Dec PTR, The More the MERRIER! 12/5 Upd... It's a BABY! reveal!

[Daddy_of_Princesses]

What have we done?

So, today, I was reading the Pop Thread and one of the things that they suggested was faxing your request to Pop a few days before... and then one of my fine readers was linked to a letter that she sends to the resort to help lock in her requests! (I'm looking at YOU Jen!) Of course, I'm worried that I wouldn't be able to remember to do that, so I remembered! I have outlook at work! I can set it as a reminder. So, I have a reminder to fax my request so that we get adjoining rooms! Although, I think Shelley MIGHT have been having a blonde moment...

So, my requests at this point would be a connecting King and Double room, possibly ground floor along with Nita and Michael's room adjoining. If we had to do double connecting double it would probably be best for Nita and Michael's room to be connected to us, just cause I know Shelley and Brian want the King if they can get it. I did see something about being able to see fireworks from one of the sections... THAT would be pretty neat if we could see that! I don't know. Any suggestions from former Poppers?

So what kinds of things do people request? I was just going to show up, but hey if I can get something extra for the vacation, that would be nice too. We have 3 days at AKL, and 4 days at Poly, so what should I be asking for. AKL has a Savannah View, and Poly is just a Garden View. That place costs way too much money. My wife wanted to stay at GF, but that costs even more.

 

[francis6306]

So what kinds of things do people request? I was just going to show up, but hey if I can get something extra for the vacation, that would be nice too. We have 3 days at AKL, and 4 days at Poly, so what should I be asking for. AKL has a Savannah View, and Poly is just a Garden View. That place costs way too much money. My wife wanted to stay at GF, but that costs even more.

Well, I don't know about your resorts, but at my resorts the connecting rooms are different and then close or far from the pools... I found the info on the Resorts board under the Groovy Pop thread. Its really an awesome thread. They probably have one for the Poly and AKL.

 

[jenseib]

Yes, that's my fax. I had good luck with it twice. I faxed on Wednesday for a Sunday arrival.
I usually have had preferred and asked for ground floor, poolside inteh 60's. That is just the spot we like best. But alot of people don't like poolside or ground floor.
I have never seen the fireworks from Pop becuase we are usually still at the parks at that time. But I think they say the back of 50's (lake side) is the best to see them. I walk around alot in the morning before my family wakes up and take alot of pictures. You can see the Epcot ball over on that side. Across the lake towards the Legendary years (which I am excited to hear there is now activity going on for the new reosrt over there) you can see the Tower of Terror over the trees.

If you have any Pop questions, feel free to ask, and I'll do my best. We have stayed there 3 times. I LOVE it!

 

[jenseib]

Well, I don't know about your resorts, but at my resorts the connecting rooms are different and then close or far from the pools... I found the info on the Resorts board under the Groovy Pop thread. Its really an awesome thread. They probably have one for the Poly and AKL.

The Groovier Pop thread is the BEST resort thread out there. It has all the info on the first page, and is just great. I have looked at ohters and soem are close to as goo, but many just plain suck. I have yet to find a good...active AKL thread. I wish Buckeyegirl, who has done the last 2 Pop threads, would go through and do them all. LOL! She is fabulous.

All resorts allow request, but they aren't guarenteed. Like some will ask, close to the pool,connecting rooms, or close to the lobby, etc. But I think Disney does try to accomadte most people if they can.

 

[moparop]

I am joining in! We are also going to be there in December, just a bit before you guys! We are doing a split Pop/CR stay. This will be our first time at Pop and it's more of a time filler until we can get into our "real" package at CR.

I have thought long and hard on the MVMCP. When we were at Disney back when the boys were 2-ish they were like your daughter. When they were done with fun, they were DONE. I would hate to spend all that money to have my kids freak OR to have them be a beast the next day/the rest of the trip. As far as ADRs go, I'll have to go back and reread. It's a bit late for me to give logical input right now. On the subject of faxes, I have heard very mixed reviews. Most people say you are less likely to get what you want if you fax in a request than if you just call and have it noted on the ressie.

OH!!! And I almost forgot to add that your daughter is ridiculously cute!!

So what kinds of things do people request? I was just going to show up, but hey if I can get something extra for the vacation, that would be nice too. We have 3 days at AKL, and 4 days at Poly, so what should I be asking for. AKL has a Savannah View, and Poly is just a Garden View. That place costs way too much money. My wife wanted to stay at GF, but that costs even more.

The requests we make are things like what floor we want to be on, where in the building we want our room to be. Some people make requests based on view/distance to food court/distance to pool/ etc. You can call whoever you made your reservation with (Disney, TA, AAA) and they should be able to note that for you. No request is guaranteed, but they do try the best they can! HTH!

 

[francis6306]

I am joining in! We are also going to be there in December, just a bit before you guys! We are doing a split Pop/CR stay. This will be our first time at Pop and it's more of a time filler until we can get into our "real" package at CR.

