Dec '10 TR:I Will Not Stop Stalking ADRs Until I Get To WDW!(MARCH TR LINK) 3/26

[IheartDDuck]

Yay, your booked!

That's exciting that you are staying at AKL. It's my favorite resort!

 

[DisneyDreamerMN]

I am a little late but subscribing and catching up now.

 

[TinkerbellLuvr7]

Yay, your booked!

That's exciting that you are staying at AKL. It's my favorite resort!

I'm glad too..it was like jumping through hoops to get this reservation correct and even though it still isn't 100% perfect, I'm going to keep checking to make sure it's okay!

I am a little late but subscribing and catching up now.

I love love love when people put chapters in their TR, it's so much easier to catch up if you've missed days!!

 

[TinkerbellLuvr7]

Yay, your booked!

That's exciting that you are staying at AKL. It's my favorite resort!

Danielle..

I've only stayed there once. How are the buses?? We had a car when we stayed there before.

What rooms have you stayed in? We've only stayed in Savana but have a standard booked..are we going to be upset with our choice and wished we had stuck with POR??? I read on here how they upgrade a lot at AKL. I'm not going to put any room requests in and see what happens!

 

[Trentmom]

oh man..sounds like that girl is a handful

Sounds like she is fidgety. Maybe you could get her something to hold in her hand, like stress ball or maybe some silly bands. Just something to distract her at least from bothering other kids


I see I was right on your original ressie...go me

Yay for getting AKL. THat is awesome!!

I hope it is all right now

 

[TinkerbellLuvr7]

oh man..sounds like that girl is a handful

Sounds like she is fidgety. Maybe you could get her something to hold in her hand, like stress ball or maybe some silly bands. Just something to distract her at least from bothering other kids


I see I was right on your original ressie...go me

Yay for getting AKL. THat is awesome!!

I hope it is all right now

Thanks..she is a handful..based on how she acts, I'm guessing she might be ADHD but I can't diagnosis her so for now I'll try what I can to keep myself sane and the other kids from digressing in behavior!

Everything is not right with the ressie, ugh! I might have to cancel and rebook a moderate with my AP + DDP, at least I'd know that everything is right and I can add my DME stuff right away! I'm going to give it till tomorrow night and decide. Poor Disney Chase Visa and all my dep/refunds!

 

[IheartDDuck]

Danielle..

I've only stayed there once. How are the buses?? We had a car when we stayed there before.

What rooms have you stayed in? We've only stayed in Savana but have a standard booked..are we going to be upset with our choice and wished we had stuck with POR??? I read on here how they upgrade a lot at AKL. I'm not going to put any room requests in and see what happens!

I've had a car both times that I've stayed there, but I don't always use the car. The buses aren't horrible. They are no worse than any other deluxe or moderate resorts. I don't include value, because in my opinion, POP has the best bus service.

I don't remember what section we stayed in, but it was the section in Jambo House that is dedicated to DVC. Right up Zebra Trail, and it was a savanna view. I don't think you'll be disappointed with standard there. The rooms IMO are beautiful regardless.

I liked our location, because we were right by the elevator that went straight down to the Mara. That was really nice.

What I like the most about AKL is the atmosphere. Oh, and the restaurants.

 

[luckylady]

I really liked staying at AKL. You don't share a bus with anyone like at other horels. Hope you and mom have a great time on your trip. As for the little girl my first thoughts were also ADHD. Try a reward system with her. If you have some downtime talk with her and say if you can do this this and maybe this or one thing at a time, this is what you get. Maybe a couple extra minutes doing something she likes or a piece of candy(after you ask mom) at the end of the day. When she tends to act up separate her from everyone else. Allow her to watch the movie or whatever, just by herself or make her write her numbers,nam.... Are you using color stickes for behavior? If not make one fofr her nad tell her to move a color when acting bad. This way you can track fr the rewards and she will have a visual reminder of her rewards. You might want to start to document her behavior. If her parents take her while you have to to get the ADHD diagnose, that may be a big help. Anyway good luck it's going to be trying(Right you know that already) Have fun with more plans for your B-day trip.

 

[wdwgirl03]

Woo hoo for the AKL!! I love it there.

Fun old pictures too. It's always amusing looking back at old trips. I like your frames (I actually have both of those as well, haha, except the '05 one I got in Disneyland!).

Good luck with your kids at school!

 

[Nermel9]

All of your ADR's look great for the March trip! I really want to go back to Ohana, even though Brandon doesn't want to (he can't stand the Hawaiian girl that sings, and he said the food wasn't that great ) and I REALLY want to try Yak and Yeti this year! It's about time I try an AK restaurant!

And yay for AKL! Hopefully you will get your upgrade! Hope you mentioned it was your birthday trip when you booked!

