**What is a good title to get people to read your pretrip report??? LOL

[supersuperwendy]

Hey Everyone!

May I introduce myself and my family....?


(me..Wendy)DH..Phil

DD 10..LaurenDD 8..AshleyDS 6...Darren

This will be our second trip to WDW as a family. Last year the five of us stayed at POR for a week in May and LOVED it! This year is going to be quite different...!

MY KIDS HAVE NO IDEA THAT WE ARE EVEN GOING! IT'S A TOTAL SURPRISE!

My parents have decided to join us and we are bringing our babysitter too!

Here they are..

As my kids called them...Grandmom and Pop


and Britt..our babysitter and best buddy!

 

[supersuperwendy]

Since we have a big group this year we though we'd try something different!

After much debating and pricing and debating some more we all decided to rent a house through allstarvacationhomes.com!

We are very excited about this house. With our one week stay allstar was kind enough to include a free rental car for the week! They also included free pool and spa heat! I did some research into the various neighborhoods they offer homes in and pinpointed my search down to Windsor Hills. I like how close it is to the south entrance of WDW! After much searching we found the house that we think suits us best!

Here it is....!

 

[supersuperwendy]

So once we decided where to stay we needed to decide when to go!

We picked October 4 - 11 2008! Only 80 days to go!

It's been very tricky keeping this a secret from the kids. They keep saying how much they want to go back to WDW, but we keep acting like it's not in the cards this year!

I've been somewhat nervous about staying off-site. With the parks hours not being late in October I hate that we're going to miss all the EMH time. To avoid any sad feelings about it while we're there I have arranged our itineray to be at other parks on those days. I don't want the kids to see other people getting their EMH bracelets. We have also decided for the first time not to purchase park hoppers. We are going to try to do one park per day! Luckily if it doesn't feel right we can always upgrade to park hoppers once we are there!

Last year when we stayed at POR we had a hard time with the kids falling asleep on the bus! It was hard for DH and I to carry 3 sleepings kids all the way through Alligator Bayou to our room! Since the house came with a free car rental we were able to upgrade to a mini van and only have to pay the difference. I think it will be nice to have them fall asleep in the van rather than the bus. We can pull right up into the driveway and carry them straight to their beds. Once they are all tucked in we can unwind outback in our own personal pool and hot tub! The pool deck even has a flat screen TV! I can't wait!

 

[supersuperwendy]

The money....

I have to say I think we are getting a great deal!

The house is $392/night and we are getting to split that cost up somewhat with my parents. We are not charging Britt for her room since we invited her to come along. She is really going to be such a big help!

Our flights...

We have booked with Airtran and so far they haven't changed our flight times. We got a fantastic deal with them...$54 each way per person. My parents have decided to drive down a few days early and visit with my brother who lives in Fort Meyers, FL. They have offered to drive down all of our luggage!

We live in PA a little west of Philadelphia. We usually fly out of Baltimore, but got the good deal flying out of DC.

Our depature is on a Saturday at 5 pm. This should work out great! There won't be a rush hour to worry about..whew! Our plan is to tell the kids the night before to go to bed early! We are going to get them up in the morning for a surprise trip to Washington DC! I want to get down there early enough to actually see some sights before heading to the airport. I want to take them to the Lincoln Memorial and break the big news to them! I have some really cute Disney sunglasses I bought on clearance before our Disney Store closed. I am going to present them at the time of the surprise! I think they are gonna go nuts!

 

[supersuperwendy]

My parents are going to be in Orlando before us. They are going to stop by the All Star office and pick up the keys. From the airport we are going to drive straight to the house. Since the trip is so close to my dad's birthday we are going to have a cookout that night!

I have placed an order with http://gardengrocer.com/ for all the food I think we are going to need! It is going to save us so much money being able to eat a lot of our meals at the house!

Oct. 5

I am so excited about our first day!

I have a surprise for Phil..! I have booked us a Segway Around the World tour at Epcot!



I booked us for the early tour at 7:45am. We are going to head out and Britt is going to get the kids up and dressed for me! My parents are going to put everyone in their van and meet up with us later at Epcot!

That night..we are having dinner at Phil's fave..The Biergarten!


My parents love german food, Phil loves the beer and the kids love the dancing! It should be a good time!

My parents haven't been to Epcot in 8 years and are excited to see the changes! They lived in CA for a few years and are very excited to ride Soarin! I'm hoping to finally get to ride Test Track! Last year my kids were too scared to ride! The best part is..it's going to be The International Food and Wine Festival! We haven't been to it in years! The last two times I was pregnant and couldn't stomach it! The smells from the stands made me sick and I couldn't drink the alcohol! I am really looking forward to it this year!

I hope what I've written so far is of interest to someone out there on the DIS! More to come...

 

[supersuperwendy]

I guess this is going in the right direction??? I've read so many other reports pre and post and never thought it would be so tricky to write my own! I thought this would be great practice for next year when we go all out for my Bday! I'm hoping my off site stuff for this year is actually interesting to people! Since nobody has commented I will treat it more like a blog I guess and assume I'm typing to myself! haha

 

[Native NYer]

Joining in!

Great ptr so far!

 

[supersuperwendy]

awwww thanks native nyer! So I'm not alone out there in the big old world of the DIS! lol

 

[supersuperwendy]

So far this should be our DHS day. Now the last we were there Phil and I got into a fight!!! haha wanna hear the story? your true blue DIS-ers out there will feel my pain!