I have thought long and hard on the MVMCP. When we were at Disney back when the boys were 2-ish they were like your daughter. When they were done with fun, they were DONE. I would hate to spend all that money to have my kids freak OR to have them be a beast the next day/the rest of the trip. As far as ADRs go, I'll have to go back and reread. It's a bit late for me to give logical input right now. On the subject of faxes, I have heard very mixed reviews. Most people say you are less likely to get what you want if you fax in a request than if you just call and have it noted on the ressie.

OH!!! And I almost forgot to add that your daughter is ridiculously cute!!

QUOTE]

Thank you!! I think she's pretty cute myself!


Shelley actually stayed at the CR in May. I have a feeling we'll do a split stay in the future... when we watched the DVD from Disney, my husband was amazed at all the different resorts! Oh, and Cortlyn is very much the same, she's a WELL behaved two year old, but when she's done is D.O.N.E. I just go back and forth on the party! Please come back and share!

 

[sbprincess]

I am joining in! We are also going to be there in December, just a bit before you guys! We are doing a split Pop/CR stay. This will be our first time at Pop and it's more of a time filler until we can get into our "real" package at CR.

Thanks for joining in! My DH and I stayed at the CR in May and loved it! You're going to have a great time. Have you ever stayed there before? It was really nice being so close to MK. I wish we could stay deluxe everytime but these different bills keep showing up to my house and apparently if I don't pay they'll stop providing their service...what's up with that?!?!?!

Anyway, so Christen sent me the link to the POP layout the other day. I really need to look at that more. Just off the top of my head these are what I would like, not necessarily in order of priority. I hope none of them are mutually exclusive though!
1. I would like to have our rooms connected.
2. We would like to have a King bed, but I do NOT want the handicap shower. (DH and I had that on our Honeymoon and didn't like it at all. We didn't really even know why it was that way until we got home and thought more about it.)
3. I would like to be on the ground floor and as close as possible to the busses/food court area. I just know we won't be spending all that much time in our rooms and being close to the busses would be nice. One of my only complaints about our room at the Contemporary was that it was in the garden wing (couldn't stomach the extra $800 just for a tower room ) and therefore quite a hike from the tower (especially after an already long day in the parks).

None of these would make or break our trip though, of course. It would kind of stink to not be somewhat close to Christen. But then again, if we're not in the room much, I'm not sure how much it will really matter in the end. These are also just my first thoughts. I need to go over to the POP thread on the Resort Boards!!!

 

[francis6306]

Hello all! How are you? I suppose I should get back to a PTR, right? Okay!

So, we ordered our custom maps and they have arrived! Corey and I sat down and looked over them the other day. He was really amazed at the layout of the resort and where everything was. He is excited about the buses, but sad that we won't get more use of the monorail. We might get on there some, just to be able to try it out, you know?

So I'm going to go a little more in depth about our days... PLEASE share your opinions, okay!?

Friday MK/MVMCP
This day, we could use our "extra ticket" to go to a different park, since we are 90% sure we will go to the Party that night. Of course, this sorta breaks my heart to think about, but we DO have the 5 day tickets. No Park hoppers, because I really don't see us being able to use that option with Cortlyn. And I couldn't go exploring without Corey. He would enjoy exploring with me too much! If we went to another park, we could do the HS and have Lunch with Manny, but really, in the grand scheme of things, everything we are doing is about the Characters... and Cortlyn won't know she's missing out on Manny, you know?

Saturday MK/ CRT
This is our full out MK day. I'm planning for a trip on the train around the park during nap time if I need to for Cortlyn. That would give me a new look at the park, since I've never been on the train. OF course, she could always fall asleep in the stroller. I think I want to try Peco Bill's for lunch, but then again, it would really depend on where we are when we get hungry. I'm planning on having plenty of snacks for the girl child, but we'll need an actual meal at some point, right? I can't WAIT to take Cortlyn on Dumbo and Its a Small World. We watched a video online about the renovations to IASW and Cortlyn was so into it! We watched it three times!


Sunday Epcot/ Chefs de France
I want to do Soaring! My husband is ready to try this out soooo bad! I remember loving to watch the dancers in the different countries, so I'm hoping for lots of chances for Cortlyn to enjoy that. We may do the Visa meet and greet photo thing... I mean, WHy not? You know?


Monday HS/1900 Park Fare
So, this day, I'm MOST excited about the Breakfast with Mary Poppins. Mary is my FAVORITE! I just love her! Cortlyn shares this love and I think Cortlyn will just go CRAZY about Mary! HS, is going to be fun too, I can't wait to take Cortlyn to the HISTK's Playground area. That will be a lot of fun. I'm sure we will do the Playhouse Disney thing and Cortlyn will LOVE that. She watches Playhouse Disney EVERY morning! I'm looking forward to the Tower of Terror, and Corey even said he would ride it with me!

