MouseBuzz.com - View Single Post

cahogbin · 09-27-2004

WDW Trip Report - Our FIRST WDW vacation 8 nights 9 days in Florida

Cast:
DH - Clint 40
Me - Chris 36
DS - Shawn 7
DD - Jessie 6

Pre-trip/trip report - I thought some other newbies might be able to get some ideas if I go back a little farther to the planning stages of our trip. We decided to go about a year ahead of time. Pretty early on we decided on our time of year to go, for us we want low crowds, value season and not quite as much heat but enough to be able to enjoy the water parks while we are there so we picked September. Our kids are young enough (Kindergarten & 2nd grade) that missing a week of school won't be a problem. Our trip was planned to include a visit to Kennedy Space Center, Universal and of course WDW. Originally we were trying to squeeze in Sea World but there just wasn't enough time and there is a Sea World in Ohio we can visit maybe next summer.

We decided to go with the All-Star Movies because of the icons for the kids and because we are only going to sleep and shower there. Most of our time will be spent in the parks. So we figured we'd stay at the value hotel and spend the money on more days. We also decided to take the Auto Train because I didn't want the expense of flying with 2 kids. I didn't want to be stuck on the tarmac for some delay with two fidgeting impatient kids. I also didn't want to be stuck in a car on I-95 behind some accident or construction with an impatient DH and 2 kids - "Are we there yet?" :). The train was great for us because we could rest, relax, sleep, eat on the train without having to make pit stops and with the Auto Train we were taking our own car and carseats for the kids so no rentals to deal with. Plus we could pack the car with snacks, water and breakfast foods. I don't want to be stressed out before I even get there just getting there, so the Auto Train fits us best.

I got books from the library and then decided on my favorites and ordered my own 2004 editions (so I could highlight and write in the margins) from Amazon.com - I got Fodor's WDW with Kids, Birnbaum's Official Guide and the Econoguide. All were very good and worth the money spent on them for hard copy reference. Also DS got the Birnbaum's Guide for Kids at the Disney Store and LOVES it. I also bought an online book/membership to Affordabledisney.com which was $50 and now looking back was too much. I got much more from MouseHouseMagic, DisneyCentral, Mousesavers, and Deb's Unofficial Disney Site (allears.com) all for FREE than I got from AffordableDisney.

I made the kids Journals online that I found at Themouseforless.com (thanks Cheryl), we made photo albums with stickers (thanks again Cheryl) so each of the kids could have their own photo album for the pictures they take. I made them activity books (puzzles, coloring, search a word) for the train ride down again from links found at themouseforless.com site. I also made a chain link counter (like Christmas tree links made out of construction paper) found at themouseforless.com site so everyday from 100 days down we take off 1 link and do our "?? days til we go to WDW dance".

Ahead of time we got autograph books, pens, GOH Badges, lanyards and pins to start pin trading which helped get us in the WDW spirit. We also had some great postcard pixies who helped along the way with extra Disney Magic before we're leaving. We also bought some pins in lots on E-bay so we'd have more to trade when we get there.

I did get a AAA membership for discounts in FL. At first I booked a room only and used my AAA card. 20% off I think. Then I watched for the Fairytale package like last year but it didn't come out, instead there was the 5+2 Dream Maker Package so we upgraded to that. Which meant UPH tickets - woo hoo. We also got the Prince/Princess package as an add-on. All of the WDW staff have been great with answering questions and being so helpful.

The AAA membership came in very handy too when I had a flat and was on my way to get it replaced when I got ANOTHER flat. I really thought there would be some catch to get roadside assistance but there wasn't it was all included in the yearly membership price. Definitely worth the $50 a year. We also got discounts on the train tickets from AAA so it has paid for itself before we even leave. Plus I got maps from AAA and Mapquests.com to get us from the train station to Kennedy Space Center to WDW to Universal and back to the train station.

For Universal we bought our tickets online with a special 5 days for less than the price of 2 days. So we can go to US and IOA any days we want while we are there. AAA offers many more discounts at US and IOA so we'll be using the card there a lot for meals and merchandise discounts. I also found a US/IOA message board and got a Fan Club Membership card which is supposed to be worth discounts there too.

