Beauty and the Beach ~ Deluxe Edition

[Dancegrl624]

Have any of you ever rented a car onsite at Disney? I remember my parents did when they came with us in 2004. I wonder if I can use coupons/discounts if I go through Alamo at the Swan/Dolphin?

I've never rented a car onsite, but in June, we rented a car with Hertz. It was cheapest to get it from an offsite location, but they picked us up for free! I must say, it was an itty bitty Hertz location, but the woman that worked there was super nice. I don't remember the exact location, but it was only a few minutes off Disney property (maybe Kissimmee?). I think I got a better discount using my AAA card that using a coupon.

 

[Lovemy3babes]

I'm here Sheree! Late but definitely here...along for the ride. The plans look great so far! Duluth sounds like it was super fun.

 

[Mndisneygirl]

I'm here Sheree! Late but definitely here...along for the ride. The plans look great so far! Duluth sounds like it was super fun.

Glad you made it Kelli!! I know you've had a lot going on.
You haven't missed too much. Duluth is great! Now I want to go back with just DH and also take the kids. (we've taken them before)

 

[Mndisneygirl]

Well, I may have to start making changes to my plans/ADRs already. It looks like on July 31 they have changed AK EMH from PM to AM!!! That screws up my ADR for Boma. I made it early so we could go to AK for the pm EMH. Might have to figure out something else. I really didn't want to be at AK in the heat of the afternoon. We thought we would eat first, go to AK, see FOTLK and maybe do Kali and be wet AFTER dinner rather than before.

So I should start going through my plans with a finer toothed comb and keep checking on the park hours I guess. Grrr..

 

[Mndisneygirl]

Let's discuss our first day:
Wednesday July 28, 2010
We will have to leave our house by 6:30 or 7 am to get to the airport. That's assuming Delta doesn't change our flight again! Right now it's scheduled to leave MSP at 9 and arrive at MCO at 1:30 (I think).
We'll take ME and hopefully be at BC by around 3 p.m. and be able to check in and go right to our room!! Have to think positive! I think I'll try online check in this trip.

The plan is to hang around and explore the resort, maybe hit the pool (must remember to put our suits in carry on bags). Our dinner reservation isn't until 6:15 at Captain's Grille, so we'll have plenty of time.
We'll enjoy a nice leisurely dinner - I'm thinking Crab Legs!! and maybe wander over to Boardwalk and see some entertainment. I had thought about Downtown Disney, but think we'll have time before we leave on Sunday for the beach to go there.

We'll probably go to bed at a reasonable time since it will have been a long day and we're planning on hitting am EMH at MK the next day.


Another small update - we may upgrade and add days to our tickets. Probably not until we need to. Here's why. DH's sis said they may want to come back to WDW for a day from the beach. Especially if it's cloudy or something. So we may come back over and hit a park again!!! It costs next to nothing to add a day or two. IF we add two days, we could hit a park on Sunday before we leave since we don't check in at the beach until late afternoon. And then we could do another day in the next week!! YIPPEE!
Of course SIL may just want to come to DTD to shop. That would be okay with me too! I had thought we would hit DTD before we left on Sunday since we didn't have a park ticket for that day. I guess we will leave it unplanned for now!
We can add the days on anytime up to 14 days after even if we've used up all the days.

 

[Northern Disney Girl]

Plans for Day 1 look great Sheree!

Hey did you see that Captain EO is returning to Epcot for a short time starting July 2?? That is SO cool!!! I believe it is going in the HISTA auditorium cause that is where it was before!!

Did you call Delta yet??

 

[Mndisneygirl]

Plans for Day 1 look great Sheree!

Hey did you see that Captain EO is returning to Epcot for a short time starting July 2?? That is SO cool!!! I believe it is going in the HISTA auditorium cause that is where it was before!!

Did you call Delta yet??

I don't know much about Captain EO. Might have to check it out. It's got to be better than HISTA.

Called Delta - they checked and they had changed the flight the same day, and since I already clicked to confirm the change, there was no need to call me. She was really nice and said if there is any other change they will call.

 

[Dancegrl624]

Captain EO is awesome! It's WAY better than HISTA. It's pretty much a 17 minute mini movie/music video. You can watch the whole thing (in 2 parts) on youtube, but it will be in 3D at the park. I remember seeing it when I was really little.

 

[Disney Mommy 3]

On line check in for the resort, or the airport? And how close are you to the airport anyway? Just curious how early every one gets to theirs....we are usually there the customary 2 hours early...and wait for an hour and a half!!! I would much rather be 1 hour early,...but afraid I will miss something important!!! We have to be gone around 5:30, and then drive almost 2 hours to get to Houston!! I am tired before we take off the runway....it's all I can do to stay awake long enough to tell them what I want to drink!!!!

