BrerMama
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Apr 4, 2000
Cast of Characters:
Kim, just turned 30!, Obsessive/compulsive trip planner; Full-time early childhood special ed teacher; Love to scrapbook
Dan, 32, Truly a kid at heart; in sales; enjoys everything about Disney except the money -- he's our budget police
Brady, 6, Has really become a daredevil in the past few months; can be very shy
Mykiah, 4, Currenly a mommy's girl; not a shy bone in her body
Chesney, 10 months, Beginning to toddle; a very happy baby in general
Grandpa, 65, Loves his grandkids to death (This trip was his gift for his 65th birthday)
Pre-trip report:
This has been quite a year for us! 2 weeks into the year, we were blessed with the birth of our third child who is adored by all. Then in late spring, I was offered a promotion at work. In July, I turned 30. And in August we celebrated our 10th wedding anniversary. This is Mykiah's last year at preschool (she has been going since she was 15 months old and loves it). And Brady has learned to read! We feel a celebration coming on!! Actually, Dan felt like it was time to start planning a trip to the World last February. We originally looked at February 2001. Because Mykiah starts kindergarten next year, we wanted to go before the 2001 school year started. Then I argued that if we were going to go this school year, we should go before the Millenium celebration ended. So we looked at December. We wanted to go the second full week, but Dan has a super sales week that week, so we moved it up one week. Boy that seems like a long time ago...
Because we live in a city which seems to have expensive airfare, we have decided to go with a Delta Vacations package. Our air alone was going to run $350 a person; with the Delta package it works out to about $200 a person. We could have driven a couple of hours and gotten the $200 price from a larger airport, but driving 20 minutes across town made it worth getting the package deal. Our flight leaves at 5:25 am so we're looking at a pretty early morning. Still debating about hiring a limo/shuttle to take us to the airport, and really hoping that the early morning plus the dramamine I'll give the older kids will encourage naps on the plane!
Although we originally made ressies at ASMo, we switched to the Holiday Inn Family Suites for several reasons. First, Dan really wanted to visit Sea World again. This is one of Dan's favorite parks and Brady just loves animals so we knew we would enjoy it, but we weren't going to rent a car if we were staying on-property. Then I started wondering whether an ASMo room could hold the 5 of us (at that time Grandpa wasn't going) and all our gear -- 2 strollers, crib, etc. So I looked into off-site hotels and fell in love with HIFS -- free buffet breakfast, wonderful pool and more room to spread out. Plus we could rent a car and go to Sea World for about the same price as staying at ASMo. So we switched and are really happy with our decision.
All along we've been kicking around inviting my parents to go with us on the trip. We have done really well saving for the trip (think garage sales, online auctions, rewards programs) so I did some figuring and decided we could invite my dad to come along for a birthday gift. (My mom has already been to Orlando once this year and -- horror of horrors -- didn't even set foot on Disney property. She hit the flea markets!) The kids made him a certificate of award for his gift and Grandpa was flabbergasted at how much we're giving him! I think he thought we were just going for a weekend and he was truly grateful for being included. This works well for us, too, because we'll have extra help for the kids. And he'll get to have 9 days with his grandkids, who he absolutely adores.
Here is my itinerary, including some reasons why I've ordered it the way I have:
Day 1 (Friday) -- Travel day. We arrive about 11 am, should be at the hotel by at least 1 pm. I'm going to try for early check-in. Either way, we'll head to the pool for awhile, then Downtown Disney in the late afternoon with dinner at Rainforest Cafe.
Day 2 (Saturday) -- MGM. We chose this as our first park because it seemed to have the least amount of scary rides. More on this below. Lunch at 50s Prime Time Cafe, then hopefully catch the Mulan parade.
Day 3 (Sunday) -- Animal Kingdom. This is probably the most eagerly awaited park. Dan and Brady have been wanting to go since it opened! No priority seatings planned.
Day 4 (Monday) -- Epcot. I think my dad will really enjoy this; it's changed a lot since we visited 16 years ago! Late lunch at Garden Grill followed by Tapestry of Nations and hopefully (if the kids can make it) Illuminations.
Day 5 (Tuesday) -- MK. Planning to start the day with Splash Mountain, then Country Bears, Tiki Room (the kids' favorites) and other rides in this lands. Lunch at Crystal Palace.
Day 6 (Wednesday) -- Sea World.
Day 7 (Thursday) -- AK/Epcot. Planning to hit the Safari at AK and maybe 1 or 2 others that we really like. We have an early lunch planned at the Rainforest Cafe (gotta love those free gift certificates!) Then we'll head to Epcot to pick up anything we've missed. I'd love to do Candlelight Processional but we'll see how it works out.
