Pre-Trip The wait, who is coming and where are we staying PTR Part 2

Hi! Its me again! I am indeed going on a trip in a few weeks but I also have another trip coming up and I wanted to do a PTR to help organize my thoughts :joyfull:
So here we go!
Is it ever an entire family trip without confusion?
Some of you may remember our last big family trip in November of 2016. It was filled with last minute additions to the trip, at least 3 different resort changes, split stays because of resort changes etc etc.
THIS time I was prepared though. This trip has been in the works for at least 3.5 years (I will explain more on that later). We picked out the dates months and months ago....made sure it worked for everyone who wanted to come...booked rooms way back in July...and I gave EVERYONE involved a deadline for changes to who was coming. This deadline was the day before the 180 day booking window so that dining reservations would be all set..............................but were we all set?

On a random side note I was just looking back at my old TRs and my pictures are gone :cry::cry::cry:
Anyway...

Lets start with why?:
Many moons ago when we were on our Princess Half Marathon trip we dreamed up this vacation. This was before we would fall into the Disney trap and go all the time so we thought we would plan a trip 3 years from then so that we wouldn't be sad :joyfull::joyfull: Funny that we went on 12 trips (and one Disneyland one) between then and now!
Anyway, the plan was we would go back to Disney to celebrate my Mom's 5 Year Cancer Free Anniversary. Technically we can't officially say she is 5 years yet so for now we will be saying 4 years until its true...but 5 years is a huge reason to celebrate cancer free because the risk of relapse drastically falls! So, my Mom always said when/if she makes it to 5 years we HAVE to celebrate in Disney :)
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Well, I think I will stop here for now to organize the pictures I want to use. I will leave you in suspense of the drama :p

Next up: who...and another reason why
 
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Songbird76

Songbird76

Well-Known Member
Doc Disney said:
Hi! Its me again! I am indeed going on a trip in a few weeks but I also have another trip coming up and I wanted to do a PTR to help organize my thoughts :joyfull:
So here we go!
Is it ever an entire family trip without confusion?
Some of you may remember our last big family trip in November of 2016. It was filled with last minute additions to the trip, at least 3 different resort changes, split stays because of resort changes etc etc.
THIS time I was prepared though. This trip has been in the works for at least 3.5 years (I will explain more on that later). We picked out the dates months and months ago....made sure it worked for everyone who wanted to come...booked rooms way back in July...and I gave EVERYONE involved a deadline for changes to who was coming. This deadline was the day before the 180 day booking window so that dining reservations would be all set..............................but were we all set?

On a random side note I was just looking back at my old TRs and my pictures are gone :cry::cry::cry:
Anyway...

Lets start with why?:
Many moons ago when we were on our Princess Half Marathon trip we dreamed up this vacation. This was before we would fall into the Disney trap and go all the time so we thought we would plan a trip 3 years from then so that we wouldn't be sad :joyfull::joyfull: Funny that we went on 12 trips (and one Disneyland one) between then and now!
Anyway, the plan was we would go back to Disney to celebrate my Mom's 5 Year Cancer Free Anniversary. Technically we can't officially say she is 5 years yet so for now we will be saying 4 years until its true...but 5 years is a huge reason to celebrate cancer free because the risk of relapse drastically falls! So, my Mom always said when/if she makes it to 5 years we HAVE to celebrate in Disney :)
View attachment 254468
View attachment 254469

Well, I think I will stop here for now to organize the pictures I want to use. I will leave you in suspense of the drama :p

Next up: who...and another reason why
Click to expand...
I would advise aiming high for ADR numbers. You can always reduce the party size at the door when you go without penalty, but you can't ADD people. On our last Disney trip, we were expecting our friends from Kissimmee to join us for most of our trip, so I made reservations to include them. When we got there, they hadn't gotten APs that year and my friend was unable to go into the parks because of her health and her service dog is still not properly trained. We were able to just tell them when we checked in for our ADRs that 2 of our party couldn't make it. My understanding is that as long as SOMEONE shows up, they don't charge you a cancelation fee. That MIGHT change if you had more than one table and you end up only needing one, but I'm not sure.

Congrats to your mom on 5 years!! That's huge! She totally deserves a trip to Disney!
 
