One Mom and Three Kids Tackle the World in a Week - Dec '09 Trip Report - Complete :)

[Momof2Disneyboys]

Congrats on your trip!! That will be fun to let someone else do the planning and just go with the flow! I'm sure you will have a great time.

 

[If U Had Wings]

Congrats on the new trip! Your going to have a blast.

 

[SoonerGirl]

Yay! I'm glad you decided to go, girlfriend trips are awesome!

I'm sorry you have people that you feel you need to keep this from

 

[Lovemy3babes]

Which Vera bag are you getting? You'll have to post a pic when you get it!

I decided to go with a hipster. This won't be my every day purse but something fun to use at Disney and anywhere else it fits. I am getting the "sittin in a tree" print. I think it's different and cute.

I am excited for you to have this trip. If you go into it knowing it is going to be different than being with your kids, you will love it! Doing grown-up things and just going at a different pace and seeing more details than you might if the kids were there - all of that is nice for a short trip.

All that good eating should make for a wonderful trip, too!

Sorry you have people in your life that think you shouldn't go. I doubt you tell them what to do and where to go or not to go. Just because of that, I hope you have an even more marvelous time, because you probably deserve it more than we even know!

Thanks MeMom. That means a lot to me. It will be a different trip for sure but different is good sometimes. I am all about eating, I love to eat so am excited to try a couple new places this time around.

Kelli! That's great that you are going! You totally deserve it and I hope you have a great time. It's always too bad when people don't support decisions you make. Don't let anyone bring you down about it. It's four days of your life - that's YOUR life. It's not about making everyone else happy or satisfied.
That said, your ADRs sound good. I've eaten at Teppan Edo and loved it. 1900 we did for dinner and enjoyed it. The characters were great, food was pretty good too. I loved the strawberry soup. We're going to Boma on our July trip. I'll let you know how that is! Heard great things. Never been to H&V.

I'm excited Sheree! It's tough for me sometimes to not let what others think bother me. I'll try to get over that! I've read such good things about the strawberry soup. Is it a dessert kind of thing? Definitely let me know what you think of Boma, ok?

Hurray for a trip! It sounds like it will be a lot of fun!!! Just remember the kids are young and will get to Disney many times in their lives!

My lips are sealed on Facebook!

You are right Jackie. They WILL be back for sure. I'll try to keep that in mind.

 

[Lovemy3babes]

I'm so excited for you!!! I would LOVE a girlfriend trip to WDW.

We did both Boma and 1900 Park Fare last year...both were wonderful! Are you going for breakfast, lunch, or dinner? You can't beat the step-sisters for entertainment, that's for sure. I've heard good things about the other meals, too. And Boma is one of my family's favorites.

I think we're doing breakfast at Boma and then dinner at 1900 Park Fare. I hope the food is good!

Congrats on your trip!! That will be fun to let someone else do the planning and just go with the flow! I'm sure you will have a great time.

Thank you!! It will be way different for me to not be the OCD Dis planner. Hopefully I can manage.

Congrats on the new trip! Your going to have a blast.

Thanks!! I hope so!!

Yay! I'm glad you decided to go, girlfriend trips are awesome!

I'm sorry you have people that you feel you need to keep this from

Thanks Michelle. I thought about it for a long time and just decided to go for it. I knew if I didn't, I'd probably regret not being able to get back for over a year from now. Eh, some people...

 

[karebear23]

Just read your TR. What a fun time! How wonderful you are having a return trip with the girls ! I've been trying to get one together...but my friends aren't into disney.
So it's only trips with the kiddos for me!
I totally can relate about the guilty feelings! I would feel the same way!

But I'm only 80 miles away from the world...so we try to often. We will be there tomorrow for dd 4th bday !

 

[Lovemy3babes]

Just read your TR. What a fun time! How wonderful you are having a return trip with the girls ! I've been trying to get one together...but my friends aren't into disney.
So it's only trips with the kiddos for me!
I totally can relate about the guilty feelings! I would feel the same way!

