Added Trips! Now May, August, October & December!!! What?

[kastoney]

Andy and I are headed on a small road trip today, so hopefully I can talk about it with Andy in the car. on a side note, this road trip is going to allow me to finally meet @ariane37 & her husband today! Super excitied for our dis-meet!

How awesome!!!! Though gotta say I may be a little jelly

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Our VERY First picture in front of the castle! It had been a long morning and it took the girls awhile to figure out what was happening.

Oh my goodness they are so small. How is that only 5 years ago? They seem so grown up now

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We rode the caroseul! I believe it was technically our very first ride! Look how small Gwen was... And her hair... It took FOREVER for it to grow.

Look at those curls!!!! We were in the slow hair growing club, but didn't even have the curls to blame it on. Casey was just a baldy

So, I am thinking maybe do the dinning plan for just PART of the trip, since we will be switching hotels, we would have to use up all of our dinning credits at the end of each hotel stay and that def seems like a real pain in the you know what. BUT, if we do the dinning plan for say the Poly & French Quarter portion, I could plan the big meals and $$$ buffets then.

That definitely seems like the way to go rather than doing it all at once. Though getting my head around 10 being an adult is just not working

Question, if we aren't on the dining plan, Morgan can order from either menu, correct? I do think there will be many times that she will enjoy the adult side of the menu more but not always.

Yep!

 

[MissMaryQC]

OMG! Those photos from 5 years ago are darling! The girls have grown up so much!

I agree that a park birthday-day is the best! And I kinda think CRT would be special. Maybe try for a later dinner and request a window seat? The view of the fireworks from inside is amazing, and they play the music.

DDP selection can be so tricky, and as much as I like my gift cards (I use Swagbucks so I get them for doing nothing) I miss the DDP. It may not always be a savings, but knowing it's paid for, knowing I can get the steak, or whatever, is a nice perk. I will say, however, if you guys are Passholders you could take advantage of Tables in Wonderland. It's 20% off your bill and you can buy booze with it. Some folks don't like it cause there is automatically 18% gratuity included, but if you tip regularly I don't see that being a problem.

If you're wanting to book early June 19 is the day packages are released. I know of 6 families looking to book that day; late fall 2019 is gonna be slammed... Get Andy on board quick!

 

[missangelalexis]

I agree, MK would be a good birthday choice! Tough decision deciding whether to let her know beforehand or not. I would say let her know and then you can get her input on where she might want to have her birthday meal!

 

[StarWarsMomofGirls!]

Hi Everyone!!!!

I wanted to stop in and say hello! I have decided nothing! And in fact talking with Andy in the car this weekend has made things worse... (not surprisingly, as he always seems to do that to my plans....)

Sooooo Andy isn't sold on being in Disney on Morgan's birthday. He thinks it might cause more "problems" than it's worth, plus in order to do that, the girls would have to be out of school the entire week right after spring break, which is weird. We talked about leaving mid-week of there break, doing Wednesday to Wednesday trip. But I don't like that only because, they girls will have to go to school the day and really they need a rest day before heading back or we have to fly out mid day and that always feels like a waste of a disney day. You know?

So, I am not ruling it out completely but i am starting to wonder if I should go back to looking at the time in Feb. when the girls have a 4 day weekend. With this, we could fly out Thursday last afternoon and fly home late Saturday or early Sunday to have enough time to recuperate. I am at this immediate moment am leaning this way, too, because I feel like it might to mean to go so close to Morgan's birthday and NOT be there. I was also thinking about how we will have to wait through basically the WHOLE winter before we go. We have really started to like going in Feb to break up the winter.

I am thinking I might make a couple "scenarios" And hten when pricing is released, I can add costs to it. And I am guessing that, that will help make the decision a bit easier. But I don't know if I will have time! Between work and another busy weekend coming up...

I also was thinking of making a questionaire and have all of the family answer. Put a whole slew of questions in there so as to not tip anyone off to any plans... We will see....

In other news, I was able to meet up with @ariane37 this weekend! We had a great time! And it def will not be the last time!
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I have only met two people from the dis but both dis-meets have been fantastic! We are a great group of people!

