Me and the ‘Rents! - A Sept 2016 PTR - TR Link up!

[DexLabDeeDee]

Two Dreams Come True – a pre-trip report inside a pre-trip report!




Thanks for hanging in there, those of you that have been hanging in. My husband and I just got back from a trip to New Orleans! Yay!! It was great. The weather was crazy. Hot for the first few days, then severe weather with tornadoes, then really cool and windy. We ate a lot and walked a lot and met a lot of really nice people and listened to really good music and bought art! So, a Disney vacation.




I did leave my glasses on the plane at our layover. And they wouldn’t let me back on to check. The gate agent at United went back on and she said she looked and couldn’t find them. They were there – I just had them, pleeeease let me look! Nope. Filled out a lost items form and go blind instead.




So I had to stay home from work today (can’t drive) but luckily I got in to my eye doctor who is two blocks away so I now I have trial contacts for the moment until my glasses come in. I’ve been out of contacts for awhile and my glasses prescription was going out so it needed to be done anyway. It’s just hard to tell work – hey, I was gone for a week and now I’m taking another day off! You’ll still pay me, right??




But now I can see and now you are getting another update! So hooray for you!!




Where I last left us, my husband’s cousin – Antigoni (fun name, huh?) wanted me to plan a birthday trip for her husband and her. Whoo hooooo!




I had a serious chat with her about The Line. And how I have no idea where it is. So she would have to tell me if I crossed The Line. Meaning, if I inundated her with too much info or took it upon myself to do too much without consulting them, etc. I never quite know when to stop. I try really hard to find The Line. I know it’s out there. I know I’ve crossed it on at least two occasions. Of course, I only know that after I’ve irretrievably crossed it.




And I pare down the information I give out. But WDW is so big and there is a lot going on that you need to know before you go. I DID NOT want what happened on those two previous occasions to happen again with them. A lot of people just don’t want to hear about all the things that go in to planning a Disney vacation. They just want it to be fun and easy. And it can be both those things. It’s just also a lot of leg work up front so that you have smooth sailing once you get there.




Luckily, Antigoni seemed totally on board and said that she trust me and that I should do my worst.




Oh honey, you have no idea what you just did.




That weekend after I talked to her, I put together a proposal with the breakdown in prices for April and June. I recommended April for the weather and surprisingly enough, some of the prices were slightly cheaper during Spring Break. And for Flower and Garden.

I gave her the value, moderate, and deluxe tier pricing but I recommended (surprise, surprise) Port Orleans Riverside! I think it’ll be nice and relaxing for them but still fun.




Tig (even more fun nickname!) picked Port Orleans Riverside, gave me her CC info, and told me to just book it!




I immediately called Disney pretending to be Tig. It was fun and kind of funny. At one point the CM had to put me on hold to check something and said, “Antigoni?” when she came back on the line. It threw me for a second. I also had to talk about my husband’s birthday and how we were so excited to celebrate at Disney. Hee hee.


I tried to get the Spring Deal but all the rooms except for Tiana’s royal rooms were unavailable. Which was crazy because just earlier that morning, there were regular rooms available with the offer. They were going FAST!




I didn’t think a guy turning 40 would want a royal room. So I had to go with a Garden View room – which cost more than the royal rooms at the discount. Not a lot more, just a few dollars. I thought that he would probably pay to not have a royal room. Which is what he did, actually. Or I did for him.




Got the room set with 5 day park hoppers and regular dining plan. Tig didn’t want to worry about anything so we went with the whole kit and caboodle!


I WAS going to stop there BUT I got nervous since they were well within their 180 day dining window. I needed to be on MDE but I didn’t have a login for her. I knew she was super busy so I created a new gmail account and created an MDE account for her. (Disney Espionage!) ADR shopping!




But before that, I had to come up with their itinerary for which park which days, which meant some research. And I had to really look at their dining options. Which is also a little nerve-wracking.




Tig owns a restaurant with her mom. She also is on local television doing cooking segments. She posts recipes, advice, and basically does what a Food Network star would do - just not on the Food Network. So I knew food was going to be a thing.




Up next: Food food food food food food food food – FOOD! (And an itinerary!)

 

[DexLabDeeDee]

And now we're back to my trip with my parents! Hope you don't get whiplash!

Okay, we last left it where I was trying to secure a 1-bedroom villa at AKL through Dave's DVC rentals. I got an email tellling me that there was nothing available now but maybe later.

I had anxiety and doubt but ultimately, I decided to at least wait until the 7 month window opened. I went about my business. (mainly working late)

I was at work on a Friday, late, when I decided to check my email while I was waiting for an analysis to finish. There was a message waiting for me saying "Your DVC Reservation Has Been Secured!"

What? Really???

It was only 4 days ago that I had gotten the email saying that there weren't any points available. Was this serious?

I opened the email and they had secured our dates for a 1 bedroom villa, Savannah view at AKL-Kidani - exactly what I wanted! They gave me a confirmation number that I could verify through the Disney DVC site. Which I did and everything was correct: our dates, the room type, and number of people in the room. Once I had verified the room, I was to go to their site and pay the remaining balance. (I had to put down $98 as a down payment for looking, which would have been refunded had they not been able to secure our reservation.) Then, they would send me a rental agreement between the DVC owners and me and my dad (you have to have two people on the contract.)

I sent the money, they sent the contract, and we're set! It went crazy fast and I can only be grateful that I was working late on that Friday because I may not have seen the message until my window of opportunity had passed. Sometimes, if I'm busy, I don't check my email on the weekends. And it was a nice little pick-me-up to wash off the work of the week and start off the weekend!

I did still have a few nerves about the whole thing but we're down the rabbit hole now! I just have to trust that everything will be okay. It sounds like Dave's DVC will try and make it good if you get there and for some reason your reservation is no longer valid.

