Calling all Chicago DISers #3

[disneygal922]

Very quickly, bc i have to be at work in 13 minutes.

to Jiminy.Cricket and PennyLane! Come by the party here often!!

Hope every one is well.... I leave in less than 48 hours and am not packed, still have laundry to do, work 2 5hour shifts, have an interview tomorrow afternoon then have to go to my nephews Christmas concert at school.... so much to dooooooooooo....

 

[donkortajr]

Hello all,

I lurk but don't post too often. Greetings from the SW suburbs. We've got our indoor decorating done and shopping for all but the 4 kids done. yea ha!

Looking forward to our first trip to BLT in January with some friends of ours and their kids. Should be a blast.

Do you all ever do any type of physical get togethers?

Don

 

[momto1]

Welcome Don and PennyLane! We are a fun bunch. Stop by oftern.

I am bummed. I don't have a ticker for a future trip. I need to start planning a trip.

Lori

 

[Tiggerrn2]

Hey everyone!! Hope you are all doing well here. We have returned to the cold/wet/snowy tundra. Most unfortunately.
We had a nice time, but I have decided I like Halloween time at Disney much better that Christmastime. The decorations were nice, but the weather was just too unpredictable. We had a few warm days when we arrived, but the end of the trip was cool-needed jeans/sweatshirts/jackets. We did the Christmas stuff (prefer the Halloween party), and wandered from resort to resort to view the decor. The food prices have $$$$$$$. I guess those of us opting out of free dining for the 40% off room codes are paying it back in food to offset the cost of the free diners staying at the Value/Mods. It is never worth it for me to take my 2 kids to TS dinners. Even more so now that they are charged adult prices and don't eat enough to keep a bird alive. Not too bad crowd wise-we escaped before Pop Warner arrived. No long waits for rides (TSM, of course was always ridiculous for those without fastpasses-though why one wouldn't wake at 6AM to make rope drop for that is beyond me.) Had the $8 piece of grapefruit cake from Brown Derby (just to say I'd tried it). Where else but Disney does one pay $8 for 1 piece of cake. Oh, and it really wasn't all that great IMHO. Also had my pretzel sticks and Cheese soup (to go) from LeCellier. That was wonderful. Pricey, but wonderful. And I got my Orange Slush from France. We did some new things and some old favorites. But all in all, it wasn't as magical as I'd hoped (or as magical as past trips). I'll think about a TR after the holidays as DD is in the Joffrey Ballet Nutcracker and we are running like chickens with our heads cut off right now-hence the no presents purchased and no tree up at our house.
Later all. Hope you have a pleasant holiday season.

 

[geffric]

Hi to all..hope everyone is enjoying the season and the kids being home for 2 weeks..

me? I am working am and working afternoons and working some more in the evening/nite.. lots of hours..and the mall is open until 11 pm which means close is until 2am ish.. so.. ..not much else going on..
hopefully things will calm down after the after the first of the year..or so..

 

[DonnaW]

Happy almost winter, Chicago, and Merry Christmas, too!


We have had quite a month. My husband's elderly grandmother passed away at the beginning of December. We were fortunate enough to be able to have closure with her in Louiville as she was in the hospital a few weeks ahead of that. We then went down to Louisville again for her services. When we got home, there was a message that my uncle had passed away (he had been sick, so not totally unexpected, but still, something we hoped, of course, would not happen). So, another service last Friday.

On a much, much happier note, Christopher came home yesterday for a visit!!! He will be here for a nice long time, so let the Christmas celebration begin!!!

I wish joy and laughter and warm memories to all!

 

[disneygal922]

Good day my fellow chicagolanders! I got back last monday from my trip but have been incredibly busy since. The trip was so much fun! There were times when I would stop and think "I wish DH or someone was here" But all in all, I had a wonderful time. Mickey's Xmas Party was a blast and the castle... wow... amazing! So then I have worked every day since I've been back and will work everyday until Christmas! I am so incredibly happy I have been able to pick up so many shifts. I really enjoy working there!

Tigg ~ I agree about the food prices. I will never NOT do the dining plan again, even if I have to purchase it separate. I felt I was eating a lot more than I thought I would and it was a lot more expensive than I anticipated. I could've got a QS plan and saved some $$$... lesson learned. I got the tail end of the Pop Warner Cheer kids. My first two days everywhere I looked.

Geffric ~ I hear ya on the long hours. I love working there! I feel at home there!

Donna ~ so sorry for your losses! It has to be hard so close to the holidays.

Well, hope everyone is doing well and staying warm!

 

[roseprincess]

MERRY CHRISTMAS to all here on the Chicago boards!!

I haven't been here that much the last few months, just too busy with my teenage twins.

Wishing peace and love to all here




Rosemarie

 

[irish dancer]

MERRY CHRISTMAS!! to all Chicago homies!!! Hope you have a wonderful day!

 

[disneygal922]

MERRY CHRISTMAS! Hope everyone has a safe and very nice holiday.

 

[macraven]

 

[disneygal922]

HELLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLO HUMANS!!! errrr... homies? ok, i am officially a nerd! anywho, DH and I are in a pickle, sort of. We have our trip all booked for march/april, except flights. We have been keeping track of flights and they just keep going up and up. He called AA today and they said the reasoning was b/c they had a lot of sold out flights already. so we did some calculations and it appears that driving would be our cheapest route to go. I know several of you have done this and would like to get your opinions. My dad's opinion was "Driving to Florida is for the birds... it really bites". Please keep in mind we had done it a couple of times when i was younger and he was in a car with a wife and three daughters... this would be just DH and I and we would take turns driving/napping... what do you think?

