Is There A Prize For Most Indecisive DISer? A Dec PTR. TOC added! [Archive] - The DIS Discussion Forums

Colleen27

03-06-2009, 09:09 PM

Well, all of this has changed so much that my original intro is barely relevant. Oh, the cast remains the same but just about everything about the trip has changed, not once but twice, and who knows what the next 7 months could bring? So read on if you want to know how this trip evolved, but know that you can find the current plans starting on page 7.

Our original plans may not have worked out. Plan B may not have fared much better. But we WILL catch that Mouse in Jan 2010! Strike that - Dec 2009!!

The saga begins:
Meet the Cast, post #1
The Original Idea, a Birthday Escape, post #7 (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=30696534&postcount=7)
The Illustrated Meet the Cast, post #8 (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=30707806&postcount=8)
The Reason for The Troubles, post 10 (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=30831059&postcount=9) & post 11 (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=31036600&postcount=11)
Consolation Prize, post 14 (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=31103855&postcount=14)
A New Idea: Food, Wine & Fun, post 58 (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=32446264&postcount=58)
Same Reason, New Troubles, post 77 (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=32858532&postcount=77)
The Beginnings of a New and Final Plan, post 88 (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=33218341&postcount=88)
Gratuitious DISigns, post 90 (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=33246222&postcount=90)
We Have A Resort!, post 99 (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=33640189&postcount=99)
So Much For Final..., post 105 (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=33752273&postcount=105)
The Basics of Our Holiday Itinerary, post 106 (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=33765185&postcount=106)
ADRs, Version 1.0, post 107 (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=33765625&postcount=107)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

With plans firmly in hand for a holiday trip in 2009, I got home from our trip in Jan 2008 and grimly faced the prospect of a very long 22 months without a return to Walt Disney World. And for almost a year, I resisted the siren call of trip planning, even took a break from reading the DIS.

Then came the 4/3 promo. How could I pass on a deal like that? And better yet, the celebrations theme and promotion arrived just in time for that unavoidable signpost on the road of aging, my 30th birthday.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m not one of those women who dreads aging. I’m mostly indifferent to it, really, but after spending my last two “milestone” birthdays (18 & 21) pregnant, I think this one deserves a proper send-off!

So here’s the cast…

:hippie: Me, Disney nut, planner extraordinaire, and birthday girl. This will be trip #5 for me and my 4th planning adventure. I’m laid back almost to a fault in real life, but when I get on a planning kick watch out! :upsidedow It isn’t just Disney - we’re in the process of moving right now and I’ve got every inch of the new yard and house plotted out to the inch on graph paper so that I can measure, plan, and sketch each and every project in detail! So the planning side of Disney vacations appeals to me almost as much as the vacation itself, and I’m always looking for new ways to make each trip fun and different from the last.

:coffee: DH, closet Disney nut, and tough guy. Don’t expect him to admit it around his work buddies, but he’s almost as into Disney as I am. I suspect sometimes that he’s really a 15 year old trapped in a grown up body, and nowhere is his kid side as evident as at Disney World. All he asks in a vacation is good food, fun, sun, and maybe a round or two of golf, and he’s more than happy to just go with the flow of my planning. :beach:

:hyper: DS11, the bottomless pit, “too cool” for Disney. He’s my planning challenge, because he doesn’t get wildly excited before each trip the way the rest of us do so it is hard to get him to talk about what he wants to do/see. He always has fun once we’re there but if you asked him today what he wants to do on vacation, he’s as likely as not to say “stay home and hang out with my friends”. He has shown more interest in usual in this trip, though, because it will be his first as an adult on the dining plan. The kid is a big-time foodie who inherited his mom’s good taste, which can make him rather expensive to feed. Nothing like a teenage appetite with grown up tastes… This kid at a sushi restaurant could break me! :rotfl:

princess: DD7, the Princess, in love with all things Disney. She’s more excited about each new trip than the last, writes stories in school about “Mickey’s house”, and watches the Disney planning DVD for fun. :earboy2: This trip is especially thrilling for her because for the first time, she gets to be the big sister. She’s taken to watching Mickey Mouse Clubhouse with the baby, so that the baby will recognize Mickey when we take her to meet him.

:angel: DD7mo, the baby doll, just along for the ride. What’s there to say? She’s a pampered little one, thanks to a doting big sister who treats her like a living, breathing Baby Alive doll. She’ll be hanging out in the Snuggli seeing the sights for most of the trip. :cloud9: Thankfully, she’s a mellow baby by nature despite her siblings’ best efforts to spoil her rotten, and she loves new places and eating at restaurants.

:sunny: DMom, longtime Disney nut, and the other birthday girl. Our birthdays are only 8 days apart, so it only made sense to plan the trip to span both. She’s a Disney lover who was frustrated by financial constraints and uncooperative children when we were small (can you believe I used to *not* want to go to WDW?!? :scared: ) and greatly enjoying the opportunity to see the World through the eyes of her grandkids. This will be her 3rd Disney trip with us and we very much enjoy traveling together. She doesn’t do big rides, so she’ll be our “babysitter” when we hit the Mountains and the other thrills.

Up next... The Big Picture (http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?p=30696534#post30696534)

AlohaPolynesian

03-06-2009, 11:26 PM

Gotta love the "too cool for Disney" people!! No one is too cool for Disney!!

OhioDisneyLover

03-07-2009, 06:47 AM

Subbing. popcorn::

Boy, I remember my 30th birthday......hmmm, that was many many moons ago.......:laughing: :laughing:

Birthday trips are fun. I have an April birthday and the weather is perfect at that time of the year. DH has a February birthday and although chilly at night, we love spending his birthday at the happiest place on earth!

Happy planning..........

Colleen27

03-07-2009, 08:51 AM

Gotta love the "too cool for Disney" people!! No one is too cool for Disney!!

:welcome:

I keep telling him that, but you know how pre-teen boys can be. :rolleyes:

He told me yesterday that his "girlfriend" (who he's never even seen outside of school) loves Disney, so we have to get her a special pin. :lovestruc :rotfl:

Subbing. popcorn::

Boy, I remember my 30th birthday......hmmm, that was many many moons ago.......:laughing: :laughing:

Birthday trips are fun. I have an April birthday and the weather is perfect at that time of the year. DH has a February birthday and although chilly at night, we love spending his birthday at the happiest place on earth!

Happy planning..........

:welcome:

Our Aug '07 trip was for my older DD's birthday, and Jan '08 was for "too cool for Disney" (who wasn't too cool to ask "Why can't I go to Disney for my birthday too?" after his sister's birthday trip :lmao: ).

May is a big birthday month around here. DH's is the 3rd, DM's is the 19th, and mine is the 27th. There are some pretty nice perks to having a birthday over Memorial Day weekend and we've done some nice local trips for my b-day, but this will be my first Disney birthday. :banana:

bettyann29

03-07-2009, 09:03 AM

ahhhh... a birthday trip.. that would be my dream, especially since my birthday is a week from tomorrow..:thumbsup2

Sounds like you have a well rounded family.. Having your mom around with the little one will definitley be a huge help Im sure..

Your DH sounds like mine.. Cant wait to hear more..

Colleen27

03-08-2009, 11:10 AM

Sounds like you have a well rounded family.. Having your mom around with the little one will definitley be a huge help Im sure..

It really is. If you'd told me at 18 that I'd still be vacationing with my mom at 30, I'd have thought you were crazy, but it works out so well for all of us. She doesn't like traveling alone, and with the age gap between our kids it is having someone else along makes it easier to fit in the things each kid wants to do. She's a chicken about rides so she's glad to hang out with the girls while we take DS on the big rides. On our first Disney trip, I booked the Princess Tea Party for DD & DM, and while they were enjoying tea with Briar Rose we were at DHS riding Rock & Roller Coaster over and over again with DS. :rotfl:

Colleen27

03-08-2009, 11:47 AM

The plan so far…

When we’re all traveling together we usually opt for two rooms for the sake of privacy, but because our dates were inflexible for this trip and I wasn‘t happy with the moderates that were available with the 4/3 deal, we‘re trying something a little different this time.

Fort Wilderness.

This is a resort I’ve considered and dismissed a half dozen times. We’re an outdoorsy family and the campground feel is very appealing, but the lack of a hot tub and pool slide have always been a deal breaker. So you can imagine my happiness when I read the main pool was undergoing a major rehab. I popped over to the camping board and sure enough, Fort Wilderness is getting a hot tub and a slide! That sealed it for me. I booked a cabin that very afternoon.

So from May 19 to May 27 we’ll be bunking in a cabin at Fort Wilderness, enjoying a whole new way of doing Disney. And to properly enjoy it, we’ve also arranged to rent a golf cart from a company that will deliver a 6-seater. We’ll be cruisin’ around the fort in style.

Since this is a vacation, I don’t expect the lovely kitchen in that cabin will be getting much use. It’ll be nice to have for heating baby food or washing bottles, but I don’t cook on vacation. And just so that I’m not even tempted to lift a pan to save a buck, we added the deluxe dining plan to our package.

We were guinea pigs on the deluxe plan since our last trip was in the first month it was available and we loved it. There was no doubt in my mind that we’d do it again. We live in a small town where the Coney Island is the nicest restaurant around - actually, the only restaurant in town without a drive-thru - so vacation is the only time we really get to indulge in a variety of yummy goodness, and the deluxe plan is our guilt-free ticket to all the signature meals and overpriced theme park snacks we want. Not once will I think, “$15 for an appetizer? Well, maybe I really don’t want it that much.” Not once will I say. “You really don’t need fudge AND a giant cookie.” to one of the kids. And that is absolutely priceless.

It doesn’t hurt that the deluxe plan means even more reading menus and haunting the DIS dining reviews board and filling in those ADRs on the spreadsheet! :surfweb: :lmao:

Up next… The Itinerary (http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?p=30831059#post30831059)

Colleen27

03-08-2009, 11:01 PM

Meet the crew!

My pirate and princess, on our January trip:
http://inlinethumb44.webshots.com/33707/2541071840051332420S500x500Q85.jpg

The first timer:
http://inlinethumb58.webshots.com/4153/2090812120051332420S500x500Q85.jpg

Sad, but this is the most recent pic I've got online of my hubby, taken on our first Disney trip in '05:
http://inlinethumb47.webshots.com/33070/2888702810051332420S500x500Q85.jpg

As the keeper of the camera, I don't have many shots of myself at all. This is the best I can find at the moment, a self-portrait taken after my last major hair color change :rotfl: I'll replace this one with something better when I get around to unpacking the box that has my Photopass CDs in it.
http://inlinethumb50.webshots.com/44209/2134603640042404303S500x500Q85.jpg

Colleen27

03-15-2009, 06:39 PM

Well, I'm back... Real life has this habit of rudely interrupting my Disney obsession from time to time.

Originally this trip was meant to be a holiday grand gathering with my brother & his fiancee, but that was looking less and less likely and a birthday trip was really tempting particularly since our birthdays coincide with the Flower & Garden Festival. I've never been at that time of year, and my mom and I are both gardeners so we've always wanted to check it out.

By the time we finally decided to book, it turned out that it was exactly 1 day before our 90 day ADR window so I threw a rough itinerary together in a hurry without so much as looking at a crowd calendar.

Oddly enough, that itinerary works pretty well with the crowd predictions and best parks I've come across since.

So here it is:

19 May:
Arrival day & DM's birthday
Check in, pick up golf cart, take grocery delivery
Dinner at Narcoosees with birthday cake

20 May:
EPCOT Day #1
Lunch at Teppan Edo
Dinner at Restaurant Marrakesh

21 May:
Waterpark
Breakfast at Trails End
Dinner at Artist Point

22 May:
Animal Kingdom
Yak & Yeti lunch
Break at the cabin
Dinner at Chef Mickey

23 May:
EPCOT Day #2
Lunch at Rose & Crown
Dinner at Tutto Italia

24 May:
Magic Kingdom, against all advice because I want to do the 2am EMH
Lunch at Cinderella's Royal Table
Afternoon break
Dinner at Ohana
Late night park time

25 May:
Memorial Day, no park planned
DH golf
Swim, relax, cruise around the Fort
Dinner at California Grill
DH & big kids evening at Disney Quest

26 May:
Hollywood Studios
Lunch at Hollywood Brown Derby
Dinner at Kona

27 May:
Departure day, my birthday
Breakfast at Kona
DM, DD2 & I to Downtown Disney shopping
Late afternoon flight home

Right now, this is just a rough outline, subject to change a bit in the next 65 days.

I'm thinking of adding the Gardens of the World tour for DM & myself on the morning of our 2nd EPCOT day, and depending on our departing flight time we might add lunch at Raglan Road or The Wave on our departure day. I'm still debating whether to switch our dinner at Kona for something in/near DHS so we have more park time that evening, though DHS is our least favorite park and I'm not sure we need much time there. And I'm sure there are plenty of other changes that haven't even occurred to me yet that will in the coming months!

Colleen27

03-23-2009, 11:20 AM

A slight diversion...

This is what has been pulling my attention away from Disney planning these days - our new house!

This is what 20K buys in new-depression suburban Detroit:

http://inlinethumb02.webshots.com/42433/2757117930051332420S500x500Q85.jpg

http://inlinethumb41.webshots.com/44904/2594522280051332420S500x500Q85.jpg

It is liveable as-is but needs some cosmetics and some SERIOUS restoration. Who puts aluminum siding on an 1880 Victorian?!? Thankfully they weren't so careless with the interior - all the original wood trim and carved pocket doors are intact. I'm having such fun hunting for the history of the house at the library and town archive, and we hope to restore it to its original glory over the next 5 years or so.

Colleen27

03-27-2009, 04:15 PM

Arrrghhh.... What to do, what to do?