We will be at the Swan (2 queen bed room Crescent Lake View with a balcony) for 6 nights and then we'll be switching to AKL for the remaining 7 nights. Arriving on a Saturday and leaving the second Friday!

I was able to add the Swan reservation to MDE (which I didn't know before!) and I was able to add the DVC reservation to MDE as well. We are getting Magic Bands for our DVC stay. This also was a concern of mine - I wasn't sure since the reservation was made by the owners if they would send Magic Bands. I know that the owners get a special DVC owner one, right? But they apparently get the option to get a new Magic Band each time. I see that you can also choose to decline the Magic Bands as well. That's a nice option if you go a lot and have a million of them. I wish I had that problem!

We also have the option of adding the Disney Dining Plan, Ground Transportation, or other people in our room up until 30 days before we go. We will need to tell Dave's DVC rental and then they will pass the information to the owners who will need to make the changes. We won't be going with the Disney Dining Plan or DME. It'll definitely be cheaper for us to just pay OOP for meals and we are going to be renting a car for ease of movement.

That forwards us to the present day. Our ADR window is fast approaching and though we won't be doing the dining plan, we still will have a few table service meals. Plus I would like to do lunch at BOG.

Here are our plans so far:



We are going to be focusing on either a morning or an afternoon/evening at a park, so we'll go to each park twice.

We want to eat at Le Cellier (new for us), Boma twice (because we LOVE it!), Captain's Grille, Raglan Road, and BOG. We also would like to do the Lunch with an Animal Specialist at Sanaa. I'm not exactly sure how to secure this but I will figure it out. I think it might be on the Disney ADR page. Let me check....

Okay, it's sort of there under Sanaa's reservation page but you need to call to book that.

I love making dining reservations - I can't wait!!

I'll let you know how it goes.

Stay tuned....

 

[nimbuscat]

Following along! Making ADRs is my favorite part of the planning process. Also, hi from a distant neighbor--I'm in North Dakota and visit the cities often!

 

[DexLabDeeDee]

Following along! Making ADRs is my favorite part of the planning process. Also, hi from a distant neighbor--I'm in North Dakota and visit the cities often!

Hi! Neighbor! And welcome!

My DH went to Concordia in Moorhead so we visited North Dakota often (we didn't get too far into your state, but still!). I loved the Fargo mall. There were comfortable sitting chairs all over the place. That was before they were more commonplace in malls. Fargo also had a really great Greek restaurant that we'd eat at every time I'd visit. I have very fond memories of Fargo.

 

[Sarahh1027]

Your updates make me so happy!!!! I cannot wait to hear how your ADRs go! And a huge WOOHOO for the AKL DVC deal!!!!!! I am so glad you got it!

 

[DexLabDeeDee]

Your updates make me so happy!!!! I cannot wait to hear how your ADRs go! And a huge WOOHOO for the AKL DVC deal!!!!!! I am so glad you got it!

I'm so glad! Thanks for hanging out with me. I am really excited for AKL!!! I don't want to wish my summer away but I kinda wish it would come a littler faster!

 

[DexLabDeeDee]

I have some really sad news on the Two Dreams Come True pre-trip front.

DH's cousin had to cancel the trip due to a change in her cirumstances. We're all really upset. But because it is her circumstances and not mine, I can't say why. Though I will say that it doesn't have anything to do with anyone dying, fortunately.

It happened right out of the blue and I'm reeling a little bit over having to cancel everything. I had a really awesome trip planned out. Though (silver lining? ) I got experience canceling a trip within the 30 day period. She is out the $200 deposit but not the thousands she could be out. I'm just really sad about her circumstances, really sad that she can't go anymore, and really sad that my beautiful trip won't be used.

I was telling my family that it felt like it was my "art" and I was having to destroy it. Which is a little melodramatic but I'm feeling a little melodramatic about it. Here is the gorgeousness it used to be:




<sigh>

It took me weeks to get the California Grill and the BOG reservation. And I was able to get Seven Dwarves Mine train FP+s for Sunday and Friday, bookending their week of fun.

Oh well. It can't be helped.

So I cancelled everything. It took me 45min to do it all. I couldn't cancel the resort reservation online (I had already done the 45 day check-in, though I don't know if that makes a difference) so I had to call and was put on hold for awhile. Then I put it on speaker, set it down, and bumped the screen. Which ended the call so I had to go through that automated system and get into the queue AGAIN. Eventually, I got through. Now, I love the hold music (I own it and listen to it all the time in the car) but it is miserable to listen to when you are calling to cancel. Especially when it's playing that darned "Amerrriicccaaaaaa, spread your gooooollllllden dreams" song. Which sounds worse than normal and shrill with the awful sound quality they have in their hold system.

Cancelling went fine. The CM was nice and subdued. She offered to reschedule and push it back without pentalty, which was nice, but it just wasn't that kind of situation. I did the survey at the end because I feel bad if I don't.

I also couldn't cancel the dining reservations online (found out after I hung up when she could have transfered me) so I called again and did it through the automated system. One by one by one. Ugh. Then, at the end, I learned that I could have spoken to a CM who probably could have cancelled the entire lot at once.

I was told that the resort package cancellation would cancel the FP+s but that didn't happen. The resort and dining disappeared from DME but the FP+s were still there. So I went in and canceled all of those, too.

Then, I had booked a spa treatment for her this past Friday that I had to cancel as well. That was pretty quick. Took yet another survey.

