and we're back. [Walt, Wizards, and....Woolungasaurus?]

[Silly Little Pixie]

Okay Molly, I've lurked long enough! YOur pre-trip report is fun!

I can totally relate to your frustration with the family not *getting* why you need to plan dates etc now. On our November trip I had the darndest time getting my relatives to commit. Eventually I booked anyway and planned for ourselves, and added them in when they eventually decided on dates- oh, 2 months ahead!

I too went back and forth a zillion times on the Dining Plan. We had used it and loved it in 2008-but now we'd be there longer, and have the kitchen at AKV. What to do?! I eventually planned out each day, made my ADRs (which DH hates, he loves the spontaneity of DL), and then actually figured out what I thought each of us would eat at each meal, adding it all up. I figured we'd save about $100 on the plan. We actually ended up with a couple C/S meals left over so it wasn't $100 we saved but still we were ahead, even using the AKV kitchen for non-buffet breakfasts. Still am not sure if we'll do it again for 11/2010, really depends on if BIL/SIL join us. (again with the waiting on relatives so I can make appropriate DVC reservations!!) I can tell my planning is rubbing off on DH though, today he was asking about how many points we have left for WDW in 2010 after our VGC stay in February. FWIW we loved AKV, found it super relaxing, roomy, and quiet. Just what we wanted, and watching the animals off our balcony never got old.

We're planning on a day at Universal too. Never been, but Harry Potter Land totally has me hooked! I think we'll just do one day there though. I can't wait to read reports when it opens.

Do you have a Passporter for WDW? Well worth it, and I think you can get a 2008 or 2009 one cheaply from Amazon. Not a lot of changes in the parks or restaurants since then anyway. I am still using my 2008 one,and love it.

 

[Silly Little Pixie]

Also- if you're looking for a good "old Florida" guide, try the website roadsideamerica.com. We used it to find awesome free, historic, and kitschy places on our cross-country roadtrip this last summer!! I haven't looked for Florida, but it has all states. It will even map it out for you. Sooooo much fun!

 

[bumbershoot]

Thanks for joining in! Yay! Another person.

(has anyone else seen WallE's hilarious thread on the CB today? the mods are playing with it, locking and unlocking it, and people are getting tags left and right, it's hilarious)

Passporter is a most excellent idea, thank you for reminding me! I think the '09 just came out, didn't it?

And thank you for the website idea!

I had just figured out this great plan (for the Dining Plan...a plan for the Plan). Since we'll be moving around resorts quite a bit, I figured we could get the Plan for one part, and if it works out well, up to 48 hours before our next move, we could add the Plan to that, etc...or if we hate the Plan, we could cancel it, etc etc.

But now that new DVC functionality says that there won't be multiple confirmation numbers for each split stay, that it'll be all one, so now I don't know if that's possible anymore! Waaaah! Even Robert agreed to the plan I'd come up with. And he's totally against the DDP since he can't see it working for us.

Just reading the Universal forums here is making me want to go go go there for a big stay! I have to keep reminding myself...these places will be here for years and years to come. We have BLT for years and years to come. We will go again, this is NOT a one-time thing.


Well, I gotta go get DH up from slumber. He got home from the Far East early this morning, but we have to babysit some kids in Seattle tonight, and we do need to start getting ready!


I hope everyone has/had a lovely New Year's Eve. I haven't spent much time thinking about the new year and all that, and going from the oughts/aughts into the tens, but I sure am looking forward to great (and not "terrible but great" like the deeds Voldemort did...I want just plain GREAT) things happening soon!

Happy New Year!





Had to edit in Plan vs plan. I haven't had much sleep, b/c "plan" means nothing to me anymore...same thing happened when I posted "hundreds" on WallE's thread...hundreds, funny word...yeah, when I am tired I get loooooopy.

 

[Judy from Boise]

Hey Molly, I just noticed the link in your signature, and followed it here!

