Hi! Ive never done a pre-trip or a trip report before, but I always enjoy reading them and Im going to give it a try this time.
Our cast:
Me: loves planning, WDW, uses parenthesis far more than necessary, and managed to turn one trip into three (more on that later).
DH: loves his family, does not love WDW, hates travel, and is quite possibly the cheapest man alive. Dont feel too sorry for him; this is only his second trip to WDW in 12 years.
DD9: actually 8 and 11/12 and turns 9 on Jan 1st (but that's too much to type out), has been to WDW about 15 times, but not in the last three years, very much over anything pink or otherwise girly.
DD3: all about princesses, has a friend named Alison who lives in the castle, made her first trip to WDW at 4 months.
Over a year ago, I started bugging DH about making a trip to WDW. I was able to do some work on the side and saved enough to pay for a stay at Poly with the help of a 40% off pin code. Im normally a value resort kind of person, but the only way DH can tolerate WDW is if he gets to spend a lot of time swimming and hanging out at the resort. Poly should be fun and access to the monorail makes it easier for me to watch both kids if we split up for a few hours. DD9 conveniently has several days off of school during the first week of December (I have no idea why they get days off the week after Thanksgiving, but it works to our advantage this year) so we decided to stay Dec 1-6.
Sometime this summer, my Mom casually mentioned that she was interested in doing the Disney half marathon again (we did it in 2008) and I was able to talk my DH into playing the role of a single parent for a few days so that I could go too. That will be a very brief trip (Jan 8-11) and I am looking forward to a few days without the kids, even if it means that I have to run 13.1 miles to do it. Naturally, I decided that I would upgrade my ticket to an annual pass because it really is more cost effective. Really. Dont check the math, just trust me on that one.
So now Ill have an annual pass and a co-worker just happened to decide to do the princess half marathon in March. Airfare is pretty reasonable for that time of the year and I got another pin code. Coincidentally, my DH decided to return to night shift (hes a police officer) which is not much fun for me and caused him to feel somewhat guilty about making that choice (its a long story and it really was for good reasons). Naturally I assured him that all would be well if I could just have a brief break from the kids to look forward to. So, another 13.1 mile run and I get my third trip March 6-10.
We are doing the dining plan because DH eats more than any other human and having all of our meals pre-paid saves him significant pain and angst. Our ADRs are for Tutto Italia (never been there before), Boma (never been there before either), Chef Mickeys, the princess meal at Epcot, and Crystal Palace. I was really hoping to eat at Ohana since we are staying right there, but I havent been able to get an ADR. Im going to try once we are there in case there are cancellations.
In preparation for our trip, I came up with some family rules. Hopefully you will understand the spirit that these were written in and realize that I have a fairly sarcastic personality!
Vacation Rules
1. War, famine, and homeless are real tragedies. Crowded airports, flight delays, waiting in line, walking, and taking turns are not.
2. Daddy is not allowed to say any of the following:
How much does that cost?
How are we paying for that?
Are we doing okay with our budget?
Are you keeping track of what we have spent?
Do we have any money left over to pay for parking at the airport?
3. Nobody is allowed to say any of the following:
When are we going to do something I want to do?
This isnt fair.
Why do we have to do that?
I dont want to do that. I want to do my favorite thing now.
This isnt fun.
4. Every effort will be made to do everyones favorite things at least one time. This does not mean that you will get to do your favorites first.
5. During bathroom breaks, everyone will at least try to use the bathroom even if you think you dont need to go.
6. Crying, pouting, whining, screaming, and arguing are not allowed.
7. Mommy will keep all KTTW cards at all times in order to avoid the Daddy-lost-his-key-incident of 2006.
8. The wearing of silly hats, funny t-shirts, and cute sunglasses is encouraged.
Thanks for reading!
Our cast:
Me: loves planning, WDW, uses parenthesis far more than necessary, and managed to turn one trip into three (more on that later).
DH: loves his family, does not love WDW, hates travel, and is quite possibly the cheapest man alive. Dont feel too sorry for him; this is only his second trip to WDW in 12 years.
DD9: actually 8 and 11/12 and turns 9 on Jan 1st (but that's too much to type out), has been to WDW about 15 times, but not in the last three years, very much over anything pink or otherwise girly.
DD3: all about princesses, has a friend named Alison who lives in the castle, made her first trip to WDW at 4 months.
Over a year ago, I started bugging DH about making a trip to WDW. I was able to do some work on the side and saved enough to pay for a stay at Poly with the help of a 40% off pin code. Im normally a value resort kind of person, but the only way DH can tolerate WDW is if he gets to spend a lot of time swimming and hanging out at the resort. Poly should be fun and access to the monorail makes it easier for me to watch both kids if we split up for a few hours. DD9 conveniently has several days off of school during the first week of December (I have no idea why they get days off the week after Thanksgiving, but it works to our advantage this year) so we decided to stay Dec 1-6.
Sometime this summer, my Mom casually mentioned that she was interested in doing the Disney half marathon again (we did it in 2008) and I was able to talk my DH into playing the role of a single parent for a few days so that I could go too. That will be a very brief trip (Jan 8-11) and I am looking forward to a few days without the kids, even if it means that I have to run 13.1 miles to do it. Naturally, I decided that I would upgrade my ticket to an annual pass because it really is more cost effective. Really. Dont check the math, just trust me on that one.
So now Ill have an annual pass and a co-worker just happened to decide to do the princess half marathon in March. Airfare is pretty reasonable for that time of the year and I got another pin code. Coincidentally, my DH decided to return to night shift (hes a police officer) which is not much fun for me and caused him to feel somewhat guilty about making that choice (its a long story and it really was for good reasons). Naturally I assured him that all would be well if I could just have a brief break from the kids to look forward to. So, another 13.1 mile run and I get my third trip March 6-10.
We are doing the dining plan because DH eats more than any other human and having all of our meals pre-paid saves him significant pain and angst. Our ADRs are for Tutto Italia (never been there before), Boma (never been there before either), Chef Mickeys, the princess meal at Epcot, and Crystal Palace. I was really hoping to eat at Ohana since we are staying right there, but I havent been able to get an ADR. Im going to try once we are there in case there are cancellations.
In preparation for our trip, I came up with some family rules. Hopefully you will understand the spirit that these were written in and realize that I have a fairly sarcastic personality!
Vacation Rules
1. War, famine, and homeless are real tragedies. Crowded airports, flight delays, waiting in line, walking, and taking turns are not.
2. Daddy is not allowed to say any of the following:
How much does that cost?
How are we paying for that?
Are we doing okay with our budget?
Are you keeping track of what we have spent?
Do we have any money left over to pay for parking at the airport?
3. Nobody is allowed to say any of the following:
When are we going to do something I want to do?
This isnt fair.
Why do we have to do that?
I dont want to do that. I want to do my favorite thing now.
This isnt fun.
4. Every effort will be made to do everyones favorite things at least one time. This does not mean that you will get to do your favorites first.
5. During bathroom breaks, everyone will at least try to use the bathroom even if you think you dont need to go.
6. Crying, pouting, whining, screaming, and arguing are not allowed.
7. Mommy will keep all KTTW cards at all times in order to avoid the Daddy-lost-his-key-incident of 2006.
8. The wearing of silly hats, funny t-shirts, and cute sunglasses is encouraged.
Thanks for reading!