Evolution of a Disney Vacation: Our Family's April 2016 PTR

Hello, everyone, and welcome to my pre-trip report! I have never done this before, but I always enjoy reading trip reports so I thought I would try my hand at this. Our 2016 Disney trip came about in a strange, winding way, so I wanted to share that in this PTR, too!

Here are the members of our family who will be traveling to WDW in April 2016!


Me: I am a high school teacher and cheerleading coach. When not teaching, coaching, or working on my master's degree (which I'm taking a hiatus from to coach, anyway!) I love to read (mostly YA novels - gotta keep up with my students!), take walks and work out, and bake treats (which necessitates all the walking and working out). My newest hobby is sewing and I have been whipping up all kinds of outfits and costumes for DD on this upcoming trip!

DH is a contractor who runs his own business. We love that this gives him a flexible schedule so we are able to travel on all my school breaks! When he's not busy with his business, he plays the base, loves to hike and camp and just do anything outdoors, and enjoys craft beers. He also tolerates my craziness with endless patience.


I am the Disney nut in our family! Growing up, we went to Disney on a pretty regular basis. It started when I was young and my mom had work conferences in Tampa, and it just kept going from there! We used to go on Disney cruises when they were still on the Big Red Boat, long before DCL. My Disney obsession continued through college and intensified when I moved to Orlando in 2006 for my first teaching job. DH and I were annual passholders for six years until we moved back to Michigan....because this kid was born:

This is DD. She is three going on seventeen and is convinced that, like Rapunzel, she is really a princess and is waiting for the king and queen to come and reveal her true identity. When we are at home, she is always in a princess dress. Her initial favorites were Anna & Elsa, because from age one she attended a home daycare with several Frozen-obsessed toddlers and preschoolers. ("Elsa" was probably one of her early words.) She has since branched out to Cinderella, Aurora, Belle, Jasmine, etc. Her latest favorites are Merida and Sofia the First, and she's a big fan of the Tinkerbelle movies and all the Disney Fairies. Other than Disney stuff, she loves to read, swim, play outside, and visit her grandparents (they all live within walking or biking distance of our house).

At some point in this PTR, I'll have to share about our 2015 Disney trip.


It was awesome, and we thought that was THE Disney trip of our daughter's preschool years. Little did we know....

The planning of this year's trip has been through several versions. Here's how it has gone:

• Version 1.0: We planned a big camping trip to several national parks and beaches on the East coast for this summer. No Disney - we just went last year, after all! Everything was hunky dory.
  
  
• Version 2.0: While watching the Michigan vs. Michigan State game with some friends, they casually mentioned that they had use of her parents' Orlando timeshare during our spring break, and did we want to come along? We answered YES and I began to plan a couple days at Disney parks. We were also going to drive over to Sarasota for a couple days to see friends from our Florida years.
  
  
• Version 2.1: In the car with DH on the way to dinner one night in December, he said, "I have good news and bad news." Uh-oh. Our friends with the condo had invited their other set of parents along, and THEY have invited all the grandkids, and how the condo was full of family with no room for us. I said, "Well, that sucks, but I can cancel our ADRs at Disney." The good news was that DH thought that we should go anyway, which was pretty much the best thing ever. So after a long discussion, the summer camping trip was off - Disney is more developmentally appropriate for a three-year-old, anyway - and I went into full-blown WDW planning mode!
  
  
• Version 3.0: I had been talking to my parents about Disney and saying how much I wanted us all to go together at some point. Well, in mid-January, my dad sent me a text: "We could join you for this Disney trip if you want us to." Hurrah! My parents have a big summer trip out west planned for my mom's 60th birthday, so I was very surprised that they had the time to do Disney, too. They have not been to a WDW park since DH and I lived in Florida, and they haven't done a full Disney vacation since probably 2005. They were a bit overwhelmed by all the new stuff that comes with Disney planning, so I have taken over as their official "travel agent."

So, this trip went from a few nights in a free condo with a day or two at Disney parks to an eight-night multi-generational Disney vacation in just the course of a couple months. I couldn't be happier, and can't wait to share more of my planning with you!!
[/URL][/IMG]

Part I: Picking a Resort

Resort shopping begin in earnest when we discovered our friends' parents' condo was no longer up for use. Last year, we did a five night trip and stayed at POR in a royal guest room. We were originally booked at CSR but had to change dates and ended up at our favorite resort in a room category we'd never stayed in before. The royal guest room was perfect for our two-year-old, and I'd go back in a heartbeat...

