She's Having Deja Vu and Going Back to WDW, a June 2024 WL PTR

GrandCalifornian

Can't Wait To Go Back
Joined
Mar 16, 2012
Friends! Today is the day!

We finally have enough time and motivation to sit and start a PTR for our upcoming WDW trip.

Time is flying and we’re getting closer to the trip! We make dining and activity reservations soon so we thought it’d be a great time to start up the PTR.

Today is actually 101 days until we arrive! Before we get too far ahead of ourselves, let's start this off and fill in the details for everyone to follow along. First of all, let's introduce ourselves.


So we’re sitting here on the couch writing intros and they’re the same boring ones we’ve done for every report so I had the idea to introduce each other. This could be fun.

This is Paul, he’s the chief planner, reservation maker, time keeper and pack mule.

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During the week he helps run the family elevator business, he’s a special guy to walk into the business with my family, but he fits in amazing and is a huge asset to the company. He loves off-roading, boating, going to estate sales, and playing with his RC Cars. He loves all the different kinds of Disney Transportation and really likes taking the boats to and from the Magic Kingdom and Wilderness Lodge. His perfect day at Disney World would include taking each type of Disney transportation, visiting more than one park, a cheeseburger for lunch, ice cream, and fireworks.

Lol, ok, that's different, but let's go for it. This is Melissa, the leader of our family, Runner of the Office for the Elevator Company, and the one who makes sure we have clean clothes and a nice place to live.
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She's my boss at work and home, but that works well since it is consistent. She's a Mom to our two kids, four dogs, a rabbit, and seven chickens. Besides the chaos at home, she supervises a staff of about 14 people at work and makes sense of all the HR paperwork and job tracking, so she deserves a nice break during the WDW trips. At Disney she loves the food, the resorts, and her favorite park is Epcot.

That was fun.

Yeah, now for the kids. Allie is first, she's the "she" in our reports and now is 14 years old.


Guys, I’m not well, she’s getting too old.

She has become quite a Disney fan and this will be her 13th trip to Disney World. She does love and appreciate it tough, and shared videos from her perspective last year.

I hope she does the daily vlogs again, I really enjoyed seeing the trip through her perspective.

This is Marshall, he’s 8 now and boy is he full of curiosity.


This will be his 9th trip and he loves anything that moves and is a big fan of snacks.

We just asked him what his favorite park was and he said Magic Kingdom has a lot of variety of rides. He likes the first glimpse of the castle and all the different shops.

He explained all of this very eloquently after some serious thought, because he does love Epcot as well, but boating to MK is a favorite activity for him as well.

Now on to the where of our trip. Just like last year, we will once again be returning to our favorite resort, and my favorite place on earth, Wilderness Lodge.




We’re staying in a one bedroom again, that worked out so well last year.

You will notice a lot of similarities between our most recent trip and this one, but that's because we had such a great time last year and we all wanted to do it again.

Yeah it’s pretty much a repeat but we are adding a day.

Having our own one bedroom is super nice. Our friends Jon and Brandy won't be going this time, so we again won't be sharing a two bedroom, but with the shorter trip we almost have enough points for the one bedroom, and we have leftover points from past years to cover it. They warned us when we signed up for DVC that once you stay in a bigger room it is hard to settle for a studio.

It is a neat room situation for us.


We crammed a lot into four park days last year, so we decided to add a day but probably still keep it at four park days. This year our dates are June 4th through the 10th.

We’ll be there for our anniversary again this year which is kinda fun. This year will be 17 years. Yikes, makes me feel old.

After being there for our honeymoon, it is always special to celebrate anniversaries there. This time we will try to celebrate with a fireworks cruise again.

Fingers crossed the weather cooperates this time, I’m really looking forward to that.

We also decided to rent a car again, and as soon as we made our resort reservation we booked a minivan, since it was big enough and way cheaper than another Jeep would have been. Well, a few months later I checked prices and was able to switch to a Jeep at a lower price, so I jumped on it. We'll once again be cruising in a Jeep, which I have come to enjoy.

I think a Jeep is more fun than a minivan and we all enjoyed it last year.


It's just a fun car to have, and I love mine at home.

We’re still looking at airfare and haven’t booked that yet but we’re probably going to fly out of San Diego again. The never ending construction continues at LAX and it was so easy last year in San Diego it’s almost a no brainer.

From our house the drive is about the same, and San Diego was awesome last year. Thus we continue repeating what worked. Now we are just looking for a drop in airfare prices.

We’re getting excited counting down the days and now you all get to count down with us! We’ve still got planning to do, we haven’t even nailed down what restaurants to do so stay tuned and follow along as the trip comes together.


We are sure looking forward to it, and sharing our plans with everybody over the next 100 days.
 
