The Eat My Words "I Will Never Go In August" MEGA AUGUST Trip

[QueenDoOver]

Hello Friends,
Decided to just make a pre-trip report to discuss all the ins and outs of my upcoming trip because my family and friends are glazing over on me and not at all interested in all the details that I like to ponder. So this will be my outlet and any of you that care to are welcome to weigh in and advise. This is my first big family trip to the world so your expertise will be greatly appreciated.

OK, I'll be back with greater details as to the travelers and dates and whatnot that I have set up so far.

Thanks!
Tracey

[GaRain]

Can't wait to read what you have planned!

[QueenDoOver]

Background: You can skip this if you want;)

A little background to let you know where I am coming from. I have always loved Disney. Grew up watching Sunday night Wonderful World Of Disney. I wanted to go to Disneyland my entire life. Finally when I was 16, my Grandparents told me they were going to Long Beach to see the Spruce Goose. I said, hey, that is near to Disneyland. Can I come and can we go? Please! And bless their hearts, they took me! We only had one day at the park, and I had a fever and was sick as a dog, but the memories of that day are forever etched in my mind, and were really the start of a love affair with Disney.

I did have the opportunity to go to Disneyland several more times as a young adult, and eventually even to Disney World 3 times on my own. But, my greatest joy occurred when I had my own kids and was able to start taking them. I had several one day Mommy and me trips with my oldest when we traveled to San Diego to visit my brother, but our family odyssey began in 2005 with our first family trip. We scheduled 3 nights at Paradise Pier and paid through the nose and showed up. It was a trip full of magical moments and the wonder of Disney without any expectations. Thank goodness it was off season because we had no plan at all! When we booked it, I convinced my husband to splurge because it was going to be a once in a lifetime trip. LOL That obviously wasn’t true! I found the disboards at some point after that trip and the planning began! We managed a 5 day trip in 2007, and then in 2009, we got an amazing deal on annual passes and that year we had a 9 day trip with what ended up being 14 people, and I had 4 other trips that year, my oldest went twice, my youngest went 3 times. What a year! Then in 2010 we took my Mom and had a 5 day trip and stayed concierge at Paradise Pier. What a wonderful time. My youngest and I managed a 3 day trip in summer of 2011. Now we have sworn off of Disneyland until 2014. Not bad for a family from the Pacific Northwest area. Two of those trips were driving trips and allowed us to see and do a few other things along the way.

In the meanwhile….my last trip to Disney World was in 2007 when I had gone to a work conference at The Grand Floridian. It was during October and pre disboards for me, so I didn’t really do any planning or know anything at all. I actually flew a red eye down and then went into the parks for one day, which was the only day I had free. I was so tired I was almost non-functional. At any rate it was about 90 degrees out and was at nearly 90 percent humidity. The one thing I remember after having to walk back and forth in my work clothes and nearly dying from the heat was that I swore I would never go to Orlando again unless it was December or January. Certainly August would be out of the question!
And this is where I must say, I have home school envy! Oh, the joy of setting your own calendar! I know that for me the negatives would out weigh the benefits, but that is one benefit that I would love to have. Because our schools here are pretty darn strict and if you miss 11 days in one semester you do not get your credits. With this in mind, I knew that we would need to plan our trip to DW on a school break. I really wanted to do a Christmas trip to tell you the truth, but other things prevailed.

How we got our dates:
My husband is by nature a very conservative person. He never really had a vacation until he met me. He just didn’t go that. He has been somewhat supportive, but I usually have to do a little convincing. For this trip, I knew it was going to be expensive, so I had started saving airline miles years ago. I had the miles we would need if I could get the flights at the super saver fare. Sadly, most of the school holiday times did not seem to offer this level. But I checked every now and again, and one day in November, I saw the flights at the award levels I needed. In addition to that, hubby had received a free cruise voucher from Norwegian Cruise line, and the free airfare would allow us to use that too. All of this was on my mind, but my husband was out of town for a week. Then I found out that one of my friend’s sons was diagnosed with Cancer. He was my oldest son’s age. And that was it, it tipped me over the edge. I booked the airfare and I sent my husband a note that we were going and what the dates were. I have to say, he took it pretty well considering it was a 3 week vacation. But…the darn flights were in August!

And that's how we ended up with:

Aug 14th- Arrive Orlando
August 27th-Drive to Miami for cruise
Sept. 1st- Fly Home from Miami


That leaves us 13 days in at DW. Will it be long enough??? I really wanted built in downtime so that we could relax and adjust to the humidity and not go 100 miles per hour to try to see everything.

Up next....where are we staying, when will we know? Who all is coming? What will we eat, etc...

[QueenDoOver]

Who’s Going?
I”ll start with my family.
DH who will be 48, Me who will be 46, DS will be 16 and DS 9.

A picture from 2009 Big Trip

http://i257.photobucket.com/albums/hh221/trodrigue_photos/DLR%202009%20VDay%20Trip/100_0147.jpg

And at our brick that I presented to them as a Valentine

http://i257.photobucket.com/albums/hh221/trodrigue_photos/DLR%202009%20VDay%20Trip/100_0151.jpg

Besides my family, will be our good friends The Hogan family. Their son Jack is my son Nathan's bff. We took those boys on a birthday trip in 09 and they had a great time.

http://i257.photobucket.com/albums/hh221/trodrigue_photos/DLR%20Oct%202009%201/100_1156.jpg

Besides Jack, there are two little girls, Annie and Maggie who will be 6 and 4 at the time of our trip. I am really looking forward to experiencing some of the little girls stuff through their eyes. I will post a picture soon.

