First Adult Only Trip with a Little Bit of Kids Added In -- A Spring Break 2023 Trip

[piglet1979]

Hi Everyone! This is my first trip report and I am very excited to share with our trip that we just got back from. The planning for this trip started many years ago when both my kids joined band. Our high school marching band goes every 4 years to Disney and marches in the parade. This was the year that they were going and it was over spring break. Before I get to far into this trip I should introduce you to the people on this trip.

I will start with me. My name is Stephanie and I am the Disney planner in our house and all around love Disney. I would love to tell you my favorite ride or food but I just can't decide. I just love being at Disney.

The other person with me on this trip is my husband Jeff. He likes Disney but not as much as me. He tried to plan but ends just looking at the restaurants and quick serves places. This came in handy as that is one thing I don't really look at. I can tell you that his favorite ride is now Flight of Passage.

Here is a picture of us from the summer.



Also, popping up here and there are our kids. Nick turned 17 the day they left for Disney. He was very excited to be on a bus for the day on his birthday. He loves Disney and everything Star Wars. I had lots of conversations with him about the trip and how the VQ's worked and Genie +. He wanted to know it all.

Elizabeth is 15. She is not a Disney fan and would much rather be at a beach. We did push her to stay in the band so she could go with her friends. We had lots of ups and downs with this trip with her before the trip started but she had fun.

Here are the 2 of them from Homecoming this year.



So we got the Who and What. Now lets talk about Where.

Jeff and I stayed at the Swan. This was our first time staying here. We loved the location but it is in need of a refresh. We would stay here again if given the chance. You can't bet the price for that area. The kids were staying at All Star Movies. A perfect place for them as they were in the parks all day.

The When is April 7th-April 13th. Spring break. If it was up to me I would not being going during this time. It was so crowded. We tempered our expectations to this though so we weren't disappointed.

The Why we covered as well. But here is a bit of a spoiler. This trip came about because the kids were marching in the parade. They got to march in MK on Easter Sunday.

I will stop here for now. I will be back to talk about the day before we left and our travel day.

 

[footballmouse]

First one! My boss went in December for his kid's band trip.

 

[DLo]

Following along. Looking forward to reading more.

 

[PAsFab5]

Following

 

[rdkeim]

Following

 

[piglet1979]

First one! My boss went in December for his kid's band trip.

Following along. Looking forward to reading more.

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Thank you for following

 

[piglet1979]

Pre-Travel and Travel Day
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I am going to start off with some pre-travel stuff and then will get in to our travel day.

The week leading up to our travel day was really busy. Nick is on the varsity tennis team and they had a game every night and both kids had a practice for band. They had a total of 2 practices before the trip and they were about 3 weeks apart from each other. It rained both days so they had to practice marching in doors.

Elizabeth is my child that never waits until the last minute neither is Jeff. Elizabeth was fully packed the weekend before we left. Her original suitcase had to be thrown out because it had a huge rip in it. So after she packed I moved suitcases around and she repacked. She was fully ready to leave other then some snacks, a good 4 day before we left.

Jeff was also mostly packed this early as well. Though he just set his stuff out for me to pack.

Nick and I are last minute with just about everything and this was no different. I was telling Nick to pack every day for a week and telling him for months to let me know if he needed any new clothes. He waited until the night before to pack. Remember this, it comes back into play.

I did start a little early but really did most of it the day before we left. I really only had my clothes packed or at least laid out.

On Thursday, April 6th was the last day of school for the kids before spring break and the last day of work for Jeff and the day before we left. Normally Jeff would have taken this day off but he had the pager (on call) at work until 5 that afternoon so he opted to just work. I took this day off knowing I had a ton to do. This is the worst time for me to take off as I work with college scholarships and all of our deadlines were coming up or just pasted. This is our busy time.

Thursday, I got up, dropped kids off at school and then came home to get myself ready for the day. I was out the door by like 9:30 and at the nail place by 10 when they opened to get a mani and pedi. I forgot to take a picture of them this day but I got a picture later in the week of just my nails
My toes were done the same. Elizabeth told me that the Mickey looked more like a bunny. Either way it worked because Easter was in a few days.

While I was getting my nails done Nick was texted me wanting me to bring him lunch. There was a lot of confusion here but we were able to make it work. I was able to get him lunch right at the end of lunch and since they were not doing anything in band (the class he has after lunch) he was able to eat it then. Elizabeth wanted me to get her something but it didn't work out for her. She has AP US History after lunch but I told her I would stop after school to get her something.

After dropping food off to Nick I went to the bank and then to Walgreens before I getting another text from Nick. He finally started to realize that he was running out of time to pack and asked if I could pick him up early from school. They were having a Teacher vs student basketball game at the end of the day so he wasn't missing anything. I picked Elizabeth up too as it just made it easier on me and she didn't want to stay.