ELeigh

ELeigh

Well-Known Member
Songbird76 said:
I would advise aiming high for ADR numbers. You can always reduce the party size at the door when you go without penalty, but you can't ADD people. On our last Disney trip, we were expecting our friends from Kissimmee to join us for most of our trip, so I made reservations to include them. When we got there, they hadn't gotten APs that year and my friend was unable to go into the parks because of her health and her service dog is still not properly trained. We were able to just tell them when we checked in for our ADRs that 2 of our party couldn't make it. My understanding is that as long as SOMEONE shows up, they don't charge you a cancelation fee. That MIGHT change if you had more than one table and you end up only needing one, but I'm not sure.

Congrats to your mom on 5 years!! That's huge! She totally deserves a trip to Disney!
Click to expand...
In my experience you can also reduce the number of people on the reservation on the app anytime before the 24 hour window (haven’t tried it within that window though so I am not sure if it would work)
 
Doc Disney

Doc Disney

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
RedNoseMickey said:
Looking forward to the family drama, as @fractal proved, it is funny when it is not your family. ;)
I am happy your mom is doing well, 5 years is certainly a good reason to celebrate.
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:joyfull: True! and yes its a great reason!

LadyBelle said:
Congratulations to your mom!!! My sister was diagnosed with breast cancer at 25. She is now 27 years cancer free.
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WOW! Thats awesome!
 
Doc Disney

Doc Disney

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Songbird76 said:
I would advise aiming high for ADR numbers. You can always reduce the party size at the door when you go without penalty, but you can't ADD people. On our last Disney trip, we were expecting our friends from Kissimmee to join us for most of our trip, so I made reservations to include them. When we got there, they hadn't gotten APs that year and my friend was unable to go into the parks because of her health and her service dog is still not properly trained. We were able to just tell them when we checked in for our ADRs that 2 of our party couldn't make it. My understanding is that as long as SOMEONE shows up, they don't charge you a cancelation fee. That MIGHT change if you had more than one table and you end up only needing one, but I'm not sure.

Congrats to your mom on 5 years!! That's huge! She totally deserves a trip to Disney!
Click to expand...
ELeigh said:
In my experience you can also reduce the number of people on the reservation on the app anytime before the 24 hour window (haven’t tried it within that window though so I am not sure if it would work)
Click to expand...

Oh yea the ADRs were not the issue (mostly) at all - that was just my deadline! I always do more then just call them a few weeks before and update our numbers. I at one time had a BOG for like 15 people then a bunch of people left earlier than expected so I called a few weeks before and changed it to like 8 without an issue. You can definitely do it on the app but sometimes they won't have a reservation for say 2 people instead of 4 so I always call!
 
Doc Disney

Doc Disney

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
P.S. who else is annoyed by this new format? :joyfull:
Who??
The orginal cast of characters was supposed to be (in order of the picture below) my Dad (Jeff), Me, Mickey :joyfull:, my sister Betta, my Mom (Mary), my nephew Max and my other sister Jill
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There is some question of my sister Betta bringing a friend with her to help with Max and possibly that friend's family but nothing is set in stone and my sister told me to just plan as if she wouldn't be coming....no problem!
My Dad's last trip to Disney was in November of 2016
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Betta and Max were last in Disney November 2016 as well :)
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Here are more updated pictures of Max from his second Birthday party...Mickey themed of course :) (although I guess this is from August so not super updated...I'm a bad Aunt :joyfull: )
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Anyway, everything was all set and I made ADRs - some with an extra person buffer just in case (thankfully). A few days after my deadline for changes we find out my Brother-in-law decided to come ! He is executive chef/part owner at a new restaurant here in Buffalo so we didn't think he would be able to get away for so long but he said he's "due" for a Disney trip and would like to come.
His last visit was April/May 2016
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Granted some reservations were issues because I could only find good times for 4 people instead of 5 but thankfully Touring Plans reservation finder helped me out with that so everything was all set....or was it?? - more on that later :joyfull:

Another why?
So, Jill and Nick did not go on a honeymoon because of the restaurant so they are considering this trip to be a pseudo honeymoon----with the whole rest of the family :joyfull:
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For those asking about the Bridesmaids dresses :inlove:
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Alright next up the actual drama
 

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