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

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

The Cast:
Me (Mrs. T), DH (T), T's mom (The Saint), my cousin (Cuz) and the kids: DD9 (Belle), DD7 (Aurora), DS4 (Stitch)
The kids will actually be 10, 7, and 5 in July when we go.

Me & DH

The Saint

The Kids

Where to begin...

So the kids found out we were going to WDW without them (see our last TR), and we had to think quick. It was June 2006 and I said, "Don't worry, we'll take you back there too." So then came the big question: When?

Okay, we should have seen that coming. So T says, "Next summer." Okay, they forgave us. Well Aurora still had a problem with it, but anyway...we booked a week for next July at the Wilderness Lodge (WL). In the past we have always taken the family to the Poly, but we only stayed 5 days. At the WL we can do 7 days!

From the beginning we knew the Saint was coming. With three kids it always helps to have three adults. That way if we need to split up we can. It also meant that we needed 2 rooms (If it was just the five of us, we could fit into a room at the poly). We have wanted to try WL for a while. When we were at WDW in Nov. 2003, we went to check it out. We were blown away by the detail. For this trip, we decided since we have stayed at the Poly 3 times, it is time to try something new. Besides, 2 rooms at the poly gets expensive. Also, we didn't feel we need to be right on the monorail now that the kids are getting older.

Now, none of us adults are big thrill ride people. Belle loves thrill rides, and she is now tall enough to go on everything. I found out that Cuz likes thrill rides too and immediately invited her. Cuz and I were pretty close as kids, so it will be nice to spend some time with her. This worked out well as we had space with 2 rooms booked.

After we got back from our December trip, we re-enrolled with TGM and waited for our special info which comes out 6 months ahead. We got confirmation from Cuz that she was joining us and proceeded to read up on the tours. We booked the Family Magic Tour for our first full day at WDW. There are EMHs that morning, so we can have a nice fun early morning followed by a fun FMT. We even got a 20% discount by booking it with our Disney Visa. It was better than the AAA or AP discounts.

Then the big day arrived: The day TGM posted our secret special info which we can't share with you because we promised when we signed on to
TGM. Besides, hit men from Orlando might come after us if we do tell. Either that or attorneys. Being an attorney, T thinks hit men would be nicer...

After comparing TGM's info, park hours, EMH and all that jazz, we set up our first draft itinerary and called to make the ADRs. Of course, we called at 7AM 180 days out to do the 180+10 thing. We got everything we asked for.

Here's what it looks like so far:
7/11 Dinner at Chef Mickey's (we always start family trips there)
7/12 Mama Melrose (Fantasmic package)
7/13 Artist Point (while kids are at Cub's Den)
7/14 Whispering Canyon dinner
7/15 Prime Time lunch
7/15 'Ohana dinner
7/16 Princess Storybook lunch (Norway)
7/17 Boma dinner
7/18 'Ohana breakfast (we always end our trips here)

Once we got that figured out, we realized there was already an Official July Thread (see my signature if you want the link). I decided to start compiling the official list in that thread and noticed that timandlesley will be at WL at the same time as us. It turns out there are quite a few DISers staying at WL in mid July. Hopefully we can plan a poolside DISmeet.

For now, all we can do is dream about July. In my dreams, the heat doesn't bother me, and no one gets sunburned.

T would like to say a few words:
A Few Words I think most of my comments made it into the draft as DW was typing...

Next up- New AP or Renew AP; Tickets, tickets who still has tickets; Disney Dining Experience?

 

[Disneyland_Mama]

Wow, is it that time, already?
Are you guys sure you don't want to come in August?
Well, I'm jumping on this one early!

 

[natale1980]

Great Start! Hey... By the way... whats TGM?

sorry... been a million times to Disney but the closest I get to discounts is going during value season.

-nat

 

[T-i-double-g-err]

Wow, is it that time, already?
Are you guys sure you don't want to come in August?
Well, I'm jumping on this one early!

Thanks for joining us as we plan, and replan, and otherwise shape our upcoming bounce to WL.

I wish we could do August. The possibility of another run of free DDP makes it pretty tempting. The problem for us is that the kids go back to school on August 13. We don't want the kids missing school.

I'm still wondering whether we'll miss the convenience and lush landscape from the Poly. From our visits to the lobby and pool area, I really like the WL theming but wonder if it will be as relaxing as the island atmosphere. I'm not really sure I'll figure that one out as the theming is an apples to oranges comparison. The transportation issue will be much more amenable to a straight on comparison.

We're firmly in the morning touring, afternoon resort nap/swim and evening entertainment/touring mind set. We've been spoiled by the monorail and TTC access from the Poly. We are also not commando touring types, so as long as we hit our few must sees, we're not trying to see everything. I feel like I'm balancing all of this with the fewer difficulties in transporation as the kids get older - no stroller, no carrying sleeping toddlers, etc.