 

[TinkerbellLuvr7]

I've had a car both times that I've stayed there, but I don't always use the car. The buses aren't horrible. They are no worse than any other deluxe or moderate resorts. I don't include value, because in my opinion, POP has the best bus service.

I don't remember what section we stayed in, but it was the section in Jambo House that is dedicated to DVC. Right up Zebra Trail, and it was a savanna view. I don't think you'll be disappointed with standard there. The rooms IMO are beautiful regardless.

I liked our location, because we were right by the elevator that went straight down to the Mara. That was really nice.

What I like the most about AKL is the atmosphere. Oh, and the restaurants.

Thanks! I LOVE LOVE LOVE having a car. I am my father's daughter and have OCD about waiting for buses. Our big gripe about WL is why should they have to share buses if it's a deluxe resort. If I were paying big bucks to stay at GF, I sure as heck would be pissed having to share buses but then again if I could afford GF, I'd already maybe have a car, rent a car, or take a cab

I really liked staying at AKL. You don't share a bus with anyone like at other horels. Hope you and mom have a great time on your trip. As for the little girl my first thoughts were also ADHD. Try a reward system with her. If you have some downtime talk with her and say if you can do this this and maybe this or one thing at a time, this is what you get. Maybe a couple extra minutes doing something she likes or a piece of candy(after you ask mom) at the end of the day. When she tends to act up separate her from everyone else. Allow her to watch the movie or whatever, just by herself or make her write her numbers,nam.... Are you using color stickes for behavior? If not make one fofr her nad tell her to move a color when acting bad. This way you can track fr the rewards and she will have a visual reminder of her rewards. You might want to start to document her behavior. If her parents take her while you have to to get the ADHD diagnose, that may be a big help. Anyway good luck it's going to be trying(Right you know that already) Have fun with more plans for your B-day trip.

Thanks for the advice! She does have a sticker chart like all the other kids. If the kids have 20 stickers on their chart a the end of the month, they get to pick a prize! I have her seated in the front of the class between 2 kids that are very well behaved which is what it suggested online. Her old classroom was a 'HOT MESS' of sorts with punishment not following through and not a structured schedule so hopefully it will help with her moving up and seeing how the older kids act!

Woo hoo for the AKL!! I love it there.

Fun old pictures too. It's always amusing looking back at old trips. I like your frames (I actually have both of those as well, haha, except the '05 one I got in Disneyland!).

Good luck with your kids at school!

I love my WDW frames! I have them all packed away assuming I move out one these days again..

All of your ADR's look great for the March trip! I really want to go back to Ohana, even though Brandon doesn't want to (he can't stand the Hawaiian girl that sings, and he said the food wasn't that great ) and I REALLY want to try Yak and Yeti this year! It's about time I try an AK restaurant!

And yay for AKL! Hopefully you will get your upgrade! Hope you mentioned it was your birthday trip when you booked!

Thanks!

I've eaten at YY twice, once with friends when it opened and once with my fam. Our server with my family told us not to get anything on the menu that's on the outdoor CS because it's the same food/same kitchen and over priced

You should try it though, it's really good!!

 

[TinkerbellLuvr7]

RESORT CHANGE!!!

2 MONTHS UNTIL MY BIRTHDAY!!!!!


HEY DIS FRIENDS!!!

..Didn't think you would hear back from me so soon right?!

Well after giving it much thought and having pretty much little to no patience at this point with CMs who can't do their jobs at reservations, I have come to the decision to cancel my CM Ressie + DDP..

Let's go back and recap shall we??

~K calls WDW Cast on Monday, the CM won't even give a quote since my AP room + DDP at Riverside was booked

~I cancel my AP room + DDP because it was $30 more to stay at AKL Standard with CM DDP.

~K calls Tuesday to book the ressie. She texted me the Con #, total, and dep $.

~I get home, try to upload the ressie since I didn't get the Con Email...won't upload. K tries on her CM Site..won't upload.

~I call wdw Disney, they can't look it up since it's a CM ressie (wrong you can!). She tells me to call WDW Cast. I call them, the CM can't locate the ressie with the Con #, my address, or guests. She transfers me to 2 different IT depts. They can't look it up and transfer me back to WDW Disney.

~The man I speak with finds the reservation, the $ amount is wrong, my mom is not on the ressie, and our flight info isn't either. He adds mom, updates the total, and confirms everything + says I'll get the email now.

~I get the email, I'm listed as Mrs, mom as Ms. and the total is wrong not including the DDP

At that point, I had hit rock bottom. I was done dealing with them and I dare not call DME until this is fixed...

I decided at that point to reprice my rooms with my AP discount. Even if we had to go back to a Mod at least I could do room, DDP, flights, and DME at the same time, same screen, and I would be doing it..not a CM hoping that it's right!

