Mom and Dad's Dream Trip-34 Yrs in Making-Jun08 SOUVIE PICS PG 51 NEXT TRIP!!???!!!!?

[MegansMom]

Welcome one and all to my PTR for our family trip to THE GREATEST PLACE ON EARTH this June! I have enjoyed reading and joining in on other PTRs and TRs so much over the years, that I decided I needed to finally write one myself! I am so excited about this trip AND writing this PTR, and I hope all of this excitement and enthusiasm becomes contagious to those of you living vicariously through my words and pictures as I have done so many times in the past as I have read others. So sit back, relax, and enjoy!!!

Index of Pages and Content:
Page 1--Intros/How it All began/Lodging Details
Page 2--History of OUR WDW Trips w/LOTS of PICS, and Dining--Take One
Page 3--Packing Planning, and DINING--UPDATE!!
Page 4--SHOPPING UPDATE!!!, and Tom and Megs' First Father/Daughter Dance Pics! MAJOR UPDATE--BIG NEWS!!!!!
Page 5--Brother Mike Joins IN!!! Big News Update--Tickets!!!
Page 6--Computer, Shopping, and Weight UPDATES!!!
Page 7--Itinerary UPDATE!!! Pics from March of Dimes walk!!
Page 8--TO VERA BRADLEY AND BACK--PICS!!
Page 9--Mulching, Megan's Last Day of School, Mike Checks Back In!
Page 10--SWW Info, and PICS of Countdown Calendar, Snow White dress, and Last Day of School!
Page 11--BIG CHANGES AT 28 DAYS!?!?! I know what the SURPRISE is!!!
Page 12--Mother's Day Happenings!!! New Pics to see--Introducing Kristi!
Page 13--THE PACKING LIST BEGINS!!!!!!!!
Page 14--THE OMG/OCD ULTIMATE PACKING LIST--Part I
Page 15--Trip Shopping Update
Page 16--2 weeks celebration and Memorial Day Weekend!
Page 17--10 days to go AND an UPDATE!!!!
Page 18--Weight loss update and trip bags FINISHED!!
Page 19--Need help HERE June Veterans!!!
Page 20--"This Time Next Week" begins--with PICS!
Page 21--"This Time Next Week" Part II AND III--with PICS!!

WORK IN PROGRESS--WILL UPDATE THE LINKS SOON!!! STAY TUNED!!!


HERE WE GO!! Let me just start by introducing the complete lineup of travelers for our June trip:
1. My Mom and Dad (ages withheld to protect the "innocent" )

These two Disney Nuts have been basking in the magic of WDW since their first trips in the early 70s--before kiddos! Their profound love for all things Disney helped raise 3 Disney addicts! Thanks Mom and Dad for your great influence on us!!

2. My DH--Tom 32--DD--Megan 4--and myself--Jen 31

Tom is an accountant, avid Cincy Reds and UK Wildcat fan, and one of the best husbands and friends a girl could ever have! Megan is a great daughter and true miracle and blessing for us! She may be our one and only, but IMO, we couldn't have asked for a better princess than ours! (I'll tell you more about that later!) Before Megan, I used to teach High School English, but now am a stay-at-home mom. I have been going to WDW all my life, and was SO ecstatic when we took our first little family vaca to "Mickey's House" in September 2006. That trip was filled with so much magic and pixie dust--I'll share later--that I quickly converted DH and DD to Disney lovers as well, and we soon found ourselves back at WDW for a trip in November 2007--I'll share more on that later as well!! (and some great pics )

3. My Brother Mike--33--and his 3 kiddos: Conner 11, Joshua 9, and Madeliene 8.

Okay, obviously Mike not pictured, but from left to right--Conner, Maddie, Josh, and my Megan again! This is going to be the first time my brother gets to take his kids to WDW, so we are all so excited for them to experience the magic for their first time!
So that is the cast of characters, next up--How this trip actually came to be!! I'll be posting that soon! Jen

 

[DISNEYmooner2008]

I'm in

 

[DisneyDreamnDeb]

Count me in too! the pics. you have a beautiful family.
Deb.

 

[timandlesley]

YEAH!!!!!!!! You figured out the pics I'm along for the ride, GREAT START! Loved the pics of your beautiful family.
Lesley

 

[MegansMom]

I'm in

Thanks for joining in and CONGRATS on your recent marriage!!