But I'm only 80 miles away from the world...so we try to often. We will be there tomorrow for dd 4th bday !

Aw, thanks for reading! We had such a lovely trip. I just cannot wait to take the kids back again. I wish you had Disney friends but at least you live close enough to go often. That would be fantastic!!

 

[Mona503]

I just found this message board about a week ago. I decided to use my first post to tell you how much I enjoyed reading about your trip. In the beginning you said you weren't a very good writer but you are selling yourself way short. You are a great writer! So many times I felt I was right there with you, experiencing the things your family did. Thank you for posting this.

 

[DisneyJo]

Your last day was our arrival day!!!!

Thanks so much for a great TR, it sounds as though you all had such a great time

Congrats on your trip, you'll have a great time and to the unsupportive family!

Oh 2 things has your sister had her baby? And how are the girls braces going?

 

[Lovemy3babes]

I just found this message board about a week ago. I decided to use my first post to tell you how much I enjoyed reading about your trip. In the beginning you said you weren't a very good writer but you are selling yourself way short. You are a great writer! So many times I felt I was right there with you, experiencing the things your family did. Thank you for posting this.

Oh Mona, you about made me cry. Thank you!!! What nice words and welcome to the Dis boards!

Your last day was our arrival day!!!!

Thanks so much for a great TR, it sounds as though you all had such a great time

Congrats on your trip, you'll have a great time and to the unsupportive family!

Oh 2 things has your sister had her baby? And how are the girls braces going?

Your arrival day was gorgeous then Jo! You lucky duck! We did have a wonderful trip. I am very blessed for sure.

My sister did have her baby, thank you for asking. Hadley Kay was born last month. I got to be there for her birth and she is just gorgeous!!

The braces are going okay. The girls adjusted pretty well and I have heard very few complaints. They got their wires tightened for the first time last Friday and they both were a little sore. Not too bad though. For this set, Morghan chose silver rubber bands and Mykenah decided to go with alternating lilac and light blue. Picking colors is the most fun part of braces I think!

 

[jenseib]

YAY! I am so excited for you. I would love to do a girlfrineds trip, but I don't have many friends now that I got married and the ones I have really would nver do Disney with me. And if they did, I don't think we would have the same toruing styles.

 

[Megablocks]

I'm so excited you get to do the girls' trip! Sorry you have some people you need to keep this from! I've kind of kept quiet about hopefully taking a trip with Katie and her boyfriend because mine is worried about the cost -- he'd never tell me not to go, but he has suggested that it might not be wise and he believes that the cost is astronomical. I'll hopefully be able to talk him into going one day because he's never been, and he'll understand why I am so in love with it!

 

[Lovemy3babes]

YAY! I am so excited for you. I would love to do a girlfrineds trip, but I don't have many friends now that I got married and the ones I have really would nver do Disney with me. And if they did, I don't think we would have the same toruing styles.

Oh, that's too bad! I'm a rope drop kind of person and I do know this will not be one of those kind of trips. It'll be neat to do something different though.

 

[Lovemy3babes]

I'm so excited you get to do the girls' trip! Sorry you have some people you need to keep this from! I've kind of kept quiet about hopefully taking a trip with Katie and her boyfriend because mine is worried about the cost -- he'd never tell me not to go, but he has suggested that it might not be wise and he believes that the cost is astronomical. I'll hopefully be able to talk him into going one day because he's never been, and he'll understand why I am so in love with it!

You know, my husband is sort of the same way. He has no interest in Disney at all. He just does not "get it" and I'm sort of done trying to talk him into going with us. I've come to accept the fact that I will most likely take the kiddos by myself or with other family members from now on and if by some miracle he decides to ever come with, well then that would be a miracle.

 

[Lovemy3babes]

Hi friends. I thought I would wrap up our December trip with some final thoughts. I'm a little rambly today so I'll just compile them in a list format if that's okay. Don't mind me....it's the end of the school year and my workload is insane. I'm taking Friday off to help with my brother's wedding and to reclaim some of my mental health before it all disappears.

