September Soiree Pre-Trip

[Beach Club Babe]

Cast:

Heather (Me)
Ron (DH)
Matt (DS)
Emily (DD#3)
Hallie (DD#4)

Supporting Cast:

Courtney (DD#1)
Jason (Future DSIL)

Cast remaining at home

Ashleigh and her DBF Jeff will not be able to make the trip with us. They have a prior engagement that cannot be re-arranged.

Trip Dates:

September 13 through September 23

Transportation:

Driving rental car from PA

Accommodations:

Courtyard By Marriott, Melbourne
9/14/13

Disney's Art of Animation
Lion King Section
9/15/13 - 9/22/13

We will be part of the magic band testing. Something I am not particularly excited about, but will try to give it a fair shot. Thus far, it has caused a lot of extra stress. Our bands arrived the other day and no one is exactly thrilled with having to wear them. Maybe I will try to bling some of them up when we get there.

Departure Day:

Ron will work a rather full day (unintentionally of course) but things came up last minute. Emily will attend school. Matt has the day off from work. We will collect the rental car from Enterprise about 4:00 PM. Depending on how smoothly all the rest goes will determine our actual departure time. We will take our usual route and hope to arrive in Melbourne in the afternoon the next day. We will check in at Courtyard By Marriott, take a short rest, shower and meet Courtney at her new condo. This will be our first time seeing it. Also. it will be the first time for Ron, Matt, and Emily meeting her new puppy Wall-E! We'll probably eat dinner in one of our favorite locations.

Disney portion of the trip:

We will get up early Sunday morning to drive up to Ar of Animation. I have already checked in online. I have a few things to check on and then we will be off to our touring. Courtney and Jason will be driving up separately and meeting us for a day in the parks. We will have dinner at our traditional first night restaurant, Cape May Cafe before saying goodbye to Courtney and Jason.

We will have a full week in the parks, though I'm sure it will not seem like nearly enough. In addition to our ADR at Cape May Cafe, we will also be dining at
Chefs de France
Hacienda de San Angel
Cape May Cafe again for breakfast
Rose and Crown
Whispering Canyon Cafe
Yak & Yeti
This will all be on the free dining package.

I have tried my best at booking fastpass+, but this is what I most object to with the magic bands. I will definitely have to do some reconfiguring and still have one last day to figure out.

Our last park day will be check out day 9/22/13. We will still have a full day in the parks before beginning our trip home in the evening. We will arrive back home on the 23rd.

Final Note:

We usually try and take our big family trip in August so as not to pull Emily out of school, but this year we could not avoid it. Due to my illness at the end of April and subsequent surgery in June, we had to push things back a bit. But now that I am fully recovered I am ready more than ever for this vacation!

[k10]

have a fun trip. look forward to hearing your thoughts on the AOA. it's still a mystery to me.

wristbands: i believe you can buy accessories for them in the parks.

also would LOVE a detailed review of the Whispering Canyon. i'll be dining there 1/2014 for the fist time and so excited.

again, enjoy your trip!

[MississippiDisneyFreak]

Have a great trip

[VWL Mom]

Have a wonderful trip. Looking forward to your reports when you return.

[faline]

Heather, sorry to hear you had a rough summer! Glad to hear you are recovered.

As always, I really enjoy following your family on your trips and can't wait to read about this latest trip! Hope all goes smoothly!!

[DisneyorBust]

Glad to read that you are healthy once again and able to enjoy some family time in WDW.
As always I will be looking forward to your trip reports, they're a good read!
Have a great vacation!

[RedSoxFan]

Have a great time and glad to hear you are feeling better.

[Beach Club Babe]

We are home! Arrived back on Monday afternoon. I am working on the reports. Hope to get them up soon, have a lot to report.

[January-2007]

Thanks for reporting.

[DonaldDuckUSA]

Have fun on the trip!

I know what you're saying about the magical band. We probably won't wear ours. I'll just stash them in my purse and pull them out when needed. It kind of defeats the purpose for us. Especially because on this trip we can use them for dining reservations (which we never make), but our resort is not eligible for FP+ during those dates.

[Lindsey310]

We are home! Arrived back on Monday afternoon. I am working on the reports. Hope to get them up soon, have a lot to report.

Excited to read your reports!!! Glad you are feeling better!!

18 days!!!!

[KylesMom]

Heather, where does the time go? It's hard for me to wrap my head around the fact that Courtney is engaged and has a condo!

Looking forward, as always, to reading about your family's travels. I am sorry you had some health issues, but glad you're better - and ready to tackle some fun!

[Beach Club Babe]

Heather, where does the time go? It's hard for me to wrap my head around the fact that Courtney is engaged and has a condo!

Looking forward, as always, to reading about your family's travels. I am sorry you had some health issues, but glad you're better - and ready to tackle some fun!

Carol, time really does fly by. It seems like just yesterday I was dropping her off at college down there. But in addition to gaining a fiance she has graduated and found a job there. Can't believe it myself. My oldest, Matt is 25, Courtney is 23, Ashleigh 20, Emily 10, and Hallie 4. I can't wrap my head around that sometimes,