Let The Planning Begin... A Large Family Trip May 2019

jsanders82

Mouseketeer
Joined
Nov 6, 2011
Hi everyone,

I have been a long time lurker and apparently a member as well. I went to create my account and I already had one - go figure.

The last time I was at WDW was back in January 2012 as a family was when 3 kids were 3,4, and 12. I went a few times as a kid growing up with my parents. I was last at WDW as a spur of the moment girls trip with my mom and oldest daughter back in Feb 2018. I travel quite a bit and had decided to take another family trip in 2019.

So, who, when and where are we going?
The Who:
When we decided to go to WDW, we opened it up to our family and friends if they wanted to join. Now that we are about 15 months away, we have some confirmations and a pretty good idea of who is going.

Myself (35), my husband (37) and our 4 kids - ages 9 - L, 9 - K, and 11 - A and 19 - S. My husband and his daughter (9) have never been so they are both excited.

My MIL - Mid 60's - went about 10 yrs ago with a different set of grandkids. She is pretty excited to be going back with this set. To help her get there since she is retired, my husband and I are taking care of her flight and lodging.

My mother and stepdad - mid and late 60's - they are going but undecided on the timeframe as they do not want to be gone as long as we are. My mom isn't huge on WDW and my stepdad has only committed to one day there.

My brother and his family - My brother (33), SIL (34) and their two kids ages 9 and 8. My SIL has said they are going but we will see. My brother isn't one who is big on vacations. He is also a pilot and owns his plane so he has said he may fly them himself.

My niece - 19. She wants to go but isn't sure she will have enough money saved up.

The When:
Dates: May 24/25 - June 1
Our dates are pretty set due to my husband's job and PTO schedule. We would like to leave Friday but since he is 3rd shift, it will depend on what his last day is that week.

We are purposely missing Star Wars Land. I read about the craziness of Pandora and I don't want to do experience that especially since a lot of the group has never been to WDW. My husband and I have talked about going for a long weekend 6-9 months after it opens so we can only do that land.

The Where:
This is up in the air at this point. We will be staying off-site since we will have quite a large group. I am looking at it 2 ways - if only my family and MIL go. My parents can rent a place in the same resort for their shorter stay and the other way is if all of us go. We are looking at homes with a great pool complex - slides and lazy river are a must. If you have any suggestions, please let me know.
 
What is on our agenda?
We had originally said we were going to be gone for 10+ days so that we could tackle both WDW and Universal. Now that we are down to 8 days tops, I decided to make this WDW only. I know we will want break days to do things other than the theme parks. We want some days to relax and sleep in too.

I have a rough plan of 6 days of WDW tickets but will skip on the park hopper option. The plan is to do 2 days at MK, 1 day at EPCOT, 1 day at AK and 1.5 days at HS. We are going to spend one of our rest day going to the beach and the boys will do some near shore fishing. Our other rest day is going to be a water park - it's one request all of our kids want. Was thinking of Aquatica due to pricing as it was the cheaper water park. Any one have good or bad experience there?

My kids are theme park junkies. We have memberships to our local Six Flags so they are use to early rising and rope dropping. I know that we will be taking a break during the day at the resort and then back after dinner to close out the park. Without the break, I know my kiddos won't make it. They can't do it at Six Flags in the Texas heat without the break. One our last full day, we will be opening and closing out MK (I'm hoping EMH hours don't work against us). I am planning a QS at lunch and Ohana at dinner that day. I want to go out on a high note :)

Do we have a budget?
Yes, we do. I know not a lot of people post the financial part of their trip but I will since I researched that as well. I googled and read quite a bit to get a good idea of what the trip could cost us. I wanted to realistically have the money that was needed and know where we could save money. With 6 in our family, I know where savings would work for our family and where the splurges would be most appreciative. When we get to the trip, I will keep a running tally of what we spend on food.

Right now, our trip is coming in about $6,400 for our six including MIL flight and lodging. On the high side, $7,000 is my max so we have a little bit of room. The one thing that is saving us is that I travel for work so I should have about 75,000 SW points, my mom will have about 55,000 plus 2 free round trip tickets on AA. Between my mom and I, we should have most of the my family and MIL covered for flights. My mom and stepdad will use her AA flights for their dates.

