ª"˜˜ª¤.¸Official Team August 2013 Thread!¸.¤ª˜˜"ª&#9733

[Gina-Gina-Bo-Bina]

Uggghhhh. It just hit me. 4 more months
That feels like such a long way away tonight.

Ah I'm so jealous! I can't wait until double digits!

I must be having a "glass half full" kind of day ... .... because I was just thinking to myself this morning, holy crap, only 4 more months!!

DS wraps up his semester 8 weeks from tomorrow. Where has this school year gone?

I always find this time of year to pass very briskly. Seems like just yesterday my ticker read 7 months, 3 weeks, and X days. I love the summer season, so I definitely don't want to wish that time away, yet I can't wait for our vacation either.

 

[pigletto]

I must be having a "glass half full" kind of day ... .... because I was just thinking to myself this morning, holy crap, only 4 more months!!

DS wraps up his semester 8 weeks from tomorrow. Where has this school year gone?

I always find this time of year to pass very briskly. Seems like just yesterday my ticker read 7 months, 3 weeks, and X days. I love the summer season, so I definitely don't want to wish that time away, yet I can't wait for our vacation either.

I was thinking after I wrote that that summer break is only 8 weeks this year so I should stop wishing for time to speed up. I love it when the kids are home, so I'll just enjoy that and before you know it it will be time to go.
Gina, is your ds finished school this year or does he have one more to go? DD still has 2 years after this but boy time is speeding up in that regard.

On another note..
I am trying to decide if we should drive to Orlando this trip
I don't really want to, but as I've mentioned we have 2 trips in a short span. Driving for one of them would really help lower costs. We have more time to drive for the August trip and could transfer our Southwest credit to December. However I would lose the Airtran flight and 2 nights of Priceline hotels.

December we have a little less time and the potential for yucky weather.Dh wants to try and he'd probably do all the driving. He's a commuter and I have never heard him complain about a long car trip.

Anyway.. that's the latest change in the Pigletto vacation world of changes

 

[jdd]

Congrats! What's your official anniversary date?

We celebrate our 20th this year as well (in just over a week, actually....May 1st.). Hard to believe I've crossed over the line of where I have now been married longer than I was single. Time flies when yer havin' fun!

No way! Ours is May 1st too!! Seriously, what are the chances of that??? We went to Disney last May, just the two of us, to celebrate. I'm so glad we did, because this year we can't do much - our youngest is making his First Communion this Sunday, then DH and DS12 are off on an overnight school field trip from Monday thru Wednesday. We're hoping to at least get out for dinner Wed night. Oldest son has crew races (he rows for our high school team) the next several weekends. Guess that's what you get for having kids....

It's been a great 20 years though - you enjoy your celebrations!!

And sorry for the OT nature of this post

 

[pigletto]

No way! Ours is May 1st too!! Seriously, what are the chances of that??? We went to Disney last May, just the two of us, to celebrate. I'm so glad we did, because this year we can't do much - our youngest is making his First Communion this Sunday, then DH and DS12 are off on an overnight school field trip from Monday thru Wednesday. We're hoping to at least get out for dinner Wed night. Oldest son has crew races (he rows for our high school team) the next several weekends. Guess that's what you get for having kids....

It's been a great 20 years though - you enjoy your celebrations!!

And sorry for the OT nature of this post

Happy Anniversary to all of you!!!

And never apologize for being OT in here. Sometimes I end up posting like it's my own personal journal rather than a thread

 

[lovingeire]

I reserved a garden view room at POR for our first night. The rest of our trip will be in the RR with the summer package. The difference between the garden view and the standard RR is $18. Should I just get a RR for the first night as well?

I would pony up the $18 and stay in a RR the first night. Have them link the reservations and maybe you'll luck out and be able to stay in the same room. (It's a risk since you have garden view booked, but it's worth a try!)

 

[momto3gr8boys]

Happy Anniversary to all of you!!!

