My family joins me in Disney for the first time in 15 years!- time to go!

[librarygeek]

Christmas Presents!

Since it's been so long since my family has been to Disney, for Christmas I decided to make them up each a little "Disney bag" with stuff to prepare them for our trip! I'm looking to include either Disney park related items, or even a few general items that would be useful in the parks, such as a water bottle. So far here are the things I've included in each bag (either already purchased or planning to purchase):

* Reusable Disney bag
* T-shirt
* pin
* vinylmation
* small stuffed animal
* water bottle
* Park maps (having a friend pick some up for me)
* Happy Birthday button (for dad)
* Folder with papers inside that I'm making (a list of our dining reservations, what parks we plan to be in which day, etc.)

Anything else you can think of that might be fun to include? Keep in mind that they're all adults, and not all of them are giant Disney fans, though they are at least excited about the trip.

 

[librarygeek]

Also thinking about adding some Sorcerers of the Magic Kingdom cards to the bags... I just have to figure out where I can get my hands on some!

 

[TinkerbellM6]

Joining in since I LOVED your previous reports! The place you are staying at looks beautiful and I am so happy that you are able to take this trip with your family! I have many magical memories of Disney with my family Can't wait to read more!

 

[librarygeek]

Joining in since I LOVED your previous reports! The place you are staying at looks beautiful and I am so happy that you are able to take this trip with your family! I have many magical memories of Disney with my family Can't wait to read more!

Thanks so much! I'm glad you'll be following along!

 

[librarygeek]

2013 Is the Year of Disney!

So I don't have anything new to report about our April trip. I think I may have mentioned it but I'll also be going in February for a girls' trip. I bought an annual pass since I'll be going twice - it seemed to make sense so I could get the TIW discounts and the free parking (since we'll be off property).

Anyway... one of my friends has invited me to her Disney wedding in August, and DH said we could go! Which means I'll be in Disney three times next year!! This is crazy for me since in the past it's usually been at least two years between Disney trips for me. I'm getting spoiled!

I'm tempted to start a PTR for that trip too, since I like having PTR just to organize my own thoughts. I think I'll probably wait until we "officially" book something, like the hotel or flight, before I start one. Just thought I'd share my happiness with you all!

 

[librarygeek]

Disney Family Planning Session!

I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving! I got to go home and see the family, and we had a "Disney meeting" while I was home. We watched the planning DVD that they send and talked about some things. We decided we're definitely going to do photopass and split the cost, but we don't really need the plus.

I also got a list of all the rides that are "must do's" for each family member. I'm not into planning super detailed touring plans, since I like some amount of flexibility, but with 5 people I thought it would be a good idea to at least have a general outline. Plus, my mom doesn't do thrill rides or anything with heights, so I'm working on figuring out what she can do nearby those types of rides while we go on them. I'm going to at least work on compiling the list of what rides we all want to do the most, and I'll be sharing that soon!

 

[librarygeek]

Done with Grad School!!

Yesterday I finished my very last day of graduate school. I will now have a master's in library and information science! I'm happy to finally be done. It also means that I'll have more time to dedicate to planning our Disney trip! So look for more posts from me in the coming weeks

 

[Duzzygirl]

Congrats on finishing Grad school!


I'll be in WDW the week you are. Well, we're getting there Tuesday, staying at POP.

When I go with my family we stay offsite in my folks timeshare. Have always loved it. This trip however, is with the Hub's family. So, they want onsite, which is fine with me.

Anyhow, I've subbed!!

 

[Jasperann]

Dining Plans!

1. I would really like to go somewhere to "kick off the magic" but I'm stuck for a place - mostly because I want my brother to be able to join us, with it being the first night there, but there aren't a lot of places that stand out that he would like. I thought a character meal would be fun but I don't want to pay for a buffet/one-price deal where he won't eat anything. I would've done California Grill but it'll be closed while we're there. Any suggestions?

2. I'm not too familiar with the CS places in HS, any suggestions of a good place to grab lunch there?

3. (Epcot) any CS places that have pizza?

Hey I followed your link over from the April Board. We will be arriving 2 days after you leave.

1. I know you made reservations already (since I'm a little late to this report) but I think Chef Mickey's would have been a good place too. They had lots of stuff for my very picky 16 year old last time we went.

2. I would go with Pizza planet in HS. It is very good. We also liked that little place on the way to ToT area, it has really awesome cupcakes, but they sell out fast and close early. The sandwiches are huge and we cut them in half to share between two adults and in thirds to share with the kids. We really had a lot of food.

3. I don't recall any CS Pizza places, but I see that the new Italian place might make CS Pizza. We might have to check that out too!!

Landrys Select Club

So I'm thinking it will make sense to join the Landrys Select Club membership. They are the company that owns a bunch of restaurants, including Rainforest, T-REX, and Yak and Yeti:

http://www.landrysselect.com/SelectClubFeatures.aspx

It costs $25 to join, but then you get a $25 welcome credit, so that really cancels out. You also get a $25 credit during your birthday month - and mine happens to be April! So it's basically like a free $25 towards our food. And we're planning to eat at both Yak and Yeti and T-REX, so it will be useful.

