Well, I've never done a trip report, but love reading them so thought I'd give it a try (partly because petesimac bugged/asked me about it and I had a twinge of guilt for always reading, never posting)

Travel dates: June 2 – June 16, 2007
Cast of characters;
Me (48) an unabashed disney nut for a long, long time with 8 WDW trips under my belt and 5 DL trips (not counting day trips as a kiddo).
DH (48) maybe not a “nut”, but very enthusiastic
DS#2 (21) teases me all the time about always going (or at least wanting to) to Disney parks, but when we're there he sure never complains
DS#3 (19) another enthusiast (and I appreciate it!!)
DS#4 (15) just loves not being in school!

Missing in action was DS#1(22) – inexplicably he opted for a road trip with college buddies who are soon heading in different directions instead of hanging with his dear family

The idea for the trip started when DS2 and DS3 got scuba certified last fall and DH followed in the spring. Now, we live in Colorado so scuba sites are few and far between. Discussion turned to the Florida Keys and I was all for it, because as they all know, if we're going to be anywhere in Florida, we're going to Disney World! It didn't hurt when I told 'em they could actually go diving in the Living Seas!

I can tell I'm already using too many exclamation points, but I am enthusiastic about it all so bear with me!

June 2 -9 Week 1 – I'll gloss over this because we spent it down in Fort Lauderdale and the Keys. I can answer questions if anyone's interested in this area, but I figure most folks are mainly interested in the Disney week. My inlaws graciously gave us a banked time share week (not tradeable for DVC). We found a condo at the Fort Lauderdale Beach Club that worked great for us. While the divers were diving DS4 and I did some snorkeling and hanging out at the beach. It was A LOT of fun. Fort Lauderdale beach was really nice, we loved the Riverfront area and had a fantastic time exploring a bit of the Everglades (although it was mosquito season and DS2 got eaten alive). It was also fun to see a bit of the Keys (mostly Key Largo) after hearing about them my whole life. We'd never been to that part of FL before. Mostly I was just in a great mood because I knew WDW was just a few hours up the road and that it was next!

June 9th – we packed up the rental mini-van and then walked down to the beach for one last swim, grabbed a slice of pizza at the beach front pizza place and then climbed in the car. DS4 is a comic book fanatic so on our way out of town we hit one more local comic store and then we hit the open road. We'd never really driven to WDW before so it was fun counting down the miles, getting goosebumps everytime I saw a sign mentioning the place. It was fun coming into the area from a new direction and I just can't do justice describing the feeling I get driving onto property, knowing I was entering “the zone” -- but I know you guys know the feeling too – driving under the arch. All my boys looked over at me and grinned knowingly when they saw the tears in my eyes.

We pulled up at POP. This was our first time staying at a value. I chose POP because it seems to be everybody's favorite here on MP. Check in was a breeze and we got everything we requested: connecting upper floor rooms on the backside of the 50's. I'd expected the rooms to seem small, but they didn't at all. Everbody was starving so after unpacking a little we hit the food court there for dinner. At first when I saw all the “snack” signs it cracked me up that they were recommending things for people to have for snacks. After quite awhile it dawned on me that they were actually signs for the DDP. Duh! Thought the food court was nowhere near as good as the one at POR, but was good just the same.

I always think it'd be a good idea to just relax our first evening and explore the hotel, but no one was going for that. Because it was only $2/ticket to add a day after dinner we drove over to MGM. That's DS3's favorite. We rode TOT, GMR, and ST before leaving and driving over to Fantasia Gardens. We all like putt-putt and DS2 is almost a fanatic. We had a lot of fun, although play backed up because there was a group of really drunk 20 somethings a couple of groups ahead of us and suffice it to say their condition affected their game. There was also a fair amount of cussing going on. If this had been when my kids were younger I definitely would have told someone about it, but my boys found them more humorous than anything else and preferred we not say anything so I let it go. First time I've encountered drunken behavior to this extent at WDW. We closed down Fantasia Gardens and unfortunately got back to POP much later than I'd wanted because my plan had been to try to hit parks at opening. But as you can imagine, the hours my boys keep and those that DH and I keep are somewhat different. Keeping with the philosophy of being flexible, within 24 hours I was throwing out my first cardinal rule – make park opening. It's one thing to go on one night of not-quite-enough sleep, but no way to keep it up for a week. It ended up to be kind of a crazy schedule, up early some days, up late others, but somehow it all worked.