The closing on the new house has been pushed back. AGAIN. Long story short, the house is a foreclosure, the bank only uses 1 title company and closing agency for all of Michigan, and they are so swamped that we can't seem to get everything in order. It is so frustrating having the cash on hand to close ASAP and having to wait because of delays on the seller's end!!

So DH is getting nervous about travelling in May because we're quickly running out of time to close and get moved before our trip.

Free dining would be just as good a discount as we have now, and we have a 40% off PIN we could use if we don't want to stick to free dining dates... And of course, that would mean being there for Food & Wine, which I would love. The alternatives aren't exactly terrible.

But I DON'T WANNA change my birthday trip!!! :snooty:

AlohaPolynesian

03-27-2009, 10:32 PM

Colleen27

03-31-2009, 01:24 PM

I wouldn't want to change my b-day trip either! I love your ADR's. Yak & Yeti lunch was awesome. They had fried green beans as an appetizer that were delicious!!!! Chef Mickey dinner is always fun. Ohana dinner is my absolute favorite in all of WDW. Cousin Gary is awesome! I was mad because I ate too much dinner that I could barely eat the bread pudding that I had been dreaming about for months. Ughhh.

Just got back from my trip and tried Tutto Italia. We did "Drinks Around the World" that day so my stomach was full from margaritas in Mexico and slushies in Morocoo. The food was good though, we were just rushed through the meal which made me mad.

Also, Raglan Road was AMAZING. My favorite meal of the trip probably. It was my first time trying it and I was NOT disappointed! I ordered the Goats Town and it was amazing! So was the yummy dessert.

If you go to Rose and Crown you need to look for Eddie the bartender from Ireland. We fell in love when I was there last week. (OK, so maybe I just fell in love with him lol)

What is the Gardens of the World tour? I'm trying to convince my mom to go to Disney with me to use our 40% PIN, shes a huge gardener so maybe that's something she would like?

Ohana and Raglan Road are restaurants we never seem to manage to fit in, so I'm really looking forward to both. Tutto Italia was one of the best meals we had on our January trip, and while I normally plan for as few return visits as possible, my mother wasn't with us in January so I have TI and a couple other repeats on the schedule for her to be able to try.

The Gardens of the World tour is a special tour they only run during Flower & Garden festival. It is led by a Disney horticulturalist that takes the group around the World Showcase prior to opening to talk about the landscaping and how the F&G displays were created. I really want to do it, both because I'm a gardener and because I'm a photographer who would love the pre-opening stroll around the World Showcase. Not being able to take that tour is a MAJOR downside to changing our dates.

I feel like a bit of a spoiled brat for being so disappointed about possibly having to change our dates from May to Sept. Living in Michigan in this economy, I should be thanking my lucky stars that we have a stable place to live, much less the money to travel to Disney, and not whining that buying my dream house (quite literally - I've wanted to restore an old Victorian since I was a little kid) is getting in the way of my travel plans. So when I get too pouty/sulky about thinking about rebooking, that's what I tell myself. It is disappointing that I might not be able to be there on my birthday, and it is disappointing to miss Flower & Garden, but I live a pretty charmed life and I really can't complain. :goodvibes

Colleen27

03-31-2009, 02:23 PM

With free dining officially available, Dh suggested I look at our options for rebooking for fall just in case we do have to postpone. So with no enthusiasm at all, I pulled together some numbers to compare the free dining package to the 40% PIN at a few different resorts and left them on the desk with no intention of doing anything with them until we know for sure what is happening with May.

DH took one look at the numbers and decided to start on talking me into fall.

First he says "We can go for the start of Food & Wine. We really enjoyed that last time" (our first family trip was during F&W and a lot of our non-Disney/kid-free travel involves winery tours and wine tastings)

I shrug. We've been there for that before. It was fun, but I've never been for Flower & Garden.

Then he says "I'll bet Sept & Oct are less crowded" (as though he was reading my mind; UG just upped their crowd predictions for Memorial Day to put them on par with 4th of July :scared1:)

I shrug. I'm an uber-planner and a UG subscriber. I know how to have a good time despite crowded parks.

Then he breaks out the big guns. "You know, it looks like we could add an extra night or two and still stay within budget."

Now he's got my attention. I play around with numbers and dates and sure enough, we could book 10 nights in Sept/Oct for a little less than what 8 nights in May will cost.

So I went ahead an booked it. I'm still hoping we can pull off going ahead with the original plan, but a couple extra nights isn't a bad consolation prize if it turns out that we do have to postpone.

Colleen27

04-02-2009, 07:21 PM

Until I have to make a decision about May, and still no word on when we'll close.

At this point, I have two fears. Either we'll decide to go ahead with the trip and come to find out they want to close while we're gone, or we'll cancel the trip only to find out that we're closing in plenty of time to have gone.

I'm really tired of wondering what to do, and I'm still no closer to an answer than I was a week ago.

Pros to postponing:

Lighter crowds
Lower rates
Longer trip
Food & Wine festival
The first-timer will be a bit older

Cons:

Not my birthday
Hotter weather
Chance for hurricanes
The first-timer will be more mobile
Not my birthday
Rainier weather
No Flower & Garden
No Gardens of the World tour
Four months longer to wait
Not my birthday

Some of the pros definitely have their appeal, but they don't outweigh the cons by any stretch. But if we don't have an answer by the end of business tomorrow, I really don't see how we have any option other than to postpone. :guilty::sad1::guilty::sad1:

Colleen27

04-03-2009, 03:26 PM

Well, I put it off as long as I could, but it is time to be a grown up again.

Tomorrow I call to cancel our May dates. :sad1:

We still don't have the final paperwork on our closing and the latest from our RE agent is that it could be anywhere from 2 to 4 weeks longer, then another week or so to actually close.

So instead of less than two months till WDW, now I've got 2 months before park hours come out, almost 3 months before I can make ADRs, and 175 days left on the countdown.

The house is well worth the hassle and I know I'm being a brat, but I'm still really bummed.

AlohaPolynesian

04-04-2009, 01:56 PM

Colleen27

04-06-2009, 01:03 AM

HEY! OK, I'm sorry - but you have extra nights in WDW so I'm not allowing you to complain about May!! LOL. The garden tour seems really neat, but the F&G festival itself is seriously just a bunch of topiaries, you won't miss much.

Also, I left the midwest to do an internship down south this fall and there were always hurricanes projected in our direction. I freaked out and everyone laughed at me because it's just a bad rainstorm. However, then we got hit really hard with Hurricane Ike and even the natives hadn't seen anything like that in YEARS! But I survived and now hurricanes don't scare me anymore! As long as you are safe with enough food and water, you will be totally fine.

Look at your longer wait as more time to plan. There's so much to discover on the DIS, ya know? You might find new restaurants you want to try or find out new things to do in the parks.

But best of all, just be glad you're going to Disney!!!!!!!!! Woo woo!!!

I'm already thinking ahead to a Flower & Garden girls-only weekend next year! :rotfl: That would probably be better anyway, just me, my mom & my two DDs, while DH & DS head off into the woods to do whatever it is that they do for fun when they go up north. :confused3 F&G has as much appeal for them as sleeping on the ground among the mosquitos has for me, so it is win-win! :lmao:

I'm a born and raised Detroiter, but my mom's only sister lives in Virginia Beach and we used to spend August down there every summer when I was a kid. So I've got a little first-hand experience with "minor" (cat 2 & 3) hurricanes and they really don't worry me all that much beyond flight delays and missed park time.

I'm shooting for haivng all my ADRs decided by my 90 day date (June 27) so that I don't have to make any changes later on. We've been once before for that last week of free dining/first week of Food & Wine, and the parks were empty but the restaurants full. It'll be nice having the deluxe plan this time, because I hated the free dining season waits for counter service at meal times. :headache:

It took a few days of pouting, but I'm really starting to get excited about Sept. If I take the birthday aspect out of the equation, Sept is the better trip - cheaper, lower crowd levels, and the fun of all those snack credits at the F&W booths... pixiedust:

And I think my DH might be up to something... The man hasn't had a single opinion about a dining reservation in 4 years of Disney trips, but this time he specifically requested dinner at AKL/AKV so that we can take a look around. We've been talking about a DVC purchase for over a year now... He has been a little reluctant and has waffled a bit on whether he thinks it is right for our family, so I think him wanting to see AKV is a really good sign that he is coming around. :banana: :lovestruc

Colleen27

04-06-2009, 01:37 AM

The beginnings of a new plan...

I'm starting to work on an itinerary for Sept, as much as I can in the absence of park hours. Surprisingly enough, there's actually quite a bit that can be done without knowing specific dates.

We eventually decided on 9 nights for this trip, so I dropped the 10th to finalize our dates as Sept 25 to Oct 4.

Since we don't make park plans for arrival or departure days, that gives us 8 full days to work with - 1 at Magic Kingdom, 1 at Animal Kingdom, 1 at Hollywood Studios, 2 at EPCOT, 1 for each waterpark, and 1 to spend enjoying the resort. We like evening EMH, especially at Magic Kingdom, and we'll definitely be doing MNSSHP.

Right now, the rough draft of the ADR list is as follows:

Arrival day:
Artist Point dinner

Magic Kingdom day:
Liberty Tree Tavern lunch
Narcoosees dinner

Hollywood Studios:
Brown Derby lunch
Flying Fish dinner

Animal Kingdom:
Yak & Yeti lunch
Jiko dinner

EPCOT day 1:
Teppan Edo lunch
Marrakesh dinner

EPCOT day 2:
Akershus breakfast
Le Cellier dinner

Waterpark day 1:
Kona Cafe dinner

Waterpark day 2:
Spirit of Aloha dinner show

Resort day:
Chef Mickey breakfast or lunch if it is offered
California Grill dinner

Departure day:
Grand Floridian Cafe breakfast
or
Raglan Road lunch (depending on flight time)

onelilspark

04-09-2009, 11:06 AM

We went from Oct2-5 last year...oh my goodness, it was DEAD. It was awesome to walk around and have no one else there! Great time of year to pick! Seriously.

shordiebecka

04-09-2009, 11:24 AM

I know it sucks when your vacation is SO close and you have to move it SO far away--- but look at all the good stuff about moving your vacation! Less crowds, you get to go to MNSSHP, you get extra days at the world, the weather might be a bit better...so many amazing things! Now with your trip being so far away, you can take extra time, plan it really well and maybe throw in a few extra things...if I were you, I would cry and be upset at first, but then regroup and focus on planning the most amazing vacation ever! Can't wait to hear more!

Colleen27

04-15-2009, 02:57 PM

Okay, I'm done pouting. Now on to the planning!

Sure, it is a long wait but once spring finally arrives I'll be too busy with my gardens to think much about Disney so now is the time for obsessing. And being away in Sept will be easier than being away in May from that perspective - no leaving itty bitty seedlings and freshly planted saplings to their own devices. Our growing season will nearly be over by the time we're leaving for the World.

On our last trip, DS & I did the Magic Behind Our Steam Trains tour, which he really loved. Not just for the tour itself, but for having something of his own on a trip that does tend to have more for DD7 and her princess loving habits. So I'm thinking we're going to make this a tradition, doing something just DS & I or DS & DH that is more of a "big kid" activity.

I'm still in the brainstorming phase right now, but two ideas have caught my eye.

First is the Expedition Everest 5K at Animal Kingdom. It is an after hours race, so no waking up early (his only complaint about the trains tour!), and the after party is a late evening in AK with a handful of DS's favorite rides up and running. DS plays football and likes the idea of training for the 5K as a way to get/stay in shape in the off-season. The kids' race in the parking lot would offer something for DD to do while DS & I run, and we can get extra tickets to the after party for the rest of our group. My main doubt about this is the heat. Running a 5K in FL in Sept is a mildly frightening prospect!

The other option is the Seas Aqua Tour. This one sounds REALLY cool to me. I mean, what could be better than snorkling in that fabulous aquarium? I'm a little hesitant, though, because DS didn't like the Typhoon Lagoon snokling tank. I think that was because of the cold water, but I'm not sure. He loves animals, so if he's good to go with the snorkling, I'm sure he'd enjoy the tour.

Of course there is a third option... DD is old enough for the Seas tour, so I could book that for the 4 of us to do while the baby hangs with my mom (who doesn't swim and is scared of the water, so probably wouldn't mind missing it) AND do the run with DS.

It is funny how the longer I have to plan, the more money I end up spending! :rotfl2: But hey, the tour for 4 people and the registration for the run still doesn't take us back up to our original package total if we'd gone in May. :woohoo:

jwhtewolfd

04-20-2009, 02:00 AM

I have to tell you, I got all excited when I saw you're new dates. We'll be there Sept 24 - Oct 3 for our 6 yr anniversary. We'll be doing MNSSHP on Tuesday. :woohoo: CAN'T WAIT!

Random comments: that house will be SO nice once you fix it up. Very charming. / I'm not a gardener by any means, but I am trying my hand at some rose bushes this year (9 of them, to be exact); check out my ptr for pics of the "official rose bush of disneyland" :goodvibes / It's a shame your DS isn't old enough for the backstage safari tour yet...oh well, just another reason to go back :thumbsup2 / I am jealous of all your snack credits for F&W! / I can't wait to find out if you get AKV DVC...more jealousness!

KathyRN137

04-20-2009, 10:38 AM

...... but a couple extra nights isn't a bad consolation prize if it turns out that we do have to postpone.

Absolutely! :thumbsup2 Think of all that extra "breathing room" that extra time will give you... more time to relax and swim at the Fort... greater ability to take it slower when it comes to running around the parks... less pressure to hurry up and finish eating at all those great restaurants...

There are lots of consolations!! ::yes::

We usually go to Disney every Fall, but last summer we did major renovations on our house, so we had to skip our vacation. It was hard, but as you say, there are times when you just have to be the grown-up version of yourself and do what needs to be done.

