Once Upon a Dream... Our Pre Trip Report

[Dreamin' Disney]

A dream is a wish your heart makes... been dreaming about Disney ever since our whole family, yes me and the outlaws, decided to all go together. So here's our pre-trip report, for our trip to WDW 11/6 - 11/12, 2004

Cast Members: DH and myself - both 40-something and our 3 kids, DD -15, DD -12 and DS -8. This will be our 3rd trip to WDW since we've had kids. I'd been to DL and WDW as a kid and DH only to DL as a kid.

Joining us will be my DH's parents, who have only only been to DL in the 1970's; and DH's sister, husband and their 3 kids - DD-19, DS-15 and DD-13. This wil be their 2nd trip, 1st time staying on site.
We are officially registered as a Grand Gathering We'd been wondering when we'd go back to WDW and thought it would be more fun to go all together. All the kids are quite excited to go to Disney with all their cousins.
Since we are a party of 12, however, it has been quite a task coordinating everything.

Where to Stay: On our 1st trip in 1996, we stayed at the Hilton in DTD. Last time in 2002, we split up our trip with 5 days at Doubletree Guest Suites in DTD and 5 days at the Yacht Club. After this, we knew we'd never stay offsite again. Way less travel time and lots more Disney magic!

This trip will be 6 nights at the Boardwalk Inn, aka BWI, Concierge Level, as I love the location between Epcot and MGM, lots of dining/entertainment options on the Boardwalk and the convenience for all 12 of us to have quick breakfasts in the concierge lounge - hopefully a few snacks, drinks, desserts along the way!

Room Rates: Value season rack rate for Deluxe Concierge is $425/nt. I originally booked this category with a 15% AAA discount for $361.25, as this discount was not even made available on standard rooms. I was later able to apply the BAT discount code that came out this fall, so our final rate is $345/nt. We could have saved more staying elsewhere, but feel we're getting the best deal for what we're getting at this time of year.

Passes: I have purchased the 4 day Park Hopper, with no plus features for $215.13/adult and $172.53/child. This price includes tax. I had ordered them directly from Disney, using the toll free number from WDTravel Company, 1-800-828-0228. Paid $3 extra for shipping. Received them by special delivery to my door in a week. No hassles or uncertainty about getting the real thing.

Meals: Planning mostly quick continental breakfasts in concierge lounge, casual counter service lunches or snacks at the parks and a PS for dinner everyday. In some cases, I have two PS's for dinner. Please don't flame me about this. I put in our requests with IPO, the concierge itinerary planning office but also tried to make a few on my own just in case. I will be deciding which ones to release as soon as we finalize all our plans and based on some opinions I may get on this report.

Itinerary: I didn't want to overplan the entire schedule, but after our experience from previous trips (where we didn't make enough PS's), and from all the great advice on the DIS boards, I thought it was important to make plans for which parks to visit and make dining arrangements each day.

Day 1 - Saturday, 11/6 - Arrival: MIL/FIL will be meeting us at the BWI after spending a few days along Florida's gulf coast. SIL/BIL and kids are arriving mid-afternoon. Our flight arrives at 6 pm. Ford SUV pickup (Expedition or Excursion?) arranged with Happy Limo for $154 return trip, including gratuity and taxes. Estimate we check in between 7 and 7:30 pm. We have an 8:30 pm PS at Spoodles. Hope to check out the Boardwalk and retire early for our first day at the parks.
:thewave:

Day 2 - Sunday 11/7 - Magic Kingdom: Being a Sunday, this is an EMH day, so I hope we can get everybody up early and to MK by 8 am. But I'm not taking any bets! We may or may not stay for the 3 pm parade, as we will return to BWI for a quick break and then head over to Epcot for a 5:45 pm PS at Teppanyaki in Japan. Our family loves this style of meal and is a must do. After dinner, we'll walk through WS and get a spot for Illuminations. (OR we have a PS at MM at 3:40 pm with the Fantasmic Dinner package, but I don't think we'd get over to MGM in time to do this)

Day 3 - Monday 11/8 - MGM-Disney Studios: Although this is an EMH day at AK, we prefer to see MGM next. May stay all day, watch parade and have an early dinner, a 4:40 pm PS at H&V followed by Fantasmic at 7 pm. This was booked with the FDP. Afterwards, we'll return to resort. May have to check out cordials and desserts at concierge lounge. Yum!

It was not my first choice to dine at H&V, but since it's a more casual buffet, I think it will make it easier to please the kids. Plus we have lots of other great meals planned. (We also have a 6:20 PS at 1900 Park Fare, but think we'll save this for our last night)

Day 4 - Tuesday 11/9 - Universal Studios: MIL/FIL will likely stay at the resort or go shopping by taxi. Frankly, that's what I'd like to do to, but DH and kids and cousins all want to go to US. I have a 10 passenger van booked with Happy Limo for the rest of us to go to US at 8:30 am for $73 round trip including gratuity and taxes, returning at 5 or 5:30 pm.

