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

[cinnderly]

Sending positive thoughts to our Northern neighbors. I hope everyone gets through this weather ok.

 

[Loreli]

Oh btw.. I am still totally going to hang out in this thread ok? Mostly because I don't know what else to do with myself and nobody chats in the December thread

We wouldn't have it any other way! Enjoy your Disney Dog!


My eldest DD turned 10 yesterday, so I changed my signature upon her request:

 

[Gina-Gina-Bo-Bina]

Oh btw.. I am still totally going to hang out in this thread ok? Mostly because I don't know what else to do with myself and nobody chats in the December thread

Best news I have heard so far . Wouldn't be the same without you around here.

 

[DisMom1981]

Do prices vary for meal plans with each phone call? My parents were given a price of $50ish per day with their travel agent and I got a price of $60 a day from Disney CM.

I am in meal plan turmoil!!!! Keep going back and forth! Sure, if we order the most expensive thing on the menu each time we might reach $60 a day but if we pay oop we wouldn't order those items or necessarily even want to order them. Will we actually eat cereal in our room in the morning to save a few bucks when we plan to be at rope drop???? Do I NEED/WANT a cookie every day for lunch? LOL. Something is wrong with me- I feel like I'm missing out on something if we don't get the meal plan. My DD is too young for the plan- will there really be enough for her to share? She is 2 and sometimes eats a ton and sometimes nothing. Obviously it works differently for all of us but......I need the crystal ball!

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[rebeccaariel]

We're about an hour and a half from downtown T.O. in Niagara. Just heard two HUGE claps of thunder. I haven't heard anything like that in a few summers and it's going to be a big one! I'm sorry to hear it was so nasty for all of you in T.O.
I should call my gramma. She's 87 and on her own in Etobicoke. I hope she isn't scared.

It's hitting me that my ticker just went from 46 days to 152
Think Puppy thoughts Pigletto!!!

It's a little tough, but most people don't have a trip so close to look forward to when they cancel. And heck the kids don't even know we're going in December and they are being absolutely great about it. They both said "We love Disney but we'll go back one day Mom. We're just happy to get a puppy!".
Good kiddos

Oh btw.. I am still totally going to hang out in this thread ok? Mostly because I don't know what else to do with myself and nobody chats in the December thread

I'm not sure what it's like in Etobicoke, I think central GTA got it the worst. I hope you're grandma's not too worried!

My campus was open today and my route to school wasn't delayed at all. I can't say the same for others unfortunately! I got very lucky. There's still so much flooding. I'll be shocked if my class is even half full.

Congrats on the puppy!!! There's nothing that can compare to the special connection you can have with your dog. I got my first dog, a lab, when I was 5, and when he passed last year I was devastated, but those 15 years were absolutely amazing. I miss him every day but I wouldn't trade the time I had with him for anything.

And my other dog Pippin, who we got a year before Gulliver's passing, is amazing. Here's a picture of the little guy.

As you can see, I'm a dog person

 

[racinjunkie]

Do prices vary for meal plans with each phone call? My parents were given a price of $50ish per day with their travel agent and I got a price of $60 a day from Disney CM.

I am in meal plan turmoil!!!! Keep going back and forth! Sure, if we order the most expensive thing on the menu each time we might reach $60 a day but if we pay oop we wouldn't order those items or necessarily even want to order them. Will we actually eat cereal in our room in the morning to save a few bucks when we plan to be at rope drop???? Do I NEED/WANT a cookie every day for lunch? LOL. Something is wrong with me- I feel like I'm missing out on something if we don't get the meal plan. My DD is too young for the plan- will there really be enough for her to share? She is 2 and sometimes eats a ton and sometimes nothing. Obviously it works differently for all of us but......I need the crystal ball!

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The only thing I can think of with the price difference is that your TA was quoting next year's prices... the DDP price is going up from 55 and change to 59 and change so that might account for the difference.

Hopefully someone will be along to send you the link to the worksheet that some absolute genius created where you can enter your restaurant plans and it will tell you if it makes financial sense for you to use DDP or go OOP. I looked at it once but didn't save it. For me there's something VERY freeing about having meals prepaid and being able to order the most expensive thing on the menu for once and ordering dessert with every meal. We often take our dinner desserts to go and have them for breakfast.. another vacation only decadence. We have always ordered breakfast foods from garden grocer and then at the end of the week we were throwing a ton of stuff away so this trip I'm not going to do that and I haven't made a plan for breakfast yet.