I told myself that we only "live" at Disney one week out of the year; we live in our house the other fifty-one!! It sort of helps to put things in perspective.

Looking forward to reading along with the others...

Kathy

P.S. I'm forty-five. Would you consider changing your title to Growing Older is Mandatory.... ? (J/K) ;)

Colleen27

04-20-2009, 12:07 PM

I have to tell you, I got all excited when I saw you're new dates. We'll be there Sept 24 - Oct 3 for our 6 yr anniversary. We'll be doing MNSSHP on Tuesday. :woohoo: CAN'T WAIT!

Keep an eye out for us! I've got lime green Mickey heads on my super-cool WDW 25th anniversary backpack and on my dSLR camera bag, strap, & lens cap.

Random comments: that house will be SO nice once you fix it up. Very charming. /

I can't wait to really dig in on fixing up the house. I've always wanted to restore an old Victorian! Fixing up our cottage-style house has been fun, but not nearly as exciting as restoring such a historic house. Fortunately, I'm married to my contractor so we don't have the expense that others would have in taking on such a big project.

Your house looks amazing, by the way. I love that tray ceiling! And the color in your dining room is the same color I have picked out for mine. :goodvibes

I'm not a gardener by any means, but I am trying my hand at some rose bushes this year (9 of them, to be exact); check out my ptr for pics of the "official rose bush of disneyland" :goodvibes /

Despite great success in growing all sorts of things, I've had absolutely no luck with roses. They're pretty high maintanence and fussy in our climate and our area. We live in a waterfront community where the ground can be soggy much of the year, and I've lost several bushes to swampy soil, unseasonable cold, and otherwise foul weather. At the new house, I'll have two climbers in containers for that Victorian/cottage garden feel, but that's as close as I'm going to get to a rose garden. As I understand it roses are much easier to grow down south, and that Disneyland rose is absolutely beautiful!

It's a shame your DS isn't old enough for the backstage safari tour yet...oh well, just another reason to go back :thumbsup2 / I am jealous of all your snack credits for F&W! / I can't wait to find out if you get AKV DVC...more jealousness!

Lots of reasons to keep going back - more animal tours with DS, and eventually, the Disney history/operations tour with my DD7, who is MUCH more into the Mouse. :cloud9:

I'm so excited about the snack credits for F&W. We didn't do much of the festival on our first trip that time of year, back when I was a clueless first timer, and the more I've read about it the more I've wanted to go back and get a re-do.

I can't wait to find out about DVC myself! We've been watching the resale market and we know we'll be in a position to buy around the end of the year, and we've talked about it as a "Christmas present" to the family, but DH has waffled a bit about whether or not we'll really be doing Disney for so many years into the future. I think the announcement of the DVC Hawaii property really tipped the scales for him, because our non-Disney vacations are usually to golf or island/tropical destinations. Hilton Head & Hawaii cover those pretty neatly. Still, I couldn't convince him to do the tour on our last trip, so I'm taking it as a really good sign that he wants to see the AKV DVC property now.

Colleen27

04-21-2009, 12:32 AM

I told myself that we only "live" at Disney one week out of the year; we live in our house the other fifty-one!! It sort of helps to put things in perspective.

That's it exactly. Disney will be there, in May, in Sept, in 2010, and beyond. The opportunity to buy a house like this without taking on debt that would cut into our travel spending, on the other hand, isn't likely to stick around for long and I feel truly blessed that we're in a position to jump on it. :goodvibes

And to bring a touch of our Disney "home" to our everyday home, the first room I'm tackling at the new house is the main floor bath - my inspiration for the room was my own WDW photographs, several of which which will be framed as the artwork for the room.

Colleen27

05-09-2009, 03:36 PM

Well, it turns out it is a good thing we did postpone our trip... We close on the 14th! Closing on the 14th, starting the painting and the move on the 15th, and going on vacation on the 19th would have been a little too crazy even for me! :rotfl:

Colleen27

05-20-2009, 01:58 AM

More changes in the works?

DH isn't especially thrilled with the idea of the cabins. When did he start getting opinions about our Disney trips?!? He's thinking that our up north trip this summer is cabins enough, especially since its less than a month before our Disney trip. So he asked me to price two moderate rooms, which is what we did on our first free dining trip.

I'd already ruled out CBR because of the sheer size of the resort. It looks HUGE and my mom really doesn't need more walking added on to what we'll be doing in the parks. However, the pirate rooms and the new splash zone at the pool look really cool.

POR was beautiful, but I don't plan on repeating resorts until I've tried them all (well, except the values - we don't do resorts without pool slides!).

POFQ would be nice for the small size, but I wasn't really thrilled with the busing on our stay at POR, and those resorts feel so far from the parks...

CSR is one that I've always wanted to try, but it never seems to be available when we're going. It was actually my first choice for the last trip, but we ended up at WL because CSR had a ton of rooms blocked out for a big convention.

So I'm playing around on the site and found availability at all of the mods for our dates.

The cost is pretty much a wash - two rooms at a moderate are $300 more than the cabin, but the golf cart rental to get around the campground will be about $300 for the length of our stay.

I'm worried I'll miss having the boat to MK, but I'm encouraged by what I've read about the transportation at CSR since it doesn't share buses and hosts so many convention guests who aren't necessarily in the parks every day.

With less to explore at the resort, we'd probably change our resort day to a half day at MK, which means more park time in the same length trip.

So now I'm looking over my plans with an eye towards not being in the MK area after all... I'm still not sure if I'm going to make the change, but it is worth at least thinking about.

Colleen27

05-23-2009, 12:35 AM

Saving money and Disney just don't go together, do they?

I think we've pretty much settled on a change to CSR.

We've also pretty much settled on adding an extra night at the end of the trip as DS's surprise. Rather than the run, which he decided sounds like a bad idea in the FL heat now that we're running in warmer weather here at home, I'm thinking we'll rent points for a night at his favorite resort - AKL.

Right now, in the brainstorming stage, I'm thinking my mom & I will pack up and check out of CSR while DH keeps the kids amused. We'll be at AK that last day with a dinner reservation at Jiko, so we'll go over to AKV to look around as we'd originally planned, but then surprise the kids by checking in for the night. We'll have from dinner time to about 3pm the next day to enjoy the resort and the pool. DS has been asking to go back to AKL since his trip with my inlaws in '05, so I know he'll love it if I can get everything arranged to spend that last night there, and DH likes the idea of actually staying at AKV to check out the whole DVC thing. :)

Colleen27

05-29-2009, 02:16 AM

Ch-ch-ch-changes!

Called today and switched to CSR. I'm going to miss the convenience of being in the MK area, but the refurbished rooms look wonderful and I know we'll really appreciate those queen sized beds!

Now all that is left to do is rent the points for our last night and adjust the length of our package stay accordingly.

Colleen27

06-05-2009, 02:19 PM

Park hours are out at last!

So now, time to tweak the park days and get my ADR wish list hammered out. I have 3 weeks to play around with it, but of course I'm not waiting!

This is what it looks like so far:

9/25 - arrival (though this could change if we get AKV for the one night)
Resort/swim/putt-putt
Kouzzina dinner around 6
Putt-putt at Fantasia Gardens

9/26 - AK
Early start, snacks for breakfast
Yak & Yeti lunch around 1
Jiko for dinner

9/27 - MK
Early start, Main Street Bakery snacks to start the day
Liberty Tree Tavern lunch around noon
Break if DS isn't sleeping well in the stroller
California Grill dinner around 6:30 (Wishes at 8)
Back to MK for evening EMH

9/28 - Epcot
Early start
Akershus breakfast around 8:30 (yay pre-opening WS photo ops!)
Snack around the Food & Wine Festival for lunch
Marrakesh dinner around 6:30
Evening EMH if the kids are up for it

9/29 - Waterpark/rest
Sleep in
Blizzard Beach because we've never made it there in all our trips
DM & I will play it by ear based on DB's schedule/mood while DH does the big kid/commando thing, we might not all go to both waterparks
Back to the resort by 4ish to get changed for the evening
Kona Cafe dinner around 5
MNSSHP

9/30 - DHS
Slow start, no hurry because this is our least favorite park and there are only a few things on our must-do list
Brown Derby lunch around noon
Flying Fish dinner around 6:30
Evening EMH if the kids are up for it and there's still stuff we want to do

10/1 - Epcot
Slow start, sleep in if the kids want
Teppan Edo lunch
Le Cellier dinner
Illuminations at 9

10/2 - Waterpark/rest
Grand Floridian Cafe breakfast around 9
DH & kids to Typhoon Lagoon, DM, DB & I play it by ear
Disney Quest/Downtown Disney afternoon
Maybe try the hot air balloon ride
Can't decide about this evening - either dinner at Raglan Road and back to the resort, or dinner at Artist Point and the haunted carriage ride at Fort Wilderness.

10/3 - MK
Early start
Chef Mickey lunch around 11:30 (as early as I can get lunch)
Narcoosee dinner around 5:30 (as early as I can get)
Hopefully back to MK for Spectro and a few last rides

10/4 - Departure
Maya Grill breakfast
Swim or hit whichever park sounds good
Play lunch by ear

If we add the night at AKV, we'll keep our arrival day plans the same but arrive one day later. Our AK day will move to 10/4, the day we change resorts, and 10/5 will just be swimming & exploring AKV until it is time to leave for the airport. I'm hoping to have the room reserved before our ADR date, for obvious reasons, so I worked out the plans both ways. :lmao:

jana616

06-06-2009, 10:21 PM

racefanof88

06-06-2009, 11:48 PM

Hi Colleen, I had to join in too. Your planning looks like mine, Ch, ch changes........:lmao:. We are staying Sept. 26-Oct 3. We, well for now, are staying at ASSp. We stayed at FW Cabins last month and I really didn't care for them too much. The boat was horrible slow too :headache:. Looking forward to reading more about your plans.

racefanof88

06-06-2009, 11:49 PM

Oh, btw, my middle name is Colleen :goodvibes.

Colleen27

06-07-2009, 11:16 AM

Hi Colleen, I'm here! Somehow I never noticed the link to your PTR in all of your responses on mine until now. Sounds like a great trip planned, and your new house looks like it will be really great once it's fixed up! I hope your closing date gets locked in and all goes well and is done soon for you!

:welcome: I've really gone nuts with the planning for this one, obsessing over every last thing. I blame it on knowing we're not going to be here much longer, because normally I'd be too busy out in the yard to spend this much time hanging out on the DIS! :rotfl:

Ever the optimist, I'm choosing to believe that this closing date will be the one that holds, since pushing it back any further would be beyond the contractual time limit and would allow us to back out without penalty. Not that we would, but they don't know that and finding a buyer around here is hard enough that I don't think they'll want to risk it!

Hi Colleen, I had to join in too. Your planning looks like mine, Ch, ch changes........:lmao:. We are staying Sept. 26-Oct 3. We, well for now, are staying at ASSp. We stayed at FW Cabins last month and I really didn't care for them too much. The boat was horrible slow too :headache:. Looking forward to reading more about your plans.

Oh, btw, my middle name is Colleen :goodvibes.

:welcome: Don't meet many other Colleens around, not even as a middle name! :thumbsup2

I kind of like the idea of the cabins as a resort, but I wasn't so sure about getting around the campground, especially since Disney's golf carts are only 4 seaters and a 6 seater from an off-site company would be crazy-expensive. So when DH decided it didn't look "Florida" enough (he had the same issue with WL even though we enjoyed our stay there - he likes the more Southern/tropical feeling resorts) and that the pool looked "eh", I didn't object to changing. I'd still like to try the campground some day, but it might be better left for when DB is old enough to enjoy biking, pony rides, canoeing, etc with the rest of us.

The slow boat to the MK was one of our favorite parts of our stay at WL, but that was January and the weather was nice. I don't know that we'd enjoy it quite so much in the Sept heat! 90+ degrees can make an air conditioned bus look awfully good... :rotfl:

racefanof88

06-07-2009, 12:59 PM

:welcome: Don't meet many other Colleens around, not even as a middle name! :thumbsup2

I kind of like the idea of the cabins as a resort, but I wasn't so sure about getting around the campground, especially since Disney's golf carts are only 4 seaters and a 6 seater from an off-site company would be crazy-expensive. So when DH decided it didn't look "Florida" enough (he had the same issue with WL even though we enjoyed our stay there - he likes the more Southern/tropical feeling resorts) and that the pool looked "eh", I didn't object to changing. I'd still like to try the campground some day, but it might be better left for when DB is old enough to enjoy biking, pony rides, canoeing, etc with the rest of us.

The slow boat to the MK was one of our favorite parts of our stay at WL, but that was January and the weather was nice. I don't know that we'd enjoy it quite so much in the Sept heat! 90+ degrees can make an air conditioned bus look awfully good... :rotfl:

We have a very unique name.

If you read my May TR you will see some of the reasons we didn't care to stay in the cabins. It was really hard getting around the resort and we too were 6 on the trip and did not rent a golf cart, and at $54.00 a day was way too expensive.

Yeah, being from the South, we much prefer the a/c bus to the hot boats............:lmao:

jana616

06-07-2009, 01:14 PM

:welcome: I've really gone nuts with the planning for this one, obsessing over every last thing. I blame it on knowing we're not going to be here much longer, because normally I'd be too busy out in the yard to spend this much time hanging out on the DIS! :rotfl:

Ever the optimist, I'm choosing to believe that this closing date will be the one that holds, since pushing it back any further would be beyond the contractual time limit and would allow us to back out without penalty. Not that we would, but they don't know that and finding a buyer around here is hard enough that I don't think they'll want to risk it!

