A Sister & Brother Return! AKL Bound! 8/1 Update pg. 46! AND WE'RE OFF!!

Now I know how much you really think of me! You FORGOT that we were going to meet up in November?!?!? You'll be starting and we'll be leaving. We were going to hook up on our (hopefully) overlap days - 29th or 30th. Does that ring a bell?

Man, I have "meeting Nicole" as one of the highlights of our Thanksgiving trip, right under "eat a fabulous turkey dinner at Liberty Tree Tavern", and you can't even remember who you're meeting up with. Hmmmph! :snooty:

I'm going to go bump you down to third now.

No don't do that! You misunderstood me!! I KNOW that you're going in November, but what I meant to ask Kat was "Are you going in November or is that MeMom?" meaning JUST MeMom! Darn internets, no way to produce pitch!!

I'm trying to get together a trip for November just for that! I should have no problem with the new car! :lovestruc But the discount I will hopefully receive in my room in August is going to go towards a family vacation for my mom's birthday early 2009 :) I'm hoping I can convince my mom for a Mommy/Daughter trip in late Nov/Dec to see you!

PROMOTE ME BACK TO SECOND!!
 
Here are pictures of my new car!! Actually, first heres a video! Please excuse the "oreo baby talk" :rotfl: :rotfl:



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Oreo posing in front of her:

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Oreo with the sun in his eyes

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No internet at my house right now, so here at school is all I get, and I don't get pictures here. Which means, I don't get to see the new car pictures until the cable guy comes.

Okay, I'll bump you back to second, since you got nice and all.

I definitely hope you can take your mom for a birthday trip. Last year, when we went to Tony's on my 50th and then went out and sat on the porch to watch the afternoon parade, that was the best birthday ever! That's why I got the bug to take Jill back in October, so she could be in Disney World on her birthday.

Jill, John, and Brooklynn will be here Saturday, and Kristi is home for a few weeks until she goes to Europe, so we're going to all get to be under one roof for a rare treat Saturday night. If the internet is working again, we'll put up pictures on the TR. We're going to do a Pixar/Hollywood Studios theme in celebration of Toy Story Mania and the Block Party Bash.

Have a good day! Drive safely!!!
 
Now I know how much you really think of me! You FORGOT that we were going to meet up in November?!?!? You'll be starting and we'll be leaving. We were going to hook up on our (hopefully) overlap days - 29th or 30th. Does that ring a bell?

Man, I have "meeting Nicole" as one of the highlights of our Thanksgiving trip, right under "eat a fabulous turkey dinner at Liberty Tree Tavern", and you can't even remember who you're meeting up with. Hmmmph! :snooty:

I'm going to go bump you down to third now.

LOL @ the whole confusion. So far we have no plans for NOV BUT my secret wish is to go to F&W again, and I'm working on a plan for that. (I.e. a way to get kc TO SAY YES). :lmao:

Lovin the car! I am thoroughly jealous! ;)
 

No internet at my house right now, so here at school is all I get, and I don't get pictures here. Which means, I don't get to see the new car pictures until the cable guy comes.

Okay, I'll bump you back to second, since you got nice and all.

I definitely hope you can take your mom for a birthday trip. Last year, when we went to Tony's on my 50th and then went out and sat on the porch to watch the afternoon parade, that was the best birthday ever! That's why I got the bug to take Jill back in October, so she could be in Disney World on her birthday.

Jill, John, and Brooklynn will be here Saturday, and Kristi is home for a few weeks until she goes to Europe, so we're going to all get to be under one roof for a rare treat Saturday night. If the internet is working again, we'll put up pictures on the TR. We're going to do a Pixar/Hollywood Studios theme in celebration of Toy Story Mania and the Block Party Bash.

Have a good day! Drive safely!!!

I can't wait to see pics from the party!!

I too hope my mom and I can take a girls only trip, but she makes it difficult!

LOL @ the whole confusion. So far we have no plans for NOV BUT my secret wish is to go to F&W again, and I'm working on a plan for that. (I.e. a way to get kc TO SAY YES). :lmao:

Lovin the car! I am thoroughly jealous! ;)

Thanks about the car!! I don't know if i'm going to make it over there either, but I wish I can!

