9/24/09 3 Day Wonder - Cruise Meets, and FEs, and Goombays oh my!

[jenny105]

Let's see. I went from POR to WL for the first half of my trip and the 2nd half ASMo, to WL, to AKL, to AKV studio! It's Disney's fault. They have so many great hotels to choose from!

I've never stayed at the All Stars but I've stayed at Pop 3 times. I love it there. If the All Stars are anything like Pop, I wouldn't mind staying there. I know you can't really unwind (so many kids everywhere!) but at least you can walk around and overlook the lake at Pop.

The only thing I haven't changed is my cabin! But I've looked! Way too much to upgrade. It was $300+ to go to a Cat 9. No thanks. We won't be in the room much anyway.

I put my FE bags together on Saturday. May buy more things, not sure yet!

 

[karentan]

i've finished the main gift, i havent put the bags together yet but i'll leave that til closer to the time as it'll take up too much room

 

[jenny105]

I have mine in a little box in my room. I think I'm probably going to put them in a tote bag and carry them on the day we get to the port. I hope you guys like them!

 

[karentan]

i'm hoping mine are liked too, i'm not too crafty so its one kinda crafty gift and lots of little bits.

 

[jenny105]

I didn't try to get crafty. I didn't want to screw up gifts and then not have anything to give. I bought a bunch of little odds and ends for the FE.

 

[jenny105]

Karen, where'd you go? Work is so booooooring.

 

[m_kasch]

Hey guys! I haven't finished my FE gifts yet, i'm procrastinating. I do have most of them done though. Still no cabin assignement, hopefully we will all find out next week!! I didn't change my resorts around this trip...but I am doing major resort hopping!! First we are at the Hilton DTD, then the Swan, then Bay Lake Tower, then Portifino Bay!! LOL, then after the cruise, Saratoga Springs. The first three nights will be full of moving around, but it's not that big of a deal.

Last year when we went in September, we started off at CR MK View with CM discount, then WL with CM discount, then we moved to Coranado with free dining...so I like to do resort switching around too!!

 

[karentan]

sorry i was watching this really interesting documentary on national geographic about air force one.
hows work going?

 

[jenny105]

I eventually want to stay in every resort on Disney property. So far...I've got one down. Pop. This trip I'm knocking off two so it's making up for the last few trips!

 

[jenny105]

I had a couple people here and there but it's been really quiet today. I'm singing songs and spinning around in my desk chair. I have a view of the garage to my left but I haven't seen anything interesting (i.e. the mechanic who looks like Jordan Knight)

 

[karentan]

i've done AKL before and POR, this trip we're doing AKV and SSR, 4 down, way too many to go.........
i think i must just be a value snob, i'm sure i'll love it if i do stay there but i just like the theming and atmosphere of the mods and the deluxes.....

have you had any luck with getting onto online check in yet?

 

[karentan]

i've been trying to justify the SSR upgrade to myself all day (upgrading means we have less spending money, but gary gets paid while we're over there so can put more money at that), after all the resort changing in the last 2 trips i've gotten quite good at justifying things, here's the pro's i've come up with to staying in SSR (and i'm aware some of them are a bit flaky...) :
1) its close to DTD, so things to do in the evening
2) got a kitchenette so it means we can make breakfast
3) got a fridge to keep beer and baileys cold
4) walking distance to the place that gary liked most of all: the rum runner shack at DTD!!
5) free laundry facilities (given the amount of washing i did last trip, we NEED this!!)
6) lot easier to get to the car rental place on the first morning, we can walk to it
7) quieter than ASM
8) got a balcony
9) walking distance to hess garage, and crossroads supermarket for emergency supplies
10) can walk to DTD and then get buses to resorts instead of having to go to a park then transferring
11) BBQ pits!
12) prettier than ASM

the list of stupid justifying reasons goes on and on..........
can you tell i'm not that keen on staying at ASM?

 

[jenny105]

You really don't want to stay at a value do you? If you ever have to stay at one, stay POP. It's awesome. Then again, I'm big on the 80s.

Nope! No luck with online check-in. I'll try again tomorrow.

 

[karentan]

i wonder whats going on with your online check in? Is it letting you retrieve your reservation at all?
for some reason i just can't get excited about staying at the values. The theming just doesn't appeal to me, i prefer pretty places, not over the top big icons. But thats probably just me and if i stayed there I'd be fine.
how's work going? Or have you finished now?