I have decided against pre-purchasing tickets to US, just in case not everyone decides to go. We'll treat this as a flexible day either relaxing at resort, maybe US or maybe shopping.

We have a 7:45 pm PS at Flying Fish Cafe back by the BWI for the adults only. Kids may want to order pizza from room service or take out window on the boardwalk. DH and myself also plan on checking out Jellyrolls, the duelling pianos bar, after dinner.

Day 5 - Wednesday 11/10 - Epcot: Not sure if the EMH is at Epcot this day. I am really looking foward to touring Epcot as we never went on our 1st trip and only did FW and walked around WS on our last trip. Originally planning to eat at the booths from F&W Festival, but we just got a late PS at 11:10 am for PSB! They have extended seatings until 11:40 am and no longer serving lunch. I think it's a great idea! This will work out fine for us as I was planning a later dinner anyway.

We will have to leave Epcot and get to Contemporary Resort marina by 5:30 pm for the Magical Fireworks Voyage, which is a GG event. I am surprising our group with this as they have no idea it's a pirate themed cruise with a visit from Peter Pan. They just think it's a regular fireworks cruise, so I am really excited about this! Following MFV, we've got an 8:10 pm PS at California Grill. I'll be ready for more sushi. I even hear they make a kid version with gummi fish, rice krispies and fruit rollups!

Day 6 - Thursday 11/11 - PICK A PARK: I think we'll decide which park to go to once we're there, perhaps first to whichever park has EMH, I think it's MK. Perhaps we'll split up, depending on what everyone still wants to see and do. By this time, we'll probably be ready for a break! My choice is for Epcot to check out more pavilions and F&W offerings.

We have a late PS at 7:20 pm at 1900 Park Fare for Cinderella's Gala Feast. Looking foward too wrapping up our week with this character dinner. I think another buffet is a good choice for our large group. Still not sure if we'll be able to get a bus back to BWI from MK as it closes at 7 pm. May have to take monorail to Epcot and walk back to resort (if everyone is up to it) or take a taxi directly.

Day 7 - Friday, 11/12 - So long, Farewell: Inlaws/Outlaws and kids have a later afeternoon flight out, so have time to sleep in , relax or go to DTD, but return home at 10:30 pm. Sadly, we have to leave for the airport by 8:45 am but will return home by 5 pm. Why is it that I am arriving last and leaving early?!?!

Well that it's, in a not so little nutshell. Probably too late to change anything now with a group of 12, but any comments, suggestions and advice is welcome.

I thought it's also easier to post a pretrip report now with all the planning details and can do a post trip report later with all our experiences and dining reviews.

With only a few weeks to go, I've got to plan my packing list, buy a new suitcase, organize the laundry , pickup film, batteries and memory cards, make lime green mickey tags, cancel the papers, set the light timers, call the kids' schools... hard to do when I'm so addicted to the DIS boards!

 

[Annie&Hallie'sMom]

Sounds like a good plan.

 

[lap3]

Originally posted by Dreamin' Disney
Room Rates: Value season rack rate for Deluxe Concierge is $425/nt. I originally booked this category with a 15% AAA discount for $361.25, as this discount was not even made available on standard rooms. I was later able to apply the BAT discount code that came out this fall, so our final rate is $345/nt. We could have saved more staying elsewhere, but feel we're getting the best deal for what we're getting at this time of year.

Sounds like a great trip. Couple of questions for you though: When you booked your room through AAA and got the additional 15%, can this be done several months in advance or do I need to wait until a couple of months before we leave? Also, what happens if coupon codes or hotel specials come up AFTER the reservations have been made? Can the price be adjusted later to reflect the lower cost? Thanks for your pre-trip report. I love reading these because it gives me great ideas to plan for our first trip!

 

[Dreamin' Disney]

lap3: I didn't book my room with AAA. I called CRO directly and requested if there were any AAA discounts at any of the resorts I was interested in for my dates. (usually 10% of during all seasons, except for value season which is 15%)

AAA discounts come up periodically and there is usually a certain quota of rooms available with this type of discount, so you have to keep checking. I saw a post recently that said AAA discounts have been issued for 2005, but it may only be for winter or spring bookings. This is the best discount if none of the codes apply to you.

If other discount codes come up, you can always call in to see if it gives you a better rate. I tried a few different ones, which didn't always give a better price. They don't combine the two discounts together.

