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

[momto3gr8boys]

Good to know! We'll have to test that out here with the ones she got. They are supposed be good for the water so hopefully she doesn't run into that issue since she loves them so much. I've got a pair of Keen sandals that seem to do pretty well. I'm hoping my ankle holds up to a full day of walking without a brace.

Congrats on the weight loss!!

Which five fingers did she get? Maybe different models handle water differently. I have the Komodo Sport LS, and they are still not dry two days later Lesson learned...it's the old sneakers for runs in the rain from now on. But I do have a bit of a shoe problem and wouldn't mind picking up another pair if they handled wet weather well . And to clarify, they were great in the rain - never slipped or lost traction, etc. It was the soggy after effect that I wouldn't have been able to tolerate as your feet would stay as wet as if they were in socks. Definitely test them out on your next rainy day!

 

[momto3gr8boys]

Civilian clothes instead of hospital gown--check, no tubes--check, BIG FREAKIN' GRIN--check!!! We are OUTTA HERE!! After a very nice dinner at Red Lobster (Josh's choice), we are now HOME from the hospital!! THANK YOU for all the prayers, happy thoughts, pixie dust, and positive energy!! We are so happy to be home. We don't know yet if his treatment worked, but we are HOME!!

Woohoo!!! I'm so glad you get to go home!! And I will continue to pray that the treatment was a huge success!

 

[DMGeurts]

Civilian clothes instead of hospital gown--check, no tubes--check, BIG FREAKIN' GRIN--check!!! We are OUTTA HERE!! After a very nice dinner at Red Lobster (Josh's choice), we are now HOME from the hospital!! THANK YOU for all the prayers, happy thoughts, pixie dust, and positive energy!! We are so happy to be home. We don't know yet if his treatment worked, but we are HOME!!

What a relief!!! I am so happy to hear you are home and things are going well. Continued prayers for all of you.

D~

 

[squirrel4569]

Civilian clothes instead of hospital gown--check, no tubes--check, BIG FREAKIN' GRIN--check!!! We are OUTTA HERE!! After a very nice dinner at Red Lobster (Josh's choice), we are now HOME from the hospital!! THANK YOU for all the prayers, happy thoughts, pixie dust, and positive energy!! We are so happy to be home. We don't know yet if his treatment worked, but we are HOME!!

Congrats! He looks very happy to be heading home! Hope this treatment works for him.

Congrats on the weight loss!!

Which five fingers did she get? Maybe different models handle water differently. I have the Komodo Sport LS, and they are still not dry two days later Lesson learned...it's the old sneakers for runs in the rain from now on. But I do have a bit of a shoe problem and wouldn't mind picking up another pair if they handled wet weather well . And to clarify, they were great in the rain - never slipped or lost traction, etc. It was the soggy after effect that I wouldn't have been able to tolerate as your feet would stay as wet as if they were in socks. Definitely test them out on your next rainy day!

I just looked them up and it looks like she's got the same ones. I mentioned this to her yesterday and she thinks that the heat will help them to dry out. We'll definitely bring some spares with us to keep the feet comfy while we're there. I've got my Keen sandals but my concern is not wearing my ankle brace with it. I think every Disney hotel should have hot tubs or foot massagers in them.

 

[squirrel4569]

Since we're all friends here I think I can ask this question without starting a huge DISboard battle.

QOTD: Do you think that Disney's policy of requiring ADRs for restaurants is a good thing or should all restaurants in WDW be first come, first served?

I'm kind of torn on this. On one hand for those of us who plan extensively a few months out it works out well, but it kills spontaneity. Most of us can't just wake up and say "I want to go to X park and eat at Y restaurant." You have to plan your trip around your meal reservations. Also for Florida residents who are able to do day trips it means they can't just walk up to most of the "good" restaurants there. Even for those that are able to just take off at a moment's notice and hit the World they are kind of stuck with either eating off site or eating counter service only. Not that some of the counter service are bad, they just aren't the quality of the table service places.

