Bumps, bruises, too many teenagers & swimming with sharks! NEW 11/17 pg. 32

[PracPerfPatricia]

I think it's great to be able to have some down time when you're on a Disney vacation... sitting by a pool = 1. Its nice to get to the point where you feel that you've seen enough of all the parks that you actually want to relax also and 2. You finally give up the frantic thought that you have to cram everything in because you've finally admitted to yourself that you'll be back...probably the next year ( & in some cases sooner...)

Airfare has gotten crazy... Eric and were talking about this yesterday because we're trying to plan a special trip as part of Emily's graduation from High School... and the airfare is really high - I feel like where ever your going...

We get a little break if we fly out of Newark or JFK... and every airline flies from one of the two; Philadelphia has a respectable amount of choices but nothing close to flying from New York... Do you fly out of Boston or Manchester... I don't know if Boston is more similar to New York in its available flights or it doesn't make a difference...

Shula's should be really, really good... I've never been... and not going upcoming trip so really curious to read about that one... (in a while...

 

[DisMomAmy]

Good Luck with airfaire!!! That is the one advantage to driving. However, we are flying to California next year over Thanksgiving and was looking at what it currently cost today!!! Little over planning don't you think when I don't even have this coming trip planned really well....

Wow, great that Be our Guest has availability. I scored us a ressie the day it opened for the Friday after Thanksgiving. I kept trying to call disney dining but could never get through. Finally dawned on me to call DVC and was done within 15 minutes!!! Super excited.

I don't know if we'll ever drive... I haven't completely ruled it out, but it wouldn't be my first choice!

I hope you didn't fall over when you saw the airfare prices this week!

Glad you got your BoG ADR. I'm sure people had it on their radar for when it was first opening. After booking our airfare today, I booked an ADR at BoG at 177 or 178 days - no problem - plenty of availability.

I tried to book this morning too. I went on at 6:30 and thought OMG what time did they open them up!!!???? B/ c some were already sold out isn't that insane??? And they were all over $300 and some over 400 one way!!! Well we are not paying those ridiculous prices. So I think we're going in July instead.

Sent from my iPhone using DISBoards

I was up at 6 & the flights opened up around 6:15. I don't think you missed much... there were some that showed up at 'Sold Out' right from the beginning. I hope the prices come down for you for July!

I think it's great to be able to have some down time when you're on a Disney vacation... sitting by a pool = 1. Its nice to get to the point where you feel that you've seen enough of all the parks that you actually want to relax also and 2. You finally give up the frantic thought that you have to cram everything in because you've finally admitted to yourself that you'll be back...probably the next year ( & in some cases sooner...)

Airfare has gotten crazy... Eric and were talking about this yesterday because we're trying to plan a special trip as part of Emily's graduation from High School... and the airfare is really high - I feel like where ever your going...

We get a little break if we fly out of Newark or JFK... and every airline flies from one of the two; Philadelphia has a respectable amount of choices but nothing close to flying from New York... Do you fly out of Boston or Manchester... I don't know if Boston is more similar to New York in its available flights or it doesn't make a difference...

Shula's should be really, really good... I've never been... and not going upcoming trip so really curious to read about that one... (in a while...

Yes, we have finally admitted that we'll be back! Well DH has finally admitted it... I knew it a long time ago! We'll be back in Feb 2014 for sure - since Zach & I will have APs.

The flights were crazy! I'll post more on that shortly. I'm so glad we had a lot of points to book with.

We LOVE Shula's. That's the one restaurant Tim always asks for. Not sure if we'll do the kids club or if Tim's brother & SIL will be with us at that point. It may be our last year since Alex will be 12 and that's the cap for the kids clubs.


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I don't have time for a full update right now, but I did book our flights down to Orlando today!! Partially with points & partially with cash. And we have one extra day!!! We're flying down on Wednesday now!! Our trip is now 11 nights! The longest one yet!

 

[eandesmom]

Airfare makes me crazy. It is so all over the board. Our summer rates were by far the highest we've ever paid and then this trip? Normal prices, my return flight even dropped the day before my departure and I was able to get a $30 voucher.

I am scared to think of what next Dec might look like though.

Eric used a one day child pass this summer....he was 11 when he used it and looked 12 (was 1 month away from turning 12) and we had zero issues. Not sure how it would work on the WP tickets though but I guess I'd just cross that bridge when I came to it. Meaning when it didn't work at the turnstile lol.

Love pool time and breaks and being able to actually sit in the lounger and not have to be actually in the pool with the kids at all times?

Priceless.

 

[mommytothreeboys]

UGH..the airfare shuffle! Glad you got your return trip booked. Here's hoping those other fares go down in the next few days. I've been looking too just in case I can snag a good deal and we don't have to drive. But, sadly, the prices are just too high.

Great wrap up! On to the next trip!!

