Book it. Buy it. BELIEVE it! - TR is started! link posted 8/11

[eandesmom]

This must be the week for spinning heads !!First I had taken a half day as Kyle's school calendar said he got out earlyThen I find out from a co worker that it has been changed to all day OFF !!SOOOO I frantically call my boss rearrange my scheduleHave Judy call his BIG Brother to see if he is free for part of the day and yes he was soooo I was back to being able to work a half day ( different half) THEN the scholl calls at 8:30 pm to say they are going to be open I wanna SCREAM!!!!!
Hope your BIL is okay and insurance covers it !!

UGH!!! that is some MAJOR spinning there.

Well...at least the trip planning continues to be interesting! I'm sorry its gotten all a little crazy, but in the end, none of these are bad problems to have, right?

No, none are bad problems. You are absolutely right!

I knew the drama would eventually come, but I didn't expect such a huge dose of it x2. My oh my. I am sure it will all work out fine but, if it were me, I'd be a basketcase right now.

When it rains, it pours!

Love the photos from Mother's Day on the hike. But where is THE mother in the photos?

Behind the camera, as usual. You only get pictures of me if I go on a girls trip! You might have to wait till October for any new ones.

Well, there is a FB pic up from Sunday out with my sisters but that's about it. LOL

 

[winkers]

I hope Jeff's brother is ok! My step-brother fell off a deck at my parents home while helping with new siding. He landed on his back on the cement and ended up in the hospital for a couple of weeks. He's ok now, but it took awhile. My parents home owners insurance paid for all of the medical.

 

[eandesmom]

I hope Jeff's brother is ok! My step-brother fell off a deck at my parents home while helping with new siding. He landed on his back on the cement and ended up in the hospital for a couple of weeks. He's ok now, but it took awhile. My parents home owners insurance paid for all of the medical.

That's good to know about the homeowners! Jeff spoke to him this morning, He was in great spirits and seemed to be doing really good and was getting discharged. He said they use ladder jacks between ladders supporting 2 x 10 boards as platforms. It’s standard practice and the boards were brand new. They are careful to buy boards in excellent condition, but one of them broke clean through and down he went. His boss was out buying aluminum platforms this morning!

Still doesn't answer the coverage question but sounds like a neck brace for 2 weeks and that's it? We'll see but it is definitely good news.

 

[tinacaplan]

I just back tracked through some of the chatter and wanted to say that I hope Jeff's brother is OK. I missed all of that and didn't want to sound like I was being glib or anything.

Hope today has been better for you!

 

[eandesmom]

I just back tracked through some of the chatter and wanted to say that I hope Jeff's brother is OK. I missed all of that and didn't want to sound like I was being glib or anything.

Hope today has been better for you!

Oh gosh, no worries, it was in the chatter and not an actual update so I wouldn't necessarily expect folks to catch it. It looks like he is ok, in a neck brace for a couple of weeks and VERY VERY lucky. Now we just hope that the medical stuff is covered as it happened at work...and he doesn't have insurance.

 

[Poolrat]

Glad to hear he is Okay and a couple weeks in a neck brace should do it.

Very, Very, lucky and I do hope something covers the expenses.

 

[eandesmom]

Glad to hear he is Okay and a couple weeks in a neck brace should do it.

Very, Very, lucky and I do hope something covers the expenses.

We are so grateful, feeling very blessed that he's ok

 

[brookelizabeth]

Oh.my.word!!!!!!! Okay, all the changes and options are enough to make someone go mad, but that fact that it's all hypothetical at this point makes it even more maddening!

I hope it all comes together soon so it's solid!

 

[eandesmom]

Oh.my.word!!!!!!! Okay, all the changes and options are enough to make someone go mad, but that fact that it's all hypothetical at this point makes it even more maddening!

I hope it all comes together soon so it's solid!

Sigh, not as soon as I'd like! Update coming shortly.

 

[eandesmom]

Welcome to the next installment of...

As the trip turns

Well…had the parent meeting, got some info, didn’t get some info.
Jeff chatted with his dad. Got some info, didn’t get some info.
Jeff chatted with his brother. Got some info, didn’t get some info.

