|
|
Post by helenabear on Nov 20, 2023 13:46:23 GMT -5
I believe there is an issue too with our school needing to use travel agents from an approved list of agencies. The group that we used is Bob Rogers Travel and is really well known in the midwest at least for doing high school and college trips. Personally I think they absolutely suck. They are talking about doing another Disney trip with the band maybe next year and my kid is already said that we are going to stay together as a family during the trip because the rest of it is just such a hot mess. And knowing what happened this past trip, I will fight to make sure I don't have to pay for tickets twice anyway. I will look into this though, and see if we would be allowed to use anyone else versus who we use last year. I'm a little worried that my kid is using the same travel company to go to New York City in april, but his teachers are the ones basically running the trip and have done this every other year for ages so hopefully it'll be better run from that point of view. If we use the same company and do Disney again or even if we just do Disney again next year for band, I've interjected myself to say that we need to have someone who actually knows what they're doing because we had none of that last time. We even had a teacher who was a formal Disney travel agent, but as you said he was just a part-time guy who did it outside of his job of teaching and eventually got tired of trying to do both. He had no clue how to deal with teenagers and all the issues that this type of trip brought up because he was only used to doing like a single family at a time. I was called in more than once to help and I was kind of annoyed because I could have helped make this better much earlier on had they asked. But we were stuck using this TA group at that point anyway. I get that, with the per-approved contractor list....especially if its a public school system. Hopefully there is a better vetting of the interview process. A lot of TA's like that are good with getting you from point A to Point B, and that is all. But planning a trip to a destination like Disney World you need to take it a few steps further......that is where the failure happens.
Good luck with all of that and hopefully it does not turn into another hot mess.
Thanks. We kinda hope they don't pick Disney. It will be easier on me and we'll just decline. We are in the public school system here by choice and mostly love it but rules suck sometimes for special situations. No one was happy with that trip. Ok....You will be going at a time that Disney World is at its best for the year!
Take time to explore the resorts, see the shows, take in the holiday celebrations.
Going in August is like walking in the sweaty flaming pits of hell every day. The weather will be amazing! Make sure you check the forecast before packing. The past few years the weather has been perfect, high's around 80 degrees. But there have been a year here and there that the temps are in the 40's.
As far as DVC rooms, put in a wait list, check every day....several times a day. People cancel trips all the time due to life issues, work issues, family issues, etc.
You are going to have so much fun!
The park crowds will start out low at the beginning of your trip and explode as you get closer to Christmas. Plan your park heavy days early in the trip and relaxing days at the end, where ride times no longer matter.
We love resort hopping to start with. So with gingerbread houses and trees to look at we cannot wait. assume weather wise pack for every occasion. being a brit unpredictable cold weather is my area of expertise ! I still have plans to rent a pontoon boat as was way to hot in the summer for this ! Sounds like a lot of fun! But yes, definitely pack for all types of weather. Even some of our winter and early spring trips we packed the day before we left and still the weather changed by the end of the trip. Never much fun. |
|
|
|
Post by rescueranger on Nov 21, 2023 12:56:48 GMT -5
Well things have escalated very quickly.
We managed to find a confirmed reservation at a really good price for the riviera for over Christmas.
|
|
|
|
Post by helenabear on Nov 21, 2023 15:36:18 GMT -5
Well things have escalated very quickly. We managed to find a confirmed reservation at a really good price for the riviera for over Christmas. Oh that sounds lovely! Enjoy your stay!!! |
|
|
|
Post by Eeyorelover22 on Nov 21, 2023 15:42:52 GMT -5
Well things have escalated very quickly. We managed to find a confirmed reservation at a really good price for the riviera for over Christmas. I love that resort!! I actually love all of them tbh though. nice work!!! |
|
|
|
Post by rescueranger on Dec 6, 2023 6:37:03 GMT -5
I probably should start thinking of clothes to ware. But checking the long range forecast it changes all the time.