More to come...

Hip-hip-hooray! Sorry for the guilt, but so glad I layed it on thick enough to get you to write this! You're doing a fantastic job.

I know exactly what you mean about "arriving" at WDW -- it's like a religious experience for me. Glad you liked POP, and hope that you did so throughout your stay. Don't you just love getting that "special" red folder?

I love, love, love Fantasia Fairways (you DID play the tough side, right?); sorry for the bad behaviour, but being in such close proximity to the Dolphin/Swan and being at night probably didn't improve your odds. Still, someone at Disney should be monitoring this. Anyway, enough bad juju, back to your wonderful trip report!

Thanks for the encouragement Pete! We actually played the fantasia side that first night, but got to Fairways later.

I've stayed up way too late writing this and it ended up a lot longer than I actually meant it to, but here are days 2, 3 and 4.


Sun. June 10th --WDW day 2:

It doesn't get much better than waking up inside the world! Not surprisingly DH and I are up before the boys. Every morning we walked down to the food court and filled our refillable mugs and strolled around a bit on our way back to the room. We'd brought bagels, fruit, cereal bars and juice boxes with us for a quick breakfast in the room. I missed having a mini-fridge like they do in the moderates, but it wasn't too hard to do without.

We went ahead and woke everybody up in time to make park opening at AK. DS2 was going to have to fly back to Denver early Wed. so our first few days were a bit of a scramble to get his must-do's in. Because of this we did things a bit differently than we otherwise might have. Amazingly enough we actually did make park opening at AK. We got fp for EE and then headed over to KS. We lingered a bit after KS to watch the gorillas and then headed for EE. As everyone says, it's FANTASTIC. We all just loved it. And the line is so cool. We then did a ride on Dinosaur, got some cold drinks and headed over to EPCOT. Chefs de France is DS2's favorite restaurant and we had lunch ADRs. It was great as usual and we had a wonderful server. We then got in SSE, Soarin', Grand Fiesta Tour (we definitely thought it was an improvement) and then a huge rainstorm hit. Normally we throw on ponchos and soldier on, but this included big hail and we decided we needed to join everyone else and take cover. We hung out in one of the shops at the gateway to WS as long as we could, but DH, DS2, and DS3 had ressies for DiveQuest. We raced through the storm to the guest relations outside of the park where we were met by Dive Quest CMs who were waiting with dry ponchos for all of us.

Dive Quest was a huge hit with all three of them. It included a behind the scenes tour of the Living Seas in addition to the 45 min. dive. It was also a lot of fun for DH4 and me too as they gave us specific instructions about where to be to watch them. What a thrill to watch my husband and kids INSIDE the aquarium! Once they were out of the water they let DH4 and I go behind the scenes a bit too and gave us hot chocolate and pop while we waited. Then we all got to watch the DVD they'd filmed of all of them in the tank – very cool experience. I also liked the new clam mobile ride and am so glad they brought them back.

After the dive everybody was famished so we headed to the Electric Umbrella for a late dinner, it's almost 9:00 now and we were lucky they were still serving, Illuminations was going on outside. I love the talking trash can there. I should note that we opted not to do the DDP. The two main reasons are that we generally don't take the time or budget the money to eat at a TS everyday, we also are a bit free flowing in our touring and it can end up being a challenge for us to be at a specific place at a specific time as you'll see later. I'm also afraid it would be way too much food, but I wouldn't be able to stop myself and I'd actually eat it all!