I decided to give it the night to think things over before making a decision. By the time I got off the computer it was after 10pm.

I finally decided that by tonight, I would just cancel the AKL CM room + DDP and rebook CSR Preferred and hope for the best.

My first resort choice before all of this was POFQ. POFQ only had king rooms open and depending on what my bro was doing, or my dad..we didn't want to go that route. With my AP, it was making me pay rack rate for the weekend = no DDP unless we buy tix

For some reason, it just hit me at 10:30 last night, maybe I should recheck my AP rooms and see if they have POFQ open even though they probably won't and haven't for weeks...

I put in all the info and guess what pops up..


PORT ORLEANS FRENCH QUARTER:
STANDARD ROOM
AP DISCOUNT ROOMS ALL NIGHT = DDP WITHOUT PARK TICKETS
$604 + DDP = $990

Now even though it is a Mod instead of Deluxe, we're going to save $105!!!

I didn't even think twice and booked it (and YES it let me book it even though I had the CM one booked with the same address, phone num, names, CC num, etc!)

So there you have it, we are set..

I know we are in a Standard but the resort grounds are so small, the furthest building from the food court is 2 buildings down so I doubt it will matter!

They are also in the process of refurbishing their rooms so I hope to get a new one like we did at POP last March!

I know what you're thinking..a mod over a deluxe but after the nightmare I've gone through with the other reservation so far + not even knowing what view we're going to have at AKL (plus not spending a ton of time there anyways)
..I'm perfectly fine with POFQ. I stayed at WL and YC last year so I'm not hurting in terms of Deluxe resorts!! POFQ was the very first resort I stayed at as a kid in 1992 and we loved it. We stayed there 3x until we stayed at WL in 2000 as a surprise from my Dad and haven't been back. It helps that WL has bunk beds for a boy/girl so the whole sleeping arrangement isn't yucky! haha. I did stay at FQ with some of my roomies back in 2008 for the closing weekend of PI and we loved it. We were booked for one night and ended up staying for 4!

I did call WDW Disney today and canceled the CM Room ressie + DDP. The girl asks why and I just said we decided on a resort change. She quotes back to me what's going to my credit card as $800+...WHATTTTTT!!!!!!!!????? I SAID, NO NO NO, IT SHOULD HAVE BEEN $210, 5 MINS LATER SHE GOES..OH YA $210...I'll be watching Visa Chase Disney online very carefully for that refund!!


So there it is, in the past 3 days, I've had 3 different WDW room ressies booked!

I'm glad we finally settled and now I can stop focusing on where we'll sleep and now trying to snag a Le Cellier ADR!

Thanks for following along on this crazy room ressie quest!!

See you this weekend with more updates!!!

 

[Trentmom]

Thanks..she is a handful..based on how she acts, I'm guessing she might be ADHD but I can't diagnosis her so for now I'll try what I can to keep myself sane and the other kids from digressing in behavior!

Everything is not right with the ressie, ugh! I might have to cancel and rebook a moderate with my AP + DDP, at least I'd know that everything is right and I can add my DME stuff right away! I'm going to give it till tomorrow night and decide. Poor Disney Chase Visa and all my dep/refunds!

Yeah, does sound like she has that

I hope her parents will have her tested

Oh man..hope u can get your ressie straightened out

 

[TinkerbellLuvr7]

Yeah, does sound like she has that

I hope her parents will have her tested

Oh man..hope u can get your ressie straightened out

Thanks! It did get sorted out...check the post above yours!!!

She has not been tested but the mom does have a son who is 12 and is "normal" so I would hope that she knows that something is not right!

The little girl can't sit and watch any movie for more than 5 mins which isn't good! She is able to go to KDG in the fall, so hopefully she does and they can get an IEP in place for her!

 

[Trentmom]

I am glad it all worked out and now you can enjoy your planning

 

[princessjv]

Ouch!

Disney vacations are supposed to magical.

Start - finish.

This is not so fun.

I was thinking YEA! To POFQ!

Then I was thinking YIPPEEE!! To AKL (we just stayed there and LOVED it!)

But after your headache... POFQ is awesome! We like it there too!

Shame on Disney for making it such an ordeal for CM's to get a discount. It should be much easier!

 

[IheartDDuck]

I like POFQ very much, so I think you made a good choice there too. I hope you guys are able to get a refurbed. What I love about POFQ is that it's the first resort to pick up before heading to POR, and the first one to drop off. I think you made a good choice.

 

[TinkerbellLuvr7]

I am glad it all worked out and now you can enjoy your planning

Thanks!!

Ouch!

Disney vacations are supposed to magical.

Start - finish.

This is not so fun.

I was thinking YEA! To POFQ!

Then I was thinking YIPPEEE!! To AKL (we just stayed there and LOVED it!)

But after your headache... POFQ is awesome! We like it there too!

