The 5 J's Go Back to Disney *6/7* We're home :( But the TR has been started!!

[jenr812]

I figure it's about time for me to get my own pre-trip report instead of just talking about writing one in Lesley's report. I've been so busy with school, and I certainly didn't want to start something I couldn't keep up with. I know from Blayne's report that doing that makes people absolutely nuts So thus far I've abstained from the pre-trip report writing fun.

BUT...

(There's always a but...)

BUT - I graduate in TWO WEEKS. 2. Two. T-W-O!!!!!

It is so hard to believe that three long years of nursing school is *finally* coming to an end. Which means, of course, that we are *finally* taking the long awaited and well deserved celebration trip to Disneyworld. Thus the reason for this thread.

All right, enough babbling. Let's get to the important stuff. Like, who the heck are the 5 J's??

 

[jenr812]

First a little DIS history on the 5 J's...

I knew school was going to be tough and wanted to have a reward for my family to look forward to when it was over (besides the promise of a paycheck ), so I started planning our FIRST family trip to DISney as a graduation present for all of us. I DIScovered the DIS 3 years ago when I started planning said graduation trip and I immediately caught the DISease. Then we got an infamous postcard with an incredible rate, and we wound up taking our FIRST family trip in July 2005. It was amazing. Incredible even. So incredible that I took an immediate DISboard break because it was too depressing for me to come here anymore.

BUT...

(There's always a but...)

BUT - I decided I needed to start planning that graduation trip I'd promised my family. Because even though we took that FIRST family trip already, it wasn't THE graduation trip. I couldn't take away that graduation trip. Heck, I've been looking forward to this more than graduating itself! So back to the DIS I happily came, and I haven't left since! I have already decided that I will always be planning our next DISney trip so (hopefully) I won't have PDD* so bad next time.

OK back to the intros...

Jennifer (me!): 33 year old SAHM who is almost a nurse
(hopefully a NICU nurse!).

I was first introduced to DISneyworld by my best friend Kim's generous family when I was 17 (I also happened to live with them for 2 years). I have always been a fan of all things DISney since I was young, and I was thrilled when my DD13 was born - not only because of the obvious joys of motherhood, but also because I finally had an excuse to buy cute DISney related stuff and every DISney movie known to mankind. Even her nursery was done in DISney babies! One of my future goals is to move to Orlando and work as a NICU nurse at Arnold Palmer Hospital for Children and go to DISney on my days off. Oh and we'll have a big house so that my kids' families can stay with us and go to DISney whenever they want, too.

Jeff (DH): 32 year old who has caught a little of the DISease but doesn't have it anywhere near as bad as I do. I'm working on it, though

He thinks I'm a tad crazy and more than a little obsessed in my DISney planning, but he goes along with it because he knows it makes me happy. He is eagerly anticipating our trip to DISney and agrees that our first trip was the best vacation ever.

Jessica (DD13): My sweet, moody, bossy first angel from heaven.

The one who gave me a valid reason for my DISney obsession. She just got home 18 hours ago from 3 days in DISney with her 8th grade class. She is really looking forward to our family trip, though, because this trip "didn't even feel like DISney because I was with school - it was like a really long field trip!" She is into drawing, music, boys, Piglet, playing the flute (but is considering dropping it for color guard), horses, basketball, and other typical teenage stuff. She starts HIGH SCHOOL this August!

Jayden (DS8): My sweet, conflicted, moody second angel from heaven.

Sir Jayden was his name as an infant. He's looking forward to riding Rock n Roller Coaster (he wasn't tall enough last time!) and can't wait to get back on Tower of Terror. He loves all sports and being outside. He suffers from horrible migraines and cyclic vomiting syndrome (CVS). We're praying for NO EPISODES on our trip!!! (Exciting things and anticipation are triggers for him). He has typical middle child syndrome but we're working hard to make sure that he doesn't get lost in the shuffle. He'll be in THIRD GRADE this August.

Jory (DS4): My sweet, snuggly, sometimes bold and mouthy third angel from heaven.