And never apologize for being OT in here. Sometimes I end up posting like it's my own personal journal rather than a thread

Happy Anniversary to those celebrating!!

And as for the OT stuff...I think it's nice...we've all been planning together for so long. It's nice to get to "know" people beyond their hotel and ADR preferences

 

[zabache]

Ok so here it is:

From 8/1-8/8 at POR in the standard RR

ADR's

8/1-check-in
8/2- Tusker House 11:15 am-AK
8/3- Ohana 5:15 pm-resort day pirate cruise DD
8/4- Garden Grill 5:50 pm- Epcot
8/5- Boatwright's 6:40 pm- resort day-DTD
8/6- Mamma Melrose w/Fantasmic 4:30pm- DHS
8/7- BBB/ 3:25 pm- Cinderella's Royal Table
8:15 pm-MK
8/8- checkout

OMG so exciting!
I went ahead and said the heck with it and added the RR with dining for our first night. I was trying to save some $ by just getting a standard room but once I did the math I was like forget it just do it. By adding the extra night of dinner I got the ADR for the Royal Table at MK our last night
Can you tell I'm giddy!! Oh and 100 days to go!!

 

[squirrel4569]

I was thinking after I wrote that that summer break is only 8 weeks this year so I should stop wishing for time to speed up. I love it when the kids are home, so I'll just enjoy that and before you know it it will be time to go.
Gina, is your ds finished school this year or does he have one more to go? DD still has 2 years after this but boy time is speeding up in that regard.

On another note..
I am trying to decide if we should drive to Orlando this trip
I don't really want to, but as I've mentioned we have 2 trips in a short span. Driving for one of them would really help lower costs. We have more time to drive for the August trip and could transfer our Southwest credit to December. However I would lose the Airtran flight and 2 nights of Priceline hotels.

December we have a little less time and the potential for yucky weather.Dh wants to try and he'd probably do all the driving. He's a commuter and I have never heard him complain about a long car trip.

Anyway.. that's the latest change in the Pigletto vacation world of changes

Driving is a lot cheaper but it does take some time. It can also be a bit taxing that once you are there you're kind of drained from the drive for the first day. Another advantage is having your own car and not having to rent one (if you're the type to do that) and not completely being reliant on Disney Transportation.

We're typically drivers unless we can find crazy cheap flights like we did this time. This trip we got flights for $167/person. Last November it was $500/person. We drove.

 

[Anna114]

No way! Ours is May 1st too!! Seriously, what are the chances of that??? We went to Disney last May, just the two of us, to celebrate. I'm so glad we did, because this year we can't do much - our youngest is making his First Communion this Sunday, then DH and DS12 are off on an overnight school field trip from Monday thru Wednesday. We're hoping to at least get out for dinner Wed night. Oldest son has crew races (he rows for our high school team) the next several weekends. Guess that's what you get for having kids....

It's been a great 20 years though - you enjoy your celebrations!!

And sorry for the OT nature of this post

Now, I feel old. Our anniversary is May 7th...... but it's been 25 years

 

[thetorit]

Happy Anniversary to those celebrating!!

And as for the OT stuff...I think it's nice...we've all been planning together for so long. It's nice to get to "know" people beyond their hotel and ADR preferences

Agreed!

 

[zabache]

Driving is a lot cheaper but it does take some time. It can also be a bit taxing that once you are there you're kind of drained from the drive for the first day. Another advantage is having your own car and not having to rent one (if you're the type to do that) and not completely being reliant on Disney Transportation.

We're typically drivers unless we can find crazy cheap flights like we did this time. This trip we got flights for $167/person. Last November it was $500/person. We drove.

What airline had the good airfare? We want to save money but flying is so much easier especially with a soon to be 2 yr old.

 

[squirrel4569]

What airline had the good airfare? We want to save money but flying is so much easier especially with a soon to be 2 yr old.

We got this trip through Delta. I signed up for the Delta American Express card last fall and got 50,000 miles for spending $1000 on it. I had a work trip to take so I just billed my $1000 to it, expensed it, got my miles and put the card away. I was able to pay for part of the trip with miles ($100 off for 10,000 miles) and get the price of the airfare down. Also with the card I don't have to pay bag check fees.