 

[jenny105]

It's letting me retreive the reservation but when I click to go to online check-in, I get an error message. It's not a big deal now but if it keeps doing that as the date gets closer, I guess I'll have to call them.

When Joe and I took our first trip, the only place we could afford was a value. He originally was looking at the Grosvenor (around DTD) but I was like 'No way, I want to stay on property!' and POP was less expensive. We ended up loving it and stayed there twice more. I like it just cause it makes me nostalgic. I love looking at all the old toys in the lobby especially the 80s part!

Work picked up toward the end. I had about 4 people in a row. Everyone seemed to walk in at once. I got out at 6 on the dot though!

 

[Lilo's Mom]

I liked Pop too....I loved that in the food court they did the Twist in the morning and the Hustle at night. It as fun that for a few minutes everything just stopped and people danced. The theming of the resort is so cute. The only thing we really didn't like was double beds in the room. We did have a king bed the last time, but it was a handicap room...so I didn't like the shower so much.

I've stayed at the Grovsenor, Caribbean Beach Resort, Contemporary, and Port Orleans Riverside (also way back when it was Dixie Landings). I have visited every resort except Shades of Green and Saratoga Springs...although we did see model rooms from there when we first toured DVC. Of the places I have stayed Port Orleans Riverside is actually our favorite by far...just a personal choice, we love all the trees and how green everything is. My goal is to one day stay at the Poly...to me that would be the ultimate!


On a side note...and not a shameless plug for DVC! If any of you ever want to take the time to visit DVC I would highly recommend Judy Kaufman...the woman is a saint! She patiently worked with us and kept sending us all the current offers for four years before we were finally able to buy. Also both times we toured (once to SSR, and once to see AKL) we got Fast Passes for each person in our group good for two tickets each. . They also let you make your own ice cream creations before you left...LOL which the last time we toured was a real plus because it was almost 100 degrees that day! Anyway if you do go and they ask you if you have a referral for your visit, you can give them my name if you want. My understanding is if anyone uses our name as the person that refers them to DVC (and they end up buying) we get some Disney Dollars or money sent to a charitable foundation of our choice....and I am all about the Epilepsy Foundation because that is what Kelly has.

 

[portsofcall]

sorry i was watching this really interesting documentary on national geographic about air force one.
hows work going?

Hey! My hubby guarded Marine One about 2 years ago. I found someone who has points for $7, but if you buy all, he'll let them go for $6. He said as of today, SSR total would be 33 points at $7 each, total of $231. 1 bedroom at AKV was 23 points each night. 28th and 29th were the only nights left.

Email me if you want his info. BTW, I'm interested in fish extenders, but we do carry-on only so we're not sure how much room we'll have. On the other hand, I remember reading that you can send a box to your cabin.

 

[disney honeymooners]

i've already done the online check in i just have to get Greg to sign the cruise contract. This will be the 4 on site resort i ahve stayed at and i still havent stayed at a value resort but next sept we may stay at one with the whole family.
karen your farm puts mine to shame you have so much more growing than i do i hate moving everything to plant more.
jen we made some magnets for our door we did the crusie line name tag ones with our names on them and our home town and one with minnie and mickey in wedding attire infront of the cruise ship with our wedding date on it and "our WONDERful HoneyMoon" i thought it was cute how is everyones week going so far? i cant believe we have almost a month til our wedding and our trip with our new disney friends

 

[jenny105]

I want a magnet lol.

The trip is getting so close! 39 days til Disney, 32 til Universal!

I still can't get to the online check-in. I'll pull up the reservation, click my online check-in, and then get a message that my session has timed out. So annoying. They really need to do something about that site.

Did you all see that Disney is going back to 180 day ADRs and park hours? People must have been complaining hardcore!

 

[Dr.Girlfriend]

Did you all see that Disney is going back to 180 day ADRs and park hours? People must have been complaining hardcore!

*Waves Hi*

What was it at before? 90 days? Getting a ressie ANYWHERE in the parks is insane. It used to be if we wanted to go out to eat somewhere in the parks, we would just pick up the phone, make a ressie for that night where we wanted, and head out there. Now, it's completely booked up 90 days or more out. We were really surprised that EVERYTHING was booked for breakfast the morning of the cruise (we decided we would start out our vacation eating out at WDW). We got one at Boma for early morning. Still very surprising though!

I'm still here, in and out! I've been working out with the 30 Day Shred and have lost 10 pounds this month! We put down our flooring this weekend and my legs are killing me.

And no room assignment yet. I keep looking...and looking...and looking...