And now that I think about it, it would probably make sense for my dad to get a card too. His birthday is also in April. So I could pay for one of the meals and he could pay for the other, and that way we'd save $25 on both! It would mean less points for each of us, but I don't think we'd necessarily reach $250 anyway, and even if we did I don't know if we'd be back to these particular restaurants within the year to use it.

Anyone have any experience with this? It seems like a really good deal to me, I can't think of any reason not to do it?

I have to check this out!!! My DHs Birthday month is May and that is the time frame that we will be there, so if we have him get the card it would really be amazing! We wanted to eat at T-Rex one night and $25.00 off would really help. Thanks for the suggestion!

Also thinking about adding some Sorcerers of the Magic Kingdom cards to the bags... I just have to figure out where I can get my hands on some!

I forgot about these!! They didn't have them the last time we went. If you find out where to get some let us know. I would love to get some for my kids before we go.

Done with Grad School!!

Yesterday I finished my very last day of graduate school. I will now have a master's in library and information science! I'm happy to finally be done. It also means that I'll have more time to dedicate to planning our Disney trip! So look for more posts from me in the coming weeks

Congrats!!!

 

[wdwgirl03]

Saw your post on the April thread and joining in!

Yay for being done with Grad School and for your upcoming Disney year!

 

[TinkerbellM6]

Congratulations on finishing Grad school!!!! Hope your Hubby took you out to celebrate!!

 

[librarygeek]

Congrats on finishing Grad school!


I'll be in WDW the week you are. Well, we're getting there Tuesday, staying at POP.

When I go with my family we stay offsite in my folks timeshare. Have always loved it. This trip however, is with the Hub's family. So, they want onsite, which is fine with me.

Anyhow, I've subbed!!

Thanks for joining in! The timeshare we're at is so nice that even though it will be a bit of a drive I think we'll really enjoy it. Have you stayed at POP before? I haven't tried it yet but DH and I are booked there for a short August trip!

Hey I followed your link over from the April Board. We will be arriving 2 days after you leave.

1. I know you made reservations already (since I'm a little late to this report) but I think Chef Mickey's would have been a good place too. They had lots of stuff for my very picky 16 year old last time we went.

2. I would go with Pizza planet in HS. It is very good. We also liked that little place on the way to ToT area, it has really awesome cupcakes, but they sell out fast and close early. The sandwiches are huge and we cut them in half to share between two adults and in thirds to share with the kids. We really had a lot of food.

3. I don't recall any CS Pizza places, but I see that the new Italian place might make CS Pizza. We might have to check that out too!!



I have to check this out!!! My DHs Birthday month is May and that is the time frame that we will be there, so if we have him get the card it would really be amazing! We wanted to eat at T-Rex one night and $25.00 off would really help. Thanks for the suggestion!




I forgot about these!! They didn't have them the last time we went. If you find out where to get some let us know. I would love to get some for my kids before we go.



Congrats!!!

Thanks for joining, and for your thoughts! They didn't have sorcerers of the magic kingdom last time I was in WDW either so I'm excited to try it out! I have some friends that are really into it and collect the cards and all.

Saw your post on the April thread and joining in!

Yay for being done with Grad School and for your upcoming Disney year!

Thank you, and thanks for joining in!

Congratulations on finishing Grad school!!!! Hope your Hubby took you out to celebrate!!

Thanks so much! We went out to Joe's Crab Shack, because I'd been craving it after seeing some of their ads. The crab was good, but the s'mores dessert we had was amazing!!

 

[librarygeek]

Breaking down the Dining costs

I decided it would be a good idea to figure out how much we'd be spending on food this trip. Since we bought our tickets ahead of time and the timeshare is free, when we're there we really only have to worry about food and souvenirs (we still have to figure out transportation, if we're flying or driving too).

Anyhow, here's what I did:

Obviously I estimated as best I could, and though I tried to lean towards the "more expensive" end, I could have underestimated on some as well. But I think it gives us a good general idea of what we'll be spending. I'm planning to have $600 for food/drinks for me and my husband. That sounds like a lot! But we like doing sit down places, and I guess it could be worse.

I also calculated what the approximate Tables in Wonderland savings will be. Because I'll be going on three trips this year I think it will definitely pay off, even though they just raised the price to $100. In fact I think it should pay off just on this trip. The $56 that we save is just between me and DH, but we'll also have my parents and my brother along so that should get our savings over $100. And I think my parents will be giving us a little bit of money towards the TiW card so that's really nice!

 

[Disney9.9.10]

Joining in! I remember you from the wedding boards, so I thought I would say hello. I like taking family trips once in a while, you are going to have a great time! Looking forward to reading about your plans.

 

[shalom]

Last time we were with a group of about 12 people and were totally spoiled by DH's uncle booking the Presidental suite!