He vividly remembers our first trip even though he was just a month shy of three years old (neener neener neener to those who say 2 is too young to appreciate DISney!) and can't wait to go back to "dizzyworld." He is such a momma's boy and I LOOOVE it! He often sings the "Mommy is beautiful" song and recently has randomly been coming to me and saying, "Gosh (pause for effect) - you're pretty!" He cracks me up! DH says he simply cannot compete with him - his timing is perfect and he is so darn cute. He starts KINDERGARTEN this August!

So that's us. The 5 J's. The J thing wasn't planned, by the way. At least, not at first. By the time Jory came along, though, DH insisted he had a J name I like it now though - makes it really easy to sign Christmas cards!

I'll be back soon with our itinerary and more fun details of our upcoming trip. Right now we've got to get ready to go watch fireworks.





*PDD=post DISney depression

 

[nts4wdw]

Am I the first? What a great start to your pretrippie! We'll be leaving for Disney on June 8, so we'll just miss you! We are in Irmo, so if you pass our exit, wave!! Your family is adorable. Can't wait to hear all your plans. Oh, and congrats on nursing school!!

 

[timandlesley]

Jen,
Very cool, lovin' it. I love how you are the "J's" , we are the "3 L's and 1 T" , oh well .
Jayden and Luke have a lot in common, this is his first year for Rockin' Roller coaster too, and he loves TOT. Loved the pictures, keep it coming.
Congratulations on TWO MORE WEEKS UNTIL GRADUATION,
How exciting!
Lesley

 

[daisy_77]

I think that is so awesome that you are going to be a nurse. It really is a noble profession and the fact that you want to work NICU is awesome! Way to go, you should be so proud of yourself!

Your family is too precious! And I love that you all are the 5 J's. You deserve to have the Best Trip Ever!

I look forward to reading more.

 

[natale1980]

Great Pre - TR you got me hooked. Your children are BEAUTIFUL!!!

Congrats on graduating!!! Arnold Palmer Hospital is a great hospital... looks like a hotel on the inside.

Can't wait for more.

-nat

 

[jenr812]

Yay! I have visitors! Thanks so much for the congrats and compliments!

The weather tonight was beautiful - perfect for watching fireworks, but the fireworks show was kinda pitiful. Let's face it, once you see Wishes, nothing else can quite compare. And the special July 4th version was even more spectacular. At least I got to try out my new camera.

See, I've been working every angle on DH. I just simply NEEDED a new camera. And it HAD to be a Canon S3IS. Well, he finally agreed last week, so I am now the very proud owner of a Canon S3IS and I even got a Canon Pixma iP6310D photo printer for free due to a special that Staples was running. Now I just have to learn how to use the thing properly before our trip.

OK enough about that. I promised our itinerary! Luckily, our itinerary is pretty much set at this point. Pretty much (said in my best Pinky Dinky Doo impression). I changed it a bit yesterday. But that was pre-pre-trip report.

Confused yet? I'll back up and explain. If you're not interested in how we got to this point in our planning, skip to the next post. If you're obsessive like me, and like to see a bit of DISney math in action then read on! (I also want to get this down for posterity sake ) So originally, this trip started off as a 6 night trip.

BUT...

(There's always a but...)

BUT - our 2005 trip was 6 nights. And that simply was NOT enough time. So then we worked our way up to 9 nights, with our travel night being offsite. I really did not want to stay off site at all (especially after we spent the first night of our first trip at HoJo's - yuck! We weren't doing that again!), so I considered Lake Buena Vista Suites. But we also considered that it might be better to just stay at POR from day one. Well when I did the DISney math (I LOVE DISney math!), I DIScovered that our original plan had us checking into POR on the first day of summer season, which is $10 more per night. So (here comes the DISney math!), it was actually, technically, almost exactly the same price for us to stay at POR that first night instead of at LBVS, since it would save us $100 off our POR stay over the length of our trip.

And that, my friends, is how I convinced DH to stay at POR from our first night. (If you haven't yet tried DISney math, you really must try it. It is a beautiful thing.)

This brought us up to 10 nights.

