Who knew you had to plan for a trip to WDW! PTR and TR Combined: Completed

[pajules]

I thought it was just going to be simple, pick a location, pick a date, make reservations and go on vacation. Boy, was I wrong.

Yes, I am new to all of this, the DIS board, planning and planning my every move during our week long trip and of course dealing with a new addiction I didn't know even existed.....reading about other people's vacations day after day.

First up, the introductions for first "real" family trip to WDW:

Me: single mom in my 30's
DS: 8 year old future stand up comic who keeps me smiling every day

DGM: : My Mom and co-conspirator for this surprise Trip...we won't give her age, but we'll just say she's a retired teacher.

DGGM: My Grandmother and DS's "GG". She's 94 and looking for what she calls, "a cute houseboy to take care of her." My Grandfather died 30 years ago but no one could replace the "love of her life."

So there's the crew. Here's the plan....9 day vacation May 2nd - May 11th. 7 days will be spent at WDW and last 2 days we will be visiting relatives.

Let the obsession, oops, I mean planning begin!

 

[pajules]

I first started thinking about taking this vacation in January. This has been an extremely difficult year for my family. In July, my DDad (65) passed away unexpectedly from a massive heart attack in the middle of the night. To say it was the worst pain I have ever experienced is an understatement. So to anyone who has ever lost a loved one, my heart goes out to you.

I'm just happy to be part of such a close family and have so many wonderful memories of my Dad. We were and still are a very close family. Even as adults, with our own families, we still go on a family vacation every summer, usually renting a house in OBX with my Aunt and Uncle and 2 cousins (both now in their 20's) It was great to see my DDad grow to love the beach. As kids we would go to the Jersey Shore every summer and he hated the beach. He hated the sand, especially when it got into every "crack" and crevice....... (I'm pretty sure my DS gets his witty sense of humor from his Grandpa)

I have my father to thank for my love of cooking, reading, my political views, even my distaste for raw zuchinni....when I was about 7 he and I spent an entire afternoon eating raw zuchinni sticks....let's just say it took me 20 years to even try it again and even now, I only like it cooked. I was somewhat of a picky eater when I was a kid and my Dad would always say, "when your palate matures" when I said I didn't like something. I'm happy to say he was right, my palate did mature, and I now consider myself somewhat of a "foodie."

After my father died, I made the decision to sell my house and move to live with my DMom to help her out. Even though I only lived an hour away, I thought it was better to be closer to her and my DGrandmother. After putting my house on the market, it thankfully sold in just 21 days and we moved out the Friday after Christmas.

We are continuing to settle into my childhood home, eventually DMom will move into DGrandma's house, about 7 miles away and DS and I will stay here. But for now, we are living with my DMom.

But, there's more....in January, I decided to quit my job. I had worked there for 12 years and was making a good salary, but the stress and workload were becoming unmanageable. It was something I had been wanting to do for over a year, but was saving money for when I could afford to leave and be able to take some time off and then resume my job hunt. Now was the time to do it.

So here I am, unemployed and living with my Mom, but feeling better than I have in years. Being home has been very good for all of us. Mom and I have begun the task of clearing out my father's things and we remember all of the memories that come with each item....we've laughed and cried, but are moving forward.

I also joined a gym and am now "taking care of myself." Something I haven't done for years. I was an athlete in HS and college, but after having my DS life just "got in the way" and the weight piled on. Now, I'm able to work out 5days a week and am helping my Mom to eat better.

Now we all just need some time to get away and "forget about your worries"....wait isn't that part of a song? Hmmmmm, it's a disney song, maybe we should go to DW!

 

[MRYPPNS]

I think a Disney vacation is just what your family needs! With a 94 yo Granny coming along you will need to plan. Maybe plan A and plan B so everyone can have the best time that they possibly can!

Now we need details ...where are you staying...what parks...where are you eating?????