You sound like my husband with the gardening! We built this house 2 and 1/2 years ago, and he has been working on landscaping ever since. We had a perfectly nice, though ordinary, backyard. I liked it. He built a 60 foot :scared1: retaining wall around a brick paver patio (whic makes it super hard for two small kids to get to the lawn, but whatever!) and this summer has been putting in all the plants and perennials. So far we have zero flowers or color, and he keeps telling me it's a building year. I'm more of a mulch and some annuals kind of girl, but I greatly admire all of you with green thumbs! I think it's awesome that you'r so crafty and creative with the sewing, gardening, etc. Your house is bound to be gorgeous with all of the skills you have to devote to it! I'll be crossing my fingers for you on the closing date!

I hear you on going nuts on the planning! We just don't have anything else big going on here this year, and my DH works crazy long hours. I have lots of time eahc night once the kids are in bed and he's not home to spend playing around with it, and I'd much rather do that than housework :rolleyes1Glad to hear I'm not alone!

racefanof88

06-11-2009, 11:48 PM

How are the house plans coming?

disneygirlinnj

06-12-2009, 05:14 PM

Subbing! :) We'll be there during your trip too (we're going the 26th-3rd)...sounds like you guys have an awesome itinerary so far and good luck with the house! :)

Colleen27

06-12-2009, 07:01 PM

How are the house plans coming?

As far as I know, we're still go to close in 6 days (but who's counting? :rotfl:) But since the last two delays came up less than 2 hours before our appointment with the closing agency, I won't really believe it until we're actually signing papers!

I've got the order in for my berry plants, more than 100 in all, from the wholesaler and I'm shopping around to find my tree starts. It is surprisingly difficult to find 1 year old, unbranched fruit trees without going directly to a grower. All my paint colors for the interior are chosen, I've got the ceiling fans for the kids' bedrooms, and all that's left to do is get to work. So hopefully, Friday will find me painting up a storm. :goodvibes

racefanof88

06-13-2009, 09:04 PM

:bitelip:As far as I know, we're still go to close in 6 days (but who's counting? :rotfl:) But since the last two delays came up less than 2 hours before our appointment with the closing agency, I won't really believe it until we're actually signing papers!

I've got the order in for my berry plants, more than 100 in all, from the wholesaler and I'm shopping around to find my tree starts. It is surprisingly difficult to find 1 year old, unbranched fruit trees without going directly to a grower. All my paint colors for the interior are chosen, I've got the ceiling fans for the kids' bedrooms, and all that's left to do is get to work. So hopefully, Friday will find me painting up a storm. :goodvibes

:bitelip: I will keep my fingers crossed.

What are your colors? I really want to paint the rooms in my house. The only problem is my vaulted ceiling in my living room and trying to paint that high. It is old school coming back, but I really like accent walls.

Colleen27

06-14-2009, 09:33 AM

:bitelip:

:bitelip: I will keep my fingers crossed.

What are your colors? I really want to paint the rooms in my house. The only problem is my vaulted ceiling in my living room and trying to paint that high. It is old school coming back, but I really like accent walls.

On the main floor, we have high ceilings and gorgeous wood moldings and doors in the living/dining/foyer, so I'm going with lighter colors to show off the dark wood. The living room is going to be a pale, olive-y green with cream colored sheers to keep it very light and not hide the full-wall woodworking around the curved bank of windows in the front. The foyer is going to be a warm tan. The dining room is going to be a very traditional red & gold scheme, with gold walls and red drapes/accents. The kitchen is very large and bright, so I'm going with a sort of French country look - white cabinets, buttery yellow walls, blue accents.

The office will be the one break from traditional on the main floor - dark blue walls, white accents, white, blue & orange team-logo carpet tiles, and Detroit Tigers memorabilia framed on the walls. DH doesn't know this yet, but I've already picked out a Lazy Boy to go in there, that has the perfect look and color, just like the worn leather of a well-loved baseball mitt.

Both bathrooms are going to be the same color, but with a different look to each. They're going to be clear-Florida-sky blue (inspired by a WDW photo :rotfl:) with white fixtures. For the downstairs bath, we're installing a tin ceiling and framing some of my castle and Spaceship Earth photos as artwork. The upstairs bath is going to be gutted and rearranged so the plan there is apt to change, but I think the walls will be the same blue with probably white tile on the tub/shower surround and an almost peacock feather looking shade of mixed color glass tile as an accent.

The rest of the upstairs won't be so traditional. DD7 wants a Hannah Montana room, so she's getting turquoise & purple walls with the swirls/butterflies at the corners. We made DB's crib into sort of a canopy bed using an old-fashioned shower curtain rod like you'd use for a claw-foot tub, so that DD7 can close the canopy if she wants to read in bed after DB is asleep. The new curtain for her canopy and the window treatments will be silver and semi-metallic.

DS11 wants a "rock & roll" room. His walls will be light grey and his furniture is black metal (dorm room type stuff), so the only real color in the room will be red accents in the bedding/curtains and in his guitar-shaped CD rack. I'm going to frame some of my old album covers for him, a few of which I've gotten signed over the years, so that will be the "artwork" in his room.

Our room will be a warm tan with dark red & chocolate brown accents, in sort of a very subtly Asian-inspired look. I'm pulling the colors from a comforter I bought right before we decided to move, so we're sticking with the same basic look as we have now because I like my new comforter and don't want to cover or replace it yet.

The room I'm most looking forward to decorating is the attic space. It has a short, 5' door going in and while an adult can walk comfortably in the middle of the room, the ceiling slopes off to make it kid-height for most of the space. We're building shelves into both sides where the ceiling gets too low even for the kids to walk and decorating the whole room in a Fairies theme. Tink green walls, butterfly Christmas lights strung along the ceiling, beanbag chairs for reading, and just an overall very girly space for their playroom.

DS's playroom is in the basement, and other than installing/insulating a raised subfloor, building shelves, and laying that rubberized garage/kids space puzzle-look flooring tile, I have no involvement down there. I promised DS he could choose colors and the overall look for that space, since it is his "cave" for his video games and such.

As you can tell, I'm not afraid of color! The house we're in now was all white when we moved in, and the first thing I did was changed that - forest green living room, cotton candy pick girls room, brick red master bedroom, and the most flashy of all, DS's room painted in red, blue & yellow with flames on the walls inspired by Jeff Gordon's paint job at the time. I'm toning it down a little at this house because I don't want to detract from the architectural features and the natural beauty of the house, but it'll still be pretty colorful when I'm done.

jana616

06-15-2009, 10:16 PM

I just had to tell you how wonderful your color choices sound! I'm keeping my fingers crossed that everything goes smoothly at closing!

racefanof88

06-15-2009, 10:41 PM

On the main floor, we have high ceilings and gorgeous wood moldings and doors in the living/dining/foyer, so I'm going with lighter colors to show off the dark wood. The living room is going to be a pale, olive-y green with cream colored sheers to keep it very light and not hide the full-wall woodworking around the curved bank of windows in the front. The foyer is going to be a warm tan. The dining room is going to be a very traditional red & gold scheme, with gold walls and red drapes/accents. The kitchen is very large and bright, so I'm going with a sort of French country look - white cabinets, buttery yellow walls, blue accents.

The office will be the one break from traditional on the main floor - dark blue walls, white accents, white, blue & orange team-logo carpet tiles, and Detroit Tigers memorabilia framed on the walls. DH doesn't know this yet, but I've already picked out a Lazy Boy to go in there, that has the perfect look and color, just like the worn leather of a well-loved baseball mitt.

Both bathrooms are going to be the same color, but with a different look to each. They're going to be clear-Florida-sky blue (inspired by a WDW photo :rotfl:) with white fixtures. For the downstairs bath, we're installing a tin ceiling and framing some of my castle and Spaceship Earth photos as artwork. The upstairs bath is going to be gutted and rearranged so the plan there is apt to change, but I think the walls will be the same blue with probably white tile on the tub/shower surround and an almost peacock feather looking shade of mixed color glass tile as an accent.

The rest of the upstairs won't be so traditional. DD7 wants a Hannah Montana room, so she's getting turquoise & purple walls with the swirls/butterflies at the corners. We made DB's crib into sort of a canopy bed using an old-fashioned shower curtain rod like you'd use for a claw-foot tub, so that DD7 can close the canopy if she wants to read in bed after DB is asleep. The new curtain for her canopy and the window treatments will be silver and semi-metallic.

DS11 wants a "rock & roll" room. His walls will be light grey and his furniture is black metal (dorm room type stuff), so the only real color in the room will be red accents in the bedding/curtains and in his guitar-shaped CD rack. I'm going to frame some of my old album covers for him, a few of which I've gotten signed over the years, so that will be the "artwork" in his room.

Our room will be a warm tan with dark red & chocolate brown accents, in sort of a very subtly Asian-inspired look. I'm pulling the colors from a comforter I bought right before we decided to move, so we're sticking with the same basic look as we have now because I like my new comforter and don't want to cover or replace it yet.

The room I'm most looking forward to decorating is the attic space. It has a short, 5' door going in and while an adult can walk comfortably in the middle of the room, the ceiling slopes off to make it kid-height for most of the space. We're building shelves into both sides where the ceiling gets too low even for the kids to walk and decorating the whole room in a Fairies theme. Tink green walls, butterfly Christmas lights strung along the ceiling, beanbag chairs for reading, and just an overall very girly space for their playroom.

DS's playroom is in the basement, and other than installing/insulating a raised subfloor, building shelves, and laying that rubberized garage/kids space puzzle-look flooring tile, I have no involvement down there. I promised DS he could choose colors and the overall look for that space, since it is his "cave" for his video games and such.

As you can tell, I'm not afraid of color! The house we're in now was all white when we moved in, and the first thing I did was changed that - forest green living room, cotton candy pick girls room, brick red master bedroom, and the most flashy of all, DS's room painted in red, blue & yellow with flames on the walls inspired by Jeff Gordon's paint job at the time. I'm toning it down a little at this house because I don't want to detract from the architectural features and the natural beauty of the house, but it'll still be pretty colorful when I'm done.

WOW, you have really been planning. I love the colors and themes of your rooms. I redecorated my bedroom in March and I went with black, white and red. I only have a few splashes of red in some wall hangings and pillows on the bed. I also redid my bathroom in Disney. I bought the black and white Mickey stuff. My DH thinks I am crazy....:rotfl:

Colleen27

06-17-2009, 01:26 AM

Thank you both for your kind words about my color choices! I'm such an overplanner, not just with Disney but with all sorts of things, and I have had way too much time to think about all of this. The upside is that I've got a pretty good idea of how each room will be done as well as how they will flow from one into the next without any clashing colors or stark contrasts. :rotfl:

Colleen27

06-17-2009, 01:29 AM

A quick update - We got our room at AKV for the last night of our stay. Had to settle for Jambo instead of Kidani, but got the important thing - a savanna view villa. So our dates are officially set now - 9/25 to 10/5, 9 nights at CSR with the DxDDP and 1 night room only at AKV. :cool1: :cool1: :cool1:

Colleen27

06-18-2009, 11:52 PM

jwhtewolfd

06-19-2009, 12:50 AM

Arrrrggggggghhhhhh!! More problems with closing, this time with a lien that somehow the seller wasn't aware of?!? Not sure I'm believing that one entirely, and I'll tell you... If I didn't like that freaking house so much, I'd be backing out of the deal like yesterday. We have the opportunity to get an equally nice but not historic house on a bigger lot for less money, and right now it is looking tempting if only in my knee-jerk impulse to tell these people where they can stick their delays and disorganization. It is no wonder so many of the big banks are in trouble if this is typical of how they do business!

Oh well, vent over... On the bright side, today is double-digits. Just 99 days till I'll be sitting poolside at CSR, sipping a drink and not thinking about any of this! :cool1: :cool1:

Grrr. What is going on with these people? I'd be considering the other house on the principle of the matter. Do they think they're just going to find another buyer tomorrow if you walk away b/c of their ridiculousness? :headache: You'd think they'd be dying to get it done. :confused3

But on to better things...DOUBLE DIGITS! :woohoo::woohoo::woohoo::cheer2::cheer2::cheer2: ADRs next week. It's getting so close I can taste it. :wizard:

racefanof88

06-19-2009, 02:20 AM

:banana: :dance3: On the double digits.

:sad2: :sad1: On the house.

Colleen27

06-19-2009, 10:31 AM

Grrr. What is going on with these people? I'd be considering the other house on the principle of the matter. Do they think they're just going to find another buyer tomorrow if you walk away b/c of their ridiculousness? :headache: You'd think they'd be dying to get it done. :confused3

But on to better things...DOUBLE DIGITS! :woohoo::woohoo::woohoo::cheer2::cheer2::cheer2: ADRs next week. It's getting so close I can taste it. :wizard:

I think they do. One thing I learned very quickly in looking at and making offers on foreclosures this year is that the banks have absolutely no grasp on reality here in Michigan. I suspect that some of these companies are seeing signs of recovery in New York and Texas where their REO divisions are headquartered, and think they can hold out. They aren't taking into account the fact that the job market is so much worse here, the real estate market totally saturated with foreclosures (browsing the auction sites is downright depsressing - they'll have a few dozen listings in most states, and then upwards of 150-200 in Michigan :sad2:), and even people with the credit/cash to buy are hesitant because no job really feels secure in the Motor City right now.

DH & the big kids are campaigning to make an offer on the other house, which is owned by a friend of a friend who has already given DH a very reasonable price that he'd like to get for the house as-is. DH has done some work there, so he knows exactly what kind of shape the house is in, it is agent-owned so there'd be no messing about with some bank thousands of miles away to get everything in order for the closing, and unlike the Victorian, it would keep us in the same neighborhood we're in now.

