PTR December 2016/January 2017

[Kiersten]

Hey y'all! I'm Kiersten and I'm new up here. I was looking for budget Disney ideas when I came across the board. I'm a huge Disney fan but I've only been to Disney once. I was 4 years old when we went to Disney Thanksgiving 1997. I remember a lot of it though! I remember loving the Dumbo ride, Splash Mountain, It's a Small World, and the castle being decorated with candy and pink! I also remember staying in the Disney Al star Sports hotel. Sadly, it will have been 20 years since I've been when I get to go next. My boyfriend's parents, his sister, her boyfriend, her son, her boyfriend's son, me, and my boyfriend are all going to Disney the first week of January 2017. We are actually leaving December 31st and driving to Florida. We live in Virginia so it will probably take us a day or so to get there. That's all I know for the moment but hopefully we will have some more detailed plans sketched out in the next few months. We just decided on the dates over dinner last weekend.

 

[Kiersten]

Whew, we've barely started planning the trip and already hitting a few bumps! One was a house fire. We haven't cancelled yet though! The nephews (as I'll call the kids going) have been through a lot this year so they really need a trip to Disney to have some fun. I'll update as we plan more!

 

[Kiersten]

Went to lunch with the family today and discussed some trip planning with my boyfriend's dad. We are going to talk to a a travel agent this week. Boyfriend and I might head out a day before everyone else so we can visit my cousin who lives in Tampa.

 

[Kiersten]

Thinking about flying instead of driving! I hope so. I'm not much for car trips but I love planes! Plus plane tickets are really cheap right now! Will probably make that decision when we talk to the agent on Saturday.

 

[Kiersten]

Trip planning has officially begun! I didn't go to the travel agent but my boyfriend's parents did. We then had a family dinner and discussed and voted on everything. Boyfriend's dad is booking the packages on Monday! We will be flying into Orlando December 31st, getting six day park hopper passes, staying at All Star Sports, and leaving the sixth at four pm! I get to spend my 24th birthday in Disney and I'm psyched!!!!!! I'll start proper trip planning post soon!

 

[Kiersten]

Packages and flights are booked! Now is the countdown!

 

[mdsouth]

How exciting for you!It really is a reality once your trip is booked! Put on your dancing shoes and DANCE!

Sorry to hear about the house fire. I hope everyone was okay but I know it must be difficult to go through when one loses sentimental items in a fire.

So, what would you love to do first?

PS - I love the photo of you with Mickey!

 

[Kiersten]

How exciting for you!It really is a reality once your trip is booked! Put on your dancing shoes and DANCE!

Sorry to hear about the house fire. I hope everyone was okay but I know it must be difficult to go through when one loses sentimental items in a fire.

So, what would you love to do first?

PS - I love the photo of you with Mickey!

Thank you! The photo was taken on our trip Thanksgiving 1997. I was four and my brother who is in the picture was six.

As far as the fire, the house was condemned but some rooms just had smoke damage. Most of the kid's toys survived the fire. It was mainly the kitchen, living room, and attic that burned. The cat and two dogs survived thanks to quick acting neighbors. The house was gutted and renovated. They just have to put in flooring and counters, then they can move back in. Possibly next month!

That's a hard choice of what I would do first. Tomorrow we are having a planning meeting to decide on the finer details of the trip. I think we are going to do Animal Kingdom first so I will probably try to go on the Kilamanjaro Sarfari. I'm a big animal lover and I'm really excited. The last time I went to Disney, AK wasn't open yet!

 

[Kiersten]

Had a planning meeting today! We finally wrote down what parks we are going to do what days and what attractions. We also chose our table service restaurants. We are going to have another meeting in a couple of weeks to book our ADRs and FastPasses! I'm loving that things are more set in stone now!

 

[fallonkendra]

How exciting! We're going to be at Disney at the same time! We actually stayed at All Star Music on our trip earlier this year, and it was great for us - nothing fancy, but it had lots of Disney touches and theming, and the price was right haha. I look forward to seeing what you pick for ADR's - you might want to get on that sooner than later though, since you are within your 180 day window already. I'm sure you'll be fine, you just might not be able to find your first choice of times. Can't wait to read about more of your plans!

 

[Kiersten]

Yes, we are doing our ADRs in a couple of weeks. With eight people in the group and three vacation packages, it's been difficult to coordinate a bit. We have to plan meetings around our work schedules (everything from nights, to days, to weekends) but we should be making reservations soon.

 

[mdsouth]

My daughter is a big animal lover, so much so that on our trip in 2014, we spent two full days at Animal Kingdom. And this was before any of the new night activities. We must have went on the safari ride about five or six times. And we spent a lot of time just hanging out on the trails watching the animals and talking to the CMs.
Plan to take the train to Rafiki's Planet Watch - Conservation Station.

Here are a few photos with the CMs.

 

[Kiersten]

My daughter is a big animal lover, so much so that on our trip in 2014, we spent two full days at Animal Kingdom. And this was before any of the new night activities. We must have went on the safari ride about five or six times. And we spent a lot of time just hanging out on the trails watching the animals and talking to the CMs.
Plan to take the train to Rafiki's Planet Watch - Conservation Station.

Here are a few photos with the CMs.

Your daughter and I would get alone! I love animals and I'm looking forward to the Animal Kingdom. It didn't exist when I was there last. I think it opened the year after we went.