 

[pajules]

Now it was February and Mom and I began thinking it would be good to get away for a few days and just relax.....We started talking about when to go. At first we thought about going around Easter, DS had Thursday, Friday, and Easter Monday off. Maybe we could go somewhere for long weekend. But, thanks to mother nature it snowed and Easter Monday is now a snow make up day.

Time for Plan B, how about the end of April? Because Easter is so early this year, DS has no days off between March and the end of the school year. We might just need to create our own "Spring Break."

Mom (who I swear was a travel agent in a previous life) starts looking for "deals." My DDad was retired military, 20 years in the Air Force so we are eligible to use the Armed Forces Vacation Program. After they both retired, 2 years ago, they traveled all over the world. In two years they went to Ireland, Thailand, Spain, Portugal, and Greece. And, these weren't week long trips...I think the shortest was 10 days in Portugal and the longest was a month in Thailand.

We had agreed that Orlando would be the best for us right now. DS is 8 and a great age to hopefully take in all of the Though I wanted to stay on-site, I just couldn't afford it this time. So offsite it was, now where to stay....

DMom found 2 good deals for the last week in April, one at Summer Bay and one at Silver Lake - Silver Points...both were the same price, but since we have never been to either we needed to do some research. Mom went to tripadvisor and I stumbled upon Mousesavers.com which then led me to the DIS board.

At first, I got sucked into reading all of the threads and responses and actually forgot why I was there in the first place. Were there really this many people who Disney this much? I guess so. It took me awhile to find my way around but after a week or so I finally figured out how to search within a topic and plugged in Summer Bay and Silver Lake - Silver Points. There weren't a lot of people who had stayed at Silver Lake so I began to wonder if Summer Bay was the best option. We got a lot of mixed reviews from both here and at tripadvisor, but after realizing the condo's at Summer Bay were really nice and they have a great kid's pool, we decided on Summer Bay.

That was until we went to book our stay and it wasn't available. Okay, let's try something else....back to the choices on the AFV, uhoh there aren't any 1br condo's at places that look nice, now what!

Time to change our week....so we decide to look for something 1 week later, during the first week in May. Silver Lake - Silver Points comes up again. But since I haven't found a lot of info about it, I'm worried. Then I see a post here on the DIS boards with TONS of pictures of the new condo's.

It looks perfect for our needs...close to the parks (shortcut to AK out back exit...thank you DISer's for that tip) and it's newly renovated which is nice. Even though it's a timeshare and we're not really timeshare people, we enjoy the extra space and DMom is very good at politely declining any offers for presenations....we also learned to just unplug the room phone during our stay to avoid persistent requests

DMom books our stay for May 2nd - May 9th. Now, we're one step closer.

 

[BrittBritt]

Okay---I can already tell your PTR will be one I'm addicted to!
Your DGGM is too cute! Someone needs to find her that houseboy!
The Dis is truly addicting. I also never knew I'd love reading about others' vacations, but this is better than any reality tv that's on.
Great job, and keep up the good writing.

 

[michellem1118]

As per our "deal" from my pre-trippie, I'm jumping on board! I can't wait to hear about the rest of your plans, it does sound like your family really needs a vacation!

 

[pajules]

The condo is booked, now it's time to decide how we're getting there. We live in an area where we have 2 major airports somewhat close by. By somewhat I mean 1 1/2 drive. But having this option usually helps us find pretty good flights. Only DS and I are "flying the friendly skies." DGM and DGGM will leave a few days early and will drive down.

Typically we tend to fly Southwest because it's where we've found the best deals and it flys into both airports. But we've also used Airtran for the same reasons. We're booking our flights seperately because while we are flying into MCO we are flying out of Jacksonville. Let me explain. After our 7 days in Orlando we are driving to Ocala to visit family for Saturday and Sunday and then will fly out late Sunday afternoon from Jacksonville.

We found great deals on both airlines ($89/person) so we are flying down on Airtran and flying back on Southwest.

Sounds like a plan right? Well, Wednesday I see on the news that Southwest has had to ground a bunch of planes, about 40 because of cracks and they haven't been inspected properly. Of course the airline promises to fix everything, but thanks for putting me in a panic!

