Confessions of the Resort Changers

[stepdisney]

I'm baaaack. Had a wonderful, wonderful time. Tonight, on the drive back, my DH and I talked Disney. I wasn't allowed to mention the D word on this trip. On the way back we talked about adding two days for Universal . More changes to come. I am very tired from the drive but I just wanted to drop in and see what's been going on this week. I see we have some newbies, welcome Sazzo's Mommy. Yes....you belong here with us. Confession is good, change is better . There is no cure, I repeat, there is no cure. Just remember to write everything down so you know where you're staying when the time comes to check in or go to dinner.

Disneybride, yeah Coach . I blew out my flip flop while in Margaritaville but got a couple pair in it's place.

Mic Cakey, BUSTED! We'll find ya every time.

 

[DisneyBride'03]

Welcome back stepdisney!!! Two days at Universal...?! I told you a fortnight!!!...
No changes for me.....although I am on the fence abt Coral Reef now..the reviews are like hit or miss...help anyone? Cancelled Ohana...thinking the Character Breakfast, Cape May Cafe...DH thinks Ava is to young...dont know yet....

Sazzo's Mommy!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Hi and welcome to our Sanctuary!!!!
We can discuss our affliction and not get the rolling eyes..lol!!!
Once I read you raving abt Cl at the YC...had to upgrade...that has been my LAST official change ..at resorts

deide71....Lapu Lapu...I might have to get a room at the Poly that night...lol...I have read those are verrry strong....lol..I did find a great thread with photos of Adult Beverages...lol...I felt tipsy just reading it!!

So...here we are..me and DH...after a fun family picnic today...sitting in our living room....both on our laptops....how romantic!!! LOL
Quick...go to my fave thread....Resorts...look for "Privacy COncern"....lol ha ha ha

 

[m-i-c-cakeywhy]

Welcome back stepdisney!!! Two days at Universal...?! I told you a fortnight!!!...
No changes for me.....although I am on the fence abt Coral Reef now..the reviews are like hit or miss...help anyone? Cancelled Ohana...thinking the Character Breakfast, Cape May Cafe...DH thinks Ava is to young...dont know yet....

Hi disneybride..Welcome back StepD (we have 2 days at universal before getting to disney, sorry disneybride )...and welcome Sazzo,sMom,
and hi to any of the lurkers who probably not only change but lurk also...LOL

anyway, disney bride, of course I have an opinion, doesn't every true indecicive, have one....all it takes is being up on that fence...I switched my concourse steak house for coral reef...I just felt we had never been there and without the plan, we would never go there because of the price...As far as the reviews, I've decided that if they are hit and miss, I'm not going to let it influence my decision...When they are mostly negative, that's when I get worried...

I've been to cape mae 3x and really loved it, but I think that was before some changes they made (last visit 7 years ago)...anyway, we will give it a spin this time even though we will have to pay oop because I made a ressie on my "room only" night
It's a buffet for god sakes, I don't know what pple expect...
on the character breakfast thing, When my kids were 3 and 5, I took them to chef mickeys, It was really great and a lot of fun, the food was great, they made mickey pancakes on demand, while you watch..the kids loved it
I saw on another post, someone said the memories are as much for the parents of little ones as it is for the little ones....I couldn't agree more...My kids don't remember much of chef mickey, but I have photo's and they love looking at them with me.....

 

[DisneyBride'03]

You guys and your Orlando fortnight vacaations!!!! Must be nice......
(Well this is my 2nd trip to Disney this year....so I better be quiet... )

Oh I am sure there are many lurkers....mic c..(thats my new abbrv for you...yours is long too)....
Well mic c , thanks for the comments abt CR.....yep...there are good and bad reviews....I am a believer also though of you cant make a judgement abt something unless you have experienced it...besides...they have great looking cocktails there I have seen...lol

I have read that the Cape May breakfast w/the characters is a bit more subdued, as far as the characters go...now my issue is what morning do we do this??? One thought was our departure day....our ME bus will probably pick us up at noon....if we got the first seating for breakfast, we still coud enjoy SAB for a bit....grab snacks from concierge....just a thought.
This way it wont interfere with our park days and mornings etc...
So much analyzing I know...
We were at our family picnic yesterday, and I dont know how many times we heard....she isnt going to remember anything...blah blah blah...well I said...WE will and will have great memories and photos...and I threw them the box of frozen Mickey burgers and told them to be quiet.....LOL...(not really)
So thanks mic c......I will add Cape May and keep Coral Reef....thats our first dinner, first night...DH will be happy..he really wanted to try it.

 

[stepdisney]

Okay, as far as the fortnight goes, we are not adding days. We were considering staying at Universal for two days and cancelling two days at WL. My DH says that if I can make the numbers come up the same, he would like to do Universal. I need to do research on this. Our 45 day window is almost here (tomorrow or Tuesday to be exact). I could use all of the help I can get....

Cakey (for the same reason as Disneybride) Let me know where to stay. This is new ground for us. I think adding to the 10 days would be overkill for us. One day for Universal and one for Island's of Adventure is good for us. I heard there are great package deals. Pleeeeeez help .

I agree that we help our children make memories by helping them remember things. Pictures and stories about events help children remember fun times when they were young. I scrapbook for this reason. My DS (12) always asks me to tell about his first disney trip and he was 5 then.

 

[nonsmom]

Welcome back Stepdisney! Sounds like you had a really nice time. Were you able to get the Havianas before you left? I went out East to the outlets with my sis and got another pair of flip flops at JCrew. It was great, they were all on sale. Not that I needed another pair.

Still hanging in there. I am trying to book a weekend trip somewhere in August. Not sure where to yet.

A friend of mine is going down to WDW next week for the first time, with no plan in hand. Personally, I think she is nuts! I offered some suggestions and she wanted none of them. She just wants to wing it. Can't wait to hear the reviews when she returns.

 

[DisneyBride'03]

Winging WDW??!!
Sorry, couldnt help myslef

cakey...like that better
Stepd.....I once looked at Universal's site...I was like..What? I attempted to do a qoute...it seemed expensive...Once the Harry Potter things open...my son will want to go..speaking of Potter, we won advance screening tix for last Tues...and met the Weasley Twins, and my son got his photo with them and their autograph....Its great when your DS13 almost 14 thinks your a cool mom

So we are keeping our ADR for the Reef and adding Cape May Breakfast
Thanks for the assistance

 

[smidgy]

we LOVE universal... but.. we always have to do it FIRST. it would be a let down after the "disney magic".
yes universal has no value resorts. the cheapest in Royal pacific, but it's beautiful. I have friends who have stayed off site (we ourselves have driven over to uni from disney) and that's fine. BUT if you stay onsite, you get front of the line passes for the whole stay! (well, just like fast pass, but you don't have to wait for one to expire) and you can enjoy city walk without having to worry about a designated driver. pat o'briens (dueling pianos) is great fun!. jimmy buffets is fun and good food, and hard rock cafe)
they have passes for both parks for a ridiculous amount of days, but it's still cheaper than one day passes. we usually do 2 or 3 nights at RP. If only doing ONE park, I recommend the studios over Islands of adventure... EXCEPT... I think Spiderman at IOA if the best ride EVER in any theme park. they do really need to add more to that park, and I think harry potter will fill the bill. (I do prefer universal studios to mgm studios)
the pool slide at hard rock hotel is the better than ANY slide at disney resorts. if you stay at a UNI. resort, pool hopping is encouraged.. you can avail yourself of the amenities at any of the 3 resorts, so we usually stay at RP, and "visit" HRH and portofino bay have fun!!!!

 

[DisneyBride'03]

Thanks for that great crash course in Universal 101
Great info.....
That should help alot StepD

 

[stepdisney]

I was thinking more like staying off-site but near Universal since we will need a car from the airport now. I need to know if we can still take ME back to the airport at *** of our vacation (did that on purpose). Can you take ME one way? I'll ask on the transportation board. I guess we could return the car to the airport and take ME from the airport that day. (Is this possible?) My DH & I have done Universal before without the children when we were on our "Just Us" or "Justice" as I like to call it, vacation. I don't want to spend too much on the hotels since we only have the two days and we will most likely just sleep and shower there. We don't plan to do too much with pools but the "front of the line" thing sounds better than the one you have to pay for. I have to do my research. (where does one go to do such research?) Is there a Uni site like the Dis site? Thanks smidgy. I think we are planning to do Universal at the beginning also. I just didn't get the perfection I get from Disney. From the moment we pulled into the mall-looking parking lot, my DH and I both said "this is NOT Disnified" We did, however, enjoy the rides. The food, on the other hand, left a lot to be desired as did the customer service. We paid for the food plan and the front of the line thingy but got our money back when we discovered you couldn't ride the same rides over and over...there is a limit!!!! Not good (that goes ditto for the food).

By the way, I agree; winging WDW is like, ummm, like..... ??? I can't even think of anything it would be like. Not a good idea though. Hope your friends change their minds

 

[smidgy]

go to forum jump on this site. at the bottom is a whole section dealing with universal

 

[momtoPrincessA]

Hey resort changers.....I thought my changing days were over until I got the call from WDW that they were changing my AKL reservation. I think we are switching to the Poly for a couple of days, I'm not sure. But now my perfectly planned vacation isn't so perfect right now! Well, back to resort changing!

 

[DisneyBride'03]

momtoPrincessA.....Its one thing to change resorts when you want to and have this affliction...lol but to change when you dont want to....I am so sorry............

Especially for your kids.....Well, the Poly has a great beach...I would choose Poly over WL..monorail and all...You can see wishes and the water pageant at night....there are 2 pools...
What abt YC/BC...SAB your kids may love...close to Studios and Epcot...

