Birthday trip????September 2013????

Iamthequeen

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Aug 7, 2011
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So the questions are, do we take another WDW vacation in September and if so, do we go over my birthday again?

The problems are that I love Disney in September, but we've been twice so far and I'd really like to see WDW dressed up for Christmas. I don't really want to go in November or December though....

I know, this is silly.....

The 2nd problem is that this is a BIG birthday for me and I could have a large family celebration at home and go to WDW the following week, except my birthday is during Labor Day week, so that would mean taking another vacation day if we went the following week.

Decisions, decisions.....

So, we don't have dates picked which means we don't have the trip booked yet. I've decided to wait just a couple of weeks more and see what discounts are given out for September and then choose dates. I'm hoping for free dining, but a package discount would be good too.

Here are the characters of this saga....

Me, Terry and the hubster, Charlie

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This picture was taken on my birthday in 2011!:joker:

I guess I should add some background info on the main characters. I'm a planner - thats right, my job is a land use planner. Doesn't mean I do much planning for anything else though. I'm 59, married and have 4 kids (2 girls, 2 boys), one dil, one grandson and one almost dil. My grandson came into the family ready-made and I missed out on his baby years. He is a senior in high school.

DH is a self-employed electrical engineer and keeps himself very busy - all the time. He's 63.

We took a trip to WDW back in February, 2002 with the 2 youngest kids who were 14 and 16 at the time. We stayed at the All-Star Movies if I remember correctly. We did have a wonderful time, especially since the kids were able to be on their own for brief periods of time.

Then, in 2010, dh decided we should do another trip to WDW. We decided on late September, but dh left all the details up to me. I decided on POFQ just because I liked the look of the place. We got lucky when we arrived and were upgraded to a River view corner room. We didn't go with any type of plan, except where we needed to be to eat dinner each night. Most of our meals were at resorts, which were nice, but not knowing how far they were, or how large some of the resorts were was scary some evenings. We had such a good time, dh decided we should go back again the next year. So we did! Again all the details were left up to me, but this time I checked out some of the Disney sites like this one and had some ideas beforehand. I decided early September this time - over Labor Day week, which included my birthday! Again, we had a wonderful time. We did not, however, plan another trip in 2012. Just did not work out schedule-wise and I knew that I wanted to go to Hawaii this year to visit my brother.

Now its time to head back "home". I've finally made a decision on dates.....
 
Forgot to say that we will be staying at POFQ, which is our favorite resort. We like the small (:lmao:) size, the walk to Riverside, and the boat! Usually don't have to wait too long for a bus and I like the theming of the resort and pool.

While I'm waiting to make the big decision, my sister and I are taking a small trip in March to visit our brother and sil - in Hawaii. They moved there 3 years ago and this is the first time we've had a chance to visit. Our flight leaves on March 5 - early, so we are planning to stay at a hotel near the airport on March 4. We live about an hour from the airport, but it will be so much easier to get up and take the hotel shuttle rather than driving, parking at the longterm lot and then taking a shuttle.

We decided to get a spray tan before we go, so we won't look like beached whales (actually, my sister would never be confused with a whale - she's the skinny one!)

I'm shopping for bathing suits.
 
Dining Plans - even though we don't have dates tied down yet, we've decided we'd like to try some new restaurants this time around. We will be doing the dining plan. It just works well for us.

Some restaurants that are on the "for sure" list:

Be Our Guest
Via Napoli
Cape May Cafe

Potential restaurants:

Chefs de France
50's Prime Time Cafe (we did this one for lunch in 2001 so its not totally new)
Crystal Palace for breakfast
Hoop de doo Revue - we've done this one twice already but I love the show!
Sanaa
 
I've pretty much decided that our dates will be September 6-14 - depending on airfare. May have to tweak that by a day or two either way.

I told dh that I want to make our reservation before I leave for Hawaii, so that I can start booking ADRs asap.

Now if I can get the cost down below $3000, I can maybe add another day!:cool1:
 

SOunds like you have some awesome traveling coming up! Hawaii... I can only dream...

And you know I LOVE fq!!! This will be a spectacular trip for both of you... It's too bad that we will only miss eachother by a few days.

And Grrr... I am right there with you... I wish Disney would release some deals... I am still having a hard time wrapping my mind around the current cost of our trip... It really makes me not in the mood to plan. Sigh.