I'm not changing any of our travel plans because of the news, so keep your fingers crossed that I don't get an up close and personal look with the Everglades!

As a side note, I have decided to freelance 2 days at week with my old employer....seems they can't live with out me. Just kidding, but I'm using the money to pay for the trip. That way I won't have to dip into savings. I worked this past Thursday and Friday and that covers the plane tickets. I'm not working next week because of Easter, but the following week will pay for park tickets. I wish I would have thought of this deal a long time ago, I might have left my job sooner

Condo booked, flights booked, now it's time to get into the nitty gritty. I'm probably going to buy my park tickets through Undercover Tourist, they seem to have the best prices and I got my Mousesaver's newsletter yesterday and I can save a few more dollars with that.

My thoughts are to buy 6-day park hopper passes, one adult and one child. DGM and DGGM aren't doing the parks. DGGM sleeps alot during the day and DGM is just as happy to sit by the pool all day and relax. We don't get in until late Friday night (10pm) and I am planning at least one day not going to the parks, just to recharge.

So there you have it, basic reservations and general plans made, now the hard stuff for a newbie begins, figuring out which days to go to which parks. Remember, since we are staying off-site we will not be doing EMH and no DDP...we'll have to experience those on another trip....gives me something else to plan once this trip is over


Up Next:
Did I tell you this is a surprise trip for DS

 

[pajules]

After booking the condo and flights, I decided instead of telling DS about the trip, I would surprise him. I have read a few things here about people surprising their kids and thought this might be one of the few times I can do it.

Boy, did I not realize how hard this was going to be for me! And it's only been 2 weeks, I still have 6 weeks to go As for DS he's clueless Even though my mom and I have been talking about Disney pretty much everyday, he still hasn't picked up on anything. Granted, we try to talk upstairs in the living room when he's down in the family room, but still I ordered the DVD which he watched and bought the Unoffficial Guide 2008 version AND got two Disney related trip books from the library. Can you tell I want to be prepared.

It's amazing though because if I would have never come across this site, we would have just booked our tickets and flew by the seat of our pants. I didn't know about EMH, which parks are best on which days, where to eat, ADRs (I'm still figuring them out) Sometimes my Mom looks at me like I'm

We went to AK 2 years ago for a day and MK for 2 hours because I had free tickets from work....but you can only do so much in such a short amount of time...oh and did I mention it was the middle of August We did get a lot done at AK, pretty much everything but EE and DS was scared of it. Hopefully, I can bribe him this time We had a park hopped 1 day pass so that evening we jumped over to MK and rode JC, SM, and We watched fireworks (I guess it was Wishes) and then dragged ourselves back to our hotel.

This time, I think we're doing it right, giving ourselves time to check out each park and even relax a little, though according to some of these trip reports, that doesn't always happen

The goal is to keep this a secret until May 2nd. When DS gets home from school that day, I give him the big news! and we're off to the airport!

I've already gotten him a new Disney t-shirt though I'm still looking for an Incredibles one too (if you know where I could find one or how I could make one, ie iron transfers, please let me know), some pins for trading, and I ordered the customized maps off the WDW website. I thought maybe I would wrap all of it up in a present, since who doesn't love presents and then let him figure it out.

Up Next:
Putting the plan in motion

 

[j_lehr]

Hi...I just found your trip report and it was enjoyable to read.

I know exactly how you feel about your job. I worked at the same company for almost 9 years. I worked crazy hours, tons of overtime that I didn't get paid for, put up with more stress than what any one person should have to deal with. And finally when I couldn't take it anymore, my husband and I agreed that I should quit. It was the best decision I ever made in my entire life. Of course, it's hard to not think about what you give up...I made great money, 4 weeks of paid vacation, medical...BUT...nothing I did was good enough for them, I was constantly upset, I would come home crying, I was so stressed! I could write a book on what this company did to me but I don't want to take over your trip report (well anymore than I already have!!). Let's just say now I feel better than I ever have, I am at home every night for dinner, I actually get to see my daughter and go to her school functions and chaperone and get involved, and now I am subbing in the school district, so while the money isn't great, at least I am happy!