 

[Mndisneygirl]

On line check in for the resort, or the airport? And how close are you to the airport anyway? Just curious how early every one gets to theirs....we are usually there the customary 2 hours early...and wait for an hour and a half!!! I would much rather be 1 hour early,...but afraid I will miss something important!!! We have to be gone around 5:30, and then drive almost 2 hours to get to Houston!! I am tired before we take off the runway....it's all I can do to stay awake long enough to tell them what I want to drink!!!!

On line check in for both actually. I think it's now expected that we check in online and print our boarding passes at home! The airport is only about 20 minutes from our house without traffic. Around 7 - 7:30 we would have to add at least 10-15 more minutes for rush hour. Not too bad. That's why I liked the time we had before the change (10:20). I could wait until rush hour was practically over before going to the airport! Most days I get up by 6:30, so an hour earlier won't be too bad for me. I don't want to be there more than an hour and a half early. Our airport's typically not that busy like Orlando with the crazy long security lines. Less than an hour early would be cutting it too close for me.

 

[Dancegrl624]

We used resort online check-in back in June and it was great! There was only one other family in front of us! All of our requests had been met, but our room wasn't ready yet (maybe it's because we got to Pop around 10am!). I think all I had to do was show my license and they handed me the packet with all the info, we got our KTTW cards and off we went! They made sure they had my cell phone # so they could text me when the room was ready.

We get to the airport 2 hours early and we only live 20 minutes away. I do feel like we just sit in the airport for an eternity before it's time to board. I'm usually so excited that I can't sit still! For our next trip, our flight leaves at 6:25am!! I'm thinking that we don't need to be there at 4:30 in the morning. We've flown on an early Wed morning before and the line for security was non-existent. Besides, our airport security operates like MCO....they have a line for business travelers, families and one other one I can't remember.

 

[Monny2AE]

Your Day One plans look great! Hope you don't have to change much more due to Disney changing park hours on you again.

P.S. Your Day One is my 9th wedding anniversary. Maybe I can convince DH we need to go back to celebrate and relive our honeymoon.

 

[Lovemy3babes]

Day one looks great! July 28th is Dimitri's 7th birthday! Wave to us if you fly over, ok? (Though I suppose you aren't going that direction, bummer!) LOL!

 

[Mndisneygirl]

Your Day One plans look great! Hope you don't have to change much more due to Disney changing park hours on you again.

P.S. Your Day One is my 9th wedding anniversary. Maybe I can convince DH we need to go back to celebrate and relive our honeymoon.

Thanks - I hope your anniversary is as fun for you as it will be for me!!! I'd mention it to your DH - you never know!!

Day one looks great! July 28th is Dimitri's 7th birthday! Wave to us if you fly over, ok? (Though I suppose you aren't going that direction, bummer!) LOL!

Looks like I will have to celebrate a lot on my first day! I think you should all join us to celebrate! I probably will be flying the opposite direction, but I'll wave anyway and wish Dimitri a happy birthday! 7 is a fun age!

 

[Pluto_fan]

Sheree--I'm here, finally!
Your plans sound great. After a trip to WDW, I always feel like I need another vacation to recover from the one I just took, and you'll have that built right in with the beach trip!
How's the hot tub?

My parents are at their "home" resort this week in Fort Lauderdale (so jealous). It's literally across the street from the beach (the hotel is on A-IA...the song that is mentioned in "Ice Ice Baby"!!! ).

Meghan--that road is also mentioned in a Jimmy Buffett song, "Trying to Reason with Hurricane Season"..."strollin' down the avenue that's known as A-1A"...now I've got that stuck in my head. I'll have to start singing "it's a small world" to replace it

 

[Mndisneygirl]

Sheree--I'm here, finally!
Your plans sound great. After a trip to WDW, I always feel like I need another vacation to recover from the one I just took, and you'll have that built right in with the beach trip!
How's the hot tub?

Hey Plutofan!! Glad you're here! I'm hoping this trip is all relaxing, but I know I'll be doing much more at WDW. It will be great to hang at the beach again afterwards!
The hot tub is still not quite operational. DH wants to rotate it 90 degrees, strip the stain and restain the wood sides, then hook up the electrical, fill it and I'm hoping in another week or two I'll be in it with a drink in hand!! I could really use it tonight however! Had a garage sale at my house Thurs - Sat and the weather STUNK! It was unseasonably cold, after it had been unseasonably warm the last month! Windy, yesterday it rained all day so we closed up early. Got rid of a lot of things, but still quite a bit left. It's going to charity. Funny - while we were packing it up, the phone rang - CHARITY PICKUP - Yup, I answered that one!! LOL. They're coming Thursday morning.