It wasn't too long after I announced that I was going, that my sister said she wanted to go too. So she and my nephew Alex are going to be coming on the trip for part of the time. Alex is about 18 months younger than my oldest son and they are great friends. Alex is about as big of a disney nut as I am and has been known to go on one ride over 20 times in a row. Crazy kid! Picture coming soon.

And so far that is it... But I have to warn you, the 2009 group of 14 snowballed and I wouldn't be surprised if this one does too:)

[QueenDoOver]

When I first booked our airfare, I also checked rooms at WDWR. The only room that would fit our budget for such a long trip was a value. So I booked a POP room with no discount, hoping that if we ended up that route we could get free dining. Without that and without a kitchen, we were going to be spending way too much money, but I knew I could figure out how to make it work if I had to.

Then I got busy figuring out the system to get my Worldmark Resort points traded into DVC through RCI. I had been stockpiling my WM points just for this occasion, although I thought I would have a little more time, so I just barely had enough. I put in my searches and sat back and waited. November and December went by with nothing. January approached and I started to panick. Was I being too picky? I had asked for two bedrooms. Maybe I should just take a 1 bedroom and then let my friends worry about themselves?? Just when I was about to change the search, we got matched to....


A two bedroom villa at BAY LAKE TOWERS! Can you believe it??? I could not have been more thrilled and the more I researched these units and this location, the more perfect it became. This part of my trip is when my friends with their little kids will be along. They are actually arriving a few days before us and will have the villa to themselves from the 11th until the 14th.

Now all I need is the 2nd week to match. I waited and waited, and nothing but one bedrooms are showing up. I know my sister would be disappointed if we were not all in a unit together, so finally I decided to book the two bedroom unit at Bonnet Creek as a back up. I took the $89 insurance on it and then set up another search a two bedroom DVC.

Even though I had set up an ongoing search, I didn't trust it. RCI searches are notorious for not working correctly, and so I got out of bed at odd hours to run the search manually. It was all consuming and I had resolved myself to staying at Bonnet Creek, and was totally fine with that. Then just the other day, BINGO! I had a hit. Where would we be????

Saratoga Springs 2 bedroom villa:banana::banana::banana:Ok, I wasn't dancing banana happy at first. As I researched the property, I started to see the benefits. 2nd week. Nice and quiet with lots of lovely trees. Close to DTD and Disney Quest, which we would have tickets to. This is the week with my teenage nephew staying with us so I figured those two boys would have a great time. Then I saw the new pool complex and in combination with the existing Spring pool knew that it would be a great resort for all of us.

But, The Hogans were planning on staying the second week too, and wanted to be able to enjoy time with us as well, so they decided to try to get their own week at Saratoga Springs. I have set the search up, rented more Worldmark points from another owner, and we are anxiously waiting to see if we can get lucky one more time. The deposits of DVC weeks into RCI are slowing down, so I don't know if we will get anything, but I hope so! Once that piece of the puzzle is in place, we will be all done,except for the last two nights.

I am debating. My sister is a travel agent and she can get us checked into a room for 1/2 price for those last two nights. (she and her son will be there one more night with us and then they fly home) I can go with a value room for about $75 a night (not half price for some reason?) or a family suite for $129 each night, or jump up to POR or Wilderness Cabin for about $165 a night. It feels like with all the decadence of the previous two weeks that I should go as inexpensively as possible, but I know I also won't ever likely be able to stay in those other rooms at 1/2 price again. Decisions, Decisions! Hey, maybe I should rent points from a DVC member and stay in a studio somewhere? Decisions, Decisions!

Ok, so I had to look. AKV for two nights in a value studio is $210! I should totally do that, huh??

[QueenDoOver]

I have to say, we don't have any do or die places to eat this trip. Everything is so darn expensive as it is, that we are committed to eating in the condo as much as possible.

Other than that, we will likely eat counter service. I hate to plan my time around sit down ADR's! That being said, we are for sure doing dinner in the Castle. It is just an experience not to be missed.

Other than that, I am looking for some ideas here. In general, we will arrive at opening, leave at noon for nap, return and close down the park. So far based on crowd predictions, this is what I have planned:

Tuesday Aug 14: Arrive to Bay Lake Towers
Wed 15th: MK day and dinner at Castle
Thurs 16th: AK and perhaps a bit of MK
Fri 17th: Epcot and/or MK
Sat 18th: Resort change day, pool day
Sunday 19th:Beach or pool, etc
Monday 20th: MK and Youth Education Classes
Tuesday 21st: DHS
Wed. 22nd: Beach, pool etc
Thurs 23rd: Beach, pool etc
Fri 24th Epcot
Sat 25th: Room change Day, DHS?
Sun 26th: MK
Mon 27th Check out, Drive to Miami Embark on Cruise
Tues, Wed, Thurs: Cruise
Friday 31st: Disembark (need Miami hotel)
Sat Sept 1: Return Home

Did I mention that we will have 8 days of park, and 8 days of Quest and Water Parks? We will also have hopping ability. I am pretty sure that week two, when we are at SSR that we will get a rental car for that week.