We will be saving money by eating meals outside the park or at the rental. We will be making some ADR's though and I'm excited about those. BOG lunch and then Ohana for dinner. I'm kind of bummed because I picked Ohana for the characters (kids love Stitch) but I read that he doesn't appear at dinner. I may change this while I work through everything. We have 2 QS meals worked in as well - one at MK and then Su'tuli at AK. Since we are rope dropping, any advice on how to work in a character breakfast? I thought about Chef Mickey but I'm luke warm about it and the reviews. My kids don't care about Pooh and the boys don't want all princesses.

I really wanted to do a dessert party for Star Wars or HEA but I just can't bite the bullet on 6 of us. It sounds great until I calculate the cost out and it's $500 for cupcakes and fireworks seating. I would rather spend that money on better souvenirs, face painting, etc. for the kids. Any tips on how and where you saved money on your WDW trip?
 
Re: Character breakfast. How about Tusker House on your AK day? Food and characters are good. If you want to save a bit more, you guys could eat a quick breakfast, set your ADR around 10:30 and hang until they start putting lunch foods at 11 :) Boom! Breakfast and lunch, one big meal with characters. Plus, it's one of the least expensive.
 
Great advice! Tusker House is the one I prefer. We did it back in 2012. We will need to rope drop to catch FOP (I doubt we have any luck get FP's at 30 days).

The rough plan is to leave the park about 2:30 and come back for dinner around 6:15. My daughter and I did this in February and it worked great. We were able to take short naps, reenergize and see everything we wanted. Even with our break, we still walked 8 miles. Just crazy :)
 


Thanks! I hope the budget is enough. I had my husband's cousin who is a Disney travel agent quote me as well. She came back at $5,000 with no air and $9,000 with air travel. I'm not planning on using her as part of her quote included items I told her I didn't want.

The WDW tickets and condo rental are hard costs. I'm more concerned with keeping our food costs under control.
 
jsanders82, have you checked ticket pricing through Undercover Tourist? I used a link through Mousesavers.com monthly newsletter that gets a slight discount on Undercover. The prices there include all taxes and shipping. We got 5 day Disney and 1 day park to park Universal tickets mailed to use very quickly and Sea World 1 pay with all day dining and express pass they emailed to us. It saved us more than other places that don't include tax and shipping.
 


YAY! I'm not the only one planning a May 2019 trip! I was starting to think I was crazy for planning so early!
 
jsanders82, have you checked ticket pricing through Undercover Tourist? I used a link through Mousesavers.com monthly newsletter that gets a slight discount on Undercover. The prices there include all taxes and shipping. We got 5 day Disney and 1 day park to park Universal tickets mailed to use very quickly and Sea World 1 pay with all day dining and express pass they emailed to us. It saved us more than other places that don't include tax and shipping.

Yes, I am buying our tickets through Undercover Tourist with the Mouse Saver Discount. The MS discount will only save about $5 but I'll take it. It's a great that I wish more people knew of.
 
YAY! I'm not the only one planning a May 2019 trip! I was starting to think I was crazy for planning so early!

I have been rough planning and researching about a year before that. I hadn't been to WDW since 2012 and knew things change. My kids are older so they are giving me their input this time. Star Wars training is an absolute must for all of them. My husband is sad he can't do it too :)
 
I figure a small update was needed.

My husband's company laid off their entire 3rd shift which included him a few weeks ago. It was a shock but we roll with the punches. I know he will get a new job but we don't know financially where we will end up. We are extremely lucky that I am the breadwinner and his salary was our fun money. I have a bonus, raise and promotion due July 1st so I'll have a better idea of our trip then.

That being said, we are committed to taking the kids next year. I have another scenario in my spreadsheet of a less expensive trip for the kids. My brother has 2 mil Holiday Inn points so we may use them to book a stay at Holiday Inn - Water Park. We may drive instead of flying. The trip would be 4 days instead of 6. The kids would still have a great time and we hit the must do's on their list i.e. Jedi Training and rides.

Does anyone else have spreadsheets with food costs, days, FP+, etc? I feel slightly crazy but it helps me keep track of our plans.
 
We are absolute planners! Especially for the food. We have a multi-tab spreadsheet that lays out the week and each meal (though we don't strictly follow which items to order). It allows us to determine whether or not to purchase DDP and to at least roughly plan for tips at the TS meals. For the daily layout/plan, I find that touring plans creates a visually appealing itinerary. Even if their app looks like it was built for iOS3.

