T-i-double-g-err Family Bounces to the Lodge

[sleepingbean]

Thanks for the bday tip!!!

 

[T-i-double-g-err]

Well we have introduced another factor into the ticket equation. We have booked our first family DCL cruise for 4/2008. We plan to hit the parks for one day after the cruise.

Now, I need to rethink the plan to account for having one day of tickets for everyone in April 2008. Given the way Disney ticket pricing works, shorter periods and no expiration drive prices higher. The best use of a non-expiring ticket, therefore, should be a series of short 1-3 day visits; while expiring tickets appear to be more cost effective for known longer blocks of 5-7. How should we cover the ticket situation at this point?

Here's the current ticket tally:
1) AP voucher in my name,
2) adult ticket w/7 days non-expiring in DW's name,
3) kid ticket w/6 days non-expiring,
4) kid ticket w/1 day non-expiring,
5) adult ticket w/7 days (expiring), and
6) kid ticket w/7 days (expiring)

Please keep in mind that by the time we travel DD9 will be 10, and therefore, require an adult ticket, not to mention adult pricing for the restaurants.

The way I see it, the options are:
1) use the current tickets to cover our July ticketing needs and worry about April later,

Under this option, we will have my AP still active but no remaining tickets for future use and will need to get tickets for DW, DD10, DD7 and DS5 for April, 2008. Approximately, $262 for the additional tickets in April, 2008 - 1-day pass no park hopping. The costs go up significantly if we purchase longer term non-expiring tickets from which we use a single day.

2) split it up the following way:
a) 7/07 & 4/08 - me/AP (ticket 1 above)
b) 7/07 - DW buys a 7 day expiring ticket, 4/08 - she uses 1 day of 7 day non-expiring (ticket 2)
c) 7/07 - DD10 uses 7 day expiring (ticket 5), 4/08 - we buy her a 1-day ticket or longer non-expiring ticket
d) 7/07 - DD7 uses 7 day expiring (ticket 6), 4/08 - she uses the 1-day left on the non-expiring (ticket 4)
e) 7/07 - we buy a 7 day expring for DS5, 4/08 - he uses 1 day from the 6 day non-expiring ticket (ticket 3)

Under this option, we have the following tickets remaining:
ticket 1 - AP through 7/11/08
ticket 2 - 6 days remaining for DW
ticket 3 - 5 days remaining for DS
new non-expiring ticket - 5 days remaining DD10 (or none if 1-day ticket used)

The out-of-pocket on this option is approx. $737 (6 day non-expiring for DD10) or $568 (1 day pass for DD10).

No conclusions at this point, but these are the options that we are pondering. Feel free to weigh in with any advice.

 

[luciloo]

Great Report so far, I loved your 11th anniversary one.

As for the ticket options they are making my head spin

 

[Mrs. T-i-double-g-er]

Great Report so far, I loved your 11th anniversary one.

As for the ticket options they are making my head spin

You and me both. I have higher degrees in mathematics, and I still can't keep it all straight. We actually posted that last entry to help us figure it all out. We figured if we could explain it to others, maybe we would find some new insight.

 

[Mrs. T-i-double-g-er]

I thought I would let you know what the kids are saying about our upcoming trip.

DS4 (Stitch) has just learned the months of the year song in school. After singing it 10 times, he said, "June, July...Mommy, In June I'll be 5 and (DD9) will be 10 and in July we will go to Disney! As far as he is concerned those three events are totally connected.

DD7 (Arora) is excited that she will be tall enough to try a bunch of new rides.

DD9 (Belle) is thrilled that my cousin will be joining her on all the thrill rides, especially since the rest of us are all wimps. She also thinks that it is too cool that she will be considered an adult by Disney (at least in terms of tickets). I have tried to explain to her that this only means that she is costing us a heck of a lot more money, but the idea is still too exciting.

DD7 and DD9 are very excited that they will be going directly from WDW to Camp Grandma. DS4 is not aware of this yet, and he may be upset when he finds out, but DD7 and DD9 don't know that DS4 will probably get an extra day at MK since he is staying with us!

Only 147 more days!!!!!

 

[DisneyJo]

Jumping on here quick before it reaches 100 pages As for the tickets I'm so pleased us Brits don't have those choices, yeah we pay loads for them but we only have one option and once they're booked there's no changing them.

 

[Mrs. T-i-double-g-er]

Jumping on here quick before it reaches 100 pages As for the tickets I'm so pleased us Brits don't have those choices, yeah we pay loads for them but we only have one option and once they're booked there's no changing them.