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Table of Contents:
Introduction
Double Digit Day
Downtown Disney Mini Trip
Airfare Agony, Part 1
Airfare Secured, Bucket List Item Checked
Dining Plans
Acquisitions: Part 1
ADRs Acquired
Park Ticket Analysis


Prior Reports:
She's free before she's three, touring the world with a toddler: September 2012 Trip Report
She turned 3, but the DDP's Free, a WL Bounceback PTR: September 2013
She's a Princess, a Superhero, and a Rockstar -a September 2013 Trip Report
She's Turning Five at Disney World - a September 2014 PTR
She's Five at Riverside - September 2014 Trip Report
She's Going to Show Him The World - September 2016 PTR
She's a Big Sister and an Expedition Leader: A September 2016 TR
She's Sleeping on the Top Bunk: An August 2017 WL TR with a Party of 10
She's Staying DVC, a September 2018 PTR
She's On Top of The World, a September 2018 TR at Copper Creek Villas and Cabins
She's Going Back to Back, a September 2019 and February 2020 PTR
She Dodged a Hurricane, Skipped School, and Adopted a Porg, A September 2019 TR
She's a Disney Adult and Feeling Artsy, a February 2020 TR
She's Masking Up and Taking on The World, a Jan 2021 PTR
She's Collecting Castles and Staying at Copper Creek, a Jan 2021 TR
She's Surprised to be back to Disney World, a May 2021 Yacht Club Girl's Trip
She's Adding all the Extras, a January 2022 BCV / WL Split Stay Trip Report
She's Saying Aloha, an April 2022 Oahu and Aulani Trip Report
She's Camping at Coral Pink, a Summer 2022 Utah Camping Trip Report
She's Making a June Trip, a June 2023 PTR
She's Packing It All In, a June 2023 WL Trip Report
 
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We'll once again be cruising in a Jeep
I'm glad that you finally started your trip report. We just stayed at WL earlier this month and it was great - as usual. :)

We saw a Jeep in a shopping center parking lot that had a whole lot of little rubber ducks on the dashboard and I thought of you. I think they were playing the game. :)

We'll be going to a wedding in California in April and we aren't looking forward to LAX. But it was the only way to get a nonstop flight from Chicago.
 


I can't wait to follow along with your plans! Seeing that you were at 101 days reminded me that we're at less than that, though, and we have done zero planning other than booking resorts. :o
 
Welcome back, you’re the first to join in.

Glad to see your new PTR! The kids are getting so big! Can’t wait to read along.
Yes, we are glad to finally be posting plans. The kids are getting way too big, we just keep feeding them and they keep eating more. At least they both love Disney!

I'm glad that you finally started your trip report. We just stayed at WL earlier this month and it was great - as usual. :)
That’s great. You know how much we love it there.

We saw a Jeep in a shopping center parking lot that had a whole lot of little rubber ducks on the dashboard and I thought of you. I think they were playing the game. :)
Yeah, it’s funny how many Jeep rubber ducks you see. We’ll have to bring some more Disney ones for this year.

We'll be going to a wedding in California in April and we aren't looking forward to LAX. But it was the only way to get a nonstop flight from Chicago.
LAX isn’t really that bad, especially if you don’t have to park. The terminals can be really nice, but vary quite a bit depending on which airline you fly. We often wind up with LAX in order to get the nonstop as well, and find it to be worth it.

I’m joining in! I always love your reports and can’t wait to hear about your plans.
Welcome back! We are glad that you’re here.

Yay - joining in!
Welcome back once again. We hope we have enough to share, but it should lead up to a good trip report once it is done.

Following along! Always enjoy your PTRs and TRs. Wow, your kids are getting big!!
Welcome, and thanks for your kind comments. The kids have come a long way from Allie’s first trip as a two year old.

I can't wait to follow along with your plans! Seeing that you were at 101 days reminded me that we're at less than that, though, and we have done zero planning other than booking resorts. :o
Congratulations on the double digit countdown. Check out our trip last year for our favorite food ideas, we will likely plan on repeating many of those meals, but we are talking about what changes we will make for variety and to hit some new places for us. At least we’ve got over a month before we have to finalize ADRs…
 
Congratulations on the double digit countdown. Check out our trip last year for our favorite food ideas, we will likely plan on repeating many of those meals, but we are talking about what changes we will make for variety and to hit some new places for us. At least we’ve got over a month before we have to finalize ADRs…
Yeah, based on the list the kids have given us so far, we're going for a mix of new and favorites. Our oldest is graduating high school this year and will only be with us about half the time, so part of it is figuring out who's doing what, and when. I'm so used to having so many things locked down 180 days in advance that I feel so behind when planning trips now. I'm looking forward to hearing which new restaurants you're trying this year.
 
Love a new trip to follow! I gasped when you said Marshall was 8. Allie was hard enough (because my oldest is also 14) but for some reason, Marshall's age crept up on me!

We are flying into LAX in a month so now I am nervous. It was the only way we could get a direct flight (we live in Kentucky and fly from Nashville). Flying home from San Diego, though. So I will get to see both airports!

I hope Allie does her vlogs again!
 
