I Never Thought I'd Be One of "Those" People Who Goes to Disney More Than Once TR June 2012 - PassPorter - A Community of Walt Disney World, Disneyland, Disney Cruise Line, and General Travel Forums
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I Never Thought I'd Be One of "Those" People Who Goes to Disney More Than Once TR June 2012
Well I think the title pretty much sums it up! My family and I went to Disney in September of last year (TR in process here). It was the first time my son and I had gone, and the first time since he was a boy for my husband. Hubby talked about going again before we even went on the first trip, and I told him that there were plenty of places in the world to see and he was crazy if he thought I would be one of those gals who had multiple trips lining her signature.
Pre-Disney (or PD as I like to call it), I liked Disney enough. When I was in middle school I watched all the movies and my friends and I used to even write letters back and forth to each other in the voice of the various characters. (I really should pull those out, they'd make some great fodder for this TR!). But even with all that, I could take or leave Disney as an adult. It was cool to watch the movies, but honestly I didn't get all the hype.
Fast forward to AD (you guessed it, After Disney) and I found the seed of obsession growing inside me. I was happy to sit down and write my TR and remember all the details, I was sad for the pictures I missed (like 2,300 wasn't enough?!?), I hung up some souvenirs, and I often chose to use my mickey whisk over my boring everyday whisk. I bought potatoes that didn't need to be peeled just so I could use my Mickey potatoe scrubber, I added Disney World as a friend on Facebook, and I saw Beauty and the Beast in 3-D. I wouldn't say I got to the level of many, but this was big for me.
Not too long ago, my son came to me and decided that he would like to see his grandparents that live in GA for his birthday. I thought this was a fine idea since he hasn't seen them in 8 years and the last time he did see them, he was 1, so he really doesn't remember it. So we booked a condo near them for the week of his birthday, and continued on our merry way.
Then it happened. My husband was checking out something on the Disney World site that was about the Stars Wars weekends at Disney. I looked over his shoulder and saw that this would be the first weekend of our vacation. That was it, we were done in. No matter how many times we said, not this year ... maybe next year ... truly we could use the money for (insert anything here) .... We both knew we would make it happen.
So here we are today, planning our next trip to the World and I can officially say that it looks like we can join the ranks of the Disney obsessed. I have a feeling that now that we will be breaking the seal on Disney vacations, and doing one 2 years in a row, the flood gates will open up. Not that I'm complaining, my wallet might be slightly whimpering, but not me.
So this is my PTR, I will also be planning our trip to GA and trying to get as much Disney in as possible. The entire trip will be 11 days, but Disney will be just for the fist 5. I am starting this PTR early as last time I started one later, and I have so much to plan this time around I need a soft landing spot to keep all my ideas. Oh and plus, didn't you hear me say, I am Disney obsessed now??
Okay so if you made it through all that, you deserve a medal and a few pictures. Here is our cast of characters.
First off, we have me.
My name is Rachel and I will be your captain on this trip. I have graced this earth with my presence for 31 years. I currently homeschool my son while working a temporary job doing testing for retirement plans. This is a job I can do from my computer at home, so it's a dream to have while we homeschool. I love cooking, quilting, crafting, and traveling! I wish I could travel more, but I'll take whatever I can get.
Next up we have the husband figure, Kris.
Kris is a wonderful, 33 year old, husband and father and has been for the past 9 years. We love to do crazy stuff together, like add Disney to a perfectly good vacation. Kris loves reading, playing Flames of War (don't ask me), watching movies, and reenacting the Revolutionary War. Kris has gotten bitten by the travel bug by hanging out with me, and now wishes we could live in a bus for a year and travel the country!
And last, but certainly not least, we have the boy Kolby.
Kolby is a fun loving 8 year old boy who now loves Disney as much as we do. Every time he sees me working on my TR from the last trip, he asks when we are going next. He knows we are going to GA for his birthday, but he doesn't know about Disney (so shhhhh don't tell him!), and we are hoping he won't find out until we actually drive into the Disney gates. We'll see how that goes.
And that's it! It will be just the three amigos at Disney, and then we will see Kris' parents and family when we get to GA. Hopefully all goes as planned, and we have a fun time getting even more obsessed with the Happiest Place on Earth.
Next time I will talk more about the details we have so far.
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[FONT=Arial Black][COLOR=black]. No matter how many times we said, not this year ... maybe next year ... truly we could use the money for (insert anything here) .... We both knew we would make it happen.