I had no problem applying the BAT code. They just replaced it with the AAA discount since it ended up saving me more.

 

[lap3]

Thanks, Dreamin' Disney. Just to ensure we have the place we want to stay, I may make the reservations now and call in if any discount codes come up... Is this a good idea?

 

[Dreamin' Disney]

Yes, I would always call to reserve a room in advance and keep checking mousesavers.com for the latest discount codes.

If you book through CRO, you just pay a one night deposit plus tax. The balance is due upon checkin. 5 day cancellation policy.

If you book through WDTC, you pay only a $200 deposit, but the balance is due in advance, either 45 or 90 days I think.

I like booking through CRO better, so you can still apply discounts at any time prior to your stay.

 

[LYNSUE]

I also have a PS at Spoodles 11-6-04 at 8:15pm. I will certainly be on the lookout for a group of 12. Will there be a way to recognize you?

 

[Dreamin' Disney]

Sorry I don't know how to post any pictures. However, I'm sure you will notice our large group of 12 with 2 grandparents, 4 parents, 4 girls and 2 boys. They are all teens, except for our son who is 8. I hope we will be on our best behavior!!!

 

[Chicago526]

I've recently read some VERY bad reports on Happy Limo on the Transportation board. You may want to reconsider and use either Tiffany Town Car, or FL Tours (who is a sponser of the DIS). Both have excellant reviews and both have vehicals that will fit all of you. Since town car service is rather easy to cancel and book, it shouldn't be too much trouble to change at this late date.

Here's the thread if you're interested:

http://disboards.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=666068

 

[Dreamin' Disney]

Thanks for the tip, however...

I decided against FL Tours because they are cash only. Being from Canada, I didn't want to dish out so much cash just as we arrive.

I used Tiffany Towncar on our last trip, which was satisfactory. But decided to use Happy Limo because the tip is included in the pre-paid fare, so I don't have to have extra cash to tip the driver.

I was also able to upgrade to a Ford Excursion or Expedition SUV, which is a lot nicer than the 7 passenger van, but not as expensive as a limo. Happy Limo also gave me a $5 discount each way, by mentioning I heard about them from mousesavers.com.

I am trusting everything will go smoothly, but will definitely share our experience with them upon our return.

 

[jerrysboy40]

Good Luck. BTW the GRAND GATHERINGS isn't what it is cracked up to be.

 

[Dreamin' Disney]

I have heard all the negatives about GG's. Just don't know why Disney is having all the problems when they do so many things so well.

Since our group had 12 people, they automatically assigned us a GG number - I didn't ask for it. The one benefit we will have guaranteed to us as a GG, is that we will get two adjoining rooms and the third will be either next door or across the hall. With regular reservations, this is not guaranteed.

The other benefit is to partake in one of the GG events. They are very pricey, but since this is the only time we will ever go with DH's entire family, we are splurging on this.

 

[Dreamin' Disney]

Well, we finally made it home and I've come up for air after a week getting back into our crazy life, and getting used to doing laundry, cooking and cleaning. Can't think of a better way to spend my Friday evening alone than on the DIS boards, while DH and DS are at a hockey game, DD1 is at soccer and DD2 is at her first school dance.

I have posted an extensive dining review, "Delicious Disney Dining" under Disney Restaurants. Highlights were dinners at Teppanyaki in Epcot, Spoodles and Flying Fish Cafe on the Boardwalk, buffet dinners at Hollywood & Vine with the Fantasmic Dinner Package and Cinderella's Gala Feast at 1900 Park Fare. My favorite of all was California Grill.

I will post a more thorough trip report separately but wanted to say we pretty much stuck to our plans, which was quite a feat with our large group, with only a few hiccups along the way.

By the way, Happy Limo was awesome. We were upgraded to larger vehicles on 3 out of 4 trips with them. I will post details with my full report.

Boardwalk Inn was beautiful with many Christmas decorations already up. The Inn Keeper's Club was wonderful with delicious food and beverage offerings.

The Parks were all busy this week (November 6-12) and the weather was warm and pleasant.

I only had one minor temper tantrum, after I stopped to take a picture of Merlin doing the Sword and the Stone ceremony. When I turned around, DH and DS along with DFIL, DMIL and DSIL decided to leave the park without telling me. I assumed they would be waiting in line for the bus back to our resort, but never really enjoyed walking down Main Street USA on the way out of MK. All they said when I arrived was "we knew you would catch up". I was pissed but only directed my comments at DH that HE could have been more considerate. Only DMIL apologized, bless her.

Despite this hiccup on our first day, we really had a marvelous time. It was hard waiting around for everyone to get ready and going in the mornings and whenever we had to be somewhere, especially with 2 seniors in tow. It was still a magical experience.