• I probably would not ever schedule another December trip. It was wonderful to see all of the Christmas decorations but that’s really not why we were there. It felt very hectic basically missing a week of my holiday planning and coming home to cards to send, gifts to buy, concerts and church to attend, etc, etc. It was just too much. The weather was iffy too and that was a bummer coming from already freezing Minnesota.
  
• We flew in on Allegiant Air into Orland-Sanford. The low rates are what hooked us in. But when you add in a $200/transfer, it’s not quite as a big savings are you are planning. They also only fly out on Wednesdays and Saturdays so your planning is limited as well. The flight times are crummy. But we live in a rural area so our choices are limited. As an option in the future, I’m going to really shop around on airfare. The closer bigger airpors are 4+ hours away and I usually have noooo desire to drive 4+ hours home after a week’s vacation. We’ll see.
  
• Old Key West was really nice! I liked the relaxed feel of the resort. However, I would have asked for a better room location. We were all the way at the BACK of the resort.
  
• Tour Guide Mike was wonderful!!! His advice was well worth the $20. I followed that the best I could and we saw so much more than our first trip. Rope drops are really the way to go for our family. How awesome to get in, see a ton and then be able to eat, take a break or leave as the masses flood in. LOVED THAT! And I loved his “green park” choices. I would 100% recommend his service.
  
• We bought our tickets this time from Undercover Tourist and saved some money too. That was great and their service also was fast and phenomenal!
  
• I am getting a different park bag. I’m over my bright purple Baggalini.
  
• Having a case of water delivered from Costco was a brilliant idea! We saved mucho money on that.
  
• I’m kind of up in the air on the dining plan. We used cash this time and looking back, probably did save money. But having the convenience of the dining plan on our previous trip was nice. However, I will have two adult priced kiddos to pay for next time so it will be an even more important decision to make.
  
• Next time I think I’ll probably plan more resort time. We did schedule a break day and that was really nice! It allowed us to sleep in and explore DTD with no rushing to get anywhere. Next time we will go is October so it should be warmer. We are staying at CBR, which has a fantastic pool so I want to have more than one day the kids can swim while we bum around the resort.
  
• I have to quit letting crabby guests get to me. We ran into a few this trip and it did put a damper on the day. Things people do, say and think get to me and I really need to not wear my heart on my sleeve so much. I’m such a wimpy crygirl.
  
• I probably will not come back when big cheer/dance crowds are there. No thanks.
  
• Teva mush sandals – love them!
  
• Maclaren volo stroller – love it!
  
• I am going to schedule more new meals for us. I fell back on some old favorites, which is okay but I’d like to always give something new a try.
  
• The same with resorts! I’m going to try and book a new one each time, even if it is a split stay so I can really broaden my horizons.

That's my update for today. I do have some future Disney plans, which I want to share with you all. Stay tuned.

 

[Charleston Princess]

Great final thoughts, Kelli! I really like all of your insight and should probably write some of them down!

Hope you don't lose your mind before Friday! Hang in there!

 

[Mndisneygirl]

Lots of good final thoughts Kelli! Since I was there around the same time, I would probably have some very similar things.

I'm looking forward to hear about your future plans!! I hope that your week goes smoothly and you can relax this weekend!

 

[Lovemy3babes]

Great final thoughts, Kelli! I really like all of your insight and should probably write some of them down!

Hope you don't lose your mind before Friday! Hang in there!

Thanks Jackie. With my luck lately, I most definitely should write them down.

Lots of good final thoughts Kelli! Since I was there around the same time, I would probably have some very similar things.

I'm looking forward to hear about your future plans!! I hope that your week goes smoothly and you can relax this weekend!

Hi Sheree! I keep forgetting we were there at the exact same time. I wish we would have met before so we could have visited while we were there. That would have been fun.

