****August, 2012!!!****

[Emteach]

Yep! The thread the other day about comfy shoes to wear had me googling - Soft Moc http://www.softmoc.com/ca/softmoc-footwear carries a good portion of the brands they were talking about in the thread.

AND if you order online, it is free shipping to a store near you for pick up.

I like to go try on though, so I'll be hitting the mall soon!

Thanks for the tip. We have a Soft Moc near us so may check there and if not may look online if they are able to ship to the mall!

 

[Stan Solo]

I used craft foam. I got the kind with adhesive back but didnt need to use the sticky part because its on their so briefly. Any thick, non- absorbent kind of paper/plastic would work I think. It was on there for less then 2 min.

I used paper. Worked well but next time I would probably use my cardstick for at least the letters we did, les chance of leak through on the thin parts.

Thank you for the tips I think I'll try a thick card stock.

I found a store selling cheap colorful t-shirts and picked up shirts for about $3 each. DD and I have bright aqua blue shirts (her fave color) and I bought bright orange t-shirts for DH and DS. I was trying to find the same color & type of t-shirts for all of us...but didn't want to pay more than $5 each. It was impossible. Then I found this store and the material is the same but they have a woman's cut for me, a girl's cut for DD, and men's shirts for DH and DS so it was perfect, even though they're different colors.

What store did you find the shirts at?

OK - on to QOTD. I'm actually surprised I am the first one of the day on this crazy fast-moving August thread...I'll start us off.
Do you plan to collect autographs? If yes, what will you use?
e.g. traditional Disney autograph book, homemade book, other items

Yes, but only Star Wars ones and they cost between $20 to $125 each at Celebration. I did get Ye Ha Bob's last year for free though.

Unfortunately we don't have any children. DH would love to do the training academy though. I guess we will have to be content to watch. I was just wondering if they did meet and greets like other characters in the park.



That would be awesome if they did have something special. They didn't mention it on the Celebration website or the Disney site that was linked from there (since coronodo is a hosting hotel). DH would probably LOVE to do the Carbon Freeze me thing too. Let me know if you find out about anything special!!

Will do

I keep going over my packing list (and over and over and over it) and I can't seem to decide whether or not to bring my laptop. The only thing I can see me using it for is to upload photos if my SD card starts to get full. But then I think I can just buy an extra SD card and save the luggage space and hassle of getting my pc through security. It's a big 17" screen PC that's heavy and bulky and doesn't travel well. But then I think "what if there's something I HAVE to do for work while I'm there?" But then I think "you're on vacation, you're not supposed to work!" And then I think "but what if it's raining all day one day and you're stuck in the room with nothing to do and want to get online?"

Ugh. So indecisive. Is anyone else bringing a laptop (or waffling over making the decision to bring it or not?)

I brought my Ipad last year and just held it on the plane it came in handy for downloading my pictures each night and taking a few notes on how the day went. What worked where we ate how it was and what I would do different next time. Having said that a notepad and pen would do the same thing and so would an extra memory card or two. I don't think I would bring a large laptop with me.

Can I add us to the August group? We're going August 14-20 and can't wait. It'll be my little family of 3 and our friends (another family of 3). We all took our first trip to Disney World together 11 years ago.

to our group be sure to hit up SenecaWolf for a LGMH.

We are in for August as well! Staying 13th - 20th....6 of us with a 2bdrm villa at Jambo House. Super excited...last trip was marathon weekend. Seems like years ago!

to our group be sure to hit up SenecaWolf for a LGMH.

Hi All!

I talked my DH into letting me take our two oldest boys (6 and 5) to DW by myself, right before school starts, and I'm so excited! Hopefully our 2 year old son won't freak out too much with me gone (he's SUPER attached!), but it'd just be too hard to take all three of them, and not lose one of them, by myself. :/

We're used to hot and humid (from TX), but the boys aren't great swimmers yet, so I'm debating using the pools during our trip. I'm not sure how we'll keep cool if we don't swim though.