Count me in too! the pics. you have a beautiful family.
Deb.

Deb, you are so kind! I'm glad you are along for the ride!

YEAH!!!!!!!! You figured out the pics I'm along for the ride, GREAT START! Loved the pics of your beautiful family.
Lesley

Lesley, thanks again for your help! Without you, this PTR just would not be! Thanks also for your kind words! I'm sending you a out a BIG hug!

I'm getting ready to post the next installment--how it ALL began! Stay tuned-----Jen

 

[ampc3]

Hi , found your PTR from Lesleys PTR WE too are going during the same time in June and our families first trip! I have been on the fence about starting a PTR (our lives aren't that exciting ~ha!) but maybe I will try it... I am NOT computer savy is it hard to post pictures have no clue??

 

[IluvXU]

I am along too!

 

[MegansMom]

Hi , found your PTR from Lesleys PTR WE too are going during the same time in June and our families first trip! I have been on the fence about starting a PTR (our lives aren't that exciting ~ha!) but maybe I will try it... I am NOT computer savy is it hard to post pictures have no clue??

Thanks so much for jumping over here too! I am so excited for you and your family for your first trip!! I hope you all have a great time, and I wish lots of pixie dust and magic to find you!!! I'll send you a PM about posting pics--I was clueless until today (Lesley helped me out!)--and then you can start your own PTR!! YEAH!

I am along too!

YEAH! I'm so glad you found it! Thanks for joining in the fun!

 

[MegansMom]

Every year my family--Mom, Dad, Tom, Megs, myself, Mike and his kids, and my sister Kristi and her husband Justin--usually take a trip to a beach the second week of June. We have been doing this I think for the past 11 or 12 years. We have usually gone to this one resort we all love in the northern part of Myrtle Beach. Last year, we headed to a beachhouse in Corolla, NC on the Outer Banks--it was awesome! (That is where the pic of Mom and Dad is from) ANYWAY, this year we began discussing the annual trip not long after Christmas. We all put in our votes for which beach we wanted to go back to--half of us wanted to go back to OBX and half wanted to go back to Myrtle Beach. What were we to do???? My mom doesn't like having unhappy kids or grandkids, so we started to reevaluate what it was that everyone wanted to do. My dad, Mike, and his kids wanted to do something with more activities than just going and hanging out at the beach or pool. So, we then started thinking about moving the "Beach trip" to a beach in Florida where there would be SO many different things for everyone to do. At that point, we found out that my sis and her hubby would not be able to make the trip this year due to conflicts at work--he is in his first year of residence in Urology at the University of Cincinnati and she teaches Nursing students at a local community college. This shifted the trip dynamic a little at this point to focus more on what the little kids wanted to do. Right before Christmas, Mike had a small trip to WDW planned for his kids, but had to cancel it for school reasons. So his kids still really wanted to go to WDW. Who can blame them, right? When they suggested spending part of the trip at WDW, my mom JUMPED on this and said--"No, let's spend ALL our trip there!" My brother and I were VERY surprised by this because my mom LOVES the beach, but then she shared with us that it has been a dream for my parents to take their kids and grandkids to WDW ever since the first time they visited. They knew it was something they would always want to do at some point in their lives. So, after she said that, we ALL jumped on the opportunity to go to WDW!! YEAH!! Tom and I couldn't believe that we would be going back so soon, but knowing HOW much Megan loves it down there, we were more than happy to go!! From this point on, things started moving quickly--we picked our dates (June 6-15th) and started making reservations and ADRs as soon as possible! And that my dears, is how MY MOM AND DAD'S DREAM TRIP CAME TRUE--34 YEARS LATER!

Coming up real soon--THE PLANNING BEGINS!!! Plus, I am going to post a bunch of pics from other trips to get you more acquainted with our family!

 

[ampc3]

Thanks for sharing, and the PTR tips... I'll let you know if I ever start one... I think my DH would die if he knew I was putting pics of our family online... he just doens't "get" the DIS>
looking forward to reading more..

 

[MegansMom]

Hey Gang! I'm back with the next installment!! First, I wanted to post a few pics from our OBX trip last year just to make you feel like part of our family since you will be "traveling" along with us as we prepare and eventually on our trip to Mickey's House!!! (FYI, this is what Megan always calls it!)

That is my adorable DD making Mommy a "Sand Cake!" YUMMMMM!