Good luck on the job search!
 
We are absolute planners! Especially for the food. We have a multi-tab spreadsheet that lays out the week and each meal (though we don't strictly follow which items to order). It allows us to determine whether or not to purchase DDP and to at least roughly plan for tips at the TS meals. For the daily layout/plan, I find that touring plans creates a visually appealing itinerary. Even if their app looks like it was built for iOS3.

Good luck on the job search!
Thanks! He has some interviews lined up.

I use my spreadsheet to calculate roughly how much eat meal will cost. I plan on getting a Disney gift card from Sam's to pay for our onsite dining. It helps to know ball park of what I need.
 
Time for a real life update....

My husband got a job and starts Monday. We are both relieved. I knew he would get a job but the uncertainty of wonder when was not great. With that said, our trip is back on. We set the dates for June 1 - June 8 / 9.

My brother has confirmed he is going with us. We decided we should have our own units so that we can have space away from each other. My mom is going as well but I think for only 4 days. We are planning on 7/8 days. The kids are all super excited and love seeing the Toy Story Land commercials.

I *think* I want to book at Wyndham Bonnet Creek. I posted a thread on the hotels section to see if there are any other resorts I should consider. I have been looking at TripBeat, Ebay, Sky Auction and Redweek. All of those sites have WBC listed at a lower price than booking directly through the resort. Any one ever have any issues using these sites?

Our 180 ADR date is November 29. I would love to book a restaurant at EPCOT to watch the fireworks. It appears Rose and Crown goes quickly. Any other ideas? My kids are semi picky eaters so Morocco is out but they will eat sushi. I know.. weird kids :) The only other TS I am looking at is Trails End and Tusker House. Everything else will be in our condo or QS meals. The quick service meals I am looking at are Casey's Corner, Sutu'li, Back Lot / Andy's Lunch Box, and Columbia Harbor House. I think it is a nice mixture of sit down, quick service and at home meals.

The one meal that is up in the air is for our beach day. I ate at Toothsome in Feb 2018. We had a great experience but I know not everyone has. I think my kids would really enjoy it but I am also considering T-Rex. I want to have one restaurant that is special to them. Any thoughts?

We are planning to purchase our Disney tickets in October via UT. Will book the resort after our flights. SW is only open through January 5, 2019.

Happy planning everyone :)
 
Hi, there! I am a long-time lurker, but I had to stop lurking to comment on your trip! Another early-bird planner, here, too. We will overlap some days with you, if we keep our original plan for Jun 3-10. I look forward to following along on your planning journey! :)
 
Hi Everyone,
I hope your summer went well. I don't know about you but I am glad my kids to be back in school.

I am proud to say that we have saved 40% of our trip budget since June. We are aiming for 100% by Feb 2019. We just keep plugging away at it.

All the kids are really excited. We have watched some videos of Toy Story Land but try to keep it at a minimum. I know some parents show their kids ride videos but I want it all to be a surprise to them - especially the fireworks. They have been telling me about the rides and characters they want to meet. I have been stalking Etsy for ears, princess dresses and WDW shirts. I am waiting till it is closer to order in case the kids grow. One of our matching shirt days will be our Dallas Cowboy shirts. Go Cowboys!

Trip Updates:
I have narrowed down the restaurants for our trip. I am hoping it doesn't change.

EPCOT: Rose & Crown around 7:45 for 6 (fingers crossed for fireworks view)
Animal Kingdom: Tusker House Brunch at 10:30/45 and then Su'tuli for dinner around 6:45
DHS: Quick Service Lunch - Haven't decided. Woody's Lunch Box doesn't have A/C or much seating... Suggestions?
Magic Kingdom (2 days): Dinner at Casey's Corner, Brunch at Trails End around 10:45 / 11:15 and then dinner later at Columbia Harbor House.
Offsite: Toothsome Chocolate Factory - everyone in our group wants to go here
Snacks: The kids a have list and so do we :)
Budget for food: About $1200

Lodging:
WBC! We are excited about staying here. The closeness to the park with the great amenities is a home run for all of us. I have been watching RedWeek, Trip Beat and Sky Auction. I posted a post earlier about the cost of renting there and some said my budget was unrealistic but I am seeing these prices on all three sites. I feel confident about booking within our budget. If not, then we will just pay the difference. Am I crazy??
Budget: 2 bedroom - $900 - $1100 / 3 bedroom - $1150 - $1500

Thinking of renting a camp site for our first night so that we can book at 60 days each morning. Not sure if it would give us a leg up on FP's. If it doesn't, will we lose our FP's if we cancel before our trip? If there are evening EMH's on our last day at Magic Kingdom, we may rent again so that we can stay until the early am. Seeing the park almost empty would be great.

