Sept - BWV, Yes Tickets, Pirates & Pals Cruise, Pirates leaque and much much more!

[lsenquiz]

This is my second attempt at a pre trip report. I started one last year before our 2011 trip but threw in the towel after the first post. I hope I can keep this one active and hope to post our first official Trip report after our Sept. stay.

We have been going to Disney every year in September since 2006. We go as a grand gathering which now consists of Myself(Lisa), My DH(Kenny), My DD(Chelsea - 20), My DS(Gabriel - 7), My Cousin(Michele), Her DH(Dustin), their DS(Tony - 8), Their DS(Cole - 7), Their DD(Savannah - 4), & Michele's mom and dad - My Aunt(Patty), & Uncle(Fred).

My DH & I took our older two kids(Ryan- 24 and Chelsea - 20) to Disney the first time when they were 6 & 4. We had an absolutely HORRIBLE time. I think we made every rookie mistake there is. We went over July 4th week, stayed offsite, did not show up for rope drop, etc...etc... My kids actually cried on the third day when we arrived at the MK. Because of that trip we did not go back to Disney until our school district switched to a balanced calendar(2006). The calendar provides 1 week off every other month(2 weeks at christmas) and 2 months for summer break. This meant that we would have the third week of September off.

I was finally ready to plan another trip. This time I tried to do things correctly and really got into planning mode. I learned alot that first trip and continue to learn something new with each additional trip.

As I meantioned earlier, our yearly trip occurs the third week of September. Because we are a large group we always rent a two bedroom at BWV through DVC points for mine and my cousins family and my Aunt, Uncle and one of Michele's boys(Tony) always stay at one of the value resorts. We discovered DVC point rental on our trip in 2006 and have never looked back. For us it works out to a huge savings and we love the space.

This is the part of our Family that says at BWV(+Tony & - Chelsea)

From Left to right:

Kenny, Michele, Savannah, Dustin, Myself, Gabriel, Cole & Tony


Photo0028 by Disneyalwaysn4ever, on Flickr

 

[lsenquiz]

I made our room reservations for our upcoming September trip in October 2011. We will always make them 11 months in advance because that pretty much guarantees that we will get a standard view room. We LOVE staying at the boardwalk because of its location to Epcot and DHS but really do not care about our view. When we first started renting at BWV we always got a pool view(because that was all that was available when we made our ressie) However, when I went to make our ressies for 2011 in Dec 2010 they still had standard view rooms which I jumped on. We saved over $700 for the week by going with standard)

We actually liked the standard view better than pool view because the room we got had a very nice view of Illuminations high fireworks from our balcony. I have my fingers crossed that we will have that same view this year as I have requested a high floor with unobstructed balcony view(some of the balconies have large trees in front of them)

 

[lsenquiz]

We have actually used the Disney Military Salute tickets for the past few years for our annual trip but realized last year that 4 park days(even with water park and more) are just not enough. One of the benifits to staying at the boardwalk is the walk to the World Showcase at ECPOT is 5 minutes. We always get PH tickets because we love to be able to walk over to the World Showcase in the evenings after spending the day at one of the other parks and have an adult beverage. France has my favorite drink - an Orange creamsicle with grand marnier(I am sure that is not the office name).

This year I was so excited to discover the YES program through the DIS boards. Honestly after doing some research on the program it seemed like it was almost too good to be true. We signed up my DS & Michele's DS for the Wild by nature class(my aunt, uncle and tony all have non expiring tickets from previous trips so won't be participating). The dads will be taking the boys to class while we girls take our little Princess Savannah to eat breakfast at the Castle. We got 8 day PH with water park & more tickets and the YES program saved us over $1300 on tickets .

 

[lsenquiz]

Because our room reservation is through DVC points we never qualify for free dining. This is really not a big deal for us because we are really not big eaters. Usually I do not make any ADRs at all for our trip but this year I decided to change that and scheduled a few fun dinners. I did do the math to see if purchasing the dining plan was cost benificial based on our ADRs but it was not.

below are our ADRs:

Sat 9/15 - Sci- Fi - 6:20pm

Tues 9/18 - Royal Table - 8:30

Wed 9/19 - Coral Reef - 6:05pm(adults only)
Wed 9/19 - Sandlecastle club for the kids(My DS loves this place - it is always the highlight of his trip

Thur 9/20 - Rainforest Café - 6:30pm

Fri 9/21 - Trails End - 5:55pm

We also have ressies for Pirates Leaque and Pirates and Pals Cruise.

 

[lsenquiz]

I have a goal to do at least one new thing every year when we go to Disney.

In 2011 we did Pick a Pearl, BBB, & MNSSHP(that was actually the second time for us but first for Michele and her family). We also made a special trip to Disney(Just myself, DH and DS) in May 2011 for SWW. My DS loved this

In 2010 we did the Marshmellow roast and movie at BC, Saw the candy Lady in Japan.

in 2009 we did our first water park(TL)

In 2008 my DS did Jedi Training for the first time and was finally big enough to ride Soarin(my absolutely favorite ride of all time)

This year we will be doing Cinderella's Royal Table, Pirates and Pals Cruise, Pirates Leaque and the boys will be doing the Wild by Nature class(I really wish I could go too but they only allow 1 adult per child.

The other new thing my family will do is visit Fort Wilderness. We plan to visit Friday night and go to the Marshmellow roast with Chip & Dale. I am also excited for my DD20 and Savannah to see Cinderella's horses and ponies. My DD was a competitive horse rider for several years so she will really love this.