After getting home, Nick finally started to pack. He only had like an hour and a half before he needed to leave for a tennis match. He got all of his clothes packed and then needed to leave. I went though to make sure he had enough of everything. Once I was done going through everything I zipped up his suitcase and noticed that these black things were getting on everything but I had no clue what it was from. Here the fabric around the zipper was flacking off. It was really bad. We ended up throwing it out. This put a wrench in my plans. I know had to run to the the store.

Elizabeth and I went to Target and got a new suitcase. We ran into another family from band doing the same. They needed like 4 suitcases and none of them had started to pack yet. We weren't the only ones. Then we went to Marc's to get the rest of what we needed. We ran into the band director and chatted a minute.

Elizabeth ended up taking the new suitcase so she repacked again and I got all of Nicks stuff packed. I finished packed everything while Jeff took Nick up to the airport ( we are only about 10 minutes from the airport) to show him what it was going to be like in the morning since he was dropping us off and he gets nervous not knowing where he is going. Well, that didn't go as planned. He got more nervous. So I called my brother, who offered earlier in the week to take us. Thankfully he was still able to take us.

Everything was finally done except for dinner. Nick offered to go pick up food for use. Elizabeth had Subway and the rest of us had Chipotle. Elizabeth doesn't eat Chipotle. After dinner (now like 10pm) I put a note on the door of what the kids needed to do in the morning. My Mom was picking them up and taking them to school since we would be gone already.

Finally we all went to bed. It was a long day.

I am going to stop here. I didn't think I had this much to say about our pre-travel and it was a lot of text and really no pictures. I promise there will be many more pictures to come. I will be back to talk about our travel day soon.

 

[PollyannaMom]

Found my way here from the WISH thread. Love the little touch of Disney on your nails!

I'm usually an early packer, DS the last-minute type, and DH somewhere in between.

 

[newski_mom]

Also following after finding this through the WISH thread. My kids were never in high school band, but we happened to be in Disney one summer when our high school band was marching there. It was so fun to run into people we knew from home and fun to watch all the kids!

 

[piglet1979]

Found my way here from the WISH thread. Love the little touch of Disney on your nails!

I'm usually an early packer, DS the last-minute type, and DH somewhere in between.

Thanks for joining.

Also following after finding this through the WISH thread. My kids were never in high school band, but we happened to be in Disney one summer when our high school band was marching there. It was so fun to run into people we knew from home and fun to watch all the kids!

Thanks for joining. The weird thing about this trip is we barely ran into anyone from home.

 

[MamaMouse0920]

Following along!

 

[piglet1979]

Following along!

Thank you

 

[piglet1979]

Life Update -- Work and home have been super busy lately. I have worked so many hours this week that I was able to leave after working only 5 hours today. This is our busy time, as I work at a company that gives out college scholarships and this is the time that most of the scholarships have deadlines. So we are reading a lot of essays and selecting lots of students. At home it is all of the the end of the year stuff. Last night the kids had their last band concert for the year. Bare with me as I might not get an update in every week like I would like.

Travel Day Part 1

I left off with us going to bed the night before we left. Jeff and I had a 5:40am flight Thankfully we live only about 5-10 minutes from the airport. We should have just stayed up. Neither of us slept.

My brother was taking us to the airport and was picking us up at 3:20. He texted us at 3 to say he was on his way. He only lives maybe 10 minutes away if their is traffic. Thankfully we were already up. We got the rest of our stuff packed. the stuff you can't pack the day before. Jeff loves lists and made a check off list for us to make sure we didn't forget anything. I gripe all the time about his lists but they always come in handy. One of the last things I did was tape a list to the front door to remind the kids what they needed to do. I also bought Genie + at this time.

We got to the airport long before the counters opened. We got in line with another family and waited. Well, when they finally opened they told us we were in the wrong line. By that time there were tons of people waiting in the correct line and at the kiosks. Once we got through the TSA line was huge. Thankfully though it moved fast and we were at our gate with time to spare.

We were flying Southwest and had boarding group A1 & A2 for this leg. We had so many points saved up because we haven't traveled in a long time so I splurged and bought Business Class. Our flight boarded on time and Jeff and I picked the first row. This was awesome. I don't have an issue with leg room because I am really short. Jeff feels cramped a lot. He wanted the isle seat each time to give him the feeling of more room and the front row gives you a bit more leg space. We were off and on our way to Baltimore for our first stop on time. The flight was a bit rough and we didn't get the drink service. It was only a little over and hour or so, so no big deal. For me I don't get anything anyways as I am afraid I will be sick (this has never happened so I am not sure what my fear is from) so I don't eat or drink anything all day until I am done with being on a plane.





We landed, I think, a little bit earlier then our scheduled time. This was perfect because it was a few minutes before 7, so I was able to get ready for my first ever LL selection. I had plans put together on What and when I should get each LL. So far everything went as planed. I got a LL for Slinky Dog. It was still too early for us so I just kept modifying until I got our time. We needed a little bit later in the day.