A short time later, Disney announced the free water park and more upgrade, and we jumped on that deal because even though it was $65 more than our original package, it now meant we could do water parks and DQ! At that time, I realized that 10 days would not be enough time to enjoy the parks, explore World Showcase (which we didn't even see at all in 2005!), AND do the water parks and DQ. So I sweetly brought my dilemma to DH and I carefully presented my case for more DISney time. Doing DISney math proved this! He agreed (smart, smart man I married!) and we decided to save money and move off site to LBVS for another night. But then I argued that we should stay ANOTHER night, so that we can be well rested before hitting the road for home (last time, we stayed in MK til 2am for EMH because Jory didn't want to leave and we tried to drive home after that! We barely made it an hour before we turned into the first hotel we saw for an uncomfortable few hours of rest in an overpriced hotel with broken air conditioning and lumpy beds). He again agreed.

BUT...

(There's that but again...)

BUT - then I realized we'd be wasting an ENTIRE DAY switching from POR to LBVS, seeing that checkout time is 11am and checkin isn't til 3pm. We couldn't have that - that would ruin the $150 we were saving by moving offsite! So let's just book a room only ressie at POR and pay OOP for our meals that last day. My dear, dear husband at this point just nodded and smiled and I made the arrangements.

So fast forward to this week and the most recent (last!!!???) change.

DS4 started excitedly asking if he was going to see Quincy and Annie (Little Einsteins) at dizzyworld. I started kicking myself for deciding NOT to book the character breakfast at H&V!!! It seemed he was out of his Little Einsteins phase, but apparently I was wrong. DH and I discussed it (you know what's coming, right?) and we were going to pay OOP for the breakfast, since our last day's meals were off DDP anyway. But when I figured out that that one meal would cost $120 with tax and tip, I did more DISney math and called and added another night to the end of our package, since a whole DAY's worth of meals on our DDP is only $138/day.

Hopefully I haven't lost anyone with all this catching up. Anyone need any toothpicks to hold your eyelids open? Fresh popcorn, anyone?

Next up: the itinerary!!!

 

[jenr812]

Our trip begins sometime on Wednesday, May 23, which is the last day of school for the kids. DD13 is taking 2 high school credit courses and has exams up til the last day of school. She may be able to take her last day's exam(s) on an earlier day, so we may be able to leave no later than 8am like we would prefer. But if not, then we'll leave around 11am. I just hate to leave so late and therefore arrive at POR so late, because I worry we will get a cruddy room assignment.

We plan to arrive between 5-9pm Wednesday the 23rd, depending on what time we actually get on the road. After checking in, we are going to get some dinner before heading to the River Roost to check out Bob Jackson. We missed him last time and I don't want to make that mistake again. This happens to be the night of the American Idol finale and I originally thought we'd grab some pizza and hang out in our room watching it, but AI just isn't doing it for us this season Maybe now that Sanjaya's finally gone, I might get back into it.

But I digress.

Some basic notes on our itinerary...we will be eating breakfast in our rooms most mornings. We'll bring small cereal boxes and the like. So unless we have a character ADR planned, that's what we're doing for breakfast. We're doing commando style touring the first few days and then kind of going with the flow after that (but with a basic plan in mind). I've planned to be in each park at night twice. That way, if we miss Fantasmic/Illuminations/Wishes due to weather, being tired,etc, we have another chance to catch it later. So I'll put it in our itinerary more than once.

Thursday, May 24

• Animal Kingdom rope drop
• Early Tusker House lunch
• Back to POR for swim/nap?
• MGM (hopefully in time for 3pm Stars and Motor Cars parade since we missed it last time!)
• 6pm SciFi
• Fantasmic

Friday, May 25

• Epcot rope drop
• QS lunch wherever (I'd like to try Yorkshire County fish or Terrace Noodle Station depending on where in Epcot we are at lunchtime!)
• Back to POR for swim/nap
• Back to Epcot
• Maybe catch the Guess Who at 5:45pm
• 7:40 pm Le Cellier
• Illuminations