I just read the first two pages, and have one tip.
There is very little jet lag flying west to east. We usually get flight that have us landing in Orlando about 10:30 pm. It is great timing to get to the resort, check in, unpack, and go to bed. The key for us is planning our itinerary around extra magic hours in the pm, so we sleep in as late as we want.It is easy to stay up late (working with the time change) so why force early starts.I set up my itenerary by which park has PM magic hours. Then I pick a sit down restaurant in the park and try to get first dinner seating. That way we fuel up, make sure we see the evening show offerings in each park, and maximize our enjoyment as the crowds thin, the temps cool, and dark bring the most magical of times.
Then, I back into what park to go to in the am based on who isn't having EE am hours.
By the end of our trip I schedule one am EE into MK, because by then it is not a hardship.

 

[bumbershoot]

Thanks, Judy! Good info.

I think I'm going from how I always felt when I flew out to Miami or VA when my mom/stepdad lived there, on breaks from college. I'd stay up even later than normal, I mean, 4 or 5am, then sleep until literally after noon. I am still that lazy, when allowed, and still a nightowl, so I worry that I'll be dragging.

But now it all might be different, no Vero, b/c now it might be that cousin and her 2 kids join us for quite a bit of the vacay, with her hubby popping in and out. This is how I feel about this! Both AND

I told my aunt (cousin and fam are driving home from her husband's relatives' home in the NE today) that with that in mind, we'd need to get OKW, most likely. With *maybe* a couple/few nights at BLT. Maybe.

So we'll see! Right now I'm valuing and prepping a bunch of CDs to sell at abundatrade and secondspin dot coms, to help out the car payoff-slash-trip savings.

 

[DLR29]

Just read through the first 6 pages. How exciting! BLT look so amazingly nice, I hope you get to stay there at least a little during your stay. Oh, and CONGRATS on being a new DVC member. That must be very exciting that you will have lots and lots more Disney vacations in the future.

As for Universal, I would so love to go there, but it's just a little too expensive to do that AND WDW. And if we're gonna be in FL we just have to go to WDW. So I hope you get to go for a bit and give us a full report.

 

[QueenDoOver]

Well hello Molly! I knew you had this trip in the works, but I guess I didn't realize how soon it will be. Looks like things are shaping up slowly but surely! I am excited to read along because I am happy to report, our next trip to Disney as a famiy will be to the world. I plan on reading and learning from your experience, so thanks for doing the work!

Speaking of work, guess I better get to it!

 

[bumbershoot]

Just read through the first 6 pages. How exciting! BLT look so amazingly nice, I hope you get to stay there at least a little during your stay. Oh, and CONGRATS on being a new DVC member. That must be very exciting that you will have lots and lots more Disney vacations in the future.

As for Universal, I would so love to go there, but it's just a little too expensive to do that AND WDW. And if we're gonna be in FL we just have to go to WDW. So I hope you get to go for a bit and give us a full report.

Hello and welcome! Oh the Universal stuff is really starting to freak me out. I'm having to remind myself over and over that these places will be there for years to come, and I do NOT have to do absolutely everything during this one trip.

But we do certainly want to see the Wizarding World of Harry Potter. Little floop in those plans, though; according to my aunt, my cousin and her husband feel their kids are too young for any HP, including the Universal area. Since their son is almost 2 years older than ours...this might be problematic! Might have to do Universal alone, and at the end of the trip, so DS doesn't talk about it to their son, to keep peace and difficult conversations (which will already be underlying, going in December, them being heavy duty Christmas-believers, and with us celebrating Yule and all that).

Well hello Molly! I knew you had this trip in the works, but I guess I didn't realize how soon it will be. Looks like things are shaping up slowly but surely! I am excited to read along because I am happy to report, our next trip to Disney as a famiy will be to the world. I plan on reading and learning from your experience, so thanks for doing the work!

Speaking of work, guess I better get to it!