Sigh.

First of all, update on Doug, Jeff’s brother.

What we know
He said they use ladder jacks between ladders supporting 2 x 10 boards as platforms. It’s standard practice and the boards were brand new. They are careful to buy boards in excellent condition, but one of them broke clean through and down he went. His boss was out buying aluminum platforms this morning! He says he’ll be off two weeks and then right back at work. He dodged a bullet. We are so grateful he is ok.

What we don’t know
Whether his medical expenses are covered. Prayers needed on that one but we are hopeful it’s covered by L&I/workman’s comp and/or his bosses homeowners policy.

The Soccer Factor - What we know
Kendall’s team plans to go to one (not two, thankfully) summer tournament in CA (they’ll have 2-3 over fall winter and one of those is in CA but at least it’s not 2 back to back CA tournaments which is what we had heard. Their first choice is the tournament that is over our first trip weekend, the Vero part. Second choice, if they don’t get into the first tournament, is one that is the week prior.

They also have a tournament, in Utah, NEXT WEEK. Fun times trying to come up with the funds for that one on such short notice. My gut is that the coach wants them to have a good practice tournament before the following week which is regionals but as K won’t be playing in that one (wasn’t on the 11-12 team) it’s a little frustrating and expensive. Flights less than 2 weeks out, and dictated flights at that due to chaperoning, are not cheap. We did know what we were getting back into but still, the speed of it is a bit disconcerting.

The Soccer Factor - What we don’t know
We will not hear whether they got in to the tournament, until on or around 6/1. Team manager seemed to think it was 7/1 but the tournament site clearly states 6/1 so we are banking on that. Of course there is a little bit of drama about that. The tournament alone decides what group you get placed in, there are two. It is possible that the team will not agree with the placement and decide not to go as a result. Not probable given their rankings but you never know. They’ve gotten into this one before and are higher ranked now I think but…you never know. This age gets pretty cutthroat for these college showcases. so even the "ower" bracket is uber competitive and probably more likely the one they'd get placed in. Doesn't necessarily mean the ones in the upper bracket are "better" but that they play in more of these national tournaments so have more things that get rated and ranked, upping their scores (if you do well that is lol).

We also don’t know whether K’s mom will go to the CA tournament, whichever one they end up at. Doesn’t matter so much on the first one. Could be a huge factor on the 2nd, the one that overlaps our trip. At this age, parents/families do not need to go; they require 2 chaperones plus coaches. So conceivably her mom doesn’t go and K has to fly there and back with the team, versus potentially flying straight to FL from the tournament. We are hoping that she will want to be a chaperone on this one but don’t know. She has a work factor that she didn’t used to that has really complicated her schedule and made her miss a lot of K’s things this past year, which is pretty unprecedented for her and I know frustrating. She is considering quitting as a result but who knows. The joy of going into the private sector after a lifetime of government work, big change for her.

Oh, and get this. There is an outside (and I mean really outside lol) chance that her team wins regionals and is going to Nationals. Which OF COURSE is at the same time as the tournament they are trying to get into. If that happened, it won’t but hey it is theoretically possible, K wouldn’t be going as she wasn’t on that team during the year it covers. Oy to the Vey!

The Wingnut Factor (aka Jeff and his Dad) - What we know
THEY ARE GOING! Jeff is heading down on the 22nd and then arrives in Orlando at 4:30 on the 27th.
So where does this leave us?

Torn, confused and more than a few things out of our control at the moment!

Jeff went back and forth on this all day yesterday about go/no go on the trip with his dad. He needs to do this, I’m glad he did. He had a moment of panic thinking they only way we’d get K on the trip is if he went to the tournament and made sure she made it but it is possible for her to fly back with the team, and still make the cruise. I talked him off that ledge.

