A precious gem of a weekend!7/23 Finished! link to new TR

[praisehisname]

I thought I'd lost you! Made a batch of cinnamon buns for my sister-in-law for her B-day (she wanted these instead of a cake) and thought of you.

Sorry, I fell behind... Your s-i-l sounds like my kind of woman, cinnamon buns instead of birthday cake!

 

[Tnkrbelle565]

I missed another updated

And yet another cliff hanger...let's see I know you really want to stay at Beach Club and that does have a character breakfast. 1900 PF could be an option but how could someone not like the decor of GF????

The whole tipping thing at Pepper Market is really weird. I'm glad there is a good selection but I think the tipping would have annoyed me. It annoys me enough to leave 20% at a buffet.

 

[eandesmom]

Oh I'm glad your ticket thing got sorted out. I hear you on the negotiating and compromise. I just returned from a trip to CA that included DCA but not Disneyland!

Hmmn. 1900 Park Fair is my guess.

 

[albertamommyof4]

Thanks for the website.

 

[Diamondintheruff]

Thanks for the website.

Here's another website. They have hats with the cooling gel in the headband too. I haven't used one but I'm tempted.

http://blubandoo.com/store/index.php?cPath=1

 

[Diamondintheruff]

ARRGHHH!!!

I am up to my elbows in Disney Math for my next trip.

The Dance competition company is offering discounted park tickets. I didn't even know they existed.

We were told that any park ticket discounts would be on park hoppers only and since I never get those I forgot about it. Until this week when the dance competition sent me an email. Then I had to get the calculator back out.

The competition also offer a discounted room rate at the CSR. I already knew about the room rate. If you get the room rate you can't add on the dinning plan. Of course with the kids competition schedule not coming out until we get actually get down there (Hello, is no one else a type A personality? The unknown is killing me......) I don't know if we can actually make most of our table services. It's a waiting game. One that I am NOT enjoying.

When I got the room only discount offered to me I looked into it. After number crunching I decided to stick with my quick service free dinning pin. I like the dinning plan too much. I love not even looking at the prices on the menu. I've made more reservations than I need as I still don't know my times. Yes, I know that is cheating. Go ahead flame me if you will but I know the other families from the dance studio that I'm travelling with have have NO idea about ADR's and they will gladly take them off my hands when the time comes.

I thought I had come to terms with paying the regular (holiday even if I may add) room price to get the quick service dinning free. I did upgrade to the regular dinning plan. But then, with this park ticket discount I have to go through the math all over again.

Option 1) I take the discount on the room and the tickets and pay for food.

If I total up the room discount and the ticket discounts that is $812 less than my quote for my free quick service dinning pin. Can the three of us live on $812 of food for six days. That gives us $135 a day in food. I have us at a table service restaurant each night.

I have to go through the menu's again and price it all out. I did once before but I've changed some of my ADR's.

Can my 11 year old order from the kid's menu when I'm paying out of pocket? Cause that will make a difference. He still eats like a bird. I know I'd have to pay full adult price at a buffet but at le cellier could he order off the child's menu?

If only I knew when the kids were dancing and could decide ahead of time if we are able to make our table services.


Option 2)I use my free quick service dinning and pay for one day of park tickets at full price and buy the other days from the competition.

This option only works if I upgrade my tickets. So in effect I would need to spend more money to get a discount. Pretty fuzzy math.

I have a 5 day basic ticket. I would like the water park option, but I figured I could add it on when I got there if it looked like the kids had time for it. So it was in my plans. These discounted tickets are either regular park tickets, hopper tickets or the third is hopper and waterpark together. You can't just get the waterpark option by itself. I never park hop. But it might be nice.

To keep my free quick service dinning pin I have to have pay for at least one day of a regular park ticket. If I get down there and find out the kids dances are spaced out so that we can't get to the waterparks then I will have wasted my money. So it's a big risk. If I could wait until I got down there to pay for them then great. But I have to buy the tickets this week.