Wow...I sure ramble once I get started...

Great Start! Hey... By the way... whats TGM?

sorry... been a million times to Disney but the closest I get to discounts is going during value season.

-nat

TMG=Tour Guide Mike. He's one of the sponsors of the Theme Parks Attractions and Strategies forum here on DIS. He has a Web site with Disney information. We've used the Unofficial Guide and TGM, and prefer TGM for planning and strategy information. A lot of the information from both sources is available here if you go searching for it (assuming you can get search working). If you are interested, you should go through the banner ad in Theme Parks forum and click through the link from there to get the discount on registration.

Thanks for reading!

 

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

Disneyland Mama:
It's a good thing we call T's mom "the saint", because you are the official Mama!

 

[VMK magic WDW]

Haha wow looks like you had a good time "Disney" : The Happiest Place On Earth

 

[aldisneygrl]

Ok, I am along for the ride. I can't wait to see what y'all come up with. I've never stayed at the Poly or the WL, but Lesley has really made the WL sound wonderful from her TR. Good Luck!

 

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

Gosh, guys. It's like we're all one big family. We can't wait to take y'all with us.

 

[Disneyland_Mama]

Disneyland Mama:
It's a good thing we call T's mom "the saint", because you are the official Mama!

I love it! "The Saint" aren't they all?

Gosh, guys. It's like we're all one big family. We can't wait to take y'all with us.

Take me, take me!!
Anything new? Any drama? Any changes? I need more!

I'll wait...

 

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

The postcard

The kids got a postcard today from Mickey Mouse himself (thanks to Amber, otherwise known as princess@heart). My younger two couldn't believe they got a real letter from Mickey! Mickey even told the kids how much we missed them during our trip in December, and how we can't wait to bring them this summer. It was signed with "See ya real soon!"

 

[T-i-double-g-err]

Anything new? Any drama? Any changes? I need more!

I'll wait...

The latest planning drama surrounded our plans/decisions on tickets. We're still not 100% sure how it will play out, but we have a basic game plan.

Checking the stock of tickets at the house:
1) My AP expired the first week of January.
2) Mrs. T still had 7 days remaining on a 10-day park-hopper w/no expiration from our December trip.
3) We still have two older parker-hopper kids' tickets: one with two days and one with five days.

Right now we have a room-only ressie at WL with the AAA discount. I'm hoping that they'll be some discount code or pin that comes our way to knock that down further (or allow us to shift from two standard rooms to two rooms with a better view, maybe even concierge if the discount is big enough). All this on hotels to say that we might shift to a package if a package code or pin looks like it will work out better for us than the AAA room only. I also want us to have the option to take advantage an AP rate if one gets announced.

I've been noticing some pretty heavy activity on the Codes/Rates thread regarding a 40% discount on rooms as part of a package deal. I had a TA we've worked with in the past check it out. She said the code is supposed to only be used in connection with a particular pin, despite the fact that many folks appear to be booking the code without the pin. In any case, our dates don't work for the code or pin. So, we won't be getting that code.

I also tried calling CRO to see if a PIN was attached to our address. No luck. We don't seem to be getting on that random list for e-mail or postcards with PINs. I've pretty much subscribed to everything Disney I can in the hopes of hitting whatever source they use to generate the code list. I'll keep my fingers crossed that there may be a PIN in our future.

All this kind of factors into how we plan to get tickets for all of us for July. In order to get the potential AP rate, we needed to either renew my AP or get a new AP. BIL may be taking a WDW trip in summer of 2008, and if so, we may join him and his family on that trip. With this information, we opted for the new AP since it's unlikely we'll be visiting before July and an opportunity that the new AP could span the July trip and an early summer 2008 trip at least. My ticket decision is made. Since the new AP will come in the form of a voucher, I can always not activate it if a good package rate comes out, and we switch to a package reservation. So, we went online and ordered one adult AP. That's my ticket handled.

DW has her 7 days left. That should get us through the July trip if we don't get a package deal. If we do, that ticket has no expiration, so it can be used at some future date.

Belle will turn 10 before our July. Weclome to adult tickets and meal pricing. Given the cost of expiring vs. non-expiring and the fact that we have no ticket for her, we decided to go for an expiring 7-day park hopper. We may only use six days in the parks, but that last day is not that much more without the no expire option. Again, if a package deal hits, we can get the tickets on the package and save this expiring park-hopper for a future trip. So, pull-up my mousesaver's bulletin from January, click on the Undercover Tourist discount link and order the 7-day park hopper.

Aurora can use the old 7-days worth of park-hopper tickets, or tickets on a package.

