The Great Procrastination PTR--Trip in Aug. 2011 - Page 2 - PassPorter - A Community of Walt Disney World, Disneyland, Disney Cruise Line, and General Travel Forums
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Glad to hear your DH found a better job and even if he can't find his inner child he is willing to feed that of his own children Can't to read more. As my DW claims not to like "THE MOUSE" as well but hasn't fought me since I announced we are going In fact after looking over PP there are actually some things and places she wants to go and see
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Once the trip was back on, we (meaning me) got excited. I mean really excited. I assumed that the plans for this trip would be similar to the plans for the trip we never took. Because of dh’s new job, we didn’t go anywhere last summer. We couldn’t really afford it and he couldn’t take the time off. So, in order to while away the hours of summer vacation, I planned for this trip.
We had planned to go on or around our anniversary, August 5th. I learned pretty quickly, however, that if we moved the trip back a couple of weeks, it would be cheaper. So I thought we could move the trip back to August 16th.
Then, Disney rolled out a free dining offer beginning on August 19th. So I decided to move the trip back to August 19 – 26. Fortunately, neither my school nor my children’s schools start until after Labor Day. We could go on the trip and be back in plenty of time for me to set up my classroom and for the kids to recover before school.
In the meantime, I told my sister Valerie about the trip figuring that this trip would be very similar to the one we didn’t take. Maybe she and my sister Karen would come with us and watch the kids while John and I had some alone time. Val got excited and immediately told Karen. Karen got excited, too.
They were on board! The next thing I knew my parents were on board, too!
I emailed my third sister Lori and my cousin Geri. Lori couldn’t go because she couldn’t get out of work and had already planned the trip for this month. Geri said she’d have to wait to find out. It depended on finances.
Hold on, because it’s about to get confusing.
Karen’s daughters, Liz and Haley, were also in. Neither one of them had been in years.
Geri said that she would be able to come, and so would her daughter, Kristy. Kristy goes to college near Orlando and will be moving onto campus that week.
Val got laid off from her job, and didn’t feel secure going since she didn’t really have a job to pay for the trip.
Liz, Haley, and Kristy each decided to bring a friend.
Val got a new job. Yippee!! But she couldn’t go because she teaches nursing and would be in a clinical rotation then.
Val was in, again, as her boss offered to cover for her.
Phew! Overwhelmed? So was John. I felt bad about how overwhelmed he was. He hadn’t been thinking of dragging my whole family on our vacation. He didn’t remember the conversation we’d had about bringing baby-sitters along until I reminded him. And even then, he didn’t think that bringing along a couple of people would mean EVERYONE.
I stopped feeling bad, though. This will probably be the last trip my parents take to Disney. I’m glad it will be with my kids and I’ll have photographic proof of the event. My nieces are all in their 20’s. When will I—or my kids—ever get to hang out with them again? This trip is about memories. That’s the goal. We’re going to make memories. I told him to invite his parents and siblings. Let’s just create a boatload of memories! Unfortunately, his parents can’t make it and he never asked his siblings.
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Wow! That is a lot of folks for one trip! Make sure to call the Grand Gathering line and have everyone's reservations linked together. It also opens up some special opportunities for events!
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At the end of last summer, as soon as we were able to book, we booked a room at POFQ, and we were able to get free dining. We will be at WDW between August 19 and 26, 2011.
I chose this hotel because I’ve stayed there a couple of times before. It’s nice enough, but what I like most about it is the size. The two previous times I’ve stayed there were busy times, but the hotel was calm and quiet. Considering that both my children are not comfortable in crowds and that my parents are not incredibly mobile, I thought it would be perfect for the trip.
Karen is handling the Connecticut contingency, and she had thought before the girls’ friends signed on, to try to get a family suite at Pop. Once the number multiplied, she realized that it might just be better to get two rooms. She also liked the idea of being close to my little family (honestly for baby-sitting purposes. I hadn’t even asked yet). My family booked and was able to get free dining and rooms at POFQ.
The last time my parents were at Disney, my mother became very ill. We had a difficult time getting her home and resorted to a private med-flight. This is still a source of contention in the family, and my mother feels bad for all the drama she feels she caused. So she decided that for this trip she and my father were going to drive down. This way, if she were to get sick again, we could just throw her in the back of the mini-van and get her home. While I might be tempted to do just that, I don’t think my sisters would let me.
None of us really felt that our parents should drive by themselves. It’s a long drive. My mother doesn’t drive anymore so it would be my father driving the 24+ hours from Connecticut. One or more of us would have to go with them. Now, this is the benefit of having young children: No one wants to travel with us! I was off the hook. Karen then volunteered herself, her girls and Valerie.
Val decided that there was no way that she would be driving anywhere with anyone. She would get her own flight. Haley thought that was pretty cool and she decided she would fly, too. No one wants to drive 24 hours with their mother and grandparents. Unfortunately for Haley, she can’t afford the flight and so she’s driving down, too.
So John, the kids and I are flying out of Boston very early on Friday, August 19. Valerie is flying out of one of the smaller New York airports late Friday night. Karen, Liz, Haley, my parents (and quite possibly Liz’s service dog…) will be driving, probably leaving early in the morning on Wednesday, August 17. Geri and Kristy will be driving with all of Kristy’s stuff for college from Texas. I’m not sure when they’re leaving, but they’re planning on being around for dinner on that Friday. I’m not sure when the friends will be arriving. Two will already be in Florida; the other I’m not sure about.
Val will be the last to arrive, but we will all be at Disney on Friday, August 19th.
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