BandMan
08-06-2008, 01:14 PM
Well, it’s a week before we leave, and I’m already having trouble sleeping. This will be my third trip to WDW, my family’s second. I’m a high school band director in rural WI, and my first trip was back in 1996 with my band. It was wonderful, but all too brief.
My wife and I have four children – DD15, DS13, DS11 and DD6. Both boys have autism, which presents a daily challenge to our lives. Our best friends since college are Disney fanatics. In the past 25 years they have been to WDW around 30 times.
Two years ago, DW and I decided that when I finished my master’s degree, we’d take the family to WDW as a reward. (I had been gone a lot of nights and weekends for 3 years. :pout:) When our friends found out, they decided they’d go along. They also graciously gave us their DVC at cost so we could economically house our family of 6 at Old Key West. :heart: They took a smaller place just around the corner.
We had the time of our lives, and fell in love with Disney as a family. :cloud9: What’s more, the WDW magic seemed to be therapeutic for the boys. DS#2 especially started to talk more after that trip. Now it is 2 years later and we can’t wait to get back.
We’ll be traveling with our friends again, although we’re not staying on property. They offered us the same deal, but we just didn’t want to take advantage of them. Our friends are great to travel with. We stay together when we feel like it, separate other times, and nobody gets offended. They have DS18 and DS15, who are old hands at WDW. Since our kids are younger, we hit some of the more kid-oriented stuff they tend to skip. Also, we can send DD 15 with them if she gets bored with the rest of us.
We made plane reservation back in January. I was feeling really good about the money I saved. Then the airline cancelled our flight. :angry: We had Friday – Friday hotel reservations which couldn’t be changed. We could have gotten a refund, but by then another airline would have been much more expensive. So, we had 2 choices. Either go Saturday to Saturday, and end up paying for one night's hotel we weren’t using, plus find a hotel for 1 additional night, OR go Wednesday to Saturday and be in WDW 3 extra days. Well, we managed to find a fairly inexpensive hotel that could accommodate the 6 of us for the first Wed. and Thur. as well as the last Fri. Long story short (I know, too late), we’re in WDW for 10 days! :woohoo:
We’re really looking forward to some of the new things, especially Toy Story Mania. Plus, we missed a few things last time. POC was closed, and we didn’t plan our day at HS very well – we missed both Indian Jones and Lights! Motors! Action! Now that DD15 has seen Raiders of the Lost Ark, she might actually understand the Indian Jones show.
We also know enough to skip some things we did last time. (We affectionately refer to Conservation Station as "The Train to Nowhere".) :razz:
We know it will be hot, but with 10 days, we really feel we can afford to head back to the pool most afternoons and not miss anything we want to see. Besides, being a teacher, I really have no option but to eihter go in the summer or during the most crowded times of the year.
:chef: We’re saving some money by eating some of our meals off site. But we will be eating at least 1 meal in the parks each day. Many of those will be CS, but we’ve made the following ADR’s: dinner at Kona (the 6 of us + our 4 friends), lunch at Sci-Fi, breakfast at Chef Mickey, lunch at Biergarten and dinner at Tony’s. Let me know what you think of our ressies.
:rocks: I discovered Intercot before our first trip 2 years ago, and it has been such a blessing. It helped us save money and time, helped me feel confident about what we were doing, so the rest of the family could just relax and follow along. So thanks to all of you for the great advice. We'll see how this trip goes. I'll fill you in as soon as I get the chance. TTFN
My wife and I have four children – DD15, DS13, DS11 and DD6. Both boys have autism, which presents a daily challenge to our lives. Our best friends since college are Disney fanatics. In the past 25 years they have been to WDW around 30 times.
Two years ago, DW and I decided that when I finished my master’s degree, we’d take the family to WDW as a reward. (I had been gone a lot of nights and weekends for 3 years. :pout:) When our friends found out, they decided they’d go along. They also graciously gave us their DVC at cost so we could economically house our family of 6 at Old Key West. :heart: They took a smaller place just around the corner.
We had the time of our lives, and fell in love with Disney as a family. :cloud9: What’s more, the WDW magic seemed to be therapeutic for the boys. DS#2 especially started to talk more after that trip. Now it is 2 years later and we can’t wait to get back.
We’ll be traveling with our friends again, although we’re not staying on property. They offered us the same deal, but we just didn’t want to take advantage of them. Our friends are great to travel with. We stay together when we feel like it, separate other times, and nobody gets offended. They have DS18 and DS15, who are old hands at WDW. Since our kids are younger, we hit some of the more kid-oriented stuff they tend to skip. Also, we can send DD 15 with them if she gets bored with the rest of us.
We made plane reservation back in January. I was feeling really good about the money I saved. Then the airline cancelled our flight. :angry: We had Friday – Friday hotel reservations which couldn’t be changed. We could have gotten a refund, but by then another airline would have been much more expensive. So, we had 2 choices. Either go Saturday to Saturday, and end up paying for one night's hotel we weren’t using, plus find a hotel for 1 additional night, OR go Wednesday to Saturday and be in WDW 3 extra days. Well, we managed to find a fairly inexpensive hotel that could accommodate the 6 of us for the first Wed. and Thur. as well as the last Fri. Long story short (I know, too late), we’re in WDW for 10 days! :woohoo:
We’re really looking forward to some of the new things, especially Toy Story Mania. Plus, we missed a few things last time. POC was closed, and we didn’t plan our day at HS very well – we missed both Indian Jones and Lights! Motors! Action! Now that DD15 has seen Raiders of the Lost Ark, she might actually understand the Indian Jones show.
We also know enough to skip some things we did last time. (We affectionately refer to Conservation Station as "The Train to Nowhere".) :razz:
We know it will be hot, but with 10 days, we really feel we can afford to head back to the pool most afternoons and not miss anything we want to see. Besides, being a teacher, I really have no option but to eihter go in the summer or during the most crowded times of the year.
:chef: We’re saving some money by eating some of our meals off site. But we will be eating at least 1 meal in the parks each day. Many of those will be CS, but we’ve made the following ADR’s: dinner at Kona (the 6 of us + our 4 friends), lunch at Sci-Fi, breakfast at Chef Mickey, lunch at Biergarten and dinner at Tony’s. Let me know what you think of our ressies.
:rocks: I discovered Intercot before our first trip 2 years ago, and it has been such a blessing. It helped us save money and time, helped me feel confident about what we were doing, so the rest of the family could just relax and follow along. So thanks to all of you for the great advice. We'll see how this trip goes. I'll fill you in as soon as I get the chance. TTFN