So I am looking for your ideas given our schedule (and I am open to schedule suggestions too) of best counter service and/or any must do sit down meals too)

[disney-super-mom]

Yay, I found your pre-trip report! :cool1:

For some reason the link in your signature doesn't work. :confused3

I didn't know you were going on a cruise too - how fun! What NCL ship are you on?

As for the last two nights, you have some good choices...it would be a hard decision. The roominess of a family suite or a cabin would be really nice! Hmmmmm, but if you can swing it, I think I'd book the value studio at AKV. It's such a beautiful resort! :thumbsup2

[QueenDoOver]

Hi Capri!
I'm so glad you found me. I know my signature was all a mess. But with Stacielee's help and a lot of patience, I think it is working now.



Here is my update: We did get another two bedroom at Saratago Springs! It has a Aug 19th check in, so The Hogan family will likely grab a room for one night taking minimal luggage with them. The good news is that we will be able to stay with them our second to last night, and now only need a place to stay for one more night. I guess we could drive to Miami that night and be ready to embark nice and early the next day.. But I don't want to leave Disney a day early!

Decisions, decisions!

Ok, the second big news is that finally I was able to register the kids for the Youth Education Series classes and buy tickets. Such a savings! Yeah!!!

[disney-super-mom]

Hi Capri!
I'm so glad you found me. I know my signature was all a mess. But with Stacielee's help and a lot of patience, I think it is working now.



Here is my update: We did get another two bedroom at Saratago Springs! It has a Aug 19th check in, so The Hogan family will likely grab a room for one night taking minimal luggage with them. The good news is that we will be able to stay with them our second to last night, and now only need a place to stay for one more night. I guess we could drive to Miami that night and be ready to embark nice and early the next day.. But I don't want to leave Disney a day early!

Decisions, decisions!

Ok, the second big news is that finally I was able to register the kids for the Youth Education Series classes and buy tickets. Such a savings! Yeah!!!

Yay on getting another two bedroom at SSR! :yay:

What YES class are your kids doing? Our boys did Energy and Waves at the MK. They liked it and had fun, but I wish I had signed them up for Wild by Nature at AK or Ocean Discoveries at Epcot...I think they would have had more fun at those classes because they love animals.

[BillyFan]

I'm here! There are tons of yummy CS dining options, and I think doing mostly those is a great plan for such a large group.

I'm excited to follow along with your plans!!

[QueenDoOver]

Hi Tina! Great to see you here. Looking forward to tips from all you experts out there:)

Our plan is changing a little bit since we now have two units and I am figuring out how to rock the dining plan a bit:)

Tuesday Aug 14: Arrive to Bay Lake Towers Quick Service Dining Plan Contempo Cafe Dinner
Wed 15th: MK day We are also taking the little girls to tea at the Grand Floridian while the men hit Gasparilla's for lunch. Quick Service Dining PlanBakery, Grand Floridian lunch, Harbour House Dinner
Thurs 16th:MK Quick Service Dining Plan
Bakery, Pecos Bills Lunch, Contempo or BLT Dinner
Fri 17th: Epcot and/or MK Quick Service Dining PlanSo many choices! Who knows?
Sat 18th: Resort change day, pool dayQuick Service Dining PlanPoolside at Saratoga Springs and then DTD Dinner
Sunday 19th:Beach or pool, etc Begin Deluxe Dining-DTD or Saratoga Springs
Monday 20th: MK and Youth Education Classes Royal Table
Tuesday 21st: DHS Mom/son/sister to Epcot for Le Cellier lunch Maybe everyone meet up for Via Napoli for Dinner
Wed. 22nd: Beach, pool, Blizzard Beach? etc HoopDeDoo Review
Thurs 23rd: AK
Fri 24th Epcot
Sat 25th: Narcoose's
Sun 26th: MK Check out day



Is there anyway to get Via Napoli pizza with counter service credits?

We also want to fit in a character breakfast during week two? Where would you suggest it.l

Oh my goodness, this whole dining plan thing gives me a headache. I have been to dining plan school for the last week!

I seem to be a little heavy on the MK days, but I think some of those will end up being hopper days, and other than the dining and the shows, I expect the teens will go where they want, and we will see what ends up being everyone's favorite and change to those areas as desired. But the first week, since we are at BLT, I want to stay close to MK.

[GaRain]

We also want to fit in a character breakfast during week two? Where would you suggest it.

I LOVE the Crystal Palace for a Character Breakfast. You could schedule before the park opens and walk down a nearly empty main street! I also think the food is good. Chef Mickey's is also a good choice, but Ohana over at the Poly has some good food and you could have a nice view of the castle if you get w window table.

[bumbershoot]

Ok, the second big news is that finally I was able to register the kids for the Youth Education Series classes and buy tickets. Such a savings! Yeah!!!

Ooh nice.


And this is where I must say, I have home school envy! Oh, the joy of setting your own calendar!

