Okay, I know it's a little early to start a Pre-Trip report for a trip that's just over a year away. I'm not kidding anyone, am I? It would be early if this wasn't the DIS, but it is, and I'm willing to bet that there are several PTRs on here for trips even farther away than mine is. 
Anyone want to fess up?
I was actually going to wait a little longer, because I need to finish my TR from the trip we took last September, but I haven't posted on there since last April, and now for some reason I can't post on it anymore, so I have nothing left to do, but start this Pre-Trippie.
C'mon, seriously. I'm not the only one planning when we have over a year to go, right? Well, I'm going to go on as if the answer to that question is 'no'.
Here are the details, such as they are currently:
We are planning our trip for September 18-26, 2009. There is a very important reason for starting so early...we're are ferverently hoping Free Dining will be offered again, but figuring it will end on the 19th. So we have to check in before that. The kids are out of school for Fall Break from the 21st-25th. Normally it would be the week before, but they've pushed it back a week this year for some reason. Being an out-of-work teacher that is PRAYING for a job next year, I'm going to need to go that week too. So there you have the dates.
The players:
Me (Heather)-currently 32, but I'll be 33 by the time of the trip (pretty much everyone has a birthday between now and then-my brother actually has 2). I have a Masters in Education from the University of Florida, but have stayed home with my kids, for the most part, since my oldest was born 6 1/2 years ago. I've tried to get a teaching job the last two years, but have been unsuccessful, so I'm subbing for now. I am praying by the time this trip rolls around I will actually have a full-time job. I was born in Florida, and mostly raised there, except for ages 6 months-8 years when I moved around thanks to the Air Force. I was dragged kicking and screaming to North Georgia a little over two years ago when DH was promoted to a management position (that has since then let him go-I knew we shouldn't trust anybody who wanted to move us away from Florida!). I am used to being able to go to Disney several times a year, but have only managed to get back ONCE (Sept. 07) since we've been here. I am going through serious withdrawl. I am also seriously into scrapbooking and photography. I will probably come home with 2000 pictures (and that's a conservate estimate).
DH (Mathew)-currently 31, will be 32. Matt is basically in Sales/Customer Service/Management/Distribution. He worked for Pepsi and then an air conditioning filter company until they let him go last May when they were bought out. He is currently working for a local hospital as an Inventory Specialist (I think that's his title), but hopes to be moving up soon. He is a great dad and a great baseball coach, who pretends to "tolerate" my love of Disney, but every once in a while slips up and asks when we're going again (or lately whether it's Sept. 2009 yet). Matt was born in Alaska and also moved around thanks to the Air Force, but was raised in Florida from the age of 8 or so. It should probably be noted that Matt is a Bama fan. This is important because the rest of us are huge Florida Gator fans, but we figure everyone is entitled to one fault.
DS1 (Will)-currently 6 1/2, will be 7 at the time of the trip. Will is old enough to remember the fact that we went to Disney several times a year when we lived in Florida. We don't mention DW around him often, unless we want to endure constant begging for weeks. He is in 1st grade (but will be in 2nd...you know where I'm going with this) and loves baseball (he's very good-he was on All Stars this past summer) and NASCAR (Dale Jr.). His is also a big fan of Disney, especially Phineas and Ferb and HSM (yes, it's okay for boys, especially young ones, to be HSM fans...especially girl-crazy 6 year olds who have crushes on Vanessa Hudgens). He also likes Wizards of Waverly Place and Hannah Montana (for the same reason as HSM) and Suite Life of Zack and Cody. So, I guess, basically Disney.
DS2 (Christian)-currently 3, will be 4 at the time of the trip (man, not happy about that thought!). He's the baby, and he knows it. Unfortunately for him (and fortunately for the rest of us) my brother and SIL are having a baby in January so he will no longer be the "baby". He doesn't really understand this fact yet. He's in preschool and loves it. He absolutely loves Phineas and Ferb and pretty much anything on Nick Jr. or Noggin. He also really likes Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, but isn't much into the rest of Playhouse Disney anymore (well, most of the time he still loves Little Einsteins). He is playing soccer this fall....and probably in the Spring....and next fall, because he's not quite old enough for baseball. Misses the cutoff by a month. I hope he likes soccer. He still likes to cuddle when he's hurt or tired, but this may not still be the case by the time the trip gets here.
