We made big changes over the last week to our 2025 trips. I was talking to my mom last Friday as I drove home from work like I do every day, and she asked me if our younger DD22 (herein referred to as G) was going with us on our trip with DGD4 (ET) and older DD27 (Kelsee) in February. We’ve hemmed and hawed about this because it means Doug and I would be paying for her (she’s a had a rough year with a break up, moving back home, medical issues, and job loss). We’re covering the room and paying ET’s way because this started out as a trip for just the 3 of us, but Kelsee is paying her own airfare, ticket, food, etc. It also would mean 5 people in a studio at VGF, which would be closer quarters than I want or would enjoy. Now, I’ve told my mom previously that if she and my dad want to come along, they can. Kelsee has mentioned it to her as well. So mom says that she is 95% sure dad will say yes if she asks if he wants to go. Before the conversation goes anything farther, I ask which child(ren) are staying in their room versus our room, because if my parents go, then we have to take G as well and they are taking on a roommate or two. Mom agreed to take ET and Kelsee into their room as G and my dad are likely to butt heads at some point (they are too alike!). That settled, the next trick is trying to find them a room at GF or another monorail resort.
I checked all my normal resources regarding DVC availability (which is NONE because we’re only 6 months out) and confirmed DVC reservations for rent. I did find a 5-night stay during our dates at VGF for a tolerable price. I then start to think about our two-week April/May 2025 trip. They could all join us for the first week of that trip, and then Doug and I would have the second week by ourselves. We are staying at Boulder Ridge at WL that trip, and there is still availability because we’re in the 7-11 month window. I called my mom last Saturday night and laid out all the options. She was perfectly happy with the thought of going at the end of April instead of February. Kelsee was good with it too. I even asked again to make sure my son in law didn’t want to join us with everyone now going. He said he was good. WDW was a one and done for him! I emailed the lady I usually rent DVC points from to see if she could help us out with this rental, and by last Sunday early afternoon, mom and dad were fully booked!
I dropped all of the news on G, and she was overjoyed to be joining us all on the trip! I scared her for a minute, like she seriously teared up because she thought I was going to tell her we were all going without her. I’m glad she’s going with us.
Unexpected byproduct of the changes, Doug and I now have a stay at VGF all by ourselves in February! I’m really excited to be able to fully enjoy the resort and feel a little fancy all week. When we stayed here once previously, it was on the big family trip and mostly for its proximity to MK. We loved it but didn’t feel like we got to take full advantage of all the resort offers during that stay because we were just too busy doing other things. I can’t wait to start planning this one! Just today, I purchased our flights for the trip down. The return flights were higher in price today so I’ll wait until they go back down (fingers crossed!) to purchase those.
Now, onto the trip at hand. Time is passing quickly, but I’ve been doing some preparations. Mostly, buying anything we need over the last couple of months. I picked up a few Disney gift cards today online from Target. This was a win-win as I saved 5% with my RedCard and got a $25 Circle bonus reward.
Things I’ve bought in preparation.
New socks for both of us – check. I love my Bombas socks. I originally bought them in 2017 or 2018, and these socks are still going strong. I decided a wanted a few more pairs though since this is a long trip. I also ordered Doug some as his summer socks are looking pretty bad.
Shoes – I talked Doug into a trip to the outlet mall a few weeks back and convinced him he needed new shoes. He’s been telling me his old ones are fine, but they are getting some age on them. I don’t think he realized it until he saw his old ones next to a pair of new ones. And felt how much better the new ones feel! He came away with two new pairs of Asics because they were BOGO half off.
Lots of books – check. I ordered 5 or 6 immediately after returning from our May trip to replenish my stash. Then I ordered 3 more on Prime Day ‘cause they were a good price, and you can never have too many books.
New cooler – check. I had to buy a new Swig Packi Backpack Cooler after our May trip. A particularly vicious squirrel chewed through the zipper to get to a Gideon’s cookie while at the pool on the last day of our trip. We ran it off before it actually got to enjoy the cookie, but the cooler did not survive the attack.
New 24” suitcase – check. I felt like we needed an in-between size. I love our 26” trunks, but sometimes you still need something bigger than a carryon but not quite as big as that. I used this bag for the weekend trip over the 4th of July and thought it was a great size and addition to my collection.
Doug also got a new carryon backpack.
New packing cubes – check. I bought our original packing cubes several years ago and bought super cheap ones on
Amazon. I wasn’t a fan at first, but I’ve started using them more and more each trip. I finally invested in some better-made ones that are the sizes I typically use the most.
New swimsuits – check. Two reasons for this. I’ve lost 40 pounds over the last year and my old ones are just plain too big now. For our May trip, I had bought a couple of tankini tops (good brand but super cheap price). I had a weird chaffing issue on the insides of my arms in May. I thought it was just the heat and my t-shirts were causing it though I’ve never had that happen before. By the end of the week, the inside of my arms looked and felt scalded and it took a few weeks for them to heal. Fast forward to mid-June, I wore one of those new tankini tops to our local-ish water park, and lo and behold, that crazy heat rash was back. The inside of my arms must have rubbed against the side of my body. The tankini top doesn’t come up high enough under my armpit. Bummer as I actually liked these, but I can’t deal with that issue again. But good news, I found two suits (each a different print) in the style of one of my too big now old ones on Poshmark and bought those for super good prices. One was new with tags and the other without tags, but it looks brand new and shows no wear at all. I usually won’t buy something used online, especially a swimsuit because that could be gross, but it was like $11 so I figured there wasn’t much harm if I wouldn’t wear it. Even better news, the new ones are two sizes smaller than my old one. YAY ME!
Minnie Ears – check. I found these on Etsy and just thought they were so cute! I ordered one pair, and after receiving them, I had to order a second pair. I don’t like the ones sold in the parks because I feel like they squeeze my head. They get really uncomfortable behind the ears after a while and cause a headache. I have a small head, but I think maybe my hair isn’t thick enough (it’s really thin and baby fine) to give enough cushion.
New Piglet shirt – check. Going to wear it for my birthday dinner at Crystal Palace.
Doug got a stack of new t-shirts too, but his just normal ones not Disney ones.
New battery pack – check. This wasn’t technically necessary, but it is smaller and lighter than my old one.
32 more days to go!