I didn't realize how relatively soon it was either! I've GOT to get on the phone to my cousin (letting her call me once they are home and rested from last minute PA trip) to find out what weekend they'd like to play at BLT, b/c the booking window is upon me!

Yay that you guys are going to Orlando!!!

Bummed we didn't get to go to the north-end disney warehouse, but I hear it's in Auburn, or about to be? Maybe I'll actually be able to get to that one.

 

[QueenDoOver]

Well, my husband did say that maybe we would just go to DW for Xmas next year, and I was thinking not until 2011. It would be funny if we were there together again!

I did stop by Northgate one evening. Got just a few things but my favorite was a Walt and Mickey Pin, that is meant to be a like a picture on an easel, and is a jumbo and was done to celebrate the 50th. It was really cool and only $8.00.

Burlington is closing this Sunday and I am tempted to run up there. They had pin sets for like $3.00, which is a pretty good deal. I should have bought them when I saw them, right? Oh well!

I know before you became owners, you had looked into renting DVC points. How does that compare to just staying onsite at the resorts? I am trying to decide which route to go.

 

[bumbershoot]

That would be fun!

First step to renting is to read all the sticky threads here. That's what I spent a lot of time doing when we first thought of renting!


There are a few perks you probably wouldn't get...free wireless internet, pool-hopping (though honestly that's so restricted anyway even for owners)...those are what come to mind. And the things you need the membership card for, of course, like discounts, but I'm sure you knew that one!

Other than that, you get all the benefits of staying at those resorts and no downside. You still get to take Magical Express, you can even sign up for the Dining Plan (though not the platinum or premium plans...those require a normal package plan...but I have a feeling you'd be as likely to do those plans as we would be!)!

The only drawback is that you can't talk to Member Services yourself, so you need to trust the person you're renting from. They will have to add the dining plan to your reservation (and it has to be done before 2 days before your reservation), though you'll be paying the cost as you check in. I'm not sure who signs you up for ME.

It seems that $10 per point is the average/mean/median (one of those...I can never remember which means which!) of the cost.

So just playing around, let's say you wanted 1 week at the Villas at the Animal Kingdom. Let's say, a 1 bedroom, first two weeks of December '10.

So 2010 points for that...a week's stay is 144 points during that time. Multiply by 10, you've got that room for 1440. Sweet, eh? Now that's for the lowest rung view, but at least it's a start.

Or Wilderness Lodge villas, that's 206 points per week.

Old Key West is 159 points for the week in a 1 bedroom, and I've read that they generally have the largest rooms.

(and I did NOT realize that AKV came in under OKW...zoiks!)



Now if you wanted to stay at All Star, say, Music (and my cousin LOVES that place!), your total might come in well under those costs. But if you were thinking of Wilderness Lodge anyway, and your hotel costs were going higher...it's worth thinking about!

 

[bumbershoot]

Oh, and you sign up for the Dining Plan withOUT having to do a package. So you can buy your tickets from undercovertourist, or wherever you want, and yet still get the plan. If you want it.

 

[QueenDoOver]

hmm...something to think about for sure. Not sure if I would want the dining plan. I think it would cause me to be way to rigid in my planning, require park hopping, and make me eat too much. I feel really happy to know my families touring preferences so well from our DL trips, and being able to apply that here. DW scares me, so am trying not to go commando, kwim?

Also, we have that middle schooler, who will be a high school student then, and we can't miss school. So...high season Christmas time for us! Dang kids!

I am seriously thinking of using the rental house that Marie used for their trip. It actually sleeps 8 and is about $1500 for two weeks. So if we had friends that also wanted to go it would be perfect! It is 10 minutes drive, and we will be planning a long trip so I don't mind loosing time with driving in. Plus, my family would enjoy the downtime.

Here is the link if you want to check it out, although of course it would be of little interest to you, owning DVC and all
http://www.homeaway.com/vacation-rental/p219739#rates-bar

 

[bumbershoot]

Those vacation homes look SO awesome. Only thing to make sure you budget for is the parking each day; of course, with what you're saving on the rental, that's a drop in the bucket!