Cole-currently 6, will be 7 at the time of the trip. Cole is a friend of Will's from baseball. He is not 100% as things can change, but his parents have already given the okay, so I'm planning for him. I'm so excited that Will has the chance to bring a friend of the trip. I always enjoyed bringing friends (although I never did so until high school) and Cole is a sweetie. He only increases the price of the trip about $300 for the whole week (not counting extras, of course, just the package), and when you're spending $3000, what's an extra $300, right? Okay, it's a room upgrade. I was considering the Pirate room at Caribbean Beach for this trip, but we're going to forego the upgrade and bring Cole instead. He's worth it. He also loves baseball and apparently HSM (judging from the fact that he knows every word of the soundtrack as well as Will).
Here's a picture of us (sans Cole) that we had taken last time we were at Disney (or rather two pictures):
Me and Matt
Will and Christian
That's the end of our "group". Those staying with us all the time in our room. There are others going though. Here are the rest of our "Group" "with a capital G".
My brother (Billy)-he's the one with the tricky age. He's 30 currently, but by the time of the trip he will be 32. Well, actually ON the trip he will be 32. His birthday is September 20th, so he'll celebrate while we're there. I think I'll make him wear a birthday pin that day...or the whole trip. He is at least as OCD as I am (probably more) and loves Disney, but probably again not as much as me. He works in Human Resources at the hospital where Matt works. His favorite thing to do seems to be playing World of Warcraft, but that will change in January. He also graduated from the University of Florida.
SIL (Valerie)-currently 25, will be 26 at the time of the trip. Val is awesome. I couldn't ask for a better SIL. She is a great friend and will be a great mother. I just wish she'd get into scrapbooking. She is also a big Disney fan and is going through withdrawl herself. She was born and raised in Gainesville, Florida. She also plays World of Warcraft, but not as much lately I think. She is not a reader, but is currently working her was through the Harry Potter books for the second time-thanks to her SIL (me) who is a reader. She finally decided after seeing the 5th movie that she needed to know what else was going on that the movies left out. She will soon be a first-time mom.
Player-to-be-named-later-currently growing inside his/her Mama's tummy, will be about 8 months old at the time of the trip (due January 28, 2009). Billy and Val are expecting their first child in late January. So the baby will be making his/her first trip. They are supposed to be finding out the sex of the baby on the 18th of this month, so I will update this in a couple weeks with a name.
Mom (Carol)-currently 56, will be 57 at the time of the trip-YIKES
(don't tell her I said that!). She is mom to Bill and me and Grandma to all the kids except Cole. HUGE Disney fan, HUGE Florida fan. She hasn't said for sure that she's going on this trip yet, but if all her grandkids are going, she will be there. And they will be glad she's there because her favorite thing to do is spend money...especially on them.
Dad (Bill)-currently 55, will be 56 at the time of the trip. Hates Disney (I'm not sure I can use that phrase here). How about really dislikes. He doesn't like the heat, doesn't like the lines, and really doesn't like the amount of money he has to spend to go....or the amount of money my mom spends on shopping. He wouldn't go at all if the grandkids weren't go, but will go (and enjoy it-though he'd never admit it) because they are there. He doesn't even like the Disney channel. He does, however, like the Disney golf courses, and he, Matt, and Billy will probably end up there one of the days.
It's possible that one or both sets of my grandparents will also come. There is an extremely good chance that at the very least my grandmother (my mom's mom) will be there. It's been a while since they've gone too, and she's been wanting to go. My grandfather will probably come if my grandmother comes, but he'll probably spend most of the time in the room or at the hotel. I'm not sure about my dad's mom and her boyfriend. IF they come, it will probably just be for the day, as they live in Polk county and can be there in less than an hour.