So the day's been pretty full already, right? I'm thinking head back to POP, relax a bit, climb into bed for an early start tomorrow at MK. The boys say that's fine if DH and I want to head back, but they're thinking they'll head to MK now for EMH and sleep in tomorrow. :eek: DH and I look at each other, groan, grin and decide we're up for it too. Are we nuts?!? So it's off to MK. We had a blast, got A LOT in including possibly the best JC skipper we've ever had. I think I was asleep before I was actually in bed though. :p


Mon. June 11th – WDW day 3:

This should be a lot shorter than day 2. We basically slept away a good portion of the morning. I was coming to grips with the fact that a good deal of my planning was flying out the window. I found however that in these cases it's invaluable to have a feel for what is available when and where and so I could quickly evaluate our options. I had the Unofficial Guide's recommendations of best parks on which days handy and everybody agreed that pretty much made sense to follow. What happened to the little boys that cheerily went wherever I told them we should go? Happily the boys are just a hoot to travel with and we struck a happy medium between following the plan and going with the flow. More than any other trip we didn't try to get everything in, but focused on people's favorites and new-to-us experiences.

So today consisted of a relaxed late morning at MK with lunch at Harbour House (my favorite MK CS). We focused on TL, but also got CBJ, TS Island, Pirates, and BTMMR in. Oh, and a dole whip!
We then headed over to AK for EMH. We grabbed dinner at Pizzafari and then planned to ride EE. A storm was moving in and they had EE closed. While we were waiting in line the lady we were chatting with let us know Lion King was about to start. We'd never seen it and so decided to make a beeline over there. The boys thought it was fun, but DH and I loved it – I can hardly believe we'd never seen it before! The storm cleared during the show and we got our second ride on EE in, in the dark! It was amazing, I highly recommend riding it after dark if you can, such a neat atmosphere.

We headed back to POP. DS3 and DS4 went for a swim and DS2 and I had a snack poolside. Tye die cheesecake for him and a twinkie tiramisu for me, yum!. DH has more will power than me and passed. We actually got to bed at a half-way reasonable time because we had another early morning on Tues.


Tues. June 12th – WDW day 4:

Segway Day!! We had to be at EP at 7:30 am so Disney transportation wasn't an option. Well, generally I don't drive at DW and should have known to allow extra time, but hey it's not far from POP to EP, right? I knew I was in trouble when we arrived at AKL at 7:25. :rolleyes: Still not completely sure what I did to get us there, but after driving 50 ft going the wrong way on a service road, and pulling an illegal U-turn I had us headed back to EP. All was not lost and we actually were at the front gates before our Guest Services CMs. Phew! Well, the Segway tour was a blast and I absolutely recommend it to people. Wish DS4 could have gone too, but you have to be 16. We had a great group and the guides were fun.

After the tour DH and DS4 met us. We headed to Living Seas for a bit, they wanted to go back and check out where they'd been diving! We lingered a bit too long and forgot just how long the boat to MGM can take and ended up scrambling to get to our 11:05 ADRs at Sci Fi. The boys ran ahead as soon as the boat got to MGM and gave the CM a sob story about why we were 45 minutes late. She wasn't fazed and we had no trouble. I found out on a thread here later that they're generally very nice about folks who show up late. DH and I were even later than the boys because we got stuck in a slow security line. There was a guy ahead of us who tried to bring in a large, hard-sided cooler full of Budweisers, huh? :confused: It gave us a good laugh. Where was he thinking he'd sit and drink them?? Obviously the CM nixed that. We had a great lunch at Sci-Fi. It's a must do for us.

We then had a really great afternooon in MGM and got all the biggies in. We used fp for RNR and TOT and didn't encounter long lines anywhere else. I made the boys sit through Little Mermaid, we hadn't seen it in years. We grabbed dinner at Pizza Planet and then walked back to EP – the car was there from that morning. We'd never done that walk before and just loved it. We stayed at BC back in 1992 and it brought back a lot of memories to walk through it again. It sounds a little silly, but that walk was one of my favorite memories from this trip. It was dusk and so beautiful out, and just so nice to stroll and chat with the guys and be amazed at how Disney puts it all together. If you don't take the time to look at the other resorts it's easy to forget just how much detail goes into all of them, just amazing. Did give us a bit of an itch to stay at a deluxe again ... someday.

We ended this day with another round at Fantasia Gardens. This time the Fairways course, yikes! It was terrific, and humbling. The CM there said he and his wife retired to FL and most days would come play the course, eventually Disney offered him a job there. He holds the course record. I love all the great people you encounter on WDW trips!

Yeah! Good stuff. I love where you decided to stay out late at MK; so much fun can be had by making split-second decisions -- good for you! How cool is it that your family got to swim in the Living Seas! I agree with DS2, Les Chefs de France is one of my favorite places to eat as well -- might have something to do with the beautiful French women;). Looking forward to more!