Or you could look at the cost of upgrading someone to an AP, b/c I think you get free parking with an AP...then you could buy the Tables in Wonderland card, and get discounts on some meals....

It is indeed nice to know one's family's touring style! And like you, knowing what works and doesn't (mainly, what has NOT worked for us) is what is setting us up for such a LONG trip. The guys really need that downtime, but I still haven't allowed for enough of it. I mean, we didn't even dip a toe in the pool at the Grand on my b'day trip, and that's a crying shame!

The one wild card for us is going to be food, b/c even though we have a hard time feeling hungry, and then when hungry have a hard time actually stopping for food (to everyone's detriment), at Disneyland...we wonder how it will be different at WDW. So much bigger, so much more to do, etc etc.

 

[bumbershoot]

Just gotta say I love my avatar/signature combination. It's so calm and, IMO, pretty.

Robert's home sick today. (he was sick when he got back from his trip, then got better, then I got sick, now I'm just about better, and he goes and has a relapse) I've been telling him to go lie down and take a nap, b/c it drives me nuts when he falls to sleep on the couch. It's our only living room sitting place, and it's just annoying. And now, at almost 4pm, he's finally doing it.

 

[QueenDoOver]

Just gotta say I love my avatar/signature combination. It's so calm and, IMO, pretty.

Robert's home sick today. (he was sick when he got back from his trip, then got better, then I got sick, now I'm just about better, and he goes and has a relapse) I've been telling him to go lie down and take a nap, b/c it drives me nuts when he falls to sleep on the couch. It's our only living room sitting place, and it's just annoying. And now, at almost 4pm, he's finally doing it.

Ha Ha! I hate sick people on my couch. I hope that Robert feels better soon. My big one has been complaining of headache etc. I've had snuffy's and cough. Is Spring almost here??

 

[kaoden39]

I have always thought that your avatar was relaxing, I like that sort of thing.

 

[Sherry E]

Woo hoo! I made it here too! I followed the link! I am subscribed!! (I always feel like a stranger in a strange land over on this side of the boards!) Molly, I see that QueenDoOver showed you the pictures of the vacation home that Mariezp used on her very recent WDW holiday trip, but I don't know if you have actually been following along with Marie's trip and TR. In case you haven't, she is a DLR vet who just visited WDW for the first time in December, and she always has a comedic take on things too, so I told her I would try to get you over on her TR if you have not already been there:

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2362766

And yes! I like the signature/avatar combo as well!! Nice complementary color scheme!

 

[Silly Little Pixie]

It is indeed nice to know one's family's touring style! And like you, knowing what works and doesn't (mainly, what has NOT worked for us) is what is setting us up for such a LONG trip. The guys really need that downtime, but I still haven't allowed for enough of it. I mean, we didn't even dip a toe in the pool at the Grand on my b'day trip, and that's a crying shame!

The one wild card for us is going to be food, b/c even though we have a hard time feeling hungry, and then when hungry have a hard time actually stopping for food (to everyone's detriment), at Disneyland...we wonder how it will be different at WDW. So much bigger, so much more to do, etc etc.

I, myself, tend to enjoy commando touring. On our previous trips to WDW, we were go-go-go all the time. We packed a LOT into maybe 4 park days and one resort day/waterpark day. But when we bought DVC last spring, DH insisted that now we could actually SLOW DOWN. He wants and needs downtime, and probably DS as well...although at 9 now, he is a trooper. SO, on our November trip this year, we split up when necessary, or the kids and I would go back out to another park after dinner, etc. I did find the kids wanted more time at the resort- LOVED the pool- and we only did one of the activities at Kidani. There were so many! So on the agenda for this November is more resort time, for sure!! I don't think my DH expected to love Kidani as much as he did. He agreed to DVC because I really wanted it, we were going a lot, and he loves DCL so the thought of being able to use points for cruises was very appealing. He liked it far more than the hotel rooms, even onsite rooms. It really was almost like being home.

