~*~The OFFICIAL 2014 Dates Thread - Come Join Us!~*~

[moose615]

I think ToT 10-miler is the perfect reward for quitting smoking! Have you already stopped? If so, good for you! I know it's hard - most of my family smokes and I've watched them struggle with it for years.

You're definitely on the right thread for early planners - we've all been chatting for months and months already now! Look forward to getting to know you!

I have not fully stopped yet, I have cut down drastically from a pack and a half down to just 10 a day. It is tough but I know I can and really want to quit

 

[Valgoof]

thank you so much. I do actually have one question. We are going to WDW for only 3 days. What would be the first place to go?

This is a hard question! I had 3 different answers typed out, but didnt want to overwhelm you. Are you wanting to hit all 4 parks or focus on a couple? Will you be back to Disney or is this a once in a lifetime kind of trip?

 

[moose615]

thank you so much. I do actually have one question. We are going to WDW for only 3 days. What would be the first place to go?

Well most people will say to do MK last since your taking kids, general rule of thumb is figure out the park that least interest your kids and move up to the most exciting park so they won't be disappointed by going say from MK and then next day Epcot (of course the order depends on what you think the kids will enjoy more)

 

[Rayvn]

We are planning to go April 28 - May 3 at AOA.

It will be 3 adults and 2 kids in a Nemo suite.

How far in advance can you book a vacation with a TA?

Leslie

 

[momr]

Thanks Moose615. That is a really good idea. Should we go to the animal kingdom first then the MK

 

[momr]

Another question just popped into my head. I was thinking of getting a disign from this website. Who is the best one to talk to?

 

[moose615]

Thanks Moose615. That is a really good idea. Should we go to the animal kingdom first then the MK

Our last trip we did AK, HS and then MK and it worked well saving the best for last but my DD was 4 at the time and I think the Pools at AoA beat out the parks in her eyes lol

 

[Funfire240]

Thanks Moose615. That is a really good idea. Should we go to the animal kingdom first then the MK

We usually do AK first - it seems a littel more laid back and works our way up to MK then (I also like to start with Tusker breakfast first too because then right away off the bat they're meeting Donald, Mickey & Goofy)

 

[BearcatsFan]

thank you so much. I do actually have one question. We are going to WDW for only 3 days. What would be the first place to go?

I have to work around a few schedules to actually find out the dates. There is two dates that i have in mind though. the week of July 11th-16th which going to WDW on the 14-16, or the 25th-30th and going to WDW on 28th-30th. Which dates would be better for the crowd not to be the highest. I know its during the summer so i figured that it wouldn't really matter wich week we went.

I agree with Moose on going to MK last. Which parks are you going to do - all 4 or are you skipping 1?

As far as which dates for crowds ... have you checked out the crowd calendars on EasyWDW yet? They would be up for those dates this year and that would at least give you some idea.

 

[BearcatsFan]

I have not fully stopped yet, I have cut down drastically from a pack and a half down to just 10 a day. It is tough but I know I can and really want to quit

That's fantastic progress! You'll get there.

 

[BearcatsFan]

Another question just popped into my head. I was thinking of getting a disign from this website. Who is the best one to talk to?

When I got ours for our trip last year, RustManFan made the ones for me. HTH

 

[BearcatsFan]

We are planning to go April 28 - May 3 at AOA.

It will be 3 adults and 2 kids in a Nemo suite.

How far in advance can you book a vacation with a TA?

Leslie

to the group! I'll get you added to the list.

I know you can book directly with WDW 499 days in advance for room-only; I would guess it varies from TA to TA - I honestly do not know.

 

[SAT887]

Oh honey, complain away. I completely get it. I started watching my sister's kids when I was 8 months pregnant with my 1st and 5 years later here we are. Most playgroups and kids places were just overwhelming with 3 under 3 and by the time the oldest matured a little bit and I thought we could start getting out we started facing the issues with my nephew being diagnosed as autistic and then baby #2 made her appearance. Even when I did feel like I could handle everyone in public there were a lot of groups that made it clear that my nephew wasn't really welcome so we sat at home a lot and slowly lost our minds. Over the last 5 years I've watched my sister and BIL and DH get new jobs, get promoted, travel for work, get recognized professionally and there's always a tiny bit of sadness that everyone can do these things because I sacrificed that part of my life. For me going back to school last year was my outlet. It's only one class a semester right now but I needed something that was only for me and was completely separate from the kids and from being a SAHM. I still need to be Rachel, not just mom.

