Recovering Commando's Christmas- 14 Texans Grand Gathering @ WL

[exwdwcm]

By the time we take this trip in December 2009- it will have been almost 2 years in the making. How did it all start? It all started with a mouse……well not really, but it is fun to say, right? It all started with a Grandpa. Not all trips necessarily have a happy beginning, as is the case in many fairy tales, Briar Rose pricks her finger, Snow White takes a bit of that nasty apple and Nemo is lost! But we all know how these cherished stories end………each of them has a happy ending, and so will our story.

So stick with us, hear our story, share our quirks and journey with us on our amazing and once in a lifetime adventure. And…..I dare you, to keep all 15 of us straight! I won't bore you with daily details of our lives (unless you want to be bored), but I will share the intimate details of our plans for our trip. So this post is just a lengthy back story- so hang in there!

TABLE OF CONTENTS

PRE TRIP PLANNING
Why are we taking this trip?
The Down and Dirty Basics
Flights Booked and Coming in Day Earlier- do you do that too?
The Package
Transportation Decisions- DME it is!
Cha-Cha-Changes!
DIS-A-PALOOZA- DIS/DREAMS PRIVATE PARTY at TOY STORY MANIA on 12/12~!
DAY ONE
DAY TWO
DAY THREE
DAY FOUR
DAY FIVE
DAY SIX
DAY SEVEN
DAY EIGHT & NINE

THE CAST
The Cast Part I
The Cast Part II

MISCELLANEOUS
VEGAS Anyone?
TX State Fair- fried food and carnies!

 

[exwdwcm]

This story did in fact start with a wonderful, loving and adored Grandpa. My Grandpa. Although we lived states apart all our lives, he was a special part of our lives, even more so in recent years. After losing our amazing Grandmother a few years ago, we became even closer with our Grandpa, who lived near Columbia, SC. We made many visits to SC and Grandpa came to see us in Texas as well. Unfortunately, Grandpa fell ill in early 2008. I made the decision to use my miles and jump on a plane with my 4 month old son to see Grandpa, as we felt this might be the end. Wow, was that the best decision I ever made. No matter what else was going on in my life, a new baby, demanding job or lacking funds, jumping on that plane for family was the only thing that mattered.

Now why jump on a plane with a baby all by myself? Well Grandpa was the reason my son exists. You see, after struggling for a year with trying to conceive on our own and then another dreadful year of fertility drugs (clomid- 6 months), shots (follistim- 2 months), artificial insemination (4 tries) and countless other tests, poking and prodding……..we finally took the big step and did IVF, or in vitro fertilization, or otherwise known in the old days as a ‘test tube baby’. Insurance doesn’t cover many fertility treatments and the drugs alone can run $1500 a month, not counting the 8-10 ultrasounds each month and accompanying copays for doctor visits, lab tests etc. Oh and don’t forget the pregnancy tests. I should have bought stock in those. Or at least a jumbo pack at Sam’s or Costco! Regardless, we were weary, tired, emotionally wrecked and low on funds. Our options were nearly exhausted. We didn’t have the $10,000 handy to pursue a cycle of IVF.
I spoke with my grandpa and he offered to pay for our treatment. He went above and beyond anything we ever expected. Fertility treatments in general are very tough- financially, emotionally and physically. So knowing we didn’t have to worry about the financial part took a huge burden off our shoulders. It was a rough time for me. My family and friends were extremely supportive . And on March 1, 2007, we got the news we had waited for, I was pregnant! One of the two embryos we transferred had ‘taken’ and our little guy was growing! We were so relieved and thankful it had worked the first time. I know many do multiple IVF treatments and beyond and I count my blessings everyday that it worked for us.

So because Grandpa helped fund our treatment, we are now proud parents to a healthy and happy 16 month old little boy. My grandpa was so excited for us. It made it all the more special, that given his strict religious views, he still helped us. I know IVF can be considered an ethical mine field for some. I couldn’t wait to take my son to meet my Grandpa, what I knew might be for the first and last time.