68f appear to currently be the minimum. So nice and warm for me. But I assume cold for Florida folk !
|
|
|
|
Post by Eeyorelover22 on Dec 6, 2023 8:02:44 GMT -5
I probably should start thinking of clothes to ware. But checking the long range forecast it changes all the time. 68f appear to currently be the minimum. So nice and warm for me. But I assume cold for Florida folk ! Bring a variety. Chilly this morning. Cold tomorrow with 30s. High 70s by Friday. Light hat, thin gloves. Sun helps. Wind does not of course. |
|
|
|
Post by helenabear on Dec 6, 2023 8:38:50 GMT -5
I probably should start thinking of clothes to ware. But checking the long range forecast it changes all the time. 68f appear to currently be the minimum. So nice and warm for me. But I assume cold for Florida folk ! Unfortunately winter is always a crapshoot! Weather does change even literally overnight we had a cold snap come in that wasn't on the forecast even the day before. So I would bring a little bit of extra warm clothes just in case. We watched a lot of really cool people in shorts and t-shirts because when they had packed that cold snap wasn't there. I probably should start thinking of clothes to ware. But checking the long range forecast it changes all the time. 68f appear to currently be the minimum. So nice and warm for me. But I assume cold for Florida folk ! Bring a variety. Chilly this morning. Cold tomorrow with 30s. High 70s by Friday. Light hat, thin gloves. Sun helps. Wind does not of course. It always amazes me with how much colder it is a very short distance north than it is in central florida. Disney is showing probably 10° warmer in the morning, my guess. Lowest temperature I am seeing for the next number of days is 47° |
|
|
|
Post by tomandrobin on Dec 6, 2023 10:45:42 GMT -5
I probably should start thinking of clothes to ware. But checking the long range forecast it changes all the time. 68f appear to currently be the minimum. So nice and warm for me. But I assume cold for Florida folk ! The long range forecast is not much use this far out from Christmas. I can tell you for a fact that the last three years were warmer than normal. We had several pool days on those trips.
Most Christmas trips, its a hoodie in the morning with shorts. Than remove hoodie as the day warms up. Take a slingback in the parks for your extra layers. (Reverse these plans for evening park visits).
|
|
|
|
Post by brp on Dec 6, 2023 10:55:57 GMT -5
I probably should start thinking of clothes to ware. But checking the long range forecast it changes all the time. 68f appear to currently be the minimum. So nice and warm for me. But I assume cold for Florida folk ! The long range forecast is not much use this far out from Christmas. I can tell you for a fact that the last three years were warmer than normal. We had several pool days on those trips.
Most Christmas trips, its a hoodie in the morning with shorts. Than remove hoodie as the day warms up. Take a slingback in the parks for your extra layers. (Reverse these plans for evening park visits).
Yup to all the above. When we go to Disney (really most places), we bring shorts, jackets (we need them in SF anyway on the way out/back), rain jacket, sling bag, hat, reusable water bottle. We will always need most of this. What I've done is to create an uber packing list Template in the Reminders on my phone. This includes anything we might want to bring anywhere. Then I make a list from the template for each trip, cross off things irrelevant for that trip (for example, Sunpass is only relevant for our FL trips). Then I just pack to the list. I have another for places where we food shop when we get there and yet another for the few places where we check a bag due to liquids. Makes sure I don't forget anything like the rain jacket I forgot once and got dumped on... Cheers. |
|
|
|
Post by johnb on Dec 6, 2023 14:20:13 GMT -5
Yes to layers. In preparation for a short mid January trip, I bought a Columbia half zip fleece and waterproof rain jacket/windbreaker. If it's cold, I'll wear them with a tshirt and light sweatshirt. As the day gets warmer I can shed whichever layers make sense. Under 50 F and it's jeans; over 50 F I'll wear shorts.
