So we are going to Disney. This trip is actually a long time coming, we had originally planned back in 2005 to go the spring of 2006...then found out I was expecting and that we'd have a 6-8 week old baby in the spring of '06. So, the Disney trip got delayed.
Earlier this year a friend told me about a vaction home rental agency that had super prices right in the Disney area, I looked it up and was completely wowed. 3 bedroom townhomes with pools and large on-resort playgrounds and waterparks for barely over $100 a night. Our family size is such that Disney resort policy won't allow us to stay in one room, we either get two separate rooms (with one of us in each "kid" room, even if the kid is 17 years old!) which even in Disney's "budget" resorts comes to nearly $200 a night, or pay $300 a night for a large suite type resort. So, even figuring in parking lot fees every day and not being able to buy the dining plan, staying out in town worked out best for us.
We are staying in this unit, called Pooh's Dreamscape , check out the pictures of the playground and waterpark... I almost want to leave a day free just to play on the resort property!
We plan to bring one of Dean's friends along so he can go do big kid things while we endure endless rounds of Flying Dumbo rides. Ok just kidding about "enduring" it, we are really excited about letting the kids experience Disney while they are still young enough to enjoy all the magic.
I have reservations for Breakfast with Pooh and Friends, lunch with Mickey, Chip & Dale, and I'm not sure who else, Breakfast with JoJo and Goliath, and Breakfast with Donald and friends. I am expecting that one big meal in the park per day will be plenty and we can suppliment with snacks and shared meals as needed. We will hit Magic Kingdom on day 1, then Epcot, MGM, and Animal Kingdom in that order, and leave the last day free to return to whichever park we need to- I'm assuming that will be Magic Kingdom again.
We would also like to see the Medieval Times dinner theater while we are down there, either the first night before we start hitting the parks, or after we are done with the parks and are heading for Tampa to stay with my cousin for a few days. The kids are excited about seeing "real" knights and princesses, although there is some concern about the possibility of dragons. I'll let you know how that all works out.
I have absolutely absorbed the entire 500 page website of Allearsnet.com (a great disney tip site!) and with my personalized maps from My Disney Vacation, I feel almost ready to hit the road.
Oh, speaking of hitting the road, we are going to add to our vacation and take the Amtrak AutoTrain down to Orlando. We board a little ways north from where we live, get on the train in the afternoon, eat supper, watch movies, have our sleeper car turned down, and go to bed. We wake up the next day, eat breakfast on the train, and get off in Orlando. Snips about 700 miles off of that pesky drive. We load the van on in Virginia and unload it in Orlando and have our own wheels. We will be driving home but it just seemed like a great idea to NOT arrive for 5 days at the Kingdom already tired from the trip. It's a bit pricey but by buying our tickets and leaving on certain days we were able to save a few hundred $ from the regular prices, not to mention that the kids are tickled to be riding a "REAL TRAIN", and I'm sure I will NOT be missing the "are we there yet" that we would have gotten had we driven!
So,
matching T shirts (for each day of the trip of course)- check,
itinerary - check,
character dining reservations- check,
train tickets- check,
townhome reservations- check,
new shoes (walking a bit each evening to break them in of course!) - check,
"training" trips to the local museum (we have a pass, so if they misbehave, we leave immediately...they don't need to know that at disney we can't do that)- check,
a trial run to Busch Gardens (they did pretty good!) - check.
Now, I just need to get an extra card or two for the camera, autograph books, figure out exact packing logistics, think of 94 other things, forget 37 of those things...
Jeff keeps telling me-- "uh baby, this isn't the last and only time we'll ever take them... just the first time" he's right, I know this... I just need to relax, actually, (oh how sad is this...) it's on my list.
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3 comments:
Sounds like you are going to have an awesome time. you sound like me when we are packing to go anywhere. Relax and have fun.
Very much enjoyed reading about the obsessive Disney planning of someone other than myself!! Sounds like you've got all your bases covered! I LOVE the idea of the shirts for each day: I may steal that one from ya. And the allears website was good, too. Having done it once before, I'm pretty comfortable w/my planning, but it's ALWAYS good to get some extra tips you may not have known. We went in '05, and took advantage of the Fall special where they threw the Dining Plan in for FREE; was that ever awesome. We had plans to go back in Dec. of 06 to experience Christmas Disney style. Alas, the unexpected pregnancy with little Reagan made travel impossible. So, we're trying it again this year. I have reservations at Cinderella's Castle, Play'n Dine at Hollywood Vine, 1900 Park Fare, Coral Reef (which came HIGHLY recommended), and the Liberty Tree Tavern.
Good luck to us both!! (when are you going?)
Oh duh, we are leaving in just a few weeks, Sept 27 we board the train!
btw, Jeff is very interested in making this an every few years (is that bi-annual or semi-annual...one is every two years, the other is twice a year, but I can never remember which is which) and he would like to try planning with some other families- not really to vacation "together" but if we were there at the same time, we could take turns doing grown-up things, ya know?
We'd also like to try something like that for trips to Gatlinburg.
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