I'm a list person. So I've made packing lists, shopping lists, things to see lists, our pins list - which ones we are keeping (by each kid) and which are available for trading. The kids even had me make a list of all the characters so they could check off who they see and get autographs from while we are there so they know who to be on special lookout for. I have a list of reservations/PS's. I also have a Word Perfect document that is over 36 pages of posts from the message boards and hints from Allears and Mousesavers and anywhere else I find hints that I don't want to forget sort of making a "best of....." list. Between my books and my lists I can find out just about anything. :)

I also made Mousekeeping envelopes ahead of time from Heidi's site at http://users.adelphia.net/~heidiw/ma...pes/index.html I also made Thank you cards (business card size) for the Characters and CM's for the kids (and me) to give to those who make our trip more special. I put different characters on them and they all say "Thank you for adding more magic and pixie dust to our 1st Walt Disney World vacation." I made return address labels for each of the kids and then they picked the different characters they wanted and put their own address label on the back. I had read some people got special autographed pictures for doing this so I felt it was a good way to show our appreciation and MAYBE get a little surprise after we get back home. Also on advise from a message board/Disney site I made address labels up for everyone we would want to send a postcard to while we're there so they are ready to just stick on and mail postcards while we are there.

I've got small containers of bubbles and small hand held games (some from the Disney Store) for waiting in lines and passing time on the train. I hit the Disney Store every few weeks and pick up stuff on clearance. I haven't paid full price for any of our shirts, towels, swimsuits or hats.

Also to help the kids save money we got Disney Dollars at the Disney Store and when they got allowance each month they must put some in savings but the rest was their's to do with as they please. They put ALL of it in their own Disney envelopes because they wanted spending money for Disney. DS also has joined Kidzeyes.com and does kid surveys and has earned $15 since January. DD has just signed up but she won't get to earn enough by the time we leave. It has also been incentive for them to sell toys that they aren't using anymore at a yard sale to earn more. We also saved our change and turned it in at the bank. They don't know that they'll get $50 each for the Prince/Princess package when we get there. They've really been saving so they can get a Pal Mickey to share. They know they will divide the money up into how many days we have and they can only spend that amount each day. If they don't spend it all they can carry it over to the next day but no borrowing against an upcoming day. So they have plenty of spending money.

Plus I got the Disney Visa and started using it in January, I had over $135 in rewards dollars before we left. That will pay for a couple character meals at least.

I have a basic itinerary set up but it can and will be flexible. We have a few Character Meals/Ice Cream Social set up and a couple PS's made. My best advise to anyone for planning a trip is to get a couple books, join allears.com and mousesavers.com for their newsletters. Also join MHM and DC message boards, everyone has been great and SO helpful and informational. You just need to be prepared, I think. I'm not a commando by any means but I want to have a better understanding so I can be flexible and go with the flow and still hit all the important spots.

Now let's see if all this preparation worked!!

