The Fantasmic Four are at it again!

[Dis-Wiz]

We call ourselves the Fantasmic Four and we are ALL obsessed with the Mouse. The four of us share the same amount go excitement and involvement in planning ALL our Disney vacations. This upcoming July will be our (approximately) 10-11th trip to the World, and we love it more with every trip!

I decided to write a pre-trippy because I am just TOO excited for our trip (in 42 days) that I needed to do something to fill my Disney craving.

(fyi, I write this as I listen to Disney music, which I've been listening to non-stop all day, and also for the last 3 years.)

So, I guess I should start by introducing my family (something I've learned from the numerous other TRs I've read).
Well, like I said before, we are a family of four: Me, my sister, my mom and my dad.

My Sister : Let's call her Caitlin (since that's her name). On the DIS, she is also known as Loves Disney. She is 19 years old and is the one who introduced us to this lovely DIS family. She has an adventurous spirit with a witty/sarcastic personality (and much better with words than I am). She's also capable of tripping over something while standing still.

My Mom : (we'll call her mom). On the DIS, she is known as MouseCrazy22 and is between the ages of let's say 30-50 yo. She is the head coordinator of our trip-planning (president if you will). She is a high school teacher who spends her prep period surfing the boards for the latest Disney updates. She loves her family, but will the first one to make fun of us. She's also the shortest of us all (by a lot), which is fun. for us.

My Dad : (known as Dad). On the DIS, he is MouseCrazy2. He is also between the ages of 30-50 yo. He is in charge of finances (treasurer). He is also a school teacher, who plays the MK opening (ya know, "Good Morning, Good Morning!...") for his students every morning (high-school-aged students). My dad is very confident in his Disney obsession. He proudly wears Disney clothing everyday, and has no problem telling ANYone about our Disney addiction or showing off our Disney accessories around the house.

And finally, there's

Me (I'll get a pic later, for some reason the one I have won't resize): You can call me Brittany. I'm 17 yo (will be 18 by our trip), and have been in-love with Disney World ever since my first trip at age 7. I love my Disney-obsessed family, and can't imagine living any other way.


So let's start with the basics. We will be staying in the WDW resort from July 22nd-July 29th. For the first night, we are staying at POR, and then moving to the GF for the remainder of our stay. (also dining with the Platinum Plan ).

I guess I'll leave it at that for now, for fear I'll write down ALL our Disney plans in one post.

Coming up next: Just how obsessed we are with WDW, and the creating of the Fantasmic Four *Committee*.

 

[Dis-Wiz]

So, I think I'll start with some descriptions on just how obsessed we were with WDW.

No matter where you are in our house, there is always something Disney-related in sight.
Some of these Disney things are: Countdown whiteboard (with little mickey heads to signify each day we have left til we leave, which is currently 41), Disney coin box (for spending money), several Disney family pics, Disney-themed kitchenware, Disney artwork, Disney phone, Disney blankets, Disney pillows, Disney Clock, and the list continues...

Also, Disney Music is played constantly in our house. Once Mom and Dad get out of school (kinda sounds funny, parents still have school, kids don't.. hah), we usually play the MK opening music every morning (does it get old? NO WAY! ).

Every time we sit down for dinner, we talk Disney. Always. We talk about activities we want to schedule and restaurants we ALL agree on (which is more often than not, a major challenge). We go through all the menus (yes, we have printed out all the menus) and decide which ones have food we ALL like.

Of course, we get the weird looks, the snickering, and that question that never seems to get old, "you're going to Disney AGAIN!?!?!" But we have gotten used to these reactions and like good Disers, we don't let them bother us. We are Disney lovers and PROUD OF IT!

Ok, so now that you know just how obsessed we are with the Mouse, you'll understand this next part.

We have created a committee amongst ourselves called 'The Fantasmic Four'. This committee was created to in order to keep our Disney planning as organized as possible. Wait what? A committee created within a family? That's crazy! I know, and we are. But we think it's fun, and it forces everyone to get involved. So we do it. .

Mom is the president. She takes care of the major planning materials: reservation making, schedule revising, and so forth.

Dad is the treasurer. He handles all the money that goes into the trip (lucky him!).

Caitin is the secretary. She is in charge of taking notes during our Disney discussions and keeping track of what things we want to do, and places we want to go. (however, she was away at college for a good part of our trip planning so far, so her place was temporarily filled by Mom and I).

I am the vice president. I assist the president in scheduling, as well as keep track of the rest of the committee's progress. I am also in-charge of the countdown board.

Our planning for our trip in July started last July, when we returned from our last trip. With almost 11 months of planning, we have scheduled all our restaurant ressies, all our activities (well the ones that require ressies), and have decided on our resort (which was harder than you think).

Next up: Poly vs GF vs. Will this trip even happen?!?!

 

[Dis-Wiz]

As always, our '08 trip started as merely a hope to go to WDW again. As we left for our trip in '07, we thought it would be our last (at least for a while), and we came home with ideas of somehow returning 'home':

"What if we stay at All-Star"

"Well, the moderates aren't THAT much more than values, how about staying at POR?"

"Well, ya know, moderates aren't ALL that less expensive than a delxue.."

"Let's stay at the Poly!"

And so there it stayed. For about 2 weeks. We were staying at the Poly.

HOWEVER, we had to keep pushing the limit, and decided to do Poly concierge. I was personally VERY excited about staying at the Poly. We have never stayed there before, and I LOVE the tropical theme (my room has a tropical theme to it, all palm trees and bamboo; some stuff from the Poly).

But of course, we HAD to keep going and upgrading. We thought, well, if we're paying for Poly concierge, how much more expensive is it to stay at the GF? (Our REAL home, btw. This would be our 6th time staying there ).

So here we are, planning our 10th-11th trip to WDW, staying at the GF. We are also on the platinum plan. . However, we are only on this plan for 6 out of the 8 days we will be down at Disney. So, the first night (which is not part of the 'plan'), we are staying at POR. Then our last day (also not on the plan), we are staying in a GF suite! (Which I am SO excited for!!!!)

So, there is the first part of our vacation planning. Needless to say everyone is very pleased about it. (though I still want to stay at the Poly sometime).

After our resort and plan choosing, it was on to scheduling the activities (that are included with the plan).

Each of us had our top priorities:

Dad: fishing, jet skiing, spa.

Mom: Any tour that gives you presents at the end.

Caitlin: horseback riding, jet skiing, parasailing.

Me: Segways (off-roading!).

So, after much debate, the committee finally agreed a few activities:

~Fishing (all of us)
.Side note- Dad and I went fishing last year, and I caught about 12 fish, while Dad caught 2. Just adding this in case he reads this .

~Jet Skiing (just Dad and Caitlin, while Mom and I shop)

~Spa (for Dad)

~Segways (woohoo, all of us; off-roading!)

Besides recreation, we are also doing the Illuninations cruise.

Well, I guess this is a good place to pause before moving on to...

The Choosing Of The Restaurants!!! (dun dun DUN!)