Bringin' the HAPPY back! A (do-over) Spring Break TR!

[michellem1118]

July trip update: We've officially expanded our travel party on our anniversary trip. Two of our very good friends, who we've only seen a handful of times since moving out of NY nearly 2 years ago, are going to join us for the BLT portion of our stay - in a studio. We'll definitely be adding on an extra day or two at the beginning, including our actual anniversary, to have some time to ourselves - I'm leaning towards the Poly if we only add one night, and either WL or CSR (the first resort we ever stayed in together) if we add two nights. In part, this will depend on whether we fly or drive - if we drive, we'll definitely arrive on 7/25, so we'll have the whole day of our anniversary (7/26) to ourselves in WDW. If we fly, it'll depend on the times of affordable flights.

Nothing new to report for the June trip.... we leave in 41 days! We have another early-morning flight, but this time around it's a non-stop flight, so hopefully we won't have any airline-related drama.

I'll return to regularly-scheduled trip reporting from the Spring Break trip shortly.

 

[wigdoutdismom]

Here's our ADR for Ohana Breakfast....
June 10 @ 10:00
Hope that works for you guys!

 

[michellem1118]

Here's our ADR for Ohana Breakfast....
June 10 @ 10:00
Hope that works for you guys!

That's perfect! June 10th is an EMH morning at MK, so we'll probably try to make EMH rope drop & get some of the rides done, then take the monorail to the Poly. I'm glad you guys invited us to join you for breakfast, and that you were able to get a new ressie for 2 more people! Can't wait!!!

 

[MeMom]

That's perfect! June 10th is an EMH morning at MK, so we'll probably try to make EMH rope drop & get some of the rides done, then take the monorail to the Poly. I'm glad you guys invited us to join you for breakfast, and that you were able to get a new ressie for 2 more people! Can't wait!!!

Never underestimate the power of Wigd when it comes to arranging all things Disney.

That will be a fun morning - Magic Kingdom, followed by a beautiful resort, 'Ohana breakfast, characters in leis, and DIS friends!

 

[michellem1118]

Never underestimate the power of Wigd when it comes to arranging all things Disney.

That will be a fun morning - Magic Kingdom, followed by a beautiful resort, 'Ohana breakfast, characters in leis, and DIS friends!

It will be a wonderful morning! We're looking forward to it very much!

 

[michellem1118]

Tuesday, March 16 (con't)

When I left off, DH & I were on the bus from MK back to BCV. We needed to drop off the souvies we'd been carrying around since our morning excursion to DTD, and we weren't sure what else to do. Our APs, you might remember, expired yesterday... we had one-day park hoppers & 4 water parks & more admissions left on some non-expiring tickets we bought several trips ago, but we still had two more days in WDW, and it wasn't warm enough to use the WP&M tickets. Our plan was to relax for the rest of this day, and then use the last park-hopper day on the non-expiring tickets tomorrow for AK, and then spend our last day resort hopping.

But wigd and shocker had mentioned the AP renewal offer. Fifteen months instead of 12 - which would mean we'd be able to squeeze in a trip right at the end of NEXT school year as well. We were tempted.

So after dropping our stuff off in the room, we hopped on the boat to DHS to see what the DVC renewal price was. We also looked to see how much a 3-day PH would cost... and, not exactly surprisingly, an AP is not much more than a 3-day PH. We talked to the nice CM at guest services for a bit, and ultimately renewed our APs. (Of course, all the tickers in my siggy might have given that away... )

After getting our new APs, we decided to head in to DHS since we were there. The ticket machine tried to eat my new AP on the way in, so once inside the gates, I had to go back to guest services to get it reprinted. Thankfully, it didn't take long. We walked around DHS for a bit, but the crowds were crazy... it was about 4:30pm, and I believe it was a Fantasmic! night as well as an EMH night. It doesn't even appear that we took any PhotoPass pictures while we were in the park. I did take a few scenery pictures, though:

We headed back to the boat dock, and *just* missed a boat. While waiting for the next one, we overheard the lady behind us on the phone - it seems one of her children had gotten very ill & paramedics had been called the night before, but they told her that it was just a stomach virus and to keep him hydrated & let it run its course. It sounded pretty brutal. (Either that night or the next day, we saw paramedics back at the resort, actually in a room just across the elevator lobby from us... I'm still hoping it wasn't that same family, and that whoever it was is OK). We waited a LONG time for next boat to come, over 30 minutes I think, and then began the peaceful journey back to BCV.

