9+ months with the Mouse -1 year on the road update

[Gowahoowa]

Thank you for the service to our country!!!

Relax and enjoy!!

 

[famgel]

OMG! I am so jealous!!!!!!! This is what I always pictured my husband and I doing sometime in the near future (5-7 yrs). I never thought it could actually be done but it sounds like you are off to a good start. Congratulations to you and your lucky wife! But after all those years of you and your buddys keeping us out of harms way, I'm sure getting to know you all over again is going to be great!!!!!!! Keep us informed! Thank you for protecting us!
Elaine

 

[FunFamily]

Congratulations. The only thing that could enhance your plan for me would be to be in a 1BR, and to be at BLT overlooking the MK. Waking up and looking out your window to see Space Mountain and Cinderella Castle would be my dream come true.

Enjoy, you have earned it.

 

[Maistre Gracey]

Congratulations, and thank you for your service!!!

MG

 

[SLM]

Congratulations on your well earned retirement and a big THANK YOU to you and your wife for your service to our country and the sacrifices you have made over those 33 years!
My only advice is to be sure and stay at HHI for a nice long visit-I think it's a beautiful and romantic resort for couples. Lots of great places to eat at all price ranges and plenty of day trip options.
Have fun planning and be sure to update us on what is decided!

 

[Anal Annie]

Congratulations. You are now my hero !!!

Now. I'm not sure I would want to stay in a studio for more than 2 weeks. Space would be my primary concern. Not sure about your wife but thinking about the amount of clothes I would need is enough for me to get bigger accomodations.
After 9 months that studio could turn into a homicide crime scene.

I don't think it would take 9 months!! We ONLY stay in studios when we go and even I think you'd get tired of the lack of space, lack of kitchen & lack of in-room laundry.

Maybe you could figure out a way to alternate 1 bedrooms with studios every other switch or something. Maybe 10 days in a studio, 7 days in a 1 bedroom, 10 days studio etc.?! That would certainly help on the food budget & with doing laundry. I know your wife said no cooking but YIKES what an eating out tab you'll run up after 9 months!! I would also probably buy a couple of those plastic storage cart things at Target or Walmart - the $25 ones with the 3 drawers. One for each of you. Since they have wheels maybe you could load 'em up & move them "as is" when you switch resorts so you don't have so much packing / unpacking to do. What kind of car do you have? Do you have a van or something? Would you have room that they just stay in your car while you're on your cruises?

I definitely could not spend that long in studios.

 

[5forDiz]

I second previous poster SLM, definitely plan time at HHI. And VB would be great too to break up WDW stay, it's easy drive from there.

Congratulations to you and our sincere thanks for your service

May you be blessed with many, many, many wonderful years enjoying your family, friends & DVC

 

[micminnieapolis]

Congratulations on your retirement and your thoughtfulness. Your wife is one lucky lady in so many ways. You deserve Disney magic everyday!

When my husband and I go without kids, we really like BCV. You can have a quiet wooded view or a fantastic pool view, some even have bigger balconies. There is a website that has the floor plans for the resorts for planning ahead. The CMs are very friendly -- love the lady who works around the pool! We find that it's a good place to eat meals outside -- even if it's just the sandwiches, salads, or breakfast cereal that we can easily take care of in our studio. There's the wonderful sitting room that really helps stretch the space and it's easy to get to many restaurants.

Somebody mentioned OKW whose studios are bigger but the 2 bed thing is hard without a couch. We did meet a couple who spent 6 weeks in an OKW studio and stayed by the pool close to the walking path to DD. They loved it because the pool was close for reading the AM paper, and they sat at the pool while doing laundry so it was no big deal.

There is a library not too far away ( in fact, it's close to a post office). I noticed it because I thought that I should get a card for that blessed day when we can stay longer! My school schedule is a bit prohibitive right now but you know where I'll be the September I retire!

Thank you for your Service and enjoy that retirement!

 

[Tink-n-Belle]

Thank you so much for your service and keeping our country safe

Since you are splitting it up - Jan -May and then spending the summer elsewhere and then coming back in Sept-Dec I don't think it would be as bad as staying 9 months straight at Disney.

