Hello Friends,
Although I am still trying to complete my DCL trip report, I am back again because we just decided that WDW needs more of our money. So, so start i'll give you the who, what, when, where, and why.
The Who: Me (JoAnna), my sister (Halie), and the birthday girl (Gracie).
The What: A quick weekend trip to celebrate Gracie's 8th birthday. This is her second time celebrating her birthday at the World. Last time was her first ever trip for her 5th birthday.
The When: September 14-16. This is the latest I have ever booked a trip prior to arrival. Usually our trips takes many months to plan, but not this time. We are 71 days away.
The Where: Disney All Star Sports. It was the only value available, and since this is just a quick trip, the resort isn't really a problem. We were able to get the room only 25% discount, making it only $107 a night. Even with parking fees included, it ended up being cheaper than staying off-site.
The Why: Because I find it easier to go on trips than plan birthday parties. To be honest, every year I ask Gracie if she would rather have a birthday party and invite her friends from school, or go somewhere fun. With her birthday being in September, it's hard for me to get to know her classmates parents by the time we need to send out invites. Since birthday invitations in class aren't allowed due favoritism (although I have always invited everyone), corralling friends is a pain. So although I spend a little more money on getaways, it saves me the hassle of getting a cake, invitations, decorations, and renting out a space (we have a garden style home that isn't big enough to accommodate more than a couple of running children so I usually rent a pavilion at our local park).
We recently came back from a weekend trip to Gatlinburg where we did Dollywood and Dollywood Splash Country. She was tall enough to ride most of the rides, and rode probably the most thrilling coaster that she has ever ridden. On our drive home she said that she wanted to go to Dollywood again for her birthday. So after some thinking and pricing, there was only a $100 difference in Gatlinburg vs. Orlando. I asked her if instead of Gatlinburg, we drove down to Orlando and did MNSSHP. We have been wanting to do this forever, but won't have the opportunity for the next few years. Of course she chose Disney.
Here is the plan:
Drive down early Friday morning with plans to arrive at the hotel around 2. Change into party clothes and head to the park so we can get in at 4. Get our party on! I'm especially excited about the parade and the Sanderson Sisters show. We are planning to shut the party down when it closes at midnight.
The next day we will sleep in, which is usually 8 a.m. to us, especially on vacation. I decided that it would be fun to have a character breakfast this day since we aren't in a rush and won't have any park time other than the party. I asked Gracie if she wanted to do 1900 PF or Cape May. Since the food is pretty much the same, I told her which characters were at which buffet, and she chose Cape May Cafe. So, now we have a 10 a.m. reservation for Cape May at the BC. I am actually pretty pumped about this because when we do our trip next year, we are going to be staying at BC or BW so I will get a chance to check out the area!
Following breakfast we will probably head back to the resort and swim for awhile. We may go do some mini-golf or something to kill time. We usually dont have complete free days while at Disney, so it will be fun to just take our time. I asked Gracie where she would like to go for her "birthday dinner" and she chose T-Rex at Disney Springs. I figured she would choose Toothsome at UNI since we had such a great experience last time, but she went with T-Rex. I am going to take some advice given by some other posters and enroll in Landry's Select Club. This way I wont have to make a reservation and we can take our time getting there.
Sunday we will probably get up and do some swimming before checking out and heading home. I am super stoked about this trip, especially since it's coming up so soon.
I have asked on another forum, but if anyone could give me advice on room request for All-Stars Sports it would be greatly appreciated. Im
Although I am still trying to complete my DCL trip report, I am back again because we just decided that WDW needs more of our money. So, so start i'll give you the who, what, when, where, and why.
The Who: Me (JoAnna), my sister (Halie), and the birthday girl (Gracie).
The What: A quick weekend trip to celebrate Gracie's 8th birthday. This is her second time celebrating her birthday at the World. Last time was her first ever trip for her 5th birthday.
The When: September 14-16. This is the latest I have ever booked a trip prior to arrival. Usually our trips takes many months to plan, but not this time. We are 71 days away.
The Where: Disney All Star Sports. It was the only value available, and since this is just a quick trip, the resort isn't really a problem. We were able to get the room only 25% discount, making it only $107 a night. Even with parking fees included, it ended up being cheaper than staying off-site.
The Why: Because I find it easier to go on trips than plan birthday parties. To be honest, every year I ask Gracie if she would rather have a birthday party and invite her friends from school, or go somewhere fun. With her birthday being in September, it's hard for me to get to know her classmates parents by the time we need to send out invites. Since birthday invitations in class aren't allowed due favoritism (although I have always invited everyone), corralling friends is a pain. So although I spend a little more money on getaways, it saves me the hassle of getting a cake, invitations, decorations, and renting out a space (we have a garden style home that isn't big enough to accommodate more than a couple of running children so I usually rent a pavilion at our local park).
We recently came back from a weekend trip to Gatlinburg where we did Dollywood and Dollywood Splash Country. She was tall enough to ride most of the rides, and rode probably the most thrilling coaster that she has ever ridden. On our drive home she said that she wanted to go to Dollywood again for her birthday. So after some thinking and pricing, there was only a $100 difference in Gatlinburg vs. Orlando. I asked her if instead of Gatlinburg, we drove down to Orlando and did MNSSHP. We have been wanting to do this forever, but won't have the opportunity for the next few years. Of course she chose Disney.
Here is the plan:
Drive down early Friday morning with plans to arrive at the hotel around 2. Change into party clothes and head to the park so we can get in at 4. Get our party on! I'm especially excited about the parade and the Sanderson Sisters show. We are planning to shut the party down when it closes at midnight.
The next day we will sleep in, which is usually 8 a.m. to us, especially on vacation. I decided that it would be fun to have a character breakfast this day since we aren't in a rush and won't have any park time other than the party. I asked Gracie if she wanted to do 1900 PF or Cape May. Since the food is pretty much the same, I told her which characters were at which buffet, and she chose Cape May Cafe. So, now we have a 10 a.m. reservation for Cape May at the BC. I am actually pretty pumped about this because when we do our trip next year, we are going to be staying at BC or BW so I will get a chance to check out the area!
Following breakfast we will probably head back to the resort and swim for awhile. We may go do some mini-golf or something to kill time. We usually dont have complete free days while at Disney, so it will be fun to just take our time. I asked Gracie where she would like to go for her "birthday dinner" and she chose T-Rex at Disney Springs. I figured she would choose Toothsome at UNI since we had such a great experience last time, but she went with T-Rex. I am going to take some advice given by some other posters and enroll in Landry's Select Club. This way I wont have to make a reservation and we can take our time getting there.
Sunday we will probably get up and do some swimming before checking out and heading home. I am super stoked about this trip, especially since it's coming up so soon.
I have asked on another forum, but if anyone could give me advice on room request for All-Stars Sports it would be greatly appreciated. Im
