~It's OVER! In-laws joined us for their 1st trip! Nov.12-22, 2010 Updated 5/13/11

[loveysbydesign]

Ok, let me try this PTR stuff! I tried a TR back in 2006 from the 1st time we went to WDW and sadly never finished it!(due to lack of time and an old, slow computer)

This time will be a different story!

Background....my in-laws have NEVER been to WDW.
They promised to take my dh when he was a child and they never made it there
Fast forward to 2006. Dh and I celebrated our 10 year Anniversary by going to WDW...his 1st time and our kids 1st time. We were supposed to go to WDW for our honeymoon in 1996 but 2 weeks before we got married the travel agency went bankrupt and we lost our honeymoon.
It took us 10 years to finally get there!

We loved it so much(we were bitten by the BUG!) we have been back 3 times since- Nov. 2007, May 2009(2 days at WDW and our 1st Disney cruise)and this past June.

We hadn't planned the June 2010 trip...it was a "last minute, super-cheap, 1st time driving, surprising the kids, celebrating Ryan's 3rd birthday trip". All my little guy wanted for his birthday was to go to Mickey's house and get a blue Mickey balloon---so we did! It was thee sweetest thing ever when he finally got to see Mickey and hug him. He would not let go...it brings tears to my eyes now just thinking about it.

After our cruise in May 2009 (we had re-booked 2 dummy dates for 2 cabins while on-board) we talked the in-laws into coming along with us on a Disney cruise in Oct. 2010, along with a few days at WDW. After discussing it on a few separate occasions, they express to us that they would love to spend more than 2-3 days at WDW so they can see more of it, plus 7 day tix. don't cost too much more than 3 day tix. Plus we found it would be cheaper to cruise on the new Dream then it was to cruise on the Wonder.
Ok, that's great but being that we have 3 kids there is no way we can afford to do the cruise and 7 days at WDW. So we decide to bump out the cruise to Oct. 2011 and just do an extended trips to the parks in Nov. so my in-laws can experience the Disney magic when it's not too hot and not too crowded, plus Dmil wants to see some Christmas decorations!
It's set....trip planning time here I come!

 

[loveysbydesign]

The Cast:
Dh-38-had never been to WDW as a child and was actually resentful about going for our 10 year anniversary-he actually told me, "You should feel lucky that I am letting you plan this trip to WDW!" Within 15 minutes of being in MK he was bitten by the bug and asked when we could come back again! He's a hard worker and just celebrated 20 years of employment at his work!
Me-will turn 36 right before we go-has always loved everything Disney and WDW, I finally go to go with my family when I was 12 years old and again on my senior trip in 1992.
I'm a work-at-home mom, I provide part time child care in our home and also run my own soapmaking business.
Ds-11 y.o. Entering the tween years, but is still loving and affectionate...was bitten by the bug at age 7 on our first trip.
Dd-8 y.o Will be 8 on Sat. but acts like she's 18! Sassy, bossy and loves to be the center of attention, just like Tink- Bitten by the bug at age 3!
Ds-3y.o. Just turned 3 in June and was born loving Mickey, I swear!

Here are pictures of us from our trips in 2006

2007

2009

and 2010!

Dmil and Dfil-mid-sixties

After much nail biting and time consuming searching I narrow our lodging choices down to 3 places(from about 500!!!). Now we have always stayed at Windsor Hills and SSR in the past but needed something a little bigger this time so we all had room to stretch out and not work on each others nerves!
Next it was on to watching for airfare...we were hoping to fly out of LVIA( 20 minutes from our house) instead of Newark or Philly(1 1/2-2 hours from our house) as we had done for previous trips. Thankfully AirTran is now flying out of LVIA so we watched prices on flights from them and Allegiant. Scored great flights on Nov. 13th and 22nd, even though I really wanted to fly in on the 12th(but it was $30 more pp). Later we got lucky as AT changed our flight time so then we were able to switch to the 12th for free, even though the prices had gone up.

The Plan:
~Fly in on Fri. Nov. 12th from LVIA on AirTran(scored $59 down and $79 back)
~Rent separate cars from Alamo(love using their kiosk)
~Stay in Indian Creek in a 4b/3b pool home that we scored for $1200 for 11 night!
http://www.houseforrentflorida.net/houses5.htm
~Buy 7 day tix. at WDW(redeeming our GAD vouchers and upgrading them), 1-2 days at SW and/or maybe 1 beach day
~Fly home on Mon. Nov. 22nd

 

[loveysbydesign]

We arrive Friday night the 12th and plan is to swing by the SuperTarget on Rte 192 and Formosa Gardens Blvd to buy groceries before we head to Indian Creek, which is right down the road.