Anyway, we'll be there just from the 21st-25th, but this is our third of four trips in 2012, so I'm ok with the short trip! Bring on Florida in August!!!

~Laura

to our group be sure to hit up SenecaWolf for a LGMH.

Got my mickey mail today yay!

Tomorrow marks a month till we are in disney, today marks a month until we got to the city to stay for disney.

I am so paranoid i will forget something, i was like that for our wedding too, matter of fact i way way overpacked & did not use barely anything but i did forget clothes for us the next day (this is our honeymoon, that night we stayed in a lil motel & had to go back the next day to clean up) so my hubby had to be in suit pants, uncomfortable shoes & long white shirt

I am most worried i will forget to take our passports & get the letter for my son notarized.

Hey I got my Mickey Mail today as well. I see you are also leaving Winnipeg on the 19th are you flying West Jet VIA Toronto at 5:25 AM? In other words are we on the same flight?

We will be there Aug 13-24. This is our first summer trip and our first time staying at POR. We are all getting excited and looking forward to everything except the weather. DH & I both grew up in FL, so we know what to expect but we have been far from heat and humidity for many years.

Just wondering if anyone else has kids doing YES classes on Aug 20th.

to our group be sure to hit up SenecaWolf for a LGMH. Sorry, not doing YES classes on this trip but did consider it. We are doing the Segway tour on the 30th.

POFQ Aug 19 to Aug 26

to our group be sure to hit up SenecaWolf for a LGMH.

 

[SenecaWolf]

DS is doing the Captivating Moments: Images with Impact on the 29th. Anyone participating in that one?

to our group be sure to hit up SenecaWolf for a LGMH.

YES!! Just let me know what you want for your LGMH and I will be glad to make it! Page 128 has the designs if you need to check them out. (Thanks for the recommendations there Stan )
This is going to be rather exciting looking for them in the parks, especially since there seems to be a lot of people going the last week too!

Welcome to all the recent additions to Team August!

 

[tammylk]

I guess I should be posting over here. We are taking are first and likely only trip Aug 17-25 and we are staying at CSR. We are so excited, I think I am more excited than the kids.

 

[SenecaWolf]

I guess I should be posting over here. We are taking are first and likely only trip Aug 17-25 and we are staying at CSR. We are so excited, I think I am more excited than the kids.

Welcome!

I thought our trip in April was going to be our first and only.....
but now I'm going again in a month....and again next year .... LOL

 

[tammylk]

Welcome!

I thought our trip in April was going to be our first and only.....
but now I'm going again in a month....and again next year .... LOL

Most likely it will be for us, I am a single parent and this has been a three year process. My mom lives in Greece so if we go somewhere it will be there next. Plus I am north of the border and it costs more to get there.

Here are our ADRs.

8/18 Cape May Café – 5:30pm
8/19 Cinderella’s Royal Table – 4:25pm
8/21 Akershus – 5pm
8/22 Tusker House – 11:30am
8/23 Garden Grill – 5:25pm
8/24 Chef Mickey’s – 10:20am
8/24 1900 Park Fare – 4:55pm

 

[SenecaWolf]

I am also a single parent, but oh boy would I love to go to Greece!

Make sure to learn what you can from the boards here, it will really help you make the most of your trip.

Hope you have a wonderful and magical trip!!!

 

[elaine amj]

I have a hard time with these items because I am the pooh-sized individual, short (5'0") and overweight (no I will not tell you how much I weigh) so these items are VERY hard for me to buy. Capris usually end up looking like slight floods on me, not a good look, but these work well at calf length. The dress is for our Yachtsman Steakhouse reservation on our first night and will only be worn for that. With my sandals on, it is just the right length. YAY for me, I finally bought something online and don't have to return it. There is a first for everything!!!

what you bought sounds fab! I'm 5ft too - and shopping can be brutal!

