Pre-Trip All-aboard! Yacht Club in July '17.

Since 2007 our family tradition has been to go to WDW every two years. The tradition almost died in 2015 but 3 out of 5 of us saved it with a day trip. This year, with the help of a convention, we are going to the Yacht Club in July!

The Specifics (so far). I am a member of AHEPA which is like a Greek Knights of Columbus. A terrific organization that raises money for scholarships and good deeds in our community.
The AHEPA national convention this year is at WDW and they managed to secure a terrific group rate. So good in fact that I was able to convince my "not so much loving Disney" wife to agree to a trip! We've stayed at the Beach Club twice but never the Yacht Club. I'm beyond excited. We will be checking in Tues July 24th and leaving Sun the 30th.

The Players. The saddest thing about this trip will be the absence of my oldest daughter Alexandra. She graduated from College last year and is now enrolled in an accelerated nursing program. Her schedule just won't allow here to get away. I'm sure she'll be there for the 2019 trip!

DSC07422-XL.jpg


Who is going -

Myself (Chris). Disney lover trying desperately to cling to a family with 3 children that is now in reality 2 adults and a teenager. Photography enthusiast hungry for more Disney photos. Head planner and decision maker (which often leads to getting myself in trouble).

My lovely wife (Val). Those that read my other reports will not be surprised to know that Val will be the least excited to be on our trip. I think her exact words were "I'm not going to Disney again, and especially not in the *$%##@ middle of Summer!" Considerable compromises and sacrifices were made to get her to say yes. Here is a picture of the two of us from last summer. I'm not nearly as tan now as then but hopefully will be by our trip.

DSC02030-XL.jpg


Sterg - My 20 year old son will be with us this time. He missed our 2015 trip to Clearwater that included the one day at WDW. He's a sophomore at Penn State studying in the field of IT and on the swim team. He will be the source of much entertainment and laughs; if I don't kill him first. Here he is in the pool. Notice the shaved eyebrow; evidence of a bet that didn't go his way.

DSC01116-X2.jpg


Toni - When my last teenager isn't wrapping me around her little finger, she is busy with schoolwork and more dance classes than Mikhail Baryshnikov. Toni loves Disney as much as I do and we are usually the only members of the early morning Park contingency. Here she is holding our dog Prince.

DSC05205-XL.jpg


to be continued...
 
Last edited:

fractal

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
You can definitely survive this!! Plus, the stress now hopefully makes for a stress-free trip!!

Thank you for the encouragement! I'm just shooting for "reduced" stress trip. :D

Oh no! Planning is supposed to be part of the fun!

How tech savvy is your group?
We created a Google survey for attractions and restaurants in each park and used the results to make decisions like this for the group.
We also used a shared document to create our itinerary in a spreadsheet. This way, we were able to see one another's plans for each day and decide how much we wanted to do together. Each "tribe" had the freedom to do their own thing if they wanted to, but having that freedom led us to choose each other most of the time.

Best of luck, man.
Serenity NOW!

Thanks for the good advise and suggestions!

(Hopefully, you won't end up like this!) ;) :p

98ba9ca682b0fddb506ffbb236112e3f.jpg

I can relate to this!

AHHHHH. I just love extended family. Good luck with the planning. The survey may be a good idea.
Thanks @Zipitidoda !

Cool another awesome fractal trip report. If you can pull this off then maybe they need you in the middle east ;)
Thanks for the incentive. :rolleyes:
 

fractal

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Looks like my in-laws will be with us at WDW for 2 days. Tues & Wednesday.

Dinner plans (so far).

Tuesday July 24th - Ohana for a party of 10. This will be new for my sister's family and my in-laws. For us, it will be our 3rd time at our favorite Disney restaurant.

_DSC4589-X2.jpg


Wednesday I plan on spending as much time as possible at Animal Kingdom. I booked a reservation at Sanaa as backup but would like to book the new Avatar restaurant when it opens up.

DSC00632-X2.jpg


Thursday we are trying a spot new to all of us and with close proximity to Yacht Club. Les Chefs de France. I'm figuring a morning in Hollywood Studios and an evening in Epcot.



DSC07731-X2.jpg


For Friday there is talk of Val and Toni joining my sister's family at Discovery Cove. We will wait to finalize that before making further plans.
 

fractal

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Woohoo!!! I'm so excited to see the Fractals' are WDW bound this year! :D

Can't wait to read all about it! :)
Thanks @MorganInWonderland ! I can't wait to write it. :D

Yia Yia!!! She's my favorite!! :joyfull: (This time, hide the prices of the food--I remember last time she made you take back a piece of cake, because it was too expensive for you! I also think she was misunderstanding the dining plan credits, if I recall correctly. ;) )

Lol. Great memory @MinnieM123 ! Yes, it was the quick service between Indy show and Star Tours at DHS. She was arguing with me about her dessert. She wanted me to take it back despite my many attempts to explain to her it was included in the meal plan. She didn't want it, especially for the price she saw on the menu board. :D
 

*Flynnderella*

Well-Known Member
Well, the fighting has already begun.

Dozens of dinner suggestions flying back and forth between the different tribes and so far all we've booked is Ohana at the Poly for Tuesday.

Wednesday I'm planning a full day at Animal Kingdom to take in every ounce of Avatarland that I can - so we are trying to pick a spot there. I'm pushing for waiting until the new Blue alien canteen opens up reservations. We shall see.

I may not survive this.

We are nearing our 10 people WDW holiday & I don't know how we have managed to survive the carnage of restaurant selections & FP+!!! Its only ever really been me, mum, my older brother and sister for our previous trips so it was relatively straight forward .....We have one child in the group this time & I feel she won't be the one having the meltdowns when we get there....:rolleyes:
 

Register on WDWMAGIC. This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.

Back
Top Bottom