Wow! :) Thank you so much for writing this! Dive Quest and the Segway tour sound so cool. These are the things I never think about. Your trips sound just like mine. All my precious planning, but you have to go with the flow. We did EMH at MK till 2am last time. It was wierd but that's what my youngest daughter talks about most, the time we had just her & I at EMH.

Waiting for more..............

I agree with DS2, Les Chefs de France is one of my favorite places to eat as well -- might have something to do with the beautiful French women;). [QUOTE]

LOL, I'm sure you're right -- similar reasoning made Voyage of the Little Mermaid not so bad -- "Yeah, Ariel was pretty cute."

[QUOTE=WDW heart;1122141]Wow! :) Thank you so much for writing this! Dive Quest and the Segway tour sound so cool. These are the things I never think about. Your trips sound just like mine. All my precious planning, but you have to go with the flow. We did EMH at MK till 2am last time. It was wierd but that's what my youngest daughter talks about most, the time we had just her & I at EMH.

Waiting for more..............

This is the first time we've ever done any tours and we just loved them. We really did seek out to try some new things this time around and it really was fun to see some things from a new perspective.
Boy do I know how you feel about the planning now. This is the first trip it flew out the window to the extent it did -- you are so right, just have to go with the flow! I'll still plan the next trip like crazy though, just in case the plan actually works :p
Great memory of late night MK with your daughter. I can see how that would be a really special time to share with just two people.


Off to the dog park right now, but I'll try to find time to finish it up later. Thanks for reading it and thanks again Pete, it's more fun writing and reliving the trip than I realized it would be!

More! more! more!!!:D

Wed. June 13th – WDW day 5
DH, DS2 and I were up to greet the sun. We left at dawn to get DS2 to the airport for an early flight back to Denver. He has a great research job at CU-Boulder where he's a student and couldn't take the full two weeks off. I don't think I've ever been up that early at WDW before. It was beautiful and so serene. Don't usually use that word to describe WDW! :p We got him to MCO in plenty of time and saw him off. Sad to see him go – although I am getting better at accepting that my adult children do have their own lives! On our way back I had DH detour through Celebration. I've been curious about Celebration ever since it was built, but we'd never wanted to take the time to look it over. I knew the other boys would still be sleeping in so we took a drive around. It's really, really nice. You can definitely tell it has a Disney touch about it. Disney doesn't still own it, do they? I don't think it's my sort of place to actually live, but we really enjoyed checking it out.

Sure enough DS3 and DS4 were just waking up when we got back. Well, now we were down to 4 and had gotten in the majority of our must-dos so the pace slowed down a bit and our touring became a little more organized. Following the UOG recommendations we headed over to EP. While deciding where to eat lunch, DS3 mentioned that he'd always wanted to try San Angel Inn. We had no ADRs and I told him it was unlikely we could get in, but we might as well give it a try. They had room and we only waited about 5 minutes! I was so excited. We all loved the atmosphere and 3 out of 4 of us loved our meals. DH had a vegetarian salad of some sort and wasn't too excited about it. We then did a second ride on Gran Fiesta Tour. DS4 is a big Donald fan so that's fun, except the ride stopped for a good spell and I was singing “Three Caballeros” for the rest of the afternoon. We spent the rest of the afternoon in WS making our way around from Mexico to Canada. Highlights were Maelstrom (which had been closed the 1st two times we tried it), the Voices of America, getting crepes in France, and the British Invasion. DS3 and I had fun playing the experts and told DS4 and DH some of the facts we'd learned on the Segway Tour. :geek: As the kids get older we can spend more and more time in WS and the details in all the countries are just amazing. They've also gotten to a point where they actually find a lot of the shops and pretty much all of the movies interesting!

Late afternoon we headed over to Test Track where we had fps. It's so much fun, but we all actually wish it was still the World of Motion of old. Actually DS4 doesn't remember it, but we've brainwashed him to know he'd prefer it. ;) The poor youngest kid – how often do they have to hear “You wouldn't remember this but ...” or “Oh, before you were born ...”

