This will be the death of me...or them...a Nov/Dec PTR (MY FIRST!) UPDATED 9/2!!!

[evan.orwin]

Hello everyone! I am FINALLY starting my PTR for my *big* family reunion trip November 28th-December 4th! We have 22 people attending this shindig and I was unanimously elected the "leader" of the entire vacation.

For some, this is their first or second Disney trip and this will be my 16th and 4th in the past year!! (Dec '09 Honeymoon, March '10 Spring Break, August '10 weekend getaway and now this one!) So I can see why I would be put in charge. However, little do they know that I become very...shall we say....anally ocd (that works right?) when it comes to planning the trip and they will be very sorry if they do not follow my instructions! (why is there no devil smiley?? hehe) Without further ado:

Me (26 until Sunday Sept 5th ) and my husband (27):

here are a few pictures from when we got married:

and here is a picture from our latest August trip (waiting for the bus at POP):

My Dad (49)(with my brother and the "old man" from pawn stars):

My Mom (47):

My Brother (19) and his girlfriend (18):

My Aunt S (60s), My Uncle D (60s, not pictured), My cousin B (27) and her cute little daughter M (2.5):

My Nanny (86, walks with a cane) and my Grandma (79):

My Aunt J (upper 50s), My Uncle R (upper 50s, not pictured), My cousin J (30s, has spina bifida) and their neighbor L (15, who may as well be their child/grandchild and has a cochlear implant):

The B Family (E 40s, K 40s, M 14, H 12, J 10 and S 6):

I'm using initials obviously; I don't want to put other people's names online. So as you can see, I have a plethora of people from all ages and levels of disability haha. You scared for me yet?




I will put Chapter Links here:


Chapter 1: http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?p=38069335#post38069335

Chapter 2: http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?p=38077886#post38077886

 

[figmentgirl]

Whoa. This sounds like a monumental task! I'm definetly interested in how you're going to pull this trip together. It definetly sounds like you are the girl for the job. I LOVE Disney and have been there many times but I don't think I could organize a family reunion there!

 

[evan.orwin]

Haha thanks! I am interested myself I'm putting the finishing touches on my first draft of the itinerary tonight so I will try to post it!

 

[evan.orwin]

So, here is what I *think* the schedule will be. Please keep in mind that most in my family does things a little different than most of you here on the dis. They don't care about staying on property . They don't care about/know about EMHs and Fast Pass (with the exception of my immediate family) . They don't care about table service meals .

Luckily, I do! Another thing you should know is that *some* of the people on this trip are cheap and it was all I can do not to rip my hair out trying to get ticket prices, hotel prices, and food prices into a package that would suit eveyone. Then free dining came along and was my savior. My husband and I and the B family are doing the regular dining plan, with 1 TS, 1 QS and 1 snack. The rest of the group is doing the quick service plan, with 2 QS and 2 snacks. My parents, brother and his girlfriend are not doing the dining plan, because they already had tickets from a previous trip left over. My parents dont mind because they will just pay for table service or quick service, depending on their mood. Again, they are not that into the resturaunts so they just dont care.

I'd like to note, with the exception of the B family, I had to make everyone's reservations for them. The room, the tickets, the meal plan. Everything. That's 6 rooms. I was on the phone with Disney for about an hour and 35 min, thank goodness I had a wonderful CM who was very nice and helpful. So here is the basic outline of our trip:

Where? The Pop Century Resort
When? November 28th-December 4th
How many days? Four days at Disney and 1 day at Universal. Also going to the MVMCP.



Saturday, November 27th 2010: Leave Richmond, VA mid morning. We are all driving, except the B family who live in Missouri. They will meet us there on Sunday. We will most likely stop in Georgia, between Savannah and the Florida border, to spend the night. I prefer to do it all in one day, it takes about 11-12 hrs, but with that many people, there is no way we would make it.


Sunday, November 28th 2010: Leave Georgia *early* so we can get to Disney by late morning/early afternoon. Check in to the hotel and settle in. Probably eat lunch at Pop. Maybe swim if its not too cold and tour the hotel a little. Get ready and go to Downtown Disney for dinner and some shopping. Go to bed semi early for our first full day!


Monday, November 29th, 2010: Hollywood Studios. Staying all day, from 9am-7pm. Eating lunch and dinner there. After the park closes, we will hop to Magic Kingdom. They have EMH from 9-12, but we probably will maybe only stay until 10 or so. I just really want to see Wishes at 9.


Tuesday, Nov 30th, 2010: Epcot all day. They have AM EMH from 8-9 and then the park is open from 9-9:30. We will most likely take a mid afternoon break. We will eat lunch and dinner there and stay for fireworks.



Wednesday, Dec 1st, 2010: Animal Kingdom until we are done. We will most likely not be here before it opens, like the other days, but maybe within the first hour of opening. I usually only need about a half day here, so we are hoping to be done by about 2 or 3. Leave and go back to the room, relax and then go out at about 5 or so to tour the Deluxe resort Christmas decorations. Eat dinner most likely at one of these resorts.


Thursday, Dec 2nd, 2010: Universal Studios all day. My husband and I are BIG Harry Potter fans so I am still trying to figure out if the best thing to do is go directly to HP and get it done first, or do everything else then save HP for later in the afternoon. I read that because of HP, everything else is basically walk on so I am hoping its still like that.


Friday, Dec 3rd, 2010: Magic Kingdom. Be there before park opens and eat lunch. Maybe hop back to another park if we missed something late afternoon, then be back by 7 for the Christmas Party. Definitely gonna try to stay until Midnight if we can.



Saturday, Dec 4th, 2010: Sleep in finally! . Take our time leaving because we will all be sad. Probably go back to Downtown Disney for last minute shopping and then hit the road. Maybe eat lunch there.




So what do you guys think?? I am gonna go over each day individually as the PTR progresses, and list our must-do's. There are so many things to consider, but I really think we can do almost everything we want to do.

Next up: I have about 15 ADRs to fit into 6 slots.....help me decide!!

 

[evan.orwin]

lots of readers....only 1 responder!? where is the Disney love

 

[DisneyCP08]

Count me in! I'm stressing out planing our trip and we only have 8 people. You are very brave and i am sure you will do great

 

[princesshannahsmom]

I am hopping on over from my pre-trip to say hi and follow along.

HOLY COW do you have your hands SERIOUSLY full!

I was stressing enough trying to plan this trip for just my little family, I think I would be either grey or bald if I was trying to plan your trip!

Sounds like it is coming along nicely though, so I will send some pixie dust your way for planning all the little details!

 

[evan.orwin]

thanks guys! You should see my ADR's right now....I have like 30 of them. I need to cancel like half haha.