Possible scenarios as we see it

A. K ends up with a conflict; she flies from CA to FL, if her mom can oversee that actually happening or if somehow we can magically time that flight to be around the same time as the team flight and a nice chaperone will oversee it. Or if magically her good friends parents are going (they have family at the tournament city) and they’d oversee it happening. Or if her grandparents go down for it (have a time share nearby) and they’d oversee it happening. YIKES!
B. K ends up with a conflict, she flies back to SEA with the team and then to FL the next day or on a red eye that night depending on the team flight times. Which gets her there in time for the cruise but most likely misses all of Vero.
C. K doesn’t have a conflict and I fly the red eye with all 3 kids.
​

We will be surprised if they don’t get in to the tournament but it just really depends on who applies, they are ranked 92nd nationally, 34th in the region which is what the tournament draws from, so if enough teams that are higher ranked apply…guess they are out, a weird thing about this tournament is there are 2 brackets but for some reason the 2nd lower/bracket has less teams? I don’t get that but at the end of the day we are talking 24 teams that get in. They’ve gotten in before, and made it to the semi’s at the fall version of this but still….it really is a wild card.

What we have changed, so far.
We are going to stay one night in Orlando before heading to Vero. It’s just easier on all levels than timing flight arrival times to then drive to Vero after a red eye for us. 3, or 4 of us will land at 11:23am, Jeff not till 4:30 pm. A studio for the night saves us quite a bit of change, plus one day car rental costs, over that Friday night at Vero, close to $400 which eases the pain a little of flight change fees. If we have to change them.
Since Jeff made the call on the airshow, I did go ahead and book the studio which assumes K is joining later.

We are booked at Old Key West, in a studio, near Hospitality House!

We chose this for a few reasons.

1. Proximity to DTD. We can shop, eat and easily pick up the rental car from there, gives us some nice half day options. Easy car pick up was a big factor. Supposedly across the street from DTD.
2. 2 queen beds, not that it matters all that much for a night but I’d like to check the resort out as it’s been one I’ve considered owning at, and this is a good way to do it.
3. Not near a park. Don’t need to be annoyed we aren’t going to one!​

I figure the boys and I will get there, check in and then grab lunch. Probably a pool afternoon and then DTD for the evening. Mini golf is an option but I'll hold that as a surprise for the kids and just play it by ear, and likely only if it's the E's. Maybe a little pool time again in the morning while Jeff picks up the rental van and then we hit Margaritaville for an early lunch before the drive to Vero.

If Kendall does end up coming with us, I’ll need to change that and upgrade to a 1 bedroom. To change it I’ll have to do one of 2 things.

1. Downgrade our savanna 2 bedroom for a 1 bedroom at the end of the trip to free up some points. Currently both nights are not available for a 1 bedroom with the savanna view. It would free up more than we need.
2. Pay the point difference that I’m short. This is the more likely option as if I did option #1, and that room was even available, I’d then have some extra points in this use year. Which I could bank but given that our next trip isn’t likely until the use year after that, a little risky. Paying the point difference still saves us over the one night at Vero.
3. If she isn’t going, I could consider wait listing for studio or inn room versus our 1 bedroom at Vero to save points but the chances of that are really slim and I do want that kitchen and laundry!
​

However, scenario B happens it could basically drain our last day at Vero, or at least Jeff’s. If she ends up with a day flight on the 31st (a red eye on the 31st makes me WAY too nervous about her missing the cruise although it’s doable) then Jeff would have to drive back to MCO that night, then to Vero, then to Canaveral in the am. YUCK! But moving back to Orlando for that night doesn’t seem all that practical either. UGH!

Other things done so far are:

1. Booked a car for the 28th-1st, picking it up at the Hilton by DTD.
2. Confirmed all the various cancellation and change fees for K and Jeff.
See what K’s ticket options would be out of CA or out of SEA for the dates in question, list it all out with our OOP costs. I won’t call and cancel Jeff’s until I have to deal with K’s as it’s all bundled at the moment.
3. Scheduled DME for myself, the boys and Jeff. Will add K if appropriate but figured my chance of wacky ME tags for her getting confused were higher if I had her on our DME ressie and then changed it, versus either making a new one for her later or adding her to ours. Capice?​

Basically Jeff’s ticket will become a credit that he’ll need to use within the next year. Bummer about that is that it can only be used for HIM. It would have been nice to use it for his flight into Orlando but the reality was he got a much better flight (direct) on a different airline for the same amount as his change fee would have been ($150). Would have also been nice to use it towards my October flight but oh well. Kendall’s ticket would be used towards a new ticket, if we need to rebook her, we just really have no idea from where or when at this point. Right now the out of pocket costs are in the $67-166 range for it, not horrible and the good news is really that there are tons of options time wise.