Thanks- I didn't think of that. Doesn't it still need to be taken out of the bag for Security, though? That's the worst part of it for me. Especially since DH works at the airport, so he'll be parking our truck in his work lot and meeting us at the gate- so I'll be alone with the kids through Security. With 3 carry-ons and 3 "personal item" bags. At 5:30am. Heck, who am I kidding? I won't be able to stay offline for a whole week! We'll just be "those" people who take for freaking ever going through Security
We'll be at CSR at the same time!

I was suggesting check-in bags, not carry ons. still, I usually have a laptop AND a tablet with me in my carryons...it's a pain but if you have everything organized and easy to get in/out, you should be just fine. I've done alone with kids before, its hard to juggle especially when the kids are sleepy. I once got yelled at at 4am by one of the security folks because I put a bag down on his table to get everything readjusted again. I had a wailing 18 mth old on my shoulder, and a half asleep 3yr old leaning on my leg and 3 sets of carryons to juggle!

I'm having a planning mini-crisis. I can't decide if I just want to taxi/shuttle over to Universal and Islands of Adventure on two separate days of our trip and stay the full 7 nights at the POR......OR......if I should just move over to the Hard Rock Hotel for the last two nights to take advantage of their on-site priveledges. Hmmmmmmmmmmm. Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm. What should I do?!?!?!?!?!?!

I vote Hard Rock. If you're doing 2 days, what's the point of staying at WDW? Have fun at Universal! I'm still trying to convince DH to give it a shot sometime.

Right now DH is actually researching ADR's because I mentioned we're seeing the same princesses at CRT and Akershus and did we need to both... So we might change ADR's too. Any tips on if we should do both? DD4 is a princess but DS would rather the fab five (we're also doing Tusker House, Crystal Palace and spirit of aloha. Any suggestions on maybe a more grown up dinner we can make them suffer through? thinking maybe ohana, teppan edo, Tokyo dining...

Sent from my iPad using DISBoards

we're doing CRT and 1900 Park Faire. My kids are older and I figure will get a kick out of the stepsisters. My kids also decided to do Garden Grill. We don't really care too much about the characters - but they are entranced with the idea of a revolving restaurant!

POFQ Aug 19 to Aug 26

welcome!!!

What store did you find the shirts at?

At one of those cheapo stores with barely a name. To be honest, I was on a business trip to Philly and ended up in a strip mall at a Marshalls and this awesome cheapo store was next to it. It was pretty big and filled from end to end mainly with brightly colored cheap Ts. PERFECT!!!!

Most likely it will be for us, I am a single parent and this has been a three year process. My mom lives in Greece so if we go somewhere it will be there next. Plus I am north of the border and it costs more to get there.

Here are our ADRs.

8/18 Cape May Café – 5:30pm
8/19 Cinderella’s Royal Table – 4:25pm
8/21 Akershus – 5pm
8/22 Tusker House – 11:30am
8/23 Garden Grill – 5:25pm
8/24 Chef Mickey’s – 10:20am
8/24 1900 Park Fare – 4:55pm

WELCOME fellow Canadian!
If you post what park you will be on what day, I will add you to the park list.

 

[elaine amj]

Park days all updated!! See a sample below. Full post is here.

I'll also ask if you plan to be there for RD (so us crazy RD'ers can hunt for each other). Hopefully, this will be also helpful to arrange DisMeets!

And for those who "wing it", just post your overall vacation dates and I'll have a "wing it" list.

Just list:

Date
Park
whether you plan to be there for RD.