Objectively, it probably does make more sense to go with the other house - it is in a MUCH better location, a block from the state park, two blocks from the community pool, two blocks from the river where DS likes to fish, two blocks from the library, three blocks from DS's best friend's house, and about 8 blocks to the kids' school. It just lacks the emotional appeal of the Victorian. :confused3

But all this house drama is a distraction from my daily obsessing over ADR reports, so it isn't all bad! :rotfl: :lmao: Just 8 more days till the ADRs are made! :dance3: :dance3:

jana616

06-19-2009, 03:37 PM

Oh, what a bummer about closing! I'm so sorry! The other house sounds like it's in a great location, but it would be hard to change around the vision you've built in your head. Once you have the rooms painted in your mind, you become pretty emotionally attached-I totally get that. Good luck in whatever you decide to do. It sounds like either house would be great in its' own way!

And yay for only 8 more days til ADRs. What a relief to get those done!

disneygirlinnj

06-19-2009, 04:04 PM

I'm so sorry about the closing! One of my friends had the house they bid on yanked from under them and it's horrible! :( I'm sure whichever decision you make will be a good one. The new house you mentioned sounds perfect too :)

Colleen27

06-19-2009, 05:14 PM

Well, they get one more chance. Supposedly everything will be ready to close next week, they'll call Monday with a date & time. Since the sales contract expiration is over the weekend (Sunday), we agreed to a 7 day extension. If we don't close by this time next week, we'll go with the other house. And at this point, I'm not even wasting energy hoping for one outcome over the other... I'll be fine either way. :)

Colleen27

06-22-2009, 08:48 PM

5 more days till ADR day, and the time is draaaggggginnnnggg. Hurry up Saturday and get here already!!

disneygirlinnj

06-22-2009, 10:33 PM

5 more days till ADR day, and the time is draaaggggginnnnggg. Hurry up Saturday and get here already!!

I'm so jealous! My ADR day is Sunday and I'm freaking out that all you Saturday people are going to take all my ADRs!!! :rotfl:

racefanof88

06-26-2009, 09:58 AM

I'm so jealous! My ADR day is Sunday and I'm freaking out that all you Saturday people are going to take all my ADRs!!! :rotfl:

I know what you mean I feel the same way. I am going to be up at the butt crack of dawn to make my ADRs on Sunday morning :scared1:.

Colleen27

06-26-2009, 10:04 AM

UGH, my DH has the WORST timing! Mr "Go with the flow" has started developing opinions on our trip!

I had him look over the final plans last night, just to get everything fine tuned before I call for ADRs tomorrow, and what does he say? "Do we really want to spend $300 on the Halloween party?" :eek: Now really, I had the same thought when I priced tickets - with 6 of us, it comes to $280, and we've done the party before. I wasn't 110% sure I wanted to spend that much to do it again, but I thought the kids would want to. So DH asks them, and neither of them care. :confused3 Apparently they remember it being fun but hot (that was our first trip and the costume planning didn't sufficiently take the FL weather into account) and their candy melting before we got back to our room. :rotfl:

So, never (okay, seldom ;) ) one to argue with the rest of the crew, especially on the rare occasions that they want to save money, I decided to look over the plans again and see how it would work without the party. Since we were planning to do the Halloween party on a waterpark/off day, it really doesn't change a lot. It does allow me to switch our Disney Quest evening to a weeknight, which should be better from a crowds standpoint, but other than that it doesn't change a whole lot.

The kids are also asking to make a little more time for the package inclusions that we never have time for, like putt-putt and the boat rental, so not doing the Halloween party frees up a little more time for that too. Since CSR's marina is only open seasonally and will be closed when we're there, I hadn't planned on doing the boat rental, but with the free evening, I'm thinking dinner at one of the MK area resorts and renting a boat there might be the way to go. The nice part about having two rooms is two vouchers for all these things - DH will take DS out and I'll take DD, while my mom & the baby relax, do a little shopping, or just find themselves a hammock on the beach.

I'm tweaking the plans now, and will post the updated itinerary soon.

Colleen27

06-26-2009, 11:56 AM

The final plans, again:

Sept 25:
Arrival day, no real plans
No ADRs
Kids & DH will probably settle in to enjoy the pool, have dinner at Maya Grill or Pepper Market. I'm thinking I'll head over to Epcot for the Big Bad Voodoo Daddy concert and get a walk-up at where ever is available.
Flight times & prices, and to a lesser degree budget, will likely determine whether we arrive on Friday or Saturday, so I'm keeping the first couple of days' plans pretty loose until we decide for sure.

Sept 26:
Whichever park the kids want to go to first.
Breakfast at Maya Grill or Pepper Market.
Dinner at Flying Fish.
Putt-putt at Fantasia Gardens in the evening.

Sept 27:
Magic Kingdom
Lunch at Liberty Tree Tavern
Dinner at California Grill for Wishes
Back to MK for evening EMH

Sept 28:
Epcot
Akershus breakfast
F&W festival booths for lunch
Tokyo Dining dinner, late for Illuminations view
Evening EMH

Sept 29:
Blizzard Beach/free
Maya Grill breakfast
Back to resort to change
Raglan Road dinner
Disney Quest evening
We'll spend a lot of this day split up to accomodate the baby, meeting up for meals but going our seperate ways for the fun stuff. I don't know if she'll like the waterpark or DQ, but I wouldn't mind missing those if necessary, and my mom & I will probably hit the shops instead of DQ after dinner.

Sept 30:
DHS
Brown Derby lunch
Kouzzina dinner (Captain's Grill backup if Kouzzina doesn't open in time)
Maybe back to DHS for evening EMH

Oct 1:
Epcot
Teppan Edo lunch
Le Cellier dinner (Tutto Italia backup)

Oct 2:
Typhoon Lagoon
Grand Floridian Cafe breakfast
Back to resort to change
Boat rental
Narcoosees dinner

Oct 3:
Magic Kingdom
Chef Mickey lunch
Kona dinner
Back to MK for Spectro and Wishes

Oct 4:
Animal Kingdom
Yak & Yeti lunch
Jiko dinner
I'm going to have DH keep the kids busy this morning using the MYW package arcade cards while my mom & I get us packed & checked out of CSR, then we'll have them transfer our luggage so we can just check in to AKV when we get there for dinner.

Oct 5:
Enjoy AKV pool & resort
Head home :sad2:

disneygirlinnj

06-26-2009, 12:30 PM

I think those are great changes! $300 is a lot for the party if they're just iffy about it. And the boats and putput sound fun! I've never done them either but I keep saying I want to. The new itinerary looks good :)

jana616

06-26-2009, 03:36 PM

Good luck tomorrow making your ADRs!! I hope you get everything you're looking for!

racefanof88

06-27-2009, 12:26 AM

I can't wait to see if you get your ADRs. I think we are going to do MNSSHP. The last time we tried to go Dallas was 1 and he freaked out after we got in the park. We could not figure out why so we missed out on it. We did the Pirate and Princess party on 2007 and we really LOVED it, so I am thinking it will be about the same. Maybe we can meet up at a park one of our days.

jwhtewolfd

06-27-2009, 01:31 AM

I'm looking at everyone's plans, and it looks like we are all thinking alike. I'll be at MK EMH Sun and Epcot on Mon. Good luck with your ADRs. Just a few more hours! :goodvibes

Colleen27

06-27-2009, 07:52 AM

38 minutes on line to book all my ADRs. Basically I got everything I wanted, though I had to swap days for California Grill & Narcoosees to get CG at an early enough time. Weird that there were ressies available around the fireworks, but not at 6. Usually we have the opposite problem with that one! And Le Cellier is a little later than I'd like because when we've had late ressies there they've always been running so far behind that we'd end up canceling at the podium, but it was 4:30 or 7:45, and an early dinner wouldn't work with the rest of the day.

So here's the lineup, with the time I requested in ():

9/26 -
Flying Fish 5:35 (5:30)

9/27 -
Liberty Tree Tavern 11:40 (11:30)
Narcoosees 5:55 (6:00)

9/28 -
Akershus 8:15 (8:30)
Tokyo Dining 8:10 (8:00)

9/29 -
Raglan Road 5:30 (6:00)

9/30 -
Brown Derby 12:25 (12:30)

10/1 -
Teppan Edo 12:20 (12:30)
Le Cellier 7:45 (7:00) :dance3:

10/2 -
Grand Floridian Cafe 9:15 (9:00)
California Grill 6:00 (6:00)

10/3 -
Chef Mickey 12:30 (12:00 - I have since learned that 12:30 is the earliest lunch booking)
Kona 6:20 (6:30)

10/4 -
Yak & Yeti 12:00 (12:00)
Jiko 5:35 (5:30)

Now, I'm off to bed to catch a little more sleep before the girls get up. We've got a graduation party to go to this afternoon, so this really wasn't a very good day to be up with the birds! :rotfl:

disneygirlinnj

06-27-2009, 09:14 AM

Awesome ADRs! I'm counting down the hours until I can make mine tomorrow morning...EEK!!! We might actually see you in Japan on the 28th. We're having dinner at Teppan Edo so we'll be in the same building at least :)

racefanof88

06-27-2009, 09:38 PM

Awesome Colleen, I am so glad to see you got all of your ADRs :thumbsup2. I have my alarm clock set for 5am. I will post what happens and how long it takes me.

nettii

06-29-2009, 12:53 AM

Colleen27

06-29-2009, 01:13 AM

Colleen we will be at Disney the same time as you but we are staying at ASMO. I was reading another thread where you mentioned where you live i also live in st clair county. small world! Hope you have a great trip!Nettii:goodvibes

:welcome:

The DIS really is a small world... You're the second person that I've stumbled across from this county, and there's another poster I've met that lives in the town where I grew up.

Colleen27

07-01-2009, 06:21 PM

We FINALLY closed on the house this morning!! I was over there changing the locks this afternoon, and I have to admit, there's a part of me that is just a wee bit tempted to scrap the Disney trip and go all-out renovating RIGHT NOW. Not that I will, and I know the impulse will pass as we get in there and get working, but just for one crazy moment I was thinking about everything we could do now instead of over the next year or two if I put our not inconsequential trip budget towards the house instead, and I realized just how thrilled I am to finally have this place to call ours!

We have a $2500 escrow to be used for improvements/repairs (a HUD sales incentive for buying their foreclosed properties). I wonder if I'll still be so enthusiastic by the time that is gone? By that point, we'll have replaced 7 windows, painted every room in the house, refinished all the downstairs floors, and completely remodeled the upstairs bath ($2500 goes a long way when you aren't paying labor!). I think at that point, I'll need a vacation! :lmao:

disneygirlinnj

07-01-2009, 08:24 PM

Congrats!!! I can't wait to see it all finished :)

jwhtewolfd

07-01-2009, 11:14 PM

We FINALLY closed on the house this morning!!

:woohoo::cheer2:

congrats! keep us posted on the improvements please.

jana616

07-01-2009, 11:31 PM

Yay!! Congrats on the house! I bet you are in heaven right now, finally being able to get in there and get to work!

nettii

07-02-2009, 09:28 AM

Colleen27

07-02-2009, 10:04 AM

Congrats Colleen!:woohoo: and :welcome: to MC! I think you will like it here!Im very excited for you and your family! Go to lumber Jack on Chartier, our town has been given a grant and you can get up to $500.00 for paint! I think it is for the outside of the house but heck its worth checking out. Have fun fixing up your new house! Nettii:goodvibes

Wow, thank you for letting me know about that! :goodvibes We're going to be rebuilding both porches on the house because they both have some rot damage, so that'll help with the paint for those projects. I'll be up at LJ today and I'll be sure to get the info then. :thumbsup2

racefanof88

07-07-2009, 10:36 AM

party::charac2: CONGRATS:woohoo::yay: I KNOW THIS HAS BEEN A LONG TIME COMING!!!!!!

Colleen27

07-12-2009, 12:32 AM

Don't really have the energy for a full update, but suffice to say we're at least mostly moved in to our new house (new being a rather odd discriptor for a house approaching its 130th birthday, but it is new to us!). I'm exhausted and sore and the move was just chock full of unexpected drama, but we're here and we're getting down to work. My office is finally finished and as of yesterday we have internet, so I'll be sure to pop back in soon with some pics and details.

racefanof88

07-16-2009, 06:57 PM

Glad to hear you got into your house :thumbsup2.

Colleen27

07-24-2009, 05:06 PM

Ugh, ugh, ugh...

Once again it is looking like a postponement is in the works because of the house and other unexpected bumps. I can't even find it in me to be upset about it - after all, buying my dream house without missing a year's Disney trip was a very ambitious goal in the current economy, and just like before, the back up plans are in the works even before we've made a final decision about changes.

First, the move drama. Some idiot teenager broadsided DH when he was on his way to work on the morning we were moving the bulk of our stuff. He wasn't even supposed to work that day but got a call for a roof job that was too good to pass up. So off he goes to work and doesn't even get to the job site. Thankfully, everyone was okay, but it really messed up the rear end of his truck, not to mention the hassle of being down a vehicle and not having the pickup to move the furniture! :headache: After renting a truck for a couple days and paying for the repairs to DH's truck, that was the first significant financial speed bump of the month.

Then we got the gas turned on here only to find the hot water tank needed replacing. That wasn't entirely unexpected - the bank gave us a very hard time about connecting utilities to do an inspection, so we just used a generator to test the electrical systems and decided to roll the dice on the gas, knowing that the hot water & boiler are the only gas-fired appliances. And hot water tanks do tend to develop problems with the ignition assembly after being shut off for any length of time. So long story short, we decided it didn't make sense to do the job half-way and replace the burner assembly or replace the tank with a comparable model and opted for the tankless style instead. With the tax credit and the energy savings, it just made more sense, even though the cost was an unexpected ding to the budget.

Toss in a few other minor issues - a new toilet to replace one that was leaking from a crack on the underside near the ring, re-wiring part of the bathroom rather than replacing ill-placed sconces that were blowing circuit breakers, and finding out that the reimbursement from the sales incentive will take several weeks (rather than the few days we were told to expect by the closing agent), we're not at all sure that we'll be able to pull everything together for Disney without dipping further into the savings than we agreed we were comfortable with.