Day 9 (Friday) -- MK. This is our Fantasyland day. We have a priority seating for Cindy's Breakfast!!
Day 10 (Saturday) -- Travel day
A couple of thoughts/explanations about my family:
Brady can become very frightened and what scares him doesn't always make sense. For example, 2 years ago at Disneyland he was scared to death of Peter Pan but loved Splash Mountain. Actually, the kids didn't enjoy any of the "indoor" rides at Disneyland but they have become really brave lately and having Grandpa along will help. If Brady or Mykiah gets scared, the adults can just take turns waiting with them and no one will have to feel they are missing out on anything.
Although there are at least 2 MVMCP scheduled while we are at WDW, we have chosen not to go. Our kids are the early to bed, early to rise type and I really think they would be too tired to enjoy the party. We'll be at each park at opening, though, because the kids will get us up at 6 on the dot!
And a final word:
Dan, Brady and I went to WDW 5 years ago in May. We were poorer than poor at the time, but Dan was in a wedding near West Palm Beach and I could bear to think of driving to Florida without stopping at WDW. Dan had worked for the Disney Catalog call center the Christmas before and his gift was 2 free 1 day tickets to any Disney park, so we had one day taken care of. We were able to get discounted tickets for Sea World (did I mention this is Dan's favorite park?) and scraped up enough to pay for tickets to Epcot. We stayed at Days Inn Orlando Lakeside for $25 a night and ate McDonalds and Pizza Hut. Obviously, it was a budget trip. I remember back then looking at the guide books and thinking how fun the restaurants seemed, especially Prime Time and Garden Grill. And I knew that I would never have enough extra money to spend 2 weeks' food budget on one meal. Needless to say, times have changed for the Lund family!
I've almost completed my master's degree, am working in the field (and have even gotten a promotion); Dan's doing a great job in sales; and I have become the queen of rewards programs and eBay! We've really saved for this trip and it truly is the trip of a lifetime for us. We're very blessed to be able to take Grandpa along because it will take some of the pressure off everyone. And it will be so fun to experience the world through different generations!
To read about our travel adventures and our opinion of HIFS, click here
Mom to 3 goobs
1992 Disneyland (offsite)
1995 WDW (offsite)
1998 Disneyland (offsite)
12/1/2000 WDW -- HIFS
[This message was edited by BrerMama on 12-10-00 at 10:11 AM.]
Kim, just turned 30!, Obsessive/compulsive trip planner; Full-time early childhood special ed teacher; Love to scrapbook
Dan, 32, Truly a kid at heart; in sales; enjoys everything about Disney except the money -- he's our budget police
Brady, 6, Has really become a daredevil in the past few months; can be very shy
Mykiah, 4, Currenly a mommy's girl; not a shy bone in her body
Chesney, 10 months, Beginning to toddle; a very happy baby in general
Grandpa, 65, Loves his grandkids to death (This trip was his gift for his 65th birthday)
Pre-trip report:
This has been quite a year for us! 2 weeks into the year, we were blessed with the birth of our third child who is adored by all. Then in late spring, I was offered a promotion at work. In July, I turned 30. And in August we celebrated our 10th wedding anniversary. This is Mykiah's last year at preschool (she has been going since she was 15 months old and loves it). And Brady has learned to read! We feel a celebration coming on!! Actually, Dan felt like it was time to start planning a trip to the World last February. We originally looked at February 2001. Because Mykiah starts kindergarten next year, we wanted to go before the 2001 school year started. Then I argued that if we were going to go this school year, we should go before the Millenium celebration ended. So we looked at December. We wanted to go the second full week, but Dan has a super sales week that week, so we moved it up one week. Boy that seems like a long time ago...
Because we live in a city which seems to have expensive airfare, we have decided to go with a Delta Vacations package. Our air alone was going to run $350 a person; with the Delta package it works out to about $200 a person. We could have driven a couple of hours and gotten the $200 price from a larger airport, but driving 20 minutes across town made it worth getting the package deal. Our flight leaves at 5:25 am so we're looking at a pretty early morning. Still debating about hiring a limo/shuttle to take us to the airport, and really hoping that the early morning plus the dramamine I'll give the older kids will encourage naps on the plane!
Although we originally made ressies at ASMo, we switched to the Holiday Inn Family Suites for several reasons. First, Dan really wanted to visit Sea World again. This is one of Dan's favorite parks and Brady just loves animals so we knew we would enjoy it, but we weren't going to rent a car if we were staying on-property. Then I started wondering whether an ASMo room could hold the 5 of us (at that time Grandpa wasn't going) and all our gear -- 2 strollers, crib, etc. So I looked into off-site hotels and fell in love with HIFS -- free buffet breakfast, wonderful pool and more room to spread out. Plus we could rent a car and go to Sea World for about the same price as staying at ASMo. So we switched and are really happy with our decision.