What I still need to do:
Cancel the 27th at Vero. Someone will be happy about that! I am probably going to wait to do this till after we hear on the tournament. While staying the 27th in Orlando makes a ton of sense, I’ll feel better about canceling it when I know what the Kendall situation looks like, I worry I have more to move around and won’t know until then. What I do know is once I cancel it, it will be GONE. LOL!

Cancel the other car reservations; I think I have 3 out there with various dates that I need to cancel.

Confused? here's a recap of the plans

7/22-27 Jeff at airshow, flies from airshow to Orlando
7/27 C and the E's fly to Orlando
7/27 OKW
7/28-8/1 Vero
7/28-7/30 K potentially at tournament
7/30 or 7/31 K flies to Orlando
8/1-8/5 Cruise
8/6-8/7 AKV

Got it?

LOL!

In other trip planning…

FE
It does look like a very small FE is coming together for the cruise! It is so small I’m not really sure it makes sense to do it, and order a new FE but the boys REALLY want to do it, so we are. I’ve had fun figuring out what we want for the new FE and will be ordering it soon. Part of me wants to wait until the dust settles on K’s travel but given what we know there isn’t any reason she shouldn’t make the cruise. Right? The boys have had input into the design of the FE and it’s really fun and a little different. Different enough anyway! I haven’t ordered it yet but will be soon.

Owners Locker
I am debating whether or not to do this, and would love input. I would love love to have our own beach towels, coffee mugs, a few toiletries, beach things and wineglasses and would likely buy new fun stuff on the trip to fill some of those items. Is it worth paying to store on this trip? I’m not sure. I have a trip in Oct so could use things from it (but would also live without it) then but our larger family trip, right now, isn’t until Dec/Jan of 2013/14. So…kind of a luxury.

Park Tickets
Right now, we have 4 base, 1 day tickets. Which we will use for our AK day. Cost wise, for half day, doesn’t make sense to add to that even with our changes. As you know, there are 5 of us on this trip! I had been planning to get an annual pass with the DVC discount. This was when I thought our big family trip would be summer of 2013. Now that it’s moved to December….it doesn’t make as much sense, AP is $419 and at todays prices, a one day base ticket for August plus 7 days for Oct, comes in at $407. That assumes I have 7 days in Oct, I haven’t booked my flights yet so it could be 6. I admit, I like the idea of spending $85 now more than $419. With the Oct trip, I don’t see finagling another trip within the AP window. But, if prices go up (and they will), the AP could come in slightly less…just not sure that it’s enough less to justify spending the $$ now.

Dining plan versus TIW
I know I haven’t talked about our AKV ADR’s yet but they have been made. In doing so I did a breakdown of DDP, OOP and TIW. I can get TIW with DVC or if I did get an AP, with that and for less. I don’t really need it for Oct since Mary Ellen already has it. TIW would help a little at Vero, but not much. I’d mocked up the DDP for our AKV days and compared the overall picture and it was basically a wash. Both saved over cash. That said, we know and the kids really like the DDP and for 2 nights seemed to be a good fit in making life really easy. I have no intention of cooking at AKV. I haven’t added it yet.

However…now that we are at OKW for a night, I am revisiting. We are considering doing the QSDP for that one night as it would get us all mugs for the entire trip. That does save. And seems to save overall, since it is just for the one night. I haven’t added it yet and won’t until we know what’s up with K. It may not pencil as well for 5 as it does for 4.

My thoughts are Lunch at EOS on arrival day, I've never been and want to. Perfect for the E's and me. K too for that matter.