:woohoo:



:)

:) Awesome new car! Cute OREO!

Thanks!!
 
I need your help.

Heres the thing thats been bugging me for weeks now. I want to stay at the Beach Club, and I know i have this whole thing planned perfectly and I get so excited...but reality is, it's very expensive and I need to figure something out. All is well if by the middle of June, disney releases Passholder discounts. Judging by the history it could be as much as 40% which is PERFECT! and would help me save a lot of money! But I have to plan as if that might not happen. So I need your help.

If this doesn't happen, or the discounts aren't as large as I need them to be, I have presented myself with the option of shortening the Disney stay by 2 days (putting us at 6 nights/7 days) at a Moderate. OR For what seems like $300 more than a moderate, same amount of nights at the WL or the AKL (but not savannah view)

The more I think about it, the more I hate the idea of a split stay, but I love the idea of staying at the beach club you know I do, I just have to be realistic! If i want to be able to afford to go back in December, I just can't do it.

My other question is at this point, should I include David? Should I admit everything and get his opinion and tell him whats going on?? I really don't want to just in case we CAN stay at the Beach Club! But I need your help, does anyone have any ideas??
 
Which is more important-surprising David or getting his input? Would he still be surprised if you checked into a few extra days at POR or WL?
 
Hmmm, If it's found that you can't really do the Beach Club, then I'd go with the idea of the Moderate for more days!! I'm always about "more days"! :thumbsup2

If the decision keeps bugging you, then just get his opinion. It'll still be a surprise, just an earlier one and he can help you decide. ::yes::
 
Which is more important-surprising David or getting his input? Would he still be surprised if you checked into a few extra days at POR or WL?

Hmmm, If it's found that you can't really do the Beach Club, then I'd go with the idea of the Moderate for more days!! I'm always about "more days"! :thumbsup2

If the decision keeps bugging you, then just get his opinion. It'll still be a surprise, just an earlier one and he can help you decide. ::yes::

Thank you guys so much for the replies!! It was a lot of help!! Here is what I did. I went to David and I said "I want to be prepared for if discounts come out" (He's known about the discounts since day 1, he thinks that when discounts come out we may be able to go back to POFQ) So i told him, "Lets go through a few resorts and I want you tell me what you think" Now one thing that got me upset, was that he didn't seem too excited at the prospect of staying at the BC, and to me, I know he'll be excited about the reveal, but I think he'll be more excited at the prospect of staying longer, rather than being at the BC, because he just doesn't care or agonize over this as much as I do. But with that being said, here is the "Plan"

No discount announced (although highly unlikely since its value season)

Port Orleans French Quarter

Discount announced

Pop Century/Beach Club (leave it as things are, but obviously this is the more expensive option of the two)

Wilderness Lodge

NOW, heres the kicker. Regardless of what happens, I will still tell David that no discount has come out and that we are staying at POP. If we got the Wilderness Lodge way (no resort hopping, BUT its a hotel i've already checked out...although LOVED) I would literally reveal the truth as we pulled into the hotel. If we stick with what we got -- all plans are go.

I don't know why I'm so conflicted about the BC. It's like all of a sudden I'm seeing it differently than I was originally. I'm not as excited about it, and i'm second guessing and questioning by decision. On one hand, I'd love to try something new, and the split stay reveal would be really cool, right!? But on the other hand, I just love the Wilderness Lodge, and wouldn't it be great just to unpack once and hang out and be home at this beautiful hotel where sharing buses is rare??
 
If he wasn't all that excited about Beach Club, I sure wouldn't stress and spend the money to stay there. If you love Wilderness Lodge, do that, if the $$ thing comes out okay. If you're just as happy to be anywhere, and you're surprising him with extra Disney time, I can't imagine he'd care where he stays.

Throw around all of the following ideas and questions, and even write down how you're feeling about it all. Seeing things on paper makes it more concrete in your mind. Jill and John just did that this weekend, as they are thinking it might be better to change from POFQ to Pop for their October trip so that they'll not be so tight for money on the November trip.

