pmurphy713
<font color=purple>Will miss the Gourmet Pantry...
- Joined
- May 19, 2000
Hello fellow Disney lovers! I have been reading trip reports for years and this is my first attempt at trying one myself. Would appreciate any comments or feedback from you as I go along. Just a warning....my husband says that I write like I talk (and I love to talk about Disney), so I'm very conversational. Also, during the report, I will have a tendency to go on rabbit trails and/or chase squirrels, so you cannot say that you weren't forewarned, just skip those parts and go to the next interesting one. You won't hurt my feelings!
So, let's get started - First the cast of this trip
My love of Disney began as a child when I watched The Wonderful World of Disney each Sunday evening. I loved the stories about Disneyland and always wished that I could go there. When I was 14, my wonderful grandparents took my cousin and myself to Disney World. At that time, they were building Epcot and The Magic Kingdom was the only park. We stayed there a day and I still have many wonderful memories of that time. After I grew up and got married and had children, my DH and I wanted to plan a vacation. I begged to take the girls to Disney World. My husband was doubtful and said, "it's just a theme park, like Six Flags. Why do you want to go there so badly??" I finally convinced him and after much planning, we went, stayed in one of the Garden Wings of the Contemporary and had the most wonderful time. I knew that I had a Disney World convert on my hands when my husband said to me on the way home, "So, when can we come back??" Since then we have been many times. But, I digress (I told you I would!)
We started planning this Disney trip back in May of 2015 and decided on the kids' spring break. I wanted this to be a great experience for Bryant's first trip, so thought it would be wonderful to stay in a Grand Villa at Old Key West. Our DVC home resort is Kidani, but our points go farther at OKW. When I booked, a GV wasn't available so I booked a two bedroom instead and waitlisted the GV. We began purchasing our tickets one at a time so we wouldn't have so much out of pocket. The family gave me one for my birthday in July, but unfortunately purchased only a 5 day, one park per day ticket so we would have to change it once we got there. Each girl saved up and purchased their own park hopper, Blake bought his and Katelyn split the cost with Bryant since it was his first time. The girls and I got Barry one for Christmas and we were all set to make the rest of our plans. Each month as we got paid, we would purchase Disney gift cards from Target. The goal for this trip was not to put anything on a credit card. I love cash visits. That way, I feel like everyone can enjoy the trip and not worry about finances.
On New Year's Eve, Bryant's parents and family came over to celebrate and his dad mentioned to me that he hoped Bryant would be able to go with us. He was finishing up school and looking for a job. We hoped that if he got a job before we left, that he would be able to take off and go with us. The planning continued, I made fast passes 60 days out, made our dining reservations, tweaked things a little and waited until it was time to be in Disney World. About 25 days out, I was checking my DVC account and noticed some extra points were gone. When I checked my reservations, I saw that we had gotten our waitlist request and now had a 3 bedroom villa. I was so excited. Everyone could have their own bed and the boys could share a room and the girls would share a room as always. Unfortunately, this excitement was short lived when Bryant got a job and would be unable to go with us. Those were some sad days as Katelyn was torn between going to Disney without him or staying home and working that week. She eventually decided to go and we would plan on him going the next trip. I called DVC to change our villa to a 2 bedroom, but there was NOTHING available in a 2 bedroom anywhere on property. It looked like we would be rambling around in a huge villa. Oh, well, the struggle we put up with at Disney.
As the day approached when we would be leaving, I was finishing up some things at work. I am the office manager/bookkeeper at an Early Leaning Center where I formally taught 3K. Everyone there, and I do mean everyone, knows of my love for Disney. I have a small Mickey, Minnie and Goofy on my desk and lots of the children come in to visit them. My co workers were all wishing me a wonderful trip. My friend that works with me in the office told me to get out of there at 12:30 rather than my planned 3:30 and I happily took her up on it. It had turned into a rather nasty, rainy afternoon and I would much rather be at home packing that sitting at a computer. When I got home, Natalie was already out of school for the week and we decided to go grab a quick lunch at Panera and pick up a few last minute things at Target. When we got back home, Katelyn was there and told me Bryant would be coming by to say goodbye later that evening. Barry finally arrived home, we ate dinner and packed the car. We were leaving for my favorite place at 4 am Saturday morning. We would pick Blake up at his house on our way out of town. I was so excited to be heading to Disney that I woke up at 2:20, thirty minutes before my clock rang. We all grabbed the last of our things, got in the car, picked up Blake and were off!
