Sarilas' O-fficial Pre-Trip Report -1/2009 (a.k.a. Vacation, Take TWO!) - PassPorter - A Community of Walt Disney World, Disneyland, Disney Cruise Line, and General Travel Forums
As of January 1, 2019, we have closed our forums. This is a decision we did not come to lightly, but it is necessary. The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk. The server software itself must be updated, and it cannot be without removing the forums.
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There are other changes as well.
Why? Well, the world has changed. And change with it, we must. The lyrics to "We Go On" for IllumiNations say it best:
We go on to the joy and through the tears
We go on to discover new frontiers
Moving on with the current of the years.
We go on
Moving forward now as one
Moving on with a spirit born to run
Ever on with each rising sun.
To a new day, we go on.
It's time to move on and move forward.
PassPorter is a small business, and for many years it supported our family. But the world changed, print books took a backseat to the Internet, and for a long time now it has been unable to make ends meet. We've had to find new ways to support our family, which means new careers and less and less time available to devote to our first baby, PassPorter.
But eventually, we must move on and move forward. It is the right thing to do.
So we are retiring this newsletter, as we simply cannot keep up with it. Many thanks to Mouse Fan Travel who supported it all these years, to All Ears and MousePlanet who helped us with news, to our many article contributors, and -- most importantly -- to Sara Varney who edited our newsletter so wonderfully for years and years.
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Thank you, thank you, thank you for your amazing support over the years. Without you, there's no way us little guys could have made something like this happen and given the "big guys" a run for their money. PassPorter was consistently the #3 guidebook after the Unofficial and Official guides, which was really unheard of for such a small company to do. We ROCKED it thanks to you and your support and love!
If you miss us, you can still find some of us online. Sara started a new blog at DisneyParkPrincess.com -- I strongly urge you to visit and get on her mailing list. She IS the Disney park princess and knows Disney backward and forward. And I am blogging as well at JenniferMaker.com, which is a little craft blog I started a couple of years ago to make ends meet. You can see and hear me in my craft show at https://www.youtube.com/c/jennifermaker . Many PassPorter readers and fans are on Facebook, in groups they formed like the PassPorter Trip Reports and PassPorter Crafting Challenge (if you join, just let them know you read about it in the newsletter). And some of our most devoted community members started a forum of their own at Pixie Dust Lane and all are invited over.
So we encourage you to stay in touch with us and your fellow community members wherever works best for you!
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Sarilas' O-fficial Pre-Trip Report-(a.k.a. Vacation, Take TWO!) Jan. 30-Feb. 8, '09, Port Orleans Riverside!
Greetings! Welcome to our family vacation I-can't-wait-any-longer-I-have-to-start-writing pre-trip report! Starring...
Myself, and my husband, Jose...
...and our children Tatiana and Kyle...
...Stasia and Lexi!
Okay, let's get right into the good stuff.
I'm DYING to get to WDW. Like I can think of nothing else. Here's how it all got started.
On May 11 of last year, 5 weeks after the birth of my fourth child, my mother (my best friend) passed away from pancreatic cancer. It took me a solid year to stop crying when I saw her picture, heard her name or to just be able to breathe when a memory of her flooded back. I'm still a teary-eyed basket case, but at least now I can BREATHE. I'd moved her and my Dad here to our house in Tennessee from northern CA during Christmas, right after she'd gotten her diagnosis. Everything in my world was in a tail spin and I still had to function as a wife and mother. And that year went by so quickly...
But we all pulled through, and are getting stronger every day. But we are tired. Emotionally and physically exhausted, and the poor kids - well I can't begin to tell you all they've been through but suffice it to say they deserved some FUN.
Earlier this year ('08) we decided to take our economic stimulus (yeah!) and go on a mini-vacation. Something nearby (Nashville), something moderately priced, something we'd all love. I WANTED to do Disney, but it just wasn't in the budget we'd established. So we settled on Dollywood, booked a cabin in the mountains and prepared for a nice, relaxing long weekend over Memorial Day.
Only it wasn't meant to be.
I'll keep this short and sweet: Cabin was beautiful, but the night we arrived the transmission on our minivan went out. (We've renamed her The Million Dollar Robo-Van.) Dollywood was okay, but it was NO Disney! I kept commenting to my husband that Disney would NEVER have trash, or even leaves on the streets and pathways. That Disney Cast Members are SO much nicer and more helpful than these other employees. There was just no comparison.
So, once we'd returned home, gotten Robo-Van back and talked about our not-quite-vacation, we began discussing the need for a REAL trip.
Now, when I first mentioned Disney World to my husband, he was okay with it but under-whelmed. None of us have ever been to WDW, but it took me a while to realize why he was so hesitant: He's never been to ANY Disney park, EVER. Growing up in Puerto Rico and in Texas as an Army brat, his parents took trips to national monuments, not national treasures like Disney! Not as a child or an adult has he experienced what it's like to walk down Main Street, USA, or hear the echo of "yo, ho, yo ho". If I greeted him with "Welcome, foolish mortal!" he'd think I'd lost my mind! But the fact is, growing up in Orange County, California means I practically LIVED at Disneyland. My mom attended the opening of the park - it was in my blood!
