DDA Chapter 24

[Tammi67]

Our trip was awesome, despite the cold. And let me tell you, it was COLD! Cold, and WINDY. We were pretty much dressed for it though. Lots of layers, hats and gloves. Orlando broke a record, set back in 1907. The worst day was Saturday, our Epcot day. It was raining in the morning, plus bitter cold. So we decided to sleep in and head into the park later, after the rain stopped. Everything was a walk on, except for Soarin', which we FPd. We had a linner ADR in Italy, so we took the boat over. Afterwards, walking back to FW around the lake, with the wind blowing, it was FRIGID! We had FPs for TT but the kids wanted to go back to AKLV and do the activities there, so we found a family with 2 little kids entering the park and handed off our FPs. They were thrilled. I love doing that. :

The nicest day, weather wise, was our AK day. It was really cold in the morning, though, on the Sunrise Safari. But they gave us heavy blankets to use, so that helped a lot! By afternoon, with the sun shining, it was warmer. Not warm. Just warmER.

I fell in love with concierge. Too bad more of the DVC resorts don't offer this, unless you are paying cash.

I haven't decided if this trip requires a do-over or not. Yes, the weather was miserable, but with all the extras we got, it's hard to say it was a 'bad' trip.

After being there in the sweltering heat and the bitter cold, I would take the heat any day.

Hopefully I can get pictures uploaded today.

 

[Tammi67]

Chanon and Kristine - It looks like we will be doing a 7 day cruise in July. I'd like to spend some time at either US or SW (or both ) prior to sailing. How many days should I alot for each park? When does the HP section open at US? I need some good planning advice for those parks.

 

[PNO4TE]

Tammi!! I think you did a great job at catching up. I am also very happy to read that the odd weather didn't ruin your trip.

Did you really have to be at the Club Lounge at 6:30 for the Sunrise Safari? I think we three ladies are going to try to book it, but I fear at least one of them is not going to be a very happy woman if it is really 6:30.

 

[Tammi67]

We had to be there at 7:15, then we departed at 7:30.

 

[my3princes]

Happy Monday, DDA!

Terri, the photos are terrific! I'm sorry that the weather didn't cooperate, but I'm glad that everything was great anyway.

Glynis, for Katie's throat. I agree that it's best that she not miss school today. I hope that it gets better soon or that you can get her to the doctor after school.

Deb, can you send some of that "warmth" down here? Though I think it's actually supposed to top 20 at some point today.

I'm trying (rather unsuccessfully at the moment) to talk dh into a Disney trip this summer. Of course, it may be a moot point anyway. Laura was thinking of taking Health and Driver's Ed in summer school. That would run from 7/5-8/13. Cross country practice will begin 8/16 and go until school starts. Assuming she decides not to go to summer school, are the first two weeks of August a lot worse crowd-wise than the last two?

If he really won't go for the Disney trip, I'm thinking of trying to convince him that we should take a week or so to drive to Maine by way of Montreal (or VT and NH). Of course, if we're going to Canada, we'll need to get dh and Matthew enhanced licenses and should start soon. I doubt he'll approve this either, and we'll run into the same problem with summer school and cross country practice.

Can you entice you dh with a nice summer camp in Vermont. We have a camp that you could stay at for free Dh's always like free. It's about 20 minutes from our house and the top of the property connects with the Appalachian Trail. We'll be in Florida July 14-Aug 8, but the other ends of the summer we could make work We're 2 1/2 hours from Montreal and maybe 3 hours from Portland, ME

Chanon and Kristine - It looks like we will be doing a 7 day cruise in July. I'd like to spend some time at either US or SW (or both ) prior to sailing. How many days should I alot for each park? When does the HP section open at US? I need some good planning advice for those parks.

Our cruise is July 24 7 days and we'll be at RPR for 3 nights post cruise and doing SeaWorld for a day after that.

 

[PNO4TE]

We had to be there at 7:15, then we departed at 7:30.

That would make my boss a very happy woman! Thanks.

 

[jackskellingtonsgirl]

Welcome home, Tammi! Glad your trip had some magical moments! The cold would have killed me. Only summer trips for us from now on!

Beth, we always go the first 2 weeks of August and we don't think the crowds are a big deal. But you have to go out EARLY every day.

Elin, you have to check in for the Safari ABSOLUTELY no later than 7 AM. Then you have to go downstairs and get on the bus. If you don't check in until 7:00 you won't have time for coffee or anything.

 

[jackskellingtonsgirl]

Hmm. Apparently safari times jog a bit depending on the time of year!

 

[Tammi67]

Our cruise is July 24 7 days and we'll be at RPR for 3 nights post cruise and doing SeaWorld for a day after that.

What's RPR? I'm US and SW lingo illiterate.