On Saturday, when I found out about the changed circumtances, I had to rush to the Disney Store to return some things that I was going to send down to their resort for them as a surprise. A few things I kept but the rest was specifically for them in the parks. I was just outside the 30 day return window. Naturally. I had both DisneyStore.com and in-store items. I was able to bring them all to the store. The CM at the register was really great. I was able to get my money back instead of a credit which was great because the credit wouldn't work in the Disney parks. However, because I was outside the 30 day window, I would have to take the in-store price. Okay, fine. One of my items rang up at $0.02 more in-store. The register wouldn't proceed until a manager came over and subtracted the $0.02 because Disney won't let you get more money back than you paid. Even $0.02 worth. But I thought we agreed that I was getting the in-store price?

I had to laugh to myself at the show of Disney's penny pinching. (literally!)

Aaanndd, yeah. That's where I am at right now. In Bummerland but coming out of it. I can only imagine what she must feel.

So life goes on. My focus is back to our upcoming Sept trip. I'll have an update soon regarding dining reservations!

Thanks for hanging in for a less than magical update.

 

[DexLabDeeDee]

Okay, shake off those cancellation blues!

I also have to shake off the nickel and diming that Disney has been doing lately - yikes! It's kind of put me in a funk. What has really bummed me out is the cast member hours cut plus the no Wishes in Sept. BUT. A lot can happen between now and then so I'm going to shake it off!

This video always makes me smile. Have you seen it yet? YouTube "Shake it off aerobics" They found an old aerobics champion ship video that is a perfect match to Taylor Swift's Shake It Off. Hilarious!

Though you didn't know it, I'm back from watching the video myself. Kind of makes me want to do aerobics. My mom used to do it back in the day. My sisters and I would sit and color while she was in aerobics class at church. Sometimes we'd get up and do it too. Fond memories! I will say, though, that the aerobics class never looked like the people from the video!

Back to Disney and dining!

It actually took me forever and a lot of late and early mornings to figure this out. <sigh> I'm a little embarrassed to admit it but I was very confused for awhile.

We're staying at the Swan first. I double checked to see if we could reserve dining 180 +10 days in advance like you can do the 90 days in advance for FP+. It says on the Swan website that one of the "perks" is Disney dining reservations 180 days in advance. I ASSUMED (you can see where this is going) that that meant the 180 + 10 days but nope. It is just like anything else off-site, it's dining 180 days from the day that you are going to eat.

I only realized this as I was sitting there the night before at 11pm central time. The crazy part (and the part that kept confusing me) was that it showed the Swan dates as available to book but when I went to do it, it had an error. Then I went to Google, started digging, and realized that the Swan isn't included in the 180+10.

I didn't realize I had made a second error as well - did you see it?

So, I waited until my actual 180 days out. Then again went online at 11pm central time only to have error the same errors as before. Now I was starting to get angry. What is going on here?

I Googled again and saw that, yep, central reservations doesn't open until the MORNING of your 180 ADR date. <facepalm!> This is not FP+, it's ADRs!! I am sooo stoooopid! I swear I have done this before!

I wouldn't have bothered with the 180 day right at 5am but I was trying for Le Cellier and I wasn't sure how fast it booked up. But I got it!!

Working in my favor is the fact that free dining hasn't been announced (if it even will be).

And, of course, most of my reservations are for the week that we are at the Swan. Once my AKL reservation rolled around, I could book everything. Except the Dining with an Animal Specialist at Sanaa. That one I had to call for. And the date that I wanted was already booked up!! I was shocked because that was one of my farther out dates. I was able to get us in on another date but I had to move some stuff around.

Here's what we got:



Two Bomas, a Le Cellier, a Captain's Grille, a Raglan Road and a Sanaa.

The rest we'll do CS unless something catches our fancy. We'll also have a car so we can go and grab something off-site if we want, too. I don't really know how much we'll be doing of that.

We are re-thinking the Captain's Grille, though. My sister went to it in Feb and she said that it was expensive and the portions were small. I haven't been there in awhile but the last time I was there, I remember looking over at my Dad's pork chop and thinking it was large. My sister said that she had a meal with drinks and dessert and she felt a little peckish an hour or so later. I can only imagine with my BIL was feeling - he must have still been hungry after the meal!

I'm not sure what we're going to replace it with. We don't want to do the Yachtsman. Maybe we'll do one of the restaurants at the Swolphin.

Any suggestions??

 

[DexLabDeeDee]

Disney has updated their September calendar! Which is good and bad.

It's good because we have Wishes back! YAAAYYY!!

They've also added MNSSHP dates which were a surprise for us. We were kind of hoping that we'd get in before they started the party or at least get one week in before. The first party starts Sept 2nd. Which seems super early to me. There is a party the night before we go to the Magic Kingdom - which has late hours and has PM EMH. I'm wondering if it's just going to be overrun. And then the next day we are wanting to go to Epcot which has AM EMH. As a general rule, we try to avoid EMH parks. So we've decided to flip flop our last two days with Epcot on the 2nd to last day and Magic Kingdom our last day. Which meant that I had to try and grab another BOG lunch ADR on Thursday.

And I got one. At 1:55pm. Which is a little late for lunch. I've been looking for the last several days and the only one they have available is a 10:35am, which is way too early. We'd rather do the 1:55pm. Which could be cool because we'd be one of the last ones in there for lunch. It would probably get pretty empty.

And there is Wishes that day, too, which is awesome. Because our other Magic Kingdom day is supposed to be a morning one and this one is supposed to be more of an afternoon/evening one. But it's our last night, which would be totally cool to go out on Wishes at 9pm, however, we'll need to pack to get ready to leave at 9am the next morning to make our flight. The night before is supposed to also be a later night at Epcot. And I don't want to pack any earlier than I have to.

BOOOOOO packing to leave!!

So I was thinking that we may want to do Wishes on the other MK day. But, again, it's supposed to be a morning thing and then a relaxed afternoon. Maybe we can go in the morning, leave for a break in the afternoon and then return to see Wishes in the evening.