 

[loveysbydesign]

Wow..it's been almost a month since I started this PTR and so much has happened in the past few weeks.
I thought things would get a little less crazy when the kids went back to school, boy was I wrong! My oldest ds started middle school and my dd has started at a new charter school. Between busses, carpooling, babysitting, soap making, baseball, field hockey and multiple committee mtg.'s and my crazy 3 y.o. it has been nuts at our house!

We've also managed to squeeze in a day trip to HersheyPark(using our free tix. from Chevy)

a trip to Camelbeach(more free tix.)

my dd's 8th bday party and then a Camp Rock 2 movie slumber party

and a few other fun things in the last month.

We did just get an email from AT changing the time for our flight home to leaving at 3:00 instead of 1:22! Yippee...that give us time to his DTD for some last minute goodies before we head to the airport and fly home!

 

[loveysbydesign]

OH MY! How could I have forgotten to add that we got $10 lawn seats to see Demi and Jonas Camp Rock 2 tour in Camden NJ.
I wrapped the tix up in a little box that was then wrapped in multiple bigger boxes for my dd's 8th bday! We had a girls night out with me, her, her bff and her bff's mom!
It was her 1st concert. We had such a blast!

 

[loveysbydesign]

Rental car woes! Finally got our rental down to $212 for the 11 days for a mid-size car! Hopefully the prices will drop as we get closer to the trip!

 

[pamjb]

$212 for a mid-size for 11 days sounds like a great price.....But is a mid-size big enough for 7 people???

 

[loveysbydesign]

$212 for a mid-size for 11 days sounds like a great price.....But is a mid-size big enough for 7 people???

Hooray! My 1st follower...and I had all but given up!

We're renting one car and the in-laws are renting their own! I'm not sure how tired they will get from all the walking so they rented their own in case some days they want to take an afternoon break and we don't!

On to other things...I feel so far behind in planning....gotta have a a few different itineraries in case we need to take it even slower then I have planned for thus far.
Things have been so crazy here with school starting, plus I'm doing 3 craft soaps in the weeks before we leave, to sell my goat's milk soaps and other natural products. Gotta make some extra money for WDW!
My 2 favorite craft shows I'll actually miss as we will be away those 2 Sat.'s in November.

 

[pamjb]

I just started reading the PTR thread. I usually just look for a title that looks interesting, OR from some near me, like you
I can tell you I priced out cars for our trip in 3 weeks. It was $200 for an economy for 5 days. We are staying at the Beach Club, so normally I wouldn't rent a car, but we have friends staying at Caribbean Beach.
Which craft shows are you doing? I used to go to a few, but then the boys sports got in the way. Fall baseball just ended and it is January till basketball starts, so I have a little opening. Now I just have to stop saying to myself...."I could make that"

 

[loveysbydesign]

I just started reading the PTR thread. I usually just look for a title that looks interesting, OR from some near me, like you
I can tell you I priced out cars for our trip in 3 weeks. It was $200 for an economy for 5 days. We are staying at the Beach Club, so normally I wouldn't rent a car, but we have friends staying at Caribbean Beach.
Which craft shows are you doing? I used to go to a few, but then the boys sports got in the way. Fall baseball just ended and it is January till basketball starts, so I have a little opening. Now I just have to stop saying to myself...."I could make that"

I got that rate from Alamo using a code from mousesavers.com and an entertainment book coupon.

I'll be doing the Leesport Harvest Craft Fair on Oct. 9(and maybe 10)
Copeechan Fish and Game in Schnecksville on Oct. 23rd and Seven Generations Holiday Market in Emmaus Nov. 6.
I had planned to do to show at the Lower Macungie Library/Comm. Center on Nov. 13(or maybe it was the 20th) but we are away. It's a shame as last year I sold out of almost everything at that show. Hoping to also do the Macungie show on Dec. 11th.

 

[loveysbydesign]

We're trying restaurant.com g.c. for this trip! Printed off 2 g.c. one for House of Blues and one for Girodano's! Used code WOW for 90% off!

 

[pamjb]

I tried every code on Mousesavers for our October trip. I don't know what is happening that weekend, but rentals were outrageous.
I haven't been to the Leesport shows for ages. Maybe it will fit in my schedule this year....

 

[loveysbydesign]

UGH....seems like vacation will never get here or we won't have enough $$$ to go! Between car issues and house issues I'm beginning to fret!

 

[loveysbydesign]

Sorry for taking so long to update this! Life has been crazy!

