A Disney-addicted mom plans a trip in August, 2010! New pics #574

DrMomof3 · Apr 21, 2010

I feel like I'm in a bit of a rut with my travel planning. Life has been super busy (between work craziness and sickies at home) so maybe that's it. I need to re-review my ADRs and think about any changes now that we're off the dining plan but I just can't face it! Weird.... :lmao:

I am starting to think about my January trip. It's frustrating because I'm going to be expected to plan for my immediate family, my MIL, and my parents. Nobody seems willing to discuss the trip or make any suggestions about where to stay. I'm debating between Contemp and Poly and then again BLT. I don't see any 2 bedroom villas at BLT available so maybe we should just get regular rooms? I doubt it'll be swimming weather but ya never know. If it's warm, I'd pick Poly or BLT over Contemp because the pools are better. I think Poly is slightly nicer than Contemp but not enough so to pay lots extra. Feel free to comment!

Amanda

DrMomof3 · Apr 21, 2010

I got interrupted in my thoughts....

The other problem with the January trip is that there will be "extra" people who are not staying at Disney. My step-sister is definitely coming (she has a work conference in Orlando starting the Monday after the half-marathon). She may or may not bring her family. My aunt may come to watch me run (she's a bit of a PITA and I'm not happy that my mom invited her!). She lives in Chicago but has a good friend who lives near Orlando (not sure where). I hate all of these "extras" because they make it difficult to plan. Nobody ever wants to commit to ADRs and they don't understand the importance of pre-planning. :sad2:

And here is the one place everyone understands!!!

Amanda

cdotla · Apr 21, 2010

Hey Amanda...I think I know what you might be going thru with the "extras" on your trip... :rolleyes1

I have officially decided that the next trip I ever take to Disney will only be immediate family, and/or with people whose priorities and touring styles match mine. Which may mean that I leave DH at home! :rotfl:

dismagiclover · Apr 21, 2010

Well if next January's marathon weekend's weather is anything like this past January there is no way you are getting anywhere near a swimming pool :eek:

And the ability to walk to the MK from the Contemporary or BLT is awesome!

3princesses+aprince · Apr 22, 2010

Glad to have you back (Even though, i'm sure you'd rather still be in Disney) Glad you had an awesome trip too!!!!!

As for planning with the family, yeah, that sounds like it's going to be really tough!

DrMomof3 · Apr 23, 2010

cdotla said:
Hey Amanda...I think I know what you might be going thru with the "extras" on your trip...

I have officially decided that the next trip I ever take to Disney will only be immediate family, and/or with people whose priorities and touring styles match mine. Which may mean that I leave DH at home!

We felt that way after our trip last May. It was us, my parents, and my step-sister's family. It was really fun but nobody would give an opinion about ADRs and we ended up calling about a month before the trip and finding limited options.

dismagiclover said:
Well if next January's marathon weekend's weather is anything like this past January there is no way you are getting anywhere near a swimming pool And the ability to walk to the MK from the Contemporary or BLT is awesome!

Good point! I just love Poly so if the price is right, I might choose Poly over Contemp just for that reason.

3princesses+aprince said:
Glad to have you back (Even though, i'm sure you'd rather still be in Disney) Glad you had an awesome trip too!!!!!

As for planning with the family, yeah, that sounds like it's going to be really tough!

Luckily everyone *knows* that I'm the Disney expert so I think they'll defer to my opinion on most things. My MIL wasn't interested in some of the character meals last time (2+ years ago?) but I might just include her on all ADRs and then she can change her mind. If we show up one person short, I think we'll still be ok with our ADRs! My parents will do whatever I tell them but I wouldn't mind a little help!!! Since I'm the busiest one - crazy job, 3 little kids - it seems odd that I'm expected to do ALL of the planning by myself.

Amanda

klacey1 · Apr 23, 2010

Oof, can't stand having "extras" who won't commit. For our August trip, we're all staying at the same hotel (off site, because it's a US/IOA trip, + one day at DHS), and it's still a headache. There could be up to 20 of us! People have different budgets, touring styles, ages, etc. It's :headache:

, but at some point, you just have to say, this is what my family is doing, join us or not! Disney's need to book ADR's so far in advance does make this sort of tricky, though...