Just think about all of this, and see where your answers lead you:

1)Why do you think you're changing your opinion on Beach Club? Are you reading things or seeing pictures that are not good, or is it just the money that's coming into play? Do you really not think you would love it once you got there? Plus, you would be trying something new. Would you be happy with going there, as planned, but not for as many nights? Maybe that is an option. Go ahead and go as planned, because you might both think it was awesome when you're really staying there, but just go for a night or two and then go home. Then you'll know for sure how you feel about it, because it is hard to really know the experience just from the stories and pictures of others.

2)You know you love Wilderness Lodge, and it feels comfortable. I don't blame you a bit. I wish our finances allowed us to be able to call it home, and we will stay there eventually. You feel a special something there, and it only feels right to stay there. But, in doing that, you still aren't trying something new. So, how important is that for you?

3)What about Animal Kingdom? It would be going deluxe, but would it be more affordable than BC? Is he at all interested in animals, and would he like the theming there? You could do the night vision goggles and hear the story teller by the fire pit in the evening.


Selfishly, I want you to do whatever you can to make the November/December trip so we can meet you, but unselfishly, I want you to do whatever you think would be the most awesome thing for David. There will be other chances to meet, and family is so, so important. If you think deep down he would love the Beach Club and that you guys would feel just so great calling that place home for a day or two, I'd say go for it.

But, if you think you'll be just as happy anywhere else and just going over to Beach Club to eat a meal and maybe watch the evening movie on the beach and 'pretend' you're living there, then that should work out just as great and save you some money.

Now that I have thoroughly confused you, I will welcome you to my world. I go through this on about any decision, as I am a completely indecisive person. I straddle the fence on everything and write down all the pros and cons of every situation. Usually, I just walk the fence until something or someone finally pushes me to one side. At that point, I stay with that decision and determine to be happy with it, never looking back at the other choice.

I'll be waiting to hear what you decide. Now that I've thrown all that at you, you're probably just saying, "Oh my gosh, I'm just going with the original plan. Shut up, already!!!" Right? ;)
 
If he wasn't all that excited about Beach Club, I sure wouldn't stress and spend the money to stay there. If you love Wilderness Lodge, do that, if the $$ thing comes out okay. If you're just as happy to be anywhere, and you're surprising him with extra Disney time, I can't imagine he'd care where he stays.

Throw around all of the following ideas and questions, and even write down how you're feeling about it all. Seeing things on paper makes it more concrete in your mind. Jill and John just did that this weekend, as they are thinking it might be better to change from POFQ to Pop for their October trip so that they'll not be so tight for money on the November trip.

Just think about all of this, and see where your answers lead you:

1)Why do you think you're changing your opinion on Beach Club? Are you reading things or seeing pictures that are not good, or is it just the money that's coming into play? Do you really not think you would love it once you got there? Plus, you would be trying something new. Would you be happy with going there, as planned, but not for as many nights? Maybe that is an option. Go ahead and go as planned, because you might both think it was awesome when you're really staying there, but just go for a night or two and then go home. Then you'll know for sure how you feel about it, because it is hard to really know the experience just from the stories and pictures of others.

2)You know you love Wilderness Lodge, and it feels comfortable. I don't blame you a bit. I wish our finances allowed us to be able to call it home, and we will stay there eventually. You feel a special something there, and it only feels right to stay there. But, in doing that, you still aren't trying something new. So, how important is that for you?

3)What about Animal Kingdom? It would be going deluxe, but would it be more affordable than BC? Is he at all interested in animals, and would he like the theming there? You could do the night vision goggles and hear the story teller by the fire pit in the evening.


Selfishly, I want you to do whatever you can to make the November/December trip so we can meet you, but unselfishly, I want you to do whatever you think would be the most awesome thing for David. There will be other chances to meet, and family is so, so important. If you think deep down he would love the Beach Club and that you guys would feel just so great calling that place home for a day or two, I'd say go for it.