 

[francis6306]

OOPS! Somehow I posted that... Sorry!

Tuesday Animal Kingdom/Tusker House
I'm really excited about the Tusker House breakfast! I can't wait to try the juice! Heehee... It will be a lot of fun to see all the characters AND have a yummy breakfast! I'm hoping to sneak out of there and snag our fast passes for the safari when the park opens... have any of you done this? Will they give me a hard time?? I went to AK back in high school, but I was too cool for this "kiddie zoo" and only did the safari. Crazy teenager, huh? Nita and Michael will be taking Cortlyn with them to Boma for dinner. So, Corey and I will be able to have some adult time this evening. But honestly, it will probably be mostly packing up the car, so we can leave the next day!

Wednesday Leaving...
We have to go to Georgia to celebrate Christmas with our families and for me to be in a wedding that next weekend. Hopefully, we won't drive our family CRAZY with all the talk about Disney!!!

 

[moparop]

Irt sounds like a really great week! I have heard of people able to run out and grab FPs when the park opens. I'd definitely go for it!

 

[KRCMOM]

Sorry guys, posted in the wrong place!!

 

[francis6306]

Irt sounds like a really great week! I have heard of people able to run out and grab FPs when the park opens. I'd definitely go for it!

That's good. I read it on a Trip Report, but I wasn't sure how it worked. As soon as the park "opens" I'll dart out!

 

[jenseib]

Can you make the customized map of each resort? I only did it once and I was very vague with it. I think we got all 4 parks, but if we can do resorts, I would love to fiddle around with that too.

 

[francis6306]

Can you make the customized map of each resort? I only did it once and I was very vague with it. I think we got all 4 parks, but if we can do resorts, I would love to fiddle around with that too.

No, I meant the WDW Resort as a whole... sorry... I wasn't clear with that. He got to see the layout of where the parks are and where the different resort/hotels are on the property and then we also go a map of each park. I will say though, I was disappointed that they were printed front and back! I was kinda thinking each map would be its own page. Not a huge deal, but something I noticed!

 

[jenseib]

Yeah I was wishing each had it's own paper. I am going to order another set or two though. I gave this set to Claire since she was crying one night a month or 2 ago, and when I showed her that, she was all excited to have a Disney treasure map.

 

[francis6306]

So, since we are going with two little girls, I decided that we should stay ahead of the curve and buy cheap Disney "souvenirs" ahead of time. We aren't broke, but we won't have the money to buy as much as I know the girls will WANT, you know? I have seen on here and on my Babycenter board about parents having "Mickey" or the "Princesses" leave presents for the little ones. So, that's what I am doing. Of course, I know we will buy a few things there, but this will help with the "I want's" if they already got something that morning, right?

This is my Disney box! Everything I find, goes into this box and stays in the top of my closet!

These were the first things I bought. Some scrapbooking stickers that were on clearance at Target and some cute Mickey Ear bracelets from Wal-Mart. I REALLY like the bracelets! I think the girls will too!

Now, the next set of things I got on sale at the Disney Store in Mobile, AL.

They didn't have a pair in Alyssa's size, so I just got these for Cortlyn. Only $1.99

Cute sunglasses, huh? Also only $1.99 each!! I have gotten Cortlyn some very similar ones at Walmart for $5!

Typically, I'm anti-junk on shirts... I dunno... but these tanks were cute! And I figure, they can be worn with a long sleeve shirt during our trip!

These little dolls have such long hair, and I know that Cortlyn will have it messed up seconds after we open it... but isn't that part of the fun?

So, this is my stash so far! We also are going to get some custom shirts from a friend that does that sort of thing.

 

[jenseib]

As you have probably read, I did that on our last trip and plan to do it again. It is really fun. Claire really truely believed these were from different characters.
I love those bracelets. Where at in Walmart did you find them. I might have to get one for Claire too. I have been starting a stash as well. I wanted to get some flipflops, but they were out of Claires size when I went last time. I did get her 2 pairs for this summer to wear though. Sadly the Ariel pair broke really fast. not sure what she did, but the toe thing keeps popping out. I am wondering if I can crazy glue it back?

 

[jenseib]

Oh, I thought I would let you in on something else we are doing for Claire to get some souveigner money. I have been saving cans for about a year. It won't be alot, but then she'll have her own money to do stuff with. I'm guessing I have about $30 worth now. I might have less or more. I know last summer we took cans in and got $10 for what we had and we have a ton more this year....many more bags, and this year I crushed them so they wouldn't take as much room. So maybe it will be more than I expect.

 

[francis6306]

Those bracelets where in the girls section, they were on a rack that had bows and other stuff. They had several different things, but I LOVED those mickey ears! I mean, those are just unlike anything I've seen before. I'll keep my eyes open and if I see them, I'll pick them up if you can't find them.

 

[jenseib]

Thanks, I'll have to check it out