Saturday, May 26

• MK rope drop
• QS lunch (maybe Columbia Harbor House - we loved it last time)
• Back to POR for swim/nap
• 5:30pm Kona Cafe
• MGM for Fantasmic
• Late night swim at POR

Sunday, May 27

• SLEEP IN!!!
• AK around noon
• 4pm Jammin' Jungle Parade
• Hop to MK
• 7:15pm Liberty Tree Tavern Character Dinner
• Spectro @ 9pm and 11pm
• Wishes @ 10pm
• MK EMH til 2am

Monday, May 28

• SLEEP IN!!
• DTD for shopping!
• QS lunch (maybe Earl of Sandwich?)
• Ice cream at Ghirardelli's?
• Paying OOP for dinner @ RFC
• Hang out at POR/swim/relax
• Some of our best friends arrive at POR today so maybe we'll hang out with them at the pool

Tuesday, May 29

• OPEN DAY!
• We will either do a water park (weather permitting), DQ, MGM, or AK this morning
• QS lunch depending on where we end up today
• 6:30pm Boatwright's

Wednesday, May 30

• MK rope drop
• 9:30am Character Breakfast @ Crystal Palace
• QS lunch (Peco's Bill?)
• Back to POR for swim/nap if we want
• Epcot
• 7:40pm Coral Reef
• Illuminations?

Thursday, May 31

• DAY OF SURPRISES for the kids!!
• 9:15am The boys are doing the Pirate Cruise @ GF
• 9:30am Jessica is going horseback riding @ FW (not sure yet which one of us (DH or I) will accompany her)
• Meet up @ DQ (or a water park if we were rained out earlier in the week)
• QS lunch depending on where we wind up
• Back to resort to swim/rest/freshen up
• 7:40pm BIRTHDAY CELEBRATION @ 'Ohana with our friends - their son (my DS4's best friend) turns 5 today!
• Watch wishes from Poly beach if we are done with dinner before Wishes starts
• Back to POR to swim?

Friday, June 1

• SLEEP IN!!
• Brunch @ POR food court
• AK or Epcot
• Back to POR for swim/nap
• 6:30pm Whispering Canyon Cafe
• Illuminations/Fantasmic/Wishes/Spectro if we've missed one previously
• Otherwise hang out @ POR/swim/etc

Saturday, June 2

• Basically an OPEN DAY
• Water park or DQ or park depending on what we've already done and what mood we're in
• QS lunch
• Back to POR to freshen up
• 7:00pm BOMA
• Go to a park or back to POR to relax

Sunday, June 3

• SURPRISE for Jory! 10:25am H&V Play and Dine Character Breakfast with Little Einsteins
• Probably stay @ MGM for a little while to see the craziness of Star Wars Weekend
• Go wherever we want to go for rides, etc!
• Back to POR to relax/swim/nap/freshen up
• MK EMH til 2am (tradition - we did it last time on our last night and LOVED it!!)

Monday, June 4

• Drive home
• Cry
• Cry harder
• Cry some more
• Pass out in sheer exhaustion from all the crying
• Start planning next trip!!
• Start writing trip report!!!

It still doesn't seem long enough. I don't see why we can't just move in. *sigh* Currently, my project is park touring plans (TGM) to make the most of our touring on those first few days to get the most rides in. Then we'll take it easy and just do whatever we want. It's a balance that I promised DH we'd have.

Did I mention how special this trip is? Even our important dates were special. My 180 day mark for ADRs was Thanksgiving Day and my 45 day mark for final payment was Easter Sunday. Just perfect, I tell you!

Any thoughts, ideas, feedback is welcomed. Off to bed!

 

[daisy_77]

Looks like you are all planned and ready to go!
I am sooo jealous that you live close enough to drive to Disney! Lucky you!

I have always wanted to go during Star Wars Weekend but I am afraid of summer crowds.

I look forward to more!

 

[nts4wdw]

Your plans sound great! We are more of the get up early nap in the afternoon types, but I have actually did plan two off days during this trip. I've never been brave enough to try it. When I get down there, I just want to go, go, go! We'll see what happens.