The PLAN: As you can see, we have a total of 9 paying attendees, so we are officially a Grand Gathering. Whether or not we take advantage of the Grand Gathering experiences is yet to be decided, but I'd really like to at least do the Safari thing because Christian is (at least right now) a HUGE animal fan. We will be getting Park Hoppers (which we usually get, but didn't last time) and Water Parks and More upgrades (the kids haven't been to Disney Quest since they were too young to care). Matt and I are currently planning to take advantage of Simba's Club or one of those places one night so that we can go to Pleasure Island (I've never been). We will definitely do Sea World for at least one day (Will has loved whales since before he could talk), and possibly Aquatica if I can swing it (I love water parks). We might do La Nouba (Matt, Will, and I have seen it mulitple times but love it-Christian and Cole have not seen it). These "plans" only refer to the top 5 of us. I'm not sure what my brother's family and my parents will or won't be doing.
I have already preordered the 2009 Passporter, so I should get it pretty early next month (I hope). I am planning to give one to my brother's family as part of their Christmas present (Passporters are AWESOME by the way). We are all excited and ready to start planning. I hope you will indulge me as I come back to post the things I am picking up along the way for the kids, and the different plans that are made and changed. I can't wait to share this journey with all of you. It will be a long one...but a fun one!
Anyone want to fess up? I was actually going to wait a little longer, because I need to finish my TR from the trip we took last September, but I haven't posted on there since last April, and now for some reason I can't post on it anymore, so I have nothing left to do, but start this Pre-Trippie.
C'mon, seriously. I'm not the only one planning when we have over a year to go, right? Well, I'm going to go on as if the answer to that question is 'no'.
Here are the details, such as they are currently:
We are planning our trip for September 18-26, 2009. There is a very important reason for starting so early...we're are ferverently hoping Free Dining will be offered again, but figuring it will end on the 19th. So we have to check in before that. The kids are out of school for Fall Break from the 21st-25th. Normally it would be the week before, but they've pushed it back a week this year for some reason. Being an out-of-work teacher that is PRAYING for a job next year, I'm going to need to go that week too. So there you have the dates.
The players:
Me (Heather)-currently 32, but I'll be 33 by the time of the trip (pretty much everyone has a birthday between now and then-my brother actually has 2). I have a Masters in Education from the University of Florida, but have stayed home with my kids, for the most part, since my oldest was born 6 1/2 years ago. I've tried to get a teaching job the last two years, but have been unsuccessful, so I'm subbing for now. I am praying by the time this trip rolls around I will actually have a full-time job. I was born in Florida, and mostly raised there, except for ages 6 months-8 years when I moved around thanks to the Air Force. I was dragged kicking and screaming to North Georgia a little over two years ago when DH was promoted to a management position (that has since then let him go-I knew we shouldn't trust anybody who wanted to move us away from Florida!). I am used to being able to go to Disney several times a year, but have only managed to get back ONCE (Sept. 07) since we've been here. I am going through serious withdrawl. I am also seriously into scrapbooking and photography. I will probably come home with 2000 pictures (and that's a conservate estimate).
DH (Mathew)-currently 31, will be 32. Matt is basically in Sales/Customer Service/Management/Distribution. He worked for Pepsi and then an air conditioning filter company until they let him go last May when they were bought out. He is currently working for a local hospital as an Inventory Specialist (I think that's his title), but hopes to be moving up soon. He is a great dad and a great baseball coach, who pretends to "tolerate" my love of Disney, but every once in a while slips up and asks when we're going again (or lately whether it's Sept. 2009 yet). Matt was born in Alaska and also moved around thanks to the Air Force, but was raised in Florida from the age of 8 or so. It should probably be noted that Matt is a Bama fan. This is important because the rest of us are huge Florida Gator fans, but we figure everyone is entitled to one fault.