As far as your DD... are you and your other travel mates big eaters? Lunches are usually a LOT of food so as long as someone isn't a big eater I think there will be plenty for DD. I think I'd be more concerned with the food choices, at 2 will the things available be acceptable for her?

Good luck with your decision!

 

[DisMom1981]

The only thing I can think of with the price difference is that your TA was quoting next year's prices... the DDP price is going up from 55 and change to 59 and change so that might account for the difference.

Hopefully someone will be along to send you the link to the worksheet that some absolute genius created where you can enter your restaurant plans and it will tell you if it makes financial sense for you to use DDP or go OOP. I looked at it once but didn't save it. For me there's something VERY freeing about having meals prepaid and being able to order the most expensive thing on the menu for once and ordering dessert with every meal. We often take our dinner desserts to go and have them for breakfast.. another vacation only decadence. We have always ordered breakfast foods from garden grocer and then at the end of the week we were throwing a ton of stuff away so this trip I'm not going to do that and I haven't made a plan for breakfast yet.

As far as your DD... are you and your other travel mates big eaters? Lunches are usually a LOT of food so as long as someone isn't a big eater I think there will be plenty for DD. I think I'd be more concerned with the food choices, at 2 will the things available be acceptable for her?

Good luck with your decision!

I've seen the spreadsheet - way too genius for me to operate lol. Not sure.

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[lovingeire]

Do prices vary for meal plans with each phone call? My parents were given a price of $50ish per day with their travel agent and I got a price of $60 a day from Disney CM.

I am in meal plan turmoil!!!! Keep going back and forth! Sure, if we order the most expensive thing on the menu each time we might reach $60 a day but if we pay oop we wouldn't order those items or necessarily even want to order them. Will we actually eat cereal in our room in the morning to save a few bucks when we plan to be at rope drop???? Do I NEED/WANT a cookie every day for lunch? LOL. Something is wrong with me- I feel like I'm missing out on something if we don't get the meal plan. My DD is too young for the plan- will there really be enough for her to share? She is 2 and sometimes eats a ton and sometimes nothing. Obviously it works differently for all of us but......I need the crystal ball!

Sent from my iPhone using DISBoards

The meal plan just increased in price. Good ol' Disney! I would say that on average the plan saves you about 20% on meals, however if I wasn't on the plan I wouldn't get dessert twice a day for sure! We brought our 2 year old in Dec and he'll be 2 by the skin of his teeth for our trip next month and he ate off our plates most of the time. I would order quick service meals he liked and sometimes he'd just eat fries! There were a few times I made meal choices based on him, and sometimes we'd just order him an uncrustable OOP. At buffets it was the easiest as you can just fix the 2 year old a plate! (He's super picky so he only eats so much.) I'm not sure our experience helps, but thought I'd offer it for what it's worth.

 

[Koh1977]

Do prices vary for meal plans with each phone call? My parents were given a price of $50ish per day with their travel agent and I got a price of $60 a day from Disney CM.

I am in meal plan turmoil!!!! Keep going back and forth! Sure, if we order the most expensive thing on the menu each time we might reach $60 a day but if we pay oop we wouldn't order those items or necessarily even want to order them. Will we actually eat cereal in our room in the morning to save a few bucks when we plan to be at rope drop???? Do I NEED/WANT a cookie every day for lunch? LOL. Something is wrong with me- I feel like I'm missing out on something if we don't get the meal plan. My DD is too young for the plan- will there really be enough for her to share? She is 2 and sometimes eats a ton and sometimes nothing. Obviously it works differently for all of us but......I need the crystal ball!

Sent from my iPhone using DISBoards

We've found it depends on how many character meals and other TS restaurants you'd be eating at...we save some money doing a dining plan. We could make it work on the ddp and paying OOP for the extra character meals and save money over the DxDP, but the deluxe takes the guesswork out of it all and we can eat at whatever TS places we want to...

And yes, for a 2 year old, the buffets are the best!! And actually a couple places gave us a small plate for DD free...

 

[monorailsilver]

I *think* I am getting ready to pack. I told my dh to bring home a box today this way I can start filing it to ship some breakfast foods/snacks.

 

[monorailsilver]

Do prices vary for meal plans with each phone call? My parents were given a price of $50ish per day with their travel agent and I got a price of $60 a day from Disney CM.