I'll post it like this:

8/?
Magic Kingdom
username

EPCOT
username

Disney Hollywood Studios
username

Animal Kingdom
username

Winging it
username

No Park Day
username

Downtown Disney
username

Blizzard Beach
username

Typhoon Lagoon
username
______________________
8/29

Magic Kingdom
cinnderly (RD)
elaine amj (RD)
Emteach (Evening)
ginny_lynn (w dessert party)

EPCOT
cinnderly (evening)
DisneyMomFanatic
SenecaWolf

Disney Hollywood Studios
Emteach
KarmaLady
pigletto
PoohsFan1

Animal Kingdom
ashmarie06
donnaf516
starrPA (RD)

Winging it
username

No Park Day
4Joyces

Downtown Disney
username

Blizzard Beach
username

Typhoon Lagoon
DonnaBoo

8/30
Magic Kingdom
ashmarie06
DisneyMomFanatic
donnaf516
KarmaLady
PoohsFan1
SenecaWolf (RD)
starrPA (RD)

EPCOT
elaine amj (RD)
Emteach

Disney Hollywood Studios
4Joyces (RD)
cinnderly (RD)
KarmaLady

Animal Kingdom
pigletto

Winging it
ginny_lynn (EP or DHS)

No Park Day
username

Downtown Disney
username

Blizzard Beach
username

Typhoon Lagoon
DonnaBoo

8/31

Magic Kingdom
cinnderly (RD)
Emteach
KarmaLady
ginny_lynn (maybe)
pigletto

EPCOT
cinnderly (evening EMH)
DonnaBoo
starrPA

Disney Hollywood Studios
elaine amj (RD)
pigletto

Animal Kingdom
username

Winging it
4Joyces (probably MK RD)

No Park Day
username

Downtown Disney
donnaf516

Blizzard Beach
username

Typhoon Lagoon
username

 

[SenecaWolf]

Excellent work there elaine! Thanks for all the time your putting in. I see that KarmaLady and I will be at many of the same parks on the same days

 

[SenecaWolf]

Oh as far as Garden Grill, the revolving restaurant is sooo cool. We loved the one at the CN Tower and this is just like it (except with better food lol)with Disney scenery and you guys will LOVE Chip N' Dale, they are soooo much fun.

 

[elaine amj]

Oh as far as Garden Grill, the revolving restaurant is sooo cool. We loved the one at the CN Tower and this is just like it (except with better food lol)with Disney scenery and you guys will LOVE Chip N' Dale, they are soooo much fun.

Thanks for the positive review! It isn't one I would have chosen because revolving restaurants no longer really fascinate me (BTDT lol), but I remember when they did - so I get where my kids are coming from.. Since we're not likely to go to any of the pricey revolving restaurants around here (my poor kiddos have never even been up the CN Tower!), I figure this is a great chance for them to go. Food sounds pretty good so I'm looking foreward to the whole experience.

 

[elaine amj]

Since I'm still up and it's 1AM....here's the
QUESTION OF THE DAY (QOTD)

Did you use a Travel Agent or did you book your trip yourself?

I used a Disney Specialist TA. I like that there is someone knowledgeable who is passionate about WDW and can guide me here and there. Plus, I hate calling Disney (it's long distance from Canada with no 1-800 # ...a huge pet peeve) so she makes all my ADRs and other ressies. I also got my trip insurance from her. Plus, she gave me a Disney gift card for booking with her Overall I do my own planning as I am a researcher and am Dis-obsessed. I do like knowing I'm supporting a small home business and that a TINY bit of my money gets diverted from the Mouse to someone who helps make Disney trips so much more fun.

I would hands down refuse to use someone who doesn't have a clue abt WDW though....unless I really do everything myself and just give them the commission. Too much potential for trouble!

 

[elaine amj]

Hey - how does everyone feel about starting up a new Aug 2012 thread? I know the OP of the thread posted saying she had to cancel her trip - so our list is no longer maintained.

We could also then make sure the original post is updated with all the instructions needed to follow the thread. Things like Nikki's ADR thread, the 2 LGMH creations, the park list, and our QOTDs. This is such an incredibly fast-moving thread that it's really hard for anyone new to wade through 160 (and counting!) pages of posts.