I hadn't paid too much attention to when Spring Break is but Jason wants to do the Star Wars so we'll be going in early April when Casey thankfully has a day off from school too.

Man, I wish early April would work for us. We do need to get the little ladies together.

. I like your plan with park during value resort and resort days when you’re at deluxe resorts. That’s my plan too. If I can suggest, keep deluxe last so you’re not downgrading when you go from deluxe to moderate. Does that make sense? It’s a tip someone gave me on here last year so I thought I would pass it on to you. If it doesn’t work for your plans, then forget I said it!

I know... I think about that alot. But I like the "idea" of truly resting in the middle of the week. Sure, we will be tired at the end of the trip as well. But I don't know if I can handle not being in a park on our last day or two... But nothing is set in stone yet.

I def wouldn't go back to a value after being at a deluxe. French Quarter was nice enough for us, And I think we would be "OK" going to that after the Poly. We have been to both, so we would know what to expect.

But I totally get the logic... And maybe we will. I am not ruling it out.

We've never been in April but we have been in March and it was insane with all of the spring break crowds. ((Never again will I go in March))

I feel like the moral of the story of this so far, is not to go in March...

Yay!! Let us know how awesome it is!

Ha! See above...

I don't think there's any restaurant where they won't let a 10 year old order off the kids' menu if she doesn't want anything on the adult's menu. The only thing I've heard is that sometimes they may require her to get a larger adults' sized portion of whatever she wants from the kids' menu, and that they'll charge you an adults' price for it

I think I would be ok with that. I do find sometimes the kids meal is too small for her. I am going to have to review the menus really closely this time around. As I think the biggest problem will be that the adult menus won't appeal to Morgan.

How awesome!!!! Though gotta say I may be a little jelly

We had a fun time!

I agree that a park birthday-day is the best! And I kinda think CRT would be special. Maybe try for a later dinner and request a window seat? The view of the fireworks from inside is amazing, and they play the music.

So, I am thinking of maybe making a family "questionnaire" And have everyone fill it out... Ask a whole bunch of questions about a bunch of trip scenarios and what not...

If you're wanting to book early June 19 is the day packages are released. I know of 6 families looking to book that day; late fall 2019 is gonna be slammed... Get Andy on board quick!

I know! Andy is NOT on board yet! We will def be no later than April weekend. So, I am hoping it won't be too back and/or crazy booking that portion of the year...

 

[Jules76126]

I feel you on trying to talk out the plan and not being any closer to a solution at the end. I do this to my DH all the time. I love to plan trips an Peter pretty much lets me take the lead with input here and there. But I go through every option possible, we decide on something, and then I decide to change it. We leave for Ireland on Friday and I was still debating a few dinner plans, but decide to just leave it alone for now. It's not Disney so you don't have to book 180 days out to eat somewhere good.

 

[MeghanEmily]

Oooh, tough decisions with your timing for your trip! If the long weekend you're thinking about in February is around Presidents' Day, I can tell you from experience that it will likely be very crowded and busy, but nothing you can't manage with a few fast passes, a good attitude, and good plan.

Your Dismeet looked like a lot of fun! So nice that you and Ariane and your husbands were all able to meet and hit it off! We had a great time meeting Ariane and Steve last spring, and I'm sad we don't have plans to see them again soon!

 

[MissMaryQC]

February in a Florida looks REAL good when there is snow on the ground! I like the questionnaire idea, sneaky mom.

 

[missjackiemcg]

Tough decisions!!!! I am enjoying reading your thought process though....because it makes me feel less nutty!! I destroy myself with what ifs when I'm trying to plan our trips. At least I'm in good company

 

[Lesley Wake]

So, I multiquoted, but it looks like some are not as applicable anymore!

We rode the caroseul! I believe it was technically our very first ride! Look how small Gwen was... And her hair... It took FOREVER for it to grow.

OMG-her hair! And eyes! She just looks like a little doll!

• Do we tell her we are going on her birthday? If so when? - This I have NO IDEA what to do!!!!! If we are going for a long amount of time, I can tell her we are coming back sooner than her birthday. But Morgan is not great with surprises sometimes.... See the big reveal of going to Disneyland....

