09/05/09 LABORless MAGICal Meanderers

[UGAFan0829]

Hi Ladies,

Missy, thanks for that little teaser photo. That would be great for scrapbooking...Im so excited. I see what you mean about the DDP being debated. Im still a little confused about that side of things. Luckily I have a while to work it all out. Thanks for straightening out the inclusions for me, now I can tell DH. I like your way of thinking with not being out of pocket. We would also be inclined to do both TS breakfast and dinner so it does make a lot of sense. DH is an insulin dependant diabetic so he has to watch what he eats, and make sure he has a proper meal and snacks.This will be a major consideration for us so I do think what you are saying makes a lot of sense. Wish they could include the tips though. Im sure that is another hot topic. We dont tip here in Australia so its another thing thats a bit confusing to me.


I really hope that we get a DISmeet going once were onboard. I would love to make some friends, and would love my kids to do the same. I wonder how fast our little group will fill up. I still havent worked out to copy and paste other peoples quotes yet so Im a bit slow with it all...

I hope that I didn't confuse you more with my explanation of the DDP. I know that it can be a little overwhelming. Sometimes I still get confused when I think about it.
I agree that the tipping issue has definitely been a big debate. I didn't realize that you didn't tip there in Australia. I'm not sure how it works in other states, but here in GA, servers are only paid $2-$3 an hour, and everything else they make is tips.

I hope that we have a meet onboard as well. I've read some TR's where the DISers really went all out. I haven't kept in touch with any of the people from my other cruises, but it was still fun to have met them!

 

[ibela]

Sorry for the multiple posts, but I haven't figured out how to put more than 1 quote in a post...

I'm definitely going to check out your TR. I love reading them.

Lucky you, owning DVC. I really do think it's a wise investment. The DH and I took the tour at Saratoga a couple of years ago when we got off our last cruise. It's a beautiful resort. We almost bought in, but decided that we needed to wait a few more years.

Have you eaten at California Grill before? We ate there last year for our anniversary and loved it. We are going to try and go there again this trip. I don't know if you're looking for another character meal or not, but Crystal Palace is really good. We've eaten there the past 2 years for breakfast. Pooh is my favorite, so we always have to eat there!

Hi Ladies,

Missy, thanks for that little teaser photo. That would be great for scrapbooking...Im so excited. I see what you mean about the DDP being debated. Im still a little confused about that side of things. Luckily I have a while to work it all out. Thanks for straightening out the inclusions for me, now I can tell DH. I like your way of thinking with not being out of pocket. We would also be inclined to do both TS breakfast and dinner so it does make a lot of sense. DH is an insulin dependant diabetic so he has to watch what he eats, and make sure he has a proper meal and snacks.This will be a major consideration for us so I do think what you are saying makes a lot of sense. Wish they could include the tips though. Im sure that is another hot topic. We dont tip here in Australia so its another thing thats a bit confusing to me.

Irene thats great that you have had the chance to do the Eastern and now the Western. I'll be interested to hear afterwards what your thoughts are on the comparison. I must admit when I saw your DD age I thought that was wonderful, and hopefully they will get along and can play. Thats excellent about your previous experience with meeting up with DISers, do you still keep in touch? How far is New Jersey from New York? Ive been to NY before, but it was only for a short while (a week) and of course I did all the touristy things I was over there for christmas when I was 17 - boy that was a while ago

I really hope that we get a DISmeet going once were onboard. I would love to make some friends, and would love my kids to do the same. I wonder how fast our little group will fill up. I still havent worked out to copy and paste other peoples quotes yet so Im a bit slow with it all...

OK, I had just typed this whole lengthy post then hit the wrong button AND LOST IT ALL so sorry, only have time for the condensed version now.

First time going to WDW in 10+ yrs so haven't seen Saratoga Springs yet much less eaten at California Grill. Heard mixed stuff about Crystal Palace due to crowds, as per this site so don't know.

To multi-quote click on the + button next to the quote button and then hit quote on the last one you want to include. '

' opens a quote window within the post if you want to respond to individual portions of the post and '

' closes that portion of the quote up.

We probably have a ways to go before we get busy since the cruise is so far away but other groups are big, probably peak vacation periods?

I can't see photos here at work (blocked) but I'm sure it was a very nice one.

Deluxe DDP isn't for everyone I think, depends on the crew. For us with dd it wouldn't work b/c no way could I get her seated that frequently and meals just take too long. If we just me and hubs then I'd want to do it and enjoy nice meals daily.

Open and close quotes you use a [] and in between that the word 'quote' to open and '/quote' to close, LOL I thought adding the ' would help but instead it opened up the quote window . . .

 

[aussieinvasion]

I didn't realize that you didn't tip there in Australia.