 

[Lovemy3babes]

Loved your final thoughts Amy! I'm bummed we just missed each other by a few days on our last trips. Good luck scoring your next set if airfare tickets. Airfare is ridiculous.

 

[PracPerfPatricia]

Hey Amy,

not sure what the impact of Sandy is supposed to be on New Hampshire... but hoping that you and all your men are safe...

 

[DisMomAmy]

Airfare makes me crazy. It is so all over the board. Our summer rates were by far the highest we've ever paid and then this trip? Normal prices, my return flight even dropped the day before my departure and I was able to get a $30 voucher.

I am scared to think of what next Dec might look like though.

Eric used a one day child pass this summer....he was 11 when he used it and looked 12 (was 1 month away from turning 12) and we had zero issues. Not sure how it would work on the WP tickets though but I guess I'd just cross that bridge when I came to it. Meaning when it didn't work at the turnstile lol.

Love pool time and breaks and being able to actually sit in the lounger and not have to be actually in the pool with the kids at all times?

Priceless.

The airfare was totally crazy this time around. The worst I've seen it. I feel very lucky that we had those points or we might have been coming up with Plan B! Hopefully things settle down soon.

I figure Zach's AP won't be much of an issue once he's 10. We'll see what happens with the WP tickets.

Looking forward to some more lounging by the pool in April!

UGH..the airfare shuffle! Glad you got your return trip booked. Here's hoping those other fares go down in the next few days. I've been looking too just in case I can snag a good deal and we don't have to drive. But, sadly, the prices are just too high.

Great wrap up! On to the next trip!!

The prices are crazy! What are your trip date?

Loved your final thoughts Amy! I'm bummed we just missed each other by a few days on our last trips. Good luck scoring your next set if airfare tickets. Airfare is ridiculous.

It would have been fun to meet up! We almost went to MeMom's big Dis meet on the 13th but ended up doing all 4 parks that day!

Hey Amy,

not sure what the impact of Sandy is supposed to be on New Hampshire... but hoping that you and all your men are safe...

All good here Patricia! It was loud & windy last night. I thought for sure we'd lose power (since we always do) but we didn't! We'll see what today brings. No school today but the wind has died down & it's not raining for now. Thanks for thinking of us!

 

[MEK]

Enjoyed reading your final thoughts and I'm so glad you enjoyed your girl's trip.

Wow - those are crazy airline prices. What a mess. We are driving in June. I am totally sticking to that and I promised myself I am not even going to look at prices (yeah, right. ). I really want to stop in Saint Augustine on the way home, so that's what is keeping me focused.

Your April plans sounds great. I know what you mean about missing three days of school. It's tough to make that decision because even one day can make a difference with some kids. Are you staying at the Sheraton again? Do the boys know you are going or is this a surprise again?

 

[Angies1274]

Hi Amy!

Trying to get caught back up again. I really enjoyed reading your final thoughts.

Glad to hear your girls weekend trip was fun!! And Yay for going back in April for 11 nights!!! I love Disney in April! The flowers are so pretty and the weather is perfect. Sounds like it's going to be a great trip!

 

[brookelizabeth]

Hi Amy!
I was still back in Disney, but all caught up again! I really enjoyed your whole TR, and the mini-TR to NYC. It's always fun for me to read about people's reactions to things in NYC.

Congrats on booking your flights! And 11 days!

 

[DisMomAmy]

Enjoyed reading your final thoughts and I'm so glad you enjoyed your girl's trip.

Wow - those are crazy airline prices. What a mess. We are driving in June. I am totally sticking to that and I promised myself I am not even going to look at prices (yeah, right. ). I really want to stop in Saint Augustine on the way home, so that's what is keeping me focused.

Your April plans sounds great. I know what you mean about missing three days of school. It's tough to make that decision because even one day can make a difference with some kids. Are you staying at the Sheraton again? Do the boys know you are going or is this a surprise again?

Thanks MEK! I feel like our April plans are so up in the air! Except for the air! I'll post more about that in a minute. Not sure where we are staying yet.

I think driving is a good idea for you in June - especially if you want to stop in Saint Augustine. I just can't wrap my head around the idea of driving. But if prices keep going up, I might have to one of these years.

Hi Amy!

Trying to get caught back up again. I really enjoyed reading your final thoughts.

Glad to hear your girls weekend trip was fun!! And Yay for going back in April for 11 nights!!! I love Disney in April! The flowers are so pretty and the weather is perfect. Sounds like it's going to be a great trip!

April is my favorite time to go as a family. I love being there in the fall to see the Halloween decorations & I love the Christmas festivities at Disney but having that trip planned for the spring really helps make it through the winter. It's how we kick off the spring here!

Hi Amy!
I was still back in Disney, but all caught up again! I really enjoyed your whole TR, and the mini-TR to NYC. It's always fun for me to read about people's reactions to things in NYC.