Knowing you guys and reading the TRs, that is definitely a hard one! Its like if you don't tell her, she could freak out again and get extra stressed for the short time between reveal and leaving! But if you do tell her, she will be continually anxious about trip planning! She and I are waaay too alike in that regard!

So, I am thinking maybe do the dinning plan for just PART of the trip, since we will be switching hotels, we would have to use up all of our dinning credits at the end of each hotel stay and that def seems like a real pain in the you know what. BUT, if we do the dinning plan for say the Poly & French Quarter portion, I could plan the big meals and $$$ buffets then.

That definitely seems like a smart idea! I kept totaling all my meals for December to see if I should add a DP for one of my stays but it just didn't come out ahead. And...so, this is a bit sneaky and definitely frowned upon... One of the stays you don't put the whole family on the reservation. Just some people. And then get the Deluxe DDP, which doesn't differentiate between adult and kid dining credits. So, say, you put yourself and Gwen on a reservation. For each night, you would have 6 credits (QS or TS, each with app/entree/dessert/drink) costing $160ish/night. If you did DDP, then it would be $255, with 4 QS and 4 TS credits per night. For FPs, you could still book for anyone not officially on the hotel reservation with the "umbrella method". And then Andy and Morgan could have old bands from yourself or Gwen for room access or purchases.

So, I am not ruling it out completely but i am starting to wonder if I should go back to looking at the time in Feb. when the girls have a 4 day weekend. With this, we could fly out Thursday last afternoon and fly home late Saturday or early Sunday to have enough time to recuperate. I am at this immediate moment am leaning this way, too, because I feel like it might to mean to go so close to Morgan's birthday and NOT be there. I was also thinking about how we will have to wait through basically the WHOLE winter before we go. We have really started to like going in Feb to break up the winter.

It's definitely a tough decision! And I'd probably be in your same shoes if I didn't have the cheaper cruise booked! I actually went in and booked some rooms for February, though I will probably change once discounts come out. Cheapest was actually French Quarter (well Caribbean Beach was a couple dollars cheaper, but I'd rather go with POFQ). And I keep waffling about whether to go with Swan/Dolphin for part of the stay - it's the same price as the nondiscounted FQ stay, but I'd be booking thru a blind Priceline Express deal, so couldn't change later.

I also was thinking of making a questionaire and have all of the family answer. Put a whole slew of questions in there so as to not tip anyone off to any plans... We will see....

Yeah, makes sense. Maybe even throw in some totally crazy options!

I have only met two people from the dis but both dis-meets have been fantastic! We are a great group of people!

All of my dismeets have been great! I totaled it up recently and I've had 12 so far (some with multiple Dissers, and a couple repeat people), and I've loved them all and stayed in contact with everyone via social media!

 

[rideswithchrist]

Your girls are ADORABLE!!!
We are going the first week in March, which is a bit later than we went the last two times so I also hope we escape the larger crowds.

As far as the suitcases- pack one LARGE one each///but split the clothing into three different bags. That is sorta what I do when we are driving there. I separated all the clothing into days and the top pack was for our hotel stay so I only grabbed the "hotel" ziplock and nothing else.

I hope to plan a split stay for one of our vacations, but it will be camping and then staying at the AK Lodge (in a dream vacation)

 

[ariane37]

Um, how have I missed all this?? Especially since you tagged me a couple times lol?

Andy and I are headed on a small road trip today, so hopefully I can talk about it with Andy in the car. on a side note, this road trip is going to allow me to finally meet @ariane37 & her husband today! Super excitied for our dis-meet!

Whoo! I was looking forward to this so much and it was awesome! I don't want your Fishkill friends to ever move

Our VERY First picture in front of the castle! It had been a long morning and it took the girls awhile to figure out what was happening.

How adorable are they!

Question, if we aren't on the dining plan, Morgan can order from either menu, correct?

Yes she can. Some places will make her an adult portion of whatever she wants from the kids meal and charge you an adult price; some will give her the kids portion and charge you the kids price.

Yay!! Let us know how awesome it is!

It was fantastic

Though gotta say I may be a little jelly

Of course you are

And in fact talking with Andy in the car this weekend has made things worse... (not surprisingly, as he always seems to do that to my plans....)

yeah that sounds about right! Have you figured anything out yet?