So right now, these are the options - shortening the trip by 3 or 4 nights, dropping the deluxe plan, and trying to keep the OOP spending to a minimum, or canceling, spending a long weekend in Chicago, and heading back to Disney in the winter/spring. Going would also mean keeping a tighter than usual budget at home, skipping some things that we're used to doing over the summer, which really isn't appealing to me at all.

We're holding off on making any final decisions until closer to our 45 day mark, because we never really know what is coming down the pike. DH has a couple of major estimates out that he's done this past week, so if one comes through, we'll go ahead with our plans as they sit now. But if not, I'm leaning towards canceling Disney, doing a couple long weekends close to home, and rescheduling Disney for a time when we can enjoy the less-than-frugal way we prefer to travel.

Surprisingly enough, unlike when we had to postpone the first time, I'm not even all that upset about it this time around. Maybe it is just the busyness - when we postponed May, I was sitting around waiting for a closing. Now I'm trying to get this house in order, and trying to have at least the main floor unpacked, painted, and presentable in time for DBaby's 1st birthday party next weekend. Not to mention planning that party, which should be great fun - a Mickey Mouse Clubhouse party that started off as small, just family, and is now up to a guest list of 25-30. :rotfl:

jwhtewolfd

07-25-2009, 12:08 AM

jana616

07-25-2009, 02:44 PM

Wow, sorry for all the bad luck and problems hitting at once; what a bummer! But at least if you do have to postpone, you know that in return you got an awesome house, and I'm sure working on it will keep you busy. I'm still dying to see pictures!

Good luck making whatever decision is best for you and the family!

Colleen27

07-25-2009, 04:45 PM

Wow. Glad DH was ok. All the "new place" problems are a drag. My house is practically new (rebuilt from the studs up) and I still had plumbing issues for a good 3 or 4 months after moving in. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that you don't have to cancel. If so, I agree on pushing it back. You've been anticipating the length and the deluxe dining for so long! It wouldn't feel right to downgrade now.

Yeah, DH & I are in agreement on that one at this point. We'd rather postpone Disney, do a cheaper trip close to home (or not-so-close - with the deals going on right now, we're looking at Labor Day weekend in DC on about 1/4 our Disney budget!), and do Disney all-out in the spring. DH would be more comfortable with spring weather too, because he really worries over the baby in the heat.

Wow, sorry for all the bad luck and problems hitting at once; what a bummer! But at least if you do have to postpone, you know that in return you got an awesome house, and I'm sure working on it will keep you busy. I'm still dying to see pictures!

Good luck making whatever decision is best for you and the family!

I'll have loads of pics to post in the next week or so, because we're shooting for having DD's room, my office (except for the built-ins that won't be built yet), and the living room complete and the dining room & kitchen presentable before DBaby's birthday party on 8/1.

racefanof88

07-25-2009, 11:16 PM

Glad to hear that your DH is OK. I know moving and trying to get everything settled in a new home is very stressful both to the body and pocket. I hope it all works out in the way that is best for you and your family. I can't wait to see the pictures of your house :surfweb:.

KennedyMcKenna

07-28-2009, 12:50 AM

Hail to the victors valiant hail to the victors valiant, hail hail to Michigan the leaders of the west!

Sorry, that was annoying, but I had to! We are going to be there at the exact same time, AND, we're going to MNSSHP on the 29th as well!!

Subbing!

Colleen27

07-30-2009, 09:23 PM

Hail to the victors valiant hail to the victors valiant, hail hail to Michigan the leaders of the west!

Sorry, that was annoying, but I had to!

Not annoying at all. DS11 is a football player and he's got his heart set on being a Wolverine someday!

Colleen27

08-08-2009, 11:41 AM

Well, now it is 100% official. I cancelled our package and all our ADRs for Sept/Oct, and I'm looking at dates for early 2010. I have two sets of dates that I'm really having a hard time deciding between - end of January, when my kids have a full week of half days and inservices at the end of the semester, or end of Feb when the kids would miss more school but we'd have warmer weather. Right now, the ticker is set to the later set of dates, since that's the longer countdown. I'm tired of pushing it back - if I change dates again, this time it'll be in the right direction! :rotfl:

Colleen27

08-08-2009, 01:45 PM

So these are the new options, both of which have their pros and cons:

January 23-31. 8 nights in value season, no special events going on while we're there.

The main pro to this week is how well it fits the kids' schedule. They'd only be missing 1 full day and 2 half days of school. We've never had a winter break that didn't coincide with ridiculous, wall-to-wall, peak season crowds before, and it would be nice to have less makeup work for the kids.

The weather is my main worry about these dates, though. We went in January last year and had pretty good weather, but it was a bit on the cool side and I'm not sure how well it would have worked out with a toddler along. On the other hand, we were at WL. I'm not sure we'd have noticed the cool temps quite so much if not for all those boat rides across the lake to the MK and meals at the monorail resorts.

Less important but too big a difference not to factor in is that this is value season and thus significantly cheaper, which means we'd be able to be a little more flexible in our resort choice.

Feb 27-Mar 7: Still 8 nights, but in peak season with ESPN the Weekend, the start of Flower & Garden, and the Princess half marathon all going on while we're there.

Weather would be the main pro for these dates. The historical info at Wundergound indicates a perfect time of year to go - warm enough to swim, but not yet hot and sticky. ESPN the Weekend and Flower & Garden would be nice additions to the trip too, though I'm sure they'll add to the crowds a bit.

However, the kids would miss 5 full days of school, which would mean more makeup work. And because it is peak season the room rates are a LOT higher, which would likely keep us at CSR. Not that I'd be disappointed with that; I am looking forward to trying it. But one of the pros to postponing is a more generous budget than we had for our fall dates, and that budget would probably allow for the Poly in value season if a decent discount comes along. There's no way we'd spring for a monorail resort at peak season rates - $1300 more per room times 2 rooms is too big a price jump.

So that's the choice I have right now - either a better resort in potentially worse weather, or a lesser resort in better weather.

Right now, I'm assuming the deluxe dining plan will remain unchanged for 2010, but if Webmaster Leah gets a response indicating the travel agent information is correct, the Swan/Dolphin and an AP with TiW will be on the table as an option as well.

disneygirlinnj

08-08-2009, 02:03 PM

Both are perfect dates to go! Weather is so iffy in Florida in the winter in terms of temperature. We went in December one year and there are days I wore just a tank top and then others where I wore my North Face fleece all day! The difference in price is a major plus though! :)

Colleen27

08-09-2009, 11:23 PM

Well, since my ticker has once afgain stretched instead of shrunk, I decided to spend a stormy afternoon messing around in Photoshop to see if I could come up with digital designs to print for autograph book covers for the girls rather than using paper-and-scissors scrapbooking methods. I'm not entirely displeased with the results, given how little digital 'scrapbooking' I've done, but I'm not sure these will be the designs I go with.

Katie's, which I'm thinking might be a good t-shirt or stroller tag if I don't use it for the autograph book:
http://inlinethumb61.webshots.com/45820/2155621000051332420S500x500Q85.jpg

Two I did for Shanna, neither of which I'm entirely happy with. I really don't like the "lightbulbs" font, I don't think, and I might try revising these with the flared font used for the "Montana" in the HM logo:
http://inlinethumb40.webshots.com/44327/2096297070051332420S500x500Q85.jpg

http://inlinethumb36.webshots.com/14499/2850884310051332420S500x500Q85.jpg

Colleen27

08-19-2009, 01:19 AM

Narrowing down the options a bit... I'm still stuck on resort choices. The January dates won out because of the school schedule; DS11 in particular will appreciate missing less work. He's a good student in terms of mastering material, but he's not so great with homework!

So since we're going in value season, the sky's the limit on rooms. Well, not quite, but the budget is pretty flexible. We'd like to stick to something around $700/night for all of us, so two rooms at the Poly is about the highest we'd go. In looking around at other options, however, I discovered there's an awful lot available within that budget!

One thing that I know I want for sure that helped narrow the field somewhat is a zero-entry pool for DD. That helped a bit, because rather than bouncing around looking at a different deluxe/DVC property every day, it limited my options to AKL/V, Poly, GF, BLT (but not the Contemporary), BC/YC/BCV, CBR or SSR.

Location rules out SSR right off the bat; I don't think I'd want to stay there without a car, because it is so spread out and so far from the parks, and besides, I've already promised my brother we'd book a Treehouse when he can join us so I'll just wait until then to stay there.

I'm not really interested in CBR for two reasons - the size might be tough on my mom (I'd have to book a pirate room if we stayed there, and I know those are a hike from most amenities), and well, why book a moderate when Disney's running such great deals? There will be time for mods when we're back to paying something closer to full price for our Disney vacations!

The GF is a stunning resort, but two standard rooms is pushing the budget a bit and the theme just doesn't appeal to me, so that's out too.

That brings me to my short list: BLT, BC/YC/BCV, Poly, or AKL.

BLT looks cool just because it is new and in a great location. I'd book through CRO rather than using points, and oddly enough, because we can fit in a 1 bedroom there it is one of our cheapest options. I'd be booking a MK view 1 bedroom there, so the view would be a plus, especially if DD turns out not to like fireworks or to need an early bedtime, as would the location. The theme does nothing for me, though. It reminds me of the Hyatt Place and Westin Elements hotels we've stayed at in the real world.

The Beach Club is my son's favorite resort, mainly for the pool. I'm not sure how much weight to give that for a January trip, though, because I know SAB closes early in the winter. The location isn't bad, but we'd have boat rides/walks to two parks which might not be the best if we do run into cool weather. We'd have a number of room options here - two standard rooms at either the BC or YC, or a two bedroom villa at BCV if there's one available.

The Poly is the one I'm thinking makes most sense, based on location and transportation. The monorail is climate controlled! It would be very, very nice to have the monorail to both MK (from the resort) and Epcot (from TTC) right there, especially with DD in a stroller. But the lack of a hot tub gives me a little pause, because there's nothing like a nice soak in a hot tub on a cool night, especially after all that walking in the parks.

Then there is AKL. The neat thing about AKL is that for less than 2 rooms at the Poly or BC, we could book a 1 bedroom, club level suite. The kids really enjoyed their stay at AKL with my inlaws, but DH & I have never been there. My only hesitation about AKL is the transportation. With this being our first trip with a stroller, I'm not sure the choice that has only bus transportation to every park is the best option.

Putting the choices to my family accomplished exactly nothing, by the way. We split 2-2, with DH & DS wanting the Beach Club and DD7 & I wanting the Poly. My mom doesn't have an opinion either way; BC is her favorite of the resorts we have stayed at in the past, and Poly is the one she'd most like to try of all the places we haven't yet stayed. And no matter how much I insist that DD1 agrees with DD7 & I, no one takes her opinion seriously! :rotfl:

jwhtewolfd

08-19-2009, 03:58 AM

Colleen27

08-21-2009, 01:31 AM

When you finally go on this trip, you are gonna be in anticipation withdrawal! :rotfl: I'd vote for AKL, so I guess that doesn't help. BTW, I like the Tink cover. I think it's classic and simple. I like the orange cover better than the purple one, but I agree a different font might just make it perfect.

No kidding! I always get a little post-Disney planning/anticipation blues, but I'll have been planning this one so long I won't know what else to do with myself. :rotfl: :rotfl: Actually, I'm kind of glad for this last delay right now, after another day of painting and pruning. There's no way I'd have been ready for a vacation next month! I haven't made a single outfit. Heck, I even cheated and bought my girls matching birthday outfits because I haven't so much as unpacked my craft stuff! I want to go all out for this trip, since it is my last baby's first Disney vacation, and I need the extra time to get around to it!

I'm looking forward to trying AKL/V eventually, but I don't think I want it to be on this trip... I'm all about minimizing bus travel since we'll have a stroller this time.

DD7 likes the purple cover better for herself, so I redid it with a different font and I like the new version much better.

So this will be hers:
http://inlinethumb08.webshots.com/583/2052678480051332420S500x500Q85.jpg

I'm sticking with the Tink cover for DD1 and I did this with it too, to use for t-shirts for the girls:
http://inlinethumb19.webshots.com/42322/2073798610051332420S500x500Q85.jpg

And one I was just messing around with, that I haven't thought of any particular purpose for just yet. DD7 requested this one, because she says Prilla looks just like DD1:

http://inlinethumb07.webshots.com/43078/2328867610051332420S500x500Q85.jpg

I'm working on a couple more involved designs, but don't have them finished quite yet. DD7 really wants matching outfits for at least a few days of the trip so I'm thinking at the very least I'll make 3 outfits - one for the day we go to Pixie Hollow, one for the day of our Princess character meal, and one for Chef Mickeys. I've already decided on Mickey head tie-dye for our CM day, but I'm playing around in Photoshop trying to decide between iron-ons, painting the design myself, or taking the time to sew/applique the tops. Bottoms will be easy enough - embellished jeans/capris, since the Jan weather could be too cool for the skirts I'd normally do.

jwhtewolfd

08-21-2009, 10:20 PM

wow, the "I believe in fairies" would be PERFECT for pixie hollow day!

Colleen27

08-26-2009, 03:51 PM

So it is miserable cold and wet out, and since we couldn't work today but the kids still went to their friends' houses as planned, I'm sitting here bored with only the baby at home.

The ADR countdown:

http://www.mickeypath.com/id/1256453941.png
('http://www.mickeypath.com/')

Of course, I already have the plans pretty much set, just waiting on park hours to match park days to specific dates, so there's no planning left to fill my time.