After TT it was off to the monorail for a ride to MK. I LOVE taking the monorail between MK and EP. Unfortunately we never got the other direction in, but at least we got this one in. Oh, it's always like coming home when you head into MK, isn't it? We have a brick right out front under the monorail tracks (a fantastic gift from my sister in 1995) so I like to think a bit of us is there right now, sigh! We grabbed dinner at Cosmic Rays and listened to Sonny Eclipse – such a crack up. I can now sing along to one of his songs that's on a disk I have, much to my boys' dismay. They could actually probably sing along too, but they'd never own up to that. After dinner we went to MILF (that can't be the acronym we're supposed to use is it?!? Never mind to anyone that doesn't have a clue what I'm talking about, apologies to those that do!:eek:) This was new to us and it actually cracked us up. We tried to text in a couple of jokes, but neither were picked. One was a dumb blond joke. We decided that might seem too offensive to use, but the truth is it wasn't that funny either. The other was one my son did that was slightly off color, I knew they wouldn't pick that one! Next time I'll try to be more prepared with appropriate humor. We also got in TTA (we all love it and do it over and over and over) and Buzz Lightyear. We headed over to catch Wishes, not a great spot, but just hearing the music gets me everytime. We then got in Snow White and IASW before heading back to POP. I couldn't believe how great IASW looked, it had definitely been spruced up since our last trip. We got some treats at the bakery on Main St. as we headed out.

Felt great to get back to POP, it was starting to feel like home. This is the point in the trip where it starts to dawn on me that we will actually have to leave, BUT first we've got 2 ½ fun-filled days to go.


Thurs. June 14th – WDW day 6
We all are actually getting enough sleep now, yay! This is the day to head back to MGM and get in the things we've missed there. This is DS3's favorite park so I want to be sure we do it justice. I actually like the idea of the name change to Disney Hollywood Studios, but I sure hope they don't change the feel of old time Hollywood as has been mentioned as a possibility on a thread. That theming is one of the things I love most about it. Highlights on this day were learning to draw “angry donald” at the Animation pavilion. We had a fantastic CM. I almost got chosen to pick what we would learn to draw because it seemed at first that I was the oldest in the “class”. But darn it there was a 60 something guy just behind me. I thought my age would be good for something. It was all good though, because he chose “angry donald” just as I would have. The drawings came out amazingly well. We'd never done this and it was so much fun, I definitely recommend it to people!! We also had plenty of time to linger over Walt Disney, One Man's Dream and that was a real treat. I still love both of the stunt shows and we managed to get both TOT and RNR in too.

Amazingly this is the first day we went back to POP for a midday break. This used to basically be a requirement when the boys were younger, but it just didn't seem as necessary this trip. The boys also didn't do anywhere near as much swimming as they have in the past. I loved POP, but I suppose if we'd been at a deluxe everyone might have craved a little more time at the hotel. DH and DS4 hung out in the rooms, but DS3 and I explored more of POP and took some corny pictures by the giant icons. The place is a lot of fun. It seems so strange that they got as far as they did on the Legendary Years and then just stopped. It's not what I'd call an eyesore, but it doesn't feel very Disney-ish to have this partly finished resort just sitting there dormant. Anyway, I hope they decide to finish it soon.

After our break it was off to AK to try to get one more ride on EE in before we head to Boma for ADRs at 6:40. This is what you can do with older kids and park hoppers – head into a park for one thrill ride and then zip out – I love it! We all really felt the need to ride EE one last time! :D

We were awestruck with AKL and Boma. Definitely want to stay there someday. Boma was DH, DS3 and my favorite meal of the trip. Our server was great, the atmosphere is wonderful, and the array of options for vegetarians at the buffet was SO appreciated! We took a walk all around after dinner and were really impressed.

We hadn't yet seen Fantasmic so we headed back to MGM for it. We were pushing it timewise and there was standing room only when we got there just as the show started, but we could see very well and as always just loved it. I like the actual show better at DL, but have grown to resent the need to camp out for hours to have a good spot. We've done that numerous times before, but I don't really think I will again. I so appreciate that that just is not necessary at WDW. After F! We got one last ride in on GMR (another family favorite) and then called it a night.

Only 1 1/2 days left ...