Anyways... Can't wait to hear more about your plans! :)

D~
 
I feel your dilemma! We are going thru the same thing! It is for my son's 11th birthday though. We go every year at the beginning of September, and I want to see Christmas decorations and the party, but I can't pull myself away from September. We love to jump in the pool and just have that cool relaxed feeling from the heat. It doesn't seem like a vaca unless it is hot!
 
SOunds like you have some awesome traveling coming up! Hawaii... I can only dream...

We are getting very excited!


And you know I LOVE fq!!! This will be a spectacular trip for both of you... It's too bad that we will only miss eachother by a few days.

I tried to figure out a way to overlap with your trip, but Charlie does not want to go in August at all, so the best I could have done was arriving on the day you were leaving....

And Grrr... I am right there with you... I wish Disney would release some deals... I am still having a hard time wrapping my mind around the current cost of our trip... It really makes me not in the mood to plan. Sigh.

Yeah, whats the hold up???? LOL

Anyways... Can't wait to hear more about your plans! :)

D~

Thanks for joining in!
 
I feel your dilemma! We are going thru the same thing! It is for my son's 11th birthday though. We go every year at the beginning of September, and I want to see Christmas decorations and the party, but I can't pull myself away from September. We love to jump in the pool and just have that cool relaxed feeling from the heat. It doesn't seem like a vaca unless it is hot!

Thanks for joining in Denise. I feel the same about September and I'm afraid of the weather in November or December - silly I know, but I keep thinking about the December a couple of years ago when people had to wear their winter coats in the parks. I'm going to Florida for the warmth!
 
I don't really have a substantial update to report.

I spent some time in the sewing room over the long weekend so I could finish a bag that I started a couple of years ago. I think it turned out cute - lime green, white and black. I'm planning to take it to Hawaii - its one of those "good for your back" bags.

I also started a smaller one for my Disney bag for this trip. I took a page from D~'s book and added a Minnie applique to the front pocket. Not nearly as polished as D~s, but for a first attempt I didn't think it was too bad. I need to get some pictures.
 
I don't really have a substantial update to report.

I spent some time in the sewing room over the long weekend so I could finish a bag that I started a couple of years ago. I think it turned out cute - lime green, white and black. I'm planning to take it to Hawaii - its one of those "good for your back" bags.

I also started a smaller one for my Disney bag for this trip. I took a page from D~'s book and added a Minnie applique to the front pocket. Not nearly as polished as D~s, but for a first attempt I didn't think it was too bad. I need to get some pictures.

You definately need to post pictures! I am anxious to see how it turned out - I am positive it's marvelous~! :cloud9:

Our official dates - as of now... Aug 19-30... That still gets us home and gives the girls 4-5 days to "recover" before school starts... They start on different days. If no better code comes out - though - I may need to cut our trip shorter by 2 days - it's not something I want to do, because I have it worked out very nicely, but I really need to keep it below a certain price point. Otherwise, I can keep the same length of trip by staying at FQ (which we love so much)... It would just be marvelous no matter how we do it... The girls and I just love spending time together. :flower3:

D~
 
You definately need to post pictures! I am anxious to see how it turned out - I am positive it's marvelous~! :cloud9:

Our official dates - as of now... Aug 19-30... That still gets us home and gives the girls 4-5 days to "recover" before school starts... They start on different days. If no better code comes out - though - I may need to cut our trip shorter by 2 days - it's not something I want to do, because I have it worked out very nicely, but I really need to keep it below a certain price point. Otherwise, I can keep the same length of trip by staying at FQ (which we love so much)... It would just be marvelous no matter how we do it... The girls and I just love spending time together. :flower3:

D~

I'm glad to hear your surgery went well. Hope you are getting lots of TLC!

Well, Charlie managed to shock me this evening. He asked me to think about staying at the CBR instead of POFQ :scratchin HE is the one that wanted to stay at FQ - I love that resort because of its size, but I'm open to trying a new one. We priced out the Preferred rooms and he was not falling on the floor over the price, so I'm thinking we may change our resort this trip. I will be booking something next week. I really want to be able to make ADRs at 180 days, but if we don't get our first choices it will be ok. There are still many I want to try, so I can be flexible.