On the other hand I don't know if first come, first served would work considering the size of the crowds. Some people don't mind waiting an hour or so for a restaurant, but at Disney time is money to me (and most people) so maybe having to wait an hour or more for each meal would be frustrating and result in angry customers and push them off-site.

 

[joshsmom]

Since we're all friends here I think I can ask this question without starting a huge DISboard battle.

QOTD: Do you think that Disney's policy of requiring ADRs for restaurants is a good thing or should all restaurants in WDW be first come, first served?

WOW, GREAT question!!! Guess I never really thought of it!! I know that having reservations for restaurants IRL is a must for some places. No reservation, no table. OTOH, there are other restaurants that you go and just take your chances re: how long you will have to wait.

I think that, although it does totally limit us, I like it. I LOVE the planning and getting everything set the way I want it. I love knowing that I WON'T have to spend hours waiting for a restaurant that we want to visit, and I LOVE knowing we will get to visit our favorites on our trip. It is a pain for locals and for those that don't plan.

 

[electrocutie]

Since we're all friends here I think I can ask this question without starting a huge DISboard battle.

QOTD: Do you think that Disney's policy of requiring ADRs for restaurants is a good thing or should all restaurants in WDW be first come, first served?

I love having ADRs! Although I will agree that it causes some minor headaches. Like when choosing a time in advance, I try to gauge where we would be in our touring plan. Or when we are actually there and the lunch reservation hits us when we are still in GO mode. But these are minor issues compared to the fact that at the end of the day, we're eating at Disney World.

In fact, I only know about how nice the restaurants are from the tons of research I do and previous experiences. I think the average park visitor doesn't do research, and therefore won't really know what they're missing.

 

[chuckinthechat]

Since we're all friends here I think I can ask this question without starting a huge DISboard battle.

QOTD: Do you think that Disney's policy of requiring ADRs for restaurants is a good thing or should all restaurants in WDW be first come, first served?

This is a tough question!!

I guess all the ADR's are nice but it does kill any spontaneity that is possible to an extent. There is always a chance that you can change the ADR's while in the park but the odds aren't that great of getting the time you want.

And on the other hand if they just allow walk ups you're going to have a stampede going to all the restaurants at the same time and getting angry they can't have a table (not that this doesn't already happen.)

In my opinion they should reduce the ADR window to the online check in window (60 days)
It will allow the planning and to an extent the spontaneity may be increased

 

[zabache]

Civilian clothes instead of hospital gown--check, no tubes--check, BIG FREAKIN' GRIN--check!!! We are OUTTA HERE!! After a very nice dinner at Red Lobster (Josh's choice), we are now HOME from the hospital!! THANK YOU for all the prayers, happy thoughts, pixie dust, and positive energy!! We are so happy to be home. We don't know yet if his treatment worked, but we are HOME!!

Great news! Red Lobster great choice, I Love Red Lobster!

 

[ThereYouSeeHer]

Since we're all friends here I think I can ask this question without starting a huge DISboard battle.

QOTD: Do you think that Disney's policy of requiring ADRs for restaurants is a good thing or should all restaurants in WDW be first come, first served?

ADR's all the way! What else would we do with our time when we book a year out?!?

But seriously, even though we won't have ADR's this time around, I'm still having fun researching QS locations and determining where to eat. I couldn't imagine having walk-up table-service dining like we do quick service. It would cause some major wait times and scenes of chaos!

 

[zabache]

Since we're all friends here I think I can ask this question without starting a huge DISboard battle.

QOTD: Do you think that Disney's policy of requiring ADRs for restaurants is a good thing or should all restaurants in WDW be first come, first served?