From Jan-May -- I would try to do 2 7 day crusies to break it up. There are a lot of deals during the slower crusing times. I already booked a Feb 2011 cruise and we got a fantastic price. Your idea of staying in a 1 bedroom for 12 nights Sun-Fri then switching to a studio for 9 nights sounds like the best way to save points and not go crazy in a studio. You could enjoy the perks of the 1 bedroom (the kitchen, laundry) and then rough it in the studio and then back again. I would definitely switch out the resorts. I'd stay in a studio at the bw and then switch to a 1 bedroom at the BLT then switch to a studio at the AK and then 1 bedroom at the BC etc etc. That way you won't feel like the walls are closing in as you will have an entire new resort to explore. Also, VB is only 2 hours from Disney and its such a nice resort right on the beach. Even though it is not Disney, it still have that Disney feel to it. Another strategy you could use is use your points during the value season to rent the 1 bedrooms and use your points in the higher seasons to cruise or stay in studios.

Each resort will have something new & fresh to offer due to its location. If you stay at the BLT, you could watch Wishes and the parade nightly and eat around the monorail. When you stay at the BW or BC you could try a different country for dinner every night since you can just walk there (in 5 minutes) from your room, at SSR, you could dine in a different restaurant at DTD, etc etc. (how cool would it be just to hop on the boat and go to DTD every night for 12 nights for dinner)

We stayed at the AKV 1 night and just explored the resort, ate at BOMA, enjoyed the animals and activities it had to offer without going to the parks at all. It allowed us just to relax and enjoy so much more without competing with the parks.

The idea of a portable bureau suggested by another poster sounds like a great idea, you can even buy a small dolly and use it to bring the bureaus down to the wash room when you stay at the studios. Since you will probably have a car you can store all your stuff in there while on your cruise, but if you don't the Owners locker does sound like a good idea.

When you come back in Sept-Dec-- I would try to stay at the BC & BW for the f&W festival, and also go back there to enjoy the candlelight procession as much as I could. I 'd also want to stay at the BLT to watch Hallowishes and the fireworks for the MVMCP as many nights as I could (because I just love fireworks). In sept, if you love to play golf, I would stay at SSR to be close to the golf courses.

In regards to being able to tolerate the small space of the studio another suggestion would be to spend a lot of time in the lobby and surrounding areas. I know the BW has a beautiful lobby and out door area (with rocking chairs) overlooking the water and boardwalk area. We went to Newport RI this past weekend and stayed in a Holdiay Inn std room with 4 people, but I enjoyed it very much because they had a cozy lobby with a tv and couch and the pool could be viewed from the lobby (kids went swimming while Mom rested on the coach(after touring the town/city all day). We found it very nice to have that extra space where we could just chill and read the paper etc. Also, most DVC have balconies-- some views are better than others so keep that in mind,. The balconies are soooo nice but make sure that you get a higher floor if you like the balconies or the 1st floor if you like a patio.

Sounds like you have a lot of planning to do. Just take it in bites. Since you won't have to make ressie for the SEPt-Dec part of your trip until after you start the Jan -May leg you may wish to wait and see what works out good and what doesn't. You may find you don't mind a Studio or that your wife actually will be dying for a home cooked meal!! Yes, eating out is nice, but nothing beats a home cooked meal every now and then

Enjoy your trip!!!

 

[Doingitagain]

We enjoy reading but I think we will need stick to using the library as to not accumulate too many books. I hadn't thought of this before...thanks for bringing it up.

Consider an electronic book reader (Amazon Kindle or Sony are examples). I thought I could never give up the feel of paper, but being able to carry over a thousand books with me on vacation is appealing, and small enough to fit in my purse!

With my Kindle, I can do some basic WIFI (free) in addition to downloading books.

 

[murcor]

Wow - I just told my husband I was leaving him for you He read your post and had nothing better to counter with

 

[katmittens]

Congrats, Hope you have a great retirement. The only thing I would suggest is even though OKW has larger studios, we have stayed in them a few times I think you would rather have a couch and a bed so you have a comfortable sitting area. We recently stayed at AKV at Jambo and loved the couch. It seems more like home. Have a great year.

