UPDATE 7/16 TR Link Posted! The "I-Must-Be-Crazy" PTR - July 2012

[Simba22]

I started a pool for anyone who wants to guess when exactly I'll go completely off my rocker.

There has to be something wrong with me. There HAS to be.

That's the only explanation for my actions.

I planned a Grand Gathering....for CHRISTMAS WEEK 2012.

I know, I know...the title CLEARLY states July.... But if I'm going to do this, I'm going to start at the very beginning so that you can see what I've already dealt with while planning this trip...that will probably put me in an early grave.

FYI - there will lots of hyphenated phrases and few pictures in this first post. I can't promise that the hyphenated phrases will go away, but there will be more pictures in future posts!


So...to start things off, I've going to give you all of the ORIGINAL plans with the ORIGINAL cast. Then I'll start working in the changes and updates.

And BTW - THE 2012 PASSPORTER IS NOT AVAILABLE UNTIL DECEMBER!!! It sounds crazy, but I feel so "out-of-whack" without my Passporter!

OK so let's get these Teacups spinning, shall we?

My boyfriend, Lumar, and I have been to WDW every year since 2004 (twice in 2006).
Every time we go we always say "I wish so-and-so was here! He/She would love this!"

Due to a series of unfortunate events, which include above mentioned boyfriend getting laid off in February, and me being an OCD money-spender-on-crap-I-don't-need....we are unable to go in 2011.

So for 2012, we decided to invite my sister and her BF to come along with us.
But we can't go to WDW with my sister (who I had very strong negative feelings for until a few years ago), and NOT invite my brother. But my brother lives with one of my cousins so let's invite him too...which turned into, well I can't invite that cousin without inviting his sister and her BF...and if I'm going to invite two of my three cousins, I can't NOT invite the 3rd... Which opened the door to inviting Lumar's brother and his brother's girlfriend.

So the cast at the beginning of this shindig is as follows:
Me (Ali) and Lumar
My sister Steph and her BF Rob
My brother Mike
My cousin Tommy
Tommy's sister (and of course, my cousin) Toni and her BF Josh
My cousin Karla (literally the baby of the family)
Lumar's brother Robby and Robby's girlfriend Brittany

Got all that?

I told Karla that she could invite a friend....she invited TWO.

So let's tack on Karla's friends Michele and Kathy.

Now I'm going to upload some pics while you absorb all of this extremely important information


Next up: Reader's Digest Version bios

 

[Simba22]

The Mob - Bios of all the crazy people joining my crazy behind on this crazy trip!

The When and...most importantly...The WHERE!

And then there were 10...

Tentative Plans for Arrival Day and Day 1

Day 2 Plans

Plans for Days 3 and 4

They're Dropping Like Flies!

Tentative Plans for Days 5 & 6

A New Year's Recap

6 Months to go!!

ADRs are made!

And I'm already making ADR changes....

167 Days To Go...

And ANOTHER ADR Change...

Ugh! Not Again!

AIRFARE IS BOOKED!

135 Days To Go!

Lots of stuff...

Double YAY!!

Double Digit Dance!!!

3 Months To Go and another ADR Change!

Some Interesting News.....

40 Days!!

Yay!!!

30 Days!!

2 WEEKS!!

 

[Simba22]

First, I just need to say that I HATE McAfee. I uninstalled it from my computer weeks ago and everything was running perfectly fine. Then I got hacked, got a virus, and had to reinstall it and now my computer takes forever to do everything again!

So now that I've briefly introduced the (original) cast, here's some basic backgrounds:

Me - Ali - Age 28, Trip Planner Extraordinaire, shopaholic (and therefore perpetually broke), lover of most things Disney and most animals (opossums really freak me out), I hate bugs, I'm accident prone, I suck at math, and I love to scrapbook, I was a band nerd in high school, and I used to go to concerts all the time when I thought I could afford it but really couldn't. Oh and I'm getting laid off sometime early next year...they say March but I think it might be a smidge earlier since I sit around doing nothing all day.

Lumar - age 27. My BF of almost 8 years. Likes Disney, video games, looking at my scrapbooks, and he's also an animal lover like me. He was laid off in February and is still searching for a new job

Here's us in October 2010:

Mike - my brother, age 24. The baby of my immediate family but somewhere in the middle in the grand scheme of things (we have a lot of cousins ). Joined the Marine Corp fresh out of high school. Served overseas for one tour in 2007. He's been to Disney with us a few times and we always have a great time. He's basically a man-child so he finds just about everything hilariously funny. He's really laid back and just kind of let's things fall where they may.