At 4 months old, my son William was a trooper flying with me solo. We arrived that afternoon and immediately went to the hospital to see my Grandpa. He had always been a very tall, strong figure. I wasn’t prepared to see him so frail looking in his final days. However, my parents told me he had rallied the night before and so their hopes were up. He had been taken off the ventilator, but looked in bad shape. He acknowledged we were there, but could not really speak. I put William close to him to he could have a good look at his Great Grandson. I said hello, hugged and kissed him. A few hours later, Grandpa became completely unresponsive, no longer reacting to anything. By 11pm that night, Grandpa was on his way to meet his great maker. We all gathered around his bed, friends and family alike to say our good byes and share our final thoughts of love and gratitude. My son slept soundly in his stroller in the corner of the room as my Grandpa took his last breath. It was almost though as Grandpa had held on those few hours though that day for me to arrive. It was just 2 hours after I got there and introduced him to William that he became unresponsive. Grandpa knew we were on the way, and I think he found the strength to hold on a little longer to meet William.

So what on earth does this awfully sad story have to do with Disney? Well Grandpa left a generous inheritance to my parents. Grandpa had talked about us all doing a family vacation in the mountains and was always talking about vacationing together. My parents have always been huge Disney fans, taking us on our first trip when us three girls were just little ones, even though money was scarce. Now, my parents finally had the means to take a Disney trip with the entire family again and go in style! While we’ve been many times as a family, the last time in 2005, we’ve always budgeted somewhat carefully and saved prudently to make our dreams of magic come true and then, only every few years. My parents have always dreamed of staying at the Wilderness Lodge. We’ve toured it many times, but they didn’t ever think it would be within their means. Now that it is, they are treating all of us to a 10 day/9 night courtyard room stay at the Wilderness Lodge, with dining plan. For 15 people. Yes 15!!!

Family is very important to us. So it only made sense in my parents eyes that they would share my Grandpa’s legacy with us in this way. And I bet my Grandpa will be smiling down on us, especially as my son sets his eyes on Mickey Mouse or the castle for the first time.

So in May 2007, the trip became a reality. We discussed details and booked at the 500 day mark with Dreams Unlimited, who I highly recommend. We are all so thrilled to experience this great trip together and I almost worry it won’t live up to the great expectations we have built up for it! Anyone else ever do that? LOL Sometimes the planning and anticipation is half the fun.

So here we are- how our trip came to be. Started off a little sad, but Prince Charming will ensure we have a happy ending!

Stay tuned to learn about the details of our trip and the wild, and I mean WILD cast of characters.

Grandpa, my sister Wendy, her daughter Ally and my dad

and my wonderful parents- making this trip possible and all the more magical!!! They are the most generous people I know and we can't wait to experience the trip together.
Thanks guys!!!

 

[exwdwcm]

And the very down and dirty basics:

WHAT- Grand Gathering for 15 please! 9 nights, dining plan, park hoppers

WHEN- December 10 through December 20, 2009

WHERE- first night off site, remaining 9 nights at Wilderness Lodge, Courtyard views! 5 rooms between all of us.

HOW- through the generosity of our loving parents!

WHO- that will come in the next post- gotta keep some suspense, right? there are 15 of us though, in all age ranges- toddlers, 20 something, young moms, businessmen, retirees and more! I think we have just about every age group covered.

WHY? because I said so!

 

[kellyf2626]

Great start Michelle! Your grandfather sounds like a truly amazing man...as do your parents and entire family. Your trip will be AWESOME!!!! Can't wait to read more details....ADR's, schedule, cast of characters, etc... It will be so much fun being down in the World with such a great family group!!

 

[BbearRosenfeld]

What a great start to our trip Michelle! Grandpa truly was a great man!
Can't wait to read the rest, is it time to go yet? I'm ready and so are the kids!

 

[exwdwcm]

Our trip is a long ways off, so i probably won't have very many readers, but I'll continue anyhow, as this is just as much for our memories as for anyone reading along.

Our cast of 15 is loud, crazy and fun! I'll start off with our fearless leaders...