In other news, I was able to meet up with @ariane37 this weekend! We had a great time! And it def will not be the last time!

We had a great time meeting Ariane and Steve last spring, and I'm sad we don't have plans to see them again soon!

I'm super sad we won't meet again in August but I know our paths will cross again one day

 

[StarWarsMomofGirls!]

Hi Everyone!!!

Sorry that I have fallen off the face of the earth. I have said this on both of my trip reports but the end of the school year, kicked my butt! This weekend was the first weekend in awhile that we didn't really have too many plans, either! I do have to do some major cleaning today before we head to the pool. Blek, being an adult sucks sometimes! But I have put in some serious catch up time on all everyones reports and updated both of my trip reports.

But I wanted to get a post up today!

So, I started adding in other crowd calendars to my calendar and just thinking about the logistics of the different times of year. And I know even if it is busy, we can manage. We had a few very busy days on both of our Sept and Feb trips. There was one day in Feb that I was super proud of our knowledge of what to do with the heat and crowds, that I will get to in our trip eventually... But I would like to avoid the known times, if possible.

The more I have thought about it, the more I am leaning away from the after spring break trip.

• Between trying to figure out what to do with Morgan and her birthday
• The fact, that I want to go the week AFTER there week off from school. It just seems akward...
• And the thought of not getting out of the cold this winter was kind of sad.
• AND Morgan will be in 5th grade this year, I kind of feel like it might be the last year we can pull them out for a full week "easily"

So, I went back to Feb/March time frame. March still looks kind of busy. Thinking maybe the 1st week in March as a possibility. But now I am thinking the last week of Feb. might be the sweet spot.

• It would be 3 weeks later than we usually go.
• Hopefully Flower & Garden would be starting? Anyone have an idea of when it typically starts?
• It actually works out to be squarely half way between Christmas Break and there Spring Break.

I am thinking fly out Friday, Feb. 22nd and fly home Saturday, March 2nd in the evening or Sunday, March 3rd in the morning.

I haven't floated the idea by Andy yet. I still need to pull some hotel $$$ together and formulate how I want to do the split stay. I have started to consider just a 2 split stay with the Poly at the end. Here is where I am on the split stay situation:

Triple Split Stay:

• I still like the idea of the break up the park days to really relax and recharge
• The poly room will be cheaper middle of the week.
• I could easily add Dinning Plan to just one portion of the trip to maximize a couple buffet meals.

Double Split Stay:

• Use the non-park days on busier Weekend Days
• Not as much re-packing issues.
• I am not sure I can stand our last full day there not being in a park!
• Don't think the Dinning plan will make sense for Morgan for a full trip.

So, I think I am 85% set on the time frame. I think it makes sense for us. Just need to crunch some numbers and debate the split stay situation!

And I def think I am going to do the questionnaire! And soon. Get some feedback from the fam! I will post my questions, once I decide what they are!

I also started thinking about December of this year... TOTALY PIPE DREAM would be to go for a very short trip when the girls have off for Parent Teacher Conferences! Do EPCOT, and a Christmas Party. But I don't know if I can convince Andy to do so AND go again in Feb. I just feel like and really KNOW FOR A FACT, that December 2019 will be BEYOND BUSY and I don't think we will want to be there no matter what! But I haven't even mentioned this to Andy. So, who knows...

It's not Disney so you don't have to book 180 days out to eat somewhere good.

Right? I do like to plan still like I am going to Disney, especially since we have kids. It makes things easier. We went on a trip and I planned nothing and it was fine but I def wished I had planned out things a little better. We would get hungry and make bad restaurant choices.

Oooh, tough decisions with your timing for your trip! If the long weekend you're thinking about in February is around Presidents' Day, I can tell you from experience that it will likely be very crowded and busy, but nothing you can't manage with a few fast passes, a good attitude, and good plan.

Yeah, I think every year I debate this, and back out because of the crowds. I know we would survive.

Your Dismeet looked like a lot of fun! So nice that you and Ariane and your husbands were all able to meet and hit it off! We had a great time meeting Ariane and Steve last spring, and I'm sad we don't have plans to see them again soon!