Anyway, back to your trip report! Sounds like you have a great trip planned! I also surprised by DD with a trip when she was 13 - it was so much fun to plan and so exciting to see the look on her face when she realized where were were going!

Looking forward to hearing more about your plans!

Jes

 

[j_lehr]

After booking the condo and flights, I decided instead of telling DS about the trip, I would surprise him. I have read a few things here about people surprising their kids and thought this might be one of the few times I can do it.

Boy, did I not realize how hard this was going to be for me! And it's only been 2 weeks, I still have 6 weeks to go As for DS he's clueless Even though my mom and I have been talking about Disney pretty much everyday, he still hasn't picked up on anything. Granted, we try to talk upstairs in the living room when he's down in the family room, but still I ordered the DVD which he watched and bought the Unoffficial Guide 2008 version AND got two Disney related trip books from the library. Can you tell I want to be prepared.

It's amazing though because if I would have never come across this site, we would have just booked our tickets and flew by the seat of our pants. I didn't know about EMH, which parks are best on which days, where to eat, ADRs (I'm still figuring them out) Sometimes my Mom looks at me like I'm

We went to AK 2 years ago for a day and MK for 2 hours because I had free tickets from work....but you can only do so much in such a short amount of time...oh and did I mention it was the middle of August We did get a lot done at AK, pretty much everything but EE and DS was scared of it. Hopefully, I can bribe him this time We had a park hopped 1 day pass so that evening we jumped over to MK and rode JC, SM, and We watched fireworks (I guess it was Wishes) and then dragged ourselves back to our hotel.

This time, I think we're doing it right, giving ourselves time to check out each park and even relax a little, though according to some of these trip reports, that doesn't always happen

The goal is to keep this a secret until May 2nd. When DS gets home from school that day, I give him the big news! and we're off to the airport!

I've already gotten him a new Disney t-shirt though I'm still looking for an Incredibles one too (if you know where I could find one or how I could make one, ie iron transfers, please let me know), some pins for trading, and I ordered the customized maps off the WDW website. I thought maybe I would wrap all of it up in a present, since who doesn't love presents and then let him figure it out.

Up Next:
Putting the plan in motion

I know I saw some pictures of tees that someone ordered from Zazzle.com with the Incredibles on them.

If it's possible and it wouldn't freak your son out...you could drive him to the airport and let him figure it out from there. You could give him his present while waiting for the plane? I am not sure how perceptive he is...would he see the sign for Orlando and know? There are so many things you could do.

Not sure if he will be into getting autographs, but you could possibly buy the book a head of time and give him that in his bag (or some people on here make their own...check out the Creative DISigns board). You might also be able to find an Incredibles Design over ther eif you want to make your own tee shirts. I have made several tees for Disney and they were fun to make! I actually have a few pics in my Pre TR of tees I made today. Another thing I bought my daughter was the Hidden Mickey book. Amazon also has a lot of Disney trivia style books.

Hope this helps!

Jes

 

[michellem1118]

One thing to consider - if you're planning to do meals inside the parks, DGM and DGGM will need park tickets to join you for them... even if they only come to the parks to meet up for dinner. Just something else to think about...

 

[pajules]

I know I saw some pictures of tees that someone ordered from Zazzle.com with the Incredibles on them.

If it's possible and it wouldn't freak your son out...you could drive him to the airport and let him figure it out from there. You could give him his present while waiting for the plane? I am not sure how perceptive he is...would he see the sign for Orlando and know? There are so many things you could do.

Not sure if he will be into getting autographs, but you could possibly buy the book a head of time and give him that in his bag (or some people on here make their own...check out the Creative DISigns board). You might also be able to find an Incredibles Design over ther eif you want to make your own tee shirts. I have made several tees for Disney and they were fun to make! I actually have a few pics in my Pre TR of tees I made today. Another thing I bought my daughter was the Hidden Mickey book. Amazon also has a lot of Disney trivia style books.