It is a definite advantage! My cousin just enrolled her kids in school (the 4 year old in half-day), after finding a school that works wonderfully with her son (who doesn't have a diagnosis of Asperger's, etc, (although he TOTALLY has that and far more) and therefore didn't have the protection of an IEP, and was *kicked out* of 2nd grade), so she isn't homeschooling him anymore, which is going to be a problem for a future Big Family Trip with them!



What kind of food does everyone like? My ideas might not be good for you, since we're veggie and I believe you are omnivorous. But if you give the *sorts* of foods you like it might help.

Tricky thing about Crystal Palace is that WDW likes to CHANGE their opening times. We *thought* we had a pre-opening ADR for Crystal Palace, but I didn't know they might change things, and when we arrived, it turned out the park was already open. GRRRRRRRR. So keep a good eye on the park opening times, and if it changes, get the CP reservation changed asap as well.

The opposite problem...Harbour House tends to close earlier than you want it to. Probably not as big a problem in the summer, but we've come to it twice, thinking they would be open, and found it closed. (would really help if *someone* in the group would take the time to read things!)


Congrats on the Bay Lake and SSR bookings!

Will you have a car? If so, don't count out going "off campus" for food. Sweet Tomatoes is, quite simply, awesome. Even if they have *pickled* canned beets on their salad bar, instead of normal canned beets. (they also have non-canned beets, but even as a beet-lover I gotta say, non-canned beets taste like nothing but dirt, LOL) (sorry, went on my own tangent there)

And having that kitchen makes the idea of your own food really great, though to be honest we still haven't taken as much advantage of it as we want to. We get really wrapped up in the parks, and then it's just too late to come back for spaghetti or whatever. But our BEST days have always been when someone gets up early enough to make a nice egg breakfast; there's something about that protein that makes all the difference in a day.



Love that you're tacking a cruise on, too! Yay!

[QueenDoOver]

Hi Molly!
So glad you are back! Funny thing, I just learned to love beets this last summer. Pickled or not:)

I know what you mean about the kitchen and the parks. I am afraid it will be the same way for us. The Hogans are big eaters and big meat eaters at that. I think all those chicken and rib things will be great for them, as well as some of the steaks. I look at the dining plan and it seems like way too much food to me! We are still going back and forth on our plans. I think I will just make the ADR's for my family and then if anyone else ever makes a decision, they can try to get a seat:)

We will likely just have a car for week two when we are at Saratoga Springs. I am open to going off site. As a matter of fact would rather just do that and skip the dining plan.

Did you just get back? Are you doing a little trip report for us:)

I am so excited to stay at BLT. The location is so darn great!

[DizNee Luver]

Hi Tracey!!!

Thought I'd pop over & say hello!!! Sounds like a fun trip so far.......nice that the villas worked out!! :cool1:

I've never been to Florida.....but I'd have to guess that you're going at a very hot time?? I'll be interested in seeing how you prepare for the heat (and I hear they have lots of bugs??) :eek: We're going in December....our first time to WDW......so love reading other peoples plans & gathering what ever tips & information I can!!!

[QueenDoOver]

Sorry that I have been so absent. I tell you that 180 day mark threw me into a tizzy of figuring out if we would do dinind plan or not and which one and how etc etc. Not easy to do with a large party and 3 different styles of eating and planning. But, I think we are there!


Hi Tracey!!!

Thought I'd pop over & say hello!!! Sounds like a fun trip so far.......nice that the villas worked out!! :cool1:

I've never been to Florida.....but I'd have to guess that you're going at a very hot time?? I'll be interested in seeing how you prepare for the heat (and I hear they have lots of bugs??) :eek: We're going in December....our first time to WDW......so love reading other peoples plans & gathering what ever tips & information I can!!!

Hi Laurie! Thanks for stopping by! I have read your posts on facebook and the responses to get some good ideas! I would love a Christmas trip, but I will take what I can get at this point:)

I LOVE the Crystal Palace for a Character Breakfast. You could schedule before the park opens and walk down a nearly empty main street! I also think the food is good. Chef Mickey's is also a good choice, but Ohana over at the Poly has some good food and you could have a nice view of the castle if you get w window table.

I am still thinking about that breakfast at Crystal palace. For some reason my family loves character breakfasts.


Well, we have decided to go with no plan on week one and some of us will do the plan on week two (we have two units so can be a bit strategic about how we register people.

For now, our plans look like this:

8/14/2012 Arrival day
MK 8/15/2012 Tea at Grand Floridian
MK 8/16/2012
Epcot 8/17/2012 Le Cellier-OOP for 9 11:40 AM
ResortDay 8/18/2012
blizzard beach/resort 8/19/2012 None
MK for classes/Epcot 8/20/2012 5:00 Dinner Sci Fi Café Boys Askerhus Princess

DHS 8/21/2012 LunchBrownDerby11:00 Fantasmic Package for 11 OOP
Prime Time Dinner 6:40 PM

Typhoon Lagoon 8:00 AM 8/22/2012 5:15 Poly Luau for 6
AK 8/23/2012 Tusker House Breakfast 8:00

Le Chefs for 4 (Date Night) 7:00:00

Epcot 8/24/2012 Le Cellier lunch
ResortDay 8/25/2012

[QueenDoOver]

Ok, and now they have opened up booking for Hoop De Doo Review, which I really wanted to go to, but it was marked for refurb so I had given up on that idea. So...things will be changing again.