We dont tip here as a custom but it is always optional if you want to. This usually only happens at restaurants though. It very rarely happens over here, usually only in high-end restaurants or mainly in the city where there are more travellers.In saying that though, our basic wages for a server or waitstaff in a restaurant start at about $14/15 hour and up, based on age and experience I guess.

Thanks Irene for the lesson on how to include quotes. Was going to try a mulit-quote but will have to do it next time. I see what you mean about some of the other DISmeet groups and how big they are already. Its pretty amazing , but I guess we are travelling in value season and so as you say we are not in a peak holiday time. If it wasnt for the hubby being a diabetic we would probably just stick to just the normal DDP (hopefully free at that time), but he has quite a bad time with it so we have to be careful with him. It will be a challenge getting my then 51/2 and 3 yo to behave though. I can see us trying to reserve a lot of character meals so they will be 'entertained'

Missy you didnt confuse me, if anything you clarified it for me-thanks for that!! The thing that confuses me is all the options that are available and all the opinions that people have, and make such good arguments for having this or that. I guess I just dont want to mess this up. I am a major planner and want it to be perfect. Im generally not the perfectionist type but seeing as I used to be a domestic TA I feel a certain pressure to make sure my family has the best vacation ever. Im sure it will be, but why do we put such pressure on ourselves?? But I must admit, it is an awful lot of fun planning it all...

 

[ibela]

We dont tip here as a custom but it is always optional if you want to. This usually only happens at restaurants though. It very rarely happens over here, usually only in high-end restaurants or mainly in the city where there are more travellers.In saying that though, our basic wages for a server or waitstaff in a restaurant start at about $14/15 hour and up, based on age and experience I guess.

Your tips are already built in, ours aren't. That's another whole big debate here on the DIS on the restaurant board, people think the service goes down if the tips are already included. Dunno.

If it wasnt for the hubby being a diabetic we would probably just stick to just the normal DDP (hopefully free at that time), but he has quite a bad time with it so we have to be careful with him. It will be a challenge getting my then 51/2 and 3 yo to behave though. I can see us trying to reserve a lot of character meals so they will be 'entertained'

You know, if the dining plan isn't free it'll be expensive for you since both kids have to get it as well. Also, I'm not sure how much easier it would be on the dining plan if he's diabetic. If you gets get stuck waiting for a table, you'll need to carry snacks around with you anyway just in case. Also, the menu may be limited for him, there are some complaints about that over on the restaurant board as well. We're going to rent a car and plan on eating most of our meals offsite. Within a few miles are all the American staples/chain restaurants that I expect to be much cheaper, faster, and offer a bit more variety for her. You may want to consider it. I plan on bringing bottles of water and snacks with us into the parks and then leaving for lunchtime since I want to go and unwind by the pool during the afternoon anyway.

Missy you didnt confuse me, if anything you clarified it for me-thanks for that!! The thing that confuses me is all the options that are available and all the opinions that people have, and make such good arguments for having this or that. I guess I just dont want to mess this up. I am a major planner and want it to be perfect. Im generally not the perfectionist type but seeing as I used to be a domestic TA I feel a certain pressure to make sure my family has the best vacation ever. Im sure it will be, but why do we put such pressure on ourselves?? But I must admit, it is an awful lot of fun planning it all...

I've never been a TA but I could probably be 1 with all the research I do. It IS a lot of fun!

So Missy, you're going this Sept and Mel, you're going before the cruise?

Hey - did you guys see the increase in Palo prices? It doesn't bother me so much since we tipped extra anyway, it may be harder for some though, I don't know. I didn't go onto the main cruise forum to see what people thought about the increase, maybe I should check before I write something controversial . . .

 

[ibela]

I don't remember how much $ it cost to updrade to the Deluxe dining. But I figured that it would be worth it since we were getting the regular dining for free anyway. The Deluxe does not include tips. The deluxe actually includes 3 meals a day, regardless of whether they are all counter or table service. If you wanted to use all 3 of them for table service you could. It also includes an appetizer and a dessert for the table service meals, 2 snacks a day instead of 1 and each person in your party also gets a resort mug.
I think there's been a lot of debating here on the boards as to whether it's really worth it or not, but I think it's different for everyone. I think for us, it would be beneficial because there are several days that we want to eat breakfast and dinner at a table service. If we went with the regular plan then we would end up having to pay out of pocket for a lot of those.
I will keep my fingers crossed that you'll be able to get something at Cinderella's Royal Table. I had thought about trying for it, but we decided to wait this time. We love Chef Mickey's as well. On our past 2 trips we ate there for dinner, but we're thinking of trying it for breakfast this year. Picking my restaurants is one of my favorite parts of planning!

Deluxe is cool, if you do the DDP, because some specialties (ex. Cinderella's Royal Table, California Grill) require 2 credits, this way you're always (should be) covered.