Here is my "cutie-patootie" DH reading about his favorite topic--BASEBALL while chilling out on the beach!

This was one of my favorite pics from that vaca of Tom and Megs. She is almost always up on Daddy's shoulders when we are out and about, so if any of you see us down at WDW in June, I will bet that is how you will find them!

This is my Mom and Megs chilling out at the water's edge. You can also see my sis and her doggy Jack.

Okay, now Tom made me put this one in here. Why? Well, I absolutely hate this pic, but it was the only one of me on the trip--for some reason I was the only one taking pictures!! And I actually took this one of myself--anyway, it is proof that I was there! Ha ha ha! I will keep posting more pics now and then because I know how we all love to look at pics! If anyone can tell me how to make them smaller--that would be GREAT!

ANYWAY--ON TO THE PLANNING!!!
Now it was really easy deciding who would do the majority of the planning for this trip because Ma and Pa haven't been since 1992 and were WAY overwhelmed at how much things have changed, and my DH has NEVER planned any of our previous trips. (He usually goes, "That sounds Great!" and just lets me do all the fun stuff!!!) So that naturally just left my brother and I--the two most experienced and most addicted to planning and the DISboards! Knowing how late in the game we already were--we were already past our 180 day mark---AAHH --- we quickly snapped into action! The first thing we wanted to tackle was lodging. On our past two trips Tom and I primarily stayed at DVC resorts booked by renting points off the rental board here. (November's trip we also booked a cash ressie at CSR for the first 3 nights of our trip.) So we were very comfortable considering that option again. We wanted to be thorough though, so we ran up specs for all the options we wanted to consider.
1. Staying the entire stay at a Value resort like Pop Century.
Obviously this was the most economical option. However, there were some concerns that this might not be the best option due to the smaller bed size and the lack of a refrigerator for water and breakfast stuff.
2. Doing a split stay at the POP and then 3 studios at a DVC resort--either OKW, BWV, or VWL.
This would still be fairly economical--it would allow us to miss the larger weekend rates at the DVCs, but allow us to have the majority of our trip in a larger room with fridge. The biggest complaint here was that my mom didn't want to have to change resorts/rooms.
3. Staying the entire time at a DVC resort using rented points.
We would be able to stay in the larger rooms with fridge for our entire stay--one check-in and only one check-out. The cost was obviously more than the other two options, but still manageable.
4. Staying the entire time at CSR with AAA discount.
Tom and I really loved CSR when we stayed there last November--it has become one of our favorite resorts--decent size rooms, good bus service, and a refrigerator in each room as well!! But even with a AAA discount price, this was by far the most expensive option.

So, those were our options, and we thought long and hard about where to stay..............



and we finally figured it out..................................We are going to stay at .............................OKW for the entire stay!!!!!!!!!!!!

Mike hopped on the DIS and found a guy who had enough points for us to rent--we needed 309 points for the three studios we were going to need. He only charged us $10 a point, which is great! He made all the necessary ressies and requests--we want to be close to the HH and a bus stop--and sent us all our necessary paperwork.

Then, as we were getting ready to gather our funds together to send to him, Tinkerbell descended upon us and sprinkled her first bit of pixie dust on this trip (Obviously we hope she continues when we get there too!!! )
Anyway, my mom and dad called my brother and I and told us not to worry about getting our funds ready to pay for the rooms--they were going to pay for everyone's accomodations! Needless to say, we could not believe it! Our parents are always generous, but this is what I would call EXTREMELY generous. Even though we both told them they didn't need to do that, they insisted and paid for all the rooms. I know we all feel so blessed and appreciate so greatly what they did! Thanks again Mom and Dad!

Next step---dining!!! Oh will we ever get our wanted ADRs???? Come back to find out!

 

[MegansMom]

Thanks for sharing, and the PTR tips... I'll let you know if I ever start one... I think my DH would die if he knew I was putting pics of our family online... he just doens't "get" the DIS>
looking forward to reading more..

Thanks for sticking around! You could always do a PTR and just not put on pics--we would love to read that as well!! I know many who do not get the DIS, and I feel sad for them-- --but some of us get it and some of us don't, and those that do have SUCH a good time!!!