Aha! I thought those pics looked like they were taken from a Presidential unit! We stayed at the Fountains in 2010, but our pics won't help you any, first because they're not a regular unit and second because they've been completely redone since! But we really liked the Fountains as well.

Congratulations on getting through grad school.

 

[TinkerbellM6]

Thanks so much! We went out to Joe's Crab Shack, because I'd been craving it after seeing some of their ads. The crab was good, but the s'mores dessert we had was amazing!!

We don't have a Joe's around us but I have always wanted to try it out! Lucky you (and the s'mores dessert sounds so yummy!). I love your spreadsheet for your dining costs. I am obsessed with doing spreadsheets like that. Its so fun to see things typed out in front of me! I am such a Virgo lol! Your dining options sound awesome!

 

[librarygeek]

Joining in! I remember you from the wedding boards, so I thought I would say hello. I like taking family trips once in a while, you are going to have a great time! Looking forward to reading about your plans.

Hi there, and thanks for joining in!

Aha! I thought those pics looked like they were taken from a Presidential unit! We stayed at the Fountains in 2010, but our pics won't help you any, first because they're not a regular unit and second because they've been completely redone since! But we really liked the Fountains as well.

Congratulations on getting through grad school.

Thanks! And glad to hear you liked the Fountains as well! We are very lucky to have an uncle who is so generous with his timeshare points.

We don't have a Joe's around us but I have always wanted to try it out! Lucky you (and the s'mores dessert sounds so yummy!). I love your spreadsheet for your dining costs. I am obsessed with doing spreadsheets like that. Its so fun to see things typed out in front of me! I am such a Virgo lol! Your dining options sound awesome!

Haha I have way more spreadsheets and lists than any one person probably needs!

 

[librarygeek]

"Touring Plan"

I'm not really one to do full touring plans, partly because I know the parks and what I want to do so well and partly because I like some flexibility. But with 5 people I thought it would be a good idea to at least have a basic game plan. So I made a list of the 4 parks and figured out where we would go first at rope drop (provided I can convince my family we need to be there for rope drop!), what our must-do attractions are, and what the runners up are that we would like to see if we have time. Over Thanksgiving I got my family to go through the list of attractions with me and pick out their must-dos so I could compile the list. I'm thinking I might put it onto an index card or two so I can carry it with me and make sure that we hit up everything we wanted to do!

Here's what we've got:

Magic Kingdom

First stop: Splash Mountain (no Mom)

Must do:
Space Mountain (no Mom)
Big Thunder Mountain Railroad (no Mom)
Haunted Mansion
Mickey's Philharmagic
Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin
Monsters Inc. Laugh Floor

Would like to do:
It's a Small World
Jungle Cruise
Pirates of the Caribbean
Swiss Family Treehouse

Epcot

First stop: Test Track

Must do:
Soarin' (no Mom)
Turtle Talk
Visa Character Greeting
Mexican Boat Ride
O Canada!
The Seas with Nemo and Friends

Would like to do:
Mission: Space (no Mom, no Tom)
Maelstrom
Captain EO

Hollywood Studios

First stop: Toy Story Mania

Must do:
Rockin' Roller Coaster (no Mom, maybe no Tom)
Tower of Terror (no Mom, no Becky)
Beauty and the Beast (girls do this while boys do ToT)
Lights, Motors, Action
The Great Movie Ride
Muppet Vision 3D
Backlot Tours

Would like to do:
Indiana Jones
Magic of Disney Animation

Animal Kingdom

First stop: Kilamanjaro Safari

Must do:
Expedition Everest (no Mom)
Dinosaur
Festival of the Lion King
Animal Trails/paths

Would like to do:
Kali River Rapids
Flights of Wonder
Nemo the Musical


I marked who won't go on certain rides. My mom doesn't really like thrill rides or heights, so she won't do a lot. My brother is a little nervous about some of the thrill rides even though he won't admit it, so we'll see how he feels on the day. My dad and DH will do anything, and I'll do everything except ToT. Luckily my mom is pretty content to visit the gift shops while we do the big rides so she should be okay, since there are plenty of those around!

 

[shalom]

I'm thinking I might put it onto an index card or two so I can carry it with me and make sure that we hit up everything we wanted to do!

I'm thinking about giving those a shot this next time as well. I like your "must do" and "would like to do" breakdowns, but I'm also considering something like "before 10:00 a.m., after 5:00" or "before noon" or "anytime" breakdowns, especially for hubby and my eldest son, who will most likely not be touring with me.

 

[librarygeek]

My sister is (probably) coming!

Now that Christmas is over I have a few things to update on, but one major thing: it seems like we will be gaining another traveler for our trip! We originally thought my half-sister wouldn't be able to join us, since she's a school teacher and getting a week off in the middle of April didn't seem possible. But now she thinks that she can get the time off. She'll know for certain in a few days.

It's good news! I think she was feeling a bit left out, so she's using all of her vacation days to come. We have plenty of room in the suite, and I'll just have to adjust our dining ressies for 6 people.