amandaw
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Jan 2, 2011
All Aboard! It's time to get this crazy train rolling!
My trip planning is always crazy because I am a changer! I change vacation dates, resorts, ADRs....you name it, I change it! This trip has evolved so many times in so many ways, I don't think I even remember all of the changes I've made so far.
But, before we get into all of that, let me introduce you to our crew:
This was taken on the Dream last May.
First, there is my husband, Ed. He works very hard for our family to have the things we need & also take great vacations. Ed enjoys our Disney vacations but he doesn't get into the planning like I do. I try to talk to him about stuff & I usually get, "Whatever you want. That's fine. I don't care." Which is great because I can plan whatever I want. But, I always want to see him excited about the trip & really into the planning.
Then there is me, Amanda. I'm a stay at home mom, maid, cook, financial planner, personal shopper, vacation planner....and the list goes on. I love to plan our trips & am very OCD about it. The amount of lists I have about ADRs alone is absolutely ridiculous! But, I enjoy my Disney planning & get very upset when I don't feel like it's turning out like what I envisioned. I also get sad when I don't have a trip to plan. I don't even have to go on the trip....just as long as I can plan it I'll be happy.
Finally, but certainly not least, there is Reid. He is the apple of our eye & such a character! He just turned 4 a couple of weeks ago. He is all boy & such a vibrant child. He's usually either cracking me up or driving me up a wall. But, either way, I adore him. I just wish I could find a way to freeze him so he stays 4 forever.
Now that the introductions are over, let's get to the fun stuff: the planning! I won't take y'all through all of the changes this trip has had....that would take way too long. But, I'll start by telling y'all that we were supposed to be going in December. I wanted to go during the slow time (the 2nd week of Dec.) one more time before Reid starts kindergarten in 2013. We love going during that week: great weather, low crowds & Christmas at Disney! Need I say more?
Well, one night, Ed started telling me that Disney was doing a new race this year: the Tower of Terror 10 mile. Back story: Ed got into running last summer. He has done really well with it & has started running races. Also of very important note, his favorite ride in all of Disney is Tower of Terror.
I could tell how excited he was about this race. In fact, I had never seen Ed so excited about anything having to do with Disney. At first, we contemplated going down for a short trip just him & I. But, I really couldn't justify the money for such a short time. That's when we decided to move our December trip up. He was so excited when I called him at work to tell him I had booked our package and registered him for the race. I've decided that if a Disney race is all it takes to get him excited about going to Disney, then he can run every race Disney offers!
Ok, onto our basic plans. We are going to try driving to Disney for the first time ever. Initially, our plans called for us to leave on Friday, September 28th & drive half-way to Disney. On Saturday, September 29th we would check into Boardwalk & be there until checking out on Saturday, October 6th. However, of course this has changed!
We are in the process of building a house & should hopefully be closing in May. So, I decided that we should try & save some money. We own a timeshare with Hilton. Luckily, we are able to trade our time with Hilton into other properties, such as DVC. I had been looking for something with our dates to trade into but nothing was popping up. I knew it would be long shot since the Tower of Terror race seems to be attracting a lot of people & that weekend will be the start of the Food & Wine Festival at Epcot. I would have loved to been able to trade into the Boardwalk Villas but I knew that just wasn't going to happen. So, I hopped on the first thing that came available: a studio at Old Key West.
The only thing was that the check-in date is Sunday, September 30th. So, these are our plans now:
Friday, Sept. 28th: drive half-way to Disney
Saturday, Sept. 29th: check-in to Boardwalk
Sunday, Sept. 30th: check-in to Old Key West
Sunday, Oct. 7th: drive the whole way home
So, I didn't get the December dates I wanted. And I didn't get the resort I wanted. But, I do get one extra day of vacation. Ed is very excited about the trip, me not as much. What's up with that?
I think doing this PTR will help me get more excited. Monday will be my day to make ADRs. I am excited about that. However, I do have some ADR conundrums to figure out. I'll post about those in a few nights because I will need y'all to help me figure out what to do with a few of them!
I will wrap up this first post by saying that, while I've done a trip report before, this is my first pre-trip report. So, I promise to try not to bore y'all too much. And, most importantly, I just want to go ahead & say "Thank you" to everyone who joins in for all of the planning fun! And if there are any lurkers, please feel to free to say "Hi!".