 

[natashag76]

I vote for driving. We've done it several times with our children. The last road trip we took by ourselves was from San Francisco to Chicago and it was a blast. We detoured a few times to play tourist, which you could definitely do on your way down to FL. There lots of places along the way. If you have AAA call them and ask for a Triptik and tour books. Great things to have for the road!

 

[Crissup]

I've driven it numerous times. I prefer it over flying, but Carol prefers flying. I take I-57 down to I-24 (about 40 miles shy of the southern tip of Illinois). Then, I-24 to Chatanooga, TN, where I pick up I-75 south. I-75 to the Florida Turnpike in Ocala, FL. Take that to US-27 south, to US-192 and turn left at Sherbeth Rd (Studio One Souveniers). This will bring you onto Disney property right at the Animal Kingdom parking lot exit.

This is the best route I've found and avoids many of the heavy traffic points. I can do this in 16 hours (watch for cops in Georgia).

My routine was always to pick up a sack of Wendy's 99 cent burgers as I left home, and a bottle or two of Gatorade. Every four hours, I stop for fuel, hit the bathroom and as I'm heading back up the highway ramp, I grab a burger and a swig or two of Gatorade. Don't drink too often or you won't make it to the next fuel stop.

 

[Bunchkin]

My routine was always to pick up a sack of Wendy's 99 cent burgers as I left home, and a bottle or two of Gatorade. Every four hours, I stop for fuel, hit the bathroom and as I'm heading back up the highway ramp, I grab a burger and a swig or two of Gatorade. Don't drink too often or you won't make it to the next fuel stop.

Yum, cold burgers! Great advice, John!!


disneygal We've done the drive and it was easy and fun. But we enjoy driving. Driving is cheaper lately. I say drive!
And to supersede John's advice, stop for warm food!!

 

[Crissup]

And to supersede John's advice, stop for warm food!!

Bah! Time wasting activity! Warm food is over rated!

 

[disneygal922'sboy]

Has anyone ever done the drive overnight and have a good schedule to follow?

 

[Crissup]

There were several trips where I decided to head out the night before after work. I would get on the road about 4pm and try and get south of Kankakee by 5pm. Then, head for Manchester, TN, which is just shy of my half way point and grab a cheap room for the night.

By 7am the next morning, I'd have already enjoyed the free hotel breakfast and was back on the highway.

 

[disneygal922]

Thanks for all the responses! I think I am sold on driving but we are still watching for flights to go down. We can't figure it out why they are so darn expensive. It's not Easter week or the week before or after. The tix for our wedding trip weren't nearly this expensive and that was the week after Easter...

I vote for driving. We've done it several times with our children. The last road trip we took by ourselves was from San Francisco to Chicago and it was a blast. We detoured a few times to play tourist, which you could definitely do on your way down to FL. There lots of places along the way. If you have AAA call them and ask for a Triptik and tour books. Great things to have for the road!

Thanks! I think it would be fun and different. I haven't been on a road trip in years!

I've driven it numerous times. I prefer it over flying, but Carol prefers flying. I take I-57 down to I-24 (about 40 miles shy of the southern tip of Illinois). Then, I-24 to Chatanooga, TN, where I pick up I-75 south. I-75 to the Florida Turnpike in Ocala, FL. Take that to US-27 south, to US-192 and turn left at Sherbeth Rd (Studio One Souveniers). This will bring you onto Disney property right at the Animal Kingdom parking lot exit.

This is the best route I've found and avoids many of the heavy traffic points. I can do this in 16 hours (watch for cops in Georgia).

My routine was always to pick up a sack of Wendy's 99 cent burgers as I left home, and a bottle or two of Gatorade. Every four hours, I stop for fuel, hit the bathroom and as I'm heading back up the highway ramp, I grab a burger and a swig or two of Gatorade. Don't drink too often or you won't make it to the next fuel stop.

Thanks for the route and schedule John! It sounds like you have it down pat!

Yum, cold burgers! Great advice, John!!


disneygal We've done the drive and it was easy and fun. But we enjoy driving. Driving is cheaper lately. I say drive!
And to supersede John's advice, stop for warm food!!

Thanks Bunchy! I think it would be a lot of fun! I know I would want warm food too!

Bah! Time wasting activity! Warm food is over rated!

I can totally hear Mike saying that. He will eat anything cold!

There were several trips where I decided to head out the night before after work. I would get on the road about 4pm and try and get south of Kankakee by 5pm. Then, head for Manchester, TN, which is just shy of my half way point and grab a cheap room for the night.

By 7am the next morning, I'd have already enjoyed the free hotel breakfast and was back on the highway.

That sounds like a good plan too. When you did this schedule what time did you get into the WDW area?

 

[macraven]

i have driven 3 times to the motherland .........never again


i took on an extra job in order to pay for plane tickets for future trips.


car travel can be great at times if you have plenty of vacation time.

we prefer to get to orlando and spend more time there than on the road.


when we did one drive, we had to stop and do some sightseeing before reaching florida.
which of course took time away from the mouse then.