Ok, I don't really understand how people figure out how much the dining plan is worth. They say a $25 dollar dinner is not good value on the regular plan. That amount seems ok to me as it comes with desert and drink too. But I have done the math every which way and I am ok with any meal from $20 and up, and since I know some of them will be way more it is ok to have some lower price meals too.

It feels really strange to be thinking so much about a trip that is 165 days away. (I love that when I log onto the website it gives me the countdown!) But I know how fast it goes by and I want to have the eating in place and the park plan. I will work on the daily plans later:)

Sammy Duvall's is one of the things I am most excited about, that is non park related. I thought perhaps we would take the kids tubing etc., but when I brought it up, nobody was really interested. The adults I mean. My kids would be all over it! Anyhow, my oldest who will be 16 by then is very interested in experiencing some other things in life besides disney parks (can you imagine!) I just bought the Sammy Duvall parasailing coupon from google deals and so now he will get to do that one day. Woo Hoo! Depending on what it looks like, I may allow my 9 year old to go with him.

Ok, I am having a bit of girl envy, and yet not really. But my friend Carrie has been buying some of the cutest little girl disney dresses and outfits. That's the part I am jealous of, not the paying for it.:rotfl:

[nwdisgal]

Ok, I'm reading this TR. I love WDW. :thumbsup2 You will be fine in August. I've been there in July and it wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be. You just have to pace yourself. Plus if we get warm days here (that is always a questionable one - lol) use the opportunity to thin your blood out.

I love Saratoga Springs. Beautiful resort and they have a great spa and work out room there. Also, like their pool area There is a lot to do in the resort itself. You won't be bored, even when you are away from Disney. Well looking forward to reading more as you start putting your trip plans together.

[bumbershoot]

I think I will just make the ADR's for my family and then if anyone else ever makes a decision, they can try to get a seat:)

We will likely just have a car for week two when we are at Saratoga Springs. I am open to going off site. As a matter of fact would rather just do that and skip the dining plan.

Did you just get back? Are you doing a little trip report for us:)

I am so excited to stay at BLT. The location is so darn great!

Good ideas with the ADRs, and definitely check out Sweet Tomatoes! It's like Zoopa, but SO much better. If you've been to Zoopa that comparison will make more sense. :) Sign up on their website to get coupons sent to you.

I've been trying to do my trip report but it's not going well. I always wondered how people started reports then stopped, but I think I'm having my comeuppance here b/c it's HARD to get back to it.

Ok, I don't really understand how people figure out how much the dining plan is worth. They say a $25 dollar dinner is not good value on the regular plan. That amount seems ok to me as it comes with desert and drink too. But I have done the math every which way and I am ok with any meal from $20 and up, and since I know some of them will be way more it is ok to have some lower price meals too.

It's really hard to figure it out when you don't know what it's like yet. When you don't know if you'll be hungry from all the walking, or not wanting to eat b/c it's so hot. When you have varying levels of what a big or small meal is. When you don't know if you'll like the desserts and want to eat them with every non-breakfast meal, or sodas all the time, etc etc.

Only once you know how your family eats can you really compare what you *would* order to what you're paying for the dining plan.

[mommaU4]

:cool1: I'm here!! I'm so excited to follow along on your adventure. Now, I have to go read back! popcorn::

[QueenDoOver]

Hi Pam! Hi Beth!

Ok, well, I better get on with the show...

I will, really, but right now I have to go fold and put away 3 loads of clothes that are on my bed because dh is coming home tonight and won't be happy if he has no place to lay his head:rotfl:

But before I get to that, I wanted to show you all our new shirt design. I am so excited! We did one of these in 2009 when there was 14 of us and it was really fun.

http://i387.photobucket.com/albums/oo319/RustManFan/Disney%20Stuff/Other%20Requests/03March/11LivingTheDream2a.jpg


What do you think?? Our last group picture was at Goofy's Kitchen and the photographer was really great working with us. We are all having dinner at 50's Prime Time Cafe one night. Is there anyplace around there that would work for a great group picture? We could stop on our way to dinner. Or we could do the picture at Saratoga Springs or Bay Lake Towers too. Any ideas??

Ok, I'll be back...

[bumbershoot]

That's a fun shirt design!!!


Hey, I saw a post of yours on that "$300 a day" thread, and I wanted to mention another possible expense. Tolls. There are a couple in Orlando (if you go on 417 from the airport it's going to be two tolls of 1.25 and maybe one more of .75 if you go to the last Disney exit on it), but I've heard that many of the roads leading to Miami are toll roads AND require use of the transponder, in other words cashless. If you haven't looked into that already, please do! :)

[smile4stamps]

Hello!!

Wowsa that has to be difficult planning for SO MANY people!!

Congrats on getting the DVC!! I've been searching for months for my October trip. I am a Wyndham member not Worldmark though so it might show different availability. The farthest out I've seen on my searches is the first week of October but of course I need the 2nd and 3rd! I was hoping my week was going to come up this past Friday as every Friday for the last 2 months a new week has been added until this week! I'm so discouraged now!

