Pre-Trip Report -- Part 1: I have a confession...

I have a confession to make and hopefully it won't get me hog-tied and run out of town. After our last trip to the Walt Disney World Resort in January 2009, I felt that I was done with the Disney trips. In all honesty, the thought of returning any time within the following year--made me cringe.

Now several years ago we purchased a camper and we've spent considerable time with close friends and family in the woods. When money got tighter and I couldn't find permanent work, the thought of selling the camper never cross my consciousness. But selling the DVC did several times.

Guys I think I just saw someone pass out in the back row!  Before anyone else requires medical intervention let me put your mind to rest.   Recently I came to my senses with a little help from some friends.

That's us in a photo from May 2008.  The last time we went to WDW as a family.  I'll introduce you to everyone starting from the bottom.

That's "Cinderella" who will be 6 on our next trip.  She is a 100% bonafide princess with all of the girly tendencies you would expect.  And as the smallest member of the clan she sometimes has the biggest presence. 

Standing next to her is "Buzz" who might see 10 years old.  Living with all of these women is hazardous to his health.

The lady with the braids is me, your story telling, trip planning, budget keeping, suitcase packing, surprise making, coupon clipping Momma.  I will henceforth be referred to as "The Queen".  Let's not forget people!

The devilishly handsome gentleman to my left is the self-proclaimed "King Louie".  We let him suffer under the illusion that he has a say in the upcoming trip.  His role in the outworking of this trip is to drive the Disneymobile safely to our destination.  Its not hard, but he some times has to have me (let me) tell him the way.  Also, he gets to express his artistic side and decorate the aforementioned Disneymobile.

Last but not least is our oldest daughter "Pocahontas".  She is a teenager and for most mothers that is all I need to say cause you understand my struggle.  Most days she is a sweet, loving child who greets the day with a smile and laughter.

So now you have met the cast of characters (literally) that will be going on this adventure with us.  Who knows we may even have some more people joining the fun.


Head on over to
Part 2:  Starting a Disney Fund
Part 3:  Possible Disney Fund Deposit

Where Will We Lay Our Heads?

The first decision we had to make was when we were going. L.J. had recently started a new job and with no vacation days built up yet, he wanted to miss as few days as possible. The easiest solution was to plan around the holidays when everybody would already have a few off days scheduled. Plus, Sonny and I could get in another trip on our AP’s from January. December 28- January 4 started looking like our target dates.

The first time we celebrated our anniversary at Disney it was right after the Christmas holidays. The crowds were unimaginable and we said that we would never go back to Disney during the holidays. Never say never because here we are. But our reasoning this time is that with four adults we should be able to handle the crowds with proper planning.

We recently became Disney Vacation Club members and our first trip home was this past January 2007 at Saratoga Springs. Then in May 2007 we stayed at BWV. For all of the SSR lovers let me just put it out there: The resort is absolutely beautiful! The rooms are absolutely beautiful! But this resort and the Downtown Disney area is just not where we are absolutely happiest. Given a choice we prefer the Epcot Area and Boardwalk Villas, but every trip we tell ourselves that we will try somewhere new and every trip we end up right back at the BW. This trip I figured there is no sense in pretense—we wanted to stay at BWV again.

So our challenge now was finding a 2 bedroom villa at BWV for December 30, 2007 – January 4, 2008. But so did everyone else in the free world! The best the CM could do was to book us at Saratoga Springs for the first and last two nights. We went on the waitlist for the middle days that we needed and hoped for the best.

As any true Disney Planaholic knows, we don’t do well with waitlists or probability. I will play nice for a little while, but I need a confirmation number NOW to write in my Passporter! I sweated my husband something fierce about what I should do about the room situation. Out of desperation the poor man suggested that I just book concierge rooms at the BWI. That sounded really nice at first, but as I started checking out prices I realized that the cost of the two rooms was outrageous during the holiday season. No thanks. I will have to find better way.

To save points I did go ahead and book All Star Movies for the first two days of our trip (Friday and Saturday night). We stayed here last September with the kids and thought it would be a nice start to our trip.

But I started to get really antsy about not having our room booked so I called Member Services constantly. After a few weeks, I was on a first name basis with several of the cast members. Finally, the first of September I confessed to Sonny that I was afraid that the waitlist would never come through. Several phone calls to Brianne and we decided to move the entire vacation back one week. So our dates changed to Jan 4-11, 2008.

I called Member Services and received the bad news that they could not get us into a 2-br at BWV for the week. We would again have to go on the waitlist, but our chances would seriously improve with this being the start of value season. The waitlist came through for all but the last night! I am so excited that I would not be upset if we were at SSR for the last night.