Alaina then went to the MK again for one day in May 2005 as part of a graduation trip. This trip was our first family trip together and Alaina’s first time to say on property. We began planning our first Disney vacation in early 2014. Caleb was Minister of Music and Youth at FBC Belmont. Alaina was Graduation Coordinator at UNA. The plan was for us to go with Adrienne in late September, early October 2015. Neither of the girls would be in school and Lydia would gone for “free.” It would have been a slower time for the graduation desk. Crowds were predicted to be pretty low due to the time of year. However, Caleb resigned from his church position in February 2015. Because of the probability Caleb would not have the necessary amount of vacation days for the trip and the high cost of a Disney vacation, we did the responsible thing and cancelled the trip. This was a bitter pill to swallow, but we all knew it was for the best. As it turned out 4 of the 5 of us got the stomach virus this very week and there was a hurricane that developed which caused a great deal of rain. Had we gone at this time, it probably would have been less than magical for us all.
In late summer/early fall of 2016 we decided it was a good time for us to plan another trip. For the first time since Alaina had been employed at UNA, Spring Break was the same week for both UNA and Franklin County Schools. Additionally, this trip was going to be Caleb and Alaina’s celebration for their 10th wedding anniversary. Due to the timeframe, Adrienne could not be part of this adventure.
Caleb and Alaina both love to travel and do research on the areas in which they will be visiting. We bought the Disney “Bible” – The Unofficial Guide to Walt Disney World when we were planning the 2015 trip. We would read the book in our downtime at home. It wasn’t long before we discovered there was a website you could subscribe to called TouringPlans.com. For only $20 we had a wealth of knowledge at our fingertips. This subscription included crowd calendars and park plans…it was life changing! Caleb started watching vlogs on YouTube by people who frequently travel to Disney. He introduced Alaina to The Dis Unplugged and Tim Tracker. The rest is history. Disney was now an obsession.
In our research, we decided for this trip we would probably need to book a Moderate Resort. The queen size beds were the biggest draw. We knew the extra cost would be worth it since we would be taking mid-day breaks each day for the girls to nap. Initially, we booked a room at Port Orleans French Quarter due to the size of the resort. It’s the smallest on property, so that was really appealing to us. We weren’t 100% sold on the hotel theme. We had only planned to visit MK, EP and HS on this trip. AK didn’t really appeal to us and we thought there would be fewer things for the girls to enjoy in that park. We only planned to do 4 park days and 2 of those days were going to be spent at MK. We wanted a day mid trip to relax and enjoy the resort. Once the discounts for our travel dates became available, our plans changed. POFQ was not included in any discount, so we would have to switch to a different resort to take advantage of any offer available. One of the discounts available would give us a 5th day park ticket for free if we switched to another resort. Because we liked the theming better and the option to boat to Disney Springs, we decided to switch to Port Orleans Riverside. This simple change put us at the resort we originally wanted, but we couldn’t justify the extra cost at the time. For only $40 more than our original booking we were also getting an extra park day…so AK was put into the schedule…win, win.
We opted to purchase the Disney Dining Plan as part of our package. While some people say it’s not worth it, we are firm believers in this add on. A true vacation for Alaina is having everything paid for prior to traveling so she doesn’t have to worry about finances. The DDP provides that opportunity. We added money to a gift card specifically for dining so all gratuity would be pre-budgeted as well.To prepare for our trip we started purchasing Disney Gift Cards to cover our spending money while on the trip. We asked family members to buy the girls gift cards instead of toys for their birthdays and Christmas. I believe we had about $500 in gift cards when we left for the trip. We estimated how much we would need for gratuity and designated one card specifically for that. We divided the remaining amount between the 4 of us to spend on souvenirs. The girls absolutely loved being able to buy what they wanted…as long as they still had funds left.
It was mentioned at the beginning of this trip report that it was probably a good thing our first trip didn’t work out because of rain and sickness. Well, this trip came along at the perfect time. Alaina lost her Grandmother unexpectedly on September 1, 2016. Her Granddaddy got the flu in late January 2017 and didn’t bounce back due to heart problems and ultimately being heartbroken. In the weeks leading up to the trip we weren’t sure if we would be able to go because Granddaddy was doing so poorly. We invested in trip insurance just in case we had to cancel last minute. The Lord called Granddaddy home on March 20, 2017. His death, the stress that comes with preparing for travel and the responsibilities at UNA (nursing applications, HESI testing and Acceptance Letters) all were weighing heavily on Alaina. A week at Disney World was much needed for our family. We needed to escape the real world and be in the Disney bubble to enjoy one another’s company.
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