As far as the dining plan. It gets really tricky trying to figure out if it is worthwhile! I've done spreadsheet after spreadsheet and have finally determined that I am better off paying OOP if I get an AP and TIW card. If I wasn't willing to get an AP and the TIW card than the dining plan would save me something like 1%!! Not exactly a huge savings!

I would DEFINITELY go for HDDR! We loved the show and REALLY want to go in October but have heard that is when the refurb is being pushed back till! I will be so upset if that is the case!

[mommaU4]

Love the shirt design! Very cute. :thumbsup2

[QueenDoOver]

That's a fun shirt design!!!


Hey, I saw a post of yours on that "$300 a day" thread, and I wanted to mention another possible expense. Tolls. There are a couple in Orlando (if you go on 417 from the airport it's going to be two tolls of 1.25 and maybe one more of .75 if you go to the last Disney exit on it), but I've heard that many of the roads leading to Miami are toll roads AND require use of the transponder, in other words cashless. If you haven't looked into that already, please do! :)

Holy cow! I had no idea and will certainly have to figure this out. Thanks for the heads up!

[Trinity524]

We are going in August as well! We go August 18th for a week and then we go on our first Disney Cruise on August 25th! Keep up the chatter on your Pre Trippie because I need someone to talk to. My DH is on perm. ignore mode!!!

[QueenDoOver]

We are going in August as well! We go August 18th for a week and then we go on our first Disney Cruise on August 25th! Keep up the chatter on your Pre Trippie because I need someone to talk to. My DH is on perm. ignore mode!!!

Well hello Trinity 524! Geesh, sorry for the late welcome. I have been a bit consumed with life! Is that your darling little kiddo in the picture? Will it be his first disney trip? How exciting is that? And the cruise! Wowza! Now that I would love to do.

I actually just found out that my sister, who is a travel agent, can get really fantastic rates, space available! So my dream is to find last minute space on the Alaska cruise out of Seattle or Vancouver, since that is where we live. Sadly she can only book for 4 people at her rate, which leaves us to decide who to leave home. Think it will be my husband...

My husband is also on permanent ignore mode. I wish I could just remember to keep my plans covert, because it does stress him out. He just thinks about the money I'm spending. I think about the memories we are creating. I feel like my kids are growing up way to fast. My oldest will graduate in 2014. I want as many memorable moments with them as possible. Honestly, growing up, my family never vacationed at all. We did a little bit of camping and those are my best memories for sure. So I want my kids to have a lot of memories with their family. We camp, we vacation. Now if I could get them to spend more quality time cleaning the house with me!

[dana0801]

It could even be made into a photo rememberance. By moving the names down under the balloons (after your return trip) place good candid shots on top of the balloons and have it framed for each person as say a Christmas :santa: memento of your great trip together!

[QueenDoOver]

Grrr...I have done two updates and both have been lost when I hit submit! Why o why don't I just use word and then cut and past?????

[QueenDoOver]

Well, we have decided to go with no plan on week one and some of us will do the plan on week two (we have two units so can be a bit strategic about how we register people.

For now, our plans look like this:

8/14/2012 Arrival day
MK 8/15/2012 Tea at Grand Floridian
MK 8/16/2012
Epcot 8/17/2012 Le Cellier-OOP for 9 11:40 AM
ResortDay 8/18/2012
blizzard beach/resort 8/19/2012 None
MK for classes/Epcot 8/20/2012 5:00 Dinner Sci Fi Café Boys Askerhus Princess

DHS 8/21/2012 LunchBrownDerby11:00 Fantasmic Package for 11 OOP
Prime Time Dinner 6:40 PM

Typhoon Lagoon 8:00 AM 8/22/2012 5:15 Poly Luau for 6
AK 8/23/2012 Tusker House Breakfast 8:00

Le Chefs for 4 (Date Night) 7:00:00

Epcot 8/24/2012 Le Cellier lunch
ResortDay 8/25/2012

I am just quoting my self because things have changed and I thought a comparison might help. I had done a big post giving the back ground behind the change, but will have to redo that post, since it dissappeared! But thought I would give you the newest plan first:)

8/11/2012 Tracey and Nathan Arrive and check into 2BEDROOM BayLake Towers. PM Eat Counter Service unless groceries are delivered.
8/12/2012 Hogans arrive AM after flying Red Eye Nap/Pool/ CS and home food
8/13/2012 Tea at Grand Floridian OOP and home food Boys to Quest?
8/14/2012 Blizzard Beach or Typhoon Lagoon OOP and home food Everone else arrives Evening
Shelli and Alex check into Lion King Suite at Art of Animation
Epcot/MK 8/15/2012 12PM Teppan Edo Rodrigues 2 tscredits 2 cs
Planning on eating scallops, steak for dh
MK 8/16/2012 home food and 4 cs credits
Epcot 8/17/2012 8:00PM Tutta Italia Rodrigues/with Shelli 2 ts
Risotto Ai Gamberi E Aragosta-This is a rice, lobster, shrimp creamy cheesy dish, SOUNDS YUM
ResortDay 8/18/2012 Rodrigues/Wards check into SSR 2 Bedroom.
Hogans move to Lion King Suite at Art of Animation for one night.
blizzard beach/resort 8/19/2012 Hogans check into SSR 2 Bedroom
9:30 HoopDeDoo Review Rodrigues w/Shelli, Big Boys, Scott and Jack 6TS
Yeah! So glad we figured out how to squeeze this in!
MK for classes/Epcot 8/20/2012 Crystal Palace Shelli, Maggie, Tracey(no class for us) 1TS5:00 Askerhus Princess 1TS
No Park 8/21/2012 4CS DTD Quest
DHS 8/22/2012 Prime Time Dinner 11:15 AM for 11 OOP ENTIRE GROUP5:15 Poly Luau for 6 Hogans with Nathan- Rodrigues, and Wards Fantasmic?
AK 8/23/2012 home food and CS, 7:00 Le Chefs de France DATE NIGHT 2TS
Trio de fruits de mer au bouillion de homard - sauteed scallops, mahi mahi, and black tiger shrimp served in a lobster broth with gnocchi
Epcot 8/24/2012 CS and home food
ResortDay 8/25/2012 Change Resorts to CBR
8/26/2012 MK Last Park Day
8/27/2012 Leave, either to home or cruise:)