THE WILD CREW OF CHARACTERS

“PawPaw”
Pawpaw or my dad, long time family man, hard worker, dependable, quiet and fun! He is the handy man in our family- with 3 daughters, he has done countless late night runs to fix a flat tire for us, work on our broken down cars, install ceiling fans, you get the drift. He was thrilled when we were married off and our husbands can take over some of those ‘chores’. LOL
He is sort of a quiet guy, but speaks up when it matters. He is very giving and loves spending time with his crazy family. As the only man in a family of 4 women, he has come through raising 3 teenage daughters with flying colors. He loves going on vacation and deserves it- he works very hard. He retired a few years back, but went back to work when my mom fell into ill health. So he let her retire and he went back to work. That is the kind of guy he is. Family first. He turns 60 this year. He loves sci-fi stuff and history. He was in the Air Force. He does enjoy Disney very much- his favorite ride is Pirates. He likes to hit the curb on the way out of the resort every day in the rental car, it is a little joke we have. He is generously paying for all of us to go on this trip (along with my mother). It was his father that passed away last year.

Mom and Dad with the 3 grandkids

Mom & Dad with grandkids, daughters and son in laws

“MawMaw”
My mom, much like my dad is one of the most generous people I know. Even when they couldn’t afford to give much, they still found a way to make sure we had a fancy dress for every homecoming, prom etc. She is still helping people all the time. She makes friends fast, even people in the line at the grocery store! We joke that she might bring home a stranger from the store one day or get their number. She talks a lot, loves her friends and family and her grandkids especially. She spent more than 25 years working in and managing one of the largest day cares in the Dallas area before she retired.
She likes to just go shopping, watch movies and spend time with all of us- whether it is just dinner or hanging out and chatting over a drink. She is funny, caring, giving, sweet, thoughtful and spoils her grandkids rotten! She is also very crafty! She also loves Pirates, and her favorite character is Minnie! She loves pink. She is now retired and turns 60 next year. She is best friends with her cousin Nancy- they grew up together like sisters. My mom managed to raise 3 successful daughters (all close in age) and I think that reflects greatly on her. She loves home decorating shows and spends way too much time on Disney shopping/outlet.com!
My mom was diagnosed with a pituitary brain tumor a few years back. It is not malignant, but it has wreaked havoc on her hormones ( the pituitary is the main gland controlling hormones!). It is also pressing on her optic nerves, making her vision worsen. She has had surgery once through her nasal cavity to remove it, but it has grown back and is monitored every few months. Now it is really affecting her vision. She’s lost a lot of peripheral vision and they want to do surgery in the next month- this time cutting through her skull. She is very fearful of surgery and being put under, but she wants to be able to move forward and focus on our great trip and enjoy it with her family. The tumor means she is on multiple medications/steroids, tires easily, forgets words sometimes and has some memory loss from time to time. It is extremely difficult for her, but she is doing great and this trip is something perfect to look forward to!
Mom with us three girls

Mom with Minnie

 

[Dragon_Pete]

I can't wait to hear all the details on this trip!!!

Have a Brazzle Dazzle Day!

Ellio tt

 

[annnewjerz]

What a great beginning to a TR. I'm going to have to sub to this one. We'll be at BWV December 13-18. Not really the same story, but very similar in the sense that it will be a "dream" trip for us.

About 3 years ago, 3 weeks before my wedding...my father passed away. Growing up we had been to WDW once and had taken small vacations, but my family was NOT one that could afford lavish trips every year.

Needless to say, with my Mom no longer having a travel companion for the occassion she could afford it, DH agreed that it would be nice to have her tag along on this trip. So, we asked her and she agreed (although refused the offer of paying for her portion). We rented points to stay at the BWV (although more for the wonderful location and less for the actual room or hotel itself) and have started planning!

Since she won't accept us paying for her first vacation in about 13 years, I decided that on our last night I will surprise her and DH with dinner at a Signature restaurant just to say thanks and let her know how important she is to me and to my brother and sister (even though they won't be going with us). Hopefully she enjoys it and the trip goes smoothly---now I just have to wait for 6 months to pass so I can start making ADRs!!!