I think part of our problem is that a mathematician (me) married a computer scientist (DH). I think if we were in the UK, we would still find some way to over-analyze the situation. Oh well, at least we still have our Milk Duds.

 

[Mrs. T-i-double-g-er]

Okay. This is the part of vacation planning that always gets to me. At about this time every trip, I feel like I should be doing something, but I have no idea what I can do. We are watching for codes and room rates and waiting for that 90 day mark so we can look into an illuminations cruise. Hmm...at least I can say "this time every trip". We are getting to be real Disney people!

Because of the 2008 Cruise, we also are very focused on researching DCL and reading people's TR's from that board. That's been fun. It's kind of like starting all over on the Disney planning thing. We have no idea what we are doing (and TGM can't help us with that one)! Of course, I bet 143 days before that one, I'll be pulling my hair out trying to find something that needs to be done...

 

[Lauralee131]

Wow - I need to go get some more coffee - I can't keep up with the ticket confusion!!

Glad to be along for the ride and that I jumped in early!!!

I buy my in bulk!!!! Waiting for more....

 

[DisneyJo]

Oh well, at least we still have our Milk Duds.

Wow you have a good memory, I'm sure mine dissappeared when DD's were born. Guess what my Dad returned yesterday with milk duds but he left them at my sisters house, she is 37 weeks pregnant so she'd better not be them before I get there!

 

[Mrs. T-i-double-g-er]

Wow you have a good memory, I'm sure mine dissappeared when DD's were born. Guess what my Dad returned yesterday with milk duds but he left them at my sisters house, she is 37 weeks pregnant so she'd better not be them before I get there!

Actually, I have to give credit to DH. He said, "Hey Disney Jo is the one who can't get Milk Duds. You could bond over that!"

 

[Mrs. T-i-double-g-er]

Wow - I need to go get some more coffee - I can't keep up with the ticket confusion!!

Glad to be along for the ride and that I jumped in early!!!

I buy my in bulk!!!! Waiting for more....

Thanks for joining us. We'll be happy to confuse everyone more later.

 

[Disneyland_Mama]

I think part of our problem is that a mathematician (me) married a computer scientist (DH). I think if we were in the UK, we would still find some way to over-analyze the situation. Oh well, at least we still have our Milk Duds.

Boy, I'm glad my husband and I are brainless wonders and just let our travel agent fret over our ticket situation!

Wow - I need to go get some more coffee - I can't keep up with the ticket confusion!!
Glad to be along for the ride and that I jumped in early!!!
I buy my in bulk!!!! Waiting for more....

Hey... scootchy over, would ya! Don't worry, I brought my own.

Wow you have a good memory, I'm sure mine dissappeared when DD's were born. Guess what my Dad returned yesterday with milk duds but he left them at my sisters house, she is 37 weeks pregnant so she'd better not be them before I get there!

Ya, you can kiss those Milk Duds good-bye. I'll go to Costco and get you some in bulk, Jo!

Hey Tiggers.... get typing!

 

[Mrs. T-i-double-g-er]

Don't worry, Mama. I have informed Mr. T that we must post a Focker Crocker installment tonight.

 

[Mrs. T-i-double-g-er]

Okay, everyone. Big news. We have one more very important friend joining us for our upcoming trip to the Lodge. Who is it? It is the most beautiful, sensitive, and loving crocodile we have ever wanted to meet. Her name is Flora Focker. Who, you ask, is Flora Focker?

Hi My name is Flora Focker and I am 21 years old. (actually my mom bought me a couple of months ago but I am very mature for my age)

My hobbies are lounging by the pool and drinking pina coladas. I love to shop and I love to watch All My Children and Animal Planet. I love anything Disney and cannot wait for my traveling to begin.

My likes are me me and me. I do have a twin sister Fauna and she is alright so I guess I like her as well. I love to party and dance till the wee hours of the morning.

My dislikes are are anything that would require me to break a sweat so please

take care of me and carry me around.

Favorite color-Pink

Well, it all started a long time before I was even a DISer. A few very interesting DISers started a thread called When you see other DISers at the parks.... Along with much talk of Lime Green (Mickey Heads, Crocs, Baggalinis, shirts, etc.), somewhere along the line, it became standard to "Fock" your fellow DISers. If you have seen the movie, "Meet the Fockers", it's just pointing at your eyes with your two fingers to tell someone you are watching them.

Well, this interesting group of people soon became known as the Official Focker Watchers or Team Focker Watch.