My meets have been great and makes me want to meet everyone else! Like you and N one day!

February in a Florida looks REAL good when there is snow on the ground! I like the questionnaire idea, sneaky mom.

Right?! I think this really is what is pulling me back to Feb. Waiting till basically May to go will be too hard!

Tough decisions!!!! I am enjoying reading your thought process though....because it makes me feel less nutty!! I destroy myself with what ifs when I'm trying to plan our trips. At least I'm in good company

Isn't that why we are all here more or less! I can't tell you how just writing it all down and sharing it with you all helps me make decisions!

OMG-her hair! And eyes! She just looks like a little doll!

She was and still is! Sometimes I hold my breathe waiting for the day that Morgan starts to really get jealous of all of the attention Gwen gets naturally.

Knowing you guys and reading the TRs, that is definitely a hard one! Its like if you don't tell her, she could freak out again and get extra stressed for the short time between reveal and leaving! But if you do tell her, she will be continually anxious about trip planning! She and I are waaay too alike in that regard!

RIGHT?!?! It is probably the other big factor why I am just leaning away from the whole time frame. Might be best to just leave it be for now. Maybe I can do a Sweet 16 trip or something... Wait for a bit milestone.

And then get the Deluxe DDP, which doesn't differentiate between adult and kid dining credits. So, say, you put yourself and Gwen on a reservation. For each night, you would have 6 credits (QS or TS, each with app/entree/dessert/drink) costing $160ish/night. If you did DDP, then it would be $255, with 4 QS and 4 TS credits per night. For FPs, you could still book for anyone not officially on the hotel reservation with the "umbrella method". And then Andy and Morgan could have old bands from yourself or Gwen for room access or purchases.

So, they have talked about this on Backside of Magic and I def could try to. But I don't know if I am that crafty. And with the girls, they know too much. I would have to explain why one of them needs to use an old magic band... It adds strange "other" issues. Nothing that I couldn't work around, of course. But is it worth it? I can also just do OOP and save the headache. We will see, once I decide on the hotel make up I will do some serious number crunching. Morgan being an adult really complicates things....

Yeah, makes sense. Maybe even throw in some totally crazy options!

I def think I am still going to do this. I think it will help me plan out regardless of the time of year. The girls are ALWAYS talking about our next trip, so they won't find this odd at all.

All of my dismeets have been great! I totaled it up recently and I've had 12 so far (some with multiple Dissers, and a couple repeat people), and I've loved them all and stayed in contact with everyone via social media!

Well, you kicked mine off to a great start! I can't wait to meet some more folks!

We are going the first week in March, which is a bit later than we went the last two times so I also hope we escape the larger crowds.

The 1st week of March def looks like the best week for March! When will you get to Disney? If we end up leaving on the 3rd, would we overlap?

I hope to plan a split stay for one of our vacations, but it will be camping and then staying at the AK Lodge (in a dream vacation)

Wow, talk about one extreme to another!!! I love the idea of the camp grounds! But we are NOT a camping family! But my parents are, and I do hope one day they will bring there pop up camper down and spend a few days with us! It's a great option if you have all the camping gear already.

Um, how have I missed all this?? Especially since you tagged me a couple times lol?

Welcome!!!! Why doesn't this system send a seperate email if you get tagged? I never understand that.

Whoo! I was looking forward to this so much and it was awesome! I don't want your Fishkill friends to ever move

I have tried many times to woo them into New Jersey, even just north jersey and they haven't budged. So, I think you are ok!

Yes she can. Some places will make her an adult portion of whatever she wants from the kids meal and charge you an adult price; some will give her the kids portion and charge you the kids price.

I think that would actually be perfect for her. She def is getting to the point that the kids meal is not enough food for her.

yeah that sounds about right! Have you figured anything out yet?

See all of above.... I haven't talked to Andy about any of it. So, he hasn't ruined the plan yet. But I think this is more like what we have done in the past, so I think he should be ok with it. Morgan made Honor Roll all last year even with all 3 trips so I am not too worried about pulling her out of school still.

 

[rideswithchrist]

Hi Everyone!!!



The 1st week of March def looks like the best week for March! When will you get to Disney? If we end up leaving on the 3rd, would we overlap?