I'm thinking I'll start a pre-TR of my own, because...well, why not, right?? It'll be a good way to get geared up for the trip, get suggestions and post some photos all in one place. AND---this will be the first time I travel to WDW with a digital SLR camera, so I will definitely have a post-TR, dining reviews, the works!

Anywho, maybe we'll see you down there while we tour the WL for Christmas, I'll be looking out for some lime green mickey heads!

Ann

So

 

[k_reile]

ok...I still have tears in my eyes reading your first post! We too are going in Feb sometime (hasn't been decided yet--waiting for 2010 rates to come out). We are also going with my parents and my brother, SIL and newphew who will be 3.5yrs. My parents are also paying for the whole family to go. My mom wants to take her "boys" on their first trip to WDW and wants to do it before my newphew goes to kindergarten and before there are other grandchildren as my brother and SIL will want to add another after that and DH and I eventually after that, so it was now or wait another 5 yrs...so we choose now!! SO who are we to say no?? It is so nice and we can't wait. I'm not sure if Caleb will really understand it all but there are always other times in his life when he will go.
Can't wait to hear about your trip!

 

[summermac]

Oh what a great story.
Looking forward to reading how you put this all together - that's a lot of people!

 

[saratogadreamin09]

looknig forward to reading more about your trip

 

[exwdwcm]

thanks for hangin in guys!

so we are about 7 months out now! Time is really flying. i'll update more of our cast this week and round us all up.

In the meantime.......our great leader underwent a big adventure these past few weeks. My mom underwent major brain surgery to remove a tumor near her pitutary cavity. It was almost an 8 hour surgery. She was in the hospital for a week and has been home recovering for a week now too. she is doing great and our trip gives her something to look forward to and something to work hard to recover for! Thanks to all the DISers who offered up prayers and thoughts for mom!!! It worked.

The tumor was wrapped around her optic nerve, so her vision is very bad right now, as they had to get in there to dig it out, causing some trauma and swelling that will take time to heal. Until then, her vision is almost like you would see if you were squinting very hard, she says. Barely any peripheral vision and very fuzzy for the rest.

We (mom, dad, Nancy and I) leave on the podcast cruise in just 3 weeks- for 4 nights on the Wonder preceded by two nights at the Dolphin and the KTTK tour! hopefully mom is feeling great enough to really relax and have a good time on the cruise.

 

[exwdwcm]

What a great beginning to a TR. I'm going to have to sub to this one. We'll be at BWV December 13-18. Not really the same story, but very similar in the sense that it will be a "dream" trip for us.

About 3 years ago, 3 weeks before my wedding...my father passed away. Growing up we had been to WDW once and had taken small vacations, but my family was NOT one that could afford lavish trips every year.

Needless to say, with my Mom no longer having a travel companion for the occassion she could afford it, DH agreed that it would be nice to have her tag along on this trip. So, we asked her and she agreed (although refused the offer of paying for her portion). We rented points to stay at the BWV (although more for the wonderful location and less for the actual room or hotel itself) and have started planning!

Since she won't accept us paying for her first vacation in about 13 years, I decided that on our last night I will surprise her and DH with dinner at a Signature restaurant just to say thanks and let her know how important she is to me and to my brother and sister (even though they won't be going with us). Hopefully she enjoys it and the trip goes smoothly---now I just have to wait for 6 months to pass so I can start making ADRs!!!

I'm thinking I'll start a pre-TR of my own, because...well, why not, right?? It'll be a good way to get geared up for the trip, get suggestions and post some photos all in one place. AND---this will be the first time I travel to WDW with a digital SLR camera, so I will definitely have a post-TR, dining reviews, the works!

Anywho, maybe we'll see you down there while we tour the WL for Christmas, I'll be looking out for some lime green mickey heads!