I am in meal plan turmoil!!!! Keep going back and forth! Sure, if we order the most expensive thing on the menu each time we might reach $60 a day but if we pay oop we wouldn't order those items or necessarily even want to order them. Will we actually eat cereal in our room in the morning to save a few bucks when we plan to be at rope drop???? Do I NEED/WANT a cookie every day for lunch? LOL. Something is wrong with me- I feel like I'm missing out on something if we don't get the meal plan. My DD is too young for the plan- will there really be enough for her to share? She is 2 and sometimes eats a ton and sometimes nothing. Obviously it works differently for all of us but......I need the crystal ball!

Sent from my iPhone using DISBoards

I haven't done the meal plan yet & I don't think I have any plans to in the future.

My oldest is 12 but does not eat like a 12 yo. I debated on doing the quick service plan but it wasn't cost effective.

DH & I might split a meal here & there as well.

We went to Downtown Disney in April on our drive back home from Ft. Myers to CT for dinner. We ate at WGP Express. We each got something & it was over $50.

We all got a soda I think because we were drinking water all week at my sisters house & soda just sounded refreshing but that was $$$. When we go in a few weeks, I plan on drinking water during the park time & using my mug when at the hotel for soda. I told that to my dh. OK they can get slushies but no soda in the parks!!!

At WGP, my ds got his own pizza (he is dairy allergic so no cheese) & he ate the whole thing. It had sauce & pepperoni on. My 2 girls each got their own pizza & they could of easily split that one. And my dh got a sandwich & I got a salad & shared but we could of easily shared just one & been content.

So while the meal plan is great for some it just doesn't make sense for us.

We also bring breakfast to eat in our room.

 

[squirrel4569]

Do prices vary for meal plans with each phone call? My parents were given a price of $50ish per day with their travel agent and I got a price of $60 a day from Disney CM.

I am in meal plan turmoil!!!! Keep going back and forth! Sure, if we order the most expensive thing on the menu each time we might reach $60 a day but if we pay oop we wouldn't order those items or necessarily even want to order them. Will we actually eat cereal in our room in the morning to save a few bucks when we plan to be at rope drop???? Do I NEED/WANT a cookie every day for lunch? LOL. Something is wrong with me- I feel like I'm missing out on something if we don't get the meal plan. My DD is too young for the plan- will there really be enough for her to share? She is 2 and sometimes eats a ton and sometimes nothing. Obviously it works differently for all of us but......I need the crystal ball!

Sent from my iPhone using DISBoards

The price difference is likely based on if taxes were included and/or if they were quoted 2013 prices or 2014 prices.

For my family personally, cereal in the room turned into a hassle. The kids were hyped up and ready to get out of the room and go and didn't want to sit in the room and eat. We also had a mess or two to clean up which is never fun.

I think if you are doing a lot of character meals and/or signature dining then the meal plans are definitely worth it. If you're doing CS then I don't think you're saving anything but hassle as you have pre-paid for your meals. Dinner for 4 (2 adults, 2 kids) at CRT has run near $200 if I recall correctly and I think even something simple-ish like a Chef Mickey's Buffet can run well over $100 for dinner there so you can get your money's worth out of it. Some say "Well I wouldn't have eaten X if it wasn't on the DP!" I agree with that. I use it as an opportunity to try new foods and new dining experiences that I may not have otherwise done.

As far as there being enough food for your 2 year old, I wouldn't worry about that. The buffets are as much as you can eat, so you can just make them a plate. Other restaurants typically provide large enough portions to be able to share just fine.

Good luck!

 

[lovingeire]

I should also mention that we like the convenience of the dining plan and having it all paid in advance. Although I must say, I'm a little nervous about all the tips for the DxDP, even though I have budgeted for them. And DH told me he plans to drink round the world! If you knew my DH, you'd be scared! I said that wasn't very fair considering I'm pregnant and can't drink! But I digress...

The only meal I'm worried about honestly is CRT as DS2 won't eat anything off of our adult entrees, but I don't really want to pay for a kids meal for him. I wonder if they'd let me forgo an appetizer for some chicken nuggets!

 

[DisMom1981]

Thanks everyone. My obsession over this is truly sickening. Right now I have 2 breakfasts- CM and Hollywood & Vine and Biergarten dinner for buffets and Yak & Yeti lunch and BOG dinner. I thought the table service w little ones would be overkill but then I kept adding more of them figuring we would need the break/something different. There are 2 days of no table service so I don't want to worry about 'wasting' those credits by not having an ADR and having to use them as QS credits. We are going to have to buy or have our own groceries for breakfast the other days anyway bc a snack won't cut it as a meal for us. We eat three meals a day lol. I can see snacks being mickey bars or other treats which is why dessert at every meal is not appealing- would rather have apps. I guess I am leaning on not adding it this trip and keeping track of expenses to see how we did compared to dining plan. Are you sick of this yet????

