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Old 04-01-2011, 02:02 AM   #1
Alaskan Mom
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"Are you going to do this every year?" A PTR.

Hi all.
I'm new to PP, about a month but have so enjoyed reading everything, especially TR's . I was looking for information and something to pass the wait... until our trip when I found the boards. I have decided to give this a whirl because I love talking about our plans and maybe everyone who's been to WDW a bunch will have some tips/advise that I don't know about or didn't thing of.

Some background, I'm a teacher have 2 DD's the oldest is 27 (Mandy) and the youngest is 12 (Beth). Mandy and I went to WDW in 1995 when she was 12, with mom, brother, sister-in-law and 2 young nephews. I have been to DL several times as it is much closer to Alaska and for many years my aunt and uncle lived about 30 miles from DL so we could stay with them.

At 4 years old Beth (now 12) knew I had taken Mandy to DL 3 times and she had not got to go yet , I promised I would take her. Due to finances and husband health issues we didn't get to go until 2008 when Beth was 10. Mandy's family, (son-in-law and 2 grandsons) traveled with us. I had made it a total surprise for Beth and she was really, really surprised! We had fun even though we had some major rain because we were there in December.

On to the current trip, this past summer my sister was talking about how she wanted to take her youngest daughter to WDW, I said that would be fun, maybe we could go together. She said . We started to plan, I knew - just in general that ressies could not wait till the last minute so I started to research and found that on some dates we could get the free dinning plan. Quick call to Sis and she said make the reservations. This was exciting because I've never stayed in a Disney resort. It was DD (12) biggest wish - to stay at a Disney resort. Soooo, since we'd get the DDP free we could swing it.

I got WDW books so find out where we wanted ADRS. I had made the down payment and we were about a week from 180 days and Sis calls and due to truck break down and major repairs they couldn't go. Now what.

My DH is a great guy and very supportive of whatever I want to do, but he's planning on his family reunion and is not very interested in Disney. I asked my mom-in-law and got a big negative. DD(27) couldn't swing it by self due to finances and 2 young sons (my grandsons). My sister-in-law is getting a free WDW trip through work in April, they're about 2 weeks out. I asked my brother next, he's not a fanatic but very positive about Disney and has been 4 times plus on a Disney cruise for 25th wedding anniversary. But bro said did not have the money. I thought about just DD(12) and I and we could have done that, but I would have liked another person.
I thought about it, crunched budget and discovered it would cost very little to pay for someone else (except for plane ticket) - so talked to DH about taking my brother. My brother is a great guy and has helped me (when I was a single parent) and all the rest of my life. Car problems? Moving? and many other issues I always know I can call Bro and he'll help. I wanted to do something really nice for him. DH totally agreed with me. I called Bro and asked if we could stop by, he said sure. Got there and DH, DD, and I probably had grins like the Cheshire Cat when I said "Well, do you still want to go?" Bro answered, "Of course, but I already said I didn't..." I told him I hadn't asked about money, but that if he wanted to go, money wasn't an issue, all he had to do was say yes, and he said .....

Quick note about title here, I'm a planner. I love to plan and learn about places and in the midst of continuous WDW research my DH asks me "Are you going to do this every year? (trip to WDW) I thought, oh dear is he upset? then he finishes, "cause if you are, it'd be good to join an airline club to get miles I said he's a great guy, didn't I?

Up next: Where's an air fare deal? Ahhhh! car rental went up $280.00!!!
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Old 04-01-2011, 10:51 AM   #2
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Welcome to the boards! That's so sweet that you invited your brother to WDW! Can't wait to read the rest of your planning details.
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Old 04-01-2011, 11:13 AM   #3
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Old 04-01-2011, 11:17 AM   #4
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Great start!
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Old 04-01-2011, 12:33 PM   #5
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Great Start!! What a Nice sister you are! I can't wait to read more.
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Old 04-01-2011, 02:12 PM   #6
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Thanks! for the kind words and welcome.
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Old 04-01-2011, 02:53 PM   #7
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Checking in so thatI can find you PTR and catch up later!
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Check out my Pre-Trip Report for our 9/18-9/23/12 trip here:

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Old 04-01-2011, 11:13 PM   #8
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#2

I introduced the cast of characters but haven't shared how we choose our time of year or length of trip so I'll start here.

DD started middle school this year (6th) and too many days out of school makes brain explode when trying to catch up - so missing school was not an option. Besides, with me being a teacher I can't miss a bunch of school either and Bro also works with the school district. I did not want spring break because by the time we fly there and back we loose 2 full days and I was not up for the huge crowds.
Our trip to DL was just just before Christmas, which means DD has seen Disney Christmas and wanted to go at a different time of year.

I do not do well in the heat and humidity kills me. I would rather stand in the for a week than be out in a major hot/humid place for a day. I picked the end of May, 1st of June because although it will still be hot to us at least it won't be full out middle of summer! Plus, the time will be right at the end of the school year so we have something to look forward to.

Because we live in Alaska we are soooo far away from everything in lower 48 whenever I travel I try to squeeze in as many days as possible. The original plan was 2 weeks in Florida not counting flying days. Then I discovered flying back on a Monday instead of a Tuesday would have cost $400 more for the 3 of us - so we got an extra day. We are leaving Friday, May 20th (my last day of work) and returning June 7th which gives us 17 days.

I was watching airfare, which is really pricey from here, and prior to Christmas it was running about $550 - 600, I wish I had had the $ then.
The closer it got to Christmas the prices started to climb, $800-1,000 a ticket to MCO from Anchorage. But expected prices would come back down after holidays. I don't know how everyone else's gas prices are but end of January - beginning of February ours started to go up. We started at $3.24 two months ago and it's now 4.05 per gallon. When they started to go up I was really watching airfares expecting they would start climbing too. Found a fare I could live with but wasn't sure if I should wait or not so Bro and he said go for it because prices would only be going up. I checked our ticket prices when we went to DL and are only paying $50 more per ticket to FL. so feel pretty good about that.

Next time I'll get to the rental car and having to totally revamp our plans.
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Old 04-01-2011, 11:17 PM   #9
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Great start! So neat that you are taking your brother along!
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Old 04-02-2011, 01:28 AM   #10
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more please
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Old 04-02-2011, 11:52 AM   #11
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Glad you got the tickets!!
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Old 04-02-2011, 12:27 PM   #12
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My trip will be kind of overlapping yours (May28 - June 11).
I'm with you with the airfare prices . I thought I wasn't going to able to go because of the high prices (there's 5 of us). Can't wait to read the rest of your plans.
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Old 04-02-2011, 02:48 PM   #13
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[QUOTE=Colexis Mom;3619052]Glad you got the tickets!![/QUOTE

It seems more real with paid air tickets.
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Old 04-02-2011, 02:52 PM   #14
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Quote:
Originally Posted by MayraLR View Post
My trip will be kind of overlapping yours (May28 - June 11).
I'm with you with the airfare prices . I thought I wasn't going to able to go because of the high prices (there's 5 of us). Can't wait to read the rest of your plans.
Where are you flying from? Do you know what what your daily plans are?
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Old 04-02-2011, 04:02 PM   #15
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Can't wait to hear more
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