Recent Empty Nesters Go To Disney **updated 11/5 TWICE** - PassPorter - A Community of Walt Disney World, Disneyland, Disney Cruise Line, and General Travel Forums
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Recent Empty Nesters Go To Disney **updated 11/5 TWICE**
As a huge fan of reading TR’s, I decided to give it a try myself. I don’t post as much as some, but I do read a lot. I appreciate the effort every person puts into their TR and enjoy reading them ALL! Thanks to everyone.
Well let me get this thing started……
First off, let me introduce myself. I am Tracy, aka Belle of Ohio, I am 44 (but will turn 45 the week following our trip.) This will be my ninth trip.
Joining me will be my DH, Jack. He is 58 and has made me laugh every day of our 22 year marriage. This will be Jack’s eighth trip.
Here we are with Chip and Dale in 2006. This was before Jack's whopping 127 pound weight loss in the past year.
Why are we going? My trip report title pretty much gives that away. This year we became “empty nesters”. I have say that it is taking some getting used to. After 21 years of having the boys around (not to mention ALL their friends), the house has been very quiet. Not to mention very clean (I do enjoy that part).
Just a bit of background for anyone that wants to know. Jack and I have three sons. Matthew is our oldest, at age 21. He attended two years at a local community college. After that he decided he wanted to join the United States Air Force. So, last December he left for basic training in San Antonio, Texas. It was the most difficult six weeks for all of us left here at home. We could not talk to Matthew on a regular basis and he was gone for Christmas. It was his first Christmas away from home. He did get to call, but it was a quick call and it was heartbreaking. We all survived his basic training and watched with pride when he graduated in January. He then went to Mississippi for seven months of tech school. He recently graduated from that and is now stationed at Scott Air Force Base in Illinois.
Conor is our middle DS and is 20. He also attended two years at a local community college. This fall he transferred to Ohio State University. He has always dreamed of going to OSU and his dream came true September 21, when we moved him down to Columbus.
Ross is our youngest DS and is 18. He did not want to go the community college route. He was not set on a certain college like Conor. We visited many colleges with him and he fell in love with Capital University, also located in Columbus, Ohio. We moved him down on August 21.
It is nice that Conor and Ross are both in Columbus. They are only about 15 minutes away from each other. It is also a bonus that we only have to go to one city to see both of them. It is about a 2 – 2.5 hour trip for us.
So in a matter of nine months all our sons left home. I always expected it to be more gradual. While we are very proud of all three of them, I miss them terribly. Here is Conor, Matthew and Ross during their first visit to Disney in 1995. It is my favorite picture of them.
Now on to how we decided to go to Disney. Around May I brought up the idea to Jack about going somewhere after the boys were all gone. My thinking was it would be good to have something to look forward to once everyone was gone. Jack and I talked about a few ideas, but pretty much narrowed it down to two. The first being NYC and the second Disney. We went back and forth for a few days. I finally told Jack that I always make the final decision and this time he was going to have to make it. I told him once he made it I had no problem planning it, but I just didn’t want to make the final destination decision.
A couple of days went by and Jack hadn’t said anything. I was starting to get a bit antsy. Finally on June 11, I was sitting at my desk at work when Jack came out (we work at the same place, he is actually my boss’ boss) and put a confirmation from Southwest on my desk. It took me a minute to realize that it meant he had made a decision! Then I saw the tickets were for Orlando. Woo-hoo…..we had a final vacation destination. And it was to my favorite place……Walt Disney World!!! Now time for me to step in and start the “real” planning!
Hopefully this wasn’t too boring. The next installments have far more Disney stuff in them.
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Cast of Characters:
Recent empty nesters:
Tracy, aka Belle of Ohio, 44
Jack, DH, 58
Now that Jack had gotten the airline tickets and we knew where we were going, I needed start planning.
At the beginning our dates were Sunday, October 19 through Friday October 24. We had a wedding to attend on October 18, so had to wait until the Sunday to leave. So with dates in hand, I called Disney. I booked 5 nights at POFQ, 5 day hoppers and the DDP. I would have loved to stay at a deluxe resort, but the jump in price isn’t something I could justify with two kids in college. We have stayed at POR a couple of times and loved it. I thought trying POFQ would be fun. I booked the DDP because I like having everything paid for in advance.
Well those plans lasted about five or six weeks. Once I was done with all of Ross’ graduation festivities, I started doing some more thinking about our plans. While I like having everything paid for in advance, I knew that the DDP really wouldn’t be a good value for us. First of all, in the past year Jack has lost a significant amount of weight. He still has a little to lose, but since September 2007 Jack has lost 127 pounds. that is 127! He exercises four to five times a week and obviously his eating has changed. (I am so proud of him!) I knew the DDP would be way too much food for us. Still I kept it on the reservation for a while. Then I found out that we would in Disney for the Food and Wine Festival. That settled it for me. I knew we would want to try some of the foods and we really wouldn’t need the DDP. I called and cancelled the DDP part of our reservation. Jack and I are looking forward to sharing some of the food choices they have to offer. So that was our first change.
Our second change came when Disney announced a discount code for the time we would be visiting. I was not able to make the call myself, so Jack actually called and asked that the code be applied to our reservation. They did not have availability at POFQ. They did have availability at POR or CBR. Jack knew that POR would be fine with me (and it was) and went ahead and changed the reservations. That netted a savings of $374! I was slightly disappointed to miss out on staying at POFQ, as we have tried to stay there before and it never has worked out. There is always next time. So, now we are at POR without the DDP.