Okay I'm done rambling. I'm done crunching... at least for now.


I know I'm behind and I promise not to make any promises I can't keep. I was away in Vancouver and Seattle last weekend visiting friends. So I'm behind in my housework. Plus I have two assignments in my course coming up this weekend ie tomorrow (yikes) and next week. So I know I won't be able to post until next week.

Sorry about that. But I will post then.

Thanks for hanging in with me.

 

[suzcruz]

your 11 year old can order the kids meal & so can an adult if they wanted to, i have done it with no problem. but be aware that some of the kids meals are tiny!

 

[eandesmom]

But you didn't visit ME!






if you are OOP no problem on the kids menu however I agree, they are pathetic. We will be having the boys either split an adult meal or going for an app and a salad or something like that in some cases. All depends on where we are at.

Don't attempt to change your room reservation until you are 155% sure on whatever you are doing as you may not be able to get that code back if you give it up, only so many rooms at each resort get each code.

I think $135 is doable. We are budgeting $50 per adult/big kid, $25 for the 9 & 11 year old.

 

[Diamondintheruff]

your 11 year old can order the kids meal & so can an adult if they wanted to, i have done it with no problem. but be aware that some of the kids meals are tiny!

My DS11 is so picky. I'm sure it's the whole first child syndrome. And he really doesn't eat much. I know he will soon. He's getting to that age. Plus it will be july and hot and that always decreases everyone's appetite. Unless we're talking mickey bars that is.

But you didn't visit ME!






if you are OOP no problem on the kids menu however I agree, they are pathetic. We will be having the boys either split an adult meal or going for an app and a salad or something like that in some cases. All depends on where we are at.

Don't attempt to change your room reservation until you are 155% sure on whatever you are doing as you may not be able to get that code back if you give it up, only so many rooms at each resort get each code.

I think $135 is doable. We are budgeting $50 per adult/big kid, $25 for the 9 & 11 year old.

I was actually staying in south B.C. Langley to be precise but I flew in and out of Seattle. The flights were so much cheaper to go Buffalo to Seattle as opposed to Toronto to Vancouver. So I really wasn't in Seattle very long. We did stop at an outlet mall on our way through though. I got DS11 new Van's and all three kids some new Aeropostale stuff.

I still have some more Math Disney math to figure out. I'm trying to get the best deal all round which is hard for me to stay focused because my Mom is paying for the room. So the best deal for me is the free dinning but it's not necessarily the best deal for my Mom.

 

[Happydog]

Okay that is a lot of Disney Math! But, I see your ultimate dilemma is trying to find a good deal for you and your mom. That is tricky! I would think maybe the OOP might be a good option this time, if only because of the DP surcharge... Anyhow, goodluck with the planningand I look forward to your updates (for both trips!!)

 

[Tnkrbelle565]

$135 is possibly doable depending on where your ADRs are. How is that for helpful?!?! Seriously if the kids are light eaters...you should be fine. I also have a feeling (although you may shoot me for mentioning it) that you may not make a daily dinner ADR just by the nature of you not knowing their schedule. Which means CS and you can definitely all eat at CS for $135/day

 

[Happydog]

Happy Mother's Day to you!!!!

 

[GreatBiscuit]

Well, I've gotten myself all caught up now. Good luck on the Disney math!

 

[Diamondintheruff]

I am still living. Just so busy living I haven't had time to pop in much lately. It's our holiday weekend up here in Canada. The kids are in a dance competition and I might actually have some time to update.

I'm 40 days away from leaving.

I paid in full last weekend. The Disney math was complicated. We finally decided to stay with the free dinning code but I only got 1 day tickets. I got a great deal on park tickets from the dance competition company so even with paying for one day tickets I still saved money. Plus I got park hoppers and water park tickets which I never was going to get in the first place so I really really saved money.