All along we've been kicking around inviting my parents to go with us on the trip. We have done really well saving for the trip (think garage sales, online auctions, rewards programs) so I did some figuring and decided we could invite my dad to come along for a birthday gift. (My mom has already been to Orlando once this year and -- horror of horrors -- didn't even set foot on Disney property. She hit the flea markets!) The kids made him a certificate of award for his gift and Grandpa was flabbergasted at how much we're giving him! I think he thought we were just going for a weekend and he was truly grateful for being included. This works well for us, too, because we'll have extra help for the kids. And he'll get to have 9 days with his grandkids, who he absolutely adores.
Here is my itinerary, including some reasons why I've ordered it the way I have:
Day 1 (Friday) -- Travel day. We arrive about 11 am, should be at the hotel by at least 1 pm. I'm going to try for early check-in. Either way, we'll head to the pool for awhile, then Downtown Disney in the late afternoon with dinner at Rainforest Cafe.
Day 2 (Saturday) -- MGM. We chose this as our first park because it seemed to have the least amount of scary rides. More on this below. Lunch at 50s Prime Time Cafe, then hopefully catch the Mulan parade.
Day 3 (Sunday) -- Animal Kingdom. This is probably the most eagerly awaited park. Dan and Brady have been wanting to go since it opened! No priority seatings planned.
Day 4 (Monday) -- Epcot. I think my dad will really enjoy this; it's changed a lot since we visited 16 years ago! Late lunch at Garden Grill followed by Tapestry of Nations and hopefully (if the kids can make it) Illuminations.
Day 5 (Tuesday) -- MK. Planning to start the day with Splash Mountain, then Country Bears, Tiki Room (the kids' favorites) and other rides in this lands. Lunch at Crystal Palace.
Day 6 (Wednesday) -- Sea World.
Day 7 (Thursday) -- AK/Epcot. Planning to hit the Safari at AK and maybe 1 or 2 others that we really like. We have an early lunch planned at the Rainforest Cafe (gotta love those free gift certificates!) Then we'll head to Epcot to pick up anything we've missed. I'd love to do Candlelight Processional but we'll see how it works out.
Day 9 (Friday) -- MK. This is our Fantasyland day. We have a priority seating for Cindy's Breakfast!!
Day 10 (Saturday) -- Travel day
A couple of thoughts/explanations about my family:
Brady can become very frightened and what scares him doesn't always make sense. For example, 2 years ago at Disneyland he was scared to death of Peter Pan but loved Splash Mountain. Actually, the kids didn't enjoy any of the "indoor" rides at Disneyland but they have become really brave lately and having Grandpa along will help. If Brady or Mykiah gets scared, the adults can just take turns waiting with them and no one will have to feel they are missing out on anything.
Although there are at least 2 MVMCP scheduled while we are at WDW, we have chosen not to go. Our kids are the early to bed, early to rise type and I really think they would be too tired to enjoy the party. We'll be at each park at opening, though, because the kids will get us up at 6 on the dot!
And a final word:
Dan, Brady and I went to WDW 5 years ago in May. We were poorer than poor at the time, but Dan was in a wedding near West Palm Beach and I could bear to think of driving to Florida without stopping at WDW. Dan had worked for the Disney Catalog call center the Christmas before and his gift was 2 free 1 day tickets to any Disney park, so we had one day taken care of. We were able to get discounted tickets for Sea World (did I mention this is Dan's favorite park?) and scraped up enough to pay for tickets to Epcot. We stayed at Days Inn Orlando Lakeside for $25 a night and ate McDonalds and Pizza Hut. Obviously, it was a budget trip. I remember back then looking at the guide books and thinking how fun the restaurants seemed, especially Prime Time and Garden Grill. And I knew that I would never have enough extra money to spend 2 weeks' food budget on one meal. Needless to say, times have changed for the Lund family!
I've almost completed my master's degree, am working in the field (and have even gotten a promotion); Dan's doing a great job in sales; and I have become the queen of rewards programs and eBay! We've really saved for this trip and it truly is the trip of a lifetime for us. We're very blessed to be able to take Grandpa along because it will take some of the pressure off everyone. And it will be so fun to experience the world through different generations!To read about our travel adventures and our opinion of HIFS, click here
Mom to 3 goobs
1992 Disneyland (offsite)
1995 WDW (offsite)
1998 Disneyland (offsite)
12/1/2000 WDW -- HIFS
[This message was edited by BrerMama on 12-10-00 at 10:11 AM.]
