Movin' Right Along: August 2014 Trip

[digiMom]

This is my first pre-trip report, so I'm pretty excited to share my planning with everyone! The last time my kids and I were in WDW was about 2 years ago with my mom. This is actually the first time my DH will be coming since 2006.

WHO
So the total make up of our group is DS who will just turn 14 before we go, DD is 17, DH and I. We are having an awful winter and wish we could go now, but the days of taking the kids out of school are past.

WHERE
We are going on a great adventure! We're trying an experiment that I'm assuming will either be amazing or a disaster. In the past we have always stayed in a value. This trip, however, I have points to use for airfare and that has opened up possibilities. I found someone through DIS to rent DVC points from! I'm so excited and our family couldn't decide which area we wanted to stay at, so decided to stay at 3! We are going to stay at a studio at the BWV the first 3 nights, hanging out at Epcot, HS, the BW and exploring the resort area those days. Then we're moving to VWL for 2 nights and checking out MK, FW and the monorail resorts. (I just saw that the studios will be refurbished there over the year; that should make things interesting...) Finally, we're finishing up at AKV for the last 3 nights. I'm sure we'll be ready to slow it down by then and may just want to enjoy AK and AKL. This will probably be the time we visit DTD as well.

WHEN
We decided to go in late August because it seemed the best time for us when the kids are out of school. The crowds should be relatively low compared to other options, and the prices are decent. The only downside will be the heat. But we will find ways to deal with it while there.

That's it for now. If you decide to follow along please introduce yourself... I'm sure I'll have questions and decisions to make and will welcome your input as things move along...

 

[digiMom]

... For later...

 

[wiigirl]

Joining in!

 

[digiMom]

Well, it's getting close to ADR time and I'm still not sure if I'm going to make any. There are a few I'm interested in, but my touring style doesn't really go with TS. I like to just pick something up when I'm hungry. In epcot, I like to get things here and there to try them out. I like the idea of BOG, but the menu doesn't really fit our family. So here are my thoughts and we'll see what I decide on in a few days.

Via napoli, just because DS loves pizza. He could eat it every day.

BOG, maybe just for desserts.

WCC at WL for breakfast.

Debating on Sanaa, Boma or Tusker. Probably dinner.

So that's it. Wonder what I decide to do ...

 

[digiMom]

Joining in!

Welcome!

I made my first ADR:
August 18 11:30 Via Napoli

I'm going to make one or two more, but those have to wait for a few days because of my split stay.

I'm very excited to see less than "6 months" on my ticker! That is so cool!

I still haven't purchase our tickets yet. I subscribe to the Mousesavers Newsletter, so I get a link to discounted Undercover Tourist tickets. The biggest discount is for 5 day PH tickets, but I haven't decided if I want PHs or not. Otherwise the regular tickets are about $16 off of 5 day tickets. Either way I'll have to add days once I'm there because we'll probably be in the parks 7 to all 9 days, depending on what times our flights turn out to be. Decisions, decisions!!

 

[digiMom]

To Park Hop or to not Park Hop.... Mmmmm I just can't make up my mind. We've added the PH the last 3 trips, but this trip is going to have a different touring style and when I think through my schedule it seems like it would be very easy to not have it. I don't mind getting it if we'd use it. But will we??

Also, after much thought, I made a second ADR. YEAH! I've always wanted to try Boma. And we're not big breakfast eaters, so I knew if we decided to eat here it would be a dinner. This is a pretty expensive dinner. But... I finally decided that we'd eat here this time. It'll be to celebrate our 22nd wedding anniversary. I'm setting it up for the night we check in, so I won't feel like I'm trying to schedule other things around it. Sooo looking forward to this!!!

The other dilemma I worked through... really want to see BOG. Alot.. Soo.. we'll make a FP+ for a late lunch here and eat desserts. Yeah!!! If I can't get FP's We'll try and get in there on an off time...

 

[digiMom]

I bought my tickets but forgot to post... So here's what happened..

