The "Not-Beach Week SWW Grad Trip", pre-trip report

[MomBird]

It’s my first trip report, and in this case, pre-trip report! I have had such fun reading others’ reports that I thought I would give it a try.

Both this year and last year’s vacation planning began with great intentions of going to Aulani. Last year we found spectacular airline rates, but no DVC availability for any of our potential travel weeks. We went on a Disney cruise instead and loved every minute of it.

This year, there was some for availability in Aulani but in small spurts so we would have to move from one room type to another a couple of times during our stay and who wants to do that? Plus, flights were about 50% higher that the great deal we found last year. Eventually we really will make it to HI!

(And eventually, I will make it on to the start of this trip report.)

As an introduction, I am the mom of two teens, a son who graduates high school this year and a daughter who is almost 14. How did this happen so fast?! Aside from being “mom”, I run a small training & coaching company and design and develop adult learning programs. I went to Disney for the first time when I was 13. That was my only childhood trip and then my husband (we’ll call him Gaston, because I haven’t decided on using real names and I think he’d like that choice for him) and I went when we were first married, some 20ish years ago. After our son, whom I’ll call Skywalker, arrived a few years later, it quickly became our favorite family vacation spot. Introduce our daughter, “Aurora”, a few years after that and our darling bundle of joy who refused to sleep without a room completely to herself, in complete darkness, and without the sound of us breathing possessed us to buy DVC. After a week of sleep deprivation that model unit at Boardwalk looked oh so nice!

So we’ve been to Disney our fair share of times. Skywalker likes to explore other vacation spots, but Disney lures him for the dining plan where he can order lamb chops, swordfish, or whatever else he desires without asking, “Can I get this?” and having us cringe. Aurora would go to Disney for every single vacation and so would Gaston. I am the in-betweener. Don’t get me wrong; I love, love, love Disney World and once I have set a date set, I jump in with both feet. I just also like to venture out from time to time. (Like the Disney cruise line, Hilton Head Island, Vero Beach. Aulani….)

When we determined that this again was not our Aulani year, we had a few different options and considerations. As it’s Sky’s graduation year, he originally wanted to go to beach week with a few friends.

I do tend to flutter overhead to make sure the kids are safe and sound, while on occasion nudging them out of the nest. But Beach Week? Waves of panic overset me, and I pictured my well-behaved honor roll son partying Animal House style, getting arrested and losing his college scholarship. I will not even share the extent of worries that possessed this mother of an 18 year old son. That was one set of worries and another was the complete opposite – he and his friends getting lost on the way to the beach, then getting a ticket for driving too slow, because they are such jittery drivers, and being holed up in their room the whole week playing board games and video games (which, honestly, they would be content with).

I knew if he went to the beach, Gaston, Aurora and I would be renting a house not too far away to be on call. Not an ideal vacation.

So…I offered him a deal. He and his friends could skip the hassle of driving all the way to beach week and forget having to save up for a hotel of their own and instead have their very own studio lock off unit at Disney after graduation and during SWW. We would cover the room for the guys, their transportation, and extras and the parents would cover each of their own kids’ tickets and dining plan. Yay, they accepted! Sadly, one friend had to drop out so it’s just the two Sr. boys, but I know they’ll have a blast. Plus, Aurora is going to bring a friend for the first time too, so all of the kids will have fun!

Where to stay, where to stay.

By the time we looked, there was no availability at my favorite DVC resort: Beach Club. That’s my all-time favorite, but really you just can’t go wrong with DVC. We own at SSR (and HHI) and I like the location of SSR being so close to DDT. But alas, we ended up at AKV!! How did that happen? Hm’, we all like AKV too and love the pool at Kidani, plus Jambo House is just so very impressive. We decided that that would be more “Disney” than SSR and the two teens we were bringing along had never been to Disney, so that was the rationale.

I am happy with that decision (pre-trip happy, so we’ll see!)

I like how AKV Kidani has the 2 BRs with lock off units designated separately, so that’s what we booked. I had to get Savannah view because that’s what was left. Honestly, I would have preferred value or standard because the Savannah view doesn’t justify the extra points to me. The animals are great to look at but there are plenty of other places to view them besides the room.

Next up… How to Plan Disney with 2 adults and 4 teens.

 

[MomBird]

Once I made the DVC reservation, of course I came on the DisBoards to see if I should just do all the planning, let the boys decide for themselves what they wanted to do and leave them to it, or what. There were great suggestions to have a planning dinner and find out what they wanted to do.

We took the crew to a local pizza place and by this time I was in full Disney obsession mode. They are lucky that I didn’t wear my Mouse Ears in!

We took the iPad on which to show them restaurant options, and planning details, etc. I become quite animated when I am excited about something, so I nearly knocked our pizza stand over trying to show them how big the meatloaf is at Wolfgang Puck Express. It did prompt our server to bring our bill really quickly though.

