Wanting to meet other families going to WDW 2011

[nancycanadian]

Hi my name is Aubyn and myself and my small family are heading to WDW with the group in November 2011.
I was hoping we could meet here and chat some before we all went.
We live in Ontario Canada and have been to Disney before but not on one of these homeschooling group trips.
Looking forward to meeting other homeschoolers.
Aubyn, mom to T 14 year old dd

[Dianna]

Hi Aubyn, I hope more Disney families join us soon. I'm trying! :smile2:

Dianna

[SylviaG]

Hi Aubyn,
We are also from Ontario and planning to join the WDW trip - just finalizing a few details with my husband's work. Where in Ontario are you? We're in Milton.
Sylvia

[cameragirl]

We're going! We have Grant (11), Logan (8), and Kelsey (7).

Cindy

[nancycanadian]

We live in Ottawa, Ontario and our dd is 14 this year. Are there any other teens going? Or from Canada, Ontario even would be great. We are driving down. Two LONG days there, two LONg days back but worth it.
Aubyn

[Dianna]

My children (still at home) are 18, 15, and 9. :smile2:

Dianna

[Dianna]

We'll definitely have a meet & greet at Disney Quest again this year, but is there anything else you and your kids would enjoy doing as a group at Disney? I thought about meeting at the Chip & Dale sing-along/campfire thingie where we can make s'mores. The Contemporary has a boat that runs back and forth to Ft. Wilderness. What do you think?

Dianna

[MommaBerd]

Hi!

My name is Robin and my DH is Josh. We have four boys: Harrison (13), Colby (7), Owen (5), and Miles (3). Colby and Miles have birthdays late November and early December, so they will both be closer to 8 and 4. We'll be arriving Friday, Nov. 11 and leaving Sunday, Nov. 20.

This is the biggest vacation we've taken as a family, and I'm SO excited! Ever since I got the "Yes" from DH, I have been reading like a maniac. The two books I found most helpful are "Fodor's Walt Disney World with Kids 2011" by Kim Wright Wiley and "The Unofficial Guide to WDW 2011" by Bob Sehlinger and Len Testa.

Since we have a "large" family, we are actually going to rent a condo at a nearby "resort" (I put that in parentheses because they all seem to call themselves "resorts" :smile2:). For anyone who may be looking for alternatives to staying on Disney property, I highly recommend checking into this option. We did this two years ago when we went down there for a trip to see the ACC Championship, Sea World, and Busch Gardens, and it was fantastic.

I know my kids will love to meet other kids, and Disney Quest seems like a great idea! I've never been - is it loud in there? I'm also open for meeting for a meal - any meal. I like the idea of the Campfire Sing-a-long - is it open to those of us staying off-property?

Anyway, I've probably given way too much detail, but I'm excited to meet everyone!!!

Blessings,
Robin

[Dianna]

I know my kids will love to meet other kids, and Disney Quest seems like a great idea! I've never been - is it loud in there? I'm also open for meeting for a meal - any meal. I like the idea of the Campfire Sing-a-long - is it open to those of us staying off-property?


Hi Robin :wave:

DisneyQuest has 5 floors, so it depends where you are as to whether it's loud or not, but most of it is loud due to all the games and children running around.

I may plan group meals, but those are more difficult because of the size of our group.

The Campfire is open to all Disney guests, regardless of where you're staying.

Warmly,
Dianna

[MommaBerd]

Thanks for answering my questions, Dianna. Approximately how many kids will be there?

[Dianna]

We'll probably have 200+ children this year - not all in one place, though. :biggrin2:

Warmly,
Dianna

[nancycanadian]

Hello there MommaBerd, Just wondering which resort you are staying in. We are looking at staying in Crestwynd but i haven't booked our stay as yet? We have a 14 year old girl, who is a tom boy, maybe our two can connect. Aubyn

[DawnM]

:wave:

We will be going. I have three boys, 13, 11 and 7.

