ª"˜˜ª¤.¸Team August 2013 Thread! (Part 2)¸.¤ª˜˜"ª&#9733

[momto3gr8boys]

Looks like a great plan! What/where is the Neverland club? Is it expensive? Would love a quick adult only dinner date on our free day.

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Thanks! Neverland club is in poly. It's $ 11.50 a hour per child. My girls will be there at dinner so they will get feed also for that price. I will probably do 3 hours so we can relax eat and enjoy Animal Kingdom Lodge. I think it's well worth it. Nothing like a romantic night at Disney. For us it will probably be our last chance to do this because we have a new baby girl coming in November Ill be 27 weeks when we go.

We used this once for a dinner at the Contemporary and it was great! The kids loved it and had a great time!

 

[momto3gr8boys]

I like starbucks too so I am good with that SB came to the world. I love that I can use my SB cards/app. Hopefully I will have some $$ on my app by then, LOL used my last of mine yesterday on a caramel ribbon crunch frapp.

Last fall during the Sandy aftermath we had family living with us for a while. We would walk into town every day (couldn't risk using our gas!) to go to Starbucks, so I upped the replenishment amount on app. I only ever ordered the specialty drinks and never the regular coffee from Sbux. Then around January I realized just how much "Sandy weight" I had put on and decided certain things had to go, Sbux being one of them. I stopped all sweeteners (real and artificial) in my coffee and only started drinking it with fat free milk. So Sbux was still out because it was taking my taste buds a while to get used to unsweetened coffee, and theirs was way too strong. Well, 6 months later, I am totally fine with coffee and FF milk, AND as a result, have about $35 on my app I will be treating myself on Main Street this summer

 

[momto3gr8boys]

I don't drink coffee, I can't say either way on the bakery part till I see what they have, hope they still have the apple turnover & cinnamon bun

I am more excited about the new root beer slush in a souvenir boot at Pecos Bill's promoting The Lone Ranger Call me crazy but in the August heat a ice cold root beer slush is going to be a lot more refreshing then a hot cup of coffee

Is it me or does Pecos Bill close a lot at the end of August? I remember wanting their taco salad (don't even know if they still have it - I had one years ago and it was great), but it seemed like the past few times I've been at the end of August, it was closed. My DS12 would go nuts for a root beer slush in a boot

 

[Gina-Gina-Bo-Bina]

Yoo hoo, pigletto...........Are you thinking of changing up resorts again?!? One of your posts over on the budget board sounds like you may be considering yet another switch.

Inquiring minds (okay, maybe just this nosy one ) want the update! Don't leave us hanging........ .

 

[pigletto]

Yoo hoo, pigletto...........Are you thinking of changing up resorts again?!? One of your posts over on the budget board sounds like you may be considering yet another switch.

Inquiring minds (okay, maybe just this nosy one ) want the update! Don't leave us hanging........ .

LOL... no. I was trying to price out what it would be for a split stay with AKL (more out of curiosity than anything) and discovered I can't get any resort, at any level, to come up for my dates with the pin code
That concerns me that the last week of August will be much busier than anticipated, but I think it's likely a glitch.

 

[Victoriasmom98]

LOL... no. I was trying to price out what it would be for a split stay with AKL (more out of curiosity than anything) and discovered I can't get any resort, at any level, to come up for my dates with the pin code
That concerns me that the last week of August will be much busier than anticipated, but I think it's likely a glitch.

See??? I was being good!! I'm not the one who asked!!!

 

[pigletto]

See??? I was being good!! I'm not the one who asked!!!

 

[Gina-Gina-Bo-Bina]

See??? I was being good!! I'm not the one who asked!!!

Being good is highly overrated .

 

[Gina-Gina-Bo-Bina]

LOL... no. I was trying to price out what it would be for a split stay with AKL (more out of curiosity than anything) and discovered I can't get any resort, at any level, to come up for my dates with the pin code
That concerns me that the last week of August will be much busier than anticipated, but I think it's likely a glitch.

NOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[momto3gr8boys]

Here's an FYI for anyone having trouble with online check-in. Yesterday was my 60 days, so I checked in my room at the BC and then ran into trouble trying to check-in the other room on our ressie. We have two rooms booked at the Poly and BC, one in my name, one in DW's, with a connecting guaranteed note. My check-in did not note the connection request, and when I tried to check in the other room, they said I needed to be on DW's MDE. I didn't think she had one, so I made one. Then they told me that she does have one and I can't use the one I just made. So I figured I must have made her one way back (no way on earth she did this herself) and went through all the possible email/password combos. Nothing. But according to Disney she has one

So today I called and they told me I needed to go to a different website to check her in. It worked! This one also showed the connecting room guarantee. So, if you are having any trouble checking in with MDE, or you have more than one room, go here: mydisneyreservation.com. This is what I plan to do in a few days when I can check us into the Poly.

Oh, and what would you do in this situation? We have the BC first with our tickets for the entire trip connected to that stay, Poly is RO. I was told they can switch the tickets to those KTTW cards at check-in, and that was my original plan. But, given the reports of problems with the keys and tickets, I'm really concerned about that now...people are reporting standing in line for over an hour at guest services to fix their tickets at the park I was just worried about getting them confused (and there's the hassle of having to carry double the key cards). Some very smart DISer suggested taking along a sharpie to mark the cards with the tix, so hopefully I will remember to pack one! So, what would you do?

 

[momto3gr8boys]

My little QOTD
Should I try to switch my dinner ADR at Garden Grill (CD Chip & Dale) for a dinner ADR at Coral Reef? DD7 LOVES Chip and Dale, however she has developed a love of sea turtles. When I asked her what she was looking forward to at Disney she talked all about seeing sea turtles.
Now - at Garden Grill you will get to see Chip & Dale, at Coral Reef you may not sit close enough to see the sea turtles, or they may swim by while you take a bite. Anyone with Coral Reef experience? And how's the food there anyway?

I have not eaten at the GG, but I only hear great things about it. And Chip and Dale are SOOOOOO much fun! They really ham it up at the character meals! Coral Reef used to be better, IMO. The last time I ate there it was darker than I remembered, the food was ok, they got rid of the playdough peanut butter, which was always a dessert favorite and we weren't near the tanks. I have always seen the turtle in the Living Seas, so if that is the only reason for the switch, keep GG and just plan to spend a little extra time at the LS to make sure you see him! And go to Turtle Talk with Crush! Last time they picked my DS and I got handed the microphone as his "parental unit"

 

[momto3gr8boys]

We've been so busy lately, I just caught up on the last thread then had a bunch of pages here too! August is so active! I just finished taking some exams for school and tomorrow I'm getting my wisdom teeth out I can't wait for August to get here!!

Seneca, thank you so much for all you do for this thread!!

I hope you aren't in too much pain! Let us know how you are doing!

 

[momto3gr8boys]

I've been following along quietly for the past day now but haven't had time to post on this.

I don't have a sentimental attachment to the MSB so it doesn't bug me. We didn't go before but we might go now. Never hurts to know you can get a decent cup of coffee if Disney energy isn't enough for you. As for the brand labels entering the sacred grounds of WDW, doesn't Coke already sell their products there? Truthfully, Starbucks is really part of Main Street USA as it can be found pretty much everywhere you go in America, so it kind of fits with the theme.

And despite the "outrage" I'll be the line is out the door.

Now the question is can I bring in a couple of Bailey's minis to add to my coffee?

Yes, and before it was Starbucks it was Nescafe (Nestle products). And does anyone remember when those Kodak picture spot signs were all over the place? You'd take a great shot only to have the Kodak sign show up in half the pictures (pre-digital)

 

[momto3gr8boys]

So.. does everyone have plans for their kids to keep them busy this summer?

I thought I did. But as the end of school looms I realized there were big gaps in the summer with nothing to do. My son is a doer. Sitting around will not go over well.
We have him in 2 weeks of basketball camp (holy expensive!!). I just looked up a day camp at a local conservation area that looks promising too. He'll go see Nana and Papa for a few days here and there and we'll walk to the library for their programs, go swimming, drive in movies and such.