I think they should have a few tables available for people that do decide at the spur of the moment to eat a a TS rest. That said there are so many people that visit the world that without the ADR's it would be chaotic, at least during peak seasons. I see it as being organized. This will be our first planned trip to WDW all of the other times have been spontaneous ones. No ADR's, no plans, no nothing. We've always eaten CS while there since we didn't know any better. No plans as far as what rides to go on or what shows to see. I'll give you a personal example. I've known for a few years about CRT. Well, I knew there was a restaurant at the castle but that was it. I've always thought to myself "It would be so cool to eat there" but that was it. I always thought it might be too expensive or something unreachable so I never put any more thought into it. Maybe others think like me that the TS rest might be out of their reach. I think we as Diser's plan way ahead but we are the minority. We worry while the rest don't. I would be sad if I tried to eat at a TS and they said I needed ADR's. I would learn from it and just try to get some for the rest of the trip. As far as Florida Residents, they should know by now they need ADR's.

 

[DMGeurts]

QOTD: Do you think that Disney's policy of requiring ADRs for restaurants is a good thing or should all restaurants in WDW be first come, first served?

I see both sides of it - honestly I do...

Personally - I love having ADRs... It gives me something to do and to plan. I don't mind choosing my parks around my dining reservations... after all - we were going to go to that park anyways.

The only time I see a problem with planning parks around ADRs is if you have Parkhoppers... I can see where that would get really annoying - hopping from park to park just to eat. It's one of the main reasons we never do Parkhoppers.

However, I've never really given much thought to those people who just go whenever they feel like going, and how they miss out. I think a good option would be for Disney to hold back some of their reservations, so that people could have the opportunity to walk up.

D~

 

[Gina-Gina-Bo-Bina]

Since we're all friends here I think I can ask this question without starting a huge DISboard battle.

QOTD: Do you think that Disney's policy of requiring ADRs for restaurants is a good thing or should all restaurants in WDW be first come, first served?

I will likely be the lone wolf on this one (but you guys are probably used to that from me by now) so forgive me when I say that as a general rule, I'm no fan of the ADR system.

I understand the reason for them, I really do....and I love the whole planning process, so its not that issue for me either. I just hate deciding six months before my vacation where I want to eat and (worse yet), WHEN. Particularly in the summer months, when the heat can really mess with your appetite.

I would eat more often at Disney restaurants if ADR's weren't a necessity. But I don't want to tie us to ADR times for meals at a premium price when we may not even be hungry enough at that particular moment to truly enjoy it.

This is what has made us such fans of SeaWorld's all day dining. One price gets you breakfast through dinner as well as all the snacks and drinks you want for one price (less than a WDW dinner buffet). Eat where you want, when you want, as much as you want. Yes, its technically "counter service" (though at Christmas I had a turkey bread bowl with mashed potatoes and gravy that was delectable, while DH had ribs, chicken, and corn on the cob and DS enjoyed chicken alfredo pasta ..... so well beyond the "burgers, fries and pizza" that we all think of when we think CS meals) but it works much better with our park touring style. And its open to EVERYONE....not just SW onsite guests.

We have two Disney ADR's for our upcoming trip. One breakfast and one dinner. We generally strive for a more "go with the flow" kind of vacation so I wouldn't book any more than that. We will also do another "theme" dining at Universal (NBA City for my basketball-lovin' boy) but happily that's a walk-in at our convenience......no advance decision on date and time required.

Would it work to remove the ADR system and go to walk-ups only? Probably not (and I can see it being a total nightmare when crowd levels are 8 and above......thinking specifically of Christmas week ). But the current system doesn't wow me, either. Not sure what the perfect fix is!

 

[squirrel4569]

I understand the reason for them, I really do....and I love the whole planning process, so its not that issue for me either. I just hate deciding six months before my vacation where I want to eat and (worse yet), WHEN. Particularly in the summer months, when the heat can really mess with your appetite.

We've had some trial and error with ADRs on our past two trips where we weren't completely familiar with where everything was in relation to where we thought we'd be and had to abandon what we were doing in a park to catch dinner some place. Even going to Chef Mickey's from MK is a bit of a hike/challenge/hassle.