If you read the WDW boards a lot you will start to feel overwhelmed at all there is to do, at how packed the days are for people, how obsessed they are over the "best" ADRs, etc. If you know what works for your family at Disneyland, plan that way for WDW as well. Epcot is our favorite "grown up park" because it lends itself to a more relaxed pace. Our DS doesn't like it nearly as much (World Showcase, anyway), but tough for him. We remind him that we sit through Dinosaur 3x in a row, Dinoland exploraton dig, etc. Everybody gets their favorites!

Food- perhaps plan just one sit-down meal a day (lunch or breakfast) so then you don't have to wait as long to eat. You'll be less apt to get a snack at 3:30 when you have a 5 pm ADR, but then you just end up with crankiness. Then you could eat your evening meal (or series of small meals) whenever hunger strikes you, and you pass by something tasty. Just a thought.

Has Ethan started to look at WDW parks and things he might like to see?

Christine

 

[Sherry E]

Okay, I just got more or less caught up on this Pre-Pre-TR. Are you still contemplating being at WDW on December 25? I think that sounds like a great idea, perhaps because your family does not celebrate Christmas. It would be a way to sort of be doing 'something' on that day (and not succumbing to - what did you call it? - "weird family" status) but not in the traditional family Christmas sense, you know what I mean? In other words, it would be more about celebrating Disney on Christmas day than about celebrating Christmas at WDW. (I have friends who were just at WDW over the New Year holiday, and I still haven't heard back from them on how that was and if it is comparable to the nightmare that is DLR on NYE!!)

Right now, your WDW plan seems a long ways away since 2010 just began, but judging by how quickly the time seemed to pass from when Mariezp first established she was heading to WDW last year to when her trip actually happened, I bet we will soon all be sitting here saying, "Wow! I can't believe you are already home from WDW! It seems like only yesterday when you were writing your Pre-Pre-Pre TR!!"

I have always been "the planner" for trips in the past - whether they be DLR trips or wherever - but as I get older and less patient, I find that I get frustrated with planning and my brain locks up at a certain point, and then I have to take a break from it and revisit it later. So, as much as I would love to do a WDW holiday trip at some point (I would rather go during the holidays than any other time), I can see I would be easily and quickly overwhelmed by planning that and would probably get aggravated...not to mention exhausted by the sheer enormity of it all once I was actually there. And the thing is, much of it HAS to be planned. You can't 'wing it' in the same exact way you could wing it at DLR to a large degree.

And I can see I would end up doing something like what Marie did on her WDW trip - I would arrange to meet my group at the Market House on Main Street....only to discover when it came time to meet that there IS no Market House on Main Street!! I think I have DLR and its layout, shops, restaurants, etc. so embedded in my brain that I would end up saying, "Let's go to Carnation Cafe for dinner," and there IS no Carnation! No Goofy's Kitchen. No Storytellers... It really is de-programming in a way, and then totally re-training one's mind to think/plan on a much larger scale for WDW.

 

[bumbershoot]

Ha Ha! I hate sick people on my couch. I hope that Robert feels better soon. My big one has been complaining of headache etc. I've had snuffy's and cough. Is Spring almost here??

He does feel better. I think you know he's been taking a drug for the prolactinoma, and it has the ability to knock him out. At the same time, and this is just so crazy b/c we are both so natural-minded, he's taking shots to help out what the prolactin (his body has been making) has done to his more manly hormones.

So anyway, on this recent far-east trip, he had to do one shot early, on the same day he took the cabergoline (pituitary tumor drug), which was almost a day later than he is supposed to take it (it's a once a week thing, it builds on itself or something like that, he needs to take it same day each week). Then he missed two other shots b/c he didn't want to deal with taking it on the plane, and then we absolutely and totally forgot about the cabergoline on Thursday when he got home (NYE) and it was 3/4 through Friday when we remembered!

