My first Pre-Trip Report!

[BlackPearl695]

Well, here it is, my first pre-trip report.

Let me start by telling you that this will be my third trip to WDW EVER!! I went for my first time Dec. 27, 2008 - Jan. 2, 2009. It was a spur of the moment thing. One day I woke up and said, "OMG! I'm 30 something with 3 kids, one who just graduated and I've NEVER been to Disney World! This is not acceptable!" So I got online and realized that in October, you can't get dining reservations for December, and prices on site are outrageous! So I did the next best thing. Called my mother-in-law. She agreed that it was a tragedy that I had never been to Disney and my boys needed to go too. So it was settled, We find a place to stay and she was footing the rest of the bill for our Christmas gifts! We found a lovely off site house to rent for a week at a very reasonable price and booked it right away. We drove down (8 of us in 2 separate cars) and the rest is Disney Magic!

This is my Disney Crew. I couldn't have asked for a better group to spend my first Disney Vacation with!

Stay tuned for more Disney Magic!

 

[Shir Kahn]

Sounds good so far!

 

[WDWisTheBest]

Looking forward to more about the trip.

 

[BlackPearl695]

So, I think I took a million pictures on our first Disney vacation. (I had to dump my memory card onto my laptop every night!) The crowd levels were a 10 all week, but we didn't care. It was 32 degrees at home and we were enjoying a balmy 84 most of our trip. It was the BEST vacation I had ever been on. (Yes dear, that does include our honeymoon in the Caribbean. )

Well, we weren't home for 24 hours before I decided that the snow, ice and cold temps SUCK! So I began to have fond ideas of going back to Disney. When I discussed it with my DH, he didn't sound so excited. He rather enjoyed the idea of a "Guys vacation", white water rafting with his brother and some friends. So I did the only thing that a desperate wife and mother could do...I planned my Disney vacation WITHOUT him! This time it would be different, I decided to make this vacation my birthday present to me. My oldest son was going away to college, so I had to leave him out of the plans. So it was just going to be me and my two little boys. This was just not going to do. Who would ride Expedition Everest with my son if the other didn't want to ride?! So to overcome the obstacles and give myself some companionship, I picked up the phone and called the one person that I knew would not turn me down...MY MOM! Of course she was in and by mid-February our resort was booked and by April, we had our plane tickets. The dining reservations were so much fun to plan, thanks to all the helpful tips and information I received on the disboards!

Since I had a much keener idea of what I wanted to do and see, we were able to plan most of our vacation ahead of time. This made things run sooooo smoothly during our trip. I had absolutely no complaints what-so-ever. We flew this time instead of driving, had reservations at the All-Star Movies, (they were amazing!), we used the Magical Express and Disney Transportation all week and we ended up with the Free Dining Plan! We even made time for MVMCP and had a blast! I couldn't have asked for a better birthday! It was so unbelievable to have a whole week with my mom and kids to just have fun!

Needless to say, coming back to 30 degree temperatures did nothing for my disposition when I got home. So, I began to dream...of sunshine, warm temps and mouse ears...


Still to come... VACATION 2011!


My December 2009 Disney Crew!

 

[tomaszewski58]

Such a broad range of ages. And everyone had fun. Awesome experience.

 

[BlackPearl695]

So, here we are! Vacation 2011! Although I had the most AMAZING time with my mother and two young boys, I still wished that my oldest son and my husband had been with me to celebrate my birthday. So I began to consider yet another Disney getaway! This time it was much easier. Apparently, my DH and DS were also disappointed that they missed out on a week in the sun so they definitely wanted to be included this time around. To make things even more solid in the decision making process, my employer filed for bankruptcy and I took on another part time job to ensure that if I lost my job, I would still have something to fall back on. Finances got tighter and the spending money is still not there. So when tax time rolled around, I reminded DH that this could be our last opportunity for awhile and he agreed it was time to book. (Little did he know that I had already booked back in December!)

Since we had already done MVMCP, this time I wanted to do MNSSHP! So VACATION 2011 is set for September 20-28 at the POP Century Resort. I couldn't be more excited! Me, DH, DS11, DS12, DS20 and DM all getting away for a week of fun! Now, I am a planner so I had to get things rolling right away. First thing to do was to get the date for Dining Reservations. OMG I only had a few weeks to get organized! The September calendar was still not posted and I had no idea which parks we were going to or when. I was feeling very overwhelmed. The obsessive planning begins!!!

Okay, 2 weeks pass and I now have everyone in agreement. One day at DHS, one at AK, 2 at Epcot and 1 1/2 at MK(MNSSHP included) with one day to veg at our resort and do NOTHING! Yeah! The September calendar is now posted! Oh boy, we have to juggle a few things around because the kids are not bending on Fantasmic. No big! Still works into the plan. Now to move on to DINING.

 

[BlackPearl695]

WE ARE 9 DAYS AWAY!!!





Let me start by saying that my brain is completely frazzled right now. I have so many things going on in my head I am struggling to keep them straight. Let's see if I can get any clear thoughts out here.

Well, the family is very happy with all our dining plans. We got Boma, Chef Mickey's, 50's Prime Time, Supercalifragilistic Breakfast, Ohana, Akershus, Crystal Palace and Whispering Canyon. A few we've done before and a few new ones. Not sure how the food is, but with the free dining, we won't complain. We'll try anything once. I'm just happy that things are going as planned.

Unfortunately, friends of ours were looking forward to vacationing with us this time around, they got all their reservations made for the POP, bought plane tickets, got their dining ressies booked, and then the bomb dropped. My girlfriend's husband owns his own business and something big came up that will not allow them to go to Disney as planned. Now the poor dear is scrambling around trying to reschedule EVERYTHING for a later date. How awful that must be...especially for the kids! We are only 9 days away! So it looks like we are on our own again.

The kids started school last week and we notified all their teachers of their upcoming absences. I received e-mail verification from most all of DS 11's teachers. DS 12 not so lucky. He is my A student and as such has been hounding his teachers and the office all week about getting his homework together so he can get it done before we leave. I swear he's going to have an ulcer before he's 18. But I've got to give him props for responsibility!

Yesterday, I used the Online Checkin process to get that ball rolling and we pulled out the luggage. Today we start on the laundry! I hate laundry!

It was a VERY busy summer this year, full of weddings, funerals, birthday parties, karate and piano classes. I am soooooooo ready for this vacation!

...CRAP! My brother just called and wants to know if our family would like to plan a Disney/Universal vacation with his family for next year?! How do I explain this to DH? LMAO