Wildflowerz
Can't Wait to See the Mouse Again!
- Joined
- Mar 12, 2008
- Messages
- 206
Okay, so I wandered on over to see what this this is...this thing you call a pre trip report? Why would anyone care what I'm gonna do? I decided to go ahead and do it anyways because, while I'm not a great writer, I do enjoy it, getting all my thoughts kinda out, so here I am.
So, I get over here and try and read the "rules"...the "instructions," if you will. But wall o' text almost killed me. So, I skipped back and decided I'd do this how it makes the most sense to me and if I screw it up, I'm certain someone will tell me. XD
So, to start with, the cast:
Constant Players:
Me -
Jenn 31yo mom in the Atlanta area. I work in accounting for an asphalt and bridge construction company at a job I hate. I'm an enormous geek and when I'm not spending my free time with my DD, I'm either reading geeky stuff or playing World of Warcraft. Or hopelessly drooling over Aaron Douglas from Battlestar Galactica. But that's a /squee for another day. 
DH -
Chris 35yo dad in the Atlanta area (well, duh). He works as a programmer for Home Depot and actually likes his job pretty well. He's the geek who made me geeky. He also plays WoW, but he's probably drooling over Grace Park from Battlestar instead of Aaron Douglas, so it works out.
DD -
Emily 4yo cutie pie (okay, okay, she's in the Atlanta area too!) who loves all things princess. But not to discriminate, she's also in love with Cars, High School Musical, Toy Story, Monsters Inc, etc, etc, etc. Pretty much, if it's Disney, she's all about it. Throw some Dora and Diego in there and she's good to go.
Then, we have the Others (No, they aren't going to steal our children for the Dharma Initiative):
-First, we invited DH's sister, her husband, and their son, who's a year younger than DD. They passed, thinking their son was too young for the trip.
-Then, we invited two Disney fiend friends of our's who have a little girl, also about a year younger than our DD. We started planning, decided on a date, were going to rent some DVC points and stay at SS, going in January 2009. Then, I get an email from them. She's unexpectedly pg and due in early December, so they're out!
-NOW, our group consists of the primary players (Me, DH, and DD) and a friend of ours. Our friend used to work at both the first and second daycare DD went to. After she left the second day care, we became good friends. She also plays WoW with us. She currently nannys for another family. So, we're taking her and paying for most everything but souvenirs and she's going to be there to help reign in DD, ride a few adult rides with us (so we won't have to always ride alone), and babysit on any nights that we need it. Plus, she's really cool. And this icon totally fits her, so she will be dubbed DF (dear friend)
.
Travel Dates:
We started off deciding to go December 6-12. Then, when we added the other family, we got moved several times to pretty much all the weeks in January 2009 except the MLK week. Now, since they're out, we're back to December 6-12. I've only been to DW once and that was less than a year after DH and I got married in 2000. I LOOOOVED it and knew I would have to take my child there in the future. You know, when I got one. So, ever since we started talking about TTCing, I knew I wanted to go the December before our kid would start school. So, here we are. The time is absolutely perfect. The lowest attendance week of the year and you get the bonus of seeing all the Cmas stuff.
Where we're staying:
Well, originally, we were thinking a moderate that's not Port Orleans. (That's where we stayed last time.) Then, when we were going with our Disney Nut friends, we were gonna stay at Saratoga Springs. NOW, we're trying to save $ since we're paying for an extra person and we're going to do a family room at All Star Music. That's the plan, anyway. We're getting together with said friend tonight, so we'll discuss and hopefully get the reservations done by the end of the weekend.
Advanced Dining Reservations:
What are those??? Just kidding. We've got until the beginning of next month to decide on that, but we're already thinking that the Norway princess meal, Ohana and Chefs de France will be making our list. Not sure where else.
Itinerary:
Not yet. The first time we went, I tried to follow a touring plan from the Unofficial book. Turns out, the time we went was so UNcrowded that we didn't need it at all. In fact, we were able to do all of Universal Studios and Islands of Adventure in one day and be finished by around 2pm or so. And that was riding EVERYthing. So, this time, especially since we'll have a Little with us, we're taking the more relaxed approach. It goes against ever fiber of my being, but I think we'll end up being happier for it in the end. So, as far as an Itinerary, we'll decide which park we want to go to on which days, so we'll know how to arrange our ADRs...but that's about as far as it will go. We also plan on doing probably one non-park day. Not sure if it will be strictly DTD shopping or maybe seeing the other resorts...I don't know yet. We're not going to do anything off the property though, either. No Universal, SeaWorld, whatever. At least, not THIS time. /cackles maniacally
The Rest:
Other than that, I'm just making lists and researching. Got my list of things to try and get...ways to pack, etc. I did get the Baggalini and tried it out on our most recent trip to the GA RenFest and it worked well, so I'm thinking it was a good purchase. I just ordered the Passporter, so I'm anxious to see what's all in that. I got the 2008 Unofficial Guide at Cmas and have already gone through that. It was easier since I knew what to skip from the last time!