 

[trixiequilts]

I'm behind, but I just wanted to say how excited I am about your next trip!!! I would LOVE to do that with one of my friends someday! How is the (non) planning coming along???

 

[Momof2Disneyboys]

Hi friends. I thought I would wrap up our December trip with some final thoughts. I'm a little rambly today so I'll just compile them in a list format if that's okay. Don't mind me....it's the end of the school year and my workload is insane. I'm taking Friday off to help with my brother's wedding and to reclaim some of my mental health before it all disappears.

• I probably would not ever schedule another December trip. It was wonderful to see all of the Christmas decorations but that’s really not why we were there. It felt very hectic basically missing a week of my holiday planning and coming home to cards to send, gifts to buy, concerts and church to attend, etc, etc. It was just too much. The weather was iffy too and that was a bummer coming from already freezing Minnesota.
  
• We flew in on Allegiant Air into Orland-Sanford. The low rates are what hooked us in. But when you add in a $200/transfer, it’s not quite as a big savings are you are planning. They also only fly out on Wednesdays and Saturdays so your planning is limited as well. The flight times are crummy. But we live in a rural area so our choices are limited. As an option in the future, I’m going to really shop around on airfare. The closer bigger airpors are 4+ hours away and I usually have noooo desire to drive 4+ hours home after a week’s vacation. We’ll see.
  
• Old Key West was really nice! I liked the relaxed feel of the resort. However, I would have asked for a better room location. We were all the way at the BACK of the resort.
  
• Tour Guide Mike was wonderful!!! His advice was well worth the $20. I followed that the best I could and we saw so much more than our first trip. Rope drops are really the way to go for our family. How awesome to get in, see a ton and then be able to eat, take a break or leave as the masses flood in. LOVED THAT! And I loved his “green park” choices. I would 100% recommend his service.
  
• We bought our tickets this time from Undercover Tourist and saved some money too. That was great and their service also was fast and phenomenal!
  
• I am getting a different park bag. I’m over my bright purple Baggalini.
  
• Having a case of water delivered from Costco was a brilliant idea! We saved mucho money on that.
  
• I’m kind of up in the air on the dining plan. We used cash this time and looking back, probably did save money. But having the convenience of the dining plan on our previous trip was nice. However, I will have two adult priced kiddos to pay for next time so it will be an even more important decision to make.
  
• Next time I think I’ll probably plan more resort time. We did schedule a break day and that was really nice! It allowed us to sleep in and explore DTD with no rushing to get anywhere. Next time we will go is October so it should be warmer. We are staying at CBR, which has a fantastic pool so I want to have more than one day the kids can swim while we bum around the resort.
  
• I have to quit letting crabby guests get to me. We ran into a few this trip and it did put a damper on the day. Things people do, say and think get to me and I really need to not wear my heart on my sleeve so much. I’m such a wimpy crygirl.
  
• I probably will not come back when big cheer/dance crowds are there. No thanks.
  
• Teva mush sandals – love them!
  
• Maclaren volo stroller – love it!
  
• I am going to schedule more new meals for us. I fell back on some old favorites, which is okay but I’d like to always give something new a try.
  
• The same with resorts! I’m going to try and book a new one each time, even if it is a split stay so I can really broaden my horizons.

That's my update for today. I do have some future Disney plans, which I want to share with you all. Stay tuned.

Love your final thoughts. I would have to agree with several of them.

Would love to fly Allegiant out of a smaller airport, but hate their flight times.

I probably wouldn't ever go in December. Just too much going on!

OKW is great -- but hated our room location.

I'm up in the air about the DDP too. We are going without it this time and seeing how it goes. Rumor has it that next year it won't even include a dessert and will only go down in cost like $1. If that ends up to be true, between that and DS11 being an adult, we are done with it for good!

No matter how much time I spend at the resort I always come home wishing I had spent more time at the resort!

And I definitely love trying new restaurants and resorts! You only get to WDW so many times, why not make each trip a new experience!

Thanks so much for sharing your trip with us. Looking forward to the next TR!