The Running, Wizarding, Relaxing Trip - Feb 24-March3--Complete - PassPorter - A Community of Walt Disney World, Disneyland, Disney Cruise Line, and General Travel Forums
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We go on to the joy and through the tears
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Moving on with the current of the years.
We go on
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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.
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The Running, Wizarding, Relaxing Trip - Feb 24-March3--Complete
February 24 - March 3
All Star Sports
Me - Melissa - 38
DH - Brent - 49
DS - Liam - 10
DSis - Amanda - 41
DBF - Steve - 49
DM - Jean - 63 - Disney CM
DF - John - 63
Well, it is time for our Annual Fun in the Sun in Florida in February trip! Getting very excited! Thought I would share our plans with you all!
Making Plans
My parents went back down to Florida in October to spend the winter, they are full-time RVers. They are living and working at the Disney Wilderness Preserve again. It is now owned by the Nature Conservancy but the land was bought by Disney (by Florida Law to build on the land, they had to purchase a certain amount of land to preserve) and they still financially support it.
DM is still working a day or two a week as a seasonal employee in the Fantasyland gift shops in the Magic Kingdom. So unfortunately only she is able to get us the CM perks. But this year we thought we would take it a little slower and not go into the parks every day anyway.
The last 2 years we have gone to WDW the first of February, and we have frozen! I always look so forward to just being warm, and then a cold snap hits! But we went at that time for 2 reasons, 1 - my parents get extra "Holiday" CM discounts until Feb 15th or so and 2 - because my DH is a Minister we try to get back before the start of Lent.
This year I decided to forgo the extra discounts and go for the warmth! It helps too that Easter is so late, Lent doesn't start until March 9th, so we will be back the week before. Also my sister and her BF are teachers, we figured going at the end of February would be 2 months after their Christmas Break and 2 months before their Easter Break. So this was a nice time for them, and our son, to get a break from school.
DSis and DBF will fly in late on Thursday night and leave Monday evening. That way they only have to miss 2 days of work. They got a great rate through AirTran into MCO and will use DME.
We will fly in late Thursday morning and fly out really early the next Thursday. We are using Allegiant Air again and will fly into Sanford, so my folks will pick us up and drop us off.
DM first got us reservations at Pop Century, CBR and CSR didn't have any openings, and the CM family discount rate at POP was really good. But then we switched to All Star Sports, I'll tell you why later!
This year we plan to go to Universal to see the Wizarding World of Harry Potter. I am soooo excited! This Fall I decided to start reading the books, even though I have already seen all the movies. (I read the Twilight books and saw the movies this summer and the books were sooo much better! So I figured maybe Harry Potter would be the same way, and the books, while not loads better, at least give you much more information.) I know I am going to totally geek out when I get there!
I just bought one day tickets for the 3 of us from Undercover Tourist. There just wasn't enough at the other park we wanted to do to justify buying 2 day passes or a 1 day hopper, and besides that we wanted to take it slower this year. My parents will get Florida resident passes and my DSis and DBF will be gone by then. We are looking at going either Tuesday or Wednesday. I have been doing research and bought a great guide book to study. I am really hoping for good weather and smaller crowds when we go. Either way we will take our time and besides, we really only want to explore the WWoHP area and Jurassic Park anyway.
When I was still looking to schedule the trip, I looked up info about Baseball Spring Training, the Flower & Garden Festival, ESPN Weekend, and the Princess Half Marathon.
DH decided he didn't want to see a baseball game, because he is a Cubs fan, and didn't really care about seeing anyone else. OK, crossed that off my list.
But the F&GF? I am so excited about being there for it! I hope to go to EPCOT on March 2nd to see the place all decked out!
The ESPN Weekend started a little too late for us to be there, but I also looked into the 5K race for that event.
But the Half-Marathon? Hmmm. I certainly didn't want to run a half-marathon, I've only done about 3 5Ks in the last few years, and that is plenty of distance for me. But then I noticed that there is a Royal Family 5K on the Saturday and that you get to run through EPCOT and you get a T-shirt, a medal and you can purchase a special pin! I was sold! LOL!