Tommy - my cousin, age 24 (him and my brother were born only 25 days apart). He's a fellow band-nerd and as I said earlier, he's a teacher for elementary school kids (which is kind of like the blind leading the blind if you ask me ), he likes sports, and has a short temper. Him and my brother have been BFFs since...well...since Mike was born 25 days after Tommy.

Here they are at the championship parade for the Boston Bruins back in June (Tommy on the left, Mike on the right):

Steph - my sister, age 26, graduated from Law School in May. We're about as opposite as opposite can be so we fought A LOT as kids/teenagers. Until we moved out of our parent's house we fought like crazy. She likes to cook, bake, and argue (hence the law degree!), she's a beach bum but likes to do stuff, too.

Rob - Steph's BF, I'm pretty sure he's also 26, just graduated from Med School (he's a PA...I know it's like him and my sister are made for each other), likes video games, action movies, and has a man-crush on Arnold Schwarzenegger. Very passive, which helps him immensely when my sister goes on a tirade. He just kind of gives her the whole "smile/nod/yes-her-to-death" thing. He's a great guy with a great sense of humor. For the purpose of distinguishing him from Lumar's brother, we'll call him Dr. Rob.

Here's the two overachievers:

Robby - Lumar's brother, the baby of 5 kids, age 23. Graduated from Culinary School, now works as a chef for one of Mario Batali's restaurants (seriously, how cool is that?!), also worked at WDW in the College Program a few years ago (2008 I think...?) stationed at Hollywood & Vine. We'll call him Chef Robby.

Brittany - Robby's girlfriend, not sure of her age but I'm going to guess she's the same age as Robby. All I really know about her is that she's SUPER quiet. She's a pastry chef and I know she just got a new job in a restaurant but I don't know which one.

Chef Robby & Brittany:

Toni - also my cousin, Tommy's sister - age 27. She's a doctor of Pediatric Nutrition at Tuft's University in Boston (what is UP with the overachievers in my family?? Teachers, Doctors, Lawyers, Chefs, a Marine, and me.....my family is not good my self esteem! :haha: ). She was the one that used to break up the fights between me and my sister when we were younger She's traveled to several places in Europe and is going to Greece in a few weeks.

Josh - Toni's BF, I know they've been together for several years but I don't know exactly how long. Josh is also a chef and has a very dry sense of humor. He's really looking forward to the trip, but also looking forward to making it as cheap as possible

Here's Toni and Josh on their trip to Italy:

Karla - the baby of my entire family - 18 years old, just graduated high school this year, will be starting nursing school in the fall. She's easily embarrassed but loves to have fun. She's busting her butt to save money for this trip and has never been to Disney World so she's really excited about it. She's kind of ditzy but in a way that makes you feel bad if you make fun of her for it.

All I really know about Michele and Kathy is that they make up the right and left side of Karla at all times. They're the girls you knew in high school that were friends with everybody but they were so overly pretty you just hated them for being so nice to you.

I don't have a pic of the three of them together so here's Karla (on the left) and Michele:

And Karla (in black) and Kathy:

I think that's everybody so tomorrow I'll start getting into some actual TRIP details!

 

[DisneyFirefly]

I'm here!

Your trip looks fantastic so far!

 

[KatMark]

Reporting for duty, Ali. Now back to read.

 

[KatMark]

Ali, great introductions. I love that picture of you and Lumar that you had in your last trip report!

This might be a little hard to keep track of everyone, but I'm here for the long run my friend.

 

[Simba22]

I'm here!

Your trip looks fantastic so far!

Reporting for duty, Ali. Now back to read.

Ali, great introductions. I love that picture of you and Lumar that you had in your last trip report!

This might be a little hard to keep track of everyone, but I'm here for the long run my friend.

With all the changes that have already been made, it will get easier, I promise!

 

[Nermel9]

I'm here! Wow, that is a lot of people for one trip!! Can't wait to find out where you're staying!

 

[Simba22]

OK so at this point in time, we had 13 people going on this trip.

Before we get into the "where", let me tell you how we arrived at the "when."