On this trip originally we were going to go with no TS meals and just be able to go with the flow. We decided on a few breakfasts though so we've got TS breakfasts in the parks before RD. That still gives us the rest of the day to eat wherever and whenever we so choose. We'll do at least one CS meal the rest of the day and probably a snack to tide us over. Those we can find all over and not need to bother with a reservation.

 

[solana131]

QOTD: Do you think that Disney's policy of requiring ADRs for restaurants is a good thing or should all restaurants in WDW be first come, first served?

I think that, although it does totally limit us, I like it. I LOVE the planning and getting everything set the way I want it. I love knowing that I WON'T have to spend hours waiting for a restaurant that we want to visit, and I LOVE knowing we will get to visit our favorites on our trip. It is a pain for locals and for those that don't plan.

Totally how I feel! I love the planning, I think it is half the fun to plan so far in advance. What would I do all day if I didn't have my spreadsheets to tweak and re-tweak all the time??

But, that being said, I think they should have all ADRs at 180 days. Waiting for the randomness of the Dessert Party is just torture!

 

[jennluvsdis]

Finally HOT here in jersey! Almost reminds me of the World in August, well sort of... Need to jump on the weight loss bandwagon! Great job squirrel4569!

 

[DisMom1981]

Whoops.....sorry 'bout that .

Not something really to "worry" about, but it is prime hurricane season at that point....so definitely something to be "aware" of.

Definitely! It's always an obsession when we have a cruise planned- can't believe I didn't think about this!

Sent from my iPhone using DISBoards

 

[DisMom1981]

Civilian clothes instead of hospital gown--check, no tubes--check, BIG FREAKIN' GRIN--check!!! We are OUTTA HERE!! After a very nice dinner at Red Lobster (Josh's choice), we are now HOME from the hospital!! THANK YOU for all the prayers, happy thoughts, pixie dust, and positive energy!! We are so happy to be home. We don't know yet if his treatment worked, but we are HOME!!

http://s286.photobucket.com/user/joshsmom1596/media/975908_10151613187412766_1821957499_n.jpg.html

YAY!!!

Sent from my iPhone using DISBoards

 

[pigletto]

I can see the need for ADR's. I can not see why they need to be done 180 days in advance. I think honestly it's part of a strategy to get people to lock into a Disney vacation choice. If you hear the hype and the "Oh no! You won't get anything if you don't book waaayyyy in advance!!" stuff, you are more likely to book way ahead of time, make payments regularly and stay committed to a Disney trip IMO. They could easily make people make their ADR's even 30 days ahead of time.. but look at all those months people have time to make another vacation choice, or not save up the money and decide not to go. I think it's clever marketing really.

So in personal news..
The budget took a hit today. My sweet boy cat peed in the house a few times which is highly unusual for him so we went to the vet. He has a partial blockage in his urethra and had to stay for the day to get a catheter and be flushed out. Now we switch him to a stone dissolving prescription diet. He already ate a very expensive food but apparently male cats are prone to stones and he needs something with less ash and more liquid.
In the end..$500.00 .
It could have been very serious and I am VERY grateful he is ok. I will need to cut some corners somewhere to get back in budget for the summer but it will be ok. I am thinking of ditching the car and using Disney transportation. There's at least 200-250 that I had built into my vacation budget.
It's not an expense we were expecting so it would have to come out of savings which I'd rather not do. Ditching the car would just cut it in half and I'd feel better about that . And my wee little friend is on the mend. That is the important part!

 

[Loreli]

Since we're all friends here I think I can ask this question without starting a huge DISboard battle.

QOTD: Do you think that Disney's policy of requiring ADRs for restaurants is a good thing or should all restaurants in WDW be first come, first served?

I LOVE ADRs. Sorry Locals! I had NO idea about planning and thanks to this board and Lines I was able to get my ADRs at the 180 day mark. I like knowing where and when we are going to eat. That said I have never done a WDW trip with ADRs, as 28 yrs ago there were no ADRs! Ask me in September if I like the ADR system LOL!!


Pigletto - So sorry to hear about your cat.