Dinner at WPE

Use snack credits for a muffin in the morning before our Margaritaville lunch. According to the QS dining plan Good's to Go offers breakfast options and I think these would all qualify but who knows if they are good ones or icky pre-packaged. If anyone has grabbed breakfast there (not the actual platter) and has feedback, that would be lovely!. We could possibly pick something up the night before from DTD (but stale pastries are no fun), that is of course unless we blow the snack credits on...a snack! LOL.


A few other fun cruise tidbits

Apparently there is a Castaway Cay 5k!

No clue if we will want to do it or not but fun to know it’s an option. We might die in the heat but people do walk it and it's just kind of a fun idea to keep in the back of our minds. I’ve also been researching other Nassau options as backup plans. A day pass to the Sheraton is probably the leading contender but we will see. We are keeping the Palo brunch so I’m very happy about that!

That’s all I got.
For the moment.

 

[Mndisneygirl]

Oy! I'm sure it will all work out wonderfully in the end, but it's that uncertainty that is so hard to deal with!!

I'm not of any help with the Goods to Go muffin option - although I will be checking it out in October - maybe you'll be giving me the info! OKW would be a great place to spend a day!

It's a good thing you're good with spreadsheets and planning. I think my head would explode if it were me!

 

[Charleston Princess]

Oh my! I think you might need a hug from all the planning stress, Cynthia.

I am a little stunned that K's team thinks you can turn around and buy a plane ticket in under a week. Eeek. I can't imagine how expensive that it!

So glad Jeff's brother is okay. How scary!

 

[MEK]

First of all - sorry to hear about Jeff's brother. I totally missed that in your last update. Hope he is feeling better everyday.

So many possible tournament scenarios. I don't know how you will keep it all straight, but you will.

Yeah of OKW for one night. I think you will like the pool area and a visit to the Gurgling Suitcase is never a bad thing.

I have to admit, I am not jealous of your frequent need to travel so far for tournaments. I don't know if its an East Coast thing, but there are so many college showcases within driving distance here. We are leaving for one tomorrow outside of Baltimore. My biggest concern was figuring out if there was a winery where Denny and I could go for a tasting between games. We did that over Easter and it was a blast.

Do not downgrade out of the 1BR at Vero. I loved having the one BR there because I think you ARE in your room a little more simply because you will make the room, beach, pool, room, pool, beach rotation several times during the day. That spacious 1BR was heaven.

 

[eandesmom]

Oy! I'm sure it will all work out wonderfully in the end, but it's that uncertainty that is so hard to deal with!!

I admit, I definitely prefer knowing! But this seems to be how we roll, like it or not!

I'm not of any help with the Goods to Go muffin option - although I will be checking it out in October - maybe you'll be giving me the info! OKW would be a great place to spend a day!

Unfortunately I am almost positive they will be the kind of nasty pre-packaged options, definitely what I saw at the YC morning offering and I'm kind of expecting the same. It will be fine I'm sure but I will definitely let you know! And there may be a DTD option we pick up the night before or who knows!

It's a good thing you're good with spreadsheets and planning. I think my head would explode if it were me!

LOL. On this one, not that much spreadsheet stuff to really look at, just what the change implications are. Really the biggest headache is figuring out K's flight options but as we don't know anything yet, it's kind of a moot point for the moment. At the end of the day though, even if she ends up going with us as originally planned, it does save a little $$ to do the one night at OKW. And right now, the idea of just walking on that bus after the red eye is vastly more appealing than dealing with picking up the rental car, driving to lunch, driving to Vero and needing to grocery shop/figure out dinner. While it's another night at a different resort, it's an easy first day to make the time change and get our bearings and that does sound nice!

Oh my! I think you might need a hug from all the planning stress, Cynthia.

Trying not to stress, it doesn't really help, I think planning how to work around it is the best reliever for me, oddly enough.

I am a little stunned that K's team thinks you can turn around and buy a plane ticket in under a week. Eeek. I can't imagine how expensive that it!