The 5K starts at 7am, so I'm thinking we will have to get up around 5am, maybe earlier to get there. That is when I noticed that POP is not a host resort and you can't get transportation to the race from there. I was thinking we could just get a taxi to CBR and catch the bus from there. But I had DM look into switching our resort to one of the host resorts. All Star Sports had space available and was a little cheaper than POP, and too, the main pool at POP was going to be under rehab. And it better be warm enough to swim this year! So I am happy with the switch, we've never stayed there so it will be a new one to us! We've stayed at ASMovies twice and POP once, so we know what to expect concerning crowds and kids!
Another kink in the plans is that there is a Yugioh 3D movie that DS wants to see. It is only playing in select cities and for only 2 weekends. One of which will be while we are in Florida. Unfortunately, the closest the movie is playing to our home is 4 hours away. But it is playing at several theatres in Orlando! So on Saturday we might try to fit in a trip to one of the theatres for DS to see the movie. I certainly don't want to see it, (the cartoon drives me crazy) but I think this is a good thing for the Grandparents to do! They are looking up the easiest theatre to get to. And maybe the rest of us can explore a Deluxe Resort while they are gone.
Those are the plans - Up next, our schedule . . .
__________________
Donning my Wellies to cut Peat in Scotland
Melissa
PassPorter's Free-Book to Walt Disney World It’s hard to believe anything is free at Walt Disney World; but there are actually a number of things you can get or do for little to no cost. This e-book documents over 200 free or cheap tips to do before you go and after you arrive. You could save a considerable amount of money following these tips. Perhaps more importantly; you can discover overlooked attractions and little-known details most people whiz by on their way to spend money. Click here to see free sample pages from the e-book! Get this popular e-book free of extra charges when you join the PassPorter's Club for as little as $4.95. A club pass includes access to all our other e-books; e-worksheets; super-size photos; and more! This e-book is also available for separate purchase in the PassPorter Online Store for just $5.95.
PassPorter's Free-Book to Walt Disney World It’s hard to believe anything is free at Walt Disney World; but there are actually a number of things you can get or do for little to no cost. This e-book documents over 200 free or cheap tips to do before you go and after you arrive. You could save a considerable amount of money following these tips. Perhaps more importantly; you can discover overlooked attractions and little-known details most people whiz by on their way to spend money. Click here to see free sample pages from the e-book! Get this popular e-book free of extra charges when you join the PassPorter's Club for as little as $4.95. A club pass includes access to all our other e-books; e-worksheets; super-size photos; and more! This e-book is also available for separate purchase in the PassPorter Online Store for just $5.95.
There is another little (big) snafu I forgot to mention - My MIL was recently diagnosed with breast cancer.
We go see the surgeon this afternoon to find out more info, but it looks like she will just have a lumpectomy and radiation. (I say "just" because it seems like chemo is so much more evil, surgery and radiation we can handle) We just don't know the timeline yet. So if she can't have the surgery within the next 2 weeks, I don't know what will happen to our plans. My SIL is planning to leave for a trip to Egypt on March 3rd, (I know she is crazy! But as of now it is still on) so I don't know if she will be available to take care of MIL.
Pixie Dust please! And I will keep you posted.
__________________
Donning my Wellies to cut Peat in Scotland
Melissa
About This Page: 
But this year we thought we would take it a little slower and not go into the parks every day anyway. 
I always look so forward to just being warm, and then a cold snap hits! But we went at that time for 2 reasons, 1 - my parents get extra "Holiday" CM discounts until Feb 15th or so and 2 - because my DH is a Minister we try to get back before the start of Lent. 
This Fall I decided to start reading the books, even though I have already seen all the movies. (I read the Twilight books and saw the movies this summer and the books were sooo much better! So I figured maybe Harry Potter would be the same way, and the books, while not loads better, at least give you much more information.) I know I am going to totally geek out when I get there! 
That is when I noticed that POP is not a host resort and you can't get transportation to the race from there. I was thinking we could just get a taxi to CBR and catch the bus from there. But I had DM look into switching our resort to one of the host resorts. All Star Sports had space available and was a little cheaper than POP, and too, the main pool at POP was going to be under rehab. And it better be warm enough to swim this year! So I am happy with the switch, we've never stayed there so it will be a new one to us! We've stayed at ASMovies twice and POP once, so we know what to expect concerning crowds and kids! 
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