DrMomof3 · Apr 23, 2010

klacey1 said:
Oof, can't stand having "extras" who won't commit. For our August trip, we're all staying at the same hotel (off site, because it's a US/IOA trip, + one day at DHS), and it's still a headache. There could be up to 20 of us! People have different budgets, touring styles, ages, etc. It's , but at some point, you just have to say, this is what my family is doing, join us or not! Disney's need to book ADR's so far in advance does make this sort of tricky, though...

I hate the whole ADR thing. Before the whole dining plan came about, it wasn't so difficult to eat a sit-down meal. It does take some of the "spontaneity" out of vacation!
One good thing about the January vacation. My parents will have one room, my MIL one room, and us one room. Everyone will plan their own lodging. I'm going to assume that we'll eat all sit-down meals with the group staying at Disney. Saturday after the half-marathon I imagine we'll eat with my step-sister (and maybe her family) and my aunt. So I'll include them in any ADRs for that day. Sunday we may spend with the huge group, too. Beyond that I think it'll just be the core group and they'll mostly listen to me.

Amanda

DrMomof3 · Apr 24, 2010

I looked over my ADRs and I'm pretty happy with them. I'm thinking about moving the Princess breakfast from 8:30am to 8am so we'll get more park time. And I'm unsure about the Fantasmics! dinner package. I might see if we can get Brown Derby instead of Hollywood & Vine. Or I may cancel it altogether. Since we have a TIW card, I may add lunch at Liberty Tree Tavern. We had lunch there before and the food was quite good. My biggest complaint was the very small bathroom with not enough stalls!

Amanda

3princesses+aprince · Apr 25, 2010

ADRs stressed me out too. I made them, then cancelled some. Then booked new ones. Then changed some times, and now I still have one that i'm not sure of the time! I may want to change it, but I know I have to make up my mind soon or there won't be any times left to change it to :scared:

lexmas · Apr 25, 2010

Sounds like you're making good progress with your ADR's. We'll be getting a TIW card too...was it simple to use?

I think it would be so frustrating being a working mom with 3 little kids training for the half-marathon and doing all the planning for everyone. Like you aren't busy enough, you get people throwing kinks into your vacation plans! You get my kudos, that's for sure!

DrMomof3 · Apr 25, 2010

3princesses+aprince said:
ADRs stressed me out too. I made them, then cancelled some. Then booked new ones. Then changed some times, and now I still have one that i'm not sure of the time! I may want to change it, but I know I have to make up my mind soon or there won't be any times left to change it to

Last May we made our ADRs one month before the trip (mostly because the "extras" wouldn't make any decisions) and we still got some good ADRs. Not perfect. Not everything we wanted. But we had some surprisingly nice meals at places that we wouldn't have picked on our own.

lexmas said:
Sounds like you're making good progress with your ADR's. We'll be getting a TIW card too...was it simple to use?

I think it would be so frustrating being a working mom with 3 little kids training for the half-marathon and doing all the planning for everyone. Like you aren't busy enough, you get people throwing kinks into your vacation plans! You get my kudos, that's for sure!

Thanks for the support! The TIW was super easy. We bought it at Guest Services and they gave us a sheet that listed all of the restaurants. Everyone was quite familiar with it. Just remember that they include the tip when you use the card (our servers reminded us of that each time which was nice).

Amanda

DrMomof3 · Apr 25, 2010

I just finished week 8 of the C25K. I went 2.59 miles in 38 minutes. I'm still struggling a bit to get through it. I don't think added 2 extra minutes is going to be harder; 28 minutes of running is just hard! One more week and I'll be a graduate....

Amanda

Charlefours · Apr 25, 2010

Sounds like you have gotten your ADRs in place you are happy with, which is always a good thing.

Hope you are doing well!

DrMomof3 · Apr 29, 2010

Having a difficult week!
Zachary is turning 2 on Saturday. It's hard to believe that my little 5lb 6oz preemie is now a big 2 year old! I ordered a Little Einstein's cake for him and he's getting a Mickey Mouse DVD and a Little Einstein's toy. He's obsessed!

We've had to make some tough financial decisions based on the tax issues this April. The August trip is still on but we're really going to try to make full use of the kitchen. I'm almost definitely going to cancel Fantasmic! and I'll re-evaluate the rest of the ADRs to see what we want to keep and what we can cut. The tougher part is that our January trip may get canceled. I'm not giving up yet. We could get a bounce-back or a great AP discount so all is not lost. I'm also going to keep my eyes open for great deals at Swan/Dolphin as a more affordable alternative. We're fully on the Dave Ramsey makeover plan so stay tuned!!!

I finally uploaded pics from our April trip...

Amanda