I bought my Unofficial Guide on my Nook. Been reading and will be getting Touring Plans in a couple of months. I'm trying not to get Disney Planning Burnout. I have planned and researched for soooo long that I do not want to lose my drive to finish it. Anyone ever get that feeling - like it has taken so long to get here and now it's kind of a chore?

Anyhoo, that is where I am at. Any suggestions or updates on your trips.. leave a reply. I can't believe it is starting to come together.
 
It’s Real… Finally!

I can’t believe it. I finally did it and bought our Disney tickets!!!! Now, it feels real. We have talked about the trip for almost 1.5 years, but it didn’t feel real until I clicked that confirm button. I even called Nick and asked him, “Are you sure you want to do this??!!!” He said, “Do it babe. Let’s go to Disney World”. So… we will now definitely be in WDW before December 2019 lol.

Why the big push to buy our tickets now since we aren’t going till June 2019? Well, I read the boards and blogs and when the new ticket pricing was announced, I wanted to buy when I knew the price vs the unknown. Summer is usually priced as peak season and I don’t have any faith in WDW listing my timeframe cheaper. I was good with the price from UT so I bit the bullet. How many other are buying your tickets now instead of waiting?

I got (5) adult tickets from Undercover Tourist with the MouseSavers discount. I used the touring plans ticket calculator and another vendor came up about $42 cheaper, but we wouldn’t get our ticket confirmation codes until 30 days before we went. I had never used them before, so I wasn’t comfortable going that route. I’ve used UT several times in the past for WDW or US. Our youngest 3 will be 10, 10 and 11 when we go. I didn’t buy our 19-year-old one yet since she’s away at college. She plans on going so if she does end up doing so, I’ll buy her ticket in February or March. You never know with those college kids.

Once I linked my tickets to my MDE, I did a quick look at what 30 days out FP+ were available. Nothing surprising for what was not available – no 7DMT, FOP or any TSL rides. I looked at EPCOT and all rides including Frozen were available. I guess Frozen is easier to get now that the other newer rides have opened. I am sure I will be playing with FP+’s during the next couple of months. Fun times

Budget - we are still on track to reach our goal on May 1. We have enough money to book our resort, but I am going to wait to see if I can save money by booking through Red Week. I have been watching SkyAuction too. We are still pretty set on WBC. I have looked at Sheraton Vistana as a backup. If I can’t get either at a price I am comfortable with, then we will rent a 3 bedroom in Windsor Hills.

Update on Who is Going:

So, my mom and stepdad have decided not to go. My mom said that she went to Disney already lol. My brother was upset over it as it was suppose to be about us being a family and spending quality time together. Me - I’m perfectly ok with it. I travel with my mom and we have completely different styles. It usually stresses us both out. When we did WDW in February, we only wanted to go to the parks in the morning for a few hours. I tried to tell him this since I am older and wiser lol.

So as of right now, it will be my family and my brother’s. After talking to my SIL, we are coming up with a rough plan. There are a few differences on what they want to do vs us. We will all go to the same park each day but probably split up until lunch time when we leave for the afternoon break. Then possibly all hang out together that evening in the park.

Anyways, I will keep reading the trip reports, gathering info and planning. Until next time
 
And Then Our Trip Changed...

November 5th was PTO request day for my husbands job. On this date, you have to request all of your PTO for the upcoming year. Imagine my husband's shock when he was told that summer was not available. He was told the last week of May and when he confirmed that, he was told there was a mistake and that week was not available. So... my husband made the decision to go with March and it's a week that our kids are not on Spring Break. I wasn't super thrilled that our kids would be missing school but it was do it or not go at all. Great news - we are going March 16 - 23, 2019.

My brother's kids are in a different state and they are on Spring Break that week so they could go too! I thought I had more than enough time and was ahead of the curve ball. Not so much now. I booked a few TS restaurants including Tusker House. I told my kids about it and they absolutely did not care about meeting Mickey or Minnie. They said that was for little kids lol.