The day before the price increase I was just so into planning for the trip. I was figuring out ADRs and watching YouTube videos of different resorts and restaurants (anyone else do this?) So I went on Undercover Tourist and decided we should do the park hoppers! I get that link through the Mousesavers email newsletter, so I'm able to get an even bigger discount. I got the one with the biggest discount, so that was the 5 day PH at $28 off each!

Well, the prices at DW went up the very next day! UT will still do old prices till their inventory is sold out, but still now it's like I got $45 off per ticket. I'll just have to add a few more days after we get there and use it once.

So next up in the planning will be our flights. We'll fly Southwest because I have a bunch of rewards to use (did I mention that already? I can't remember.) Anyway, my dates become available to book Monday. I want to book right away because sometime late in March it will take more points per dollar; they're changing the exchange. boo!!

I'm also trying to nail down a schedule and think about FP + scheduling. In someways I'm looking forward to it because I know we'll have some rides for sure. But on the other hand, I don't like to be too scheduled on vacation. I'm not the person without a plan, but I'm not the person with a tight schedule either. I like to be able to wing it somewhat. We'll see how it goes.

That's it for now!

 

[digiMom]

It feels like a lot has happened since I last posted. So let's get up-to-date!

Flights: I booked our flights on SW (the morning the dates became available).. The good news is that I was able to book everything on my points so only paid for taxes, fees and EBCI. My total bill was $120! I thought about EBCI and seriously considered not doing it this time. With their app, I figured I had more control over checking in at the 24 hour mark. But I ultimately decided the price was worth if for me. I often get that annoying Loading "spinnie" thing. I'm on vacation and for $50 decided it was worth it not to worry about it.

.. OK, now for the not-so-good news. I'm not thrilled with my flight times. I've flown non-stop and connecting and for us, non-stop is how I want to fly whenever possible. Our group doesn't fly well, so I just prefer to get it over with. I don't like getting there too late on our arrival time, so the time we took takes off at 6:45 am. I'll keep my eyes open for if they add a flight around 8-10. The return flight is 11 am. The later one was already sold out! that means that we have to board DME around 8 am. I'd really like to push this back.

I know in the past there have been changes in SW's flight schedule, so I'm going to keep monitoring this and hopefully will be able to adjust times as we get closer to our date. Still, all this is doable and it's a relief to know that we're set up for our dates. Renting from DVC means that they are not flexible at all.

Tickets: I have been sooo stressed about the tickets. I have always gotten a really good special offer through Disney and just got our tickets with our package. This time, however, I thought we could save some money going through UT. I was so excited to learn that I had gotten them before the price increase. What could be better than that? I hadn't decided on our plans, so thought I'd get the one that meant our minimum and had the biggest discount: a 5 day PH. Well, recently on this board there have been rumors of some changes to Disney's semi-consistent bridging policy. There seems as though there have even been cases were people were not allowed to upgrade at all, let alone at a discount. So I hung in there waiting to hear what/if there was a standard policy to fall back on. In the meantime I made this huge table comparing all the possibilities of what may happen with upgrading at the gate and decided it made sense to decide on the tickets for the trip and upgrade them now. UT still has tickets at the old prices and I get the Mousesavers discount through the Newsletter link. The only way I lose money is if I would have gotten the best upgrade possiblity (getting credit for current gate prices); even with shipping the tickets back Registered Mail with insurance, I am out less that $40. And I'm out all the stress of worrying about it. UT has been great to work with through this process. So now I have... 8 day PH + WPM tickets. I was going to skip the WPM part, but my kids want to go to DQ so bad (we skipped it last time). They said they would pay for it. (Don't feel too bad for them. They're paying me with money I've given them for birthdays and Christmas, so it's like they've chosen it for their present )

Magic Bands: I'm not sure if I mentioned this, but I set up our MB. Because we're doing a split stay between 3 resorts, we each get to chose 3 bands, meaning a total of 12 bands! Seems weird, but there it is.. So we all picked out 3 different colors and set it up so we don't have the same color at the same time. I will have to look into the specifics of this. Can we use any of them at any time? Do we set up each set as we check in to each resort? I'm just now sure..