Ann

So

Anne - i'll definitely subscribe to your report too. we can wait together in anticipation for the trip and release of Dec park hours! thanks for reading along!

ok...I still have tears in my eyes reading your first post! We too are going in Feb sometime (hasn't been decided yet--waiting for 2010 rates to come out). We are also going with my parents and my brother, SIL and newphew who will be 3.5yrs. My parents are also paying for the whole family to go. My mom wants to take her "boys" on their first trip to WDW and wants to do it before my newphew goes to kindergarten and before there are other grandchildren as my brother and SIL will want to add another after that and DH and I eventually after that, so it was now or wait another 5 yrs...so we choose now!! SO who are we to say no?? It is so nice and we can't wait. I'm not sure if Caleb will really understand it all but there are always other times in his life when he will go.
Can't wait to hear about your trip!

Hi Kara- yeah for mom wanting to take you guys- i know Caleb would have still have fun- he might not remember, but you will, and you'll have those great memories!

thanks to all for subscribing- now that our other trip is over- i'll be updating much more often here! about 6.5 months to go!

 

[exwdwcm]

Sorry for the long delay- my parents, Nancy and I all just returned from the first ever DIS Unplugged Podcast Cruise with Pete and the gang. We had a great time with 2 days in Orlando, including the KTTK tour (awesome!) and then 4 days on the Wonder. I've started a trip report on my personal blog for that if you want to read it.

http://williamreed1.blogspot.com/

We had a great time, but it was a little rough as my mom is still recovering from her brain surgery about 6 weeks ago. They successfully removed the tumor, but she lost vision in her left eye after surgery. The tumor was wrapped around the optic nerve and putting a lot of pressure on it. So her vision is compromised in both eyes, but most severely in the left. She is slowly getting vision back and the doctor thinks she will get it back in 6 months or so- hopefully in time for our trip. Her vision loss made getting around difficult for her, but we managed. So the trip wasn't all we imagined, but still fun- just a little difficult and frustrating since she couldn't see well to walk. We used a wheelchair in orlando and then a cane on the ship, and helped lead her around.

So now back to THIS trip report. Now that our other trip is wrapped up, my focus is all on December. Only 6.5 months away. With summer approaching, it seems so far away, but i know the time passes so quickly.

so I'll start up with more details on our cast of 15.......I'll keep the info shorter on the rest of us- i just wanted to highlight mom and dad more since they are the reason we are going!!

 

[exwdwcm]

Here is the remainder of our LARGE cast of 15 for the Dec 10-20th trip. I'll highlight the different 'families' in different colors. Here is the cast in addition to my parents.

THE CAST

Me- Michelle---mom to William (19mos), wife to Alan for over 8 years, together for 16 years though. 35 yo and a Director of Marketing for a medical distributor. I am alumni of the WDW college program, I worked at Hollywood and Vine Cafeteria back in the fall of 1996 and it was the most wonderful experience ever. I've been a huge disney fan since I can remember, especially of the parks. I am a type A perfectionist , too nice for my own good and somewhat quiet. I am usually the ring leader for our trips, planning our commando tour. I love Tink and Alice. Peter Pan is my fav movie.

DH- Alan--- dad to William, my DH, 37, works for a real estate investment trust, not a huge disney fan, but puts up with my passion, DH is quiet and not a real social guy. He's a great dad. He is 'cheap'.....or should I say likes to save, so the dining plan is up his alley. He seems excited about taking Will to WDW and seeing it through his eyes. Last WDW trip was Aug 06 for free dining.

DS- William--'Will' is 19 months old and is our in-vitro baby after many years of trying. He is the light of our lives and such a low maintenance, laid back kid. He is pretty independent and entertains himself. He is curious and likes to explore and is also a bit type A like me- he already lays out his toys in certain ways and likes to clean like me. This is Will's first WDW trip!

Wendy--- my sister, the middle child. She is the other huge disney nut and we love planning our trip together----she is the only one besides mom that truly understands our passion for disney and planning trips. She is a paralegal, mom of 2 and is the 'funny' one in our family. She always makes us smile and laugh, she is a great storyteller and takes after my mom "mommy's girl". Loves little mermaid.

Mike--- my DBIL- Wendy's hubby. Wendy's HS sweetheart, works in sales/marketing for a medical company, currently going back to school. He is very sociable and fun- and likes to tease people (especially Wendy). Loves sports.