I stopped in the local Wallyworld after work today and ran into my sister. She told me we got an email from our brother telling us to remember to pack light - shorts, tops and "slippahs" (flipflops for those of you not fluent in Hawaiian). We stood and talked in the middle of the store for about a half hour - with carts and everything. Talk about blocking the aisles :rolleyes2 Actually we were off to the side out of the way (mostly.....:duck: We were trying to decide what time we should head down to the hotel at the airport on Monday so we can avoid rush hour (that is definitely an oxymoron!) around Baltimore. We're staying at the airport the night before because our flight leaves at 6:30 am and we live about 45-60 minutes from the airport. I old my bil we were staying at the airport the night before - stretched out on the benches. He said that was a good thing because he wasn't going to pay for hotel for us. :rotfl2: Luckily for me, my dh travels alot for work and always stays at a Comfort Inn, so we get points. (Well, not so lucky that he travels alot, but the points sure do come in handy - and we managed to use them up!) The night at the hotel is free, we just have to pay to leave the car there for a week.

12 more days!
 
THis is going to be such a fun trip for all of you! I hope that you'll post some pictures when you return. ;)

D~
 
I think we've finally decided on CBR in a standard room and add one more day of magic - new trip dates will be September 5-14. YAY! Just need to book the dates which will be later in the week. Still would like some type of discount....:worship:
 
I know how you feel - a discount would be amazing!

D~
 
its Ruthie from D's ptr popcorn:: joining in for your excitement !

Hawaii very cool..I'll get there when they build a bridge I can drive there

Sorry you'll be missing D's dates but I am all for Dismeets :goodvibes will be meeting
Ruth & her DDs (RStraz) Thurs ! & meeting D & her DDs Aug :-)

Would be awesome to meet you & DH too, Especially my BD that month too, right behind you not the big one this year but veryclose Will be 59 on
Sept 6

Looking forward to hearing all about plans AND
Hawaii trip ....can you pick me up a shell ?

Oh you will LOVE CBR !

Ruthie
 
its Ruthie from D's ptr popcorn:: joining in for your excitement !

Hawaii very cool..I'll get there when they build a bridge I can drive there

Sorry you'll be missing D's dates but I am all for Dismeets :goodvibes will be meeting
Ruth & her DDs (RStraz) Thurs ! & meeting D & her DDs Aug :-)

Would be awesome to meet you & DH too, Especially my BD that month too, right behind you not the big one this year but veryclose Will be 59 on
Sept 6

Looking forward to hearing all about plans AND
Hawaii trip ....can you pick me up a shell ?

Oh you will LOVE CBR !

Ruthie

Welcome Ruthie! Hope you are doing better. I know how worried you were about your Miss Maxine. I love horses and would have been at your door in a heart beat if I lived anywhere close.

I'd love to have dismeet with you in September. My bd is the 3rd, so we won't be there ON my bd, but that's ok. I'm planning a big party before we leave on our trip.

I am so looking forward to seeing my brother and sil. They moved to Hawaii 3 years ago and I miss them like crazy. They used to live about 4 miles from me (my son and his wife bought their house, so that was nice), and we would get together at least once a month and go out to dinner.

I'll be happy to pick up shells!

I have a very busy week ahead of me at work. I'm trying to get everything done before I leave the following Tuesday. Of course, it keeps coming, so I'll be hustling to get all the reports finished in time - not that I have a choice - the work needs to be finished on time.:beach:
 
We are booked for our trip to CBR Sept 5-14! Now to haunt the site for a discount - any would be good! and the airline websites for a good plane fare!pixiedust:
 
We are booked for our trip to CBR Sept 5-14! Now to haunt the site for a discount - any would be good! and the airline websites for a good plane fare!pixiedust:

:cool1: yeah for being booked ! now hoping you get discounts ! thanks for caring and what you said about Maxine that means so much to me a true blessing how many people would have been here if they lived closer, very touching

so with work and Hawaii right around the corner have you had time to plan any ADRs or your park days ?

Ruthie
 
Pretty much decided on restaurants - so far, this is what I have planned -

Tony's Town Square
Via Napoli
Sci Fi
Liberty Tree Tavern (lunch?)
Rose & Crown
Be Our Guest?
Chefs de France or Mama Melrose - undecided
Cape May Cafe
Crystal Palace (breakfast)

one night we want to do the Tomorrowland Terrace dessert party and I still would like to fit in 50s Primetime

I still have a week to make some decisions, though.....:coffee:
 
Your ADRs sound wonderful!

Hope you had a great flight to Hawaii!!! And I hope you have a wonderful time while you are there!

D~
 














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