09-27-2004	#1 (permalink)
cahogbin Senior Mouseketeer Join Date: Feb 2004 Location: West Virginia Posts: 262	Hogbins go to Florida WDW Trip Report - Our FIRST WDW vacation 8 nights 9 days in Florida Cast: DH - Clint 40 Me - Chris 36 DS - Shawn 7 DD - Jessie 6 Pre-trip/trip report - I thought some other newbies might be able to get some ideas if I go back a little farther to the planning stages of our trip. We decided to go about a year ahead of time. Pretty early on we decided on our time of year to go, for us we want low crowds, value season and not quite as much heat but enough to be able to enjoy the water parks while we are there so we picked September. Our kids are young enough (Kindergarten & 2nd grade) that missing a week of school won't be a problem. Our trip was planned to include a visit to Kennedy Space Center, Universal and of course WDW. Originally we were trying to squeeze in Sea World but there just wasn't enough time and there is a Sea World in Ohio we can visit maybe next summer. We decided to go with the All-Star Movies because of the icons for the kids and because we are only going to sleep and shower there. Most of our time will be spent in the parks. So we figured we'd stay at the value hotel and spend the money on more days. We also decided to take the Auto Train because I didn't want the expense of flying with 2 kids. I didn't want to be stuck on the tarmac for some delay with two fidgeting impatient kids. I also didn't want to be stuck in a car on I-95 behind some accident or construction with an impatient DH and 2 kids - "Are we there yet?" :). The train was great for us because we could rest, relax, sleep, eat on the train without having to make pit stops and with the Auto Train we were taking our own car and carseats for the kids so no rentals to deal with. Plus we could pack the car with snacks, water and breakfast foods. I don't want to be stressed out before I even get there just getting there, so the Auto Train fits us best. I got books from the library and then decided on my favorites and ordered my own 2004 editions (so I could highlight and write in the margins) from Amazon.com - I got Fodor's WDW with Kids, Birnbaum's Official Guide and the Econoguide. All were very good and worth the money spent on them for hard copy reference. Also DS got the Birnbaum's Guide for Kids at the Disney Store and LOVES it. I also bought an online book/membership to Affordabledisney.com which was $50 and now looking back was too much. I got much more from MouseHouseMagic, DisneyCentral, Mousesavers, and Deb's Unofficial Disney Site (allears.com) all for FREE than I got from AffordableDisney. I made the kids Journals online that I found at Themouseforless.com (thanks Cheryl), we made photo albums with stickers (thanks again Cheryl) so each of the kids could have their own photo album for the pictures they take. I made them activity books (puzzles, coloring, search a word) for the train ride down again from links found at themouseforless.com site. I also made a chain link counter (like Christmas tree links made out of construction paper) found at themouseforless.com site so everyday from 100 days down we take off 1 link and do our "?? days til we go to WDW dance". Ahead of time we got autograph books, pens, GOH Badges, lanyards and pins to start pin trading which helped get us in the WDW spirit. We also had some great postcard pixies who helped along the way with extra Disney Magic before we're leaving. We also bought some pins in lots on E-bay so we'd have more to trade when we get there. I did get a AAA membership for discounts in FL. At first I booked a room only and used my AAA card. 20% off I think. Then I watched for the Fairytale package like last year but it didn't come out, instead there was the 5+2 Dream Maker Package so we upgraded to that. Which meant UPH tickets - woo hoo. We also got the Prince/Princess package as an add-on. All of the WDW staff have been great with answering questions and being so helpful. The AAA membership came in very handy too when I had a flat and was on my way to get it replaced when I got ANOTHER flat. I really thought there would be some catch to get roadside assistance but there wasn't it was all included in the yearly membership price. Definitely worth the $50 a year. We also got discounts on the train tickets from AAA so it has paid for itself before we even leave. Plus I got maps from AAA and Mapquests.com to get us from the train station to Kennedy Space Center to WDW to Universal and back to the train station. For Universal we bought our tickets online with a special 5 days for less than the price of 2 days. So we can go to US and IOA any days we want while we are there. AAA offers many more discounts at US and IOA so we'll be using the card there a lot for meals and merchandise discounts. I also found a US/IOA message board and got a Fan Club Membership card which is supposed to be worth discounts there too. I'm a list person. So I've made packing lists, shopping lists, things to see lists, our pins list - which ones we are keeping (by each kid) and which are available for trading. The kids even had me make a list of all the characters so they could check off who they see and get autographs from while we are there so they know who to be on special lookout for. I have a list of reservations/PS's. I also have a Word Perfect document that is over 36 pages of posts from the message boards and hints from Allears and Mousesavers and anywhere else I find hints that I don't want to forget sort of making a "best of....." list. Between my books and my lists I can find out just about anything. :) I also made Mousekeeping envelopes ahead of time from Heidi's site at http://users.adelphia.net/~heidiw/ma...pes/index.html I also made Thank you cards (business card size) for the Characters and CM's for the kids (and me) to give to those who make our trip more special. I put different characters on them and they all say "Thank you for adding more magic and pixie dust to our 1st Walt Disney World vacation." I made return address labels for each of the kids and then they picked the different characters they wanted and put their own address label on the back. I had read some people got special autographed pictures for doing this so I felt it was a good way to show our appreciation and MAYBE get a little surprise after we get back home. Also on advise from a message board/Disney site I made address labels up for everyone we would want to send a postcard to while we're there so they are ready to just stick on and mail postcards while we are there. I've got small containers of bubbles and small hand held games (some from the Disney Store) for waiting in lines and passing time on the train. I hit the Disney Store every few weeks and pick up stuff on clearance. I haven't paid full price for any of our shirts, towels, swimsuits or hats. Also to help the kids save money we got Disney Dollars at the Disney Store and when they got allowance each month they must put some in savings but the rest was their's to do with as they please. They put ALL of it in their own Disney envelopes because they wanted spending money for Disney. DS also has joined Kidzeyes.com and does kid surveys and has earned $15 since January. DD has just signed up but she won't get to earn enough by the time we leave. It has also been incentive for them to sell toys that they aren't using anymore at a yard sale to earn more. We also saved our change and turned it in at the bank. They don't know that they'll get $50 each for the Prince/Princess package when we get there. They've really been saving so they can get a Pal Mickey to share. They know they will divide the money up into how many days we have and they can only spend that amount each day. If they don't spend it all they can carry it over to the next day but no borrowing against an upcoming day. So they have plenty of spending money. Plus I got the Disney Visa and started using it in January, I had over $135 in rewards dollars before we left. That will pay for a couple character meals at least. I have a basic itinerary set up but it can and will be flexible. We have a few Character Meals/Ice Cream Social set up and a couple PS's made. My best advise to anyone for planning a trip is to get a couple books, join allears.com and mousesavers.com for their newsletters. Also join MHM and DC message boards, everyone has been great and SO helpful and informational. You just need to be prepared, I think. I'm not a commando by any means but I want to have a better understanding so I can be flexible and go with the flow and still hit all the important spots. Now let's see if all this preparation worked!! __________________ Chris