 

[BrerMama]

The J thing wasn't planned, by the way. At least, not at first. By the time Jory came along, though, DH insisted he had a J name I like it now though - makes it really easy to sign Christmas cards!

Yeah, but how do your kids feel about it? My sis and I were Kim and Kathy, and we hated it. I swore I'd never do that to my kids. So instead I gave them really unique names, which they'll probably grow to hate just as much. Going to read on... must read more about those who will be at POR with us!

 

[BrerMama]

Oh, congrats on the new camera. I've heard really great things about it. And I am all about cameras.

I did the same as you... added a night to our package at the end rather than just doing room only. Yeah, my dh loves me right now. Especially since I'm having a hard time figuring out how we're going to eat all those meals!

I just checked our itineraries and it looks like we're going to have to run into each other at the pool because none of our days fit together. I'll be the one in the shade, with a book and something cold.

 

[luvfigment]

I am loving your TR. Sounds like you have a great trip ahead of you!!!

Congrats on graduating Nursing school!!!! I have been a nurse for 5 yrs and we are special people.

Can't wait to read more.

 

[timandlesley]

LOVE all the disney math and changes, so glad to see I'm not the only one. You sleep in more than I "allow" but you guys will have a great time. I was considering the HW &V breakfast so I will anxiously await your review.
Lesley

 

[roxannensteve]

Great so far. You know I didn't realize there was a character meal with Little Einsteins. I'll have to look into that more. Thanks for the heads up.

I'll be here.

 

[kribit]

OK - Now I have another to read?

Congratulations on graduating nursing school...that must have been so difficult while raising a family. You should be so proud and what better gift than a trip to Disney!!!

Your dd couldn't look anymore like you. Wow, amazing. What adorable kids!!!

Looking forward to reading more.

 

[almousefan]

Wow! How lucky! I love the DISney math. I tried to explain it to my DH and he got lost. You guys will be finishing up your trip as we are getting started on ours!

 

[PittypatBR]

Hi, Jen. I'm enjoying meeting your family and hearing about your trip. We will be there shortly before you, and I'm new to this pre-trippie thing too! I just wanted to let you know that my DD and I posted a question on the attractions board about migraines here. DGD5 has severe migraines including abdominal migraines and we asked for touring advice. There have been lots of wonderful posters and excellent suggestions. Great people on these boards!

 

[jenr812]

Thanks for all the visits, everyone!

Looks like you are all planned and ready to go!
I am sooo jealous that you live close enough to drive to Disney! Lucky you!

I have always wanted to go during Star Wars Weekend but I am afraid of summer crowds.

I look forward to more!

Driving isn't all it's cracked up to be LOL We actually did consider flying for this trip. I found a great fare a while back, but we nixed the idea. We like having a vehicle if we want one (not to mention the storage it allows). Plus I like to have more control over my vacation - I would not be pleased if we were stranded at an airport due to a delay or whatever. Our first trip was over July 4th week, so we know all about summer crowds We're hoping they won't be *as* bad as last time, but we're prepared!

Your plans sound great! We are more of the get up early nap in the afternoon types, but I have actually did plan two off days during this trip. I've never been brave enough to try it. When I get down there, I just want to go, go, go! We'll see what happens.

DH made me promise to let us sleep in several times. Poor guy works so much that I had to appease him. It is making me cringe though when I look at all the sleeping in days -and I feel like TourGuide Mike is going to banish me if he sees my itinerary! But last time, after several days of waking up at the crack of dawn and making every rope drop, we were exhausted and cranky. I didn't want to be *that* family! We knew something had to change when all three kids fell asleep IN THE MIDDLE of the Festival of the Lion King. Who can fall asleep in that?!?!? We had tried to do midday breaks/naps but it just didn't seem to work. I'm hoping this arrangement helps keep us happy and cheerful LOL Even though we have many "off" days scheduled, I still have a plan as far as knowing which parks are best on those days (thanks TGM!). We just don't want to be so structured that it doesn't feel like a vacation. It's hard for me, though - I LIKE structure!