Tommy is a teacher and Karla, Michele, and Kathy, are about to start their first year of college next week. So we had to plan something around school breaks. I figured that it was going to be crowded regardless of whether we went over the summer or in December so at least in December, we wouldn't have the heat to contend with on top of the crowds.... But then I started asking around on The DIS and started having anxiety attacks (real ones!) about planning around that week. Also, I know a lot of our family members, ourselves included, are not exactly wealthy so I was anxious to see how everyone would react to the Christmas Week pricing.

I warned everyone it was going be extremely crowded and that it was going to be expensive.

Lumar and I decided at the very beginning that we would not be forcing anyone to do anything in particular...if they want to drive down instead of fly, cool. If they don't want to stay at the same resort, fine. My only requirement was that everyone stay on property.

We told everyone that they could stay where ever they wanted based on what they felt comfortable spending, but Lumar and I were staying at Coronado Springs (our favorite resort ever in the whole wide world even though we've only stayed at Mods and Values )

Pretty much everyone replied to me and said they were staying where ever we were staying to make it easier. Karla and Crew have never been to WDW so they're lost in the sauce and just doing what I tell them.

So within a few days, it was decided that we were all staying at.....

My favorite, Coronado Springs! ............

except that we hadn't heard from Chef Robby and Brittany. They were the only two that hadn't replied to tell me where they wanted to stay so Lumar called Robby to ask him what was up. Chef Robby replied that he was thinking about staying with one of his friends who he worked with in the College Program who still works at WDW. I was miffed, considering my request that we all stay at the same place but I let it go, thinking whatever...we'll just follow our touring plan as scheduled and let them meet up with us whenever they got to the parks. My fear was that since they weren't sticking with the mob, they wouldn't get up and out the door in time. With the crowd levels as high as they've been in the past, I was warned that if you want to ride everything you need to be at Rope Drop to get FPs. But whatever...I let it go.

The next day, I decided that going during Christmas Week (literally we would have checked in on 12/26 and checked out on 1/2) was stressing me out too much. It was too much money and I was already have panic attacks over the crowds. Plus...who wants to get up at 5am every day to be at Rope Drop? Not me! How could I expect anyone else to do it if I know that I can't do that myself?

So I emailed The Mob (that's our official title now) to ask about changing to July 9 - 16th. I got a resounding YES except for one person.....Josh. The nicest way to put this is that Josh is cheap. He spilled coffee on Toni's laptop and broke it but then gave her a hard time about buying a new one. I thought for sure that the drastic price difference would be enough to get anyone on board but Josh's complaint now was the heat. So Toni took him out for dinner and drinks, got him nice and intoxicated and brought up how much money they'd be saving by going over the summer.....and he went for it. Whew! Crisis averted.

A week or so later, I was talking to my buddy HeatherBelle614, and she started talking to me about renting points from a DVC member. I was really skeptical about it at first - especially since I love CSR so much, I was really hesitant to let it go. But having the bigger rooms was looking pretty attractive and the rates are just about the same as a moderate so once again I emailed The Mob to get opinions.

At first, it seemed that everyone was leaning towards....

I was so excited at the thought of staying at The Boardwalk! There's so much to do and the rooms are so nice! But we had two problems....

1) Dr. Rob, Steph, Toni, and Josh were opting to share a room to save money and Dr. Rob has a bad back so the sleeper sofa was freaking him out (the studio rooms at the BWV have one queen size bed and a full size sleeper).
2) Dr. Rob is afraid of clowns and the pool slide terrified him.

I wish I was kidding, folks. I really do....

So....scary pool slide aside, I started researching some of the other options. Come to find out, there is a DVC resort that has two queen size beds in their studio rooms AND it would cost less to rent the points. So after some more discussion with The Mob, it was finally decided that we would be staying at....





(sorry this is the best pic I could find so I'll definitely be taking a TON when we get there!)

Old Key West!!

The rooms have all just been redone and everyone that's been there has said it's so relaxing and laid back you really feel like you're on vacation (which is difficult to remember sometimes when you're in Disney!)