I feel like this totally sums up me and my husband too! After each trip we "vow" that we will bet taking the next year off, surely we should save our money and use it for something more "useful". Who are we kidding, that never happens! And, we know, if we work harder we can save up and make a trip work In fact, just a few weeks ago we booked our next trip and have already got a good amount saved up for it
I to was one of the obsessed Disney people, not so much right now, but hopine one day to get bit by the Disney but once again. My unobsession is not reasonable so I am trying to overcome it. We went back in Sept. and I was hopeful that I would be able to get my old feeling back again. This year I want a pool heater so have given that reason for no disney trip. We will see if we go the year without a trip.
You have a wonderful time with your obsession, I enjoyed mine.
__________________
Love the Magic of Disney Thanks Dad for our first 5 trips.
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I hope that you and your family have a magical time at the world
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Great start and welcome! I used to feel that way as well. Until one day, I went with my BFF who was taking her two daughters for Spring Break 2010. I was hooked. Then my boss gave me her DVC points and so DH and I were headed back in November of that same year! We then bought into the DVC and became D23 members as well as AP holders! Sept 2012 will be my 4th visit since April 2010. Do ya notice a snowball effect here? But it is well worth it! Can't wait to read more! (That's how I get my fix in between visits!)
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Great start! I'm one of those people--I go to WDW about every 3 months! I work in the service industry and I tell my co-workers who are surprised how often I take 4 days off that going to WDW keeps me from being grumpy with customers--meaning not shooting them in the head! Plan a great trip!
I feel like this totally sums up me and my husband too! After each trip we "vow" that we will bet taking the next year off, surely we should save our money and use it for something more "useful". Who are we kidding, that never happens! And, we know, if we work harder we can save up and make a trip work In fact, just a few weeks ago we booked our next trip and have already got a good amount saved up for it
Looking forward to the details of your trip!
Congrats on your new trip!! We are also already talking about our 2013 trip though we don't have a date or anything. My son says he wants to do the Christmas party, which would be fun so we'll see.
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Originally Posted by Lemonie
Great start! Can't wait to hear all about your trip!
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Originally Posted by benjiboo25
I never expected to be one of THOSE people either....it took just one good day in one bad trip to convert me...
It's a good club to be a part of!! Glad you had at least one good day in that trip and weren't soured forever.
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Originally Posted by cindybelle
Rachel, Kris and Kolby: : to the Light Side!
Haha I like that ..... light side.
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Originally Posted by Nova
I to was one of the obsessed Disney people, not so much right now, but hopine one day to get bit by the Disney but once again. My unobsession is not reasonable so I am trying to overcome it. We went back in Sept. and I was hopeful that I would be able to get my old feeling back again. This year I want a pool heater so have given that reason for no disney trip. We will see if we go the year without a trip.
You have a wonderful time with your obsession, I enjoyed mine.
Awwww I hope you get that Disney feeling back. I do imagine it will come and go for us too. We shall see. We will certainly enjoy it while we are feeling it though!
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Originally Posted by bsblady01
I hope that you and your family have a magical time at the world
Thanks so much!!
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Originally Posted by Coop
Great start and welcome! I used to feel that way as well. Until one day, I went with my BFF who was taking her two daughters for Spring Break 2010. I was hooked. Then my boss gave me her DVC points and so DH and I were headed back in November of that same year! We then bought into the DVC and became D23 members as well as AP holders! Sept 2012 will be my 4th visit since April 2010. Do ya notice a snowball effect here? But it is well worth it! Can't wait to read more! (That's how I get my fix in between visits!)
Uh oh you definitely caught the Disney bug!! Lucky you to get DVC points from your boss!! I was looking at DVC points, and I am not sure it would be worth the cost for our family, even at the reduced resale rate. Though it would be nice to stay in one of those places as they do look real nice!!
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Originally Posted by Cam22
Congrats on the new trip, Rachel! We'll be at WDW at the same time as our annual trek home is June 3 - 15. So please holler howdy if you see us!
We surely will!! Congrats on your trip too!!
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Originally Posted by ilovedisney247
Great start! I'm one of those people--I go to WDW about every 3 months! I work in the service industry and I tell my co-workers who are surprised how often I take 4 days off that going to WDW keeps me from being grumpy with customers--meaning not shooting them in the head! Plan a great trip!
Haha, well you gotta keep the crazies out of your head somehow!! Hubby works at a bank, so a little downtime goes a really long way with him too. LOL
Thanks everyone for the kind comments!! We are super stoked about this trip. Every time hubby and I see something Disney related in our house, we will point at it behind our son's back and do a little dance. LOL This is going to be a difficult secret to keep from him, but I am hoping we can, as we do love surprising him!