Hope this helps!

Jes

Thanks for the tips, I'm glad to hear I'm not alone in the job situation.

I'm not sure about autographs for DS. He is very afraid of characters so much so that in the past when we've been at other amusement parks or even with mascots at a baseball game, he literally runs the other way. He's a great kid, but those big heads freak him out

I just saw about the t-shirts from another post and would like to get a couple made. Unfortunately while I am a pretty good "idea" person, I'm not very artistic. I'm hoping I can pay someone from Creative DISer's board to make me the transfers and then just mail them to me. Hopefully I can iron them myself without burning a whole in the shirt I try and stay away from ironing as much as possible, that's what the dry clearners and the fluff cycle are for

 

[j_lehr]

Thanks for the tips, I'm glad to hear I'm not alone in the job situation.

I'm not sure about autographs for DS. He is very afraid of characters so much so that in the past when we've been at other amusement parks or even with mascots at a baseball game, he literally runs the other way. He's a great kid, but those big heads freak him out

I just saw about the t-shirts from another post and would like to get a couple made. Unfortunately while I am a pretty good "idea" person, I'm not very artistic. I'm hoping I can pay someone from Creative DISer's board to make me the transfers and then just mail them to me. Hopefully I can iron them myself without burning a whole in the shirt I try and stay away from ironing as much as possible, that's what the dry clearners and the fluff cycle are for

Trust me - I don't iron but I was able to do this (I will admit that I ruined a few transfers and a few tee shirts before I got it right)! My dear husband is the domestic one - he does most of the cooking and all of the ironing!

You don't really have to be artistic to print the transfers - buy the paper at a craft store, save the graphic you like to your computer then print. And if you have any questions, the DISers on the Creative DISigns board are great about answering!

 

[pajules]

One thing to consider - if you're planning to do meals inside the parks, DGM and DGGM will need park tickets to join you for them... even if they only come to the parks to meet up for dinner. Just something else to think about...

Thanks for the advice. I think what we are going to do is have breakfast at the condo and then do mainly CS for DS and I at the parks. The one exception is when we are at HS. I plan to make ADR for lunch at Sci-Fi for DS and I.

As for dinner, most nights we will have it at the condo, either make or get take out. I am hoping to get ADR for Cape May Cafe buffet one night for all of us and a brunch ADR at Kona (is that at AKL? Sorry, Im getting confused, darn newbie!) for DGM and DGGM.

Our condo is very close to AKL and I thought this would be fun for them. They could go have brunch and then see the hotel and hopefully some of the animals.

 

[MRYPPNS]

I am hoping to get ADR for Cape May Cafe buffet one night for all of us and a brunch ADR at Kona (is that at AKL? Sorry, Im getting confused, darn newbie!) for DGM and DGGM.

Our condo is very close to AKL and I thought this would be fun for them. They could go have brunch and then see the hotel and hopefully some of the animals.

Kona Cafe is at the Poly and Boma is the buffet at AKL.

 

[pajules]

As I have mentioned, my DS does not like characters. He wants nothing to do with them. What's worse is he has a very keen eye at spotting them. Here's an example, some of you PA people might enjoy.


It's a rainy day in the winter, there's no school because of a teacher inservice day. I decide, "let's go somewhere." By go somewhere I mean something close and one that doesn't cost a lot of money.


After throwing out some options, DS and I agree on Chocolate World next to Hersheypark. I have 2 free tickets I got for their 3-d movie and then we can go on the ride.


For those of you not from Central PA, Hersheypark is our local amusement park. It's really nice and if you ever plan a trip to visit the Amish in Lancaster, plan a day in Hershey too. It's about 30-45 minutes away and a ton of fun.