I did start working on a short to-do list of crafts for this trip:
Matching outfits for the girls

Pixie Hollow (needs to be dressy enough for a signature dinner)
Cinderella's Royal Table
Chef Mickey's

Autograph books, with character pages for those I know we'll meet and blanks for the surprises

Fairies cover for Katie
Hannah Montana cover for Shanna

Epcot Passports for the big kids
Stroller tag
Bag tags/LGMHs for the backpack & camera bag
Planning/reviews journal for myself

150 days left. Maybe for once I'll actually get all the custom/handmade stuff on my list done!

Colleen27

09-04-2009, 10:26 PM

We've changed our dates.

We've changed resorts.

We've changed park plans.

We've changed ADRs.

So what is left to change?

Well, maybe WDW won't be our only destination in January...

With the announcement of the kids sail free deal, DH asked me to look into splitting the trip between the World and the Wonder. :rotfl:

I kind of rolled my eyes and put it on the mental back burner, because when I'd checked out the Disney cruises before they struck me as very expensive and not all that appealing. I know DH would like to cruise, though, and he always jokes he needs a vacation to recover from my Disney vacations. So I checked the prices, and amazingly they aren't bad, at least not in comparison to what we're planning on spending per night at WDW.

In the interests of compromise, this is the option currently under consideration - 6 nights at the Poly or BLT, followed by a 3 night cruise on the Wonder. Because the land part of the trip would be a little shorter, I'm taking the Beach Club off the table. I want the monorail and the proximity to MK if we're only going to be less than a week at WDW, and we won't have the free day to enjoy Stormalong Bay anyway.

I'm still not sure I really want to do the cruise, especially with DD1 being too young for the kids clubs, but if it is something the rest of the family wants to try, I could be convinced. :laughing:

Monny2AE

09-12-2009, 05:11 PM

Colleen27

09-12-2009, 06:09 PM

Oh my you've switched so much of everything! :lmao: Your brain must be mush with all those options running through it!

I've never had any interest in a cruise but I think if I were going to do one, it would definitely be Disney. If my DH said let's go on a Disney cruise, I'd book within minutes! Of course that would never happen. I have to convince him just to go to WDW. That's one great catch you've got there!

I have a spreadsheet. I'd be lost without it. :rotfl:

DH is definitely a keeper. :love: He's not perfect - he actually suggested we take a little time off of Disney after this next trip, to go a few other places the kids have expressed interest in and to save up for a DVC purchase. :scared1:

That was actually the plan for our Jan '08 trip - a big "last blast" and then a few years of smaller, cheaper trips until our first trip "home" as DVC members. But our littlest princess changed that; we don't want to wait that long for her first trip. So now it is an all-out fairytale for Princess Katie's first Disney trip, then a few years of trips around the Great Lakes area (and one to Universal for Harry Potter, but that's going to be a cheapie thanks to a relative who owns a vacation villa near those other parks). We should be heading back to WDW right about the time the new Fantasyland opens in 2012 or 2013. :thumbsup2

And of course, no family trips to Disney doesn't quite mean no trips to Disney - my mom & I will probably take a weekend or two in between the big family trips, particularly if the 4/3 deal returns. Getting 10 day non-expiring tickets for the price of 7 day non-expiring is too good a deal to pass on, and my plans would leave us with 4 days to use for a weekend at Flower & Garden :hippie: and a weekend during the holidays. :santa:

On the planning front, I think the cruise is going to wait - the 4 day doesn't fit our schedule and DH really wants at least one day at sea to enjoy the ship, so the 3 day is just a little too short. I'm cool with that. I'd rather wait until Katie can swim and go to the kids club and all that stuff. It would make for a much more relaxing trip for me. ;)

Colleen27

09-13-2009, 04:36 PM

Okay, with the decision made against adding the cruise - kids sail free is a great deal, but Katie is just too young and the Castaway Cay expansion looks worth waiting for! - our dates are set and I'm shopping for airfare!

The final (I mean it this time!) plan is this - January 23 to 31, 8 nights at a resort to-be-determined. :yay: :yay: :yay:

kindra657

09-14-2009, 05:20 PM

Colleen27

09-19-2009, 06:49 PM

Looks like we are similar in our Disney plans!! We are going from Jan 23-31 (with the in-laws as well!) but we are doing the Wonder on the 28th. We are staying at kidani village in a 2 bdrm and we probably wont be doing the deluxe dining plan. Like you, we've had a few financial set-backs this year and we need to stay within a budget. I don't do a whole lot of souvineer shopping while on vacation so food is our biggest cost. I guess we are considering the basic dining plan. If you have any questions about AKL or AKV, let me know. We've stayed at AKL, AKV-jambo house, and AKV-kidani. As a frame of reference, we've also stayed at BCV, CSR, POF, & OKW. Hope you get your plans etched in stone and I'll be waiting on the release of those park hours right along with ya! ;)

We were going to do the Wonder, but honestly, cruising with a toddler doesn't sound like it would be much fun for me. So now the plan is to wait until she's potty trained and old enough for the kids' club before taking our first cruise.

My kids stayed at AKL, club level savanna view on their first Disney trip, thanks to my inlaws, and they've been asking to go back ever since. I figure we'll have plenty of trips for that after we buy DVC, though, so it isn't one I'm really considering right now.

I'm getting REALLY impatient waiting on park hours! Like, looking at December dates even though we already decided it wouldn't work with the kids schedule, just to have something to plan! :rotfl: I already have a countdown to my ADR date a few posts back. I'm starting to think I need another for the 11-ish more days until we should see park hours. :rotfl2: :rotfl2:

Colleen27

09-19-2009, 06:57 PM

The resort choice is made! For 8 nights, Jan 23 to 31, we'll be staying at...

Wait for it...

The Poly!

The deciding factors:

Stormalong Bay closes early in the winter
It might not be warm enough to spend much time swimming anyway
The monorail is so much easier with a stroller than buses are
I want a ground floor room with a patio, and the odds of getting that are better at the Poly
The MK area location is better for this trip, since we have 2 MK days and only 1 EP day in the plans
The Poly is just prettier
The Poly is the only deluxe resort on my wishlist that doesn't have a DVC property; we can stay at BCV once we buy in, but would have a hard time justifying the Poly

Planning dining for a stay at a monorail resort is going to be soooo much fun! So many choices, just a short hop away!

disneygirlinnj

09-20-2009, 09:33 PM

LOVE the Poly!! I wish I could stay there every trip :)

Colleen27

09-21-2009, 10:27 PM

So to pass the time between now and January, I've compiled a list of outfits to make my girls, along with a few other projects to get started on. This is one of those lists that tends to grow rather than shrink even as I cross things off, so I'm going to start it here as an easily edited checklist, bolding projects as I complete them and adding new ones as I come up with more ideas.

CRT day:

Belle tutu for DD1
Matching headband & socks for DD1
Aurora tutu for DD8
Hair bow for DD8
Princess tees for both girls

Pixie Hollow day:

Tink tutu for DD1
Headband & socks for DD1
Tink tutu for DD8
Hair bow for DD8
'I Believe in Fairies' tees for both girls

Chef Mickey's day:
Pink & green Mickey swirl jumpers & ruffled jeans for both girls
Socks for DD1

Christmas pics/WL dinner:

Christmas dresses
Hair bows

Pirate League day:

Pink & black tutu
Skull & crossbones tee

DHS day (if I have time):

Mickey clapboard 'bling' tees for both girls
Film ribbon embellished capris for both girls

Fairies autograph book for DD1
Hannah Montana autograph book for DD8

Epcot passports for the big kids

LGMH tags for stroller, camera bag, and backpack

Stroller "boot" blanket

Colleen27

09-21-2009, 10:31 PM

The first project complete, Katie's Belle tutu:

http://inlinethumb01.webshots.com/44224/2316227700051332420S500x500Q85.jpg (http://travel.webshots.com/photo/2316227700051332420hbsEzT)

Detail of the rose:

http://inlinethumb50.webshots.com/46193/2637487810051332420S500x500Q85.jpg (http://travel.webshots.com/photo/2637487810051332420AyhpsV)

Matching bow, which will go on a headband as soon as I find/make one the right color.

http://inlinethumb41.webshots.com/24488/2595145910051332420S500x500Q85.jpg (http://travel.webshots.com/photo/2595145910051332420RIbaFh)

nettii

09-22-2009, 08:10 AM

Colleen27

09-23-2009, 08:28 PM

Hi Colleen I havnt posted on your PTR in a while (have been getting ready for my own trip-we leave on thursday:lovestruc)
Congrats on staying at the Poly!:banana:That is def a dream of mine! Maybe some day! :wizard:I think youll Love gonig in the middle of winter instead of this fall-its always so much better to leave 2 foot of snow to head to warm sunny FL! :cloud9:
How ar you adjusting to MC? Hope you like it here. Im wondering if our kids are in the same class. It will be funny when we finally meet face to face.:laughing: Im sure one day at a school function it will click omg that must be the lady from the dis. As I right this Im remembering being in CVS this past summer and commenting to a lady with a little girl about her Mickey purse, she had on a Disney t and so did the little girl. It was one of the only days i too was not wearing a Disney item and I thought OMG another Disney person!:woohoo: That wast you was it?!?:rolleyes:
Well anyway your pre trip stuff looks great! LOVE the tutus! I am on my way to Micheals as soon as I drop T off at school to get my transfer sheets so I can finish my shirts then Im done with all my extras. Id love to post pics but I cant figure out how to do it.:confused:My oldest DS will have to help me someday.
TTFN Nettii:goodvibes

We're adjusting pretty well so far. DS is having a bit of a hard time, but his best friend from the old house just moved to Tennessee, so he'd be having a hard time even if we'd stayed put.

I don't actually wear much Disney stuff myself. My girls are the ones who get decked out. :cutie: I'm sure I'll run into you eventually at school, though, or at some activity or another. DD8 seems determined to join everything! And everyone notices Katie, everywhere we go. If you see a woman chasing after a red-headed, curly-haired toddler, that would be me! :rotfl:

Have a great time on your trip! I'm jealous - we should have been leaving Saturday! But we're going to the Renaissance Festival this weekend and apple picking on our half day next week, and I'm kind of glad we're going in the winter. This is my favorite time of year here, and I'll be glad we postponed when we're leaving January weather behind.

Where do you fly from? I hate making the drive down to Metro from here, so I think we're going to try flying out of Bishop in Jan. It can't be any worse a drive, Airtran has a non-stop, and the park-sleep-fly package up there is a lot cheaper. Have you ever tried Bishop? I'm wondering if I'm going to regret flying out of a itty-bitty airport or if it'll work out to be easier.

Colleen27

09-28-2009, 06:53 PM

Is there an award for most indecisive DISer? Because if there is, I think I win!

With the 4/3 not yet announced but unofficially open for booking, guess what I did?

That's right, I changed our final, unchanging, carved-in-stone dates.

At least this time it is in the right direction...

We are now booked at the Poly, garden view, deluxe dining, for DECEMBER 12-20! Yes, that's right, after adding months to my countdown not once but twice, I've now managed to shave a month and a half off of it!

I wasn't sure about booking on "short notice" in terms of ADRs, but when I hopped online and got a wonderful, amazing schedule's worth of reservations, I jumped at the chance to do Disney at Christmas!

Colleen27

09-29-2009, 03:52 PM

A quickie itinerary, thrown together to get the ADRs made. I know the experts say to avoid the EMH days, but we're night owls and love the extra time so I'm willing to take the chance of running into a little more crowded conditions, especially since this is our first trip where midday breaks might be a necessity!

Dec 12:
Arrival, no park.

Dec 13:
DHS, evening EMH
Park hours - 9 to 11
Early start (with DD1, sleeping in isn't an option), break after lunch if needed, back for night

Dec 14:
MK, evening EMH
Park hours - 9 to 11
Early start, break after lunch if needed, back for the evening

Dec 15:
free
Waterpark/golf/DTD depending on weather
Haven't decided about MVMCP yet

Dec 16:
Epcot
Park hours - 9 to 9:30
Early start, hopefully no break because not an EMH day

Dec 17:
AK
Park hours - 9 to 5
Early start, no break, resort dinner after park close
Maybe DisneyQuest evening if the big kids want

Dec 18:
free
Waterpark/golf/DTD depending on weather
Maybe Epcot evening EMH if we feel like we want more time there

Dec 19:
MK
Park hours - 9 to 11
First day holiday shows are going on during reg park hours
Early start, break, back for evening

Dec 20:
Departure, no park

Colleen27

09-29-2009, 04:24 PM

The ADRs, v. 1.0

I'm sure some of these are going to change, but they look pretty darned good for not doing the crack-of-dawn, 90-out routine.

12/12:
Artist Point, 6:30 - Since we're not doing a park on arrival day, I figured it was perfect for a dinner that will take a little travel time, and WL is at the top of my list of resorts I want to visit just to see the holiday decorations

12/13:
Brown Derby, 11:55
Kouzzina, 6:50 -This one is our excuse to check out the Boardwalk decorations. If we don't feel like going back to DHS for evening EMH, we'll play a round of mini golf before heading back to the Poly.

12/14:
Liberty Tree Tavern, 11:50
Kona, 7:00 - I'm hoping to make this one either a lot earlier or a little later, so we can catch Spectro at 7.

12/15:
Haven't booked breakfast or lunch, but will probably go with Kona for breakfast
California Grill, 5:55 - I made this one thinking we won't spend the money on MVMCP since we'll be there to see Holiday Wishes and the Christmas parade on the last full day of our trip. If we decide to do MVMCP it will have to change

12/16:
Akershus, 8:10
Teppan Edo, 4:50

12/17:
Yak & Yeti, 12:30
Jiko, 6:10 - Had hoped for a little earlier, but this isn't far enough off that I'll bother looking for a better time.

12/18:
Haven't booked breakfast, but I'm thinking Grand Floridian Cafe. DH loves eggs benedict, and the pics of the lobster eggs benedict there look amazing!
Captain's Grill, 6:05 - Not sure about this one. On one hand, it gives us a chance to check out the Y&BC holiday decor and puts us in the right place for if we want to head to Epcot for evening EMH, but on the other hand, if we don't go over to Epcot it is a lot of travel just for dinner.