But, if you think you'll be just as happy anywhere else and just going over to Beach Club to eat a meal and maybe watch the evening movie on the beach and 'pretend' you're living there, then that should work out just as great and save you some money.

Now that I have thoroughly confused you, I will welcome you to my world. I go through this on about any decision, as I am a completely indecisive person. I straddle the fence on everything and write down all the pros and cons of every situation. Usually, I just walk the fence until something or someone finally pushes me to one side. At that point, I stay with that decision and determine to be happy with it, never looking back at the other choice.

I'll be waiting to hear what you decide. Now that I've thrown all that at you, you're probably just saying, "Oh my gosh, I'm just going with the original plan. Shut up, already!!!" Right? ;)

MeMom, you hit the nail right on the head for me with a lot of what you said and I really appreciate this feedback so omit what you think in that last sentence because i'm still confused!!

I sat up last night trying to decide, and when I went to bed my decision felt right, but of course when I woke up this morning I'm still confused. I'm fighting myself with the decision, going back and forth with pros and cons. So I think what i'm going to do when I come home this afternoon is create a pros and cons list and publish it in this Pre-TR. I'd really appreciate some more feedback because with this pros and cons list everybody will really get a feel for whats going on in my head!! If you would even just "play" me for a second and based on the list give me YOUR decision if you were me, I would love this!! I'm awful at making decisions, AWFUL.
 
I think we ALL change our minds 50 times like this! My personal opinion...stay at as many resorts as I can. I try not to stay again at the same place I did before (so far 6 resorts and climbing) because I just wanna experience the different resorts. But if David really isn't into BC like you thought then maybe it is a good idea to try somewhere else. I'm probably no help but like I said I try to stay new whenever I can. Good luck girly! You must be melting down there?
 
I think we ALL change our minds 50 times like this! My personal opinion...stay at as many resorts as I can. I try not to stay again at the same place I did before (so far 6 resorts and climbing) because I just wanna experience the different resorts. But if David really isn't into BC like you thought then maybe it is a good idea to try somewhere else. I'm probably no help but like I said I try to stay new whenever I can. Good luck girly! You must be melting down there?

It could have been David's reaction to the possibility of the Beach Club that turned me off, At the mention of the possibility his first reaction was even "I don't know if i want to stay there" :scared1: WHAT!? Than it slowly turned to "Okay it would be fun to stay there" I want to try something new, but the call of the WL is getting to me! haha, hopefully you can help me decide after the next post!! It sure is getting hot down here for sure! Some days you can't stand it, so you stay inside other days you can't stand it but you have no choice but to go outside. I have a death wish: I go outside every morning and rollerblade for 30 minutes!
 
Before I begin, lets recap the events of the past 48 hours: :lmao:

I begin to get nervous about the price of the Beach Club and begin to think up alternate plans for the possibility of Disney not releasing AP rates for August. These plans are set firmly on POFQ, no doubt about that! After a couple of days of trying to convince myself about how great the Beach Club is, I begin to question my judgement, and wonder why I am paying this hotel so much money. Is it worth it? Does it really have everything that I want? I know, I know, i'm doing this mostly for David.

So I decide to include him the only way I can in the decision without ruining the surprise. Now here's a little backstory about whats going on in Dave's head.

1. We are staying at Pop Century August 4th-9th
2. If AP rates come out, there is a possibility we may move to a moderate hotel.

This is all he knows!

So I wanted to preserve the surprise in case my decision led me to stick with the plans, so I positioned it like this:

"David, if AP rates come out, maybe we can shorten the dates and go to a deluxe, lets check out the deluxe hotels"

"I'd rather stay at a different hotel and stay longer."

Crap, that didn't work.

"Okay well lets say we didn't change the dates, lets take a look."

Logging on to allears.net...

I tell him, "What about the BC?"

"I don't know, I don't know if I want to stay there. It may ruin the specialness of Beaches & Cream"

:scared1: :scared1: :scared1: :scared1:

"What? What about the last time we were there? All you could say was how cool the Beach Club was and how you dreamed of staying there one day."

"Huh, I don't remember."

So the rest of the night was just going through the AKL and WL and trying to get an answer out of him, but what I got instead was that he simply didn't care as much as I thought he did, and just wanted to be in Disney. And take breaks in a nice pool. With a hot tub. Got it, Dave, thanks.

So really I began to think of what I wanted to do, and where I wanted to stay. Now by the end of the night, he did admit that out of all 3 he wanted to stay at the BC, but the fact that he wasn't salivating over the idea, made it less attractive to me. I could spend the same amount of money on the WL or the AKL for the entire stay, than just the 4 days at the BC. So here is what I did and here is where I need your help. This is a pros and cons list, straight from my head on to this Pre-TR, i'd really appreciate some input!

Now, what you should know is that whatever I do, David will still not now, he will still think we are staying at POP 4th-9th. If we stick with the original plan, well, you know how that goes. But if we go somewhere else, I will tell him at Downtown Disney which we have to stop at first after the Hard Rock to get our AP.

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Okay, I have a headache now :lmao:
 
I'd go with AKL...IIRC, you were staying there for the December trip before it got cancelled, right? One negative I'd add (I know people who adore AKL, my DB and DSIL own at ALV) is how far it is...everytime I take a bus from AKL after eating at Boma I start worrying about making my flight the next morning...:lmao: :lmao:
What about: renting DVC points at BCV or BWV...or staying at the Swolphin?
 
Well darn girl...you are thinking TOO MUCH!

Try thinking of it at a money stand point. Maybe going to AKL would be better, its cheaper and new but still similar to WL. I think no matter what you surprise him with, David will love you for thinking of him and you will have an awesome time! I also am a pro-split stay person. I like the idea of staying at more than one resort, its like having 2 vacations in one!

If you stay at AKL I hear Boma breakfast is amazing and Boma for dinner is one of my FAV meals in the whole of WDW. And you can get zebra domes at Mara- hello! :)

GOOD LUCK!
 
How much difference is there in the cost of going to Beach Club over Animal Kingdom? Since you have already stayed at Wilderness Lodge, I would suggest trying somewhere new.

Normally, I would say go for whatever lets you stay longer, but:
since you are fairly close to Disney World
and can go pretty often,
and since you started out with the whole Beach Club idea,
and since neither of you have ever stayed there,
and because Stormalong Bay would be cool to experience firsthand,
I would choose Beach Club. If you need to knock off a day or two and just stay 2-3 nights instead of four, I think I'd do that.

You guys could buy donuts or something simple to have in the room for breakfast before heading out to the parks or pool, or you could just go somewhere to have a brunch after you're more awake and hungry.

For us, since we're nearly eleven hours away, we go for the most time possible, but I hope there will be a time that we will be able to go more often and stay at all the nicer places for at least the last two nights of the trip. I think if you stay only two nights, it would be fairly easy to just pack most of your stuff and have an overnight type bag to take into Beach Club (or WL or AKL) with you.

So, as indecisive as I am, and since it is a surprise addition anyway - any extra time is going to be cool, I think, at this second in time, that I would go for the Beach Club and knock off a night or two. You will probably love it, but even if you don't, you won't know until you experience it for yourself.

Whatever you choose, when it is over, ask him if he would rather have had the other options, and then you'll know what to do if you ever do it again.

Jill has said several times that she'd like to stay at the Boardwalk Inn several times, and I know that the day will come that I will be able to surprise add that for her. It will probably only be two nights, but I think she'll love it.

Those are my thoughts,for what they are worth. Just take a deep breath, make a decision, and then don't torment yourself over the other options. You guys are going to have a great time, no matter what you do!
 
Since I dream of staying at the Beach Club it's hard for me to suggest you not do that. However what keeps coming through to me is your breakfast and cocoa traditions, how important are those to you?

Reading your Pros and Cons I vote for your whole stay to be at WL. I wouldn't want to stay at AKL unless I could have the view, that's the whole point of the place.
 
See how much we're helping? Three choices-all three chosen in different answers! :)
 

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