On a PTR note - I did decide to move my Boma ADR. They apparently are not having evening EMH at AK, but rather have it listed now as AM EMH. The DIS still shows pm, but the official Disney site says AM. So, I thought we might want to go to AK in the afternoon (HOT, HOT, HOT!) and eat at Boma a little later. So I moved it from 4:30 to 6. Not sure if we'll do anything that night after dinner or not. It depends what's open later and if we're too tired.
I also officially canceled my LeCellier ADR. If you remember, I wasn't sure Les Chefs de France was going to be on the DDP. It is. So I canceled my "backup" I was nice and posted on the cancellation thread, so I hope someone is able to "get lucky"!
I'm super tired tonight (and still cold), so I don't have much else to say. I think I feel a list coming on, so maybe in my next update I'll have to start listmaking!!

To all of you moms and moms-to-be:

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!!!

 

[Charleston Princess]

Happy Mother's Day, Sheree!

 

[Disney Mommy 3]

yes!! A List!! I am a List-lover!!! Bring it on!!

 

[Mndisneygirl]

Well my friends, DD9's softball game got rained out tonight (Whew - it's cold out too!) So we went and got a bit of dinner at a chinese restaurant. That was our big anniversary celebration! HA! I'm still feeling the effects of my weekend in the garage in the cold. SO tired! Plus this rain is making my sinuses really uncomfortable.
Anywho, I am home tonight, relaxing with Dancing with the Stars.
So I said I felt like a list. Where to start????
Should I talk about packing, eating, rides/attractions, a to-do list?
Let's talk packing a bit:

Ponchos- I still have ponchos left from last trip that we didn't use. I might pick up another set at the dollar store.

Shoes/Sandals - I got DD9 a cool pair that are enclosed toe, like Keens, but cheap. I'd like to get DD7 a pair too. I have some similar ones. I'm sure they'll bring flip flops too. I'd like to get up to the Crocs outlet and see if they have any more for them. I got a good deal on them last time. I don't wear flip flops. I will bring sneakers, even though I think my feet will be hot if the weather is typical of July!

Clothes - I have been losing a bit of weight and I might need to buy a new pair of shorts or too. I bought a t-shirt that has that duo-dry fabric, and I'm going to test it out on a hot, humid day. Might want more of those. The girls are big into tank tops and they have TONS, so they probably won't need much. I MIGHT look for a new swimsuit. I'd like to have two since we're going to the beach too.

Park bags - My girlfriend is loaning me her small bag that I used once before. It's lightweight, nylon type fabric and I wear it cross body. It's big enough for my essentials. DH will probably have the bigger camera so we'll also bring our backpack. We'll carry the ponchos, ziplocs, camera (maybe also the video cam) and probably some water in that. I really don't like to carry much in the parks. I've done it once with just stuff in my pockets, but that was pre kids and not when it was hot and humid. I've considered the mini or the hipster in Vera Bradley, but decided I don't want to spend money on it. If anything, I'd get the hipster and carry a bit more than in my small bag. If the patterns that I like go on sale and I can actually get them, I might do it. Trying to save money everywhere, so I have been hesitant.

I always pack a small first aid type kit - a few bandaids, blister block, neosporin - that I carry in my bag. I will also bring a bunch of OTC meds - I will have a HUMONGOUS package of Sudafed for my sinuses, some mucinex, pain killers and kids' motrin. Plus I'll need SUNBLOCK too!

I will pack my guidebooks (for sure the Passporter) but I usually don't bring it into the parks. This trip I'll bring some reading material for the plane and the beach - some nice light novels to read.
Obviously, undies, and toiletries (I wear contacts, so I have to bring my glasses etc.)
I have a master packing list that I use for most trips and just adjust for the season. Obviously this trip I will not be bringing sweatshirts and gloves!
What else am I missing??

 

[Disney Mommy 3]

chargers/batteries! Make sure you have all that electronic stuff!! Kipp picked the local Chinese place for his bday dinner tonight too!! Ha!!!!! How funny!! It is sooo windy here too...what is the deal? I haven't watched the news,but Meghan said it was so windy in Buffalo she thought the house was gonna blow over!!!!! WOW....
you may want to bring some chapstick too---and those sunblock sticks for the girls' faces....pony tail holders...that hair gets sticky in the summer with all the humidity..... I know you said you don't really like flip flops, but have you tried the Crocs flip flops? Remember I had those pink and green ones like Sarah had? I wore those 3 times to Disney!!! They really do support your feet well---I am a tennis shoe girl for extreme walking, but my feet got so hot and tired I just bailed out and stuck with the Crocs...this last trip I got a pair that were less 'bright'! I had the brown with light pink...you are gonna hate those tennis shoes by the time the weeks over....bathing suits..I am looking at Lands End...some are reeeaaaally cute!!!ok....nighty night!!