At this point in time, the biggest thing we have to figure out is where we will be staying. We will be arriving late Friday night and leaving to drive to GA on Wednesday morning, so we will need 5 nights. Also because of our food allergies (more on that later) we will need our room to have a kitchen of some kind. It is not exactly my idea of a good vacation if I have to worry about cooking every meal, but it's also not my idea of a good vacation if we are all reacting to the food we ate!!
Having the limitation of not eating any (or next to none) food at Disney and making our own food is a pretty big one! Especially since we will be flying down. Originally when we were just going to GA, we were going to drive, so it would have been easier to bring food and cooking supplies with us, but now it's going to be ..... interesting ......
Anywho, back to the hotels ..... we can't afford to be spending an arm and a leg on a deluxe resort, which I believe does have kitchens, so I started searching off property. I had a hard time finding hotels that had a kitchen that weren't upteem millions of dollars a night (okay I may be exaggerating a bit there). It doesn't look like any of the Downtown Disney hotels have kitchens, which would have been my second choice. So I had to keep looking.
While searching for vacation packages on Jet Blue, I found the Sheraton Vistana Resort, An All Villa Resort. This looked like a nice hotel that had full kitchens at a surprisingly good price. It looks like I can get the hotel for around $200/night. I am still looking at some different discount options, but that is pretty good I thought. They are close to the parks and I think I saw that they even provide transportation to the parks, though we will probably end up driving anyway. I went ahead and booked that room with a rate that is fully cancelable/no deposit as I don't want to miss out.
I have also tried looking at on property hotels (as we really did enjoy staying on property last time) and I was hoping to get a good deal with the discount they are offering right now. However, it looks like for the type of room we need, the price for 5 nights would be much more than the Sheraton I found. Plus, to be honest, I am not exactly sure which on-property hotels have full kitchens! It's so hard to research that kind of thing.
The last option I would have would be to get a cheaper on property hotel with no kitchen amenities at all. Make sure I get a fridge, and bring my griddle and crock pot. This would probably end up being a little awkward, but I feel like we could possibly make it work for just 5 nights.
With any of the options we will probably do a combination of mailing food down and using Garden Grocer to deliver some stuff once we get there.
These are the best options I can think of for now. Has anyone else had luck with making all their own food at Disney when flying in? Where did you stay? What did you do for food? Do you know which on property resorts have cooking areas?
This hurdle is probably the biggest one we have right now. It is also the most important. If we end up eating the wrong things, the whole vacation will go downhill real quick, so it is imperative that I make the food myself. I will miss all the yumminess of Disney food, but it's so not worth the chance of a bad reaction. I cannot imagine doing this without a kitchen, but I know I probably should come up with a rough meal plan so I can see if it would be doable without one.
And because every post deserves a picture, here's the entire fam with Tigger!
It's going to be so much fun for you and DH to surprise Kolby, good luck! I hope you're able to get your hotel settled soon, and that you find a great deal! Last summer some of my niece and her family stayed at the Sheraton Vistana and loved it! They had nothing but good things to say about it. We usually stay off property too, at the Harbour Lake (which is a Marriott resort). We really love it there, and their rates are pretty reasonable. It is on the smaller side, but is really suited for families. There is a pirate themed pool, water slide and on site mini golf. If you check out my last TR I have plenty of pictures and descriptions of everything.
Also, as far as food allergies go, the chefs at Disney are wonderful. I'm not sure what your allergies are, but most of the time the chefs are able to prepare safe meals after speaking with you at the restaurant. My DD has some severe food allergies and WDW is one of the few places I feel comfortable with her eating out. But, ultimately it will come down to how comfortable you feel with allowing someone else to prepare your food. If you email specialdiets@wdw.com, they will send you tons of information about dining at Disney with allergies.
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In fact, just a few weeks ago we booked our next trip and have already got a good amount saved up for it 
: to the Light Side! 
Then my boss gave me her DVC points and so DH and I were headed back in November of that same year!
We then bought into the DVC and became D23 members as well as AP holders! Sept 2012 will be my 4th visit since April 2010. Do ya notice a snowball effect here? 
But it is well worth it! Can't wait to read more! (That's how I get my fix in between visits!)
![[SIGPIC]](signaturepics/sigpic27594_7.gif)
it! They had nothing but good things to say about it. We usually stay off property too, at the Harbour Lake (which is a Marriott resort). We really love it there, and their rates are pretty reasonable. It is on the smaller side, but is really suited for families. There is a pirate themed pool, water slide and on site mini golf. If you check out my last TR I have plenty of pictures and descriptions of everything. 
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