TOP SECRET WDW Adventure with Mom & the Aunts @ BWI 3/21-3/26 PTR - UPDATED 3/19 - PassPorter - A Community of Walt Disney World, Disneyland, Disney Cruise Line, and General Travel Forums
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TOP SECRET WDW Adventure with Mom & the Aunts @ BWI 3/21-3/26 PTR - UPDATED 3/19
Well hello everyone! I’ve never written a PTR or TR before but then again…I’ve never had to NOT talk about my upcoming Disney adventure before either. I have an Aunt M who has a mental disability.
My Aunt M’s two big wishes are:
1.Go to Disney World
2.Have a nice funeral
For some reason when I think about her wishes this quote from the Queen in Bug’s Life pops in my head, I mean I can actually hear Phyllis Diller in my head- “That’s our lot in life. It’s not a lot, but it’s our life.” I don’t mean that Aunt M’s lot is not a lot…just that her wants and expectations are very simple and straightforward.
Anywho…being as that I am the only person in our family that adores WDW, in fact most of my family(beyond my DH & kids) have never even been to or even care to go to WDW (weirdos, I know) I was asked to make this trip happen. Wow, are you serious? I get to plan an adult only, girls trip to WDW for my two Aunts, my Mother, & I…so what’s the downside you ask…the adult only part. Not because I’ve never travelled anywhere without my kids before, because I have, lots, even out of the country kind of travelling…I’ve just never been to WDW without my kids before. Well, I have…but they weren’t born yet, so somehow I don’t think that counts. WDW is…our favorite place on earth; if my husband makes noises about not wanting to go on another WDW trip, my kids just shrug it off & say…we’ll just go with Mama. No joke, they have promised that when I’m 80 yrs. old they will most certainly make sure I don’t run people over in my ECV; this is how seriously my little 9 & 6 year olds take WDW. So…how do I explain to them that Aunt M is a bit of a handful and we figure that between the three of us grownups we can make sure she has the trip of a lifetime & manage to retain our sanity, but I won’t be able to do a good job for Aunt M if I’m in Mama mode too? I don’t that’s how, I just don’t. Not that I feel good about that conclusion or that I’m underestimating my children but that’s just not going to cut it with them…especially since we had to postpone our October WDW trip this past year. As I’m always checking out the boards and planning our “next” trip my kids are not suspicious of anything I do online…I just can’t talk about this trip, and boy is it a challenge!
So, with that background information in place…let me formally introduce the cast of characters.
1.Sarah (that’s me): 33yrs. old, Mom of DD (9yo) & DS (6yo), happily married, veterinary hospital manager, this will be my 5th visit to the world, Memphis, TN
2.Mom: 57 yrs. old, in finance, technically 2nd visit to the world…last trip was in 1979 (I guess that counts?), Louisville, KY
3.Aunt M: 60 yrs. old, this trip is all for her…first trip to the world, first time to ride an airplane, her only requests are to meet Mickey Mouse and get a pair of ears, Minnesota
4.Aunt S: 62 yrs. old, will turn 63 during our visit to the world, teacher, this is her first trip to the world, needs Gluten Free dining, Corvallis, Oregon
Dates: March 21-March 26, 2010
I’m skeered because I’ve never been during Spring Break! Aunt S is a teacher and has (of course) limited availability until summer and NONE of us were interested in doing this trip during the summer if at all possible.
Transportation: It’s complicated
I am driving from Memphis to Louisville on Saturday 3/20…I’m going to do my best to leave early enough (think 6 hour drive plus a time zone change) so I can check out this cool antique store in Louisville before it closes. I’ll be staying the night with Mom & then we’ll head to the airport Sunday morning, we’re flying Southwest. Unfortunately Southwest doesn’t fly out of Memphis & we got a really cheap flight, hence the long drive for me. Mom & I are scheduled to arrive @ MCO a little before 3p. I would have loved to arrive earlier than this, but there wasn’t an earlier flight.
Hands down Aunt S has it the worst…she’ll be spending the night in Portland Saturday night so she can catch an insanely early flight to Minneapolis…Aunt S & Aunt M will meet in the Minneapolis airport and fly to Chicago, then from Chicago they will head to MCO…unfortunately their flight doesn’t arrive until almost midnight! When you take into consideration that my Aunt S will be going from West Coast to East Coast time it’s going to be a VERY long day for her! Aunt S is absolutely expecting us to be waiting for them with open arms and a FAB when they arrive.