...Except that this trip is (a) longer and (b) allowed us less planning time and therefore less time to save. So, we knew a value resort would be the best way to go! We have not ever stayed at Pop Century, so that was high on the list right from the beginning.

I made some spreadsheets. And then I made some more spreadsheets. Then new discounts came out and I made some more spreadsheets. Then I spent a LOT of time on Orbitz and added to my spreadsheets! (I super love spreadsheets). We spent a lot of time deliberating between Pop, ASMusic, and ASMovies. ASMovies was pricier but has a great theme DD would like, especially the Fantasia sections. (She went through a serious Fantasia phase a while back. She still loves to watch the part where all the dinosaurs die. Yes, she is weird.) ASMusic was cheaper than Pop but didn't really suit our fancy. Eventually, Pop Century won out for three reasons: the aforementioned new resort factor; the price that was just a smidge higher than SAMusic; and the great reviews we always read!

However, like everything with this trip, our resort reservation ended up going through a lot of changes.

Resort reservation #1 was made through Orbitz for five nights. This was when we still planned to go to Sarasota for two nights at the end of the week. The Orbitz deal was great, and worth the few minutes I spent online with Orbtiz customer service adding DD to our reservation. It was also SUPER easy to add into MDE - in short, I can highly recommend booking through Orbitz!

Resort reservation #1 came into question when we decided (I can't remember why, exactly) not to go to Sarasota. I actually think a lot of the reasoning was that DD would be bored. DH and I would just want to see friends from when we lived there, shop, and eat in some of our old favorite restaurants, and this would not be any fun for a three-year-old. We ultimately decided that a Sarasota trip might have to be just the two of us, or happen when she's older.

So, the plan was to cancel Orbitz and then make a new Orbitz reservation for two more nights. In between that decision and actually pulling the plug, I got the famous "Hey we want to join you at Disney" text from my dad!

At that point, I put any changes on hold and worked with my parents to find out what they wanted to do! Their priorities:

• Not spend a lot of money and stay near us, if not at the same resort.
• Dining plan
• Going to a water park. Their #1 favorite thing about Disney is the water parks!

As mentioned, my parents haven't done a full Disney trip since probably 2005. Initially, my mom was thinking that for the price of two rooms at a value resort, we could do a villa or a cabin at Fort Wilderness. I felt bad shooting her down, but once she saw the villa prices, she said, "Never mind!" We talked briefly about an off-site condo, but my mother loves DDP so much that staying on site was a priority for her.

My dad is the vacation planner in our family, but he had minor surgery scheduled for that week. So my mom hopped on the computer and booked a package using their AARP discount.... not realize no dining plan could be added! So one Sunday night I sat at their kitchen island with my Chromebook for two hours cancelling the AARP package and re-booking with Disney.

Meanwhile, at our house, DH and I were debating dining plan. I had done the math from our previous trip and realized that we would have saved a bit of money with DDP. Then we looked at the food budget for this trip and realized by paying about $200 more than was budgeted for food, we could get DDP and eat more food in much nicer restaurants. DDP was in, Orbitz was out!

The same night I re-booked my parents' package via Disney, I re-booked ours, too!

We ultimately settled on all stayed at Pop Century, and all having DDP. The two reservations are separate, and my parents decided to pay for a preferred room. We know our rooms probably won't be anywhere near each other at Pop, but we all have cell phones and will likely have no trouble communicating. We will all arrive at Pop on April 2 (my parents are flying and taking DME; we are driving and arriving late that night). My parents flights home are on April 8 and we will leave to drive home on April 9.

And hopefully there will be no more resort changes!

We will be there at the same time. We love pop. I am having trouble picking a magic band color, lol

Hi! Following along on this fun fame it adventure!!

We are planning our DD's first trip for next spring. PORS Royal rooms are a real possibility for us!

Looks like this trip has gone through quite a few changes, glad you guys are settled now. And I've read such great things about POP.

The Dining Plan is a hot topic in our home too. Good to know your guys found it to be a money saver.

Can't wait to see how this trip unfolds!