I do daycare and will have weeks with lots of kids for him to play with but most of my clients also use their grandparents in the summer to alleviate daycare costs. I get it.. but it's a pain. I never did contracts and I've had these families for years. It's always worked itself out but with a trip looming I was hoping to have more hours. Oh well.

I have a few busy busy weeks and a few weeks of nothing.

My DS12 is a doer too, so I know how hard it is! My other two are content to do whatever, so they are easier. DS17 will work four days a week, (7-3:30) and volunteer at the hospital two or three evenings. Then he'll have one day off for clarinet lessons and dr./dentist/orthodontist appointments and just doing whatever.

DS15 has drama camp for three weeks and then I will have to keep him busy. He would lounge all summer without a care in the world, but he needs to DO something

DS12 will do baseball camp, hiking camp, a week away at West Point for hockey camp, track practice, and hopefully he'll be content with the pool and hopefully his down time will coincide with his friends' down time!

Ugh on not having as many clients this summer. I'm sorry it's not working out to be as many hours as you had hoped.

 

[momto3gr8boys]

It's actually only temporary most likely. McDonalds used to be in the parks too. They had carts where the snack carts now are and you could get fries from them. The Restaurantosaurus used to be a McDonalds and it only sold Chicken McNugget Combo Meals. Eventually the contract ran out and they weren't renewed and they were replaced with more Disney-ish things. I'm not sure how long the contract is but if it's not popular (which I think it likely will be) and it's not making money for both companies (which I think it will do) then it will be replaced with something else. It may go back to being just a Disney bakery but behind the scenes it will still sell the coffee of some company, be it Starbucks, Nescafe, Jofferys or some other brand.

I forgot about Restaurantsaurus being a McDonalds. That was back when Eisner and the McDonalds' CEO were BFFs...remember for a while all the McD's happy meal toys were tied to Disney? And that was when they built that big one on property near the All Stars. I agree....things come and go. And sometimes you can even miss them...like the old Eastern Airlines ride

 

[momto3gr8boys]

Any one else feeling like their world was rocked a bit from the news about James Gandolfini?

I was so sad when I heard I loved the Sopranos, and he's just so young...it's scary when something like that happes. I feel so bad for his wife and children.

 

[momto3gr8boys]

We're already discussing next year's plan. Looks like it may be a bigger event than I previously thought. We may go towards mid-June to celebrate my in-law's 20th anniversary and a bunch of family may be joining us. If my math is right we could have somewhere in the range of 15 people! And with my wife and I being the Disney Experts we're being asked to plan it! Dear Lord, how am I going to get a BOG ADR for 15 people?

Good luck on that one! But having gone with 19 people one time, the trick to securing any ADRs is to eat at off times - dinner at 5:00, etc. It works out well when you are the first seating because then you will be placed in a section together. If they still do the grand gatherings breakfast at Tony's, definitely do that - it was a lot of fun, they have a photographer there to do big group pics, they do games and dancing for the kids, etc. Sounds like it will be a lot of fun!! Enjoy your kid-free time this summer!

 

[momto3gr8boys]

Tonight's Disney Movie night will be....





We love stitch!

 

[squirrel4569]

Good luck on that one! But having gone with 19 people one time, the trick to securing any ADRs is to eat at off times - dinner at 5:00, etc. It works out well when you are the first seating because then you will be placed in a section together. If they still do the grand gatherings breakfast at Tony's, definitely do that - it was a lot of fun, they have a photographer there to do big group pics, they do games and dancing for the kids, etc. Sounds like it will be a lot of fun!! Enjoy your kid-free time this summer!

After doing some more talking on this we may be closer to 20 people when all is said and done, but who knows how many will actually go or not.

My in-laws have an RV and might be able to house a few folks there which could save some on rooms but I'm also thinking that with the exception of a couple of times we may very well split off into different factions depending on what everyone wants to do. Might be easier that way. Definitely will be on here looking for advice and tips though.

 

[squirrel4569]

Anyone think there is a chance at walk up ADRs for BOG dinners this August? I'm kind of hoping that the rumors that they aren't returning cancellations into the system are true. Might be the only way to get in there.

I won't be so worried about it except it's the only place to see the Beast. Lunch service is pretty good and I'm sure we'll do that at least once while we're there.