People debate about it (I'm on the Restaurants thread a lot ) because not only are taxes no longer included this year, neither is an appetizer with your table meal, just entree and dessert. So now if you want an app you pay for it out of pocket, and the tip is out of pocket, what used to be all included now requires more budgeted money. If you plan on eating each meal onsite, it's probably still worth it though, just my 2 cents.

 

[UGAFan0829]

So Missy, you're going this Sept and Mel, you're going before the cruise?

Hey - did you guys see the increase in Palo prices? It doesn't bother me so much since we tipped extra anyway, it may be harder for some though, I don't know. I didn't go onto the main cruise forum to see what people thought about the increase, maybe I should check before I write something controversial . . .

Yes, we are going this September. We'll be there for our anniversary...same as lasy year! So I'm having fun planning it and getting started planning things for the cruise. We have wanted to take a 7 night for a long time, but we decided that it would be perfect for our 10th anniversary!

I haven't seen the increase for Palo. I'll have to check that out. Thanks for letting us know!

 

[UGAFan0829]

Deluxe is cool, if you do the DDP, because some specialties (ex. Cinderella's Royal Table, California Grill) require 2 credits, this way you're always (should be) covered.

People debate about it (I'm on the Restaurants thread a lot ) because not only are taxes no longer included this year, neither is an appetizer with your table meal, just entree and dessert. So now if you want an app you pay for it out of pocket, and the tip is out of pocket, what used to be all included now requires more budgeted money. If you plan on eating each meal onsite, it's probably still worth it though, just my 2 cents.

Actually, with the Deluxe plan, the appetizer is still included. At least according to the dining portion of this website it is. The regular dining plan doesn't include it anymore.

We are actually planning to eat at Cali Grill for our anniversary, which like you mentioned, will take 2 credits. I think we also plan on eating at Crystal Palace, Chef Mickey's, 'Ohana (for breakfast and dinner), 50's Prime Time, Wishpering Canyon and Hoop Dee Doo (another 2 credits). To us, part of the whole experience is eating at all these great restaurants, which is why I think the Deluxe plan would work better for us.

 

[ibela]

Yes, we are going this September. We'll be there for our anniversary...same as lasy year! So I'm having fun planning it and getting started planning things for the cruise. We have wanted to take a 7 night for a long time, but we decided that it would be perfect for our 10th anniversary!

I can't imagine taking a cruise for a shorter time, you'll love the 7 night!

Actually, with the Deluxe plan, the appetizer is still included. At least according to the dining portion of this website it is. The regular dining plan doesn't include it anymore.

We are actually planning to eat at Cali Grill for our anniversary, which like you mentioned, will take 2 credits. I think we also plan on eating at Crystal Palace, Chef Mickey's, 'Ohana (for breakfast and dinner), 50's Prime Time, Wishpering Canyon and Hoop Dee Doo (another 2 credits). To us, part of the whole experience is eating at all these great restaurants, which is why I think the Deluxe plan would work better for us.

Oh, yeah, Deluxe includes appetizer! You're hitting a lot of the 2 credit ones so if you went with the regular plan you'd run out! I'm considering Crystal Palace too . . .

 

[aussieinvasion]

OK, well thats just sealed it for me with the Deluxe DDP. Thats assuming we can get the normal DDP for free and just upgrade . I didnt realise so many places required 2 credits. I mean, I knew about the biggies like CRT but not so many of the others. All the places you mentioned missy are the one's we were thinking of going to.

 

[aussieinvasion]

We're going to rent a car and plan on eating most of our meals offsite.

We thought about this but DH is too nervous about driving on the opposite side of the road than we do here

 

[ibela]

We thought about this but DH is too nervous about driving on the opposite side of the road than we do here

My dh thinks he may want to DRIVE all the way to Florida! Why would I want to drive 16hrs when the flight is a mere 2.5hr?! He says it's something he's always wanted to do. There's still time for him (me) to change his mind, keep your fingers crossed for me you guys . . .!

Oh, I also booked Crystal Palace for dinner. That makes it a total of 4 onsite reservations now for me, 3 character meals and California Grill for Mother's Day.

And my theory about this being off-season and therefore less postings doesn't work, the chat group for the week after us is already up to page 10 or something. New theory: we have the ships to ourselves!

 

[UGAFan0829]

And my theory about this being off-season and therefore less postings doesn't work, the chat group for the week after us is already up to page 10 or something. New theory: we have the ships to ourselves!

Wow! I'm wondering if we should be scared or not!!
Is the cruise after us the one that goes to Tortula? Maybe everyone wants to do the special inten.

 

[UGAFan0829]

Something else for us to look forward to:

 

[aussieinvasion]

New theory: we have the ships to ourselves!

