Good day, fellow travelers. 4 years is about the correct wait time for a killer sequel, right? I guess that means it's about time that we get this show on the road. What's that? You didn't read the original? No worries. I'll get you caught up right quickly and give a sneak preview of what is to come.
Who is this Brifraz character? Well, I've been going to WDW since 1976; however my true addiction didn't crop up until 1994. I've been about 40 times since then. The usual travel crew is myself, my wife of the last 22+ years, and our 20 year old daughter.
4 years ago, we augmented our traveling party with nearly 140 other folks. You see, my day job is as a high school music teacher. Last time we took just over 100 students, about 15 chaperones and then about 25 other family members. We had a great trip, with only a few hiccups. Granted a few weeks after that trip the entire world shut down for a few months... but, I'm fairly certain it wasn't our fault!
So, it's time. We are doing it again. In fact, hitting the road this Thursday. 3 busses. 107 students. 21 adults. No family members this time - just the students and those of us who will be responsible for them for 6 days (including travel). It's a few more kids than last time and a bunch more chaperones, but no extra family. One of the requests of the kids is that I do vlog of the trip, so I'm going to try to make sure to be taking a lot of pictures as well as short videos this time around and will post what I can here to share with all of you!
However, there are a few VERY big difference this trip from the last time we did it. First off, my wonderful wife and amazing daughter are not going along this time. My wife will actually be in Disneyland running the half marathon there next weekend and my daughter is in college and can't come down to join in. This certainly adds an element of... well, concern for me. Last time, my wife was one of the head chaperones which meant I had someone I knew I could always count on and could commiserate with. And my daughter being friends with quite a few of my students could be a bit of a voice of reason among the students!
The second difference is that we are not using a touring company this time around. In fact, I've never done a really big trip like this without using a travel company. However, about year ago, when I started planning this go around, I contacted our usual travel company (as well as a couple others). And the going rate for a trip like ours (4 days in the parks, bus transport from northern Maryland, all meals, and a special fireworks dinner at Epcot) was between $1500 and $1600 per kid. Last time, the kids paid a bit under $1400 and inflation (especially gas prices) meant that these prices made some sense. But then I started to look at it with a little more scrutiny. I contacted some bus companies. I contacted Disney about Imagination Campus group tickets. As information came together, I started to think that I could likely do everything myself and get the price down to about $1250. In the area that I teach, that $250 savings is pretty significant. So, I decided to go for it. Did everything myself (with lots of help from my wife, a couple amazing boosters parents, and some other folks at school). In the end, I got the price down to $1150 and the kids are actually getting a bit more bang for their buck than they would've with the touring company.
In addition, since we were doing things on our own, we could include all those family members who aren't traveling with us in our group ticket order. So a few weeks ago, I got a large shipping envelope with over $80,000 worth of Disney media in it - 158 4-day park passes and just over $20,000 in meal/gift cards.
Which are now all sorted into about 100 different envelopes in boxes in my dining room. Along with about 12 paper boxes (like the boxes that bulk copier paper comes in) full of breakfast materials and snacks for the road. (here are the breakfast things before they were sorted).
But, now, with just 4 days to go until we hit the road, I think we are pretty close to being ready for the adventure. For those who have perhaps planned a trip for a large family group or even a few families together. Just imagine doing that for 128 people. And, as crazy as it has been - and a bit hectic and alarming at times - I've still enjoyed it and am looking forward to the trip.
And, if it doesn't go well... I'm only 5 months from eligibility for retirement and my full pension and I've got well over 250 sick days built up!!
Who is this Brifraz character? Well, I've been going to WDW since 1976; however my true addiction didn't crop up until 1994. I've been about 40 times since then. The usual travel crew is myself, my wife of the last 22+ years, and our 20 year old daughter.
4 years ago, we augmented our traveling party with nearly 140 other folks. You see, my day job is as a high school music teacher. Last time we took just over 100 students, about 15 chaperones and then about 25 other family members. We had a great trip, with only a few hiccups. Granted a few weeks after that trip the entire world shut down for a few months... but, I'm fairly certain it wasn't our fault!
So, it's time. We are doing it again. In fact, hitting the road this Thursday. 3 busses. 107 students. 21 adults. No family members this time - just the students and those of us who will be responsible for them for 6 days (including travel). It's a few more kids than last time and a bunch more chaperones, but no extra family. One of the requests of the kids is that I do vlog of the trip, so I'm going to try to make sure to be taking a lot of pictures as well as short videos this time around and will post what I can here to share with all of you!
However, there are a few VERY big difference this trip from the last time we did it. First off, my wonderful wife and amazing daughter are not going along this time. My wife will actually be in Disneyland running the half marathon there next weekend and my daughter is in college and can't come down to join in. This certainly adds an element of... well, concern for me. Last time, my wife was one of the head chaperones which meant I had someone I knew I could always count on and could commiserate with. And my daughter being friends with quite a few of my students could be a bit of a voice of reason among the students!
The second difference is that we are not using a touring company this time around. In fact, I've never done a really big trip like this without using a travel company. However, about year ago, when I started planning this go around, I contacted our usual travel company (as well as a couple others). And the going rate for a trip like ours (4 days in the parks, bus transport from northern Maryland, all meals, and a special fireworks dinner at Epcot) was between $1500 and $1600 per kid. Last time, the kids paid a bit under $1400 and inflation (especially gas prices) meant that these prices made some sense. But then I started to look at it with a little more scrutiny. I contacted some bus companies. I contacted Disney about Imagination Campus group tickets. As information came together, I started to think that I could likely do everything myself and get the price down to about $1250. In the area that I teach, that $250 savings is pretty significant. So, I decided to go for it. Did everything myself (with lots of help from my wife, a couple amazing boosters parents, and some other folks at school). In the end, I got the price down to $1150 and the kids are actually getting a bit more bang for their buck than they would've with the touring company.
In addition, since we were doing things on our own, we could include all those family members who aren't traveling with us in our group ticket order. So a few weeks ago, I got a large shipping envelope with over $80,000 worth of Disney media in it - 158 4-day park passes and just over $20,000 in meal/gift cards.
Which are now all sorted into about 100 different envelopes in boxes in my dining room. Along with about 12 paper boxes (like the boxes that bulk copier paper comes in) full of breakfast materials and snacks for the road. (here are the breakfast things before they were sorted).
But, now, with just 4 days to go until we hit the road, I think we are pretty close to being ready for the adventure. For those who have perhaps planned a trip for a large family group or even a few families together. Just imagine doing that for 128 people. And, as crazy as it has been - and a bit hectic and alarming at times - I've still enjoyed it and am looking forward to the trip.
And, if it doesn't go well... I'm only 5 months from eligibility for retirement and my full pension and I've got well over 250 sick days built up!!