Getting in shape for the trip: I won't get into it here, but I've had some health issues recently. I started thinking about how this will affect the quality of it and decided now (about 6 months out) is a great time to get started. It's so hard to stay motivated, though, so I asked my friends over at the August happy dance thread if they were also interest. There was enough interest to start a W.I.S.H. thread and we're on our second week. I really hope that I can keep it going so that by the time the trip comes I have the strength and stamina to enjoy as much as possible!

Well, I think that's it for now. I'm at the point where there's a little time before I have to think about things like FP+ (I'm hoping that they change some things about this before we go like tiers and how many. I'd be great if you could set them up for more that one park a day, too.) So for now I'm going to keep working on my fitness goals...

 

[digiMom]

Time for an update!

I'm still working on exchanging my tickets. I sent them back registered insured through usps and it took forever! Now I'm waiting for them to send me my new ones. They told me early this week, so I'm going to have to email them tomorrow...

I changed my return flight to a later time. We're now not leaving until 7 pm, which means we leave AKV at around 4 pm instead of 8 am. Yeah!

I bought a few things (couldn't help myself ). Some trial size toiletries and some little battery fans. I also bought some supplied to rig up a privacy curtain in the studios were staying at. I got two 3M hooks and extra strips for either side of the hallway and a nice fabric shower curtain to hook across them. It would be nice if I can set this up across the vanity area, but I think it will be too wide to work..

Finally, I'm continuing to work out and eat healthy. What a struggle! Ooy! Especially with the weather. It was 9 degrees here when I woke up this morning! I'm so over it!

A little over 140+ days to go! It can't come soon enough!

 

[cogero]

Joining in too. We go almost every year in late August.

 

[digiMom]

Joining in too. We go almost every year in late August.

Thanks for joining in!

My planning has been slow these last weeks. I started having pains that culminated in a trip to the ER and having my gallbladder removed last weekend. Eek! I've been mostly laying low all week. I wish the recovery was quicker, but what are you going to do?

I did get my updated tickets from UT, so now that craziness is over. I'm hoping to tightening up some of my touring plans pretty soon. I'm also in kind of a wait-and-see mode to see what if anything I'll need to do with my diet. I may have to modify some of the things I wanted to eat.

 

[digiMom]

Double Digit Dance! WooHoo!!

 

[digiMom]

Well, I've been in "stall mode" trying to recover from surgery. I'm pretty much there now, but my poor sweat 5 year old puppy suddenly started losing sontrol of her hind quarters on Mother's Day. We took her to the vet on Monday, and she was diagnosed with a bulging disc. So she's been on crate rest and we've taken her in for laser treatments. She is better, but not 100% yet. It's hard planning for a trip with so many other things going on...

But I just realized we have 13 weeks until the trip, so I'm starting to get excited again! Boy, I really do need a vacation! So here are some things I need to do soon:

• Enter my tickets into MDE
• Start thinking about a schedule and fastpass selections
• Pay off the rest of my points rental in about a month

With all the financial stuff going on (new car, surgery, etc) I am no longer thinking about adding US/IOA, more ADRs or room upgrades. As I'm writing this, I realize that it's actually a relief to let those options be decided for us.

 

[SnoWhiteRabbit]

Joining in...Going in August, too. Can't wait

 

[digiMom]

Joining in...Going in August, too. Can't wait

 

[digiMom]

I can't believe it's been so long since i posted here! Lucy's doing fine. She still needs to take it easy, which is really hard to explain to a dog. But we're trying and it seems to be working.

I did a couple of exciting things today! I paid off my dvc points rental in full.. Yeah! ..and I linked my UT tickets to my MDE account without problems. I think I have 10 days to go before I can sign up for my FP+. I gotta figure out the exact day. I have some choices in mind. I'm trying to figure out early morning rides vs FP lines. For example, I think we'll do 7DMT first thing instead of getting a FP. Why? because the line skips the queue, which we really want to see. Same for TT. I read you don't fully get to design a car if you go through the FP queue. I think we'll get a FP for that as well, though. Pretty sure we'll want to do that one more than once. At least my DS will.

