You want like a name? Oh, God, the pressure of a name....UPDATE 1/7

[Giselle22]

Hello! Welcome to my pre-trippie! I am getting ready to book things, and am getting super excited about this trip, and am bored this morning, so...seems like it's about time to start this report!

Basic details:
My family and I will be at WDW from Jan12-19, staying at Port Orleans Riverside! We were originally going to stay in a treehouse villa, which I was SUPER excited about, but the prices got waaaaaay jacked up for 2013, making that no longer a possibility So we switched to rooms at POR, which I'm also very excited about! There are six (maybe) of us and we'll each be 2 to a room.
My mom and I are actually heading to Florida on the 10th, two days before everyone else, so we can run the Disney World Half-Marathon! For our first two nights, we're going to stay at a Little Mermaid room at AoA, soooooo excited for that!!! I haven't actually booked any rooms yet, but I'm hoping to do that tomorrow
I've been planning this trip for quite a long time now, as it was intended to be a huge trip for all my extended family, and my best friend's extended family. So far the only ones who have confirmed are my immediate family, one aunt and one uncle, and my friend, her boyfriend, and her parents. I'm hoping more of the group will decide to book when discount codes (hopefully) come out, but even so, it will be a fantastic time with those who are already confirmed!

Brief cast of characters (just my immediate fam):
ME!--27, long-time Disney nut, substitute teacher and coach, will be my 3rd visit
DH--27, likes Disney more than he admits, high school teacher and coach, will be his 3rd visit
DMom--old enough to be my mom , super-energetic, first trip!!
DDad--old enough to be my dad , relax-at-the-resort type, first trip!!
DBrother1--28, might not be able to come as he just quit his job and has uncertain plans for the future...will be his first trip if he makes it!
DBrother2--25, both brothers aren't huge disney fans, but he's going to have a GREAT time with us lol, first trip!!
We're all from sunny California

That's all for now, just a very quick intro, but I'll be back soon with more details and probably some pics of us for fun

[carebearkidney]

It's always a blast going with people that haven't gone before. Have fun planning and running!

[Eliza32]

Does that make you Cinder*******rella then????

[reyasmommy]

We'll be staying in the Little Mermaid room at AoA and Port Orleans Riverside too!! We'll be there in November though. I'm really excited since they'll both be a first for us.

It is SOOO much fun going with people that have never been before. Love seeing their excited and reactions to all there is to see and do at Disney.

Have fun planning your vacation.

[Giselle22]

Originally Posted by Eliza32

Does that make you Cinder*******rella then????

lol I guess so!

Originally Posted by carebearkidney

It's always a blast going with people that haven't gone before. Have fun planning and running!

Originally Posted by reyasmommy

We'll be staying in the Little Mermaid room at AoA and Port Orleans Riverside too!! We'll be there in November though. I'm really excited since they'll both be a first for us.

It is SOOO much fun going with people that have never been before. Love seeing their excited and reactions to all there is to see and do at Disney.

Have fun planning your vacation.

Thanks! I'm really excited to bring my family, I know they'll love it And my mom and I are really excited about running--we're also going to run the Disneyland half next September so we can get our coast-to-coast medals!

[Giselle22]

Just popping in to say: OUR ROOMS ARE BOOKED! Hooray! Two nights at Art of Animation in a Little Mermaid room for me and mommy, then got our three rooms at Port Orleans Riverside for a week with the rest of the family! I went ahead and upgraded to a garden view to ensure we won't be staring at parking lots Now just have to book the plane tickets!!

I'll be back later today with some random pics and more introductions!

[Giselle22]

Last week, I found some airfares for just over $300, which I think is about the best we can do, but yesterday when I looked again in preparation to book them, the cheapest flights I could find were $400, with a lot of them closer to $500! I know if we wait and keep checking, we will be able to find flights for close to $300 again, but I also know that Southwest offers a credit card which will give you enough points for two round-trip flights when you first sign up! So we decided, why not save $300 apiece and get us some credit cards? The card does have a $69 annual fee, but $69 for two flights is certainly a much better deal than $600! So, flights have not yet been booked, as I was hoping, but instead we are on our way to some free flights! Not too shabby!

I've been in major planning mode lately, and already have a lot of my week at Disney planned out However, I'm sure a lot of those plans will change by the time we actually get there! My first couple days, though, when I'll just be with my mom, are pretty set. We will be flying to Orlando on Thursday the 10th, arriving in the evening. We'll have dinner...somewhere! Can you believe I haven't decided that yet? Then in the morning on the 11th I am going to take my mom to breakfast at The Wave; I think she'll really like the menu there She won't have park tickets for that day, so we'll take the monorail around to the hotels on the line and check them all out, then head over to the Health and Fitness Expo to pick up our packets and do some shopping! I'm hoping they have some presenters we'll be interested in listening to as well If they do have speakers we like, we can probably pretty easily spend our whole afternoon at the Expo. Otherwise, we'll head to Downtown Disney to do some browsing before we head to Epcot for...

Pasta in the Park! I think these tickets are very overpriced for a pasta dinner ($47.50 each), but we do also get reserved viewing for IllumiNations, and it will get my mom into the park Plus, well, I DO love pasta! I think this will be a lot of fun and I'm glad we decided to go ahead and buy the tickets!

On Saturday morning we will be up bright and early for the half-marathon, which starts at 5:30am! The rest of the family will arrive Saturday, but not until evening, so my mom and I will have a whole blank day...so she's going to get tickets for Saturday so we can celebrate our great half-marathon time (think positively lol) in the parks! And I'm sure we'll slip a nap in there at some point I'm getting sooooooo excited for our trip!

That's all for now folks! DH and I are driving down to Disneyland this weekend to check out Carsland!! Not really related to my pre-trippie, but I will be back after the weekend with lots of pictures for you!

[mommys3]

I'm in Love the halloween pics...you all look like such a fun bunch!

[Giselle22]

Originally Posted by mommys3

I'm in Love the halloween pics...you all look like such a fun bunch!

Thanks for joining in!

[Dream426]

Joining in. Great start.

[dmoore718]

I'm here!!! Your plans sound great!! We will be there the 6th to the 13th. My friend is flying down to run the half as well....I'm meeting her at DTD sat. night for some drinks after putting my kids to bed and leaving DH in charge.