After my selection, I sent a text to my mom and the kids. My mom was picking the kids up at 7:30am to take them to the school. Nick could have drove them but we didn't want to leave the car at the school for the week. This was the first time we got to talk to Nick and wish him a happy birthday. My mom said everything was going good. Elizabeth got up early and made pancakes for her and Nick. She always keeps Nick on track. Over the pandemic when we were home she made sure (and made) lunch for Nick the days that Jeff and I were too busy with work. They were off and at school by 7:45 am for there bus ride.

For us everything was going as planned and we were boarded on time for our last leg. This time we were A5 and A6 and we somehow still got the first row. This flight was much better. Also, on the first leg I didn't watch the show I downloaded on my phone because I couldn't get it to work but I never asked Jeff, who works in IT, to help. I mentioned it to him so this time he helped and I was able to watch some of my show. I never sleep on flights but this one I think the no sleep that night was catching up to me and I kept dozing off.



We landed on time if not a little early which was perfect since it was time for my next LL selection. I could not have planned this any better (though I didn't plan for this to work out. I just got luck). My next LL was for MMRR. Again, I had to modify the time for it to be a bit later.



We had booked for Tiffany's Town Car to take us to the grocery store and then to the Swan. This was awesome. He was ready and waiting for us and even helped take our bags to his car.

We stopped at the store and picked up a few snacks and a few other stuff that we forgot. This was a very nice store but it did not flow well and was very confusing to us but we figured t out and were on our way quickly.

Once we made it to the Swan, we dropped our stuff off at Bell services and went to check in. We were checking in by 11. Check in was quick and they asked if we wanted to upgrade to a balcony for about $50 a night. We declined. To our surprise our room was ready. This was awesome timing. We told Bell services and headed to our room. We were surprised to see that we had a room with a balcony even though we declined it. This is the first time we got some pixie dust.

Once our bags arrived from bell services (it was maybe 15 minutes) we went to the Boardwalk Deli for some lunch. We were starving. I got the Roasted Chicken. It was ok. I don't think I would get it again. Jeff got the Italian He also said it was just ok. I didn't get pictures of this.

With lunch done, we went back to the room to take a nap. At 2:30 we got up and walked around the resort to see the pools. Before we left though I made an Alien Saucer Swirl but switched switched it to Smugglers run. I forgot to mention that I got a LL for Toy Story at 12:30 while we were eating lunch.



I am going to stop here for now. Next up will be the start of our park time.

I also forgot to mention that I gave the kids their Easter baskets on Thursday.

Elizabeth's


Nick's. I also got him tennis balls since her just started to plan tennis. He picked up a racket for the first time last May and ended up playing on the varsity team this year.

 

[amazingact21]

I'm here! So happy you decided to write a report.

I feel like trips run smoothly when you have one member of your travel party who makes lists and packs early and another who is a little more laid back. However, I can only imagine how much more complicated planning was for you with the kids traveling separately.

Awesome that you were able to get a lot of Genie Plus reservations while traveling. And hooray for a balcony! Sounds like your arrival day is off to a good start.

 

[cassidy57]

I am enjoying your trip report and can't wait to read more!!

 

[piglet1979]

I'm here! So happy you decided to write a report.

I feel like trips run smoothly when you have one member of your travel party who makes lists and packs early and another who is a little more laid back. However, I can only imagine how much more complicated planning was for you with the kids traveling separately.

Awesome that you were able to get a lot of Genie Plus reservations while traveling. And hooray for a balcony! Sounds like your arrival day is off to a good start.

Thanks for joining. I can only imagine how busy you are right now.

Yes, Jeff's planning is so helpful. The kids being basically on a different trip was hard. When we are together I can easily pick up what we missed. This time for the kids I really needed to make sure they had everything.

I am enjoying your trip report and can't wait to read more!!

Thank you!

 

[rdkeim]

Enjoyed your update! I like reading about travel days. That must have caused anxiety having your kids traveling separate - especially since you left before them. You got some good LL's - hope you have fun once you hit the park!

 

[Heatherhy01]

Great report so far! Our kid's were in chorus when they were in high school and we went to Disney with our youngest when they sang in the Candlelight Processional. What a fun trip!

 

[piglet1979]

Enjoyed your update! I like reading about travel days. That must have caused anxiety having your kids traveling separate - especially since you left before them. You got some good LL's - hope you have fun once you hit the park!

OMG, yes. I think my mom was annoyed with me by this time. I think I talked to everyday the week we left to make sure she knew everything and made sure the kids were good. Once I knew the kids were on the bus and on the road, I was finally able to relax some.

Great report so far! Our kid's were in chorus when they were in high school and we went to Disney with our youngest when they sang in the Candlelight Processional. What a fun trip!

This is such a good and fun opportunity for the kids.

 

[BroadwayHermione5]

Enjoying this report so far! And as someone who went with her HS marching band (way way pre magic bands but still in this century lol) I’m intrigued to see what’s changed