We are back! I am departing from my usual trip report procedure in that I haven't written the entire thing yet, but am instead posting a bit at a time as I go along. Tonight I am starting with introductions of the cast, since there are some additions who haven't previously appeared in my TRs.
The Cast
The cast of this trip of course includes my wife M and me, Bee. There are three new players, however: M’s mom, dad, and brother, all of whom I consider to be my own family as well! For simplicity I will refer to them as MIL (mother-in-law), FIL (father-in-law), and BIL (brother-in-law because his name starts with M as well! Oh and we all have M last names. Even MIL's maiden name starts with M). A little about each of us:
Bee (me)
Age: 27
Occupation: opera singer/voice and piano teacher
Vegetarian, obsessed with Disney, loves seeing Broadway musicals
Married to M for going on two years, honeymooned at WDW
The planner and organizer of the bunch
M (my wife)
Age: 27
Occupation: writer/academic advisor
Vegetarian, smart and funny, not exactly OBSESSED with Disney like I am but still loves going
Married to me for going on two years, honeymooned at WDW
MIL
Occupation: church musician/voice and piano teacher
Obsessed with Disney and giraffes, loves children
Married to FIL for (almost) 32 years, honeymooned at...you guessed it, WDW!
FIL
Occupation: HS guidance counselor
Quiet but secretly hilarious, reads all the time, half Italian
Married to MIL for (almost) 32 years, can you tell where we get our Disney obsession??
BIL
Age: 23
Occupation: HS math teacher
Did not get bitten by the Disney bug like the rest of us! Guessing if he gets married he will NOT honeymoon at WDW!
As you can see education is important to this family! It goes back to the previous generation as well because both of M’s grandfathers were university professors; one has a doctorate and the other was ABD when family circumstances prevented him from finishing. In addition, BIL, M, and I all graduated from the HS where FIL is now a guidance counselor (though he worked at a different school while we were are going there) and BIL now teaches there too.
The Plans
Dates
Saturday, May 28-Thursday, June 2 (Me and M)
Saturday, May 28-Monday, May 30 (MIL, FIL, BIL)
Hotel
Pop Century one night, WDW Swan four nights (Me and M)
Two nights offsite in LBV (MIL, FIL, BIL)
Tickets
Annual Passes (Me, M, MIL, FIL)
FL Resident Park Hopper (BIL)
Flights
Southwest Airlines nonstop (Me and M. The others drove as they live 2.5 hours away)
Transportation
DME and Uber (Me and M)
Rental car (MIL, FIL, BIL)
The week before our trip was busy and we didn’t have much time to pack and prepare for the trip. A few days before I finally dragged out the suitcase and started putting things inside, but it wasn’t until the night before we left that we finally got serious about packing. I had rehearsal in Westchester that evening and got home to NJ around 9:30. M had done a lot of work toward packing and we managed to get in bed before midnight for a brief sleep.
We debated whether to bring a large suitcase or a small one and decided on a small one so it wouldn’t be too much trouble to transfer from Pop to the Swan on Sunday. Since the suitcase was small enough we had the option to check it or carry it on. We decided to put the DME tag on it in case we wanted to check it, but to make the final decision in the morning after we saw the line for Southwest bag check. I had been reading TSA horror stories about crazy long wait times and missed flights and I didn’t want to add any unnecessary time to our pre-security time.
Next up: Day 1
The Cast
The cast of this trip of course includes my wife M and me, Bee. There are three new players, however: M’s mom, dad, and brother, all of whom I consider to be my own family as well! For simplicity I will refer to them as MIL (mother-in-law), FIL (father-in-law), and BIL (brother-in-law because his name starts with M as well! Oh and we all have M last names. Even MIL's maiden name starts with M). A little about each of us:
Bee (me)
Age: 27
Occupation: opera singer/voice and piano teacher
Vegetarian, obsessed with Disney, loves seeing Broadway musicals
Married to M for going on two years, honeymooned at WDW
The planner and organizer of the bunch
M (my wife)
Age: 27
Occupation: writer/academic advisor
Vegetarian, smart and funny, not exactly OBSESSED with Disney like I am but still loves going
Married to me for going on two years, honeymooned at WDW
MIL
Occupation: church musician/voice and piano teacher
Obsessed with Disney and giraffes, loves children
Married to FIL for (almost) 32 years, honeymooned at...you guessed it, WDW!
FIL
Occupation: HS guidance counselor
Quiet but secretly hilarious, reads all the time, half Italian
Married to MIL for (almost) 32 years, can you tell where we get our Disney obsession??
BIL
Age: 23
Occupation: HS math teacher
Did not get bitten by the Disney bug like the rest of us! Guessing if he gets married he will NOT honeymoon at WDW!
As you can see education is important to this family! It goes back to the previous generation as well because both of M’s grandfathers were university professors; one has a doctorate and the other was ABD when family circumstances prevented him from finishing. In addition, BIL, M, and I all graduated from the HS where FIL is now a guidance counselor (though he worked at a different school while we were are going there) and BIL now teaches there too.
The Plans
Dates
Saturday, May 28-Thursday, June 2 (Me and M)
Saturday, May 28-Monday, May 30 (MIL, FIL, BIL)
Hotel
Pop Century one night, WDW Swan four nights (Me and M)
Two nights offsite in LBV (MIL, FIL, BIL)
Tickets
Annual Passes (Me, M, MIL, FIL)
FL Resident Park Hopper (BIL)
Flights
Southwest Airlines nonstop (Me and M. The others drove as they live 2.5 hours away)
Transportation
DME and Uber (Me and M)
Rental car (MIL, FIL, BIL)
The week before our trip was busy and we didn’t have much time to pack and prepare for the trip. A few days before I finally dragged out the suitcase and started putting things inside, but it wasn’t until the night before we left that we finally got serious about packing. I had rehearsal in Westchester that evening and got home to NJ around 9:30. M had done a lot of work toward packing and we managed to get in bed before midnight for a brief sleep.
We debated whether to bring a large suitcase or a small one and decided on a small one so it wouldn’t be too much trouble to transfer from Pop to the Swan on Sunday. Since the suitcase was small enough we had the option to check it or carry it on. We decided to put the DME tag on it in case we wanted to check it, but to make the final decision in the morning after we saw the line for Southwest bag check. I had been reading TSA horror stories about crazy long wait times and missed flights and I didn’t want to add any unnecessary time to our pre-security time.
Next up: Day 1
Just an FYI for anyone considering the Swolphin, the resort gift shops do not stock as much merchandise as standard resort shops do, and they don’t sell alcohol. Maybe Picabu sells alcohol to take? I’m not sure.