Congrats on booking your flights! And 11 days!

Hi Brook!! It's nice to have the flights booked but that's about all we have planned!

 

[DisMomAmy]

I have been dragging my feet on this final update because so many of our plans are still up in the air. We have dates (Wed 4/17-Sun 4/28) and we have airfare but that's about all at this point. Oh yeah... and about 37 ADRs.

As you know, we booked our return flight with points the day Southwest released flights. I waited to see if the prices would go down the following day, but they didn't. They were higher. Ultimately, I ended up booking our flight down a day earlier, in the afternoon. So now we have 11 nights, rather than our usual 10. The kids can go to school until about noon on the 17th, then we'll be on our way and be able to start our trip with a full park day.

Where will we be staying? Not sure yet. We'll be using two of our timeshare weeks but we haven't booked anything yet and probably won't until more availability opens up after the new year. I'm not sure if we'll book two different resorts with overlapping days (to allow for more flexibility in moving) or if we'll book the same resort for both weeks & hope we don't have to change villas.

Itinerary? Well I have Plan A, Plan B & Plan C. We have invited two different groups of people to join us. My friend, Nicole, and her family and Tim's brother Jeff & his family. Nicole is most likely not going to be able to join us. She is graduating from school in December (nursing school) and starts her new job right after that. They were going to play it by ear but I suspect airfare will be a problem & they won't be able to come down. I'm not going to count on it and if they do, they'll probably just do what we do.

The bigger issue is WHEN Jeff will be coming. They are definitely joining us for a couple nights but we don't know when yet. Karen is about to get a new job (she just finished school & passed the test to become a nurse practitioner). We may just take a resort day when they are with us but who knows... they may decide they want to go to Disney.

As you can imagine, making ADRs has been tricky. As you may also know, I like to make "back-up" ADRs. That's exactly what I've done. I have two of each ADR, and in some cases, three. Most of which have a credit card hold. Hopefully Jeff & Karen will have a better idea of when they will be coming to see us once Karen starts work, or at least a couple months before our trip. In the meantime, I will just put my planning on the back burner.

I've also been helping my good friend, Laura, plan a trip for her family, her parents & her sister's family for February vacation week. It's her parents anniversary & they are paying for all of them to go down for 6 nights. It's a secret for the kids, (until Christmas) so we've been having to plan on the down low. There will be ADR planning this weekend. Fun stuff!

So that's about all for now. I'm not going to start a PTR now. I've been having a hard time keeping up with the DIS lately. I might start something after Christmas when my brain instantly switches back into Disney planning mode. In the meantime, I'll try to do a better job of keeping up with my subscriptions.

I hope everyone has a nice Thanksgiving next week.

 

[MEK]

It is so much harder planning a trip when there are other people involved. At least you have your flights and a nice long trip in the works. And thankfully you have timeshare points with flexibility. That's awesome.

Congrats to the two girls graduating from nursing school and NP school. I wish they much success in their careers.

Happy Thanksgiving!

 

[ddluvsdisney]

OMG that is a lot of planning!!

Hope you have a nice Thanksgiving too!

 

[MeMom]

April is my favorite time to go as a family. I love being there in the fall to see the Halloween decorations & I love the Christmas festivities at Disney but having that trip planned for the spring really helps make it through the winter. It's how we kick off the spring here!

That's the way I feel about our spring break trips. I wither away in the winter in the cold and gray. I despise it. Seeing my beloved palm trees and feeling my blood start to flow again and my extremities thaw out in the warmth of the Florida sun - it just brings me back to life for the rest of the year! I love October trips and holiday trips and hot summer trips, but there is something very special about the spring trips.

Glad you got to come and play in DIStown for a while today.

 

[mommytothreeboys]

The prices are crazy! What are your trip date?

We will cruise from 4/4-4/8 and be at Disney 4/8-4/13. We'll just miss you.

 

[PracPerfPatricia]

Hey Amy,

That is a lot of planning to do... making three different plans based on three different scenarios...

Are you going to still make ADRs 180 days out? Or are you going to wait until you are sure who's coming?

Airfare has gotten crazy high... We're going to try driving down next summer but we are also breaking it up and stopping for a bit... but we're already at least 6 hours closer than you are...

Good luck with all your planning and I hope you have a very Happy Thanksgiving!

 

[brookelizabeth]

Wow, quite a few factors at play! I can see why you have back-ups!! It's tough to plan when you don't know exactly what will be happening. I hope it all gets figured out with plenty of time.

Have a great Thanksgiving!!

 

[KatMark]

Happy Thanksgiving, Amy and family

 

[DisMomAmy]

Sorry I never got around to final replies over here on this TR... Thank you all so much for reading!! Hopefully you'll join me at our new TR!!

We've started our new trip report for our fall girls weekend!

Cheers to Friendship! October 2012 Girls Weekend!