Fairly recently, one fellow Focker Watcher suggested the need for a mascot or 2 or 4... Thus the Focker Crocker family of crocodile mascots came to be. Freddie, Flora, Fauna and Fritzie have decided to join various DISers to see the World and the Land. Their travels have just begun, and you can follow along on The Official Focker Crocker Exchange thread. DISers are passing the Focker Crockers from one to another, along with their special journals. Some are left at Resorts, some are mailed. Some are visiting DL as well as WDW. There's nothing like a well-traveled crocodile!

We told DD9 all about Flora (although we left out the word Focker, since we didn't feel like getting into that discussion yet). She was very excited and asked if she could sleep with Flora. I explained that Flora is a very independent crocodile and doesn't like to share a bed. That should kill any future arguments about who will sleep with Flora!

We haven't added Flora to our reservations, but I did find out that because WDW is very environmentally conscious and animal friendly, Flora will be able to eat for free! Wouldn't it be great if we were all crocodiles!

 

[DisneyJo]

Yeah yeah you got Flora. Make sure you keep her under control you don't know what bad habits she's been taught. I don't mind if you know me as the milk dud girl there are worse things you could call me.

DLMama I'll hold you to those milk duds.

 

[Mrs. T-i-double-g-er]

Yeah yeah you got Flora. Make sure you keep her under control you don't know what bad habits she's been taught. I don't mind if you know me as the milk dud girl there are worse things you could call me.

DLMama I'll hold you to those milk duds.

She does sound like a bit of a party animal! When I read DD9 the part about Flora liking to dance until the wee hours of the morning, DD9 was a bit too excited about it. I'm a bit worried for our teenage years.

 

[T-i-double-g-err]

She does sound like a bit of a party animal! When I read DD9 the part about Flora liking to dance until the wee hours of the morning, DD9 was a bit too excited about it. I'm a bit worried for our teenage years.

Well, I've got a quiet house at the moment. DS4 is asleep. DW has taken the DDs to a local version of High School Musical.

Each of the DDs got to bring a friend with them. DD9 chose to bring her friend Chris. At dinner, she referred to it as a date. DW was quick to jump in with a quick "It's not a date since we are going as a group of 5, and you will not be going on dates until you are 16." I think I was better off letting DW do the talking on that one.

In any case, I had a chance to make a little positive progress on our July trip and post trip planning. Particularly, I got all the niggly air travel arrangement handled.

The plan is for DM and Cuz to fly down while we drive down from Atlanta. I was tasked with arranging DM's air travel. This would normally not be too difficult, except on her return trip, she'll have DDs along with her to attend Camp Grandma for a week after our WDW trip. We'll be flying up at the end of that weekend with DS4 for a brief family visit and returning with all the children to Atlanta.

I spoke with DM not too long ago about this, and she plans to continue with the Disney theme by taking the girls to see Mary Poppins on Broadway. Last year at Camp Grandma, she took DD9 to Beauty and the Beast. I wonder if I can sign up for Camp Grandma... But, I digress.

The complication for the trip is that we cannot book any of the itineraries as round trips because we would end up having to book a separate itinerary for the DDs that would appear as unaccompanied minors. I did a bit of research to find out that Continental has non-stop flights for all the required legs and is priced the same as AirTran. Delta, our usual choice from Atlanta, did not have non-stop flights for certain legs and also charged more for booking multiple one-way legs versus the same legs as a round trip itinerary.

So, other than Cuz, our transportation plans are set. I need to remind DW to give Cuz a call to see if she's gotten flight and/or park tickets handled yet. I should also give CRO a buzz to set-up ME for DM flying in and DM with DDs flying out. I'll probably wait until DW checks with Cuz, so I only need to make one ME call.

I also called CRO earlier in the week hearing rumors of new AP rates. Well, there were some new ones released, but they only extended through 6/2. So, I'm still keeping my fingers crossed that some kind of discount better than AAA will come through for July. Of course, while I had a CRO CM on the line, I asked if he could check to see if either I or DW had a PIN associated with our name. Alas, no luck.

I'm sorry the report is so lack lustre. I hope nobody has nodded off in the middle, or if you have, I hope that you got a good nap out of the deal. If nothing else, typing it all out is forcing me to think through what I'm doing, what I've done and what I still need to do.

On a possibly more interesting note, DW is trying to set up a meet on Official July thread. I think there's a pretty good chance that will happen given the number of folks traveling in July.

