Our (Not-So-Surprise) Surprise Disney Trip - June 15, 2011

TreysMomma

Earning My Ears
Joined
Apr 11, 2011
Messages
44
Hello everyone....here goes my first Pre-Trip report! This will be my 6th trip to Disney, and my DF and DS's 2nd trips. Our first 'family' trip was in 2007 when my DS was only 15 months old. We drove from PA to WDW in my parents motorhome and stayed at Fort Wilderness. My DS swears he remembers the trip....but he only remembers parts that he sees in pictures lol.

Just the 8 of us:

First there's me, April. I'm a 27 year old mommy to one, I work part time at my sons head start school, and also run a couponing blog on the side. I, of course, love Disney and everything about it, and one of my favorite things now is being able to show my son all about it. I also was the one who first introduced Disney to my DF.

Then there's my DF, Clint. He's a 29 year old store manager, ex-Army guy (medical discharge), and the best daddy in the world to our son. His first trip to Disney was in 2007 and he loves it now too! He's also a big Marvel fan, so the joining of the 2 was pretty neat for the 2 of us with our favorite things joining forces! His favorite part of Disney is the food! Typical man! :)

Here's Clint and I in November on our cruise to the Bahamas...
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Our DS, Trey. He's a 4 year old, but will be 5 for our trip who is about to be a Head Start graduate and moving on to Kindergarten :( and is growing up WAY too fast for me! He's smart, super playful and active, loves being outside, and I'm also proud to say is also Disney obsessed! I'm raisin' him right :) I can't tell you his favorite Disney park or ride because he was only 15 months, but I'm pretty sure he's gonna love it all, and he's super excited about Phineas and Ferb! (He makes me play the soundtrack in the car daily!)

Trey at his Kindergarten orientation...
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Then there's my daddy, Denny. I'll be nice and not reveal his age :) He's an engineer at The Penn State University and father of 3. He was my first Prince Charming and we have a great connection since I'm his only little girl. His favorite part is really just being with his family. He only rides a handful of rides because he swears they all make him sick, (although we know it's because he's scared, lol) although he does love the food there too.

And my stepmom, Dawn. She's a substitute teacher at our local schools and mother to 2 boys. She's really a second mom to me since they have been together since I was about 6. Her favorite part is definitely the thrill rides! She will get on ANYTHING! and do it over and over and over again!

Here's my dad and Dawn at my brother's Eagle Scout Ceremony...
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Next is my little brother, Kyle, who is 19. He's currently attending Penn State University for their Theater program. He's an amazing actor and even great behind the scenes too! I always tell him he's going to be rich and take care of his little sister :) He, too, is all about the food, but loves pretty much everything about Disney.

Kyle in one of his shows doing what he does best...
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Then there's Caitlin, who is Kyles girlfriend of about 5 years. She's currently attending Lock Haven University and planning on taking up a career in music education. She's adorable and I love having her as part of our family. She's originally from Utah, and had been to Disneyland as a kid, but last year with my parents and brothers was her first trip to The World. She's now convinced that there's nothing better in the world than 'The World'.

Here's Caitlin on the 2010 trip...
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And last, but certainly not least there's my little brother, Aidan, he's 10. He's an awesome student and is really into soccer and cub scouts. He's hilarious and sometimes we thing he's an older guy trapped in a kids body with the things he says. He, like most kids, loves everything about Disney World. And his favorite part about this trip, that my parents have to pay more for him because he can finally get the adult meals! You wouldn't think it from his tiny little body, but this boy LOVES food!

And here's Aidan...
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Here's a few of my favorite pictures of us on our last trip...

Our little family when we first got to the campground...
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Clint with his Stitch ears...he's our favorite!
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Trey with his Tigger <3
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Trey after his first hair cut at the Magic Kingdom :)
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Trey meeting Eeyore for the first time (he LOVED him)
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And finally....Trey meeting Mickey for the first time!!!
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We really don't have too much planned out as far as our hour to hour plans. We know what days we are heading to what parks, and that's about as far as we've gotten so far. We have an 18 hour drive there, so we were planning on taking some of that time to discuss it since all 8 of us will be in the same vehicle. Any recommendations for things we should definitely not miss that are often overlooked would be great. We seem to hit the same things every visit...

Day 1 - June 15

We will already have the rental van since we are picking it up the night before to get all of our luggage loaded up and ready to go. We will leave central PA around 7AM, hopefully making minimal stops since we plan on taking a cooler and snacks with us. It should make for an interested trip with the 2 kiddos 4 & 10. We are taking the Playstation 3 and they each have their own screen, plus some Disney DVDs. And I made them each a bag full of goodies, like a travel book, snacks, and the like. We will drive a little over 2/3's of the trip until we get to Orangeburg, SC where we have a room reserved to get some rest, take a dip in the pool, and stretch our legs.

Day 2 - June 16

We will wake up nice and early to finish out our trip. We are hoping to be pulling up to SSR around 11-12pm. We still haven't made any concrete plans for this day, however we have ADR for the Garden Grill at 6:35pm. Besides that we may just get settled in and lounge around the hotel until we head over to Epcot.

Day 3 - June 17

Today we will head out to AK and spend the majority of the day there, until we have to leave to get ready for our ADR at O'Hanas at 7:10pm. After dinner we are planning on heading over to the MK for PM Magic Hours until 2am.

Day 4 - June 18

Today is our Grand Gathering at Tony's for breakfast at 9am. Today may end up being a Downtown Disney or 'whatever you wanna do' kinda day after breakfast. We will however head back for our special seating to SpectraMagic that night.

Day 5 - June 19

This day we will spend all day in the MK. We have ADR at the Crystal Palace at 5:45pm and there are PM Magic Hours until 2am.

Day 6 - June 20

Today is our Hollywood Studios day. We have ADR for Sci-Fi Dine In Theatre at 5:25pm and then will get to enjoy the rest of the day at HS since they have PM Magic Hours until 10pm.

Day 7 - June 21

My little brother will be doing his American Adventure YES Program seminar today...and as soon as he's done with that we will spend the day walking around the world at Epcot. I'm so excited for this day because we have ADR for Teppan Edo at 6:10pm and I've been wanting to eat there for a while now. There are PM Magic Hours here until 12am so we will have time to check out some of Future World too.

Day 8 - June 22

We will most likely spend another day at MK today. We have ADR for Rose & Crown Pub & Dining Room at Epcot at 5:30 and will probably stay there the rest of the evening.

Day 9 - June 23

Today is our 'do whatever we missed' day. We were originally going to leave early today, but then we decided, why not stay and get a good nights rest for the drive home. So we will stay until sometime around 9pm and then start driving to Orangeburg, SC again to get a good nights sleep.

Day 10 - June 24

Wake up early and drive the rest of the way back home.... :( Until next time :)
 
What are some of your favorite 'often overlooked' things to do in The World that we can add to our plans?
 

Well, packing has officially started! We are actually going camping tomorrow and Sunday, so hopefully that will help take my mind off of Disney a little. I'm way too excited already! 4 days! I'm trying to double and triple check my list to make sure we don't forget anything....I had a nightmare that I forgot my camera!
 
Joining in! We leave from Chicago on the 21st (also driving) so as you are leaving, we will be arriving!
 
Is getting ready to purchase the pre-buy PhotoPass Disc before we get down to the last few hours! Do I just buy the disc and then add the cards to it after our trip? I've never done PhotoPass before, but for the pre-buy price, I thought we'd try it out!
 















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