We are NOT happy about this first tournament. My gut, and Jeff agrees with me, is that the coach is doing it so the girls have a decent set of practice games before the regionals. How they do at regionals will impact their rankings so it's important as a team, whether K is playing or not. But on that short of notice...really...if the goal is 4-5 college showcases, they could have done 2 summer ones and not shoehorn one in before school gets out, at super high ticket prices and girls missing school for it! I am not sure if Utah is already out, or will be by then but our girls will miss 1-2 days of school to attend this, it's a full day of play on the Friday on a non holiday weekend.

Jeff was really griping about it, that the team must think we are all very well off. And unfortunatlely this is part of why we left this team in the first place, and didn't miss it at all. it is the level she wants to be at so...I'm not surprised by it, although I don't like it. Supposedly "many" of the parents didn't know about this tournament any earlier, not sure if that's really true or if it's just us new families caught off guard.

And they wonder why no one is offering to chaperone...no one has that kind of extra $$ for another ticket! or maybe those that did...all went to ECNL which is WAY worse on the travel side. Crazy worse.

So glad Jeff's brother is okay. How scary!

Very scary, very grateful!

First of all - sorry to hear about Jeff's brother. I totally missed that in your last update. Hope he is feeling better everyday.

Me too! I'm hoping we get an update this weekend.

So many possible tournament scenarios. I don't know how you will keep it all straight, but you will.

I'll just be glad when we know one way or another. It will be a long week or 2 till we find out! Good news is right now it does appear she'd have tons of flight options so that helps minimize my stress. Some better than others of course but it's not like there is only one option.

Yeah of OKW for one night. I think you will like the pool area and a visit to the Gurgling Suitcase is never a bad thing.

I just love the name of it! I'm going to request a marina view, might as well have that first balcony of the trip be right!

I have to admit, I am not jealous of your frequent need to travel so far for tournaments. I don't know if its an East Coast thing, but there are so many college showcases within driving distance here. We are leaving for one tomorrow outside of Baltimore. My biggest concern was figuring out if there was a winery where Denny and I could go for a tasting between games. We did that over Easter and it was a blast.

Unfortunately there just aren't enough teams between BC/WA and OR (And Idaho lol) to draw much interest at the college showcase level so we end up traveling. I don't think any local are even considered at that level, sadly. Not dissing our local teams, a lot of good ones actually in both OR and WA, but in terms of filling that kind of tournament, just not enough.

It is a drag and the CA ones seem to all be S.Cal, whereas North is driveable.

So we will end up in Utah, CA, NV and AZ. And Jeff and I won't get to see any of it, and maybe not even her mom.

Ugh.

Do not downgrade out of the 1BR at Vero. I loved having the one BR there because I think you ARE in your room a little more simply because you will make the room, beach, pool, room, pool, beach rotation several times during the day. That spacious 1BR was heaven.

Even if I wanted to, it's not available. If we downgrade anything, it'd be from teh 2B to a 1B at AKL. However I am not giving up the Kidani Savanna view so at this point, it'd be a waitlist, which won't help me if I need to upgrade OKW. I do think, after really looking at it, even if K does coem with us, we will keep the OKW night...it's just a far simpler first day for everyone and as Jeff isn't arriving when we do, even that much better.

He did move his flight to an earlier one but it's still an hour later than when we get in. Hanging at the airport for an hour after the red eye does NOT sound fun to me, nor does dealing with luggage and rental car.

Checking bags through on DME and hopping on a bus and getting the heck out of MCO? MUCH better! And for one night, you don't have to deal with unpacking so not really a big deal.

I hope. It is 4 locations over the 11 nights!

 

[englishrose47]

My head is spinning Cynthia !!

 

[Flossbolna]

Cynthia, so much chaos! First, I am glad that it looks like Jeff's brother is not seriously hurt. Anything else: I am once again full of admiration for how calm you stay and how you are able to work with the chaos instead of being dominated by it! Well done!

 

[KatMark]

All I can say is that you have totally confused me yet again...what a yo-yo of trip planning.

We never got breakfast at Goods to Go so I can't help on that (but they have great ice cream and don't forget to get yourself an adult beverage at the Gurgiling Suitcase!).