Stitch will also need tickets. Same analysis as for Belle. Opting for the 7-day park hopper expiring. Ordered from Undercover Tourist along with Belle's ticket.

The AP voucher arrived Saturday, and the two expiring 7-day park hoppers arrived today. So, we are now set on tickets with a back-up plan in place in case the right package discount comes along. I was able once again to get into the AP portion of the WDW site. Not too much new since I last was able to access it earlier this month, but I did run a couple itineraries while logged in, still hoping to hit somekind of magic Web site usage that might trigger a PIN e-mail or postcard.

I hope I did not just bore everyone to tears with my stream of conciousness ticket planning.

 

[aldisneygrl]

I'm glad you've got it all straight because my head is spinning from just reading about it. Good luck with all your ticket options. Can't wait to hear more. No boredom here!

 

[Disneyland_Mama]

Hold on... my brain is trying to catch up!

 

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

Hold on... my brain is trying to catch up!

Try chocolate. It always works for me.

 

[T-i-double-g-err]

I'm glad you've got it all straight because my head is spinning from just reading about it. Good luck with all your ticket options. Can't wait to hear more. No boredom here!

Thanks! I wouldn't say I over analyze things, but I guess I do have leanings in that direction... I was doing my best to balance the need for tickets and a preference to buy ahead with a discount with the desire to get an AP rate if it becomes available or package deal if it becomes available. It helps knowing that we'll go again in the future and that we can keep track of unused tickets over a few years time span.

In any case, I think the decisions have got us to the point of being covered ticket-wise while retaining flexibility regarding potential discounts that may pop-up. I also like the fact that we either have the ticket portion paid now with less to pay later, or we will have some kind of deal that makes a package more economically feasible and tickets mostly pre-paid for another week trip sometime in the future.

Hold on... my brain is trying to catch up!

Thanks for following along. I hope it all kind of made sense in a manic, overly analytic, discount-driven Disney-holic way. How many extreme adjectives can I string together in a single sentence?

Try chocolate. It always works for me.

She's right about the chocolate. Of course, you almost never can go wrong with chocolate. It's a similarity we can bond over in our marriage.

I think coming rapidly along on the horizon is our transportation plan. We're arriving and departing in three groups, and the composition of the groups differs between arrival and departure.

 

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

She's right about the chocolate. Of course, you almost never can go wrong with chocolate. It's a similarity we can bond over in our marriage.

He loves me!

 

[sleepingbean]

Okay, that was a fun read through
You have me excited and we don't even have a plan figured out yet!
LOL

 

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

Okay, that was a fun read through
You have me excited and we don't even have a plan figured out yet!
LOL

Do you know when you are going?

 

[sleepingbean]

My hopeful plan in November, for my 30th Bday
But if I get too anxious,I may bump it up to Oct for Bean's 7th bday!

I was never a big Disney fan and one trip to Disney World and now I am OBSESSED with Disney! I want to move to Florida and work for the World!
LOL

I loved reading your trip reports. The anniversary trip looked just wonderful. I want the girls grandparents to come along, but they are pretty comfortable up here in the Midwest. Hard to get them convinced to get on a plane these days.
Anyway, I'll check back for your updates and live vicariously through others until November!
(and I am SO HOPING for a dining plan deal sometime this year!)

 

[T-i-double-g-err]

My hopeful plan in November, for my 30th Bday
But if I get too anxious,I may bump it up to Oct for Bean's 7th bday!

Birthday's are great in WDW. I was there for my 39th last year. I wore my b-day pin for the day. We had breakfast at CRT which absolutely thrilled my DDs. I still have the certificate signed by all the princesses wishing me a happy birthday. Either way, make sure to note the birthday in your reservations and your ADRs.

I was never a big Disney fan and one trip to Disney World and now I am OBSESSED with Disney! I want to move to Florida and work for the World!
LOL

My obsession took about a 10 year hiatus during my 20s. We visited quite a bit while I was growing up through my teenage years. Going back with my own kids for the first time rekindled the obsession and helped me to remember how much I enjoyed the trips growing up.

I loved reading your trip reports. The anniversary trip looked just wonderful. I want the girls grandparents to come along, but they are pretty comfortable up here in the Midwest. Hard to get them convinced to get on a plane these days.
Anyway, I'll check back for your updates and live vicariously through others until November!
(and I am SO HOPING for a dining plan deal sometime this year!)

Thanks for reading along. We truly had a blast on that trip. The experiences are quite different between going with the children and going by ourselves.

Good luck getting your parents to come along. I would think that a trip to sunny, warm Florida in Oct. or Nov. would be appealing. My mother joined us for our family trip last January and will be joining us again for the one in July. She likes spending the time on vacation with us and the kids, and we enjoy having her there with us.