Now we come to change number three! This one was really unexpected. Last month, Jack had to fire a long time employee. This employee was arrested for driving under the influence in a company owned vehicle. Jack really liked this employee, but unfortunately he did not have any choice. The company has a very strict policy. It has been a very difficult time with the employee calling two or three times a week. Sometimes calling to ask for his job back. Sometimes to berate Jack for not covering it up for him. Most of the time he is quite drunk. Sad all the way around. We know this employee will be attending the wedding we were going to on the Saturday. We decided it would be best if we did not go, so there would not be a scene. We called and explained to the bride who I think was grateful. I am sure she does not want a scene at her wedding!
With no plans now for Saturday, I started checking to see if we could maybe leave on Saturday instead of Sunday. A quick check on Southwest provided a positive result. For a mere $38 we could change our flights for Saturday. I booked the change right away. An extra night in Disney!
Now that I had the flight I needed to make sure we had somewhere to stay. A quick call to Disney and another positive result. We could add an extra night and an extra day to our park hoppers for the grand total of $115. Done. I still feel like I am ahead since I saved $374 with the discount code and the addition of the extra day and flight change only cost $153, still saving me $221.
So our final plans are:
October 18-24
Resort: POR
6 day hopper passes.
Your plans sound great so far. I'm just a couple of years from joining you as an empty nester and I'm a little weirded out by it.
I'm so sorry to hear about the problem employee. But I'm sure your husband knows that was the right thing to do. It still doesn't make it easier to deal with the phone calls.
And congratulations on the weight loss! That's a really hard thing to do, and I'm sure you're happy with the results.
My family will be finishing up our weekend trip the day you arrive, so maybe we'll cross paths if you go to EPCOT the first night.
I really enjoyed reading your backround story and your arrangements so far, they all sound great. Congratulations to your son and a big Thank you for protecting us. My nephew just graduated Marine boot camp and it was a very tough 13 weeks. My sister and her family live two blocks away(we're very close). Congratulations to your husband also, I have always struggled with weight so I know what an accomplishment that is.
I hope you have a truely magical vacation, sorry you had to cancel your wedding invite but now you have an extra day at Disney!!!!!!!!
My children are only 3 & 4 but I try not to think about how fast it will go that we are empty nesters.
Great start!! What a nice way to celebrate having an empty nest - going to a place that will bring you happy memories of the boys. Congratulations to DH on his weightloss! Can't wait to see a photo of the 'new man.' I'm sure you'll enjoy POR; it's one of our favorite resorts. I think you made the right call not going to the wedding to avoid a scene. Looking forward to more
Thanks to everyone for the kind words, especially regarding Jack's weight loss. As anyone that has even tried to lose 10 pounds knows, it is very difficult. I am VERY proud of him.
Update coming in a bit......
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Cast of Characters:
Recent empty nesters:
Tracy, aka Belle of Ohio, 44
Jack, DH, 58
Now that we have the flights, resort, and passes all set, it was time to decide on what other things we would like to do this trip.
I knew that MNSSHP would be going on during our trip and I do love that party. We have attended the party before, so I thought it would be nice to try something new. So I booked us two tickets to see La Nouba. We have always talked about going, but just have never gotten around to it. We will be going to the 6:00 show on October 22. I am so excited to see this for the first time.
Now, I was happy to be going to La Nouba, but kept thinking about MNSSHP. Then one day I was reading PP when I noticed a thread about a PP meet on October 21 at MNSSHP. Well that was a sign for me. I jumped on the WDW site and bought two tickets for the party. I am looking forward to meeting some PP’s and attending the party. I love, love, love the special fireworks. We missed the parade the first time, so I am really looking forward to seeing that.
The third “extra” for us is the photopass CD. I preordered the CD and hopefully will be able to get lots of pictures taken. I know having already spent the money will motivate me to have more pictures taken.
I almost called this TR “the out of my comfort zone” TR. Mostly because I am planning things that take me out of my comfort zone. I am a pretty quiet, reserved person that never wants to be the center of attention. Going to a PP meet is definitely out of my comfort zone. While pre ordering a photopass CD would not be out of most people’s comfort zone, it is for me. By ordering one I have promised myself that we will get in lines and have our pictures taken with characters. I know adults do it all the time, but for me it makes me nervous. The only pictures we have with characters are when our kids were little and we didn’t feel out of place or if there was absolutely no one else in line. I really want our pictures with characters, so I have to suck it up and just do it.
Oh and writing a trip report, also out of my comfort zone.
Hopefully, I will get over all my “comfort zone” issues. Time will tell.
I hope that you and your husband have a magical time at the world
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your choices in 'extras!' Don't worry about the PP meet - every PassPorter I have met has been absolutely wonderful and welcoming!! I'm sure you will have a great time!! The character photo ops are awesome at MNSSHP! I wish we had done more of them last year, especially Snow White with all of her 7 Dwarves!! Can't wait to hear more
You'll love the PassPorter meet - believe it or not, I don't like being the centre of attention either, but I love PassPorter meets, they're always so much fun. Can't wait to meet you guys!
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your choices in 'extras!' Don't worry about the PP meet - every PassPorter I have met has been absolutely wonderful and welcoming!! I'm sure you will have a great time!! The character photo ops are awesome at MNSSHP! I wish we had done more of them last year, especially Snow White with all of her 7 Dwarves!! Can't wait to hear more
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