Good luck and keep us postedThey will still have magical birthdays!!! They will still be in WDW....just a different hotel...(I know...nothing really compares to AKL as far as the theme and animals....)
You will find your new spot!

 

[momtoPrincessA]

DisneyBride03: I know it will be great because we will be at WDW, I'm just disappointed because of all the planning. DH and I looked last night at BC and Poly and while we liked the looks of the BC pool, it seems like the Poly is more convenient for what our schedule is like, plus then we would still have our 4 days at WL. I'm trying to switch (we had 6 nights at AKL, 4 at WL), I want only 4 at the Poly and 6 at WL but that affects my free dining. Yikes! I need to have a positive attitude, and this just gives me a reason to take DS to AKL next year, he is having surgery in January and I want to take him down in March as a surprise. So something else to look forward to. DH says he feels bad for me since I did all the planning! I just feel bad because I wanted the perfect trip for DS, as DD got to stay at GF for her 6th!

 

[m-i-c-cakeywhy]

Hi all. So now I'm cakey? Ok, I've been called worse. about universal, we are doing it first for pretty much the same reasons as previously posted. We are staying at hard rock, as my sons are 14 and 16, and into rock...My sister stayed there and said the hotel is great, margarettaville is right outside the entrance....and the pool has music piped in under water....I have a feeling they will love it...the other reason is, if you price out the tickets with the cost of adding the front of the line pass option, its lots'O money...whereas if you stay on property, you automatically get front of the line pass which is on the room key...

We are going to buy the 7 day ticket/2 park....
Even though we will be going to the park for only 2 days and maybe the morning of the day we check out....

As far as beach club, debsAllears reviews are not good on that resort. Most anyway...but who knows...I know some people really love it. When I've walked by, I've always thought I would not like that pool because it just seems so open to all the boardwalk visitors....
anyway, I'll go back to lurking and reading other boards
stay strong changers.....

 

[stepdisney]

We decided that Universal is going to be another trip. Turns out that today is my 45 day mark and any changes would have to have been made today. I can't work under those conditions. It takes me a few days to ponder, agree, disagree, read, talk, post, answer, read some more...etc etc. I couldn't make the numbers come out right and I'm not too sure about canceling ADR's. If we decide to go at all we will just rent a car from the resort and spend a day there and return to Disney. I don't think that I want to bother this time (of course I may CHANGE my mind ).

Ktink, are you on the beach sipping some tropical drink with an umbrella on the side? Cheers!!!

 

[momtoPrincessA]

It's official...we are now at Poly (Lagoon View ) for 4 nights, WL woodsview for 6 nights. DH is psyched because WL is his dream resort and we were able to add 2 more nights! The idea of the Poly is growing on me, now I will have to abandon the AKL threads and jump to the Poly threads! Now I have to look at our ADR's, I think we are still good. I am actually psyched to try the Poly, we have a pool day scheduled while we are there and I heard it's a great pool for kids. I'm officially done resort changing, although a theme park room would be nice at the Poly....maybe I'll have to work on that!

 

[deide71]

It's official...we are now at Poly (Lagoon View ) for 4 nights, WL woodsview for 6 nights. DH is psyched because WL is his dream resort and we were able to add 2 more nights! The idea of the Poly is growing on me, now I will have to abandon the AKL threads and jump to the Poly threads! Now I have to look at our ADR's, I think we are still good. I am actually psyched to try the Poly, we have a pool day scheduled while we are there and I heard it's a great pool for kids. I'm officially done resort changing, although a theme park room would be nice at the Poly....maybe I'll have to work on that!

You are going to have a great time .

 

[dancemomnj]

It's official...we are now at Poly (Lagoon View ) for 4 nights, WL woodsview for 6 nights. DH is psyched because WL is his dream resort and we were able to add 2 more nights! The idea of the Poly is growing on me, now I will have to abandon the AKL threads and jump to the Poly threads! Now I have to look at our ADR's, I think we are still good. I am actually psyched to try the Poly, we have a pool day scheduled while we are there and I heard it's a great pool for kids. I'm officially done resort changing, although a theme park room would be nice at the Poly....maybe I'll have to work on that!

You are going to love Poly! We were there July 1st-6th. It was even better then I hoped for! The pool was great! Your kids will love the pool and pool slide. Mine had a blast! There is also a fun area next to the pool with water spraying out of the ground. My kids had a ball playing in them!

 

[DisneyBride'03]

stepdisney...how are your plans going? Universal out of the picture now? I couldnt imagine trying to do that re figuring at the last minute yikes.
I made my last and final..(insert ha ha's here) change...Cape May Breakfast on departure day. So we are free from ADR's on Sat and Sun....we are planning lots of time at the resort with the baby And to take advantage of the snacks
Time is ticking away......