Shame on Disney for making it such an ordeal for CM's to get a discount. It should be much easier!

Thanks!!! My brother and I LOVED POFQ when we were little. Some of my first disney memories are from that resort so it will be bitter sweet to return there! We do like AKL too, not as much as WL but it will be a nice change to stay somewhere that we haven't stayed at since 1996!!

I like POFQ very much, so I think you made a good choice there too. I hope you guys are able to get a refurbed. What I love about POFQ is that it's the first resort to pick up before heading to POR, and the first one to drop off. I think you made a good choice.

Thanks!!

I was glad to read that the bus drops off and picks up first + the fact that the resort is small in size is a great combo! Refurbished room or not, I think we'll still enjoy it and then I won't have grief knowing that are saving $100 and staying at a resort that we can spend tons of time at or very little if the parks take over!

Like I said, when I stayed there with my roomies a few years ago, we fell in love with it! We extended our stay and had a standard room but it was literally rooms down from the gift shop in building 3!! Not sure if that was an upgrade or not because were facing the courtyard and could see a glimpse of the pool..it was an awesome location but as of now, I don't think they've done a refub of building 3, just 7, 6, and 4. We'll see how much they get done in the next 2 months!

 

[TinkerbellLuvr7]

EPCOT DAY!!!!

HAPPY THURSDAY DIS FRIENDS!!!

TODAY...I ACTUALLY GOT A SNOW DAY!! It is very rare that my center will close, close early, or delay an opening but I got a call at 7:10am saying to stay put, they would keep me posted and then another one at 8:30 saying that the center is closing at 3 and they don't want more teachers on the road (they never consider this so it was nice for once!) I went back to bed till 10:30am. It was nice since I'm not feeling the best so I ended up with a Snow Day/Sick Day and didn't have to call off!!

Now for the update!

Sat Dec 11th, 2010:

We actually slept in that day which was needed after the zero sleep we got at POP the night before!

We all kind of rolled out of bed before 9am = no park opening but maybe we'd get there for one on Monday (maybe!)

Bro made contact with the same roomie that let them into DHS the day before. He said that he worked at 12 that day so we pretty much got ready asap and rushed out the door by 10:30. Bro took his car and picked up the roomie, mom, dad and I took the bus.

Even though we were late again (according to my families rope drop OCD) we did manage to score FP for Soarin later in the day. We knew that bro could get us on TT with no wait..which he did 3 or 4x so that wasn't an issue and we'd just go with the flow!

After we got our FP, we decided to just grab lunch right away. Dad ate breakfast at WL and bro was walking his roomie to his work location in WS so mom and I went to China!

We have never eaten at the outdoor food area but it was good! We shared our meals and the ice cream was great too! We always enjoyed in the indoor TS but now we have a good solid CS to eat at, assuming the weather is fine!

After we ate, we walked around and came across this guy while mom was confirming our ADR at Chefs De France:

I know what you are thinking..WHY DID WE HAVE TO CONFIRM OUR ADR WHEN I'M SUPER OCD IN TERMS OF DINING!?
..well mom made this ressie since you had to call to do CLP packages. She did have the time right!

We made our way back to WS and met up with Bro, rode TT again, and decided to head back to WL to take advantage of the pool/outdoors before it got cold for the rest of the trip = smart move!

We are 100% resort/afternoon break type of people. I guess you can say it all began because our family vacations to WDW were ALWAYS in the summer..June or July and lets face it, you need an afternoon break in the summer no matter what your age is! We've continued to honor the tradition, especially if we are staying Deluxe. Since bro's friends/roomies were getting them in for free it was $0 out of our pocket in terms of paying for the parks so we didn't feel as bad leaving mid-day for a break even though the weather was fine!

Bro decided to stay in the room and sleep while the rest of us went to the pool.

We swam for 2 hours or so and came back to the room to find this..

PIXIE DUST!!!

Mom told the mousekeeper in the hall that we just needed new towels, and the beds made. She did that + more even though Bro was on the top bunk asleep!

We saw her again on our way out the door to Epcot, thanked her again, and she was ecstatic about the MOUSEKEEPING ENVELOPE!! I'm pretty sure we had her on Monday too but after that, we didn't see her again

By this point it was nearing 3:00 and we were headed back to Epcot for our CLP dinner at Les Chefs De France + CLP with WHOOPI GOLDBERG!!!!!

STAY TUNED!!!

 

[luckylady]

Oh my Whoopi I have always wanted to hear her do CP.Takeing a break in the afternoon for a swim, wish we had learned that one long before our May trip. It was a first and a wonderful refresher for the afternoon. Sorry to hear about all the trouble with reservations for your B-day trip am happy tho it's all good now. Love POFQ. Can't wait for more. Enjoy your snow day and feel better.