If you recall - which I am SURE you are keeping track of my itinerary. I mean, who wouldn't? - we have a Boma dinner ADR that day. Well....since we're getting rid of the Captain's Grille, why not just move it over a day? And what do you know? They have an ADR open the next day at almost the exact same time.

BINGO!

I love it when things work out. Moving all the pieces together until they fit juuuuust right. Magnifique!


I am SO PUMPED UP!

And there you see my problem with going with the flow. I love too much to move things around and tweak and plan. BUT I am TRYING to limit myself to which park which day, ADRs, and FP+s. Usually, I'll have snack lists, attraction lists, character interaction lists, etc. I'll have my actual entree meals picked out (which sounds extremely over-planned but I'm a really picky eater so there are only a couple menu items that I would go for anyway. I usually have a favorite entree at a specific restaurant and just always get that.)


Speaking of meals, my mom was recently tested and she found out that she is gluten intolerant, dairy intolerant, allergic to tapioca, and should also stay away from sesame. So it is going to be an interesting time with meals. As we get a little closer, I'm going to be contacting Special Diets to confirm the allergies that I listed on the original online dining reservations and to get a counter service allergy menu.

But I'm holding off because...what my mom has is genetic so I could potentially have all those allergies and intolerances as well. I'm about to get tested soon and I'll know a few weeks after that. So in a month, I might also be joining the food allergy ranks. I'm almost certain that I do have a food allergy. I get weird stomach aches after eating sometimes (though I can't really pinpoint a commonality between those foods except maybe cheese). There is also the theory that the reason I am so picky is because my body/mind knows what foods I can and can't have and instinctively shies away from those foods.

It's kind of a daunting prospect since I'm already picky and to have my food pool reduced even further will be hard. I just ask not to have a potato allergy. Is there such a thing? That would be the worst. I love french fries SOOO much and potato chips. And baked potatoes and mashed potatoes. Pretty much love potatoes. To never eat them again...heartbreaking.

But it will be what it will be. I'm kind of anxious to just know and get it over with. My money is on a dairy intolerance for sure. Maybe gluten. The thought of never getting those weird stomach aches again is awesome. So, it's not all bad, just an adjustment.

OOhh...I've got to run but I forgot to tell you what I got for my birthday! I'll post that next time. I got all Disney-related stuff! And I bought some cool things for summer from the Disney Store.


Stay tuned! We're holding strong in the triple digits....

 

[DexLabDeeDee]

Hellloo!!

How have you been?

I realize that I forgot to wish you a Happy Easter!



One year for my birthday I got a Mickey Waffle maker and I love it. Everything tastes better when it's in the shape of a Mickey head!

And yes, that is my Easter basket behind it. I'm 35 years old and I still get an Easter basket from my parents. Life is good.

Speaking of 35 - I just turned it a couple of months ago and this is what I got!



WDW gift card from my parents - whoo hoo! Not sure what I'm going to buy. I may use this for my waterpark ticket. Well, that and some regular money because my parents don't love me THAT much.



This is from my youngest sister. It's a book purse. I love books but what this is really for is a Belle Disney bounding outfit that she is going to put together for me! I'm really excited to rock Belle - she's my fav! No other Disney princess comes even close to touching the magic that is Belle.



Old school Star Wars shirt from my middle sister. I'm definitely a hardcore old school Star Wars fan. And I know that I will probably go up in flames for saying this....but I didn't like the new movie. For many reasons too numerous (and geeky!) to explain but it came down to the fact that, for me, it felt like a really weird replay of A New Hope. That was completely unnecessary. It kind of breaks my hear that I didn't love it like everyone else. Especially since my sisters really loved it. And I didn't. So I have really mixed weird feelings when I see all the Star Wars things out because - AWESOME! I love Star Wars but...not so awesome because it's all around the new movie which I didn't love. Oh well. #firstworldproblems

I also got something else from my middle sister. I've always wanted the attraction MB covers that they sold in WDW but for some reason, I've never grabbed them before. So I told my sister that for my birthday I wanted those covers when she went down for her honeymoon. Well.....unfortunately, since they've started the new MB design thing, they've discontinued the covers. Major bummer. BUT my sister found them on Amazon and shipped them to me! It was a fun surprise! Here is a picture of the Tiki room one. I have pictures of the Haunted Mansion and It's a Small World ones too but I don't know where they are right now.



And as a bonus you get a pic of my DH's leg! Hooray for you!

The MB I'm wearing is the one from our Sept '14 trip. I decorated it in like a tiger since we were staying at AKL.









I used a black paint pen for the stripes and a thin Sharpie for the Mickey Head in the front. Then I covered it all with top coat nail polish. It worked pretty well. It's a bit beat up now and worn out but it definitely served it's purpose and looked good for most of the week. I was happy. I don't know how it would look for two weeks, though.

I am getting a blue one this time around. Mom is getting a purple one and Dad is getting a green one. We're not sure what we are going to do. I think I still want to decorate it even though I have the MB covers. So maybe that's what I'll do the second week after it gets a bit worn, just use the MB covers. Good idea, Jenna!


In other news, I am still looking for an early BOG lunch ADR for our last day. I had 1:55pm and I found a 1:35pm so I took that one. It may be the best that I can do. I keep checking, though, just in case. A 10:35am one keeps popping up every once in awhile. It's gone now but it'll probably be back. It has been so far. I'm assuming that people snatch it and then look to get another one and let it go because that is REALLY early for lunch. I'd rather my 1:35pm or even the 1:55pm instead of the 10:35am. We'll just have a bigger/later breakfast.