We're also trying to get a Crocker reunion set-up for Flora and Fritzie. Another family with an overlapping trip will have Fritzie at WDW. We need to get the two together and have some partying going on at WDW. I cannot wait to see the antics that these two will get into before and while we're hosting Flora. (see Crocker Exchange Thread for more info)

As a final thought, we're thinking that with our group of seve that we may want to schedule a Wishes or Illumination cruise if we can swing a reservation. We did an Illuminations cruise for our anniversary trip, so pretty much know what's involved with that one. Has anyone done a Wishes cruise? What did you think? If you've done both, any thoughts on which you would prefer?

 

[aldisneygrl]

Well, I've got a quiet house at the moment. DS4 is asleep. DW has taken the DDs to a local version of High School Musical.

Each of the DDs got to bring a friend with them. DD9 chose to bring her friend Chris. At dinner, she referred to it as a date. DW was quick to jump in with a quick "It's not a date since we are going as a group of 5, and you will not be going on dates until you are 16." I think I was better off letting DW do the talking on that one.

In any case, I had a chance to make a little positive progress on our July trip and post trip planning. Particularly, I got all the niggly air travel arrangement handled.

The plan is for DM and Cuz to fly down while we drive down from Atlanta. I was tasked with arranging DM's air travel. This would normally not be too difficult, except on her return trip, she'll have DDs along with her to attend Camp Grandma for a week after our WDW trip. We'll be flying up at the end of that weekend with DS4 for a brief family visit and returning with all the children to Atlanta.

I spoke with DM not too long ago about this, and she plans to continue with the Disney theme by taking the girls to see Mary Poppins on Broadway. Last year at Camp Grandma, she took DD9 to Beauty and the Beast. I wonder if I can sign up for Camp Grandma... But, I digress.

The complication for the trip is that we cannot book any of the itineraries as round trips because we would end up having to book a separate itinerary for the DDs that would appear as unaccompanied minors. I did a bit of research to find out that Continental has non-stop flights for all the required legs and is priced the same as AirTran. Delta, our usual choice from Atlanta, did not have non-stop flights for certain legs and also charged more for booking multiple one-way legs versus the same legs as a round trip itinerary.

So, other than Cuz, our transportation plans are set. I need to remind DW to give Cuz a call to see if she's gotten flight and/or park tickets handled yet. I should also give CRO a buzz to set-up ME for DM flying in and DM with DDs flying out. I'll probably wait until DW checks with Cuz, so I only need to make one ME call.

I also called CRO earlier in the week hearing rumors of new AP rates. Well, there were some new ones released, but they only extended through 6/2. So, I'm still keeping my fingers crossed that some kind of discount better than AAA will come through for July. Of course, while I had a CRO CM on the line, I asked if he could check to see if either I or DW had a PIN associated with our name. Alas, no luck.

I'm sorry the report is so lack lustre. I hope nobody has nodded off in the middle, or if you have, I hope that you got a good nap out of the deal. If nothing else, typing it all out is forcing me to think through what I'm doing, what I've done and what I still need to do.

On a possibly more interesting note, DW is trying to set up a meet on Official July thread. I think there's a pretty good chance that will happen given the number of folks traveling in July.

We're also trying to get a Focker Crocker reunion set-up for Flora and Fritzie. Another family with an overlapping trip will have Fritzie at WDW. We need to get the two together and have some partying going on at WDW. I cannot wait to see the antics that these two will get into before and while we're hosting Flora.

As a final thought, we're thinking that with our group of seve that we may want to schedule a Wishes or Illumination cruise if we can swing a reservation. We did an Illuminations cruise for our anniversary trip, so pretty much know what's involved with that one. Has anyone done a Wishes cruise? What did you think? If you've done both, any thoughts on which you would prefer?

You and the Mrs. better keep an eye on that DD! Hope they had fun at the Musical. That sounds like a lot of fun. Everytime I read about what y'all are doing locally, I get homesick.

Congrats on scoring Flora Focker, and having a Crocker meet up with Fritzie.

I don't know how you keep all your tickets, and travel arrangements straight. I am glad you can because I would be . I can understand posting it all here so you can read it and make sure that it is all covered.

I've never done the cruise, so I'm no help there. Sorry.

 

[Mrs. T-i-double-g-er]

You and the Mrs. better keep an eye on that DD! Hope they had fun at the Musical. That sounds like a lot of fun. Everytime I read about what y'all are doing locally, I get homesick.

Congrats on scoring Flora Focker, and having a Crocker meet up with Fritzie.

I don't know how you keep all your tickets, and travel arrangements straight. I am glad you can because I would be . I can understand posting it all here so you can read it and make sure that it is all covered.

I've never done the cruise, so I'm no help there. Sorry.

Are you from Atlanta? And do you live in the part of Alabama closer to Atlanta?