Today was my last morning... However, I am already planning a bunch of stuff to keep me busy... Lets see how it goes! Also, I can't tell you guys how nice it is to have people to relate too and who emphasize. Thank you

I think I'm going to have to give up BOG. My husband and I had one and I had of those rare mornings where we both woke up before the kids so we had a budget discussion over coffee. One of the topics was how much we're planning to have saved vs.how much of that we want to spend. We're both in agreement that the goal is to have this trip paid off before Christmas and keep a decent sized cushion in the vacation fund for emergencies or as a head start towards the birthday trip in 2015. The best way to cut back is through dining. We're skipping the dining plan, other than DH no one eats enough to make it worth it so we're paying OOP. We want to keep Chef Mickey's, H&V breakfast, 1900 PF and either CRT or the other princess breakfast (the name escapes me right now) because part of our "touring strategy" is to knock out the character meet and greets at meals so we don't have to use park time for them. I do want to have lunch at LoF at least once and I'm planning Trails End for breakfast the day we go. Everything else will either be eaten in the room or we'll pack a lunch to take with us. I did a quick estimate and by losing BoG and the random quick service places I wanted to try and adding in the cost of groceries we're still saving almost $400 by doing it that way.

Of course, all of this is assuming no free dining for February. If we get FD then all bets are off.

What about BOG lunch?

Thank you for the welcome, I was searching on the board for info on the ToT 10miler and ran across this thread. I for some reason was up early but ended up going back to bed.

On the ToT 10 miler, I am not generally a "runner" but I went to WDW with a friend who was running the 2012 half marathon and decided I want to do one when I quit smoking as a reward and think the ToT one is perfect since Oct for some reason turned out to be the main time I go on vacation (Oct 2010, Oct 2012 and will be doing Oct 2013) and of course planning Oct 2014.

Also booking 4 days at Vero Beach for DD and I May 24-28th 2014 as a end of Kindergarten trip.

Planning on doing a split vac between Universal/IOA (the dark side) and WDW in Oct

I look forward to read other people's trip plans that love planning wayyyyyy in advance like me lol

Yay for working on quitting smoking... I was at the gas station the other day and saw they are $8.54 a pack.... So glad I quit! Plus I can do things now like run, hike up huge mountains with out my lungs screaming at me

Hi everyone. I have started planning my family vacation since earlier this month. It will be my youger sisters first time plus my kids. We already have 10 people going. Myself 26, husband 26, my step-daughter 7, my son 5, my mom and dad, hopefully my grandma that lives in florida, my sister, her husband and 2 yr old, and my other sister.

I have decided that we are going in July of 2014 not really for sure about the dates yet. We are going to stay with my grandma during our trip.

It has been a very long time since i have been to WDW.

I love big groups!

Another question just popped into my head. I was thinking of getting a disign from this website. Who is the best one to talk to?

I would really look through everyones.... I had encyclopedia pages from Zoeismommy and invites done from AbsolutMandy and they were fantastic! I think I might try my own for our January trip

 

[SAT887]

Ok I love how autocorrect changed empathize to emphasize!


Thank you guys... For EMPHASIZING!

 

[BearcatsFan]

Ok I love how autocorrect changed empathize to emphasize!


Thank you guys... For EMPHASIZING!

Well, technically we were emphasizing ... that everything will work out for the best, and not to worry!

 

[SAT887]

Well, technically we were emphasizing ... that everything will work out for the best, and not to worry!

Ahhh so autocorrect is much wiser than it leads on to be huh?

 

[moose615]

That's fantastic progress! You'll get there.

Yay for working on quitting smoking... I was at the gas station the other day and saw they are $8.54 a pack.... So glad I quit! Plus I can do things now like run, hike up huge mountains with out my lungs screaming at me

Thank y'all for the support, even with cutting down I can tell a difference, still can't run long distance (except from zombies lol. ) but I've got plenty of time to train for 2014 ToT

 

[cadale]

What's a disign?

 

[rharper1496]

What about BOG lunch?

I'm holding off on lunch until I see where it goes. Right now I know I would get outvoted if I wanted us to stand in that line for lunch but hopefully it will calm down a bit before now and then. The other option is to ask my mom for Disney GCs for Christmas/my birthday (it's 4 days before Christmas). She always buys us a decent sized GC, usually for the grocery store because we really don't need anything. If she does a Disney GC we can put that towards BoG. I'll probably make the ADR anyway, just in case. I can always cancel later.

It wasn't a complete loss though. I lost BoG but I did manage to convince him we need to extend the trip by a day. If we go Friday-Thursday as planned we either have to fly from our home airport and connect in Chicago or drive 2 hours to a bigger airport to fly direct. If we go Friday-Friday we can fly direct from our home airport. With the connection we're looking at 6 hours travel time, direct flight is 2.5. Once I pointed that out he was 100% on board.

Originally Posted by moose615
I have not fully stopped yet, I have cut down drastically from a pack and a half down to just 10 a day. It is tough but I know I can and really want to quit

That's fantastic! You'll get there.

 

[BearcatsFan]

What's a disign?

Resort room window decorations, stroller signs, dining punch cards ... way too much to explain - go here Creative DISigns and check it out for yourself. Be forewarned though - you can spend hours looking at stuff (it's a real time suck!).