No rental car…we’re going to let Disney tote us around
Where We’ll Sleep: The Boardwalk
I am so excited about staying @ the Boardwalk! When I began planning this trip I got the holy grail of emails…a PIN code, oh yes…my first PIN code! Since my PIN code had the 40% off a deluxe resort & this is the trip of a lifetime for Aunt M, we decided…why NOT? I put together an email with resort descriptions, links to pics on allears, and package prices… gave my recommendation and asked them to choose a resort. I asked them to choose between GF, Poly, BWI, & AKL. Incidentally I loved the WL so much on my last trip that I would have gladly stayed there again…but seeing as how one Aunt is from Oregon & the other is from Minnesota…I was afraid the WL would have felt too much like home, I didn’t want them to go on vacation & not feel like it was vacation. My personal recommendation was the Boardwalk because we weren’t going to be renting a car and we could easily get to Epcot, DHS, Flying Fish Café, and Jellyrolls. They opted to go with my recommendation and I immediately booked two rooms @ BWI. I didn’t opt for the water view…just went with standard, I really didn’t think we’d spend a lot of time enjoying that view and the price difference was quite substantial, now I’m kind of wishing I’d gone with the water view but I’m attempting to not do a lot of second guessing.
As of last week I became even more excited about staying @ BWI, if that’s even possible. I found out one of my favorite clients (she’s a fellow Stitch lover) has her DVC @ BWI and we talked for a good 30 minutes (when she came in to pick up her furbaby) about all of the wonderfulness that is BWI.
Up next…itinerary & ADRS…and thanks for “listening”
__________________
"Not all treasure is silver and gold, mate."
Captain Jack Sparrow
Last edited by Silver-n-Gold; 02-09-2010 at 12:25 AM..
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Thanks to everyone who took the time to read my first post! I have a very basic itinerary and ADRs put together at this time. I guess I need to spend time filling in each day but seeing as how I’m not sure yet what attractions the ladies are going to be interested in I’m not necessarily inclined to come up with an elaborate plan just yet. I’m thinking about making a little booklet for them to look at on the plane & this way they can let me know absolutely yes or no way in regards to some of the big attractions. If I know at least that much I’ll be able to see what I need to get FPs for. I’ve never been during Spring Break & I’m sure the lines are going to surprise me.
Sunday 3/21/10: Mom & I arrive around 3p.
We plan to get checked in @ the Boardwalk, freshen up, & head over to the MK. ABC/Disney sent my uncle two park passes to use for family/friends, I didn’t plan on using a park pass this day since we wouldn’t get to spend the whole day at a park…but hey, I’m not about to let these go to waste. We have ADRs for dinner at the WL’s Artist Point (7:30). We will ride the boat over from the MK to the WL…I love this boat ride and think my Mom will too. I can’t remember how long the boat ride and/or wait was during my last visit…any recommendations as to when we should leave the MK? I am really looking forward to showing my Mom around the WL, hope to catch the EWP that evening as well. MK has EMH that night until 2 a.m. so I believe we’ll kick around the park until we need to head back to the BWI to welcome the aunts. I’d like to ride POTC & HM that night (they are my faves) and do some window shopping. I NEVER get to do any shopping in the MK without feeling guilty about bored kids…so you’d better believe I’m going to check out some of the shops I’ve never been in.
Monday 3/22/10: Aunt S’s bday!
We’re going to start off a bit slow (=late) this morning, I’m anticipating some exhaustion on the part of the Aunts. We have a character breakfast ADR (8:45 a.m.) @ Cape May Café. I’ll have to remember to get someone from the front desk to tell me how to get over there when we check-in. I’m hoping to get some feedback from everyone regarding which attractions they would like to do while we’re eating breakfast. Today is going to be an Epcot day for us…so I really just need to know if they want to do Soarin’ or Test Track. I’m kind of betting yes to Soarin’ & no to Test Track…but we’ll see.
After breakfast we’ll head over to Epcot & I’ll probably get FPs for Soarin’. I plan on us doing Living with the Land, Spaceship Earth, Nemo, & the Figment attraction. I need to figure out where to meet Mickey @ Epcot…isn’t that somewhere over in Innoventions? It’s also going to be the Flower & Garden Festival…my Mom is a Master Gardener so I’m sure she’s going to be interested in whatever they have going on for that. We’ll do some sort of CS in WS whenever (or if) we get hungry for lunch & the wine walk. We have 5:55 ADRs for Flying Fish…I can’t wait for this one! It will be my first time eating there & I will definitely be trying the crab cake since it’s supposed to be so awesome. I thought FF would be a nice place for Aunt S’s bday dinner, I’ve read nothing but great reviews about it. Wonder if I can get her a gluten free cake for her bday? After dinner we’ll head back into Epcot for Illuminations. Even if we don’t have park hoppers we can still come & go out of the same park…yes? This will be my first trip without hoppers & I didn’t think to look into that, hmmmm. I’m definitely going to stop by Norway before Illuminations and get one of those delish Viking coffees I heard so much about in the Sousefest TR. Now…where do you all recommend we watch Illuminations from?
