WDW Tips

Our next upcoming trip is what I lovingly refer to as the “Grizwald” Family Vacation. This is the 1st family vacation my family and I have taken as adults. The attendees are as follows:

Me(33)- Disney Veteran of 30+ trips. I am the master planner for this vacation

Jim (35) (DH)- Disney Veteran of 20+ trips.

Dad(54)-15+ trips to world but last was in 2002; Sometimes referred to as Jed Clampitt

Mom(54)-same as dad; we will be celebrating her 55th birthday while there

Chris(Brother)(27)-10+trips to WDW, Only one of us who has been to any overseas parks (Tokoyo Disneyland) Currently stationed in Hawaii; will be deployed to Iraq again this fall for the 4th time

Crystal (Sister in Law)(28)-2nd trip ever to the world

Patsy(Grandma)(75)-3rd trip

Possible Attendee: Cousin Melissa(26)-never been to Disney;currently live in NC. Undecided if she will be joining us

Background:
My immediate family has not all been together since 2004. My brother is currently in the Marine Corps and has been stationed in NC and HI. In 2005, both my parents and my husband and I lost our homes in Katrina, 3 days after my brother was deployed to Iraq. While both me and my brother have been home since then, neither of us have been back to MS at the same time. Late last year my parents sold their property to a casino developer and were able to purchase a new home and basically be financially secure into their retirement years. My parents are taking both their kids and spouses as well as my dad’s mom on an all expense paid trip. We will be celebrating my mother’s 55th birthday while at Disney and well as enjoying being together before my brother is once again deployed. Also last August we lost my grandfather while my brother was in Iraq and was unable to come home for the funeral. This is the first time he will be seeing my grandmother since then. This is also my grandmother’s 1st trip without my grandpa.

Accommodations:
We are currently booked at Old Key West in a 2-bedroom villa. This is the same place we stayed in 2002 when we took my grandparents on their first Disney vacation. I would have liked to be at a different DVC resort but this was the only thing available when we made the reservation and also when AP rates were released. We will be there for 7 nights. I also tried to get a bounce back rate while at the Poly in Feb, but again nothing else was available. I have also inquired into a Grand Villa but have had any success with price and/or availability

Travel:
Obviously since my Brother and SIL live in Hawaii they will be flying. They are actually flying in 2 days before everyone else and will be staying at All Star Sports for their first night on property.
My husband and I will be flying in but not arriving until 11:30pm the first night
My mom, dad, and grandmother will be driving from MS and arriving approx 3:30pm the first day

All flying travelers will be using Magical Express.

Advanced Dining Reservations:
April 4th
Whispering Canyon-Lunch
Chef Mickeys-Dinner

April 5th
Yak and Yeti-lunch

April 6th (Mom’s Birthday)
Hoop Dee Doo 9pm Show

Apirl 7th
LeCellier Dinner

April 8th
No ADR’s

April 9th
Ohauna Dinner

April 10th
check out day No ADRs

Other info
Our park plans will basically follow the ADR’s. We are not planning any water parks. There will probably be a few night for us to go to Pleasure Island and the marketplace. I have an EPCOT fireworks cruise booked on the Breathless on the 5th. At the time it was booked we did not think that my grandma was going to want to go to the parks with us so the 6 person limit on the Breathless was not an issue. We are still not sure how we are going to handle this but I am not wanting to cancel it. Maybe we will draw straws..who knows. I am hoping maybe there will be a cancellation with a pontoon boat and then the problem will be solved. We are also wanting to have a photo session at the Grand Floridian seeing as all of us have not been together in such a long time. I will book that over the next 2 days.

Well that’s the plan so far. I’ll keep you updated on any changes.

Just booked a 4 night trip for late Jan/early Feb. We are currently booked at Caribbean Beach Resort, but we are still trying to figure out if we want to upgrade to a Deluxe. This will be our first trip on our new annual passes. I’ll keep you updated.

So I haven’t posted in a while….here is where the trip stands right now:
It is down to 4 of us. We are meeting another friend who lives in Orlando, but we are not sure if she is going to be able to meet up with us much due to her work schedule. We are arriving too soon for Halloween Horror nights so it’s only just Universal/IOA for us on Thursday. I got the customized map in…..it’s nice, but not really what I was expecting. It is probably useful for the casual disney traveler, but for me (someone who can pretty much walk through all 4 parks with her eyes closed) it doesn’t really do much.

We are still staying at All Star Music. I would like for us to upgrade and can get some great passholder rates at a vacation club, but this is a budget trip so All Star’s it is! It shouldn’t be too bad. I don’t think that we will be in the room that much and we have requested adjoining rooms.

I have begun to plan out the days….as soon as I get something a little more set I will post here.

My annual passes expire today. This morning 1 year ago I was at the Magic Kingdom on a spur of the moment trip after Katrina. Jim had asked how long it would take me to drive to Orlando from Destin and after my response of 5 hours told me to book a room. I got off work on the 24th about 5pm and arrived in Orlando at midnight. I was there for park opening on the 25th. I love being at the parks by myself. Don’t get me wrong, I love being there with Jim and family and friends, but there is nothing like being there all by yourself. I can park hop to my hearts content. If I want to ride Pirates 15 times in a row, I can. If I want to just sit on a park bench and watch people go by and enjoy the feeling of just being there, well I can do that too.

I made the decision to not renew my AP’s based on 2 things, #1 I had spent too much money on our trip on “stuff” to be able to afford renewal for me and a brand new pass for jim and #2 if I got Jim an AP our dates would run out about 3 weeks apart. When we do go back (which I am hoping we make a quick 2 day trip at the begining of Dec) then I will get both of us AP’s.

This is the 2nd time I have had an annual pass and have managed to make 4 different trips on each pass. My breakeven point for the Premium Annual Pass is 13 days. This past time I got 15 days out of this trip. I didn’t use the additional parks as much as I probably should have. I didn’t go to a water park at all on any of those trips and I think I only went to Pleasure Island 4 times.

Sad, Sad day….