McKeeFamily3
Knee deep in snow
- Joined
- Apr 23, 2000
- Messages
- 133
Part 1-In the beginning
****Starrring****
Valerie-me, age 30 stay at home Mom. Trip planner, lover of Disney. I can't believe I got to go to Disney World!
George-DH, age 30. Works at a frozen food plant. Worlds biggest pessimist. Convinced we'd never make it to Disney World and if by some off chance we did, everything would go wrong and it would be a horrible waste of money. Boy, was he wrong! He's really a great guy.
Hannah-DD, age 6. Lover of everything Disney. Self described scardey cat chicken. Cluck, meow. Made me promiss not to make her go on Dumbo because it looked like it went to high.
Angus-DS, age 2. Stoller monkey. Loved Donald Duck and Tigger.
Andrew-DN(nephew) age 8. The boy who could do no wrong.
You'll see what I mean as the story goes on. A great kid.
Amber-DC(cousin) age 17. Built in babysitter
I can't start this trip report without mentioning my Grandmother. Her generosity is what made this whole trip possible. In November of 1999 she passed away while visiting us for the Holidays. She was quite a character and she led a very interesting life. We always told her she should have written her autobiography. It would have been a best seller! Anyway, through some of her adventures in life she made a small fortune. She willed a portion of it to each of her children and Grandchildren. When George and I learned of this the first thing we thought of doing was taking the kids to Disney World. Planning the trip really helped me to deal with the grief of losing my Grandmother. Each time I sat down to plan some aspect of the trip, I couldn't help but think of her since it was due to her generosity that we were able to do this. Thinking about her brought back so many wonderful memories and pushed the sadness of not having her with us away. So thank you Grandma...We love and miss you...
Now on with the show!!
This first installment is about planning the trip. If you find this boring tune in later for the next installment. If you love the planning, read on....
Ok, so I went into this thinking you planned a Disney World vacation like you plan any other vacatioin. Well, you all know how foolish that line of thinking is. I watched tv for a week looking for a Disney World Commercial. I finally saw one and called the number. I recieved my planning video and brochures about 2 weeks later. After watching the video and reading the brochures I decided to book a 4 day resort magic package at CB. We had decided to go for Christmas. It would be the perfect time because Hannah would be out of school and George would be on Christmas shutdown at work. So I called CRO,(this is January, by the way)figuring I was getting a jump on the game by booking so far in advance. I was shocked when she told me CB was booked solid for the dates I wanted! This was my first clue that X-mas was the bussiest time of year. So by the time we had decided on another resort we had decided to take our nephew and my cousin. With Andrew's home situation, he never would have had the chance to go to Disney World so we were happy to take him. Amber has alway wanted to go to Disney World, so my mom asked if we minded taking her. They would pay all of her expenses. She lives with my parents. She said she would also babysit for us if George and I wanted to have a night out alone. Well, who could pass up an offer like that! And then there were 6. We needed bigger accomodations! We decided on Fort Wilderness cabins. So I called and booked the package. They had all but one night available so we booked 2 rooms at Port Orleans for that night. We were all set. Now all we had to do was wait........Then, I got a computer.....You all know what happened next, right?...I found the Dis!! I spent every free second scouring the boards for information. I couldn't believe how much there was to Disney World! I had booked a 4 day package, thinking 4 parks, 4 days. Sounds good. Well, after about a few weeks of reading the boards our 4 day vacation had turned into a 7 day vaction. I had also learned just how busy it is at Christmas time so we changed the dates to a little earlier in the month. George hates crowds and would not have been a happy camper if we had stuck with the original dates. We had also decided that 2 rooms at PO would be better for us for the full stay rather than FW cabins. We thought we might be to crowded and I liked the idea of having 2 bathrooms to make getting ready in the morning easier. So, once again I was on the phone to CRO. They did not have the rooms available let alone any with the MKC discount. Another great thing I learned about here on the Dis! So, I got in touch with Dreams Unlimited to see what they could do for me. Not only did they get me the rooms at PO but they also got me the MKC discount. That little card saved me a bundle on this trip! We had decided not to book a package since I learned that doing everything seperatly saved alot of money. So we still had passes to buy. About a month later I read about the Magic in a Box promotion on the boards. When I ordered my passes they came in a big hat box filled with all kinds of Disney goodies. A Disney liscense plate, luggage tags, coloring books and crayons, disposable camera, and a couple of plush toys. What a deal! Now we were set, or so I thought. A while latter I read something about renting DVC points to stay at Old Key West. I remembered reading about OKW in the brochures and how loveley it was but it was way out of our price range. Out of curiosity I went over to the DVC boards to find out about this renting points thing. I found that I would need 120 points for a 2 bedroom unit at OKW for 5 nights. I opted not to stay there on Friday and Saturday as the points are double for those days. I posted my request for points on the DVC rent/trade board and got a reply from a lovely lady by the name of Carol. Yes, she had the points to rent and it would cost $10 a point. So we got a 2 bedroom unit for $1200! It would have cost the same for the 2 rooms at PO for those 5 nights. You can't beat that deal with a stick. I was so excited!! Now, finally after months of changing plans we were all set. All I had to do was plan my itinerary and make my Ps's! Woo hoo! Oh, and by the way, this was all a secret from the kids! They knew nothing about this trip at all. Let me tell you, this was the hardest secret I have ever kept!
Tune in tommorow for part 2-getting there is half the fun. Well, sort of.....
<font color=red>FIRST TIME TO WDW!Port Orleans December 15-16!! OKW DECEMBER 17-22!!</font>
[This message was edited by McKeeFamily3 on 01-03-01 at 02:20 PM.]
