Started as One Group Trip, Now I’m planning 5 Trips!!!

[kthshh]

INTRODUCTIONS

Hi Everyone. Thanks for reading along. I’ve debated for months about writing a PTR and finally decided to just do it. I will admit up front that there won’t be many pictures posted but I hope you enjoy reading along about the trips that I have planned.

First up, who am I. My name is Vana. My family and I live in Texas. I’m an accountant and I make spreadsheets for everything. I love planning trips and running the numbers to stay on budget!

The remainder of my crew includes my great husband, Ken, and our two sons, KJ and Lil C. KJ is 10 and Lil C is 8. They both have June birthdays and will be 11 and 9 by the time we take our first trip.

The first trip will be June 22-28, 2013. We’ll be vacationing with 9 other people in our group. I’m the main planner and I’m really excited to see how this all pans out.

And you’ll have to stick around to see how this one trip turned into 5 trips!

 

[kthshh]

THE BEGINNING OF IT ALL

My family and I took our first big WDW vacation in June 2009 when the boys were 7 & 5. We had the Buy 4 Get 3 Free special and we loved the week. We stayed at AKL Jambo in a savannah view room, had the regular dining plan, many character meals, Water Parks and More package….we really did it up big. This trip gave birth to the Vacation Box and sealed our love for Disney and travel. We loved being immersed in the Disney bubble. This one trip led to a second trip in September 2009 which was an extended weekend trip that included MNSSHP. We also took a 3 day whirlwind trip to Disneyland in March 2011. In August 2011, I was in Orlando for a work conference and got to spend an afternoon/evening at Epcot. During the down Disney years, we’ve taken a Carnival Cruise, visited the Smoky Mountains of TN, and last year did a Midwest TriState tour of Chicago,IL, Hammond, IN (family reunion), and Wisconsin Dells, WI.

Whenever we talk to friends and families about our trips, they are usually interested in going. The one thing that stands in their way is the financial obligation. We had one family from our church who were genuinely interested and really wanted to go. They are great people, but they are not big planners. They’ve tried to make the trip happen but couldn’t get far enough in their planning. We will call them the M Family and they consist of Dad, Mom, Son(11), Daughter1(8), and Daughter2(3). Being a family of 5 brings about its own set of challenges when booking a Disney vacation in regards to where to stay.

Back in Aug 2012 we had them over for dinner and started preliminary discussions of what they were looking for in a vacation. I needed to get a feel for what they wanted to spend. They pretty much chose to have an onsite, flying instead of driving, park hopper tickets, dining plan, deluxe vacation. We threw around dates and decided on the fourth week of June 2013. This would give everyone plenty of time to save the necessary $.
I think my head went in circles all night. I was excited and worried about being responsible for someone else’s vacation. I soon calmed down and my husband and I went into planning mode.

So what did we actually do first?

 

[kthshh]

I am guilty of pretty much just reading along with others trip report and never really posting. But I'm hoping that someone....anyone...will comment on mine.

 

[kthshh]

Proud New DVC Owners!

During our first trip in 2009, we took some time to go to the DVC presentation. It all sounded great but we decided that the timing wasn’t right for us. Over the next few years, we would give our sales rep a call, run the numbers and decide we weren’t quite ready yet. But in September 2012, we were in a good place and went ahead with the transaction. We purchased 100 points at the Villas @ Wilderness Lodge! We were thrilled to know that we would be able to visit Disney for many years to come.
One of the things about DVC ownership that we liked was that with the right amount of points we would be able to take others with us. We’re not likely to return to Disney every year, but every 2 to 3 years would be perfect for us.

So with DVC points in hand, I started pricing everything to put together a proposal for the other family. They were thrilled to get such detailed planning. And I was having fun putting together the options.

So what were the final choices:
Flight: Spirit Airlines (yes, they nickel and dime you, but they are cheap and gets us where we want to go)
Resort: Animal Kingdom Lodge Kidani in a Standard View 2 Bedroom
Dates: Sunday, June 23-Friday, June 28
Dining Plan: 1 Table Service, 1 Counter Service, 1 Snack
Transportation: Magical Express
Tickets: YES tickets for all (Park Hopper, Water Parks & More)

I went with AKL because the 2 bedroom actually sleeps 9 and has 3 bathrooms. We didn’t have the points for a savannah view room, but I’m excited about staying in such a beautiful themed resort.

I love that with a DVC reservation, you don’t have to worry about booking a full package in order to add the Dining Plan.

Up Next: You’ve been working with a family of 5, where did the additional 4 people come from?

 

[kthshh]

4+5+2+2=13!!!

Our church friends, the M Family, had previously been trying to plan a trip that included extended family members. The extra members were the wife’s Mother and a Niece (14) along with the husband’s Sister and her Daughter(8). These are the other children of the family and they wanted them to be able to share in the experience.

This was an added challenge because they would not be traveling on DVC points and likely would not be staying in the same resort. I was clear that there were no “walking distance” value resort and that Disney transportation did not exactly go from one resort to another. For time sake, we would need to meet up with them in the Parks.

