Myself and 9 others... What was I thinking? Pre-Trip Report

[bransworld]

Cast-
Me- Brandon, 29 years old, been to WDW twice before
Partner - Greg, 30 years old, been to WDW twice before
Friend - Joey, 32 years old, been to WDW twice before
Friend - Amanda, 26 years old, has been to WDW once before when she was a kid
Friend - Teague, 26 years old, never been to WDW
Friend - Juanita, 27 years old, never been to WDW
Friend - Dwain, 27 years old, never been to WDW
Friend - Jennifer, in her 40's, never been to WDW
My Mom - Loni, 48 years old, never been to WDW
My Niece - Autumn, 6 years old, never been to WDW

Resort - Saratoga Springs Resort. A two-bedroom suite and a studio suite.

Dates - April 19 - 26, 2007

Greg, Joey and I went to Disney World for our first time, which we were staying for more than one day in April 2005. We all fell in love with it so much that we decided to buy into the DVC. So this is our first trip with the DVC.

Original plans were for the 3 of us and another couple to go. We needed a 2-bedroom suite. The other couple ended up canceling. We though heck we have a two bedroom suite we will invite others. That is how we ended up with Amanda, Teague, Juanita, Dwain and Jennifer going on the trip with us.

I was originally planning to take another trip in December 2007 and fly my mom and my niece out to Florida from Arizona to take that trip with us. But things fell through. So I priced the trip out to bring then in April.

When we first booked the trip we still had 11 months to go until the trip. 5 months to go until we were able to book ADR's. I sent everyone links to all of the restaurants and many other Disney related websites and asked everyone for their input. Everyone said they didn’t care. That I could plan everything. Wow every DS'er's dream huh?

Original plans called for Myself, Greg, Joey, Amanda, Teague, Juanita, Dwain and Jennifer to drive the 15 hours to Orlando. I hated this plan from day one but we were trying to make it more affordable for everyone. I kept telling everyone that I was going to fly down and meet them at the resort. After checking flight prices over and over for a couple months I finally got a price of $139 round trip from Indianapolis to Orlando. I couldn't pass this up. I was on the phone immediately asking everyone if they could afford that price. We all agreed a 2 hours car drive to Indianapolis was a heck of a lot better than a 15 hours car drive. I booked the flights immediately.

My mom and niece are only going to join us for 4 days of the trip.

Here is our itinerary:
Thursday, April 19, 2007
Depart Our House For Indy Airport - 9:30AM
Check in for Northwest Airlines departing at 1:51PM
Arrive Orlando at 4:00PM
Find Disney Magical Express Check-in Area (Luggage will automatically go to the resort for us)

Check into Saratoga Springs Resort
Go to Magic Kingdom for Dinner and spend the evening there. (CLOSES AT 11PM)

Friday, April 20, 2007
Epcot (EMH 9AM - 11PM)
My Mom and Autumn arrive from Phoenix at 4pm. I will meet them at the resort to check them in and then we will head to Epcot to meet everyone else.
Dinner Reservations at Biergarten at 7:30 PM
Saturday, April 21, 2007
MGM (EMH 9AM - 10PM)
Dinner Reservations at 50's Prime Time Café at 4:30 PM
Sunday, April 22, 2007
Magic Kingdom (EMH (9AM - 10PM)
Brandon, Joey, Greg, Loni & Autumn Crystal Palace Breakfast @ 8:15AM. Dinner Reservations at Chef Mickey's at 7:50 PM
Monday, April 23, 2007
Animal Kingdom (EMH 9AM - 6PM)
Dinner Reservations at Boma at 6:50PM
Head to DTD for some shopping.
Tuesday, April 24,2007
Epcot (EMH 9AM-11PM)
Loni and Autumn fly back to Phoenix in the early afternoon.
Dinner Reservations Sprit of Aloha Polynesian Luau at 5:15PM
Wednesday, April 25, 2007
Animal Kingdom (9AM - 1PM) Lunch at Animal Kingdom
MGM (1PM - 8:30PM)
Dinner Reservations at Mama Melrose's Italiano Fantasmic Dining Package at 5:20 PM
Thursday, April 26, 2007
Check out of the Resort
Spend the morning at Downtown Disney / Resort
Bus To Airport
Flight departs MCO at 4:40pm

 

[bransworld]

In the early stages of planning i decided that i was going to design a t-shirt for all of us to wear on the day we are going to Magic Kingdom.

Here is the front of that shirt:

Here is the back of that shirt:

I had also made shirts for Autumn to wear. She has one for every day she is there. I also made one for her to wear on the flight to Disney World. You can see those shirts in this post.. http://disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1360447

I also purchased a gift basket to surprise Autumn with when she checks into her room. Here is a picture of the items for the basket.

This wonderful gift basket was made by Sarah... her website is www.memoriesbysarah.com and she is great. She will design the basket to fit your budget.

I think the only major thing we have left to do for our trip is to place our grocery order. Which i plan to do about 2 weeks before the trip.

 

[medicgirl911]

All those shirts are amazing! That gift basket it so sweet, what a lucky niece you have! I have been catching some other peoples t-shirt designs as well, I may just have to come up with one myself!
We are also travelling in June with a large group of people, so I will be excited to hear about how your trip turns out!

 

[Disneyland_Mama]

Ohhhh... I am not alone! Another glutton for punishment!
I'm also in the planning stages of a 10 person trip! Great start! Looking forward to reading how it all pans out!

 

[TMB1203]

Ugh, I just got back from a trip with 7 of us. It's a challenge, but was a lot of fun.

Great T-Shirts!

 

[IkeandMike]

I love the t-shirts, they are great.

I am also planning a trip with eight people. Three of the eight are age four. Oh I am going to need some advil. Hope you all have a great time.

 

[Disneytwinz]

Awesome start! Looking forward to reading ahead!