 

[my3princes]

Neither Colby or Nick need glasses They both have better than 20/20 vision. My guess is that the Pediatricians equipment needs to be recalibrated The boys are happy, but they still can't see anything since they are still really dilated. Colby also got the H1N1 and Seasonal Flu boosters so he was not happy about that.

 

[my3princes]

What's RPR? I'm US and SW lingo illiterate.

RPR is Royal Pacific Resort. If you stay onsight at US you get unlimited front of the Line (FOTL) access for your length of stay. From what I've read it makes the parks very managable. It will be interesting to see how well it works especially with Harry Potter opening this Summer. US resorts allow and even encourage pool hopping. The drawback is that you have to pay to park at the resorts there. I happened upon a glitch in there computer system in October and was able to book at $152 per night. We had booked at $264 per night originally. From what I've read the rates become reasonable the closer to the dates anyway. Check out some of the US trip reports. I've read that RPR is nicer than the Poly. US has conceirge level too. We considered it, but opted for a regular room since we have the THV and the cruise too. Our last 3 nights are offsite and I got a great rate for a 2 bedroom suite with a shuttle to SeaWorld/US. We'll have a car, but since we'll spend an entire day at SW we'll probably take the shuttle and not pay the SW parking fee

 

[bethbuchall]

Elizabeth, we definitely do things EARLY when we're in Disney, so that would be ok. The hotel prices have a nice drop after August 16th. Maybe we'll have to investigate how the new coach feels about runners missing some summer practice.

Deb, thanks for the offer. Dh always likes the word free. I'm still hoping for a Disney trip. It will be 2 years since Laura, Miles, and I have been there and three for dh and Matthew. He said that he really doesn't have a great desire to go back yet. He also doesn't have any desire to travel anywhere. I just don't understand that part of him. (Fortunately, he makes up for it in other ways. )

I'm glad that Colby and Nick don't need glasses. The pediatrician recommended that we take Miles to the eye doctor. I need to set that up. Life is so much easier without glasses/contact lenses, so I hope that he doesn't need anything yet.

 

[bethbuchall]

Hmmm...I wonder if the the Wizarding World of Harry Potter could help me convince dh? Probably not, he'll think crowds/money instead of new fun. It's worth a try, though.

 

[jackskellingtonsgirl]

Beth, it will be interesting to see how our vacations change once DS is in high school. Obviously our first order of business is determining WHICH school he will be going to. Then we'll have to see what sort of summer requirements they have. We're not renewing our APs this year, so 2011 will be a clean slate for us. We can plan around whatever stuff he needs to be home for.

 

[Pooh67_68]

Welcome home Tammi.

I agree about heat over cold, John rather cold over heat.

 

[tinknme]

I hope this works for those of you not on facebook. Here are a few pictures from Steve and Michelle's wedding

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=51074&id=1287373415&saved

Nice pictures Terry, congratulations to Steve & Michelle!

 

[bethbuchall]

Tammi, I'm glad that your trip was still great! Every time that I saw an Orlando weather report, I wondered about how you were doing. I would definitely rather have heat than cold! Dh leans toward cold over heat.

Elizabeth, high school can change things. Honestly, I don't think she needs to do summer school. Health is easier/faster if you take it in summer school, but I'm sure she can work it into her regular schedule next year. She'll need to sit down and work on her schedule. Driver's ed isn't mandatory, but it is something that dh and I want her to have. She can take that through the community college on a different schedule. I don't think it's any more expensive that way. I'm not ready for her to be a senior next year. Matthew's first day of classes will be 8/30, though he'll need to be up there a few days before that.

Once Matthew and Laura are both in college, we could most likely plan an early January or mid-May (my favorite) trip based on their schedules. EXCEPT Miles will be too old to take out of school for that long by then.

 

[tinknme]

Welcome back Tammi, despite the cold sounds like you had a good time!

 

[Pooh67_68]

Beth hope you can convince dh to take a trip.

 

[yellowfish78]

Welcome home Tammi!

My girlfriend ran in the half on Saturday. In the freezing rain. She said that she never would have done that but being Disney it kind of canceled the bad weather out.

Like Deb said, you can stay on site and you are able to get unlimited use of the Express Pass line. I've stayed at RPR and Hard Rock Hotel concierge level. The rate Deb got is great! Concierge at UO is different than at Disney (from what I've heard, we've never stayed concierge at Disney). At UO it would be worth it for food (I swear people attempted and did to eat full meals from the offerings in the Concierge Lounge. By the time Bob and I got into the lounge the good stuff was gone.) They can make reservations for you and whatnot, but there are no other extra benefits that I can remember. By staying on site you already get priority reservations at restaurants (basically going to the head of the waiting list). If you want extra special service, spend the money on a VIP tour. It's totally worth the money and you really get front of the line access with this tour.

Can't wait to see pictures!!!

BTW - does anyone know the website to see pictures of runners from the Marathon?