I pulled together some different options for them and provided it to the other two families who would be sharing a room. They made their decision and the initial plan is to stay at Pop with the Magic Your Way Package with 5 day Park Hopper/WPM tickets and the regular Dining Plan.

Up Next: The idea for extra trips is born!

 

[kthshh]

Well, I can see people are reading, but no one is responding.

But that won't stop me from posting!!!

This isn't a real update, but I did want to pop in. I'm determined to tell the story in order. So that means I can't tell you about the developments that have happened in the last week. But believe me, they are all great changes!

If you're reading along, glad to have you on board. You'll know about all the changes soon.

 

[kthshh]

Premium Annual Passes All Around!

Sometime during the Fall (I don’t know which month!), Disney announced a special price of $399 on Premium Annual Passes for DVC members. I immediately looked at the tickets budget that I’d been working with. 5 Day Premium YES tickets with the 2012 pricing was roughly $800 for my family of four (2 Adults, 1 Disney Adult, 1 Child). There was no guarantee that the classes would be offered or that the dates would match up or that the price would hold. It wouldn’t be until January before we had the answer for that.
Purchasing regular park tickets with PH/WPM would have been $1400. The discounted PAP’s were going to be $1700. I figured if we could spend a total of 10 days in the parks on two separate trips, the upgrade would be nice and worth the price. Don’t forget we’ll have points to use for lodging, so we can take a cheaper trip for the price of airfare and food. Decision was made. We were going to buy PAP’s and take at least one more trip before they expired. The purchase had to be made by Dec. 31. So it was time to get down to business with the saving so that we could hit our due date.

Right after Thanksgiving, I saw the Budget Board here on the Dis a deal that I couldn’t let go by. A Texas grocery store chain called HEB was selling $300 entertainment cards for $50 off. That’s right folks! I purchased $1800 worth of Disney gift cards for $1500. First, I had to find the closest HEB to me. It was 25 miles away. That was no where to drive for a $300 savings. But before we could get them, I had to be sure how many methods of payments would be accepted for the purchase of PAP’s. I did my research and found that it could only be two methods per transaction. I had to buy 6 cards and do each transaction separately but it worked. The CM I got on the call was great and congratulated me on such a great deal. When we went to HEB on that Sunday, I found another DISer and his wife in the store purchasing gift cards as well. He’d driven a lot farther than we had. We talked for a while, made our purchases and headed on our way.

With info from my lovely members on the Budget Board, I had just gotten PAP’s for my family for $1400 (the same price as the regular 5 Day PH/WPM tickets. I was overly excited. And I still have $100 in gift cards to apply towards my Dining plan.

I’ve been hoping and praying that HEB runs that sale sometime during the Spring. No luck as of yet. But I scan the sales paper every single week.
I did inform the other family about the deal, but they didn’t act on it. I also told them about the Target coupon where you got a $10 Target gift card for every $50 spent with the additional 5% off savings with the Target card. Neither one of us used the Target deal for the Disney gift cards.
Tickets – done! (well for my family at least!)

Up Next: Booking the Hotel with Points for the Very First Time

 

[Jackiemarie21]

I followed you over from my PTR, I'm following along!
Can't wait to hear about your new developments!

 

[kthshh]

I followed you over from my PTR, I'm following along!
Can't wait to hear about your new developments!

Thanks for following along! It's fun to relive the whole planning process.

 

[kthshh]

My Disney Experience

When Disney first released this on their website and provided apps for smartphones and tablets, I was excited to try something new. Unfortunately, the product was buggy in the beginning. I tried it again on yesterday and was able to pull in my DVC reservation and ADR’s. I can see everything from my iPhone as well. Since they seem to have fixed most of the problems, I wonder does that mean we are close to the official release of Fastpass Plus and the Magic Bands. Hopefully, these will be ready and available to use for our late June trip.

 

[S'sMom]

I am here and ready to follow along. Good job. I can not wait to see how this unfolds.

 

[kthshh]

I am here and ready to follow along. Good job. I can not wait to see how this unfolds.

Hello Friend who hooked me on Disney!!!

Thanks for following along. You can read the quick versions, but thanks for listening to the more detailed versions!!!

 

[kthshh]

I'm excited and can't hold it in! I just booked my airfare for trip #2. It's to celebrate my 40th birthday! Keep reading along if you want details!

 

[S'sMom]

I'm excited and can't hold it in! I just booked my airfare for trip #2. It's to celebrate my 40th birthday! Keep reading along if you want details!

Gone on!! I saw that sale today!!

 

[kthshh]

Gone on!! I saw that sale today!!

I decided to go ahead and make Trip 2 official. It wasn't a big price drop but it fell within my budget guidelines. YAY!