The most difficult part will be making sure newbies know not to post in the old thread - maybe we can get a mod to close it? We would def. link to it from the new thread though.

 

[SenecaWolf]

QUESTION OF THE DAY (QOTD)

Did you use a Travel Agent or did you book your trip yourself?


Booked myself with Disney. I think it's more of a control issue. I need to feel like I did the best I could and things were requested the way I wanted lol. But, with hearing about some of the discounts people are getting by going thru a TA I'm almost willing to consider it for next year. I'll decide after I see the bounceback offer next month

 

[SenecaWolf]

Hey - how does everyone feel about starting up a new Aug 2012 thread? I know the OP of the thread posted saying she had to cancel her trip - so our list is no longer maintained.

We could also then make sure the original post is updated with all the instructions needed to follow the thread. Things like Nikki's ADR thread, the 2 LGMH creations, the park list, and our QOTDs. This is such an incredibly fast-moving thread that it's really hard for anyone new to wade through 160 (and counting!) pages of posts.

The most difficult part will be making sure newbies know not to post in the old thread - maybe we can get a mod to close it? We would def. link to it from the new thread though.

I'm all for easier navigation. Let me know if you would like some help reorganzing things, I'll be around all day tomorrow.

 

[m2zjj]

Since I'm still up and it's 1AM....here's the
QUESTION OF THE DAY (QOTD)

Did you use a Travel Agent or did you book your trip yourself?

I booked everything myself but then again I'm staying off site and not doing many ADR's so it made more sense for me to do it.

Hey - how does everyone feel about starting up a new Aug 2012 thread? I know the OP of the thread posted saying she had to cancel her trip - so our list is no longer maintained.

We could also then make sure the original post is updated with all the instructions needed to follow the thread. Things like Nikki's ADR thread, the 2 LGMH creations, the park list, and our QOTDs. This is such an incredibly fast-moving thread that it's really hard for anyone new to wade through 160 (and counting!) pages of posts.

The most difficult part will be making sure newbies know not to post in the old thread - maybe we can get a mod to close it? We would def. link to it from the new thread though.

I think a new thread is a good idea.


I'm down to 15 days! Also just ordered the photopass plus, I know cutting it close on the delivery time but I wasn't sure I could afford it until I managed to sell some of my kids old clothing on craigslist and bingo that was where the extra money went. It's my DN's first trip and the first trip that my DS will be able to ride some of the bigger rides so I know we would have bought the ride photos anyway. My sister is letting me take DN on her first trip so I want as many picture as possible so that she can see all the fun things her daughter did. Not quite the same as being there but hopefully better than nothing.

Found out yesterday that my DH will be able to go with us for sure. it was up in the air for the past 2 months as one of his key employees found out that he was suppose to be in California for 2 weeks of national guard duty. Thankfully his CO is a nice enough guy and after a letter explaining that this trip was booked and paid for before this employee was hired into the company and that there was no way to have them both gone at the same time without closing the business down he moved his guard duty to another 2 week period later in the year.

 

[Graykamirat]

Okay, I need to be told to relax. We are 18 days out and no Mickey Mail; is this unusual? I have never stayed on property before and don't know what to expect. When should I start contacting Disney/my TA about not having any tags for my luggage?

On the other hand: Less that three weeks to go!!

 

[sweetcanadian]

Hey I got my Mickey Mail today as well. I see you are also leaving Winnipeg on the 19th are you flying West Jet VIA Toronto at 5:25 AM? In other words are we on the same flight?


No i wanted that one but by the time i booked it was gone. We leave @ 7:40 flying to minneapolis, not sure what carrier from wpg but i booked through delta & they do not fly out of wpg.

I will be at the airport at 5am so wave & say sucka!!! lol

 

[sweetcanadian]

I guess I should be posting over here. We are taking are first and likely only trip Aug 17-25 and we are staying at CSR. We are so excited, I think I am more excited than the kids.

we are at csr too!