My trip planning is always crazy because I am a changer! I change vacation dates, resorts, ADRs....you name it, I change it! This trip has evolved so many times in so many ways, I don't think I even remember all of the changes I've made so far.
But, before we get into all of that, let me introduce you to our crew:
This was taken on the Dream last May.
First, there is my husband, Ed. He works very hard for our family to have the things we need & also take great vacations. Ed enjoys our Disney vacations but he doesn't get into the planning like I do. I try to talk to him about stuff & I usually get, "Whatever you want. That's fine. I don't care." Which is great because I can plan whatever I want. But, I always want to see him excited about the trip & really into the planning.
Then there is me, Amanda. I'm a stay at home mom, maid, cook, financial planner, personal shopper, vacation planner....and the list goes on. I love to plan our trips & am very OCD about it. The amount of lists I have about ADRs alone is absolutely ridiculous! But, I enjoy my Disney planning & get very upset when I don't feel like it's turning out like what I envisioned. I also get sad when I don't have a trip to plan. I don't even have to go on the trip....just as long as I can plan it I'll be happy.
Finally, but certainly not least, there is Reid. He is the apple of our eye & such a character! He just turned 4 a couple of weeks ago. He is all boy & such a vibrant child. He's usually either cracking me up or driving me up a wall. But, either way, I adore him. I just wish I could find a way to freeze him so he stays 4 forever.
Now that the introductions are over, let's get to the fun stuff: the planning! I won't take y'all through all of the changes this trip has had....that would take way too long. But, I'll start by telling y'all that we were supposed to be going in December. I wanted to go during the slow time (the 2nd week of Dec.) one more time before Reid starts kindergarten in 2013. We love going during that week: great weather, low crowds & Christmas at Disney! Need I say more?
Well, one night, Ed started telling me that Disney was doing a new race this year: the Tower of Terror 10 mile. Back story: Ed got into running last summer. He has done really well with it & has started running races. Also of very important note, his favorite ride in all of Disney is Tower of Terror.
I could tell how excited he was about this race. In fact, I had never seen Ed so excited about anything having to do with Disney. At first, we contemplated going down for a short trip just him & I. But, I really couldn't justify the money for such a short time. That's when we decided to move our December trip up. He was so excited when I called him at work to tell him I had booked our package and registered him for the race. I've decided that if a Disney race is all it takes to get him excited about going to Disney, then he can run every race Disney offers!
Ok, onto our basic plans. We are going to try driving to Disney for the first time ever. Initially, our plans called for us to leave on Friday, September 28th & drive half-way to Disney. On Saturday, September 29th we would check into Boardwalk & be there until checking out on Saturday, October 6th. However, of course this has changed!
We are in the process of building a house & should hopefully be closing in May. So, I decided that we should try & save some money. We own a timeshare with Hilton. Luckily, we are able to trade our time with Hilton into other properties, such as DVC. I had been looking for something with our dates to trade into but nothing was popping up. I knew it would be long shot since the Tower of Terror race seems to be attracting a lot of people & that weekend will be the start of the Food & Wine Festival at Epcot. I would have loved to been able to trade into the Boardwalk Villas but I knew that just wasn't going to happen. So, I hopped on the first thing that came available: a studio at Old Key West.
The only thing was that the check-in date is Sunday, September 30th. So, these are our plans now:
Friday, Sept. 28th: drive half-way to Disney
Saturday, Sept. 29th: check-in to Boardwalk
Sunday, Sept. 30th: check-in to Old Key West
Sunday, Oct. 7th: drive the whole way home
So, I didn't get the December dates I wanted. And I didn't get the resort I wanted. But, I do get one extra day of vacation. Ed is very excited about the trip, me not as much. What's up with that?
I think doing this PTR will help me get more excited. Monday will be my day to make ADRs. I am excited about that. However, I do have some ADR conundrums to figure out. I'll post about those in a few nights because I will need y'all to help me figure out what to do with a few of them!
I will wrap up this first post by saying that, while I've done a trip report before, this is my first pre-trip report. So, I promise to try not to bore y'all too much. And, most importantly, I just want to go ahead & say "Thank you" to everyone who joins in for all of the planning fun! And if there are any lurkers, please feel to free to say "Hi!".