I hope to add more days later this week, thanks for “listening!”
__________________
"Not all treasure is silver and gold, mate."
Captain Jack Sparrow
Last edited by Silver-n-Gold; 02-15-2010 at 11:56 PM..
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TOP SECRET WDW Adventure with Mom & the Aunts @ BWI 3/21-3/26 PTR - UPDATED 3/19
Wow, are you serious? I get to plan an adult only, girls trip to WDW for my two Aunts, my Mother, & I…so what’s the downside you ask…the adult only part. Not because I’ve never travelled anywhere without my kids before, because I have, lots, even out of the country kind of travelling…I’ve just never been to WDW without my kids before. Well, I have…but they weren’t born yet, so somehow I don’t think that counts. 
WDW is…our favorite place on earth; if my husband makes noises about not wanting to go on another WDW trip, my kids just shrug it off & say…we’ll just go with Mama. No joke, they have promised that when I’m 80 yrs. old they will most certainly make sure I don’t run people over in my ECV
; this is how seriously my little 9 & 6 year olds take WDW. So…how do I explain to them that Aunt M is a bit of a handful and we figure that between the three of us grownups we can make sure she has the trip of a lifetime & manage to retain our sanity, but I won’t be able to do a good job for Aunt M if I’m in Mama mode too? I don’t that’s how, I just don’t. 
Not that I feel good about that conclusion or that I’m underestimating my children but that’s just not going to cut it with them…especially since we had to postpone our October WDW trip this past year. As I’m always checking out the boards and planning our “next” trip my kids are not suspicious of anything I do online…I just can’t talk about this trip, and boy is it a challenge! 
(I guess that counts?), Louisville, KY 
Aunt S is a teacher and has (of course) limited availability until summer and NONE of us were interested in doing this trip during the summer if at all possible. 
Since my PIN code had the 40% off a deluxe resort & this is the trip of a lifetime for Aunt M, we decided…why NOT? I put together an email with resort descriptions, links to pics on allears, and package prices… gave my recommendation and asked them to choose a resort. I asked them to choose between GF, Poly, BWI, & AKL. Incidentally I loved the WL so much on my last trip that I would have gladly stayed there again…but seeing as how one Aunt is from Oregon & the other is from Minnesota…I was afraid the WL would have felt too much like home, I didn’t want them to go on vacation & not feel like it was vacation. My personal recommendation was the Boardwalk because we weren’t going to be renting a car and we could easily get to Epcot, DHS, Flying Fish Café, and Jellyrolls. They opted to go with my recommendation and I immediately booked two rooms @ BWI. I didn’t opt for the water view…just went with standard, I really didn’t think we’d spend a lot of time enjoying that view and the price difference was quite substantial, now I’m kind of wishing I’d gone with the water view but I’m attempting to not do a lot of second guessing. 
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Pixie Dust
Sounds like Aunt M is definitely going to have a the WDW trip of a lifetime!
PassPorter Guide Author
Disney Magic - Oct 2015
I have a very basic itinerary and ADRs put together at this time. I guess I need to spend time filling in each day but seeing as how I’m not sure yet what attractions the ladies are going to be interested in I’m not necessarily inclined to come up with an elaborate plan just yet. I’m thinking about making a little booklet for them to look at on the plane & this way they can let me know absolutely yes or no way in regards to some of the big attractions. If I know at least that much I’ll be able to see what I need to get FPs for. I’ve never been during Spring Break & I’m sure the lines are going to surprise me. 
It will be my first time eating there & I will definitely be trying the crab cake since it’s supposed to be so awesome. I thought FF would be a nice place for Aunt S’s bday dinner, I’ve read nothing but great reviews about it. Wonder if I can get her a gluten free cake for her bday? After dinner we’ll head back into Epcot for Illuminations. Even if we don’t have park hoppers we can still come & go out of the same park…yes?
This will be my first trip without hoppers & I didn’t think to look into that, hmmmm. I’m definitely going to stop by Norway before Illuminations and get one of those delish Viking coffees I heard so much about in the Sousefest TR. Now…where do you all recommend we watch Illuminations from? 
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