Awesome Now we can get Palo when we want !!! Also thinking about the couples massage... Im happy Im not fussed being Ive never done a cruise,let alone DCL. If I had done the Western before then I can understand the attraction. I bet its a lot of repeat cruisers going.

Wow a 16 hour drive is tough, especially with your DD being the age she is. I'll be sending you lots of luck on that one How many nights would you stop off on the way? I did a 12 hour drive from Sydney to Brisbane (two capital cities here) with my DD 13 mnths and DS 3 without any stops recently and it nearly killed me. The kids were angels until the last hour, and we'd all had enough by then. Never again

Missy Im loving the pictures.....it brightens my day and gives me something to really look forward to.

 

[aussieinvasion]

I just realised were under the 600 day mark now

 

[UGAFan0829]

Missy Im loving the pictures.....it brightens my day and gives me something to really look forward to.

Glad that you like them...That's the exact reason that I'm posting them...I just thought it would be a little something to help us get us through!!

 

[ibela]

Wow! I'm wondering if we should be scared or not!!
Is the cruise after us the one that goes to Tortula? Maybe everyone wants to do the special inten.

Good point, we're on the regular itinerary so maybe a lot of people are like "been there, done that".

I have to wait until I get home to see the picture you posted.

Awesome Now we can get Palo when we want !!! Also thinking about the couples massage... Im happy Im not fussed being Ive never done a cruise,let alone DCL. If I had done the Western before then I can understand the attraction. I bet its a lot of repeat cruisers going.

Wow a 16 hour drive is tough, especially with your DD being the age she is. I'll be sending you lots of luck on that one How many nights would you stop off on the way? I did a 12 hour drive from Sydney to Brisbane (two capital cities here) with my DD 13 mnths and DS 3 without any stops recently and it nearly killed me. The kids were angels until the last hour, and we'd all had enough by then. Never again

Missy Im loving the pictures.....it brightens my day and gives me something to really look forward to.

Yay - Palo and spa ressies when we want!

13hrs and no stops?! I think we would (will?) stop overnight but he thinks if we alternate we should be able to go straight through (um, sure, keep on dreaming). You're lucky they were angels up until the end, I know I'd be cranky! Just to be on the safe side, I don't have anything planned until Crystal Palace dinner that Sat night. We plan on leaving Friday, early morning I guess.

You know, I think we can fill up hundreds of pages here between just the 3 of us.

 

[aussieinvasion]

My computers on the blink this morning, I cant seem to quote people grrr... maybe its just me

Anyway, Missy they certainly are helping getting us through. Well, were under the 600 day mark now. Do you have 600 photos? Only joking

Irene, you're gonna be so tired you poor thing. Lucky you'll have Winnie to keep you entertained on the Saturday night at Crystal Palace. Is your DD a good sleeper in the car? Hopefully she is for you. Do you save a lot by driving instead of flying? Im guessing a 2 1/2 hour flight will still be pretty expensive.

Im sure we'll have no trouble filling up the pages amongst us I know this is supposed to be a DCL thread, but its great we can talk about DW too and lucky we are all in the same boat (no pun intended ) that we are all going.

Question, do either of you have any experience of Boardwalk Villas? Im just looking at the prices and it seems to be $10 cheaper a night for a studio V a standard room and you get basic kitchen facilities too.

 

[ibela]

Yes, fortunately DD is a good sleeper in the car but that's still a lot of time! The flight from here to Orlando is pretty cheap normally. It's a bit higher that particular weekend because we're going the Friday before Mother's Day but I don't think there will be any significant cost savings by driving vs flying (b/c we'd rent a car, not drive ours to Fla), I think it'll work out to being about the same (unless we bring a parent with us for babysitting purposes, then we save on their flight I guess). He says it's just something he's always wanted to do?!

I have a friend that stayed at Boardwalk Villas and said it was amazing. If by standard room you mean 1 bedroom, take the 1 bedroom for that $10/night difference. It's much bigger and offers a full kitchen and laundry facilities. The studios have a kitchenette (mini-fridge vs full, toaster oven not regular) and don't have an inside washer/dryer but there are free laundry rooms by the pool. If by standard you mean a non-DVC resort, then definitely Boardwalk Villas! My 2 cents.

 

[aussieinvasion]

Thanks Irene, yep the price comparison was with a standard hotel room V a studio room at the villas. I just checked my passporter and on the map it looks a great location for the villas being close to the boardwalk etc. I was worried because Ive noticed at some of the places the villas seem to be quite a walk from the main lobby or entrance.

Well, all the special airfares have been released for '08. We are so tempted to change our ressie and go early because we could save on paying for DD airfare but then we have the issue of her not remembering anything being that she is so young. When all is said and done we would save about $2000. Its very tempting but I worry that if we went early that it would be for selfish reasons and not for her. Also, that would mean having to pay for the trip a whole year earlier than expected What would you guys do?