Now, I'm just trying to decide whether to order garden grocers like I usually do or not. I don't think I'm going to. I usually order breakfast foods and snacks but I think I might just bring breakfast foods and snacks with me and buy milk there. Usually there are 7 of us for 9 nights. This trip there are only 4 of us for 6 nights.

Hardly any of the other families from our company are staying on site with us. Most are renting houses. So I figure I could always ask one of them to bring us something from a store if we really needed it. Which is a bonus. The sad part is we were really hoping to have some hanging out by the pool time with the other families. Oh well. We'll just have to be proactive about booking time to go to a waterpark together or something like that.

Speaking of other families I've only come accross one other diser who is attending the convention. She's started her own pre-trip report. Hopefully she will pop in so we can all get the link.

Off to pick up from Dance now. I promise to post something this weekend. I've never not finished a report before my next trip started so I have 40 days to go.

 

[MEK]

How great that your trip is only 40 days away. That is so exciting. I have never ordered from garden grocer so I don't know what the right answer is. I know that since the kids will be dancing they will probably be more hungry than usual (I would think).

I hope you are able to squeeze in some time over the next few weeks to update your TR.

 

[Charleston Princess]

I hear you about life getting in the way of the DIS!

Hurray for forty days and being paid in full!

 

[praisehisname]

That was some complicated math! I'm glad you came to a decision that made sense for you. It's getting so close now!

 

[Diamondintheruff]

Last I left you (and I do realize it’s been quite some time since I left you so let me add a sorry and a I’m so glad you’re still around ) Dh and I grabbed an early breakfast at Pepper Market and headed back to our room to rest up for our big night at MNSSHP. I didn’t have any park tickets left so we couldn’t go to a park. It was cold out (although I hear it warmed up for the following weekend. (Right Tinkerbelle565?) so we couldn’t go to a water park like I had originally planned and we had already done downtown Disney so that was out as well.

Turns out it was a good thing I had made an extra ADR just in case. Cause today was that “case”. I thought for sure Dh would be proud of my super planning skills. Turns out he had other ideas of how to spend the day. I'm sure you can guess what they were so I won't elaborate any further.

“So it’s too cold to go to the water parks today you know.” He mentions while channel surfing. Apparently he is immune to Stacy.

“Plus” he contines “I’m not adding on another park day. I looked up the prices and there is no way I’m paying that for part of a day.”

He’s starting to remind me of our 7 year old. Or maybe, it’s my 7 year old that reminds me of him? Hmm… the age old what came first the chicken or the egg question. Only whose the egg and whose the chicken?

I see his mouth continue to move but I’m lost in my thoughts of half chicken, half Dh images.


There are no chicken smilies. I had to make due with a duck. It's sort of close right?

“Are you even listening to me?” His tone is getting louder.

I pop myself out of my reverie.

“I know you love Disney and all but I’m putting my foot down on this one. No extra day.” He’s really worked himself up.

You see last trip we added a day. Only it was his idea. And we went from a three day pass to a four day pass. Not that much difference. This trip we only had a one day ticket. Going from a one day ticket to a two day is a much bigger difference. I agreed with him. I wasn't about to add an extra day.

I had something else up my sleeve. I decided it was time to pull out the big guns.

I cozied right up to him, and made the appropriate agreeing sounds.

“Oh yes” I said.

“You’re quite right.”

“I couldn’t agree more.”

I may have even said a few other phrases just for good measure. To back up the agreeing sounds, I added some movements.

I nodded.

I patted his hand.

All my efforts appeared to be calming him down. Or maybe he was just in shock that I agreed with him. Either way, he was quiet and it opened up my window to pounce. It was time to let him know what we were going to do.

We were going to eat.



Eating is Dh’s second favorite thing to do while on vacation. I bet you can’t guess what his favorite thing is?

“Well, I have another plan?” I start.

“Oh yeah?” Dh asks rather mischeviously. His eyebrows raise and I catch a glimpse of a tentacle starting to snake it’s way over to me. I must act quick. I jump away and grab my folder containing the printouts of restaurant menus.

