocity saying that airfare between Minneapolis and MCO was on sale. Cheap. Like we could fly round trip for $151/person. This seems to be almost unheard of flying out of MSP. I had budgeted for around $250.


My "drug" of choice? Deals. and. Disney. Can you imagine what DealsandDisney did to me???

= NOTme.

I was instantly on the phone calling everyone else. "Book it! Book it! Book it!" Nana said when I called her, my voice was shaking. I think I need to learn how to control my emotions a bit better...


Mickey and Shirley decided to hold off at this point because they were now venturing in to non-refundable territory. Until a few more things were settled with the impending move, they'd be waiting on their airfare.

And it ended up being a good thing. When Shirley decided to buy it, she just on the off chance thought "I should probably see when the girls start school, since we're moving to a different state and all." (In Minnesota, we don't start until after Labor Day). Good thing she did. We're going from August 19-26. The girls start school on the 26th. So a shorter trip for them will be happening. They'll only be able to go for 5 nights, but at least they'll still be there!!

Once our 90 days hit, we were able to book our seats. Poor flight attendants. We got all 15 seats together. Even after they changed our flight time and moved us all around, we got all back together again. Ha Ha Northwest, nice attempt in trying to break us up!

We'll head out from MSP at 7am on August 19th. And our flight home is at 3:50pm on August 26th (It was suppose to be 5:35, but they eliminated that late flight. I'm trying not to hold a grudge against NWA for short-changing us our Mickey time.)

 

[kindra657]

We had our dates all picked up for the resort, now we were just waiting on airfare. One morning at work I got a fare update deal thing from Travelocity saying that airfare between Minneapolis and MCO was on sale. Cheap. Like we could fly round trip for $151/person. This seems to be almost unheard of flying out of MSP. I had budgeted for around $250.


My "drug" of choice? Deals. and. Disney. Can you imagine what DealsandDisney did to me???

= NOTme.

I was instantly on the phone calling everyone else. "Book it! Book it! Book it!" Nana said when I called her, my voice was shaking. I think I need to learn how to control my emotions a bit better...


Mickey and Shirley decided to hold off at this point because they were now venturing in to non-refundable territory. Until a few more things were settled with the impending move, they'd be waiting on their airfare.

And it ended up being a good thing. When Shirley decided to buy it, she just on the off chance thought "I should probably see when the girls start school, since we're moving to a different state and all." (In Minnesota, we don't start until after Labor Day). Good thing she did. We're going from August 19-26. The girls start school on the 26th. So a shorter trip for them will be happening. They'll only be able to go for 5 nights, but at least they'll still be there!!

Once our 90 days hit, we were able to book our seats. Poor flight attendants. We got all 15 seats together. Even after they changed our flight time and moved us all around, we got all back together again. Ha Ha Northwest, nice attempt in trying to break us up!

We'll head out from MSP at 7am on August 19th. And our flight home is at 3:50pm on August 26th (It was suppose to be 5:35, but they eliminated that late flight. I'm trying not to hold a grudge against NWA for short-changing us our Mickey time.)

Darn Airlines!!! One day I'm going to learn how to fly like Dumbo and show all of 'em!

 

[thewesterberg]

The title of this PTR mentions my "Disney Bucket List"...

I've been thinking lately about the things I hope to see/experience at Disney some day, my "Bucket List" ala Disney.

Here are some of the things that I've come up with on my working list:

Watching Wishes from the Poly beach
Watching the Electric Water parade
Cirque du Soleil
Illuminations cruise
Candlelight Processional
Osborne Lights
Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party
HalloWishes
Participate in the Expedition Everest Challenge
Food and Wine Fest
Try Zebra Domes
Stay at Animal Kingdom Villas

How many of these things will I be able to accomplish?

 

[thewesterberg]

Darn Airlines!!! One day I'm going to learn how to fly like Dumbo and show all of 'em!

Oooo.... good plan! If you figure it out, will you let me in on the secret??

BTW, love your tattoos - very clever with the pin trading! I was checking out the tattoo thread on the Theme Parks Community board and saw it there and it made me smile.

 

[brookelizabeth]

I'm thinking this might be the reason DH waited until his late 30s to go to WDW...

I think seeing this duo would scare me away from Disney for quite some time too!