Ok..so..in all my many trips to WDW over the years I had never gotten the chance to eat at Sci-Fi Dine In. When we began planning our May 2007 trip my parents were supposed to go with us, but they backed out. Prior to them changing their minds we had made all of our ADRs for 7 people. I called to cancel them..or at least I thought I did.
Fast Forward to our trip...So there we were. At MGM's evening EMH. We had an early dinner at Mama Melrose (fantasmic package). By the time fantasmic was over the kids were bugging for some ice cream, no big deal. As we were walking around my girls wanted to ride Star Tours, but Darren didn't want to. So Phil says...I will go over there to that ice cream cart and get his while you ride with the girls, and we'll get theirs when you come out of the ride. I thought..ok..sounds cool to me. The standby sign said 20 minutes. We get in line and it sailed! We were on the ride in like 6 minutes! We were so excited when we got off! So we go through the gift shop and out into MGM. I didn't see Phil anywhere, and I mean anywhere! We walk to the ice cream cart..it's closed. So I was like hmmm...where could they be? We walk all the way to the front of the park..the place is like a ghosttown. I see nobody! We walk back to Star Tours..they aren't there. So we sit down on the curb. You may think..why didn't you call him on your cell? Well..us idiots still didn't have two phones then..we shared one..AND I HAD IT!! No joke..we sit there for like 15 minutes. Then finally, here they come. He had a bag with to-go boxes in it. I was asked where he was..and he says...

"Well...Darren wanted ice cream but the cart was closing. And since you were gonna be on the ride for 20 minutes we looked for somewhere else to go. I walked into this restuarant to see if they served ice cream. She asked if we had an ADR and I gave her our name. Sure enough..we had one!! For seven people!! So we went in! It's this cool drive in movie place!"

OMG..I was so mad I could barely speak! I was like..woo woo wait a minute. I said hun..you know that I've always wanted to go there, that it was somewhere I wanted to go as family so we could all experience it together. That I thought the reservation had been cancelled since my parents bailed and since we thought we wouldn't still be at the EMH at 10:15pm! So then I ask what's in the bag? He's like oh we had this and this and that! I was like..WHAT? WE ARE STARVING TOO, PAL! I was like...did you sit in a car? haha He was like..omg yes..it was so cool!

My fellow dis-ers..I seriously wanted to punch him right in the face!!!

 

[Native NYer]

awwww thanks native nyer! So I'm not alone out there in the big old world of the DIS! lol

Not at all

 

[muppetkaties]

just found you PTR.....loving it so far. I am a fellow, stay-off-site-er....if that's even a word.

the story about your husband at the Sci-Fi Drive-In was HILARIOUS!!! I could picture the exact same thing happening to my family.

Can't wait to hear more!

 

[supersuperwendy]

So..hopefully this year's trek into the studios will be better!!!

Since we are going to be off site I have no ADR's set for DHS.

We usually get through this park pretty quickly. My kids still won't go on ToT i'm sure! Last year..we had to bribe them just to get them into Muppetvision! That's no joke! Britt and I are planning on riding RnRC..that's another I've never been on due to being prego..TWICE!

My girls love star tours so of course thats on the list.

Lauren is a total Disney and Star Wars Junkie! Here is some her "art" that she's saved on the computer!









She has such a silly imagination! She says she wants to be either a meteorologist or an imagineer when she grows up! I've thought about doing the lunch with an imagineer with her. But I think she would dominate the converstion and annoy people! Nobody on this earth can ask as many questions in 20 minutes as she can! She's known for it!

 

[katiebug86]

I'm joining in too.

Oh and don't worry I wouldn't have been a very happy person if my DBF did that to me either. I would have told him to stay at Sci-Fi Dine.

 

[supersuperwendy]

The icing on the cake was...HE ACTUALLY ASKED ME TO CARRY HIS BAG OF LEFTOVERS!

 

[cmp1111]

I'm in! We went in May 2007 also, and are heading back in August this year.

The house looks lovely! My DH loves the AKL, so we're going there again.

I have 6 year old boy twins. I took them on ToT last year... They still hate me for it. DHS is going to be a half day park for us this year, for sure. Star Tours is all they wanted - and seeing the Power Rangers.

Looking forward to more!

 

[supersuperwendy]

I'm in! We went in May 2007 also, and are heading back in August this year.

The house looks lovely! My DH loves the AKL, so we're going there again.

I have 6 year old boy twins. I took them on ToT last year... They still hate me for it. DHS is going to be a half day park for us this year, for sure. Star Tours is all they wanted - and seeing the Power Rangers.

Looking forward to more!

I'm really curious how they will react to the Jedi Training thing! It wasn't there last year! Since they are such die hard star wars fans I don't want them to be crushed if they aren't picked. We'll see!

We skipped Indiana Jones last year since I've seen it sooo many times. Well since the new movie came out Darren is really getting into it! He is having oral surgery on August 8th and we told him if he's a brave boy we will get him Lego Indiana Jones for the xbox!

 

[supersuperwendy]

My son, Darren is something else! Now last year I started a thread about him not wanting to go to WDW! OMGsh! I caught so many flames!

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1303862


He seriously didn't want to go! I have a ton of photopass pics that's he's not even in! He just wouldn't get in the pic!

So here is us..minus Darren..



And this is where Darren was...the photopass guy whipped around and snapped this! It was hilarious!





We are hoping this upcoming trip will go a little smoother with him! I saved a few shows on my DVR about WDW and he loves to watch them! His new favorite thing to talk about is going on The Haunted Mansion again and keeping his eyes open! I hope so! I think he is secretly in love with WDW like everyone else in my house but just isn't letting on about it!

 

[muppetkaties]

BTW, that house looks gorgeous! How many flat screens can one place have??

 

[supersuperwendy]

BTW, that house looks gorgeous! How many flat screens can one place have??

I know, right!!! I have another pic I didn't include..check this out...the bunk beds for the kids have flip down flat screens! LOL

 

[katiebug86]

I know, right!!! I have another pic I didn't include..check this out...the bunk beds for the kids have flip down flat screens! LOL

Wow cool.. I want one!