I added my plate choices for our dining. Can you tell I am a seafood lover?? I did decide to take out Le Cellier. Too many other better choices, and too many bad reviews. Also have minimized the scheduling with other families. Too difficult! I would still like to fit in Whispering Canyon some where, but otherwise I am pretty darn happy with what we have. There are a ton of great counter service places that we are looking forward to as well. I sure have given up on that idea of eating in the condo to save money! But I think it will be great to have some staples there to supplement at any rate!

[QueenDoOver]

There have been some changes in the plan…no surprise there, right??
Nathan and I are now going to arrive on the 11th, thanks to my achieving the companion pass status on Southwest. Even though we will have to pay $150 to redeposit our reward miles on Alaska Airlines, we will make part of that back because, since we will now arrive before the Hogans we won’t have to pay the $60 guest check in fee to RCI, and we will be able to bring 4 checked bags on the airplane for free. We knew we would likely have to pay to check at least one and maybe two bags on Alaska. So that is another $50, so really it is only costing about $40 to redeposit! I love doing vacation math! Anything to add a few days on…It did seem a shame to have that beautiful Bay Lake Tower room sitting there, that we were paying for and not using I also think it can only help us if we get arrived and start adjusting to the humidity.

Let me just say, as a long time Alaska Airlines fan, I am loving Southwest! Their program is so flexible. With award travel, you can book it, cancel it, rebook it, change it etc as many times as you want with no penalty! Add to that the free bags, and now the ability to bring someone with me for free for the next 1.5 years and I am a huge fan! Oh and did I mention that you can book any seat at any time! As long as you have the points, which are a direct correlation to the airfare being offered, you can book it! I LOVE it!

But I digress…My sister also has had a change of plans. As I may have mentioned, she is a corporate travel agent. She just recently received a new account to manage which is going to have her traveling right before our trip, helping pay for her airfare and allowing her to arrive in Florida earlier, although the first week she will still have to work all day from her hotel room. So, she received a special offer from Disney to stay at the new resort, Art of Animation, and allowing her to add the dining plan! So she booked it for 5 nights, we put 6 of us in the room and bought dining plan for week one for 6 of us. Woo Hoo! And that is how I ended up with the changed itinerary that I have! I have to say that if we did not have the multiple rooms and the ability to book the dining plan without buying tickets and without buying for all 11 of us, there is no way that we would want to spend that much on the dining plan, nor have that much food and dining commitment. Even with what we have, it seems like a lot! But I am looking forward to it, and I love that it is all paid for ahead of time.

OH, and Capri, you had asked what YES class my kids were taking, and it is the same one your guys did. The Energy and Waves one. It really was the only one that fit our schedule at the time. Although, now that we are arriving a bit earlier, it is possible that there is another one that Nathan could do, so I guess I could look into that.

So I am now ready to move into the “what other experiences do I want to have” phase. Any suggestions??? Just pretend like budget is no matter…

Thinking of Wishes cruise. They say maximum of 10 people, but we have 11, so not sure we could pull that off. Is there any flexibility in that?

What else have you done that has been super memorable?

We are also sort of thinking about canceling our cruise! It is just such a long vacation for us that it seems okay to shorten it up, but then I know we would miss those beaches and the snorkeling…

[QueenDoOver]

My other exciting news is that my sister has booked the last two nights of our trip for us at CBR. I am so excited about that. It looks really pretty!

[smile4stamps]

Okay... How do you get a free Companion for 1.5 years on Southwest?!?!

Cool you get to go for a few extra days!!

[rtfelt]

My family of 7 went the last 2 weeks of August last year--about the same time you'll be there. We planned for the heat and humidity (misters, fan/spraybottles, water bottles) and we were fine. I'm an anal planner, so everything, and I mean everything was planned. I would suggest going to TouringPlan.com and look at their calendar. They have the parks they would recommend you go on any particular day and the parks to avoid on any particular day (like never go to Epcot on Fridays because so many people go there for the restaurants on Friday). We used their recommendations and it worked. I also used ridemax.com to plan each day's itiniary in the parks. You can customize your touringplans for what you want to do. For instance, we wanted to go on Space Mountain more than once but didn't care about going on Dumbo (our youngest was 10, and as DL AP's we wanted to experience attractions that were different from DL). We were there for 10 days and the only time we waited for more than 10 minutes for any ride was TSM. That is the hottest ticket in all WDW--strange for a DL veteran. When you go in DHS, there's a mad rush for TSM fastpass. We were told the queue is way cool compared to DL for TSM, so we bipassed the fastpass, which doesn't let you see the queue, and got right in line, while one of my teenagers ran to get Rock-N-Roller coaster FP. We waited 20 minutes, which was fine because we were having so much fun taking pictures of the cute queue. That was the ONLY ride we waited for for more than 10 minutes, and we NEVER felt rushed. My husband and son even took a moment to rock on porch chairs in MK while the rest of us went on BTMR again.