“I made us a reservation for brunch.” I say proudly.

“Brunch?” he says rather disappointedly.

“Yes” and I add hoping to peak his interest “It’s a buffet. At the Grand Floridian.”

Now no one loves brunch and especially a brunch buffet more than Dh. But he wasn’t willing to commit just yet.

Now before you all get technical on me and tell be that the GF doesn't have a brunch, let me explain. Technically the brunch is really a breakfast. But since it was the latest breakfast ADR you can get, it is in the brunch time frame. So to make it seem more appealing to Dh I called it brunch. It's all in the marketing. So I do what I have to do.

“Do we have to leave right now?”

“Well no, we could wait a few minutes.”

“Oh.”

That obviously was not the answer he was looking for. I felt bad for him so I decided to throw him a bone.

“Of course since it’s so cold we won’t be able to go swimming while we are waiting for the party to start. I just don’t know what we’ll do instead. Do you have any ideas?”

“Aha.”

Then he surprised me.

“I’ve always wanted to try the miniput.”



To this day I’m not sure if he was kidding or not.

So off we went to the GF. We walked to the main building and took the bus from there. Once again there was a CM who seemed to be organizing the buses. As soon as we walked down he wanted to know where we were going. We told him the MK and he told us to stay close. He talked into his walkie talkie and not even a minute a later a bus showed up that had “Stitch” written on the front of it. The man told us to get on and the driver changed the sign to the MK.

Our bus ride and later our boat ride was uneventful. The boat ride was fairly empty but our driver was not as chatty as other drivers we have had. Could be because it was cold. And kind of windy. I know being cold clams me right up so I’m giving the guy the benefit of the doubt. I’m sure he’s a laugh a minute on warm days.

Here is us waiting for the boat.

Here is our view as we arrive at the GF. I think it's gorgeous.

Here is a picture of the princess tea. I can't remember the actual name of the special event. I couldn't help myself and took this picture. I sure wish my Cindy (DD9) still liked this type of stuff. It sure seems like a long time to wait to experience it with grandbabies.

We were seated almost immediately at 1900 Park fare which was good because Dh doesn’t like the GF much. Hardly at all. Okay really not at all.

He feels the GF is too uppity.



Instead of finding the surroundings luxurious and calming he walks in the building as if he has no neck and is unable to move his body in a relaxed state. If I was to do an amateur armchair analysis I would say Dh is uncomfortable in posh surroundings as he’s unsure how to act. But whatever the reason as soon as we step foot in the lobby the man’s shoulders start to stiffen.


Would Dh find our meal too snooty and posh?

Would the characters pay any attention to two adults alone?

Would we play miniput?

Would it warm up enough to enjoy MNSSHP tonight?

Answers to these questions coming up here http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=36996611&postcount=295

 

[Diamondintheruff]

How great that your trip is only 40 days away. That is so exciting. I have never ordered from garden grocer so I don't know what the right answer is. I know that since the kids will be dancing they will probably be more hungry than usual (I would think).

I hope you are able to squeeze in some time over the next few weeks to update your TR.

I promise to finish before I go away. Cross my heart and everything.

The jury is still out on garden grocers. A whole bunch of members from the dance studio are staying off site and have offered to pick me up groceries. So I might just take them up on it.

I hear you about life getting in the way of the DIS!

Hurray for forty days and being paid in full!

Being paid in full is the same feeling I get when I've completed my report cards. Which are due in a couple of weeks by the way.

That was some complicated math! I'm glad you came to a decision that made sense for you. It's getting so close now!

I'm getting super excited. It's kind of neat to have the dance competition thrown into a disney trip. It gives me something new to look forward to for this trip.

 

[praisehisname]

You tell a great story! I loved this update and can't wait to hear about your brunch. And, no, you don't need to tell us what your DH's favorite activity is.