DS1 (Will)-currently 6 1/2, will be 7 at the time of the trip. Will is old enough to remember the fact that we went to Disney several times a year when we lived in Florida. We don't mention DW around him often, unless we want to endure constant begging for weeks. He is in 1st grade (but will be in 2nd...you know where I'm going with this) and loves baseball (he's very good-he was on All Stars this past summer) and NASCAR (Dale Jr.). His is also a big fan of Disney, especially Phineas and Ferb and HSM (yes, it's okay for boys, especially young ones, to be HSM fans...especially girl-crazy 6 year olds who have crushes on Vanessa Hudgens). He also likes Wizards of Waverly Place and Hannah Montana (for the same reason as HSM) and Suite Life of Zack and Cody. So, I guess, basically Disney.
DS2 (Christian)-currently 3, will be 4 at the time of the trip (man, not happy about that thought!). He's the baby, and he knows it. Unfortunately for him (and fortunately for the rest of us) my brother and SIL are having a baby in January so he will no longer be the "baby". He doesn't really understand this fact yet. He's in preschool and loves it. He absolutely loves Phineas and Ferb and pretty much anything on Nick Jr. or Noggin. He also really likes Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, but isn't much into the rest of Playhouse Disney anymore (well, most of the time he still loves Little Einsteins). He is playing soccer this fall....and probably in the Spring....and next fall, because he's not quite old enough for baseball. Misses the cutoff by a month. I hope he likes soccer. He still likes to cuddle when he's hurt or tired, but this may not still be the case by the time the trip gets here.
Cole-currently 6, will be 7 at the time of the trip. Cole is a friend of Will's from baseball. He is not 100% as things can change, but his parents have already given the okay, so I'm planning for him. I'm so excited that Will has the chance to bring a friend of the trip. I always enjoyed bringing friends (although I never did so until high school) and Cole is a sweetie. He only increases the price of the trip about $300 for the whole week (not counting extras, of course, just the package), and when you're spending $3000, what's an extra $300, right? Okay, it's a room upgrade. I was considering the Pirate room at Caribbean Beach for this trip, but we're going to forego the upgrade and bring Cole instead. He's worth it. He also loves baseball and apparently HSM (judging from the fact that he knows every word of the soundtrack as well as Will).
Here's a picture of us (sans Cole) that we had taken last time we were at Disney (or rather two pictures):
Me and Matt
Will and Christian
That's the end of our "group". Those staying with us all the time in our room. There are others going though. Here are the rest of our "Group" "with a capital G".
My brother (Billy)-he's the one with the tricky age. He's 30 currently, but by the time of the trip he will be 32. Well, actually ON the trip he will be 32. His birthday is September 20th, so he'll celebrate while we're there. I think I'll make him wear a birthday pin that day...or the whole trip. He is at least as OCD as I am (probably more) and loves Disney, but probably again not as much as me. He works in Human Resources at the hospital where Matt works. His favorite thing to do seems to be playing World of Warcraft, but that will change in January. He also graduated from the University of Florida.
SIL (Valerie)-currently 25, will be 26 at the time of the trip. Val is awesome. I couldn't ask for a better SIL. She is a great friend and will be a great mother. I just wish she'd get into scrapbooking. She is also a big Disney fan and is going through withdrawl herself. She was born and raised in Gainesville, Florida. She also plays World of Warcraft, but not as much lately I think. She is not a reader, but is currently working her was through the Harry Potter books for the second time-thanks to her SIL (me) who is a reader. She finally decided after seeing the 5th movie that she needed to know what else was going on that the movies left out. She will soon be a first-time mom.
Player-to-be-named-later-currently growing inside his/her Mama's tummy, will be about 8 months old at the time of the trip (due January 28, 2009). Billy and Val are expecting their first child in late January. So the baby will be making his/her first trip. They are supposed to be finding out the sex of the baby on the 18th of this month, so I will update this in a couple weeks with a name.