Friday June 15th – WDW day 7

As is obvious by now, we don't mind hopping around the world. We started out at EP. DH and DS3 hadn't had a chance to do the Clam Mobiles or Crush yet (DS4 and I had done them while they were getting ready to dive). We got one more ride on Soarin' in and had lunch at the Land. As I think petesimac has mentioned, the Cuban vegetarian sandwich is fantastic. We did one last walk around the showcase and picked up a few souvenirs we'd wanted. I could get into serious trouble in so many of those shops!

When we left EP we drove over to the Contemporary to rent SeaRaycers. We had stayed at the Contemporary in 1991 when I was pregnant with DS4 and it was so fun to see it again. The northern garden wing had already been demolished and the pool set-up has been changed, but otherwise it felt a lot the same. Back in those days the boys could swim in Bay Lake and they used to love it. So sad that's no longer an option. Well, the SeaRaycers were just plain FUN. :D DS3 and DS4 shared one and DH and I were in another. We were pushing the 300 lb limit in both boats (I actually think the boys must've been quite a bit over), but the CMs at the marina didn't bat an eye and I was relieved to discover we could still zip around at a fast pace. We took 'em all over the waterways. We'd actually gone to Discovery Island on our first trip in 1990 when it was a preserve and to River Country. It was fun and also a bit sad to see them up close again. I loved seeing MK from the water and as expected GF just looks fabulous. We spent about an hour on the water and this is something else I highly recommend. I'd never done these before and DH had only once with DS1 back in 1991. I think they were called Water Mice back then.

There were lots of free spaces in the parking lot at Contemporary so we left the car there and walked over to MK. I know this was not really an o.k. thing to do and we wouldn't have if there hadn't been so many free spots. That's my weak justification. The walk is so much shorter than I'd envisioned. Again it was one of those small new-to-me things I really enjoyed.

At MK we had dinner at Village Haus. We rode pirates, took the train over to Toontown fair and sampled TL. We didn't stay too late because one of my must-dos was to watch the fireworks from the beach at the Poly after hearing all about it here on MP. We strolled back to the Contemporary and drove over to the Poly. I know there was some discussion on a thread about whether non-Poly guests should really do this, but Disney certainly allows it. We let the guard at the shack know what we were there for and she let us on in. Well, now I can add the Poly to my ever growing list of resorts I really have to stay at. We each got a snack at Captain Cook's and headed out to the beach to watch the fireworks. I had hoped to also see the Water Parade, but my timing was off and we missed it. I haven't watched it properly from a resort beach in about 10 years and I love it. BUT we did not miss Wishes and watching it from the beach at the Poly was an absolutely perfect way to spend our last night. Thanks to mousepadders for the suggestion!!!

This was our last full day :crying:


Sat. June 16th – WDW day 8 – the end

We had pretty much packed up the night before and so we got a fairly early start. As is our tradition we spent the last 1/2 day at MK. We got in all our favorites and even a couple not-so-favorites: we found ourselves next to the Tiki Room with some extra time and cold dole whips in our hands so we headed in. It's every bit as bad as I'd remembered, so bad that it can also be terribly funny if you're in the right sort of mood! :p We had lunch at Pecos Bill's and got a few more rides in before it was time to head out. The others were ready to be headed home, thought the trip was the perfect length. I can honestly say I've never been quite ready to go home from a WDW trip. We picked up some frozen lattes at the Main St. Bakery and as is traditional for us, headed to the candy shop for a treat to take on the airplane. I know Mike Scopa has written about stopping and taking that one last look as you leave to say goodbye. It's heartbreaking, but I always know someday I'll be back.


Some final thoughts and reflections

It was hot and humid as expected, but nothing to complain about. We're used to going in the summer so were mentally prepared! We actually had quite a bit less rain than expected. Crowds were just about what I expected. Because our touring wasn't as organized as usual we didn't use fp as effectively as in the past, but happily the crowds were really manageable. I am also a believer in the UOG park guidelines for which park which day, and although we didn't faithfully follow them, they were a big help.

As I said we focused on new things and got quite a few in. The “new” highlights were EE, Dive Quest, Segway Tour, Sea Raycers, the Fairways putt-putt, Boma and Wishes from the Poly.