It was crazy though because flights the previous week were $150 more. I think that since school is starting back up that week travel is probably a lot slower overall. I'm glad I booked it when I did becuase it's jumped up a bit and one of the flights has sold out so we wouldn't have been able to get the return time we wanted.

 

[Gina-Gina-Bo-Bina]

No way! Ours is May 1st too!! Seriously, what are the chances of that??? We went to Disney last May, just the two of us, to celebrate. I'm so glad we did, because this year we can't do much - our youngest is making his First Communion this Sunday, then DH and DS12 are off on an overnight school field trip from Monday thru Wednesday. We're hoping to at least get out for dinner Wed night. Oldest son has crew races (he rows for our high school team) the next several weekends. Guess that's what you get for having kids....

It's been a great 20 years though - you enjoy your celebrations!!

And sorry for the OT nature of this post

That is so cool!!!

I hear ya on the the kids activities (in my case, its just one kiddo, but he's busy enough for three ). DH and I hope to get a nice dinner in on the actual day, but that will likely be it for the formal "celebrations". We like to make every day an anniversary......life is short, tell that special person you love them at every opportunity, and make sure your daily actions are such that the other person knows they're loved and cared for without you ever having to say the words .

Here's to another happy, healthy and exciting 20 years, jdd!

 

[Gina-Gina-Bo-Bina]

I was thinking after I wrote that that summer break is only 8 weeks this year so I should stop wishing for time to speed up. I love it when the kids are home, so I'll just enjoy that and before you know it it will be time to go.
Gina, is your ds finished school this year or does he have one more to go? DD still has 2 years after this but boy time is speeding up in that regard.

On another note..
I am trying to decide if we should drive to Orlando this trip
I don't really want to, but as I've mentioned we have 2 trips in a short span. Driving for one of them would really help lower costs. We have more time to drive for the August trip and could transfer our Southwest credit to December. However I would lose the Airtran flight and 2 nights of Priceline hotels.

December we have a little less time and the potential for yucky weather.Dh wants to try and he'd probably do all the driving. He's a commuter and I have never heard him complain about a long car trip.

Anyway.. that's the latest change in the Pigletto vacation world of changes

Jake is just finishing up grade 11. He has one more year to go......I can hardly believe it. All these very serious conversations lately about "the future". Lots of talk about colleges and programs and big life decisions. I am so not ready for my only child to find his own way in the world, yet he is so mature and so ready for that stage that I couldn't bear to hold him back. All that aside, it just seems like yesterday that I was opening up his backpack after a day at kindergarten, only to discover that he had brought me home ( in his ziploc sandwich bag from snacktime) a pair of crickets that he caught on the playground during recess. A pair because he didn't want one to get lonely, so he thought they'd be happier in the bag if they each had a friend. Those were the days.

And what's this I read about you considering DRIVING? To quote Gary Coleman....."what you talkin' 'bout, Willis"!?!?!? My vote would be flying. I know you are no fan of air travel (and I hear you on that one, sister) and it would be a cost savings to some degree. Yet I can't help but think it will be more relaxing for you guys to just "get there". You will have to let us know what you decide. You know, I had expected that you might start thinking about a change to your resort, but I did not expect you to shake up your travel plans. Ah, pigletto....you are always a source of interest and surprise!

 

[Gina-Gina-Bo-Bina]

Now, I feel old. Our anniversary is May 7th...... but it's been 25 years

Happy upcoming anniversary to you and your beloved!

 

[Loreli]

Continuing off topic...
Saturday was our 17th anniversary. We couldn't go out because DH has bronchitis. I just now got home with DD7 who threw up in school after eating lunch. Hopefully she is done with that and I won't be sick this saturday when we are planning to go out to a Mexican restaurant to celebrate our 17 years.
DD7 is watching I Love Lucy, so I guess I can clean while I am home not working. Oh the excitement! Hold me back...