Love EOS and we did WPE in January and it was great too.

 

[tinacaplan]

Count me among the confused. But you are a far more seasoned traveller than I am, so I don't have much to add. Glad that your brother in law is OK. That's scary! Your summer is packed already, isn't it? But its all good stuff and you are getting quite a bit of time in the greater FL area.

However, your having calculated out all the dining options now has me thinking about it, too. I hadn't taken into account the resort mug thing and the way the BC is laid out, they come in handy. But I did buy a TIW card in April, which more than paid for itself at that point, and I know I"ll get good use of it in October, as well, so perhaps I should price out the DDP for our July trip. I've made more ADRs than I had originally anticipated.

Have a great long weekend!

 

[eandesmom]

My head is spinning Cynthia !!

Cynthia, so much chaos! First, I am glad that it looks like Jeff's brother is not seriously hurt. Anything else: I am once again full of admiration for how calm you stay and how you are able to work with the chaos instead of being dominated by it! Well done!

Well, when it's your normal state, I guess it's how you roll! And now Jeff is excited about the idea of maybe pool hopping. I figure the kids and I will get there and hit the pool or peek at the Community Hall, whether our room is ready or not and then when Jeff arrives go to lunch and then if we want to pool hop after lunch, or shop, do that. Just kind of go with the flow. No napping though! And no Disney Quest, even if they ask. Community Hall maybe.

All I can say is that you have totally confused me yet again...what a yo-yo of trip planning.

I need to quit over explaining things. Of course now that Jeff changed his flight we could keep the night at Vero but..it just seems SO much simpler to just get off the plane and on a bus for that first night rather than cram it all in to get to Vero after a red eye. A much more relaxing and stress free start, even if it does mean yet another room change. It is only one night.

We never got breakfast at Goods to Go so I can't help on that (but they have great ice cream and don't forget to get yourself an adult beverage at the Gurgiling Suitcase!).

Jeff just wants to know if they have rum drinks. I'll have to check into it for him. I do think we will hit Ghiradelli for a treat this trip, we've actually never done it! (Goofys has always won).

Love EOS and we did WPE in January and it was great too.

K and I really enjoyed WPE but the rest have never been and EOS looks perfect for our crew. I always struggle with CS but this seems like a good fit.

Count me among the confused. But you are a far more seasoned traveller than I am, so I don't have much to add. Glad that your brother in law is OK. That's scary! Your summer is packed already, isn't it? But its all good stuff and you are getting quite a bit of time in the greater FL area.

It is crazy packed! I have a work trip from 8/19-22, vacation 8/7-8/7, another work trip 8/9-8/13, and then we have a week at Labor Day in Whistler (though we may just take the weekend, not really sure yet). Plus the kids each have a week at camp in there, Eric 7/15-7/22 and Evan 7/8-7/16.

So really the "lazy" at home summer part is only from 6/22-7/8 and then 8/14-29, about 4 weeks that are unplanned. Works for me though! Last year it felt like we were waiting FOREVER for the cruise dates to get here!

However, your having calculated out all the dining options now has me thinking about it, too. I hadn't taken into account the resort mug thing and the way the BC is laid out, they come in handy. But I did buy a TIW card in April, which more than paid for itself at that point, and I know I"ll get good use of it in October, as well, so perhaps I should price out the DDP for our July trip. I've made more ADRs than I had originally anticipated.

Have a great long weekend!

If you do AoA for one night, the QSDP might make a ton of sense, you'd get your mugs and their food court twice. Since you already have TIW, DDP may not make sense.

I'll need to make a call on my ticket in the next week or so before any price increase happens but as an AP really wouldn't cover the family trip even if I buy it in Oct instead of August, I don't see it penciling out after all, which makes me a little sad.

Although I do prefer paying less now so it's not all bad!

 

[dizneeat]

Girl, you got your hands full!

Wow, all those hickups in your planning are still making my head spin. I had to read it twice to catch it all (see this is where not being a native speaker comes in ).

Sitting here and waiting for things to unfold!