So on the morning of August 8th, I prepared all of the information for DVC Guy (the nice gentleman whom we are renting points from) so that he could book the rooms bright and early on August 9th. We would need 5 rooms:

1) Me and Lumar
2) Chef Robby & Brittany
3) Mike and Tommy
4) Steph, Dr. Rob, Josh, and Toni
5) Karla, Michelle, and Kathy

I warned everyone that once the rooms were booked, there would be NO REFUNDS. We have to pay for the rooms whether we go or not and I had to pay up front so everyone would have to pay me back.

Within the next 48 hours....we lose 3 party members.

Care to take a guess at which 3?

(PS - thanks to All Ears and WDWInfo for the pics of BW and OKW)

 

[KatMark]

Ali, OH MY GOD!!!! I cannot believe you, like us, LOVE CSR, and that you, like us are now staying at OLD KEY WEST! That is just too frickin' awesome. The only bad thing I see to the whole thing is that we won't be there at the same time.

I promise to take LOTS AND LOTS of pictures for you while we are there in just over five weeks. Let me know if there is anything else you want me to check on while we are there.

I've been reading that lots and lots of people love it because it is so very relaxing.

I'll go with Karla, Michelle and Kathy.

 

[Simba22]

Ali, OH MY GOD!!!! I cannot believe you, like us, LOVE CSR, and that you, like us are now staying at OLD KEY WEST! That is just too frickin' awesome. The only bad thing I see to the whole thing is that we won't be there at the same time.

I wish we could all be going at the same time! I love doing DIS meets! I met Dana (DisneyFirefly) and Heather (HeatherBelle614) last October and we had so much fun!

I promise to take LOTS AND LOTS of pictures for you while we are there in just over five weeks. Let me know if there is anything else you want me to check on while we are there.

Yes, please do!

I've been reading that lots and lots of people love it because it is so very relaxing.

I'll go with Karla, Michelle and Kathy.

We shall see....

 

[Merida]

Subbing in!

My guess is Josh and Toni and Tommy (partly just picking random names though!)

 

[Simba22]

Subbing in!

My guess is Josh and Toni and Tommy (partly just picking random names though!)

Thank you so much for joining in!

My sister is visiting today so I'll try to get to an update tonight when she leaves!

 

[Simba22]

Before I get into who has already dropped out of the trip, I need to back track just a little bit.


Me, Steph, and Toni had been doing a lot of joint-planning through email and IM. I wanted everyone to feel like they had a part in planning the trip and make sure that we got to do things that everyone wanted to do.

Toni and Josh had asked about eating dinner at Jiko one night, which was fine with us because we were supposed to eat there last year but Lumar got violently ill so we had to cancel our ADR at the last minute.

Well then we start looking at what's offered for Grand Gatherings (parties of 8 or more). We had narrowed it down to the Illuminations Dinner at Epcot or the Safari Celebration Dinner at Animal Kingdom. (I know you can already see where this is going...)

So I did some research (ie asked around on The DIS) and we decided on the Safari Celebration which starts with a private safari, then dinner at Tusker House with a private Character Meet & Greet. We opted to do this in place of dinner at Jiko.

Flash forward 2 weeks and I get an update on Twitter that says:
"Disney will be indefinitely discontinuing these Grand Gathering experiences as of January 28th, 2012."



Since we don't get to make our ADRs until January 10th, I'm not freaking out yet. Disappointed? A little....but Lumar keeps telling me that he thinks they are just going to come up with new events and name it something else.

So we're going to wait and see if they offer any new events and if not, our fall back will be Jiko.


So here we are on August 8th which is the day before I have to book our rooms. The Mob is well aware (based on my perpetual texts and facebook updates) that our booking day is the 9th.

I get to work and find an email from.........

..................................................................
..................................................................
.................................................................
.................................................................

Brittany and Chef Robby.


Basically, they both just got new jobs, they are only given one week of vacation and it's in August. Since our trip was going to be in July...they wouldn't be able to come.

Lumar was really bummed out (still is) about it but I was at least glad that they told me the day BEFORE instead of after the rooms had been booked.

So now we're down to 11.

I emailed DVC Guy to tell him we could eliminate one room, emailed the remaining Mob members to confirm their participation, then emailed DVC Guy again that night to tell him we're Go For Launch.

Tuesday morning, August 9th, I get my confirmation email from Disney and from DVC Guy!! I send out a mass text message to everyone to let them know "Woohoo! Our rooms are booked!" I promptly pay DVC Guy.

Maybe an hour or so later..... I get a text from.....

Karla.