That night I rushed out and bought the Birnbaum guides (for the parks, the dining and the one for kids). Everyone started to catch the fever and before I knew it, they were ALMOST as excited as I was at the prospect of a REAL Disney World vacation!
We knew we had to wait till at least January of 2009, when Jose would have the vacation time AND we'd have his Christmas bonus money. The first thing he said when we really started planning was that if we were going to do this (oh, and we WERE!) that we were going to indulge as much as possible whenever we could. So what's the first thing we needed to decide?
Where to stay!
With a family of 6, accommodations are a major selling point. The first thing I did was call Disney reservations and spoke to the NICEST woman in the world (but I say that about all Disney Cast Members!) who told me exactly which hotels on-site could accommodate us. We thought about a Deluxe hotel, but did we all really want to be in ONE room? And at that price a second room was out of the question. Then she told us about All-Star Music and their Family Suites - it sounded perfect! I spent the next few days researching pictures and trip reports from others who have stayed there, and it quickly became clear that this was THE place for us to stay. But that begged the question...
When are we going?!
We knew it would be January, and we knew we didn't want to wait too long. So we balanced the idea of waiting till the end of the month for the slowest possible crowds with going the first week, when schools (at least here!) are back in session. We knew we'd run into SOME crowds, but at least it wouldn't be like peak season. So Jose put in his vacation request and I called Disney reservations... and it's official!
We're booked at All-Star Music Family Suites from January 5-9, checking out on the 10th!
So much planning to do and only 6 months to do it! Dining plan, or deluxe dining? Regular tickets or park hoppers? ADR's on July 9th!
UPDATE: We'd changed already from January 5-9 to January 10-18... then we changed resorts from ASMFamily Suites to PORiverside... NOW we've changed the whole shebang from January to February 20- March 1, still at POR! Whew, the changes are coming fast and furious!
NEWEST UPDATE: We've changed our dates again! We'll now be in Disney World January 30 through February 8th! Blame the amazing buy 4 get 3 free deal!
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congrats on the vacation, you'll love the family suites. I would go with the dinning plan and definitly go with the park hoppers- that's what we always do..
Thanks for reading! The dining plan sounds exactly like what we need. Convenient and stress free! My husband REALLY wants to do the Deluxe plan - I want to say yes but I'm still wavering because it's a LOT of food. Though I realize that if we get Cindy's Table it'll take two credits each... well we'll see.
I really can't decide about the park hopper though. I keep thinking we probably won't spend the time going back and forth during the day much, if only because it seems like it'll take up so much time to get from one place to another! Decisions...
I have to tell you I'm usually not a big planner but this trip has me in full on organization mode! I'm feeling confident about our reservation at All Star Music family suites and since I can't book a package until August when the rates come out, I feel like my next step should be to figure out which ADR's I'll want to book in July when it hits the 180 day mark (July 9th is the big day!).
I definitely want to try at least one character meal, but I've got some concern about getting to and from the different hotels and parks on time for whatever time my ADR's end up being. I feel like I need an Excel spreadsheet for time and transportation management!
I think my next step will be to check out allears.net and their menus for the different establishments... I have to say that the food picture thread here on PassPorter is AMAZING and anyone considering their own ADR's should take a look at it! It's definitely helped put a few yeses in my mental list!
Great start!!
I'm not much of an organizer, either. But according to my husband, I'm the best WDW trip planner and organizer - Go Figure!!
Can't wait to read more!
We love the option that a park hopper offers us. We usually go back to the room at some point to rest and freshen up. DS is still at the point of taking naps so it is nice to have the comfort of AC for that reason alone.
Congrats on setting the dates for your vacation.
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They caught us all smiling and looking at the camera!!!
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Sounds fantastic, and let me add my voice to the park hopper! I think it's absolutely essential! Especially with your little one, you will probably want a mid-day break and be able to go back to the park later. Then there is EMH to consider. Will you spend one entire day at AK? I think you will find the PH option well worth it. The travel time isn't really all that bad...it just seems like it takes forever if you are really keyed up!
welocme lara
sorry about your mom
I am throwing my 2 cents in regarding park hoppers - we tried them once and we did not like them - we felt we missed out on things because we got there late. Though back then we were newbies and we don't have kids - but think about this - if you start at one park and decide to go back to the hotel for a nap - you can still go back to the park you originally started at
just my thoughts - good luck on whatever you decide - let us know
we are going in jan also - but later in the month my magic day is july 28
you have a beautiful family
hurry back soon
I appreciate everybody's point of view on the park hopper passes - the child inside me says "NO WAY" are we going to want to leave the park for one minute, but the grown up inside me says "take a breather - you'll be there for FIVE DAYS". Oh the tug of war.
The EMH are a major consideration for the park hoppers... they're probably the only thing really making me consider them. (Because we could leave and return to the same park on the same day, but if a park other than the one we're at has EMH... I might end up sobbing into my Mickey bar!)
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