|
|
|
|
Post by Eeyorelover22 on Dec 6, 2023 15:07:00 GMT -5
I probably should start thinking of clothes to ware. But checking the long range forecast it changes all the time. 68f appear to currently be the minimum. So nice and warm for me. But I assume cold for Florida folk ! Unfortunately winter is always a crapshoot! Weather does change even literally overnight we had a cold snap come in that wasn't on the forecast even the day before. So I would bring a little bit of extra warm clothes just in case. We watched a lot of really cool people in shorts and t-shirts because when they had packed that cold snap wasn't there. Bring a variety. Chilly this morning. Cold tomorrow with 30s. High 70s by Friday. Light hat, thin gloves. Sun helps. Wind does not of course. It always amazes me with how much colder it is a very short distance north than it is in central florida. Disney is showing probably 10° warmer in the morning, my guess. Lowest temperature I am seeing for the next number of days is 47° Yes. Brian is always amazed and we aren’t that much farther north because part of our trip is west around the lake. Our predicted low is 37 tonight. Last week when we were at WDW it was in the 30s here…it didn’t get that cold at WDW. |
|
|
|
Post by helenabear on Dec 6, 2023 15:46:46 GMT -5
Unfortunately winter is always a crapshoot! Weather does change even literally overnight we had a cold snap come in that wasn't on the forecast even the day before. So I would bring a little bit of extra warm clothes just in case. We watched a lot of really cool people in shorts and t-shirts because when they had packed that cold snap wasn't there. It always amazes me with how much colder it is a very short distance north than it is in central florida. Disney is showing probably 10° warmer in the morning, my guess. Lowest temperature I am seeing for the next number of days is 47° Yes. Brian is always amazed and we aren’t that much farther north because part of our trip is west around the lake. Our predicted low is 37 tonight. Last week when we were at WDW it was in the 30s here…it didn’t get that cold at WDW. If it makes you feel any better that's about our high today LOL I swear where I live there isn't as much of a difference between areas that are that close. We can have total precipitation and especially snow differences based off of how certain highways kind of push snow in certain directions, in the same with tornadoes. But our temperatures I don't think are that far off. I should go look at where I grew up versus now and see if I'm seeing a whole lot too because that would be about the same difference in location. |
|
|
|
Post by Brian5581 on Dec 8, 2023 14:03:52 GMT -5
Unfortunately winter is always a crapshoot! Weather does change even literally overnight we had a cold snap come in that wasn't on the forecast even the day before. So I would bring a little bit of extra warm clothes just in case. We watched a lot of really cool people in shorts and t-shirts because when they had packed that cold snap wasn't there. It always amazes me with how much colder it is a very short distance north than it is in central florida. Disney is showing probably 10° warmer in the morning, my guess. Lowest temperature I am seeing for the next number of days is 47° Yes. Brian is always amazed and we aren’t that much farther north because part of our trip is west around the lake. Our predicted low is 37 tonight. Last week when we were at WDW it was in the 30s here…it didn’t get that cold at WDW. indeed I am. We have to build that bridge just for us! I’m used to precipitation varying but not so much the temperature. Hooray for decent Florida weather! No layers needed here…. Unfortunately back to freaking 80s this weekend. |
|
|
|
Post by helenabear on Dec 8, 2023 14:20:46 GMT -5
Yes. Brian is always amazed and we aren’t that much farther north because part of our trip is west around the lake. Our predicted low is 37 tonight. Last week when we were at WDW it was in the 30s here…it didn’t get that cold at WDW. indeed I am. We have to build that bridge just for us! I’m used to precipitation varying but not so much the temperature. Hooray for decent Florida weather! No layers needed here…. Unfortunately back to freaking 80s this weekend. Come visit me here! We're high of 60 today! Everyone was out earlier! |
|
|
|
Post by Brian5581 on Dec 8, 2023 15:42:14 GMT -5
indeed I am. We have to build that bridge just for us! I’m used to precipitation varying but not so much the temperature. Hooray for decent Florida weather! No layers needed here…. Unfortunately back to freaking 80s this weekend. Come visit me here! We're high of 60 today! Everyone was out earlier! My kind of weather! Excellent. |
|