I also have a confession. I couldn't help myself. But it was necessary - I swear! I went through restaurant menus and guessed my entrees, drinks, dessert (not many), etc. I did draw the line at snacks, though. I wanted to know how much money I would need for food, so the overplanning thing was for a good cause. I went through everything and then added a little more on just to have a buffer. The total......$700. For just me. Including tax, tips, and alcoholic beverages. I knew it was going to be a lot but that just seems like a lot. I do know that Disney food is expensive. It's just wow. And this is not including breakfast. We'll probably just grab something from the grocery store and eat in our room.

Breaking it down - just a little - it is 20 CS and 4 TS meals. I didn't count our meal with the Animal Specialist as we've already paid for that. Le Cellier, Boma twice, and Raglan Road. Le Cellier for the TS and BOG for the CS are the ones that are really setting us back.

I just hate the feeling I get paying for our meals at WDW. I just look at the prices and try and find a way to get by with less and then I feel guilty when I just get what I want, even though I've budgeted in advance for what I want. However, the DDP is way more food that we eat and more expensive in the end. It's probably not worth my peace of mind. We could only do the DDP for the second week which wouldn't be worth it since we'll be going to WWoHP and doing the Animal Specialist the second week.

I'll just have to find a way to make it feel like I'm on the DDP without actually being on the DDP. Maybe using a gift card or charging everything back to the room and worrying about it later. I just have to trick my brain!

Has anyone else struggled with this?

143 days to go!

 

[Sarahh1027]

Helloooo!! Sorry I disappeared for a bit!! Didn't realize how behind I got on here!!

I have some really sad news on the Two Dreams Come True pre-trip front.

DH's cousin had to cancel the trip due to a change in her cirumstances. We're all really upset. But because it is her circumstances and not mine, I can't say why. Though I will say that it doesn't have anything to do with anyone dying, fortunately.

Ughh this is such sad news!! Your trip was beautifully planned.

Now, I love the hold music (I own it and listen to it all the time in the car) but it is miserable to listen to when you are calling to cancel. Especially when it's playing that darned "Amerrriicccaaaaaa, spread your gooooollllllden dreams" song. Which sounds worse than normal and shrill with the awful sound quality they have in their hold system.

Ughh this song is so wonderful yet sad sounding. It just reminds me of Disney which though wonderful, makes me sad because when I hear it I want to be at Disney and not at home calling Disney...and now it'll just be associated with cancelling for you! No fun!

I had to laugh to myself at the show of Disney's penny pinching. (literally!)

Oh my goodness, cheap or what!? Haha

Though you didn't know it, I'm back from watching the video myself. Kind of makes me want to do aerobics. My mom used to do it back in the day. My sisters and I would sit and color while she was in aerobics class at church. Sometimes we'd get up and do it too. Fond memories! I will say, though, that the aerobics class never looked like the people from the video!

Disney has updated their September calendar! Which is good and bad.

It's good because we have Wishes back! YAAAYYY!!

HOOORAAAYYY!!!!!

As a general rule, we try to avoid EMH parks.

Same here!!! Not worth the crowd levels!

And I got one. At 1:55pm. Which is a little late for lunch. I've been looking for the last several days and the only one they have available is a 10:35am, which is way too early. We'd rather do the 1:55pm. Which could be cool because we'd be one of the last ones in there for lunch. It would probably get pretty empty.

So true!! It's a little later than most families have lunch, which means more tables to pick from!

So I was thinking that we may want to do Wishes on the other MK day. But, again, it's supposed to be a morning thing and then a relaxed afternoon. Maybe we can go in the morning, leave for a break in the afternoon and then return to see Wishes in the evening.

I like your idea of taking a mid-day break. I've never actually done this, but that way you can all nap, hang by the pool, get out of the sun for a few hours...and go back from Wishes!

If you recall - which I am SURE you are keeping track of my itinerary. I mean, who wouldn't? - we have a Boma dinner ADR that day. Well....since we're getting rid of the Captain's Grille, why not just move it over a day? And what do you know? They have an ADR open the next day at almost the exact same time.

BINGO!

I totally do recall AND keep track of your itinerary! and BINGO is right! Things are working out great!

I love it when things work out. Moving all the pieces together until they fit juuuuust right. Magnifique!


I am SO PUMPED UP!

I'm pumped for you!!!!

And there you see my problem with going with the flow. I love too much to move things around and tweak and plan. BUT I am TRYING to limit myself to which park which day, ADRs, and FP+s. Usually, I'll have snack lists, attraction lists, character interaction lists, etc. I'll have my actual entree meals picked out (which sounds extremely over-planned but I'm a really picky eater so there are only a couple menu items that I would go for anyway. I usually have a favorite entree at a specific restaurant and just always get that.)

I do the same exact thing. I've tweaked dinner reservations, plans, everything! I also have a good idea of what I will be eating at each restaurant! It's a problem that don't need no fixin!

I'm about to get tested soon and I'll know a few weeks after that. So in a month, I might also be joining the food allergy ranks.

Aww man

It's kind of a daunting prospect since I'm already picky and to have my food pool reduced even further will be hard. I just ask not to have a potato allergy. Is there such a thing? That would be the worst. I love french fries SOOO much and potato chips. And baked potatoes and mashed potatoes. Pretty much love potatoes. To never eat them again...heartbreaking.

Potatoes are indeed amazing. I'm totally craving french fries now....

One year for my birthday I got a Mickey Waffle maker and I love it. Everything tastes better when it's in the shape of a Mickey head!

And yes, that is my Easter basket behind it. I'm 35 years old and I still get an Easter basket from my parents. Life is good.

Speaking of 35 - I just turned it a couple of months ago and this is what I got!

My mom will forever give my sis and I (24 & 22 right now) Easter baskets! No shame! I actually got a Mickey Waffle maker back in March and I love it!

WDW gift card from my parents - whoo hoo! Not sure what I'm going to buy. I may use this for my waterpark ticket. Well, that and some regular money because my parents don't love me THAT much.

Your parents sound awesome!