So, let's get started - First the cast of this trip
- Barry - 50 something, financier of many Disney trips
- Pam - also 50 something, lover of all things Disney
- Katelyn - 21, oldest daughter
- Natalie - 20, youngest daughter
- Bryant - Katelyn's 23 year old boyfriend
- Blake - Natalie's 20 year old boyfriend
My love of Disney began as a child when I watched The Wonderful World of Disney each Sunday evening. I loved the stories about Disneyland and always wished that I could go there. When I was 14, my wonderful grandparents took my cousin and myself to Disney World. At that time, they were building Epcot and The Magic Kingdom was the only park. We stayed there a day and I still have many wonderful memories of that time. After I grew up and got married and had children, my DH and I wanted to plan a vacation. I begged to take the girls to Disney World. My husband was doubtful and said, "it's just a theme park, like Six Flags. Why do you want to go there so badly??" I finally convinced him and after much planning, we went, stayed in one of the Garden Wings of the Contemporary and had the most wonderful time. I knew that I had a Disney World convert on my hands when my husband said to me on the way home, "So, when can we come back??" Since then we have been many times. But, I digress (I told you I would!)
We started planning this Disney trip back in May of 2015 and decided on the kids' spring break. I wanted this to be a great experience for Bryant's first trip, so thought it would be wonderful to stay in a Grand Villa at Old Key West. Our DVC home resort is Kidani, but our points go farther at OKW. When I booked, a GV wasn't available so I booked a two bedroom instead and waitlisted the GV. We began purchasing our tickets one at a time so we wouldn't have so much out of pocket. The family gave me one for my birthday in July, but unfortunately purchased only a 5 day, one park per day ticket so we would have to change it once we got there. Each girl saved up and purchased their own park hopper, Blake bought his and Katelyn split the cost with Bryant since it was his first time. The girls and I got Barry one for Christmas and we were all set to make the rest of our plans. Each month as we got paid, we would purchase Disney gift cards from Target. The goal for this trip was not to put anything on a credit card. I love cash visits. That way, I feel like everyone can enjoy the trip and not worry about finances.
On New Year's Eve, Bryant's parents and family came over to celebrate and his dad mentioned to me that he hoped Bryant would be able to go with us. He was finishing up school and looking for a job. We hoped that if he got a job before we left, that he would be able to take off and go with us. The planning continued, I made fast passes 60 days out, made our dining reservations, tweaked things a little and waited until it was time to be in Disney World. About 25 days out, I was checking my DVC account and noticed some extra points were gone. When I checked my reservations, I saw that we had gotten our waitlist request and now had a 3 bedroom villa. I was so excited. Everyone could have their own bed and the boys could share a room and the girls would share a room as always. Unfortunately, this excitement was short lived when Bryant got a job and would be unable to go with us. Those were some sad days as Katelyn was torn between going to Disney without him or staying home and working that week. She eventually decided to go and we would plan on him going the next trip. I called DVC to change our villa to a 2 bedroom, but there was NOTHING available in a 2 bedroom anywhere on property. It looked like we would be rambling around in a huge villa. Oh, well, the struggle we put up with at Disney.
As the day approached when we would be leaving, I was finishing up some things at work. I am the office manager/bookkeeper at an Early Leaning Center where I formally taught 3K. Everyone there, and I do mean everyone, knows of my love for Disney. I have a small Mickey, Minnie and Goofy on my desk and lots of the children come in to visit them. My co workers were all wishing me a wonderful trip. My friend that works with me in the office told me to get out of there at 12:30 rather than my planned 3:30 and I happily took her up on it. It had turned into a rather nasty, rainy afternoon and I would much rather be at home packing that sitting at a computer. When I got home, Natalie was already out of school for the week and we decided to go grab a quick lunch at Panera and pick up a few last minute things at Target. When we got back home, Katelyn was there and told me Bryant would be coming by to say goodbye later that evening. Barry finally arrived home, we ate dinner and packed the car. We were leaving for my favorite place at 4 am Saturday morning. We would pick Blake up at his house on our way out of town. I was so excited to be heading to Disney that I woke up at 2:20, thirty minutes before my clock rang. We all grabbed the last of our things, got in the car, picked up Blake and were off!