The heat and humidity doesn't seem so bad when you only wait in line for 10 minutes :cool1: I recommend TouringPlans and Ridemax to everyone going to WDW, who want to have a plan and not waste time--unless you want to waste time by relaxing. That can also be put into your schedule--even picture taking times ;)

Teppan Edo was one of my family's favorites, so it's good you're going there. Don't miss the amazing Napoleons in the French Pastry.

The one thing that was impossible to plan was the weather. Every morning, I would look at the forecast and it had the percent chance of rain at about 2pm be at 40% onto 60% at 4pm. I mean EVERY SINGLE MORNING. On these days with the exact same forecast we experienced clear and sunny days all day to 4 hour downpours all afternoon. Unfortunately most of the days we had set aside for the water parks were the days we had a downpour with lightening starting at about 2 or 3 pm. The pools all have to be cleared if there's any chance of lightening. On the days when it was sunny ALL day (there were only 3) were days we were staying in the Theme parks the whole day. Oh well--best laid plans :crazy2:

Overall it worked out amazingly well and even my DH didn't complain :thumbsup2

[bumbershoot]

Checking back in to your plans, and saying hi!

[LisaCat]

Lovin the shirt design! Sounds like an AWESOME trip. Wanna plan mine? LOL

[QueenDoOver]

Hi Everyone! Thanks for dropping by:) I have actually tried to do a response several times and darn if I could not get things to work. My laptop is having a problem with overheating which causes the darn thing to freeze up. Probably going to have to send it in, which I am not excited about at all!



Anyhoo...
Rose, so glad to hear that with proper preparation, you survived the august heat. I am hoping it will be bearable. But hey, if I am going to be hot and miserable then where else would I do it??

Hi Molly!

Lisa! I would gladly plan your trip, but I know you wouldn't really want me too:)

Don't you just love Southwest!

So latest news is that we are definetly cancelling the cruise. Oldest has decided to do showband again, and he will miss camp but if we go back on the 27th, he will still have a week before school starts to attend the last week of band meetings, learn his music and his steps. Good news is that now not only are Nathan and I arriving on the 11th, but Bill and Andrew will too!

Geesh, does that mean I need to rethink my ADR's and my park days??? We will still have our last two days at CBR, and I am thinking those would be great days to just relax and not go to any parks, so we may use our last day to make our first day sooner. Geesh, I never thought 8 days wouldn't seem like enough! And I am sure it will be plenty once we are there.

Though I am super excited about this trip, I have to say I am sad about DLR and missing the familiarity and wanting to see carsland and DCA.


OH, and I am using Touringplans. Haven't messed with it a ton yet though. I have used Ridemax in the past, but found I really didn't need it once I got the lay of the land.

A couple of other things I am excited for the kids to experience are the Agent P thing at Epcot. I think that will be a fun adventure. And then both my boys are excited to check out the new thing at Magic Kingdom.


Note to self: Read the Kingdom Keeper books. I bought them for my son a few years ago and he read them all, and thought they were ok. I tried the first one, but sort of lost interest and put it down. Hm....my youngest my be ready to read those too. He is heavy into reading Harry Potter right now, but it would be great to get him to switch it up!

[QueenDoOver]

Okay... How do you get a free Companion for 1.5 years on Southwest?!?!

Cool you get to go for a few extra days!!

Ok, here's what I did:

Apply for credit card when it had 50,000 point bonus. Immedietly also apply for the business card also with 50,000 point bonus. I was denied on the second one, which is typical. I called the reconsideration line and explained why I wanted a business account (I am a Realtor and wanted to track my business expenses seperately. Husband called for himself and said he traveled on business and wanted to track expenses seperately. They don't really care, if the credit history is there, and the income to support the credit) In my case, I have been out of work for a year and half, so they used my projected income based on my 15 year history in field, and then the did not grant me new credit, rather they adjusted my current chase credit lines, which was fine with me.

That gave me 100K points and I needed 110K for the companion pass. So I saw a Marriott Credit Card bonus for 70,0000 bonus points, and I knew that Marriott points converted to Southwest. I applied, called the reconsideration line again, was approved again. 45 days later had my Marriott points, 5 days later had the additional 10K points in my Southwest account, and had qualified for the companion pass. It did cost me $160 in annual fees, which I happily paid!

My pass came in just in time to rebook my trip to Vegas. Both of us went roundtrip for 20k miles. It had been only 14,000, but the smoke was bothering me a lot and so we rebooked our airfare last minute to come home early.

I can't tell you how excited I am about the next year and 1/2!