 

[KSL]

Pigletto, depending on where in Canada you are, how many travelers you have and how you would do the drive, might you consider the AutoTrain between DC & Orlando? (sorry, all those answers are probably in previous posts but I have forgotten!) We find it is a good balance for us between the cost of 5 flights and the really long drive. We live in upstate NY and the prospect of driving all the way to Orlando...I just can't do it. We used to live in Houston and actually made the drive between Houston and Boston a few times (DH's family is near Boston) but we were younger then! A few years ago we drove from upstate NY to West Palm Beach and I declared that the LAST time I would drive that far. I think anything requiring an overnight enroute is now a showstopper for me. The AutoTrain is great because we can leave in the early morning (around 6) and make it to VA in plenty of time, and then it's just riding from there. Of course it's nowhere near as time-efficient as flying, but so much nicer than being trapped in a vehicle all that time, and of course it goes during the overnight hours. If you book early enough ahead, the rates seem OK and there are options for seating/sleeping for various budgets, and you don't have to rent a car when you get there (if you would do so). I am looking forward to having our car there, and bringing whatever we want with us!

I haven't answered a QOTD in ages, but for the one on what I would do with an extra $500 from my Fairy Godmother, I would (1) get the photobook, (2) do pick-a-pearl for each of my girls, and (3) do the balloon over DTD.

We are thinking of trying the Sorcerer Mickey thing in the Magic Kingdom this year. Has anyone done this?

 

[YukiPhnx]

Haha, I just love reading this thread. Brightens my day

Congrats to all those celebrating anniversaries! I'm looking forward to many future anniversaries at Disney myself.

 

[Gina-Gina-Bo-Bina]

Continuing off topic...
Saturday was our 17th anniversary. We couldn't go out because DH has bronchitis. I just now got home with DD7 who threw up in school after eating lunch. Hopefully she is done with that and I won't be sick this saturday when we are planning to go out to a Mexican restaurant to celebrate our 17 years.
DD7 is watching I Love Lucy, so I guess I can clean while I am home not working. Oh the excitement! Hold me back...

Happy belated anniversary! Hope you have a wonderful time this weekend and enjoy your special Mexican munchies.

 

[Koh1977]

Pigletto, depending on where in Canada you are, how many travelers you have and how you would do the drive, might you consider the AutoTrain between DC & Orlando? (sorry, all those answers are probably in previous posts but I have forgotten!) We find it is a good balance for us between the cost of 5 flights and the really long drive. We live in upstate NY and the prospect of driving all the way to Orlando...I just can't do it. We used to live in Houston and actually made the drive between Houston and Boston a few times (DH's family is near Boston) but we were younger then! A few years ago we drove from upstate NY to West Palm Beach and I declared that the LAST time I would drive that far. I think anything requiring an overnight enroute is now a showstopper for me. The AutoTrain is great because we can leave in the early morning (around 6) and make it to VA in plenty of time, and then it's just riding from there. Of course it's nowhere near as time-efficient as flying, but so much nicer than being trapped in a vehicle all that time, and of course it goes during the overnight hours. If you book early enough ahead, the rates seem OK and there are options for seating/sleeping for various budgets, and you don't have to rent a car when you get there (if you would do so). I am looking forward to having our car there, and bringing whatever we want with us!

I haven't answered a QOTD in ages, but for the one on what I would do with an extra $500 from my Fairy Godmother, I would (1) get the photobook, (2) do pick-a-pearl for each of my girls, and (3) do the balloon over DTD.

We are thinking of trying the Sorcerer Mickey thing in the Magic Kingdom this year. Has anyone done this?

Are you referring to the Sorcerers of Magic Kingdom game? DS did it last year and he liked it, but he enjoyed the Agent P interactive thing at Epcot more. Of course he's 6. I'm assuming he'll want to do the new pirate interactive thing in Adventureland. (Similar to the SofMK but with a treasure map, etc.)

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