 

[Pat817]

I have a couple of questions or maybe I'm just missing something. You said that you will have 6500 points (and another 1500 if you need them). If the 6500 points have been accumulated for three years ( banked, this year's, borrowed) that means you own approximately 2,190 points. The maintenance fee on that many points has to be $13,000 annually. That's a lot of money. How have you been able to use that many points each year and still have time to work?

Spending a year on points sounds like a fabulous adventure but how do you use them each year? Have you been "funning" us?

 

["Got Disney"]

WOW!!! Congrats to you on your retirement and what a way to celebrate and enjoy time with your wife!!!

Is she on board with the studio stays for great lengths of time? If so I think you'll be okay. I personally would need more space for such a length of time plus I'd want full access to a kitchen. Even though she says no cooking - I get tired of eating out on a weeks vacation, I could not imagine eating out only for 9 months???? That won't be a problem for both of you? Even when we go to WDW for a week or 10 days I like a full fridge of drinks and snack type foods even if we're not "cooking" the whole time. But thats me...

Have fun planning it all out, you'll have to keep the boards informed and maybe write a blog while you are there for such an extended timeframe!!!

Oh I like the cruise breaks you'll be taking too, very cool.

Congrats on retiring and thank you to you and your wife for your service

ITA with the above. I could not eat out that much. After a week or 2 of eating out I am done for. And I love to eat out. You said your wife does not want to cook....well than take turns...can you cook? take turns all the time. If I cook he does the clean up and if he cooks I do the clean up and the boys do the clean up on the weekends.

I could stay in a studio for awhile but than would need to go into at least a one bedroom.

Sounds like a lot of fun and adventure. And a big WOW on the amount of points you have.....bet you hate December

how long have you been collecting your points? I met someone on DCL that had 3,000 points and that threw me....You my friend are the king and queen of DVC

I say less studio time and more 1 bedroom time. If not for the cooking , than for the space. However if you live in a very small house the size of a studio than you will be just fine

Have a great awesome time and be sure to post a link for your trip report so we can follow your year of adventure

 

[Coll0610]

Personally, I don't think I would enjoy all the moving around. Another issue for me would be that I would really miss my recliner. It sounds silly, but one of the things I miss most on vacation is having someplace comfortable to sit. The balconies are nice but the chairs aren't that comfortable.

But I am jealous! It would be a luxury to have that much time at the happiest place on earth and I would love the cruises!

 

[Brave teacher]

You know I sometimes wonder who I would like to be in another life. Right now, your wife takes the cake. I would LOVE to be able to spend 9months at Disney. I think it is a fabulous thing for you to do together. I would also like to reiterate the same appreciation everyone else has had for your service.

Have a wonderful time!

 

[tvwalsh]

Do you think 9 months in a studio is crazy?

 

[heaven2dc]

Wow - what a great way to spend a year! First of all, congratulations on your retirement and thank you ever so much for your very dedicated service to our country

I've always wanted to just live at one of the Epcot resorts when I retire. But unless I hit the lottery, that's not going to happen. You and your wife are so blessed to be able to pull this off (and, of course, I'm jealous!) but so happy for you. I can't help with anything other than I would probably guess that two months might be the longest you can stay in any one room at any one resort. I'd have to go for a one-bedroom if I had the points if my husband was alive and we did this. But if it were myself, I'd probably settle for a studio.

Have a great year, enjoy yourselves and we hope you can take some time to write a couple trip reports!

 

[tea pot]

WOW WOW WOW!!!!!

Congratulations and Thanks for your life long service!

My vote is for a 1 BR for the personal space and the in unit laundry.

Blessing and Best of Luck

Can't Wait for the MOTHER OF ALL TRIP REPORTS

 

[FindTheMickeys]

Thank you for your years of service to our country. It's men and women like you that allow me to sleep well at night

That said, I'm VERY jealous!! I think I could live at Disney, no problem. But it's just me and the dog so a studio would be plenty of space.

I would limit the amount of times you have to pack up and move, if it were me, just because I hate to pack and unpack.

Anyway, enjoy your time reconnecting and I can't wait to read this TR