Ally--- my niece- the first grandchild- daughter of Wendy/Mike. Age 5, spoiled rotten, a complete drama queen and very smart. Loves Disney, first trip at 2.5 back in 2005. Adores Mawmaw (grandma) and loves princesses, dressing up and singing.

Michael--- 'Mikey', my nephew, about 2.5- first grandson, fun, sweet, laid back, and all boy! This will be his first trip. He loves his big sister, CARS, Mickey and Goofy.

Mandy--- "Nene" the 'baby' sister, 30, just married in October, special ed teacher and dancer. She's the 'fashionista' of the family, great 'decorator' always late, very patient and kind and a good aunt and a 'daddy's girl', the most lovey dovey in the family. Not a huge disney nut, but does love it. Likes to travel. No kids yet, but maybe there will be some pixie dust on our trip?

Jeff---DBIL #2, Mandy's hubby, works as manager for family flooring company, likes sports, travel and hanging out with family and friends. Extremely easy going, smart and always late! Last WDW trip was as a kid!

Nancy---our cousin- she is my mom's age and they were best friends/cousins growing up. She's like a second mom to us. She's a breast cancer survivor and works for a school district. She has many pets! She loves disney and just did the cruise with us. She is our photographer and also likes to go off on her own sometimes. Loves Dopey. Wants to know if I have built in bathroom breaks into the schedule.


Chase--- Nancy's nephew, 18, lives in SC. Nancy has always adored him. He is all 'country'! He came with us on a trip about 10 years ago! last trip, as a kid, he told us in his southern accent that we needed to 'wurk out, wurk out, wurk out' because someone's arms flabbed when they waved.

Marion--- "Auntie" our great aunt, my mom and Nancy's aunt. She was the baby of like 12 kids. She is the one that would be a chaperone to my mom and Nancy and then let them do what they wanted! Sweet and fun. She is retired from banking and did her FIRST disney trip with us in Dec 2005 and we ran her ragged! Likes Minnie. She's on the bottom right.

Alissa---"A-licious"---my BFF! She has become a part of our family since she isn't close to hers. My mom likes to adopt people! She is 6'2, gorgeous and extremely outgoing. She's single and works as an analyst. Gets along great with my DH and entire family. She's a little crazy, you never know what she will do or say, so watch out. She's done MK and Epcot with me (rushed) on one day business trips, but that's it. Nancy and Alissa plan to have a contest on who can get the most autographs.


That rounds out our cast, now when will the show begin?

We have quite a mix of ages and personalities, so it will make for an interesting trip. While we don't plan to spend every second together, we will most likely dine together at least once a day and probably stay together for the most part! How crazy will we drive each other?

 

[k_reile]

ok...mandy's wedding dress is gorgeous! I sometimes wish I could get re-married (to Trent of course) just so I can get another wedding dress...i loved mine...but there are some really pretty ones out there now too!

 

[exwdwcm]

Well we got our flight booked! I know, it is so early.....and actually we booked our flights last month.....so at about almost 8 months out. Crazy? Maybe?

But, we live just minutes away from a major hub for AA- DFW Airport. So flying AA makes a lot of sense. SW has a big presence at the smaller airport here- Love Field. I've been checking flights to MCO and SW has been slightly more pricey lately.....weird.

In the past, we've typically been able to fly on AA to MCO for about $250 per person. So we were looking for something in that range, but also being realistic that prices have gone up this past year.

So we saw a $325 flight with the exact times we wanted with AA, so we figured we should book it, as who knows what the future will bring in terms of price. I know, AA charges the $15 bag fee, but we are going to do our best to pack light, since we plan to wash clothes midway through the trip and don't want to lug around extra luggage since we will have kiddos, car seats and strollers. Ask me post trip how the 'pack less' idea worked....


Chase lives in SC near Clemson, so he will meet us at MCO and probably fly Delta. We haven't booked his flight as of yet.

Unfortunately, timing was even more critical to my sister Mandy.....she is a teacher, so getting off work is hard. We originally planned to depart early Friday morning, Dec 11th. She is already taking a week off school (right before the Christmas break), so she couldn't take off that Friday too. So her and Jeff plan to fly out on Friday after school and join us then.