****Starrring****
Valerie-me, age 30 stay at home Mom. Trip planner, lover of Disney. I can't believe I got to go to Disney World!
George-DH, age 30. Works at a frozen food plant. Worlds biggest pessimist. Convinced we'd never make it to Disney World and if by some off chance we did, everything would go wrong and it would be a horrible waste of money. Boy, was he wrong! He's really a great guy.
Hannah-DD, age 6. Lover of everything Disney. Self described scardey cat chicken. Cluck, meow. Made me promiss not to make her go on Dumbo because it looked like it went to high.
Angus-DS, age 2. Stoller monkey. Loved Donald Duck and Tigger.
Andrew-DN(nephew) age 8. The boy who could do no wrong.
You'll see what I mean as the story goes on. A great kid.Amber-DC(cousin) age 17. Built in babysitter
I can't start this trip report without mentioning my Grandmother. Her generosity is what made this whole trip possible. In November of 1999 she passed away while visiting us for the Holidays. She was quite a character and she led a very interesting life. We always told her she should have written her autobiography. It would have been a best seller! Anyway, through some of her adventures in life she made a small fortune. She willed a portion of it to each of her children and Grandchildren. When George and I learned of this the first thing we thought of doing was taking the kids to Disney World. Planning the trip really helped me to deal with the grief of losing my Grandmother. Each time I sat down to plan some aspect of the trip, I couldn't help but think of her since it was due to her generosity that we were able to do this. Thinking about her brought back so many wonderful memories and pushed the sadness of not having her with us away. So thank you Grandma...We love and miss you...
Now on with the show!!
This first installment is about planning the trip. If you find this boring tune in later for the next installment. If you love the planning, read on....
Ok, so I went into this thinking you planned a Disney World vacation like you plan any other vacatioin. Well, you all know how foolish that line of thinking is. I watched tv for a week looking for a Disney World Commercial. I finally saw one and called the number. I recieved my planning video and brochures about 2 weeks later. After watching the video and reading the brochures I decided to book a 4 day resort magic package at CB. We had decided to go for Christmas. It would be the perfect time because Hannah would be out of school and George would be on Christmas shutdown at work. So I called CRO,(this is January, by the way)figuring I was getting a jump on the game by booking so far in advance. I was shocked when she told me CB was booked solid for the dates I wanted! This was my first clue that X-mas was the bussiest time of year. So by the time we had decided on another resort we had decided to take our nephew and my cousin. With Andrew's home situation, he never would have had the chance to go to Disney World so we were happy to take him. Amber has alway wanted to go to Disney World, so my mom asked if we minded taking her. They would pay all of her expenses. She lives with my parents. She said she would also babysit for us if George and I wanted to have a night out alone. Well, who could pass up an offer like that! And then there were 6. We needed bigger accomodations! We decided on Fort Wilderness cabins. So I called and booked the package. They had all but one night available so we booked 2 rooms at Port Orleans for that night. We were all set. Now all we had to do was wait........Then, I got a computer.....You all know what happened next, right?...I found the Dis!! I spent every free second scouring the boards for information. I couldn't believe how much there was to Disney World! I had booked a 4 day package, thinking 4 parks, 4 days. Sounds good. Well, after about a few weeks of reading the boards our 4 day vacation had turned into a 7 day vaction. I had also learned just how busy it is at Christmas time so we changed the dates to a little earlier in the month. George hates crowds and would not have been a happy camper if we had stuck with the original dates. We had also decided that 2 rooms at PO would be better for us for the full stay rather than FW cabins. We thought we might be to crowded and I liked the idea of having 2 bathrooms to make getting ready in the morning easier. So, once again I was on the phone to CRO. They did not have the rooms available let alone any with the MKC discount. Another great thing I learned about here on the Dis! So, I got in touch with Dreams Unlimited to see what they could do for me. Not only did they get me the rooms at PO but they also got me the MKC discount. That little card saved me a bundle on this trip! We had decided not to book a package since I learned that doing everything seperatly saved alot of money. So we still had passes to buy. About a month later I read about the Magic in a Box promotion on the boards. When I ordered my passes they came in a big hat box filled with all kinds of Disney goodies. A Disney liscense plate, luggage tags, coloring books and crayons, disposable camera, and a couple of plush toys. What a deal! Now we were set, or so I thought. A while latter I read something about renting DVC points to stay at Old Key West. I remembered reading about OKW in the brochures and how loveley it was but it was way out of our price range. Out of curiosity I went over to the DVC boards to find out about this renting points thing. I found that I would need 120 points for a 2 bedroom unit at OKW for 5 nights. I opted not to stay there on Friday and Saturday as the points are double for those days. I posted my request for points on the DVC rent/trade board and got a reply from a lovely lady by the name of Carol. Yes, she had the points to rent and it would cost $10 a point. So we got a 2 bedroom unit for $1200! It would have cost the same for the 2 rooms at PO for those 5 nights. You can't beat that deal with a stick. I was so excited!! Now, finally after months of changing plans we were all set. All I had to do was plan my itinerary and make my Ps's! Woo hoo! Oh, and by the way, this was all a secret from the kids! They knew nothing about this trip at all. Let me tell you, this was the hardest secret I have ever kept!
Tune in tommorow for part 2-getting there is half the fun. Well, sort of.....
<font color=red>FIRST TIME TO WDW!Port Orleans December 15-16!! OKW DECEMBER 17-22!!</font>
[This message was edited by McKeeFamily3 on 01-03-01 at 02:20 PM.]