Well we finally made it to WDW despite my ds being sick and my MIL having major health issues! I spent the last few weeks before we left working diligently on our daily itinerary relying on TGM to help me pick the least crowded days as I didn't want to lose any of the MAGIC on my in-laws due to crowds. Also planned out where we'd eat and what order we would do things at the parks. It was a lot of work but was well worth it to help things go smoothly for this trip.

The final weeks before we left were full of stress and worry as my MIL who had breast cancer a few years ago was diagnosed with cancerous cells in her uterus just days after my last post....3 1/2 weeks til vacation!!!
It was determined that she would need to undergo a hysterectomy. At first we were not sure whether or not the Dr. would allow it to be pushed off until we returned home from vacation. after 2 weeks of worrying and waiting they determined it would be "safe" for her to wait until we returned. However my MIL was plagues by a horrific UTI the day before we left for vacation(she had had many in the past) and therefore it was very difficult for her to stand and walk for more than 20 minutes at a time. This was not how it was supposed to go for my in-laws 1st and probably only trip to WDW. Stress, stress and more stress! I had spent many, many hours trying to plan the perfect trip for them! the pressure was ON!
TR to come!!!


Our Itinerary!
Fri. 11/12 Arrival
Sat. 11/13 AK
Sun.11/14 SeaWorld
Mon. 11/15 MK
Tues. 11/16 MK or DHS
Wed. 11/17 EP
Thurs.11/18 SW 2nd day or Beach or Rest day
Fri. 11/19 MK or DHS
Sat. 11/20 EP or MK
Sun. 11/21 AK
Mon. 11/22 DTD/Home

We are gonna be busy! Are we gonna be able to do it all???

 

[loveysbydesign]

Nov. 12
So the day we are to fly out my 3 y.o. wakes up cranky at 4a.m. with a slight fever, huge swollen glands and says his throat hurts! Uh-oh...he's got strep again I say to myself! Oh no! Like I need this now.
So off to the Dr. we go. Of course the only Dr. that is available today is the one I dislike and we couldn't get an appt. til around 1:00p.m. So we see her...she says it's not strep ..just a cold virus. QS test comes back negative. I think to myself please give me an antibiotic rx to take with us just in case. Now I don't like giving my son antibiotics but he had had strep 3 times before this and the symptoms always started out the same way. One other time the QS was neg. and the culture positive. I tell her we're leaving at 5:30 tonight to fly to WDW. She tells me to give him Sudafed and Motrin and he'll be fine. I tell her he's NEVER had Sudafed and I really don't want to give it to him for the 1st time before we fly! Basically she said oh well and did not give me an rx. I am NOT happy. Not looking forward to a possible future trip to the Centra Care clinic again on this trip.

So as the time goes on and we get closer to leaving for the airport my ds gets crankier and his fever climbs higher. I give him Motrin and he does perk up and actually eats some snacks so I'm hoping maybe the Dr. is right and it is just a virus!

This time we are flying out of LVIA and it's only about 25 minutes from our house -- Woo-hoo! A much better drive than going to Philly or Newark! We drive over to my in-laws pile into their minivan and head to the airport. Nervous and very excited about our trip! We get there at 4, scoot through security in about 10 minutes and have plenty of time to kill before boarding. Meanwhile my 3 y.o. ds is showing signs of not feeling his best. Cranky, tired(he missed his nap since we were at the Dr.s'), red cheeks from his fever but he is very excited to be flying to WDW. Plus it is very hot in the airport!


My ds Richie and FIL

My dh, Jeff making a goofy face, dd Becca and MIL

Me and my ds Ryan!

 

[OhMari]

In.
Poor little guy. I can see where this is going. Call it our mother's intuition.

 

[loveysbydesign]

[B]Nov 12 continued![/B]

So we're waiting and waiting and waiting to board(seemed like forever) and Ryan is starting to go into meltdown mode. He wouldn't want eat the Chick-Fil-A food we'd picked up on the way to the airport. So now he is sick, tired and hungry, not a good combination!
I was praying he would not have a meltdown tantrum before we even boarded the plane. He has flown 2 other times, once when he was 5 months old and once right before he turned 2. He did a great job on those flights so I was hoping history would repeat itself.

I finally convinced him to eat some of his chicken and some cheez-it crackers and that seemed to take the edge off. He rested against me for awhile and then we made 2 more trips to the bathroom and it was finally time to board.

Once on-board I strapped in his carseat and got him situated. He wanted me to hold him to comfort him but I told he I couldn't. Oh-no...the tears start. I sit smooshed up next to his carseat and let him rest his hand on me and he calms down. I offer him a lollipop for the take-off and it works!
I get a smile! Lollipops are very special treats for him as he only gets one on special occasions!

You can see in this shot he wasn't looking very happy!