This is from my youngest sister. It's a book purse. I love books but what this is really for is a Belle Disney bounding outfit that she is going to put together for me! I'm really excited to rock Belle - she's my fav! No other Disney princess comes even close to touching the magic that is Belle.

LOVE this! and LOVE Belle!!!

And as a bonus you get a pic of my DH's leg! Hooray for you!

The MB I'm wearing is the one from our Sept '14 trip. I decorated it in like a tiger since we were staying at AKL.

This is beautiful!! Very creative!

I am getting a blue one this time around.

I got blue too! It was way darker in person than I remember it looking in pictures? But I think it'll grow on me!

In other news, I am still looking for an early BOG lunch ADR for our last day. I had 1:55pm and I found a 1:35pm so I took that one.

Still better than 1:55! Not too shabby

I also have a confession. I couldn't help myself. But it was necessary - I swear! I went through restaurant menus and guessed my entrees, drinks, dessert (not many), etc. I did draw the line at snacks, though. I wanted to know how much money I would need for food, so the overplanning thing was for a good cause. I went through everything and then added a little more on just to have a buffer. The total......$700. For just me. Including tax, tips, and alcoholic beverages. I knew it was going to be a lot but that just seems like a lot. I do know that Disney food is expensive. It's just wow. And this is not including breakfast. We'll probably just grab something from the grocery store and eat in our room.

Oh my goodness I did this same exact thing so James and I could get an idea of how much spending money to have in our accounts. It was scary.

Has anyone else struggled with this?

Yes yes yes! I considered paying extra just to do DDP and get the cost out of the way! I hate not knowing how much money I'll spend, and let's face it: We always spend more!

 

[DexLabDeeDee]

I just have a quick minute between analyses here at work so I thought I would give a quick update. Then I have to go back. It's been a bit difficult here because a lot of people just got layed-off in my area. My job is fine. For the moment, at least. I think I'm fine for the foreseeable future but you just never know. Hopefully the people affected will be able to find jobs soon. It's hard to keep up morale right now. Especially since we don't know yet what projects are being continued and which are stopping.

Anyway, time for some Disney escape! I did think about what would happen to my Disney trip if I lost my job and I would still go because everything is paid off except for food. And I think I could do it on a budget - especially since the AKL villas have kitchens.

But I still have a job and good thing, too, because after reading @TheLittleKatie's trip report and her experiences with the Yatchsman's Steakhouse, I've booked it for the Thursday before we leave!

My parents don't know. I'd like to keep it a surprise. I know that we have Le Cellier planned in the beginning of the trip (My DDad's choice) and it may seem like overkill to go to TWO steakhouses. BUT after that review (and after reading another one recently), I can't NOT go. It'll be interesting to compare the two steakhouses since I've heard that Le Cellier is both amazing and overrated. We'll find out which come Sept!

It'll be my treat since I just helped out at a catering event over the weekend and made some good money. It is hard work though! It was a 450 people event with passed appetizers and plated meal with salad and a dessert. My puppies are still barking today. Remember to thank your server - even when you are at an event. They are working hard and have been working hard for HOURS before you even got there.

So that's my little update!

I hope that those of you going for free dining got it. We are not eligible so we didn't go for it this year.

Oh! And I've already been thinking about a possible 2017 trip. In the spring, which would mean I should probably upgrade to an Annual Pass when I'm down in Sept. Which has been on my Disney Wish List for awhile now! Eeee!

We'll see. I only discussed it with DH last night. He doesn't want to go but I'm going to work on him....

122 Days to Go!

 

[TheLittleKatie]

Yachtsman Steakhouse is a great call! We did Le Cellier way back in 2012 and the food was really good, we just prefer the atmosphere at Yachtsman I think. It's very relaxed and spacious, whereas I felt a bit crammed in at Le Cellier. I hope you enjoy it!

 

[DexLabDeeDee]

Helloooo!! Sorry I disappeared for a bit!! Didn't realize how behind I got on here!!

No problem - you are busy getting ready for your trip. Which, if you are reading this, you should be back then, right?? Welcome back!!!!!!

So true!! It's a little later than most families have lunch, which means more tables to pick from!

I really want to sit next to the falling snow in the ballroom. Last time we sat in the West Wing next to the rose and it was awesome but a lot of people kept trying to get by to take pictures and kept bumping our chairs.

I like your idea of taking a mid-day break. I've never actually done this, but that way you can all nap, hang by the pool, get out of the sun for a few hours...and go back from Wishes!

We'll see what actually happens. I hope I can convince my parents to do this. Or I just go to Wishes by myself

I'm pumped for you!!!!

Thank you!!!

I do the same exact thing. I've tweaked dinner reservations, plans, everything! I also have a good idea of what I will be eating at each restaurant! It's a problem that don't need no fixin!

Here here!!

I got blue too! It was way darker in person than I remember it looking in pictures? But I think it'll grow on me!

Now that is interesting! I can't wait to get it. I have quite a few days left to go, though. I always thought it was a light blue like Cinderella. Hmm....

Yes yes yes! I considered paying extra just to do DDP and get the cost out of the way! I hate not knowing how much money I'll spend, and let's face it: We always spend more!

Food is definitely going to be the most interesting thing out of our trip for sure! Both with the food allergies and the money.

 

[DexLabDeeDee]

Yachtsman Steakhouse is a great call! We did Le Cellier way back in 2012 and the food was really good, we just prefer the atmosphere at Yachtsman I think. It's very relaxed and spacious, whereas I felt a bit crammed in at Le Cellier. I hope you enjoy it!

Thanks! I am really looking forward to comparing the two. And I'm glad that we are ending with Yachtsman. Hooray!!

 

[DexLabDeeDee]

Sooo....the results from my food allergies are in!

I am not allergic to dairy!

I am also not allergic to potatoes!