So, that's about it for now. I'll update when we get/decide on our ADRs and when we pick our sparce Itinerary. And anything else I can think of. Questions? Comments? Concerns? Ask away.
Update #1
Update #2
Update #3 - ADRs made!
So, I get over here and try and read the "rules"...the "instructions," if you will. But wall o' text almost killed me. So, I skipped back and decided I'd do this how it makes the most sense to me and if I screw it up, I'm certain someone will tell me. XD
So, to start with, the cast:
Constant Players:
Me -
Jenn 31yo mom in the Atlanta area. I work in accounting for an asphalt and bridge construction company at a job I hate. I'm an enormous geek and when I'm not spending my free time with my DD, I'm either reading geeky stuff or playing World of Warcraft. Or hopelessly drooling over Aaron Douglas from Battlestar Galactica. But that's a /squee for another day. DH -
Chris 35yo dad in the Atlanta area (well, duh). He works as a programmer for Home Depot and actually likes his job pretty well. He's the geek who made me geeky. He also plays WoW, but he's probably drooling over Grace Park from Battlestar instead of Aaron Douglas, so it works out. DD -
Emily 4yo cutie pie (okay, okay, she's in the Atlanta area too!) who loves all things princess. But not to discriminate, she's also in love with Cars, High School Musical, Toy Story, Monsters Inc, etc, etc, etc. Pretty much, if it's Disney, she's all about it. Throw some Dora and Diego in there and she's good to go. Then, we have the Others (No, they aren't going to steal our children for the Dharma Initiative):
-First, we invited DH's sister, her husband, and their son, who's a year younger than DD. They passed, thinking their son was too young for the trip.
-Then, we invited two Disney fiend friends of our's who have a little girl, also about a year younger than our DD. We started planning, decided on a date, were going to rent some DVC points and stay at SS, going in January 2009. Then, I get an email from them. She's unexpectedly pg and due in early December, so they're out!
-NOW, our group consists of the primary players (Me, DH, and DD) and a friend of ours. Our friend used to work at both the first and second daycare DD went to. After she left the second day care, we became good friends. She also plays WoW with us. She currently nannys for another family. So, we're taking her and paying for most everything but souvenirs and she's going to be there to help reign in DD, ride a few adult rides with us (so we won't have to always ride alone), and babysit on any nights that we need it. Plus, she's really cool. And this icon totally fits her, so she will be dubbed DF (dear friend)
.Travel Dates:
We started off deciding to go December 6-12. Then, when we added the other family, we got moved several times to pretty much all the weeks in January 2009 except the MLK week. Now, since they're out, we're back to December 6-12. I've only been to DW once and that was less than a year after DH and I got married in 2000. I LOOOOVED it and knew I would have to take my child there in the future. You know, when I got one. So, ever since we started talking about TTCing, I knew I wanted to go the December before our kid would start school. So, here we are. The time is absolutely perfect. The lowest attendance week of the year and you get the bonus of seeing all the Cmas stuff.
Where we're staying:
Well, originally, we were thinking a moderate that's not Port Orleans. (That's where we stayed last time.) Then, when we were going with our Disney Nut friends, we were gonna stay at Saratoga Springs. NOW, we're trying to save $ since we're paying for an extra person and we're going to do a family room at All Star Music. That's the plan, anyway. We're getting together with said friend tonight, so we'll discuss and hopefully get the reservations done by the end of the weekend.
Advanced Dining Reservations:
What are those??? Just kidding. We've got until the beginning of next month to decide on that, but we're already thinking that the Norway princess meal, Ohana and Chefs de France will be making our list. Not sure where else.
Itinerary:
Not yet. The first time we went, I tried to follow a touring plan from the Unofficial book. Turns out, the time we went was so UNcrowded that we didn't need it at all. In fact, we were able to do all of Universal Studios and Islands of Adventure in one day and be finished by around 2pm or so. And that was riding EVERYthing. So, this time, especially since we'll have a Little with us, we're taking the more relaxed approach. It goes against ever fiber of my being, but I think we'll end up being happier for it in the end. So, as far as an Itinerary, we'll decide which park we want to go to on which days, so we'll know how to arrange our ADRs...but that's about as far as it will go. We also plan on doing probably one non-park day. Not sure if it will be strictly DTD shopping or maybe seeing the other resorts...I don't know yet. We're not going to do anything off the property though, either. No Universal, SeaWorld, whatever. At least, not THIS time. /cackles maniacally
The Rest:
Other than that, I'm just making lists and researching. Got my list of things to try and get...ways to pack, etc. I did get the Baggalini and tried it out on our most recent trip to the GA RenFest and it worked well, so I'm thinking it was a good purchase. I just ordered the Passporter, so I'm anxious to see what's all in that. I got the 2008 Unofficial Guide at Cmas and have already gone through that. It was easier since I knew what to skip from the last time!
So, that's about it for now. I'll update when we get/decide on our ADRs and when we pick our sparce Itinerary. And anything else I can think of. Questions? Comments? Concerns? Ask away.
Update #1
Update #2
Update #3 - ADRs made!
)so it'll be much easier to do what you want! 
and 
if you made it through!