Looking forward to this! Are Jon and Bandy coming too? (Sorry if I got the names wrong) Have to say it: your family is one of my favorites on here, I love reading your reports. Can't wait!! :flower1:
 
Yeah, based on the list the kids have given us so far, we're going for a mix of new and favorites. Our oldest is graduating high school this year and will only be with us about half the time, so part of it is figuring out who's doing what, and when. I'm so used to having so many things locked down 180 days in advance that I feel so behind when planning trips now. I'm looking forward to hearing which new restaurants you're trying this year.
Sounds like a fun trip, but a scheduling challenge as well. I have thought about how difficult it would be to schedule a trip where people are there for different portions of it. In the future we may do that with Jon and Brandy and maybe my parents. It will be a challenge but worth it.
It is hard to make ourselves try something totally new to us, but we will have at least one brand new one. We are also talking about going back to some places we loved but haven't been to in a few trips, and Sanaa for bread service keeps coming to mind...

Definitely following- looking forward to hearing about your plans and experiences. You all do such great trip reports! We also share a love of WL and have gotten in the habit of a splitting our stays so that we have time at the Lodge.
Thank you so much. It is always neat to hear that people enjoy reading about what we do. We have a challenge because Melissa and the kids really don't want to do split stays, and I'm not ready for a WDW trip without WL, so we're back to the lodge.

Love a new trip to follow! I gasped when you said Marshall was 8. Allie was hard enough (because my oldest is also 14) but for some reason, Marshall's age crept up on me!
Aww, they do grow quickly. We are shocked at how closely he is following behind her... The big age gap just keeps getting smaller.

We are flying into LAX in a month so now I am nervous. It was the only way we could get a direct flight (we live in Kentucky and fly from Nashville). Flying home from San Diego, though. So I will get to see both airports!
Don't worry too much about LAX. It isn't that bad, and the worst part is the parking which you will get to avoid by flying in to there. There are some really nice terminals depending on which airline you fly in on. We have just had some tough times parking there (like during the Aulani trip...)

I hope Allie does her vlogs again!
Aww, so do we, and the good news is she has said she will be doing them again. She is surprised and honored that people enjoy watching them too.

Looking forward to this! Are Jon and Bandy coming too? (Sorry if I got the names wrong) Have to say it: your family is one of my favorites on here, I love reading your reports. Can't wait!! :flower1:
Thanks so much! Your kind comments make us so happy. We are just fortunate to get to share the fun we have at Disney, and fortunate to get to go fairly frequently.

Oh shoot, I just reread you and Jon and Brandy aren't coming! Sorry....it's Monday, LOLOLOL.
Lol no problem at all. As you saw, Jon and Brandy are avoiding the heat this time, but they just had a trip there in January. We would like to plan a trip together again soon, and we all have a Christmas trip on our bucket lists.
 
Today's our double digit day! The trip is getting close, and it feels like we just started the PTR. (Well probably because we did..)
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It does feel really close! With the ADR dates being shorter the planning happens closer to the trip. So we have some important things to cover in this update.

Allie is super excited about the trip, and is already planning her outfits. You just have to have the right ears and bag to make the outfit complete.
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If you go way back to PTR’s when Allie was tiny and I had extra time on my hands I would sew dresses for our Disney Trips. As she’s gotten older and we gained a kid my spare time has dwindled to nearly nothing so I don’t sew nearly as much as I used to. Also I don’t think Allie would wear the dresses I would sew anymore. However, she is now obsessively planning outfits on her own.

She has had cute Disney outfits all her life, so we pretty much led her to this. Now we gotta pay for them though, and she does have my credit card on her Poshmark account now.

Oh yeah she’s driving us crazy. Here’s some of what she sent us though…
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The way she edits the photos on her phone to put the pieces alll together is pretty cute.

Pray for Paul’s credit card bill.

To celebrate our double digit countdown Allie proposed we go to Downtown Disney this past weekend. While we didn't have time, we did make a dinner reservation for next Sunday, so we will celebrate 93 days to go with a local taste of Disney.

I think the last time we were at Downtown Disney Marshall was 1 or 2, it was after I ran the 10K I think.

It has been quite a while. We used to have Annual Passes, but we have focused our Disney spending on Florida since before COVID.

It should be fun to go get some dinner and do some Disney shopping.

Downtown Disney is going to be undergoing some long awaited changes, but it is always fun and sentimental for us to visit there, and I'm sure we will visit "our hotel" and see where we got married.

Yeah! It should be a sweet little Disney preview.

One thing we did do to mark the 100 day mark was we all sat down last night and watched Allie's vlogs from last trip. We are so glad that everyone enjoyed them, and that she wants to do them again.

She’s really excited that you all liked them and she said she’s gonna up her game this year. I can’t wait to see how they come out. She’s grown so much in the last year.

She says some of her old videos are "cringey" but it is fun watching her grow.

Hang around for more trip updates and we’ll be back to let you know how Downtown Disney went!
 
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Allie's wardrobe looks very cute. It also looks like it will be perfect for the Florida heat and humidity. :)

I am looking forward to your report on the trip to Downtown Disney. We will be spending one wild and crazy - do as much as we can - day in Disneyland. We hope it can include Downtown Disney, too. We have never been to Disneyland so this is all new to us.
 
A trip to Downtown Disney seems like the perfect thing to do to keep the Disney excitement going! Love your DD's outfit wish list. As a boy Mom (and boy Grandma) I've never experienced the clothes excitement. Sounds fun but maybe a little hard on the checkbook :-) Hope your DD visit is a good one!
 

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