So this week, when he took it on Thursday, it messed him up BAD. He was passing out an hour after he took it, and that hasn't happened in months. Then he's got the hormone precursor shots and those seem to give him energy, and it just battles it out. So that battle along with whatever cold he brought back...it just knocked him out.

Poor guy!

The GOOD news is that his knee MRI that he had recently shows NO tear of anything. He just has a bone bruise, which was probably from a fall he took on the icy sidewalk about 1.5 months ago. Several knee-related things happened all at the same time, and the symptoms matched "banging your knee up good," "MCL tear", and "meniscus tear". Glad it's not the one involving surgery!

He cannot wait for a baby to happen (I know, funny way to put it) so he can think of slowing the HCG (slowing because it's expensive even with insurance help, but not stopping because it's actually to help fix a problem in his body), for a followup MRI on his noggin to show that the prolactinoma is gone, and for his knee to heal! Let's hope it goes in that basic order, though we can switch around knee and prolactinoma if we really have to do so.

I have always thought that your avatar was relaxing, I like that sort of thing.

yay.

...we only did one of the activities at Kidani. There were so many!

Has Ethan started to look at WDW parks and things he might like to see?

Christine

Now see, you've just made me want to stay at Kidani again! I have GOT to talk to my cousin!

Now that's impressive. E is *almost* Ethan (he's Eamon), but the cousin's son is indeed Ethan! Very nice!

The one thing he mentioned about WDW is "do they have Star Wars ride at disneyworld?" AUGH. ME: "Yes they do, but it's not going to be open during our visit, while the add the new stories...and no, we can't go to disneyland quickly before the trip, because 'land's version will be closed at the same time." Disappointing answer, I have to tell you!

We have the newest planning DVD; we'll have to watch it soon, making sure that he is reminded that ST won't be open.

And the kid is growing so quickly! He's been in growth mode for months now. Not as tall as Tracey's Nathan, but still, tall! Which is slightly sad, because it would be so great to run down for Indiana Jones...but we just cannot do that... Could celebrate with Dinosaur which everyone says is the "same" ride as Indy, but Dinosaur actually has a lower height requirement.

Guess we have to celebrate his height changes without Disney's help, LOL.

Are you still contemplating being at WDW on December 25? I think that sounds like a great idea, perhaps because your family does not celebrate Christmas. It would be a way to sort of be doing 'something' on that day (and not succumbing to - what did you call it? - "weird family" status) but not in the traditional family Christmas sense, you know what I mean? In other words, it would be more about celebrating Disney on Christmas day than about celebrating Christmas at WDW.

And I can see I would end up doing something like what Marie did on her WDW trip - I would arrange to meet my group at the Market House on Main Street....only to discover when it came time to meet that there IS no Market House on Main Street!!

I how you put that (the bold in the quote)! I might use it somewhere in some way. Report title, report URL link, something. I love it.

Not sure on any of it! My cousin must call soon.

Robert said today that he feels like this is the beginning of what will become a baaaaad "we went with family" trip report. I pooh-poohed him on that (nicely), but secretly I'm wondering if that's what it's going to become. But I must think positively! My cousin is a nice person, and having her there to temper her mother will be great. I find myself in the strange situation of my aunt being my surrogate mother, but she is VERY different in many deep ways from my mom, and I forget that sometimes (like when I invited her to come out during the time I figured I would be having Eamon...she got all involved with the drama being unfolded by my hired help, and helped cause Very Bad (and unnecessary) Things to happen to me and le bebe known now as Eamon). But anyway, we'll have my cousin there and that should be OK.

IF only we could figure out when the cousin will want to be there.



On the other hand, we could just work it out in the way it works for us and either say "tough noogies" or change the plan when we hear from them!


One of the two.



Off to go read marie's report, b/c that's a great story about Main Street.