There were a few things we missed out on that we would have loved: Typhoon Lagoon and Blizzard Beach, Downtown Disney (still can't believe we didn't make it over there), Winterland and Summerland putt-putt courses, and Illuminations. Happily we got virtually all the rides in, and definitely all the ones we cared about.
(There are also the intentional things we missed, like Stitch :p)

When we started planning for this trip we knew we had to do it on as tight a budget as possible. We were somewhat successful. The budget was the driving force behind choosing POP. I had always been skeptical of the values, but when it comes down to a value or offsite or nothing, they start looking mighty fine. Well, I was definitely pleasantly surprised, really liked POP, and would happily stay there again. (We got glimpses of AK, YC/BC, Boardwalk, Poly, GF, and Contemporary though and DH and I are really hoping to pull them off at some point. I'm also anxious to try CS. As I've mentioned before my lifelong goal is to stay at them all!) We also skipped the water parks for the first time in order to save $$. We were so busy we didn't miss them too much, but I definitely think next time we'll add them back in if at all possible. Our $$ splurges were the rental car and the tours. We used a mix of the car and Disney transportation. In quite a few instances we were really, really glad we had the car. I'd spring for it again. The tours were where we blew the budget. They are pricey!! They were also real highlights and so in the end I think they were worth it. We definitely went over budget, but at least it was by a somewhat manageable amount. Does anyone ever actually successfully stick to their budget down there?!? My hats off to them if they do!

As the boys get older I appreciate the trips we take together more and more. Every trip ends up having a special feeling all it's own. The lesson I learned on this trip is that it really is ok to just go with the flow and see the months of planning as "more of a guideline".

Huge thank-yous to everyone who posts here. I've learned SO SO much from MP and there's no way to describe how much all that information helped make our trip a great one.

THANKS for writing up your memories. It was a terrific trip report. I hope my boys are still as enthusiastic when they're in their late teens/early 20s. So far, so good!

We're trying the Sea Racers for the first time this trip. Is there an age minimum? My son is 12. Did you have to make reservations before hand?

Thanks Tina . I definitely get some grief from my boys for my disney addiction, but man when they get down there they're just kids again. I'm sure yours will be the same.

As far as the sea raycers, I think your son might be able to drive his own, I don't remember for sure, but I think they need to be 12. My boys were great sharing so that's the way we went, but I know my 15yo could have been driving his own. No reservations are necessary, I had called and tried to make one and was told they're not needed and when we got there, there were plenty on hand. I definitely suggest getting them at one of the MK resorts, it was a hoot. Hope you have as much fun on them as we did. If I ever figure out how to post pictures I'll include one of the sea raycers.

I hope we have fun too! We have planned to go to GF for an hour on the lake followed by an hour massage for me/hour of arcade playing for him. Then we're going to high tea (he loves high tea and all-things-British). Evening will be at MK. Isn't that the GREATEST day???:)

What a fun and enjoyable trip report, Anniedg, thanks so much for writing it! I just about split a gut when you talked about MILF:D; it's been joked about before, but I crack up every time -- we never made it to MILF:D, but next time I'd like to do it just to say I did. And I had a heck of a time figuring out what EP was until I saw what you did there; I'm thinking EP, EP, what the heck is EP.

Glad you enjoyed POP, it' my value resort of choice from now on (since I didn't win the big lotto thing, I guess I won't be staying at GF anytime soon, harummph, harummph:mad:). As for the perfect trip length (unless we could go for a month, but alas, no lottery win, harummph, harummph:mad:), I say 10 days. This way you get the full 8 days for the parks and extras like fantasia fairways and DTD, and then two extra days for the water parks and other fun things. We did 10 this past time and I think I'll shoot for that mark, if I can afford it, every trip to WDW. In thinking about DLR next year, I'm wondering if 4 or 5 days would be best -- surprise, surprise, I'm leaning toward 5!

Thanks again for your wonderful contribution and for your kind words about MP -- it's the best discussion board about Disney in the world wide net web, bar none! (with a polite tip of the cap to allearsnet.com for the great info contained there).