12/19:
Crystal Palace, 8:20 - Couldn't believe I got this one! It came up when I searched for CRT, which I couldn't get, but since I have Akershus I was more concerned with a pre-opening breakfast time than with getting one specific restaurant. It is all about getting the pic of my girls on an empty Main Street in their matching outfits :rotfl:
Narcoosees, 5:40

12/20:
Chef Mickey, 11:05 - Another one I couldn't believe I got at less than 90 out! A perfect way to end the trip.

nettii

09-29-2009, 04:27 PM

Colleen27

09-29-2009, 05:03 PM

I just realized something sort of funny as I'm updating the ToC... After all of this planning and canceling and changing and replanning, we ended up with the exact same plan we had in mind 18 months ago when we got home from out last trip - a Holiday Lights trip in 2009. Seems like I could have saved a bit of time by just sticking with the original idea, huh? :rolleyes: :laughing:

Colleen27

09-29-2009, 05:06 PM

sounds great I love the parks at Christmas! We ate at Coral reef this time (first time in several years) and it was our BEST meal! I was very skeptical but we all had a great meal and great service! Just one thing I thought Id share from this week.
I will share more later just trying to ge caught up on things.
nettii:goodvibes

Are you doing a trip report? If so, be sure to link it so I can find it!

We really liked Coral Reef on our last trip, back when they had crab legs on the menu. It always gets shuffled down to the bottom of our list because there are so many good choices in Epcot, but I really don't think it deserves the iffy reputation it has here on the DIS.

Colleen27

10-01-2009, 01:00 AM

More tutus, one Disney, one not:

DD1's Halloween costume-in-progress, still need to make the wings:
http://inlinethumb46.webshots.com/7533/2130189670051332420S500x500Q85.jpg

Forgive the blurry pic, DH didn't take the time to check the camera settings
http://inlinethumb61.webshots.com/46204/2122587700051332420S500x500Q85.jpg

And Tinkerbell:
http://inlinethumb63.webshots.com/45438/2323559090051332420S500x500Q85.jpg

I'm not quite happy with the lack of contrast between the petals (glitter tulle) and the body of the skirt, but I haven't decided what if anything to do about it. :confused3 You can see them better here:
http://inlinethumb13.webshots.com/42380/2358488140051332420S500x500Q85.jpg

And the bow on the back:
http://inlinethumb37.webshots.com/43236/2710327340051332420S500x500Q85.jpg

disneyaddicted

10-01-2009, 01:43 AM

Colleen27

10-02-2009, 03:28 PM

Another small project:

The headband bow to match Tink
http://inlinethumb20.webshots.com/45139/2402223400051332420S500x500Q85.jpg

DD1 helping with groceries in her Tink set
http://inlinethumb56.webshots.com/12023/2444669750051332420S500x500Q85.jpg

DD8's Sleeping Beauty tutu is almost done too, but I can't finish until tomorrow. Since she'll be wearing hers over leggings rather than a onesie, I had to handle the sparkle tulle a little differently so it wouldn't be scratchy on the waistband, and I need some trim to finish it off. Now I need to figure out how to tweak the Tink design for her...

Colleen27

10-03-2009, 09:18 PM

Another tutu - Aurora for DD8:

http://inlinethumb61.webshots.com/5820/2912834260051332420S500x500Q85.jpg

Just one more to go now, a copy of my little Tink for my older DD. :) Then it is on to the real sewing, assuming I can figure out where my machine is hiding! I haven't quite gotten around to unpacking everything, and the sewing machine is somewhere among the mystery boxes in the attic.

Colleen27

10-05-2009, 06:05 PM

Wow! if they did give out prizes for indecisivness you would win. That's alot of changes, but you handled it with ease. At least it seemed that way to me.
I loved Disney in December, went in 2007 and going again this year. It's kind of extra magical.

Congratulations on finally getting your house. I love old house with history, researching them is fun. Fixing them up, although expensive, is also fun.

Glad to see everything is working out now plans and date wise. I am subbing, I really am enjoying this PTR.

Ty

I probably wouldn't have rolled with the changes so well if it wasn't for such a good reason... Getting the house was such a huge accomplishment that I just couldn't be upset over it changing other, less important plans. And I've always wanted to see Disney at Christmastime. :santa:

I really haven't done much looking into the history of this house, but as it turns out one of our neighbors knew the original owners! The house actually remained in the family that built it until 2001. So in 130 years, we're only the 3rd owners of this property! Now that I have the original owner's name and a little history, I've got a good starting point for further research, so I'm sure I'll be spending more than a few cold winter days at the library hunting for more information. :surfweb:

Colleen27

10-05-2009, 06:07 PM

Now our dates are well and truly carved in stone - We have plane tickets! So December it is, no more changes or delays. :dance3: :yay: :dance3: :cheer2:

68 days and counting...

Colleen27

10-05-2009, 08:12 PM

With airfare booked, ADRs made and the dates absolutely, irrevocably set, it is time to move on to the day by day plans!

One of my challenges in planning this trip is that my mother may or may not be joining us, and at the moment it is leaning more towards not. We've never needed to use child swap before, so this is new territory and I'm not sure how to work touring plans around riding so many things twice. It doesn't help that both big planning sites separate age groups in their sample plans - either you pull up a plan for little kids or one for older kids, or you get the whole family plan that has one parent skipping all the thrills to be with the little one. None of those choices work for us!

So I'm working from the Unofficial Guide cheat sheets to create my very own personalized touring plans, hitting a long list of must dos and baby swapping at the thrills DH & I both want to ride. Thankfully, there aren't that many rides she can't go on, and I'm willing to sit a few of them out.

Magic Kingdom

Big Thunder Mountain
Splash Mountain
Space Mountain
Stitch - I will gladly skip it!
Barnstormer - I don't think anyone will want to do this one
Tomorrowland Speedway - Ill skip it.

Epcot

Maelstrom - I'll skip it
Mission Space
Soarin'
Test Track

Animal Kingdom

Dinosaur
Expedition Everest
Kali River Rapids
Primeval Whirl - I'll skip it

Hollywood Studios
Rock N Roller Coaster
Star Tours - I'll skip it
Tower of Terror

So that's 2 or 3 baby swaps at each park. Not too bad at all.

jwhtewolfd

10-05-2009, 10:38 PM

Just finished catching up. Yay for final dates - and the tutus -too cute, and all by hand?!

Colleen27

10-06-2009, 12:21 AM

Just finished catching up. Yay for final dates - and the tutus -too cute, and all by hand?!

Thank you. :goodvibes There's not a ton of sewing involved in the tutus, so doing it by hand isn't as bad as it sounds. Just the top skirts are sewn; the body of the tutu is no-sew except the waistband. But I've always been more comfortable hand sewing than using my machine anyway. I started out embroidering and doing cross stitch as a kid, and that sort of stuck with me. I didn't learn to use a sewing machine until high school!

I'm finishing up my stroller blanket/nursing cover and the overskirt & trim on DD8's Tink tutu tomorrow, but after that I do think I'm going to have to bite the bullet and find my machine. I can put the girls' twirl skirts together by hand, but I'm not precise enough to do the topstitching without a machine!

disneyaddicted

10-06-2009, 05:49 AM

Colleen27

10-06-2009, 02:32 PM

I forgot to mention in my last post that I love the tutu's. I am going to use your idea for when I take my nieces. My sister and I wanted to dress them up as princesses as much as possible, this is such a fast and yet adorable way to do it.

If you haven't gotten your tickets for MVMCP, I would suggest maybe not doing that, since they are going to be opening the Christmas shows during regular hours, why pay for something you can get for free, all you would really miss out on would be the free cookies and hot chocolate. Just a suggestion. Maybe you want the Christmas party atmosphere.

There is a great how-to post here on the Dis that covers the basics of making the tutus - http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2048367

I'm thinking we're going to skip MVMCP. Since the holiday shows will be going on for our last full day at MK and we're not sure how the baby will do with later nights, I don't see the sense in spending the extra money. If it was just the big kids and I knew we could stay until the end, I'd do it just for the extra late night in the park, but with Katie we'd probably end up leaving earlier and it just wouldn't be worth the price.

disneygirlinnj

10-06-2009, 05:10 PM

ohhh looks like I missed a lot! let me go catch up!

Colleen27

10-09-2009, 03:44 PM

I've been fine tuning the itinerary, and I swtiched around a few days to better match TGM recommendations. This eliminates the Epcot and DHS evening EMH, but I'm not sure how late we'll be able to keep going anyway. This leaves only MK for evening EMH, and that one I'll go to solo if the kids and DH aren't up for it, just because I love the MK at night!

Dec 13 - Was DHS, now AK:
Yak & Yeti lunch
Jiko dinner

Dec 17 - Was AK, now free:
Grand Floridian Cafe breakfast
DH golf
Captain's Grill dinner

Dec 18: Was free, now DHS:
Brown Derby lunch
Kouzzina dinner

Colleen27

10-09-2009, 06:48 PM

Okay, so I'm trying to keep busy and distracted from some stuff that is going on IRL, so I've started working on day-by-day plans already. I'm sure a lot of this is going to change as we get closer, but it is something to do right now so here goes...

Arrival Day:

Early wakeup call for our 9am flight
Land at MCO around 11:30, ME to Poly
Swim and explore the resort
Hula lessons in the Grand Ceremonial House at 3:45
Torch lighting ceremony at 6pm
Monorail to MK or Contemporary to hop a boat to WL for dinner at Artist Point
Spend a little time looking around the Lodge and taking pics of the Christmas decor
Turn in early to get some sleep before our first park day

Up next - AK plans

Colleen27

10-09-2009, 07:33 PM

Day Two - Animal Kingdom

Must Dos:
Safari
Kali River Rapids
Dinosaur
Everest

The Plan:
Rope drop
Everest (baby swap)
Dinosaur (baby swap)
Primeval Whirl (DH & DS)
Triceratops Spin (the girls & I)
Kali River
Maharajah Jungle Trek
Break for lunch at Yak & Yeti whenever our ADR time comes up, finish Asia after if necessary
Safari
Pagini Forest trails
Rafiki's Planet Watch
Tough to be a Bug (Fastpass if necessary)
Discovery Island trails
Festival of the Lion King (if it seems like Katie will be good)
Camp Minnie-Mickey character trails/Christmas trees

Dinner is at Jiko for after park closing, so we may as well stay until 5. If we have time left to kill, we'll hit some of the other character spots near the front of the park and at the gate.

disneyaddicted

10-13-2009, 02:56 AM

Hula lessons. Now that sounds like fun. I love all the small things Disney and the resorts offer.

Colleen27

10-31-2009, 11:37 AM

6 weeks from right this minute I will be on a plane to MCO! I think I'm finally done with ADR changes, assuming no major schedule changes between now and then. Here is the current and hopefully final list.

12/12 -
Artist Point, 6:30

12/13 -
Yak & Yeti, 12:00
Jiko, 5:55

12/14 -
Liberty Tree, 11:50
Kona, 7:10

12/15 -
Kona, 9:05
California Grill, 5:55

12/16 -
Akershus, 8:10
Teppan Edo, 4:50

12/17 -
Grand Floridian Cafe, 9:05
Captain's Grill, 6:00

12/18 -
Brown Derby, 12:00
Kouzzina, 8:00

12/19 -
Crystal Palace, 8:20
Narcoosees, 5:40

12/20 -
Chef Mickey, 11:05

Colleen27

11-11-2009, 10:33 PM

Well, Halloween and other real life concerns got in the way of the DIS obsession, but I'm back with more pics to share of the DISigns I've got in the works for the trip!

Fairy day shirts, to go with the Tink tutus:
http://inlinethumb39.webshots.com/43302/2183753050051332420S500x500Q85.jpg

Inside cover of the girls' autograph books:
http://inlinethumb37.webshots.com/46372/2679672350051332420S500x500Q85.jpg

Stroller tag:
http://inlinethumb31.webshots.com/13278/2360048580051332420S500x500Q85.jpg

LGMH tags for me:
http://inlinethumb47.webshots.com/11886/2433853320051332420S500x500Q85.jpg

We've added a Pirate's League appointment for DS11 and DD8 on our first MK day, thanks to the 50% off offer, but I'm still working on designs for that day. I know DD8 wants a pick & black tutu and corset, but I'm not sure my sewing skills are up for the corset. I'm thinking for DS11, a t-shirt I saw that says "Beatings will continue until morale improves" and a pair of jeans he's already got that have skull & crossbones patches because he's not one for costumes or anything that really stands out.

Colleen27

11-19-2009, 08:38 PM

More changes, and I'm pouting a bit this time. Our boiler went out! We don't know yet if we'll be able to repair it or if we'll have to replace it, but at minimum we're looking at about 1K for a new pump and if we have to replace it we're looking at more like 6K! :eek:

We're not about to cancel or postpone this time since we have airfare and the room at the airport already paid and non-refundable. What we did do, to my disappointment, was change from the Poly to CBR. The kids are actually quite happy about the change - we booked a pirate room, and they just love the look of the room and the pirate water play area. And the $1100 savings will more than cover spending money for the week. I'm bummed because the Poly is my dream resort and a little worried about losing the convenience of the monorail for DD15mo's first trip, especially since she's had the week from you-know-where thanks to 4 budding teeth and some sort of mild mystery virus making the rounds in our house (I'm wondering if it might not be H1N1, but very mild because they've been vaccinated? The symptoms have been about right, but not severe). But she's always been good when we're out and about, even on long days, and she's at a fun, fearless stage so I'm probably overreacting.

On the bright side, the Poly is my mom's dream resort too and now I don't have to feel guilty about staying there without her...