 

[DisneyDreamnDeb]

I love the way your mom thinks, although for us a day at the beach is a must for our Sept. trip because 9 out of the 12 have never seen the ocean, and my DD 16 wants to be a marine bio., I grew up near a beach but it's been 24 years since I moved and I miss it dearly !
Oh, BTW your thread starter really caught my eye, I have been dreaming of taking my kids to WDW for 23 years.
Looking forward to plans and pics. Deb.

 

[DisneyDreamnDeb]

Awww.... the black and white pics. your DD is soo cute!
Wow, what a nice thing for your parents to do! Deb.

 

[MegansMom]

I love the way your mom thinks, although for us a day at the beach is a must for our Sept. trip because 9 out of the 12 have never seen the ocean, and my DD 16 wants to be a marine bio., I grew up near a beach but it's been 24 years since I moved and I miss it dearly !
Oh, BTW your thread starter really caught my eye, I have been dreaming of taking my kids to WDW for 23 years.
Looking forward to plans and pics. Deb.

Awww.... the black and white pics. your DD is soo cute!
Wow, what a nice thing for your parents to do! Deb.

Thanks again for your kind words about the pics and my family! I think DD is cute too, but I know I am biased! As far as the beach goes, we all love going and zoning, so I am sure if Mom doesn't at least try to tack it on to the end of our trip, she will find the time to sneak over to the beach at some point this year--she goes into withdrawal without it!

I think you and your clan are going to have a great trip in Sept! I am so glad for your that your dream trip is coming true as well! Sept is my favorite time to go--so far. I think you will really love it! Let me know if you have any questions about what it is like to travel then! Stay tuned for the dining plans---my favorite part! YUMMMMMM Jen

 

[siestakeys04]

Your parents are great, that is a big blessing for your family.

 

[r4blessings]

I'm hooked!

I love reading trip reports, and your dd is adorable! I have a 4 yr old dd too, and I love hearing about all the fun things people do with their dd's!

And trip reports with pics are my favorite!!!

 

[jwwi]

Great start to your PTR, Megan is so cute. Your parents are so generous. We rented points and stayed in a studio at OKW in Feb 07'. We loved it, the room size is nice, the kitchenette is so helpful, and the best part??? The small patio, which meant that you had windows on two sides of the room. Weird huh? But I really liked that. We didn't have much of a view, but just being able to go out on the patio was nice. Can't wait to read more, thanks for sharing.

 

[MegansMom]

Your parents are great, that is a big blessing for your family.

Thanks for joining in! My parents are really wonderful for so many reasons! We all feel truly blessed in our little circle!!!

I'm hooked!

I love reading trip reports, and your dd is adorable! I have a 4 yr old dd too, and I love hearing about all the fun things people do with their dd's!

And trip reports with pics are my favorite!!!

Well I'm glad you are here and even more happy to hear you are HOOKED!! I too love reading reports with pics, so that is why I have been throwing so many in mine--even if they aren't on topic right now. I REALLY just wish I could figure out how to make them smaller. Every time I scroll down past that one I took of myself on the beach in full page size, I scream in fright!! Oh well, there is more coming really soon--stay tuned!!

Great start to your PTR, Megan is so cute. Your parents are so generous. We rented points and stayed in a studio at OKW in Feb 07'. We loved it, the room size is nice, the kitchenette is so helpful, and the best part??? The small patio, which meant that you had windows on two sides of the room. Weird huh? But I really liked that. We didn't have much of a view, but just being able to go out on the patio was nice. Can't wait to read more, thanks for sharing.

Thanks for joining in and for all your kind words! I am so glad to hear that you enjoyed OKW. None of us have been there yet, so we don't know what to expect, but we are looking forward to it anyway!! I'll be posting my next installment on dining SOON!!! STAY TUNED!!!



Attention all lurkers--please post a note just to say "hi!" I love hearing from those who are traveling along with me!! I hope everyone continues to enjoy my PTR!!! Stay tuned--more coming soon!

 

[MegansMom]

Hey gang,

I was just getting ready to write up my long post for dining etc., but I am a bit under the weather today--my Mom and I think we got a touch of food poisoning from a restaurant we ate at Wed. night--and my stomach is telling me to lay back down. We think it was the lemons in our iced tea!!! Anyway, I promise I will post that with more pics and the stories that I promised I would get to later--why Megs is our 1 and only and the great moments from our trips in Sept 06 and Nov 07--look back at my first post if you aren't sure what I am talking about. LOTS of good stuff coming soon--I promise! OK, now back to my pillow---Jen