Mom (Carol)-currently 56, will be 57 at the time of the trip-YIKES
(don't tell her I said that!). She is mom to Bill and me and Grandma to all the kids except Cole. HUGE Disney fan, HUGE Florida fan. She hasn't said for sure that she's going on this trip yet, but if all her grandkids are going, she will be there. And they will be glad she's there because her favorite thing to do is spend money...especially on them.Dad (Bill)-currently 55, will be 56 at the time of the trip. Hates Disney (I'm not sure I can use that phrase here). How about really dislikes. He doesn't like the heat, doesn't like the lines, and really doesn't like the amount of money he has to spend to go....or the amount of money my mom spends on shopping. He wouldn't go at all if the grandkids weren't go, but will go (and enjoy it-though he'd never admit it) because they are there. He doesn't even like the Disney channel. He does, however, like the Disney golf courses, and he, Matt, and Billy will probably end up there one of the days.
It's possible that one or both sets of my grandparents will also come. There is an extremely good chance that at the very least my grandmother (my mom's mom) will be there. It's been a while since they've gone too, and she's been wanting to go. My grandfather will probably come if my grandmother comes, but he'll probably spend most of the time in the room or at the hotel. I'm not sure about my dad's mom and her boyfriend. IF they come, it will probably just be for the day, as they live in Polk county and can be there in less than an hour.
The PLAN: As you can see, we have a total of 9 paying attendees, so we are officially a Grand Gathering. Whether or not we take advantage of the Grand Gathering experiences is yet to be decided, but I'd really like to at least do the Safari thing because Christian is (at least right now) a HUGE animal fan. We will be getting Park Hoppers (which we usually get, but didn't last time) and Water Parks and More upgrades (the kids haven't been to Disney Quest since they were too young to care). Matt and I are currently planning to take advantage of Simba's Club or one of those places one night so that we can go to Pleasure Island (I've never been). We will definitely do Sea World for at least one day (Will has loved whales since before he could talk), and possibly Aquatica if I can swing it (I love water parks). We might do La Nouba (Matt, Will, and I have seen it mulitple times but love it-Christian and Cole have not seen it). These "plans" only refer to the top 5 of us. I'm not sure what my brother's family and my parents will or won't be doing.
I have already preordered the 2009 Passporter, so I should get it pretty early next month (I hope). I am planning to give one to my brother's family as part of their Christmas present (Passporters are AWESOME by the way). We are all excited and ready to start planning. I hope you will indulge me as I come back to post the things I am picking up along the way for the kids, and the different plans that are made and changed. I can't wait to share this journey with all of you. It will be a long one...but a fun one!
sounds like a party to me , and im sorry to say this but plesure island is closing sept 2008 
and just like you never bin there walk throw it never stop , and i allredy started to plan are next trip in 2010
I'm in. We early trippers need as much support as we can get! 
Cute family!
I'm so glad you're here.
But happy for you. 
I started to do an index but I admit there is so much insane chatter in between snippets of planning. We are closer now, only 240 days away and when I began we were over 500. 
You are not alone is your early planning! 
They are great but very hard to keep up with. 
With the help of my wonderful ticker (DUH!)...1 year and 8 days, or rather...
), is POR. I was thinking about CB in the Pirate rooms (because those look super-cool!), but then we decided on our little tag-along, and he took the extra $$$ I was planning for the upgraded room. Plus, he makes 5, which won't fit into one room at CB, but can fit in one room at POR.
You have stayed at a ton of resorts! What did you do when you worked for Disney? 
and the food court rocked! The only I didn't love was the bus service. Our line was double the size of any other at all times. 
Seriously. Disney has a building in Orlando and one in Tampa where calls are routed. I have no idea what decides where the calls go. Training was awesome and a lot of fun, but then reality hit and it was a lot like any other place that does that kind of thing. We had quotas we were supposed to meet, and I am just not a salesperson. Plus I found out I was pregnant with Christian just about a month into training. I was driving about an hour each way, and I had a fair amount of morning sickness. My training hours were fairly normal, like 7 to 3 or something, but then I ended up on "evening" shift (which meant closing, like 11pm) and I was exhausted driving home pregnant through downtown Tampa (we lived in Clearwater). So I finally quit a couple of days after Christmas (yes, I had to work Christmas, of course. No seniority). 
You could turn him into a little disco boy--no one would ever know!