I'm still figuring out other odds and ends as well. No final decision on things like mugs and memory maker. I've had some big bills come up lately (2014 has not been kind financially) so we'll have to see..

I'm off to figure out my FP+ requests.. Be back soon!

 

[digiMom]

I forgot to add that I've been trying to schedule my park days using this tool on touringplans. I have to say the personalized plan thingy is pretty cool. It lets you choose which times you're going to be there, which attractions and shows you want to see, if you want to minimize walking or waiting, or how fast you think you'll walk.. You can add fastpass times, ADR or just schedule lunch and breaks, even if you're leaving or staying in the parks.. Like I said, it's fun to play around with. I've always gone when it isn't that busy and there were paper fastpasses. We always hit the big rides first and then just winged it. I don't know that I'll get so crazy that I'll be a drill sergeant with this, but it's nice to have a plan..

 

[digiMom]

Tonight's the night! FP time! The kids want to make a big deal about it, so were having a FP party and can go in around 11 our time. I'll probably do online checkin too. I'm still not sure how FP will work with our split stay ... If we can do the whole trip right away or if I'll have to do it in stages. I guess we'll find out tonight

 

[digiMom]

I was going to report on FP yesterday but was just so tired I couldn't.

The system was not working at the right time 11:01 CST. So hopped on these boards and ranted with everyone else. Just when I was about to give up, I checked on my phone while just getting into bed and bam!, it was up. So I quickly went through all my days. Then I went back downstairs and modified times on my laptop. I didn't get to sleep until after 1 am

My DD and DH are NOT roller coaster people.. At all.. Did I mention they don't do roller coasters? Anyway, in the morning I was going to figure out what ride to switch those two over to and for some reason thought to check for A&E and tink. They were there for the same exact times so I grabbed them. She is 17, so maybe a little old for this, but she is super excited so that's enough for me. The kids still have their autograph books from our original trip in 2006 when they were 5 and 8. They were so cute! They've brought them to our other two trips and added to them. DS could really care less anymore, but DD still has some kid left in her.

I did online checkin for BWV too. I have some room requests, but checked to get an early room if possible just to try to minimize our time being homeless. Maybe it won't happen since we're staying DVC, but at least we have a chance. I've got two more to go on the 20th and 22nd (I believe (better check that).

 

[digiMom]

I've been tweaking my FP times, but I think I'm done. It's really hard to just leave it alone, though. I'm so excited about going! It's really started to feel real now!

I did online check in for VWL and AKV and am pretty excited to see what rooms we wind up with. I don't know what we'll get at BWV; my requests are still wonky. Really, I just decided to let it o and get what we get, although my worst case scenario would be top floor as far from the elevators as possible. DD17 would not be able to do the steps, so we'd have to truck it to the elevator every time.

VWL requests were first floor and near lobby. This resort is so compact, though, that's I'll be happy wherever we wind up. The only thing I'm keeping track of is that studio without a balcony on the 4th floor. I've come to terms with the fact the there's scheduled construction around the pool. It's set for after we go, but I'm sure we'll see some scaffolding, closed pathways, and I'm guessing the little streams will be dry. Such a minor thing.. I'm not going to let that ruin our stay.

For AKV, I've decided to see if we can get a partial savanna view with our standard view ressie. So I requested near lobby and Sunset Savanna View. If we don't get it, that's OK. I'm sure the pool area is nice.

I'm going to leave the room assignment issues to fate now. Let it add to the excitement rather than the stress.

Another issue I'm thinking through right now.. the chances of getting a FP for BOG lunch. Rumor has it, the system is switching to restrict sign up to the day of checkin. What? OK, whatever. I'll stop stressing about this as well and start just planning on getting in line at 10-10:30. If I get a FP, it'll be pixie dust.

I absolutely refuse to stress over this trip. I've been planning this for probably over 2 years if I really think about it. At some point you just gotta allow yourself to enjoy!