 

[kthshh]

Booking the Hotel with Points for the Very First Time

Our hotel choice was Animal Kingdom Lodge Kidani. Since this was not our home resort, I had to wait until the day after Thanksgiving to book. We were visiting family in Mississippi over that weekend. I was at my Moms home which is computer and internet free. I was trying to book from my phone. Everything was going okay, but my account was showing only 100 points for 2013. My 2012 points were showing that they had to be used by the end of February 2013. I started to panic but decided that things would work out somehow. I went shopping with my Mom and sisters. I didnt get much but I did score the 3 month Xbox Live membership for $12 that Wal-Mart had on sale. This was one of the top items on my 10 yos list. (Side note: He was upgraded to the 12 month card as his Easter gift!)

Once we returned home, I decided to call DVC to book and see what was wrong. I got a very nice CM on the phone, and he alerted me that I hadnt banked my 2012 points by October 31. But he said that he could take care of that. Because of when I purchased the points, everything wasnt completely finalized until around that time. I never really had the option to bank. But they were very nice and reallocated the points back to me. I was able to complete my first booking for a 2 bedroom standard view room at AKL Kidani for 5 nights in June.

One step closer to a great group trip!

Hotel  done! (for the original 9 members)
Tickets  done! ( for my family at least!)

Up Next: YES! Its 2013  time for the Ms to purchase tickets!

 

[kthshh]

YES! Its 2013  time for the Ms to purchase tickets!

Around November, I discovered that the YES tickets for 2013 would not be as great a value as before. I gave the info to our friends but they opted to still pursue the class. During the first week in January, I saw that the classes had been posted and there was availability during our week. I forwarded the links to them and she got her two oldest booked for a class and purchased the tickets for her family.

The additional 2 families who were planning to room together had not yet made decisions on their trip. This wouldnt happen for a few more months.

Up Next: Pricing Flights

 

[kthshh]

Pricing Flights

I stalked Spirit’s flight prices for months. Many $24 off coupons were released prior to the end of December that covered our dates. But I was holding out for a $50 off coupon. Back in 2012, Spirit had a MLK day sale of $50 off coupon for flights through the summer. I got a great deal on our flights to Chicago. I had prepared my group that we would purchase airfare in January. The budget was set with the original price (no coupons). I considered each time I saw a coupon that we should purchase now. I knew for my family of four that would be an additional $104 of savings. If it had just been us traveling, I probably would’ve just bought them. Since others were involved and it was the holidays, I figured let’s keep waiting. Hoping prices wouldn’t rise in January.

Before we hit MLK day, our friend’s sister texted me with a great Southwest deal. The downside was that there would be a layover. The upside for my family was that I could score free parking due to my work location plus the free luggage. I was on board for the change. Then I looked further. There weren’t enough seats on the cheapest going flight (only 4 left). We needed 13. And the cheapest return flight left too early in the morning, but that was easily resolved with a slightly higher flight for later in the day. I knew that the 4 seats on the Sunday flight were going to disappear pretty quickly. A big part of me wanted to just buy them and let the rest of the group fend for themselves. I was even toying with adding a day to our trip. I didn’t give in to that temptation, but figured that I would wait on everyone else.
By the time I got home that day, they were down to 3 seats on the flight. I spoke to both my friend and the sister that evening. The sister said that she was going to take that deal and purchase the one way flight for her and her daughter. She would decide on the return flight later. Come to think of it, I still don’t know what her return plans are!

The flights were looking at with Spirit had the cheapest fare as a part of the $9 Fare Club. We were going to purchase the membership because we knew we’d take additional flights over the year. You could buy 9 tickets with the membership. This was perfect for the original travel group. It was always assumed that the Mother and Sister would split a membership price.
Once again, I ran the numbers, and it was best overall to fly with that membership. So I suggested to the M Family that they should purchase the membership and include the 7 of them on their reservation. We would continue on with our family of 4 plus the membership as we’d originally planned.

My biggest regret was not buying back in December. There hasn’t been a single coupon that covers our dates since then. And to add on to that, the departing flight increased by $30. Instead of saving $104, I would now be out $120 more than originally budgeted. Lesson learned. I won’t be greedy anymore!

Fearing that the return flight would increase soon, we purchased our flights in early February.

Flights – done! (For everyone)
Hotel – done! (For the original 9)
Tickets – done! (For the original 9)

Up Next: Park Plans and Dining Plans!

 

[Jackiemarie21]

I hate purchasing airfare, I know there are tricks to getting the best rate, but I am not good at that. We did pretty good with our FL tickets. But, we are visiting my brother out in CO this year and we waited to book our flights for a few days and ended up paying $200 more. Buy, what are you going to do?

 

[kthshh]

I hate purchasing airfare, I know there are tricks to getting the best rate, but I am not good at that. We did pretty good with our FL tickets. But, we are visiting my brother out in CO this year and we waited to book our flights for a few days and ended up paying $200 more. Buy, what are you going to do?

I am trying to adopt the attitude of purchasing rates I am comfortable with paying. Then don't look back! Unless the airline will give you a credit if the price drops. Lol!