Yeah, but how do your kids feel about it? My sis and I were Kim and Kathy, and we hated it. I swore I'd never do that to my kids. So instead I gave them really unique names, which they'll probably grow to hate just as much. Going to read on... must read more about those who will be at POR with us!

It never really comes up I asked them yesterday if it bothers them, and Jessica told me she thinks it's neat, Jayden doesn't care, and Jory just looked at me blankly LOL Maybe it's because we not only did the all J thing but also gave them (well, the boys) unique names hehe That has bothered Jayden a little, only because it used to be impossible to find anything with his name on it. BUT lately his name has gotten so popular He was thrilled when Santa brought him a hot cocoa mug with his name on it, and grandma even found a Christmas ornament with his name! Now Jory's another story, but he's too little to notice still.

Oh, congrats on the new camera. I've heard really great things about it. And I am all about cameras.

I did the same as you... added a night to our package at the end rather than just doing room only. Yeah, my dh loves me right now. Especially since I'm having a hard time figuring out how we're going to eat all those meals!

I just checked our itineraries and it looks like we're going to have to run into each other at the pool because none of our days fit together. I'll be the one in the shade, with a book and something cold.

I love my new camera. I really wanted a rebel xti, but that was definitely out of our price range.

I think all the meals on the DDP will be a good thing - when we get home, we will be SOOO sick of eating, we'll all lose weight and it will help the budget too since eating out tends to be our biggest budget buster!

I hope we can catch each other at the pool or food court

I am loving your TR. Sounds like you have a great trip ahead of you!!!

Congrats on graduating Nursing school!!!! I have been a nurse for 5 yrs and we are special people.

Can't wait to read more.

Thank you!!! It's great to meet fellow nurses. I cannot wait to pass my boards! I am so proud to be part of the nursing profession.

LOVE all the disney math and changes, so glad to see I'm not the only one. You sleep in more than I "allow" but you guys will have a great time. I was considering the HW &V breakfast so I will anxiously await your review.
Lesley

Isn't Disney math great? I told you I was obsessive! I am thinking of getting up early on a day the rest of the family is sleeping in and heading to a park alone, but I haven't even approached the subject with DH yet. I am not sure what he'd think of that. I have read great things about the H&V breakfast, and I'll be sure to review it in detail when we get back.

Great so far. You know I didn't realize there was a character meal with Little Einsteins. I'll have to look into that more. Thanks for the heads up.

I'll be here.

Thanks! And I'm glad I could be of service There is so much info to be learned, it is overwhelming.

 

[jenr812]

OK - Now I have another to read?

Congratulations on graduating nursing school...that must have been so difficult while raising a family. You should be so proud and what better gift than a trip to Disney!!!

Your dd couldn't look anymore like you. Wow, amazing. What adorable kids!!!

Looking forward to reading more.

Thanks for joining us! Nursing school was the toughest thing I've ever done. God bless my family for putting up with it (and me!). It really put a huge strain on my marriage but we're working on getting that back to normal again now. It's just hard to balance everything and obviously some things get neglected Anyway, that's the whole point of this fabulous trip - to help us reconnect! Thanks for the kudos and the compliments on my kids.

Wow! How lucky! I love the DISney math. I tried to explain it to my DH and he got lost. You guys will be finishing up your trip as we are getting started on ours!

Disney math is a wonderful thing. I think it's ok if DH's get lost with Disney math - that is part of the appeal Sorry we'll miss each other! I think SSR looks beautiful and would so love to buy into DVC. Someday...

Hi, Jen. I'm enjoying meeting your family and hearing about your trip. We will be there shortly before you, and I'm new to this pre-trippie thing too! I just wanted to let you know that my DD and I posted a question on the attractions board about migraines here. DGD5 has severe migraines including abdominal migraines and we asked for touring advice. There have been lots of wonderful posters and excellent suggestions. Great people on these boards!

Nice to meet you Thank you for the link! I am going to check it out. I am sorry to hear that your DGD suffers from these horrible things as well It's hard enough for adults to have migraines, but kids... It just breaks my heart. DH and I both get them, also, so I just cringe whenever Jayden is getting one. His last for days at a time, which just blows my mind.