Where was that??? Very disturbing! Yet HILARIOUS!

Kids 2, 3, 4, 6, 7, 8 (and 9 is 8's mom) are going on the trip. (brookelizabeth - recognize the location?!)

Loving that picture-all your friends lined up!

So sorry to hear about your dear friends moving to Fargo. But, that is VERY exciting to hear they will be able to join you!

And TOTAL SCORE on the flights! We got a great deal on ours too-but used miles to bring down the price. $151 is unreal crazy good.

I'm with ya on the DealsandDisney thing, and when the 2 come together... We just got a great discount on our September trip that I posted about in my TR, I'm psyched about it!

How many of these things will I be able to accomplish?

-Zebra Domes
-AKV
-Does F&W start yet on your dates? Or is that September?
-Electric Water parade should be pretty easy to fit in
-Not sure what the EE Challenge is...
-And an Illuminations Cruise would be a great DEAL with that many people...

 

[thewesterberg]

So much is happening in our trip planning, I don't know what to write! Do I keep going in order of how things happened or do I write about the present and then catch up?

Well, I think I'm going to write about some of the more present stuff otherwise I'll always be behind!!

Late last week I read on here about the Wishes Dessert Party and the wheels started turning in my head, thinking it might be a fun thing to do as a group, so I emailed everyone and shared the info and to see if there was any interest. It was a unanimous YES! Then I started second guessing myself... I knew nothing about this other than the price. And that it was during Wishes. Where was it going to be held? What's going to be served? Is it going to be pre-packaged cookies? What did I get everyone to agree to??? They trust me too much!

I was away at Camp with some of the kids at church Sunday night and Monday night so I missed all the buzz on here as to what was going on. On Wednesday morning I logged on and saw the pictures. And I think I drooled. Those were not pre-packaged cookies. And you can see Spectro from there. Hmmmmmm..... And then I started listing all the pros to going to this.

-No lining up at 8pm for Spectro at 9pm
-Which means not having to entertain (and contain) all the kids for a hunk of time.
-Which also means not standing in a 2x2 area, being pressed in on by other hot, sweaty bodies.
-Instead, we can get up and move around
-The kids can color
-We can show up about 15 minutes before Spectro starts
-And we won't have to relive the stressful night of 2007 when waiting for Spectro we had a mini-family meltdown.

I was sold. So I called Wednesday afternoon.

And was told our date was booked. I hate when you psych yourself up to do something and then it doesn't pan out.


But then I read on here some more about how much confusion there was in booking this, that it pays to call back. I needed a mental break at work about 1.5 after I made the first call, so back on the phone I went. This CM was not portraying an image of confidence when I asked to book this and thought I had just wasted more minutes on my cell phone, when she told me they had availability for 15! So I booked it! I think it's going to work beautifully for our group and will be worth the money.

 

[thewesterberg]

Where was that??? Very disturbing! Yet HILARIOUS!

He doesn't remember where it was taken, but when we found it while going through pictures with his mom, we knew we had to have it and post it on here!

Loving that picture-all your friends lined up!

Those kids are all such good friends and such a wonderful group.

So sorry to hear about your dear friends moving to Fargo. But, that is VERY exciting to hear they will be able to join you!

I think the trip will help ease the parting.

And TOTAL SCORE on the flights! We got a great deal on ours too-but used miles to bring down the price. $151 is unreal crazy good.

I'm with ya on the DealsandDisney thing, and when the 2 come together... We just got a great discount on our September trip that I posted about in my TR, I'm psyched about it!

I read that on your TR, but didn't get a chance to post - isn't it an exhilarating feeling!?

-Zebra Domes
-AKV
-Does F&W start yet on your dates? Or is that September? It's in September
-Electric Water parade should be pretty easy to fit in Yup
-Not sure what the EE Challenge is... It's a 5K race thru AK at night, then you do an obstacle course, and then you go follow the 5K course and solve clues. You can do it with a partner or solo.
-And an Illuminations Cruise would be a great DEAL with that many people... I found out there's actually too many of us to do this, so instead we're going to do the Wishes Dessert party. So this one will have to stay on the list for awhile longer.

 

[2littleprincesses]

Hello, fellow MN here. We will be there around the same times (Aug22-29) staying at ASMu. Can't wait to hear more about your planning. As we will be planning at the same time.