JinxedSydney
Lurker Extraordinare
- Joined
- Oct 2, 2011
In April, the DH and I planned to surprise the DD's with a trip to DL the second weekend in December (Dec 8-11). I got my fingers busy and searched high and low for the best prices and hotels, food and whatnot. We are an eleven hour drive from the Mouse. We bought a 2016 ornament and planned on having them decorate the tree today and give the reveal.
Imagine my own surprise when the deeper I researched, the more I found that DL tickets were nearly the same prices as WDW ones (yes, yes, I know there are differences, but that is ANOTHER thread...don't hijack me). *A little backstory, the DH and I are celebrating our 25th at WDW in 2018 and we've always told the girls they weren't going.*
Armed with the pricing info and the lack of Dining Plan options, the wheels started turning. What IF we took them in 2018? The oldest will be a senior in high school, the youngest, a freshman. The timing was perfect. Our biggest cost is the airfare and this time buffer will allow us to save up! And use our Disney card to earn free Disney cash! Bonus!
Enter in brother, stage right, a DVC BLT guy. "Use my points," he said. But it makes me sad to just use the points, so we invite him to go. Now we are +3.
Of course, we have to ask my parents! They've been on the last two WDW trips with us. We LOVE going with them. Sometimes we hang out, sometimes we don't. Sometimes we eat together, sometimes they skip the ADR's. It's all good.
And why not ask my DH's parents? Sure! They've never gone with us before because Big Papa was a small business owner. But he's retired now. Guess what?! They said yes!
Add in my best friend, her hubby and their two boys and now we are clocking in at 15...with 726 days to go. So far, the plan is to split between two BLT rooms. The convenience of the Monorail for all of the grandparents is the most important, even though we never had issues with the buses on either of our previous trips. More people may join us, too. Lucky for us, we have plenty of time to get that ironed out.
As the DD's unwrapped the 2016 ornament this weekend, I had to explain we weren't going, they were both so sad...until they both burst into tears to hear that they would be going 2 years from now.
A two year pre-trip report? We'll see how I do. I already have been given a list of restaurants for ADR's.
Imagine my own surprise when the deeper I researched, the more I found that DL tickets were nearly the same prices as WDW ones (yes, yes, I know there are differences, but that is ANOTHER thread...don't hijack me). *A little backstory, the DH and I are celebrating our 25th at WDW in 2018 and we've always told the girls they weren't going.*
Armed with the pricing info and the lack of Dining Plan options, the wheels started turning. What IF we took them in 2018? The oldest will be a senior in high school, the youngest, a freshman. The timing was perfect. Our biggest cost is the airfare and this time buffer will allow us to save up! And use our Disney card to earn free Disney cash! Bonus!
Enter in brother, stage right, a DVC BLT guy. "Use my points," he said. But it makes me sad to just use the points, so we invite him to go. Now we are +3.
Of course, we have to ask my parents! They've been on the last two WDW trips with us. We LOVE going with them. Sometimes we hang out, sometimes we don't. Sometimes we eat together, sometimes they skip the ADR's. It's all good.
And why not ask my DH's parents? Sure! They've never gone with us before because Big Papa was a small business owner. But he's retired now. Guess what?! They said yes!
Add in my best friend, her hubby and their two boys and now we are clocking in at 15...with 726 days to go. So far, the plan is to split between two BLT rooms. The convenience of the Monorail for all of the grandparents is the most important, even though we never had issues with the buses on either of our previous trips. More people may join us, too. Lucky for us, we have plenty of time to get that ironed out.
As the DD's unwrapped the 2016 ornament this weekend, I had to explain we weren't going, they were both so sad...until they both burst into tears to hear that they would be going 2 years from now.
A two year pre-trip report? We'll see how I do. I already have been given a list of restaurants for ADR's.