Once we started looking at flights, we thought, hey, instead of coming in at the crack of dawn on Friday, why not just come in Thursday night instead, then we have ALL day Friday for the parks!? I know this makes total sense to all you disney nuts and planners. Add the extra day- very common for us, right? OUr last family trip, we did the crack of dawn flight- and on a previous trip, we did an evening flight which was nice. So we talked ourselves into staying off site in a cheapy (but clean hotel) near DTD the first night, then move to WL the next day.


Here's our flights:
Thursday, December 10th
Depart DFW 5pm
Arrive MCO 8:25pm

Sunday, December 20th
Depart MCO 9:25am
Arrive DFW 11:30am

Unfortunately we couldn't get out of Dallas any earlier on Thursday, as most of plan to work that day (maybe sneak out early!). So the 5pm lets us at least work a half day. My DH doesn't even know these flight times yet. He is the 'tell me when we are a day out' type of guy. He also rarely takes time off work, so I figured he deserved to get out a bit early (and his work is flexible). He works right by the airport, so I figured we would just pick him up on the way.

Mandy and Jeff are coming in on a Friday night flight- they arrive at 10:25pm. Since we are renting two vans, I figure I will run to MCO that night and pick them up. On our last trip, Mandy came in a day later too, and we had dinner ressies at California Grill, so we didn't have time to get her. We had her cab it and it cost her like $50. So we won't do that to them again and didn't want to make them wait on ME either. So I volunteered to pick them up, I know the way like the back of my hand now- since I always drive and lived there while on the CP.

So flights are booked- it's more real!!! What's next?

 

[exwdwcm]

So our package is officially booked with Dreams Unlimited, who btw- I highly recommend. They are simply awesome and not to mention Pete (who runs these boards) also has an interest in them, so you can be assured great service and knowledge!

Our agent is Beth and she has been fabulous. I know it can't be easy for an agent to work with an overly obsessed, type A disney planner who thinks she knows everything, but doesn't.

So we have all 15 of us booked on Magic Your Way plus dining at the Wilderness Lodge. My DH and I really enjoyed the dining plan last time (back when they had appetizers included!), so we talked the family into doing it. It definitely makes things easier with a large party like ours.

So here's the basics:

HOTEL- 5 rooms at Wilderness Lodge with courtyard/pool views. One room with bunkbeds for my sister's kiddos. DH, Will, Alissa and I will share a room. My parents have a room. My sisters each have a room with their respective DH's and kids. Then Nancy, Marion and Chase will probably share, or so I assume, unless Marion stays with my parents- not sure on the setup quite yet. But we all will have plenty of room. It is my parent's dream to stay at WL, so we are really excited!

TICKETS- Our package includes the length of stay ticket- and we got the park hopper option added on. We enjoy doing one park in the am and another in the pm. I don't think we ever stay at one park all day. We always take a midday break, especially with the kiddos, so we just do another park after the break and try and take advantage of EMH (where it makes sense) or longer park hours.

DINING- The package includes the basic dining plan. Since we are at WL for 9 nights, we get 9 days worth of dining credits, including 9 sit down meals, 9 fast food meals and 9 snacks. We really enjoy the food at WDW, so we do love the sitdown options, plus it gives us all a break.

 

[khertz]

I'm in! We'll be there Dec 4th-14th this year too, so I feel you on the wait! On the one hand, six months is nothing to wait because we started planning this trip last August, but at the same time, 6 months seems SO far away!

The story about your grandfather gave me chills, but it's so nice to see how he is still having an impact on your lives. I had something similar happen when my grandfather was getting more sick. Just an hour or so after I arrived from college (4 hours away), and his other granddaughter and her family arrived from Atlanta (7 hours away), he passed. But everyone was there to see him and hold his hand and pray over him while he left us, almost like he knew we were coming and he held on just that much longer for us to see him.

On a more positive note, I look forward to reading your progress! And your son is absolutely adorable!

 

[exwdwcm]

Welcome aboard! i'll have to go check out your report as well!!