We have planned to go to GF for an hour on the lake followed by an hour massage for me/hour of arcade playing for him. Then we're going to high tea (he loves high tea and all-things-British). Evening will be at MK. Isn't that the GREATEST day???:)

Now that is a great day! When are you going? Where are you staying? (We have no WDW trips planned and so I'm living vicariously through everyone!)

we never made it to MILF:D, but next time I'd like to do it just to say I did. And I had a heck of a time figuring out what EP was until I saw what you did there; I'm thinking EP, EP, what the heck is EP.

As for the perfect trip length (unless we could go for a month, but alas, no lottery win, harummph, harummph:mad:), I say 10 days. In thinking about DLR next year, I'm wondering if 4 or 5 days would be best -- surprise, surprise, I'm leaning toward 5!

.

Thanks -- I think Monsters Incorporated Laugh Floor is definitely worth doing (that one maybe I should have typed out everytime :D). We might've skipped it also, but I was all about trying to get in everything that was new since our '05 trip. About the "EP", I was just too lazy to actually type out EPCOT everytime :p
As I mentioned we may be spending a few days at DL next summer too. I'd love to go for 5. We've done that before, some unmentionables in the family thought that was a bit much for "just" 2 parks -- I thought it was great. Alas I think we'll get in 3 at most. I think I'll try for the Entertainment Book rate at Hojo. We've done that before and it was a great deal. I've stayed at DL hotel once. Absolutely fell in love with the place, but alas, like you, I have yet to win the lottery :mad:

Annie, we're going in October and staying 10 days at POFQ. I'm a planning and trip report NUT, so I'm just as excited about writing it up as being there. How sick is THAT?:)

10 days -- petesimac's perfect trip length! I would love to stay that long, it sounds fantastic. We love POR and have walked through POFQ, it looks great.

Oct. huh? Not too far off :D
I'll eagerly await the trip report!!

What a great report. It's wonderful that your teenager/young adult kids are having such a good time with you. Staying at a value resort in order to budget some tours was a very good allocation of resources. In March we are taking my parents (Mom's in her late 70's and Dad's in his 80's), and will be doing things more at their pace, but sometimes their pace surprises me. I'm looking forward to it.

My parents are 76 and 66, although my 66 yo mom has trouble walking long distances. We budgeted, and fell in LOVE with the ECVs for Mom. It MADE the vacation. They still went at a slower pace and we didn't see EVERY attraction, but her stamina was so much higher with the ECVs. She didn't want to do it initially, but admitted later that it was so much better with it!

It's one of the truly great things about WDW -- literally all ages can enjoy it and it's not that hard to tailor a trip to different ages and preferences. Especially if you remember my new mantra: "go with the flow, go with the flow" :D

mom22gls -- hope you have fun with your parents in March!

What a wonderful Trip Report I really enjoyed it!!

Thanks so much for sharing.
Ellen

Loved your trip report. I am so glad to hear that your older (adult?) kids still love to travel to WDW with you. My DH and I often wonder what will happen when our kids (now 9 and 5) turn into teenagers.

Thanks Ellen and Jenn! I really think families that enjoy travelling together keep on enjoying it at all ages -- at least I hope that keeps holding up! My DH and I are now at the point where we're realizing before too terribly long we'll probably be adjusting to going with just the two of us.

Great trip report for a great trip!! Traveling to WDW with "older" kids can be fun for the reasons you mentioned--going with the flow and having more stamina. My DD is 25 and we have been to WDW more since she turned 18 than we did before. Now we bring her BF too. Worried that he would detract from the sister-brother Disney bonding, but they all get along great (DD just turned 20). Last January they still had to go to Muppets and see the preshow all the way through, same as every trip. We will be back next Jan for another 2 days of park hopping. Have reservations to eat in the castle for the first time at DD's request for lunch. The hardest part is getting them up for park opening, but they know it is necessary to fit all 4 parks in on a 2 day visit.

Thanks for the great trip report. I enjoyed reading it!

Thanks Sue and Gordon.
Sue, good to hear the travelling with a boyfriend went well, I think we'll be in that position soon. I smiled about the Muppet pre-show, a must-do for 2 of my guys too. Also this trip my guys were talking about how cool it would be to eat in the castle. Now how funny would it be to bring 4 teen/twenty something guys in -- but we just might next go around. Hope you enjoy it next trip.