But....I am gluten sensitive....

Which is not the end of the world. And it is only a gluten sensitivity which means I need to stay off of it for awhile (6mos-ish) and then I could maybe have it once in awhile.

I'm also supposed to stay away from ginger and asparagus. Both of which I love so wah wah.

So I've been gluten free for about a week except for the once when I accidentally ate a fortune cookie.

I didn't even realize it. My coworker looked at me and said "Doesn't that have gluten in it?"

I stared down at the empty wrapper in horror. "Yes, yes it does!"

He tried to console me. "It probably doesn't have a lot of gluten in it. It's pretty bland."

"Ahhhh, no! It has LOTS of flour in it. That's what makes it bland - it's just flour and a little vanilla! I am the worst!"

I realize that I'm going to make mistakes with this and eat something I shouldn't. I just was not in that place at that moment. It just struck me as incredibly funny and incredibly frustrating at the same time. I wanted to laugh/cry.

I know that I am extremely fortunate in that gluten-free stuff is so readily available. It just is a bit of an adjustment and even though they have gluten-free options at restaurants, eating out is not so fun anymore. At least until I can find those restaurants that have something I like. Which is hard because I'm already a picky eater.

So, we'll definitely be doing Disney gluten-free for me and my mom and dairy-free for her as well.

Now that everything is confirmed, I'm going to email Disney special diets and let them know which reservations we have and ask for a special diets menu for quick service locations.

I hear that Disney is awesome with stuff like this and we'll have a kitchen when were at AKL so I'm glad that this is just going to be a bit of an adjustment and not a big problem. I was out of town in a really small town for work last week and it was really hard to find something to eat. Especially when we got big work lunches from Subway. They don't have any gluten-free bread nor do they have gluten-free salad dressing. At least, that's what I was told. So I basically had plain lettuce in a bowl. Blech.

Luckily, I had anticipated something like this so I had bought some GF snacks but it was still a pain. I really wanted a kitchen in my hotel room!

That's it for now.

I'm debating on some Magic Band stuff AND we're going to do a really special something at the beginning of our trip!

109 Days to Go!!

 

[DexLabDeeDee]

99 Days Until Disney!

That means we're doing the double digit happy dance!!!!! (very fast)

This is what we have so far....

First, we're staying here:



Then we're staying here:

And - surprise! - We'll volunteer here:

And we'll see this:

And do this:

And eat here:

And go here:

And ride this:

And just be like this:



I can't wait!!!!!!!

 

[DexLabDeeDee]

Hello!

Waaaz up??

Not too much here - working and Disney dreaming.

If you paid close attention to my double digit dance post, you saw that we are planning on volunteering at Give Kids the World Village! I am really excited to do this. It is another item on my Disney Dream to-do list.

For those of you who don't know, GKTW is a non-profit organization that gives children with life-threatening illnesses (and their families) week-long magical vacations in Central Florida. The families stay at the 70-acre resort in villas with free meals, fun activities, character interactions, pool fun, and all the ice cream they can eat.

This is where the Make a Wish (and other wish organizations) kids stay. They get complimentary tickets to WDW, US, and SW with front-of-the-line privileges and access to VIP lounges.

Whenever I go on a Disney vacation, I try to set aside some money for a donation to GKTW. I get so much joy out of my WDW vacation and I want these kids to have that joy too. They and their families deserve some fun and laughter in a life full of treatments, hospital visits, missed activities, painful operations, fear, and worry. I want to contribute to their magical memories. Which is why I'm volunteering.

I've already put in my volunteering application (with my mom, she's going to do it as well) and I donated some money to help pay for our background checks. I'm glad they do this as we could potentially be creepers. (We're not. But we COULD be.) I wanted to get in touch with them now both to give the background check time and to allow them time to put us somewhere. I've also emailed volunteer services at GKTW to let them know our availability. We would like to volunteer on our first full day of vacation to kick off our 11 days of Disney right.

There are a lot of different volunteering opportunities. I'm not sure yet what is going to be available that day. Food service, food delivery, face painting, tea, ice cream scooper, pool activities, administrative, golf-carting people around, etc. I would really like to be one of the greeters at the airport. You hold up a sign with the Wish kid's name outside of security, bring them to baggage, and get them on their shuttle or to their rental car. I would love to help kick their trip off from the beginning with a smile and some excitement.

So we'll see. My mom and I will do whatever needs doing. I know it's going to be fun. And maybe it'll tug at our heartstrings a bit. Mom is a little worried about getting upset about these kids. I understand but I've heard that it is extremely rewarding and hopeful and not depressing at all. Unfortunately, there is nothing that we can do about these illnesses but we CAN do our best to lighten the load a little bit. And I would be absolutely honored if I could contribute in that small way.


92 Days to Disney and GKTW!

 

[DexLabDeeDee]

Hello! It's summer!!!!

And I am really worried about handling Disney in the heat. We did a very short visit to the zoo where my sister works (to see some of the new stuff) and I was HOT and tired. Really fast. And this temp was nothing near what Sept in Florida is like. I am definitely going to have to work on getting my heat tolerance up!

In other news, I'm feeling a little bummed right now. On the way up in the car to visit my sister, I wanted to talk to my parents about our Disney trip. Specifically FP+ options. I had printed off a schedule and I had printed off MesaBoy's FP+ priority list so that they could take a peek at that. My mom looked it over and helped pick but she didn't seem very enthused. Now, my mom often pretends that whatever we ask of her is a big deal and an inconvenience. She loves to joke around and make us uncomfortable or "get our goat" as she likes to say. (I have no idea where that saying came from.) It's revenge for all the grey hair we've given her over the years.