K: "So...what if I tell you that Michele can't go now?"
Me: "Either she still has to pay for her portion, you find another person to take her place, or you and Kathy have to split it between yourselves."
K: "Awesome"
Me: Is that she just doesn't WANT to go or does she think she can't afford it?"
K: "Apparently she remembered that she already has another vacation planned for the same week. Even though I went over the dates with her 1000 times. But don't worry, Kathy and I will figure it out."

I didn't know that "normal" people planned their vacations (to the Jersey Shore) a year in advance.... Maybe if you live anywhere but in the Northeast where we live about 3 hours from the Jersey Shore....

But whatever

So now we're down to 10, which I actually feel better about because it's an even number of people!


Next I'll start posting our tentative plans for each day!

 

[KatMark]

Well, I got one of the three right.

I had seen that they had "cancelled" the grand fatherings and wondered what you were going to do about it.

We've never been to Jiko...I keep putting it on the list and it inevitably gets bumped.

I think you'll do better with an even number too...especially with making ADR's, etc.

 

[Simba22]

Well, I got one of the three right.

I had seen that they had "cancelled" the grand fatherings and wondered what you were going to do about it.

We've never been to Jiko...I keep putting it on the list and it inevitably gets bumped.

I think you'll do better with an even number too...especially with making ADR's, etc.

You get a point for guessing Michele correctly lol

I just have to say that I find it hilarious when people make the Grand Fathering typo. I've done it myself and laugh hysterically every time.

I was so excited for Jiko last year (I bought a nice pair of actual sandals to wear since they supposedly don't allow flip flops depending on who you ask), and then Lumar got sick so we couldn't make it.

 

[KatMark]

You get a point for guessing Michele correctly lol

I just have to say that I find it hilarious when people make the Grand Fathering typo. I've done it myself and laugh hysterically every time.

I was so excited for Jiko last year (I bought a nice pair of actual sandals to wear since they supposedly don't allow flip flops depending on who you ask), and then Lumar got sick so we couldn't make it.

Grand "fatherings" -- You got me there.

I think we'll put Jiko on our list for 2013.

 

[Merida]

The chefs were my second choice! Secretly, I'd be happy to have a group that was an even number that was a multiple of five as well. 10 is just a better number than 13!

 

[Simba22]

The chefs were my second choice! Secretly, I'd be happy to have a group that was an even number that was a multiple of five as well. 10 is just a better number than 13!

I agree! I like an even number for ride purposes and I'm not usually superstitious but the number 13 was kind of freaking me out lol

 

[Simba22]

Since it's still absurdly early, and airfare isn't available yet for July...some of the plans for our arrival and departure days may change, but here's an idea of what we've got planned so far.

Arrival Day - Monday July 9

Toni & Josh will either be flying out of Boston, or possibly spending Sunday night in CT so that they can join Me, Lumar, Karla, Kathy, Mike, and Tommy on our flight out of Hartford. Steph and Dr. Rob will be driving from South Carolina.

Hopefully we can get an early flight...although how we're all going to get to the airport is still a mystery at this point. Usually, my dad brings us but with 8 of us, we'll probably end up renting a limo or something.

Once we arrive at MCO, we'll hop on a Magical Express Bus and head to OKW!

If our rooms are not ready, we'll go hang out here for a while:

If our rooms ARE ready, we may still hang out at the pool for a while (depending on the time) but we'll stop at the rooms first to drop off our stuff:

After our possible pool time, we'll go back to the rooms and change and then head to DTD for dinner here:

I wanted to take everyone to Paradiso 37 but Steph decided she wanted to go to T-Rex and the rest of The Mob agreed. Lumar and I really liked it when we went last year, so we're OK with it!

After dinner, we'll wander around DTD for a little while (possibly until closing) and then head back to OKW for some sleep!

Tuesday July 10

On our first official day, we're getting up bright and early and heading here:

So that we can have breakfast here:

(But mostly so we can get into the MK before it opens! )

After playing around in the park for the day, we'll take a break for dinner by hopping on the monorail and heading here:

I think this may have been a Toni & Josh pick, but Lumar and I didn't make it to our ADR last year so we're happy to add it in for 2012.

Of course, we'll then go back to MK for Wishes!


That's all for tonight! More tomorrow!

(Oh, and thanks to All Ears for some of the pics!)