On the boat, we decided we were hungry, so when we got back to BCV, we decided to see what the wait time was at Beaches & Cream. We actually had ressies this evening at Kouzzina, but after reviewing the menu again, didn't see anything that really appealed to me. Beaches & Cream was able to seat us right away, as long as we didn't mind sitting at the bar. I ordered a bowl of chili, and DH ordered a philly cheese steak & onion rings. We intended to share both, but we didn't mention it to our waitress. When the food was brought to us and she noticed us sharing, she chastised us for not telling her... and then the chef noticed, and chastised us again, telling us he would've given us a lot more onion rings if he'd known we were sharing. After our dinner, we of course had to try some ice cream. I don't remember exactly what flavors we ended up with, but we definitely enjoyed it.

After dinner, we changed into warmer clothes and headed over to the Boardwalk to walk around for the evening. We had been graciously invited by wigd and shocker to join them for dinner at Shula's, but we declined after spending so much money on souvies that morning... and after our splurge on AP renewals, we definitely wouldn't have been able to join them.

On our way over to the Boardwalk, we noticed a PhotoPass photographer out along the walkway in front of Stormalong Bay. We stopped for a photo, although I'm not thrilled with how it came out... this is the best of the bunch. I do like the background, though.

Once we got to the Boardwalk, we considered going to Jellyrolls, but we weren't happy with the cover charge - it seemed a bit high to us. So, we just walked around and took in the atmosphere, watched the performers, etc. We also watched part of Illuminations from the Boardwalk (pictures from my phone, the camera was charging in the room again):

Shortly after the end of Illuminations, we headed back to BCV for the evening. We had one more rope drop to make - could we do it???

 

[wigdoutdismom]

Another great update! I think the picture in front of SAB is really nice! I really like that background too...
So glad you decided to renew those APs!

 

[tinkgurl]

I think that is such a cool pic of you guys!

And what a different view of Illuminations!

 

[vamassey1]

I like the photo pass picture. Your night sounds very relaxing. Renewing your AP means more trips!

 

[MHTeacher]

We stopped for a photo, although I'm not thrilled with how it came out... this is the best of the bunch. I do like the background, though.

Well, I happen to think this is a beautiful shot of the two of you!

 

[michellem1118]

Another great update! I think the picture in front of SAB is really nice! I really like that background too...
So glad you decided to renew those APs!

Thanks! I'm glad we renewed the APs, too... just wish I could get this IRS drama fixed so we could pay them off!

I think that is such a cool pic of you guys!

And what a different view of Illuminations!

Thanks! We enjoyed all the different views of Illuminations we saw this year.

I like the photo pass picture. Your night sounds very relaxing. Renewing your AP means more trips!

Thanks! At least 3 more trips (already booked), and probably a 4th that I'll book in mid-July.

Well, I happen to think this is a beautiful shot of the two of you!

Thanks!

You guys are all so nice! I think this series of pictures was my least-favorite of all of our photopass pictures on this trip; I know it's not a terrible picture, it's just not as good as I was hoping it would be!

 

[KathyRN137]

I'm rooting for you... I think you can do it!
What's one more rope drop?


Kathy

 

[michellem1118]

I'm rooting for you... I think you can do it!
What's one more rope drop?


Kathy

 

[michellem1118]

July pre-trip update:

So, instead of flying in a day or two before our friends arrive, we're going to leave 2 days later - this equated to an airfare savings of almost $200 per ticket on non-stop flights out of Dallas. I also just booked the airfare, which was $188 round-trip!

Now, since we're staying 2 extra nights (with no DVC points left), I may have to take the deluxes out of the picture.... or at least eliminate the Poly. Even with the awesome passholder rate, I don't think we can swing two nights at the Poly... although 2 nights at WL might still work because 2 nights there is barely more than 1 night at Poly....

I need to make a decision about those two extra nights next week... any suggestions? Book WL? Book at a mod, and if so, which one? Help?

 

[wigdoutdismom]

If you can swing it I'd go for WL....
Are the prices fairly close?

 

[michellem1118]

If you can swing it I'd go for WL....
Are the prices fairly close?

2 nights in a mod, king bed room, ranges from $307 to $330. 2 nights at WL is $370. I like the idea of a guaranteed king bed, but I also like the idea of staying at WL with the ferry to MK. Decisions, decisions...

 

[wigdoutdismom]

Have you thought about renting points?

 

[wigdoutdismom]

You might want to check out Dave's site!

 

[michellem1118]

Have you thought about renting points?

You might want to check out Dave's site!

I've thought about it... I need to call Member Services tomorrow or Friday to add the ME info for July (for us & our friends), so I might check & see what's available for those two nights/how many points we'd need, and go from there... we're also giving serious thought to adding on, or I might ask MS about renting points directly from DVC... we actually have 15 points available, and the two extra nights are Sunday/Monday, so... I don't know.

But at least we have airfare figured out, since AirTran is still being a pain with the vouchers.

 

[wigdoutdismom]

You can rent 24 from Disney, right?
15 points per night for a studio at WL...