I got everyone to propose a restaurant that would be top on their list of trying while there and from that, I made dinner reservations. The guys don’t have to join us, but they liked all of the choices except 1, so for now they’re on our reservations except for one night. Aurora and her friend are along for all of our TS meals, of course, and then can venture off for different QS meals on occasion. (For the record, it’s Whispering Canyon Café that didn’t win Sky’s vote. We’ve been there before, and while the rest of us like the antics, he is not a fan. Do not get between him and his meal with “silly antics.” I could have named him “Rabbit” instead of Skywalker, because he’s often a no-nonsense sort of fellow. He loved the characters when he was little, provided they did not interrupt meal time. I am fairly certain he was around 6 when he asked if Winnie the Pooh could come back later at a character breakfast. Aurora loves the characters so it’s been a juggling act to keep them both happy over the years. (The princess suggests that I add that she did NOT, in fact, like the characters until she was 4 or 5. Fine. Point noted!) Now to keep FOUR teens happy in our upcoming trip!


Next up…

Star Wars Weekends

MDE

ADRs

MomBird obsesses over all things Disney

 

[MomBird]

A little out of order my list in the previous post, but ADRs...

My kids’ friends who are joining us on the trip have never been to Disney before, so we’re trying to make sure everyone has an awesome experience and gets to live the Disney Magic while they are there. This includes the food!

Skywalker loves dining probably more than anyone else in the family. In fact, he’s most often the family meal planner. Not doing the cooking, mind you, but selecting the menus finding the recipes, and much to my chagrin evaluating the results. It would get on my nerves more if he hadn’t been this way since he voraciously scarfed down his first grilled and loaded burger charcoal fired by a friend at his 1st birthday party while all his little baby buddies ate goldfish crackers. The sheer look of joy on his face… I knew I had a little carnivore on my hands! So when we go on vacation, he’s usually the one to scout restaurants, read reviews and provide suggestions. For Disney, though, it was definitely a family affair, and as I shared, the guys will be on their own as much or as little as they desire.

For table service restaurants, we decided on the following ADRs:

· Bongos Cuban Café - I love Bongos for the fun atmosphere and on-the-water location. We will probably sit outside that way we can take in the music, but dialed down a bit and enjoy the late night meal. They have a seafood dish with lobster, shrimp, and scallops that I am excited to try! Mm'mm. The only thing is that I cannot enjoy shellfish and alcohol during the same meal, or I'll be running for benadryl. I don't drink very often, so on vacation I do enjoy a nice daiquiri once or twice.

· Be our Guest (for breakfast) - The problem with this plan is that I managed to snag a BOG breakfast reservation on the same day as our late night Bongos dinner (10 pm), AND the day after a rope drop day. Hm. Poor planning. And we will HAVE to make the reservation or cancel the night before. We'll see if we keep this one! Gaston really wants to eat here. I do too but I don't want to take 2 hours away from the middle of the day at MK to do so, thus the breakfast reservation.

· Whispering Canyon Café - Gaston wants to eat here because we really liked it when we went for breakfast about 5 or 6 years ago. We've never had dinner here but the unlimited platter looks good to him.

· Ohana - We love the atmosphere, just not the long wait in the crowded lobby area. I hope the Disney newbies really love it! This was top on Aurora's list to visit.

· Trattoria al Forno - Never been! This will be a first for us. I heard they don't have salt and pepper, so maybe we will sneak some in! Skywalker's buddy loves Italian, so we're hoping this will be a hit. His grandpa makes out of this world Greek and Italian food, though so there will be a high bar, I'm sure!

· Le Celier - We booked out last night reservation at Le Celier and this is the one dinner that I do want everyone to go to together. I love their pretzel bread and we will probably order a broccoli * cheddar soup to share for the bread. This was Skywalker's pick. It's a two credit dinner, so, yep, that sounds about right! We'll go out to Wolfgang Puck Express one night for dinner in order to make up for the two credit dinner meal.

The only ADR that Sky has outright refused is Whispering Canyon café. He and his friend plan to go to DTD that night and either hit Raglan Road, Wolfgang Puck Express, or maybe the new T-Rex place. Who knows where they’ll end up though with Park Hopper and The World Showcase just a bus ride away!

Gaston, Aurora and Aurora’s friend are much easier to please. They don’t like to explore food as much as Skywalker, so fun places like Spice Road are out for them, but they can enjoy barbecue ribs without lamenting the fact that they weren’t smoked for 18 hours with a dry rub. Again, I am in the middle somewhere. Hummus, pita and some couscous is a-ok by me, but unlike Sky, I won’t question the chef about whether or not he used lemon with the chick peas. (And why would he not?!) Besides, if I know that I can get a chocolate pineapple in EPCOT, a Dole Whip in MK, I am happy! My Fitness Pal app might not be too happy though! Must check out the gym this year at AKV Kidani!