Anyway, she was kind of doing her thing about acting annoyed when I was asking her about the FP+ choices but it felt a little real. Like she wasn't all joking. And that bummed me out a bit. I'm excited about the trip and I want my parents to be excited too. I know that no one will be as excited as me but a little more enthusiasm would be great. I think part of the problem is that it is at the end of the summer and it means that summer is winding up when we go. I also think that mom is worried about her health issues and food issues when we're there. Which I understand. It's hard to focus on the fun when you are worried that you will be in pain the whole time.

I guess it really comes down to that I wish I had someone to talk to about the trip who is as excited as I am or knows Disney to the level that I know Disney. I would love to bounce ideas off them and see what sticks (or doesn't). Like should we move our Boma reservation because of the nighttime stuff at AK??? And the logistics and pros and cons of such a choice. I know that's why I come here and I love the DIS but my style of working through things like that is verbal. I say it out loud, it goes back through my filter and into my brain, and voila! Things become clearer. Then people comment, I filter again and voila again! Even clearer! I'm a lone Disney fanatic on an island of casual Disney lovers. Which is still better much better than an island of Disney haters. I just want it all!!! Is that too much to ask???

Yes.


All right, all right. That became sort of depressing. Which was not my original intent. I came to update because Disney updated their Sept hours!! Holla!!

Fiiiiiiinallly. I've been waiting and FP+ reservations are just around the corner. These decisions take time, Disney-people!

So. Here are our first FP+ thoughts:

Day 3 - EP (PM)
Frozen Ever After
Spaceship Earth
The Seas

Day 4 - MK (AM)
7DMT
Space
Splash

Day 6 - HS (AM)
TSMM
ToT
Star Tours (me, Dad)
Frozen Sing a long (Mom)

Day 8 - HS (PM)
TSMM
ToT
Star Tours
(can you see there are not a lot of options for HS? Especially when it's tiered.)

Day 9 - AK (AM)
EE
KS
Nothing for #3 because Dinosaur will be closed (Maybe Kali)

Day 11 - AK (PM)
EE
KS
Rivers of Light (if available)

Day 12 - EP (AM)
Test Track
Anna and Elsa??
Spaceship Earth

Day 13 - MK (PM)
7DMT
PP
ETwB

Well, there you go. There is a bit of a complication. I can't remember if I've mentioned this buuuut we only have 7-day park tickets. If you'll notice, we have 8 park days planned. Ooops. Totally my bad. I know that people have had good luck calling Disney and getting days added on to non-package tickets. But I don't want to do this because we bought our tickets before the last price hike in December. Which is why we have 7-day tickets; it was what was needed at the time. So if we did upgrade our tickets before we got to Disney, we'd be paying the difference on the new (current) 8-day price. BUT if we go down, use our tickets, and THEN go and upgrade, we will only have to pay the difference between the current 7-day and 8-day tickets. Make sense? No? It is confusing. I was trying to explain it to people at work too. Disney can never make it easy. Basically, we'll save a lot of money.

How much?

Thank you for asking! Yes, I would like to do the math. 'Cause that's how I roll.

3 Adult 7-Day Park Passes @ $335 each in Nov. (with tax total $1,070.34)

Let's just say that the prices today will be the prices in Sept.

Today 3 Adult 7-day Park Passes are $370 each for a total with tax of $1,182.16

Today 3 Adult 8-day Park Passes are $380 each for a total with tax of $1,214.10

If I upgraded now (or we upgraded at Disney without first using the tickets), we would have to pay $143.76 ($47.92/person).

If we used our tickets and THEN upgraded, we would pay $31.94 ($10.65/person).

What difference, huh? And this is assuming that prices don't go up before Sept. If they do, it would cost even more to upgrade ahead of time.

In the end, for us, FP+ for one day is not worth the $142.76. We'll wait until we get there and use our tickets before adding a day. My plan is to probably not get the 60-day advanced FP+s our first AK (AM) day. That way, once we are down there and get our extra day, we'll have a week to book FP+s for that day. There still should be plenty of FP+s available for our rides. If not, RD will be our friend.

That's all for me for now.

Stay tuned for the math and APs! Cause I might have another trip on the horizon!!

79 days to go!

PS - I wasn't going to say anything because I feel like everyone has said everything already and what can I say but I have to say something. It's been a rough week in Orlando. All of these horrific events one after another. More love and less hate, people! And a little more compassion and understanding for others. <3

 

[DexLabDeeDee]

Ugh, you guys!!! Disney changed their hours for AK again. At least I think they did. I've been looking at the travel agent calendar for WDW and they have AK listed as open til 11pm through Labor Day and then 5pm the rest of our stay.

However, on the Disney website, it says that it's open until 8pm after Labor Day. I really really want to do EE in the dark. It's become a bit of an obsession. I know that if it is open until 8pm, if we can get on one of the last rides of the day, it'll be in the dark-ish. Sunset is at 7:30pm but the light doesn't completely fade right away.

Sooooo...I'm debating adding another another day to our tickets (we already have to add one) so that we can go on Sunday evening. Literally just to ride EE. And see the Tree of Life show thing. Which puts me in a conundrum about FP+s. Do we just add a day and forget about FP+ for that night?? And if we do the thing at AK on Sunday where we bridge the tickets and add two more, will we lose one of our days of FP+??? Because technically we'll have used a day and have too many FP+ days for the number of ticket days we have. Does that make sense?

So, if we have FP+ for each of the 7 days but then enter AK which makes us with 7 FP+ park days + one extra park entry = 8 park days when our ticket is only 7.

I think I'm going to have to ask this on the Theme Park board. Probably to be safe, we would have to do a FP+ pull on the first Sunday since it's our first day in the park, then add the two days, and then grab FP+s for those two days. Which, ironically, would probably be our two AK days the next week. And those times don't become as critical if I already have done the night EE ride.

So confusing!!!!

72 Days to Go!