Next to the park, Hershey Foods has a place called, "Chocolate Word." Yes, it's everything you chocoholics imagine and more! There's a cute "free ride" that shows how chocolate is made and then a few years ago they added a 3-d movie. After the ride, everyone gets a piece of candy and then it's off to the giftshop where you can buy just about everything Hershey has ever made.


So DS and I head to Chocolate World, see the movie, go on the ride, get our free candy, and are ready to leave. We're walking out the door when all of a sudden he stops dead in his tracks. Of course, being a Mom, I do the obligatory arm pull and say "come on." He still doesn't move. When I ask him what's wrong, he says nothing and just stares into the distance. As I follow his gaze, I see way off in the distance walking towards us is "Milk Dud." (yes, Hershey makes them too)


Honestly, you would have thought he saw some disgusting monster with blood and guts dripping off of him. But no, it was just the Milk Dud waving to everyone and giving hugs. DS then remembers that not only can he see Milk Dud, but he's getting closer. With that, he looks at me and says, "Mom, we gotta go....now!" It took everything in my composure to keep from laughing out loud because he was so serious. When we got to the car, he just looked at me and said, "That was a close one." God, I love him.


When we were at AK 2 years ago, he was 6 then, I asked him if I could get just one picture of him with a character. He said, "maybe." We avoided every character encounter all day and were walking towards Festival of the Lion King when who do we see, but Stitch. DS loves Stich! I grab the camera and get ready to get my first picture, when he turns to me and says, "Don't even think about it, just keep walking." Yes, that was my 6-year old DS, our future stand up comic

Up Next.....
My Secret Plan to Get a Character Picture

 

[MRYPPNS]

I love love love that gift shop. I spent way too much money when we were there (I think 1999 or 2000). Hershey park is wonderful and I plan to go back when the kid(s) are older.
That was funny about Milk Dud...it just looks like the packaging...I can't wait for your character plans at Disney.

 

[pajules]

oops

 

[pajules]

The Mission: Get picture of DS with at least one (hopefully more) Disney Characters during May trip

The plan:


About 3 years ago, DS started getting into photography. It all started when we were at my brother's wedding in Kansas City. We were staying at an Embassy Suites and the day after the wedding I was still asleep when DS got up and went into the other room to watch tv. I must have left my digital camera sitting on a table because he proceeded to use it and take pictures of everything.


I only realized it, when I went to take a picture in the morning and my card was full. There should be plenty of space still available. When I started reviewing picture after picture.....wait, was that a picture of the toilet?! (thank goodness nothing was in it ) Then I see a familiar face...the third member of our family, "Mr. Bear." I'm sure many of you have a similar family member. Ours is white or at least he used to be, now he's kinda gray and missing some hair, but boy, is he


Mr. Bear is a white teddy bear that my father gave to me when I was 16. It was incredibley soft and for some reason I kept it until I had a child of my own and proceeded to hand it down to DS. Let's just say DS and Mr. Bear are BFF.

Anyway, back to my story, there were pictures of Mr. Bear on the sofa, on the chair, by the tv, sitting next to the coffee pot, sitting next to me (wait is that what I look like when I'm asleep ) DS loved to look at the pictures. I got him a disposable of his own for future use, but he loved the digital ones because he could see the picture right away....couldn't blame him, that's why I like them.

This past Christmas DS got his first digital camera. It's just a kodak easyshare, but should hold up to his rough and tumble lifestyle. He likes to pose his transformers by the fireplace and take their pictures and after christmas dinner this year he got pictures of the whole family DGGM included making funny faces!

My thought is if I can convince him to take pictures of me with the characters maybe then he won't be so scared and I can get him to to stand next to one and I can get a picture.

Think it will work?

 

[pajules]

Kona Cafe is at the Poly and Boma is the buffet at AKL.

Boma....that's what I wanted. Thank you. I have to write this down so I don't get confused again. It's funny, I thought Kona should be at the Poly considering Kona coffee, Hawaii, etc...but for the life of me I couldn't remember what the name at the ALK was....now I know.