Wow, talk about one extreme to another!!! I love the idea of the camp grounds! But we are NOT a camping family! But my parents are, and I do hope one day they will bring there pop up camper down and spend a few days with us! It's a great option if you have all the camping gear already.


Maybe- we check in on the 3rd and I hope to get to Fort Wilderness early enough to leave our camper in overflow and hit a park!
We love camping and bought our popup just to go to Disney because my hubs refused to tent camp at Disney.

 

[Jfsag123]

Happy to follow along with your planning. And to make you feel better about your possible triple split - we are doing a quadruple split on our trip next month because we are extra crazy! We’re going with the idea of packing one large suitcase for each of us, but using packing cubes to separate out clothes by sections of the trip.

Also, we went in mid-March a few years ago and loved that time of year! It was crowded, but nowhere near Easter crowds. I can’t imagine the first week of March would be that terrible.

Good luck with figuring it all out!

 

[Lesley Wake]

For your February timeframe, there will be the princess half marathon the arrival weekend, so probably pretty tough crowds! But if you figure out scheduling right, you can make it work. I think you will overlap a couple days with Flower and Garden. I think it started on March 1st or Feb 28th this year (Wednesday or Thursday). I visited on Friday and Sunday after everything had gotten started up!

I also started thinking about December of this year... TOTALY PIPE DREAM would be to go for a very short trip when the girls have off for Parent Teacher Conferences! Do EPCOT, and a Christmas Party. But I don't know if I can convince Andy to do so AND go again in Feb. I just feel like and really KNOW FOR A FACT, that December 2019 will be BEYOND BUSY and I don't think we will want to be there no matter what! But I haven't even mentioned this to Andy. So, who knows...

Ooh, when in December? And the whole 2019 thing is the reason why I picked this year. I wanted to see it at Christmas and avoid SWGE crowds, so this year worked out best!

 

[missangelalexis]

I think the time frame you are looking at is a good one! Crowds won't be too bad and i think F&G started late February last year so you may be able to catch it at the end of your trip!

 

[jchurch0409]

The girls were so tiny in those pictures! Adorable!

 

[kastoney]

For what it is worth tell Andy I vote for December and March and just getting annual passes and then going a few more times after that

We're having some of the same conundrum in getting our March/April trip figured out. Jason wants to do the Star Wars half marathon but its the Sunday before spring break crowd calendars start and I'm not sure I'm up for that. Would also mean 2 weeks off in a row too. Contemplating doing the week leading up to the race, but J is already complaining about doing the race at the end of the trip. Oh us and our Disney problems

 

[Lesley Wake]

I vote APs too!

You could also check into some of the Disney Springs hotels for cheaper rates. And I'd be happy to give you one of my extra Magicbands so you could use my room for mid-day breaks or pool!

 

[amalone1013]

Are we crazy for even considering 3 hotels in one trip!?! I figure I would have to pack a suitcase for each hotel so as to not empty out all the suitcases 3 different times.

Haha! I use packing cubes for our trips, because I usually have an idea of what day I'm wearing things. Zack isterrible, he forgets there's another cube with shirts and will start rewearing things until I remind him... I separate socks and stuff too like that, like half and half.

We rode the caroseul! I believe it was technically our very first ride! Look how small Gwen was... And her hair... It took FOREVER for it to grow.

OH MY GOSH HER CURLS!

I guess worse case, I could do what @MissMaryQC is doing, and stock up on gift cards. We will also have Disney Visa $$$$ built up by then again too.

I collect Disney gift cards too, also through swagbucks. After i have an idea of where were eating, I glance through the menus and estimate cost, use a general number for qs meals... budget so much a day for snacks... then i get gift cards when i can get a deal on them usually I've been pretty close or I overestimate, but then the remainder goes to souvenirs and it evens out.

For our wedding trip I collected $2700 in gift cards because that was what I estimated for food and souvenirs at Disney and on the cruise. I paid $1600 though, with deals, reward sites, gas savings, etc... A week before we left I was $250 short of my goal, and on short notice the best i could save was $12, so i decided it wasnt worth the effort and anything over that would just go on my credit card. I put almost exactly $250 on my credit card