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[squirrel4569]

39 days today. Mickey mail should be showing up at any time in the next week I would think. Probably not until Monday or Tuesday but we are very close.

Rumor is that MagicBands are being handed out at the Yatch Club Resort. No word as to if it's a test or a soft roll out.

 

[momto3gr8boys]

In other good news for us we're going to have a bunch of Disney Reward Dollars in time for our trip. It should cover all of our tips and have some left over.

In news that I'm not sure how to take, has anyone seen this? http://www.wdwmagic.com/dining/refillable-mug/news/07jul2013-disney-resorts-to-offer-new-refillable-mug-program-called-'rapid-fill'.htm It says it's rolling out July 2013 at the All Star Resorts. I'm curious how this will affect my DDP purchase.

on the reward dollars!

As for the mugs, it's only a few dollars more than they are charging now, and it's nice to know they are good at all resorts. I had been concerned about the mugs with our split stay - this new program will at least put to rest the debate or whether or not you can use mugs from the first resort to the second on a split stay.

 

[hannahmachell]

I didn't purchase a dining plan and have wondered if I made the right choice. It is just my boyfriend and I going, we are both in our 20's. I've thought about buying some breakfast items from garden grocer to cut down on the cost and to save a bit of time. I've made a few ADR's but have been wondering if I should make more? I have never been to Disney before and there are so many things to consider!!

 

[momto3gr8boys]

HOLD ON TO YOUR HATS FOR THIS ONE....

I can't even believe I am typing this.. but we just cancelled our August trip

It's a little sad. But not really. A) Because we are going December 13th (the kids don't know).
and
B) We are going to get our puppy!!

We've had our name and deposit in for a Labrador Retriever puppy from a very reputable breeder for months. We were set to get our dog in January. We've wanted a dog for a very very long time but put it off over and over until the kids were old enough to be responsible and helpful. For years I have done all day daycare and didn't feel it was fair to my clients to have a dog in the house because that's not what we originally agreed upon. So I waited.. and waited .. and waited.
This fall I will intentionally only have before and afterschool kids over the age of 6. All my toddler clients have grown up and will be in school full time. We decided this was a good time for me to train a puppy, and that during the before and after school period my daughter can keep the puppy occupied while we are in the daycare room. Before school puppy will be crated for half an hour after she leaves, but after school dd is home earlier than everyone else because she is in high school.
So today I got an email from the breeder that someone had cancelled their puppy (virtually unheard of.. she has huge waiting lists) and that the first person on the list to respond could move their date up.

I called my husband, had a quick pow-wow with my kids and they all picked PUPPY!!!!!!
My sister offered to watch puppy for our December trip as she is laid off for 3 months every winter and has a dog of her own.
So.. all signs pointed to puppy. Please understand we're all a little sad but so ready for our new family member that we are mostly just excited.
And the kids don't even know we'll go in December anyway! They just chose puppy because they are so ready!!

I know this sounds crazy unless you are a dog lover, but we've been blessed to go many times, and have another trip planned. I will be sad to no longer be planning with you but will still happily check in and wish you all well and to hear about your plans.
You guys are the best!!
From one VERY excited puppy mommy! (we pick him up in 3.5 weeks!!!)

Oh, how exciting to be getting a puppy!!!! I love my dog and I would have skipped a trip to get him, so I can totally understand. I know it's disappointing, but you are going in December, so it will all be good! I'm glad the kids are handling it well too - don't be too surprised when they don't always step up to the plate on the dog duties though .

I'm glad you are going to stick around too! I'd miss you if you headed off to the December boards I'm actually starting to be sad that we all won't be checking in on this board daily in another month or two!

 

[momto3gr8boys]

24 days and then 8 nights at the Poly!!!!

I need to change my signature!

woo hoo! what are your dates again?

 

[DisMom1981]

I didn't purchase a dining plan and have wondered if I made the right choice. It is just my boyfriend and I going, we are both in our 20's. I've thought about buying some breakfast items from garden grocer to cut down on the cost and to save a bit of time. I've made a few ADR's but have been wondering if I should make more? I have never been to Disney before and there are so many things to consider!!

I feel your stress! I HAVE been to Disney before and there is still so much to consider!!!

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