My husband has a training seminar down in Orlando the week before this trip, so we will go ahead and start our Disney time the week of Nov. 7th, but we stay most of the following week so that my husband can get a bit of a vacation as well.

My boys also want to visit Legoland while there, so I am hoping we can fit that in.

Dawn

[Dianna]

Hi Dawn! :wave:

My youngest (daughter) is finally getting interested in Legos. There's a Lego store in Downtown Disney. They were doing some remodeling on it last year, so I don't know how it'll look this year, but we'll probably wander in. :smile2:

Dianna

[my3sons]

Hi, everyone! I'm Jennifer, and my husband, myself, and our 3 sons will be joining in on the CH Disney trip this year for the first time, too. We've been to Disney every time we could possibly afford it (I'm a total Disney junkie), but this will be our first time going as part of a group. My boys are Austin (16 but will be 17 by the trip), Garrett (11 but will turn 12 during the trip), and Nick (5). We've been homeschooling in GA for going on four years now, and the boys are excited about the YES classes and meeting others out there from the ever-widening world of homeschooling. I look forward to getting to know all of you!

Jennifer

[DawnM]

We were there in April! It looks great.

Dawn

Hi Dawn! :wave:

My youngest (daughter) is finally getting interested in Legos. There's a Lego store in Downtown Disney. They were doing some remodeling on it last year, so I don't know how it'll look this year, but we'll probably wander in. :smile2:

Dianna

[Dianna]

Hi Jennifer! :wave:

Welcome to our forums! It looks like we're getting quite a group together here now.

Warmly,
Dianna

[emmajmom]

Hi everyone
I have one 17 year old daughter going with me. We enjoy traveling without dad because he is not a Disney fan. We went 2 years ago with Dianna and then to DC last fall. Had a blast both times. We are staying a the value resort due to budget restraints but will definitively be in on all the "magic". Dianna does an amazing job and Disney is fantastic!

[Dianna]

Hi everyone
I have one 17 year old daughter going with me. We enjoy traveling without dad because he is not a Disney fan. We went 2 years ago with Dianna and then to DC last fall. Had a blast both times. We are staying a the value resort due to budget restraints but will definitively be in on all the "magic". Dianna does an amazing job and Disney is fantastic!

Janey, I think you and Emma are pretty amazing, too! :smile2:

Dianna

[MommaBerd]

Hi Jennifer, Aubyn, Janey, and Dawn! :wave:

I haven't been able to check in for a couple of weeks...tyranny of the urgent. I hope that our paths cross at some point on our trip!

Aubyn - I just booked our 3BR condo at Windsor Palms this past week. I had hoped to rent at Windsor Hills, but because it's a much nicer place I couldn't get any real deals. I, too, prefer to travel cheap, or at least save money on the things that are not so consequential in order to have experiences that will (hopefully) create memories.

Jennifer - where are you located in GA? We live in Suwanee, a suburb of Atlanta.

I hope that all of you are having (or are about to have) a smooth start to your school year!

Warmly,
Robin

[nancycanadian]

Hey Robin
We are staying at Crestwynd, almost neighbours i think, really close by anyway. Hopefully your ds Harrison? and my dd Taegyn who is 14 will get along.
Anyone else with teens? or from Canada, or both
Looking forward to it
Aubyn

[my3sons]

Robin - I grew up in Suwanee (mostly) and graduated from North Gwinnett back in the day :-) We now live in Snellville, so not too far away.

[kgmom]

We are thinking about gong to the campfire and would try to do that when other homeschoolers are there if a date is chosen that works for us.