Still working on a place to stay. Have a couple of options but it looks like we will be staying in Storey Lake in a townhome. Airfare is booked. So, now we wait until FP+ time.

Praying for some pixie dust :)
 
The kids won't miss much in school and you will have great memories to make!

I think your kids will enjoy meeting Mickey and Minnie once they see older kids (cough cough and adults) getting photos too, but it may not be worth the ADRs. Heck, mine are young and they choose renting a golf cart over an ADR and they love gathering signatures.

I think I am going to get either touring plans or the undercover tourist plans in case our March week is a busy week, but really- whatever FPs we are able to get is what we can get.
 
It’s getting exciting. We are so much closer to our trip now. I think we are at 92 days until we leave for WDW. I feel like once we round Christmas, it will be here before we know it.

Where to stay: I am, at times, frustrating to those who love me because I have a hard time committing. I always wonder if there is something better we should get instead of what I am currently looking at. Knowing this, I looked for about 3 weeks every day at a place to stay. I would panic that we would not find anything but I just could not commit. I searched Windsor Hills, Westside at Windsor (W at W), Storey Lake, Davenport and even WBC. I looked on VRBO and thought I found one in W at W. I looked up the reviews of the management company and it was 1 star so I took a hard pass. Then I switched from W at W to Storey Lake. Part of the issue in our party of 9 is that we have 3 girls ages 9-10 so we want them to share the room. They are all great sisters / cousins and don’t want to be the odd one on their own. Most of the homes only had 2 twin bed set ups for kids. Finally found a home on Air BNB in Windsor Hills with a full and twin bunk. Long story short, I finally booked a place. Whew… it was a relief! Let's just say my husband and SIL were also relieved I finally pulled the trigger lol.

Total Cost for 5 bedrooms / 5 bath home at Windsor Hills for 8 days / 7 nights: $1,556. Divide by 2 and my family’s cost is $788.

We decided not to do the pool heat as we will be at the parks 6 of those days and we plan on using the club house pool and slides.

ADR’s: So... I cancelled Tusker House. Since my kids were adamant they did not want to see Mickey, I didn’t want to waste the money. I figured we could always line up in the parks if they decided to see any of the Fab 5. I spoke with my husband and we made a few more changes. We are pretty locked in on these ADR’s:

Sunday, March 17 @ 8:20 or Thursday, March 21 @ 8:30 BOG – we have 2 reservations and will keep one as my SIL also has 2 for Crystal Palace as we are trying to get earlier similar times for either day. Her Monday CP ADR isn’t until 9:30 – hoping we can move that up so I can keep the 8:20. I have the TP ADR finder working on this :)

Monday, March 18 – Via Napoli at 6:45 (We are super excited to try the pizza)

I only have 2 booked. I know some families heavy on and love eating TS but my kids would rather ride rides. Plus my kids would have to eat at adult prices. It just didn’t work belly wise and financially to eat more TS restaurants.

We are planning on QS the other meals. I have Casey’s Corner, Columbia House, Contempo Café, Su’tuli and Back Lot Express pegged on our list. We will also be eating quite a few breakfasts and lunches in the house. I am actually looking forward to taking the monorail to Contempo Café. Our plan is to then monorail on over to the Poly for drinks at Trader Sam's or on the patio.

The Splurge: While this is not a “budget” trip, we also have a budget. When we moved our trip up to March, it cut vacation funding by about 10 weeks. At the same time, I want this to be a memorable and fun trip for my kiddos. So what did I splurge on? The HEA Dessert Party! I had a hard time with spending $345 for cupcakes and a spot to watch HEA fireworks. I tried to rationalize the cost but you just can’t. So splurge it is. In the end, my husband and I thought it would be fun for the kids and a great way to kick off our trip.

Splurge tip: I bought Disney gift cards through Target's Redcard so we saved 5% or $17 on our dessert party. I am planning on prepaying our food and snacks on a gift card as well.

Tally To Date for Trip (out of pocket so far):

WDW Tickets for 5 adults: $2,020

Lodging: $788

Air Fare: $57.50 (used points / taxes and fees)

Dessert Party: $328

Total: $3,139.50
 

GET A DISNEY VACATION QUOTE

Dreams Unlimited Travel is committed to providing you with the very best vacation planning experience possible. Our Vacation Planners are experts and will share their honest advice to help you have a magical vacation.

Let us help you with your next Disney Vacation!





Top