~Heather

[Anita]

Dianne,
We would love to do the Chip N Dale campfire singalong and disneyquest. We will be buying tickets for Mickey's Magical Xmas Party either on the 13th or 15th. We do not want to miss out on the campfire or Disneyquest. Which night would be better and not conflict with Carlina Homeschoolers events - the 13th or 15th?
Thanks,
Anita Porter

[Anita]

I have saved up a few boxtops. Should I bring them with me to Disneyworld or would you prefer I mail them?
Thanks,
Anita Porter

[nancycanadian]

Anita
How old are your children? What is Mickeys Magical Xmas Party?
I would love to do the singalong camp fire but not sure if my 14 year old will go for it but I do know she would LOVE Disneyquest.
Aubyn

[Dianna]

Dianne,
We would love to do the Chip N Dale campfire singalong and disneyquest. We will be buying tickets for Mickey's Magical Xmas Party either on the 13th or 15th. We do not want to miss out on the campfire or Disneyquest. Which night would be better and not conflict with Carlina Homeschoolers events - the 13th or 15th?
Thanks,
Anita Porter

Anita, I'll finetune my group schedule more in the next few days and will let everyone know something soon.

Warmly,
Dianna

[Dianna]

I have saved up a few boxtops. Should I bring them with me to Disneyworld or would you prefer I mail them?
Thanks,
Anita Porter

Anita, go ahead and bring them if you want to. I don't mind. :smile2:

Warmly,
Dianna

[ilikemyhomeschool]

Hi guys!

We are going November 12- 20. I have four kids ages DD 11, DS8, DS6, DS4. We are staying in a townhouse in Windsor Hills. I have four boys that loved Lego so I'm planning to take them to Legoland too. Can't wait to meet everyone.

[millersonline]

Hello,
We are David and Barbara Miller from outside of Boston, MA. We have been Homeschooling our DD8 for 3 years (she is 3rd grade now) and also have DD (who will turn 4 during the Disney week) and DS (Born in July, so will be 3mos).

We look forward to meeting families from all over on this trip. We will be using a Timeshare and staying at the Marrriott Harbour Lake near Disney for the week, arriving Sat 11/12 and leaving 11/19.

We would love to get together early in the trip and we plan to visit Legoland (we visited Legoland Carlsbad in 2006).

If anyone is looking for good deals, check out http://www.mousesavers.com/, we have used them for tickets, car rental and other information in the past with good success.

David

[Anita]

Anita
How old are your children? What is Mickeys Magical Xmas Party?
I would love to do the singalong camp fire but not sure if my 14 year old will go for it but I do know she would LOVE Disneyquest.
Aubyn
Hi Aubyn,
The name has changed this year. It is called Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party and it is an after hours party at the Magic Kingdom with a Special Xmas theme. The tickets are extra but to me worth it. If you decide to go, make sure you eat at Tomorrowland. We love to dance with Goofy and all the other Disney characters. Here's a link to FAQ:
http://disneyworld.disney.go.com/search-results/?searchString=mickey%27s+very+merry+christmas+part y

And a link to purchase tickets: http://tickets.disney.go.com/buy/TicketTrans

[Anita]

Anita, go ahead and bring them if you want to. I don't mind. :smile2:

Warmly,
Dianna
Great, I'll bring them!

[WuWei]

We have just decided to travel to Disney during this same time period and were wondering if there were any reservation cancellations? We would just need two tickets (with or without hotel accommodations) for my son and me.

Let me know if anyone cancels last minute. Hopefully we can connect!

Pat Robinson
wuweimama@earthlink.net

[laurakay]

Hi everyone,

Just introducing ourselves for the big trip!!! WE can't wait!

I'm Laura, husband is Buddy and we have 2 boys, ages 9 (just had his bday!), and 12. We went to Disney when the boys were 2 and 5 years old! Those photos have been SO sweet to look at as we get ready for this trip. I have to say that the boys are very excited to have other kids there for them to hang out with and get to know. My 12 year old is constantly planning/organizing our trip so we won't miss ONE thing on HIS list. ha. We're at the Contemporary, and are planning on going to all the group meetings, plus hopefully setting up some times/places to have a meal or two and even ride some rides together.
Thanks! Laura (oh, we are from kentucky, but live in Columbus, Ohio now):wave: