Did we really just buy DVC at BLT? Taking MIL in Dec! Acronyms abound!

[HeatherBelle614]

I can't wait to hear what all you got for ADRs!!! (BTW, be careful about the double booking. I've heard the system will actually recognize some of those and cancel both now. I had that issue last December; there was a night that I was taking DM to a dinner while DH took DF to a different place for their dinner. I'd booked them both for the same times under my reservation number, and called to check on it. The CM said I'd need to switch one to my parent's reservation number or they could both be dumped by the system!)

 

[exwdwcm]

okay, so still super swamped at work, but thought I would post a few pics of some of my disney passion reflected in our home!!

so here is our 'loft' that we turned into a playroom for William this year- includes a lot of my favorite prints, including the big one we just bought in Dec

and my Alice poster i got a few years back

this is my original mickey hat from when i was a kid (the red one framed) and my old name tag from being a cast member! plus William's first hat!

here is William's peter pan themed room!

and here is my purse (and my mom's, my cousins and my two sisters!). i actually have the medium and the larger one, but prefer the larger one. Love our dooneys!

 

[ag98]

Love all your Disney stuff!

Especially love the fact that you have your original ears. Lord only knows where mine are!

Those Dooneys are super cool!

 

[HeatherBelle614]

Is the nursery (wall) decor painted?? That's what I want to do (Peter Pan) on down the line when we have kiddos! It looks great!

LOVE your bags! I am hoping to get one soon!

 

[exwdwcm]

Love all your Disney stuff!

Especially love the fact that you have your original ears. Lord only knows where mine are!

Those Dooneys are super cool!

i was very lucky my mom saves everything! lol

Is the nursery (wall) decor painted?? That's what I want to do (Peter Pan) on down the line when we have kiddos! It looks great!

LOVE your bags! I am hoping to get one soon!

yes, we painted the wall. i found a stencil on ebay, so we traced it on the wall and then painted it. just search ebay. I had bought a bunch of the posters and cels over the years, including some at Syd chaeunga's at the studios when i worked there. Plus postcards from the parks. I've been collecting peter pan stuff for years, in hopes of doing a tinkerbell or peter pan nursery.

 

[exwdwcm]

so as mentioned, i was able to make my ADRS at the 190 day mark like many others online! What a special sprinkle of pixie dust!!!

So we have most of our plans made now, there are only two outstanding things....
1) candlelight processional package (and finalizing which night, we have a few options if our first choice night isn't a good narrator or le cellier isn't available)
2) booking the new mexican hacienda restaurant, not available to book just yet- hoping it will be avialable to book by july/august.

so i did the awful thing, i did double book a few nights, since we still don't know if we can get the hacienda place the first night or not. And I wanted to book a backup for the night we intend to do the CP, just in case we can't get Le Cellier. I think we will shoot to do the last CP of the night- we plan to see Illuminations our first night, so we don't care about the special Illum seating that the package gets us. i hear if you do the last CP seating, you can't make it to the seating area in time. so this isn't a big deal to us. I think Pooh might be more 'settled down' for the later show and be more apt to sit through it without fussing. Plus, we can eat at like 5pm New Mexico Hacienda if we do the late show, rather than some odd afternoon time.

So drum roll please........heere is the plan

• Saturday, 12/4 7:30ish Mexico Hacienda (not available yet)
  *booked a backup for now- Rose & Crown at 7:20pm.
• Sunday, 12/5 8:05am Crystal Palace breakfast
• Sunday, 12/5 6:30pm Sci Fi Dine In dinner
• Monday, 12/6 5:00pm O’hana dinner
• Wednesday, 12/8 5:00pm Le Cellier CP dinner (not available yet)
  * bookedTutto Italia at 4:40pm as backup
• Thursday, 12/9 12:30pm Les Chefs de France lunch
• Friday, 12/10 7:20pm Tutto Italia
  *booked Le Cellier at 7:45pm as backup in case we don't get it on 12/8
• Saturday, 12/11 10:05am Chef Mickey’s breakfast

So it is acutally quite a lot of sit downs, considering we don't have the dining plan, but i do plan to get the Tables in Wonderland card, which should work at all of these restaurants, last I checked- 20% each place, including alcohol. I've done the numbers and it will be a great investment for us, even though the card if $75. I know we are eating at Epcot a lot, but we love it!!!

 

[mrsksomeday]

Wow, I love the Disney stuff in your loft!! It is amazing. The shadow box with your original Mickey hat and your name tag is fantastic!!

The picture with all the purses is hilarious, that is too cute, how do you make sure you pick up the right one?

Your ADR's look great!

 

[erikawolf2004]

so as mentioned, i was able to make my ADRS at the 190 day mark like many others online! What a special sprinkle of pixie dust!!!

So we have most of our plans made now, there are only two outstanding things....
1) candlelight processional package (and finalizing which night, we have a few options if our first choice night isn't a good narrator or le cellier isn't available)
2) booking the new mexican hacienda restaurant, not available to book just yet- hoping it will be avialable to book by july/august.

so i did the awful thing, i did double book a few nights, since we still don't know if we can get the hacienda place the first night or not. And I wanted to book a backup for the night we intend to do the CP, just in case we can't get Le Cellier. I think we will shoot to do the last CP of the night- we plan to see Illuminations our first night, so we don't care about the special Illum seating that the package gets us. i hear if you do the last CP seating, you can't make it to the seating area in time. so this isn't a big deal to us. I think Pooh might be more 'settled down' for the later show and be more apt to sit through it without fussing. Plus, we can eat at like 5pm New Mexico Hacienda if we do the late show, rather than some odd afternoon time.

So drum roll please........heere is the plan

• Saturday, 12/4 7:30ish Mexico Hacienda (not available yet)
  *booked a backup for now- Rose & Crown at 7:20pm.
• Sunday, 12/5 8:05am Crystal Palace breakfast
• Sunday, 12/5 6:30pm Sci Fi Dine In dinner
• Monday, 12/6 5:00pm O’hana dinner
• Wednesday, 12/8 5:00pm Le Cellier CP dinner (not available yet)
  * bookedTutto Italia at 4:40pm as backup
• Thursday, 12/9 12:30pm Les Chefs de France lunch
• Friday, 12/10 7:20pm Tutto Italia
  *booked Le Cellier at 7:45pm as backup in case we don't get it on 12/8
• Saturday, 12/11 10:05am Chef Mickey’s breakfast

So it is acutally quite a lot of sit downs, considering we don't have the dining plan, but i do plan to get the Tables in Wonderland card, which should work at all of these restaurants, last I checked- 20% each place, including alcohol. I've done the numbers and it will be a great investment for us, even though the card if $75. I know we are eating at Epcot a lot, but we love it!!!

Hi I found your PTR over on the Dec board. Did you find that the EMH nights were ok on your last trip? Tour Guide Mike and Tour Plans says to avoid them, but I would love to do the MK and DHS on the EMH if they won't be super busy...nice to get those extra hours in. I wish we could have gotten LeCellier...but no go so far We will get there a few days before you, so maybe we will run into eachother. Thanks for the great TR & PTR's.

 

[exwdwcm]

Wow, I love the Disney stuff in your loft!! It is amazing. The shadow box with your original Mickey hat and your name tag is fantastic!!

The picture with all the purses is hilarious, that is too cute, how do you make sure you pick up the right one?

Your ADR's look great!

lol- we actually almost got our purses mixed up, but it just took a peek inside to make sure we had the right one! I love my original name tag, and it was special since it was a 25th anniversary one! yeah, i had to work at WDW when they had the awful pink pepto bismol castle!

Hi I found your PTR over on the Dec board. Did you find that the EMH nights were ok on your last trip? Tour Guide Mike and Tour Plans says to avoid them, but I would love to do the MK and DHS on the EMH if they won't be super busy...nice to get those extra hours in. I wish we could have gotten LeCellier...but no go so far We will get there a few days before you, so maybe we will run into eachother. Thanks for the great TR & PTR's.

We did am and pm EMH during our Dec trip. AM EMH is awesome!!! we would get so much accomplished in that first hour. PM EMH was okay, it can be hit or miss. but we go in knowing it might be crowded and to plan to just do the less popular attractions or just soak in the atmosphere/shopping if it is crowded. we consider it just 'extra time' in the park. since we try and hit the popular rides in the early am, we usually just use pm emh for strolling around or hitting stuff a second time if not crowded. i would say it was manageable, not too crazy. we did pm emh at HS and really loved it- most folks go to the osborne lights right when they open (dusk) and the 2-3 hours after......so we just waited and went during pm emh and had the place or ourselves, it was fabulous. give it a try, just go in knowing (especially at MK), that it 'might' be crowded. but you might get lucky too- and regardless, we just like the extra time, especially since we take a 2-3 hour break midday. i know my sister caught a special pm emh dance party at the disney playhouse at the studios and her kids got to dance with mickey and friends basically by themselves!!! thanks for reading along and i'll keep my fingers crossed that you get Le Cellier!

 

[taymacsmom]

I am here and loving it! I have a DD heading to college this fall and she is already talking about working at the world for a summer. What a once in a lifetime opportunity! I keep telling my DH that when all the kids are grown, we are going to retire to FW and get jobs at Disney! So far he loves the idea!

Kelly

 

[HeatherBelle614]

We ate at Chefs for our CP package last year and had a fantastic time! I love that show, too. Hoping you get what you're hoping for (and, a great narrator!!)

 

[BippityBoo]

I am in the same boat as you about Le Cellier!!! I tried to book it for dinner with no luck. My TA told me that they were holding lots of tables for the CP dinner package---so I am praying for it!!! Booked Chefs as a back up Have you heard when we will be able to book the CP dinner package?? Can't wait to see what the new Mexican restuarant is like! SO neat! Your plans look great. We love Epcot too!

 

[exwdwcm]

I am here and loving it! I have a DD heading to college this fall and she is already talking about working at the world for a summer. What a once in a lifetime opportunity! I keep telling my DH that when all the kids are grown, we are going to retire to FW and get jobs at Disney! So far he loves the idea!

Kelly

it was an awesome and unforgettable experience. Probably one of the best times of my life. I will always cherish it! keep in mind, it wasn't easy, i was washing silverware and bussing tables. it wasn't an easy or glamorous job, but all the other stuff that came with it, made it so worth it! definitely encourage your DD to 'audition' for it!

We ate at Chefs for our CP package last year and had a fantastic time! I love that show, too. Hoping you get what you're hoping for (and, a great narrator!!)

Thank you!! yes, it seems some of the narrators have been leaked, but not sure how much i trust it. we LOVE Chefs, i can't wait to go back. i just hope we get to see Remy! What time did you do the CP at?

I am in the same boat as you about Le Cellier!!! I tried to book it for dinner with no luck. My TA told me that they were holding lots of tables for the CP dinner package---so I am praying for it!!! Booked Chefs as a back up Have you heard when we will be able to book the CP dinner package?? Can't wait to see what the new Mexican restuarant is like! SO neat! Your plans look great. We love Epcot too!

I am hearing in July or end of July for the CP package. But many people just keep calling and asking over and over, so i am sure we will hear about it on this site first! Thanks for reading!!! I'll cross my fingers you get Le Cellier!

 

[exwdwcm]

so it's been a busy summer so far. Being a working mom, summer is a really challenging time for me. I see all my teacher friends (and my sister) who are off all summer and enjoying fun in the sun. Definitely makes me rethink why I didn't become a teacher- i love kids! But I digress.......so i am stuck in the office all summer long. Also, it is hard this year, since everyone is heading out on summer vacations with their families and we don't have a summer vacation this year. I am heading to Disneyland with my mom, sisters and cousin on Sept 10-13th for a long weekend, but not doing anything else. It is certainly a bummer to see everyone whisked off for a full week of fun somewhere. I sound bitter, don't I? But then again, they will all be jealous when I have a week off at the world in December, right? That's what I tell myself anyhow.

So it's been a busy summer- i've helped a few friends and coworkers plan trips to WDW- in fact, one coworker just left on Saturday- she took her two teen girls. I gave her lots of tips and hope they are having a great time. Another friend visited the world and also was lucky enough to do the harry potter soft opening the week before the official opening. She was able to ride the new Journey ride twice!

So summer has been busy so far, we try and take the weekends to do fun things with Pooh, our 2.5yo. We bought season passes for the local water park and he loves it! he cried when we left the last time, he wanted to stay longer!

we also just dog-sat for my BF while she went to mexico on vacay! Here is Pooh enjoying some time with Baxter, her dog. Pooh isn't used to big dogs, we only have small dogs!

we've had some fun at a local little theme park- he has NO fear and wanted to ride all the rides for our company picnic!

we also do swim class every friday night! he loves it and has been going since 6 months old. we hope to enjoy some waterpark time on our next trip in oct 2011!

now DS asks to go to McDonald's, he loves the indoor playground there and in the TX heat, indoors is great! He is also obsessed with trash- here he is checking out McDonald's trash can! WE can't wait to find PUSH for him to see!

So what's been going on with our trip? Well, being a disney nut, there is always a little disney in our life. Pooh thought it was fun to bring down all his pooh bears and have breakfast with them. Now, we had a great time on our last trip in early December 2009. one of our favorite meals was breakfast at Crystal Palace with Pooh. He, to this day, still asks when we can go eat with Pooh bear! it is so cute. he asks almost everyday. I worry it will be built up so much that our CP breakfast simply can't live up to expectations of asking about it for over a year!
Here is Pooh with all his pooh bears!

I've also been shopping. Yes, i am addicted! A friend of mine got an email about a 'warehouse' sale of disney merchandise, not far from us. however, it was ending that weekend. apparently it is a company that takes excess merchandise and sets up temporary shop (much like those halloween stores) for a month or two and sells excess merchandise for companies like disney. Why on earth had I not known this before? Apparently they come to dallas every year!! Now i know!! it is only about 20 minutes from my house too. So mom and I ventured out with Pooh on the last day it was open. So items were already 50-80% off, plus we got an additional 20% that day! apparently they take the merchandise and move on to the next city (somewhere in Oklahoma). but they come back each year! woo hoo!

anyhow- the store was great- it was set up in a huge old grocery store and had tables spread out widely everywhere, which was great for my mom who is vision impaired. She could easily maneuver around with it spread out! They had so much great stuff. They had lots of old t-shirts from the parks- both WDW and DL- like 2007 or 2009 WDW shirts. They had leftover pop corn plastic buckets for fifty cents, the plastic coffee mugs etc. I got a great plastic coffee mug with lid (much like the refillable mugs) but much bigger- DH hates the smaller ones, and this is much bigger! and it is ToT on it! I got myself a DL t-shirt, DS an embroidered WDW t-shirt he will grow into, a jack skellington hat for me (beret type), mugs, keychains for stocking stuffers etc. I got a great embroidered sweatshirt for me too! They had bags, towels and mickey crocs (for $24), but not in our sizes or Pooh's size. Tons of clothes. They even had mickey ears- we got halloween ones! They even had some collectibles, including some watches and figurines. It was a ton of fun shopping. I spent about $100. Mom got a ton of gifts for the grandkids (i have a niece and nephew, 6 and 3). She got gifts for them to christmas later on etc. She spent $500!! ouch! when she checked out, the poor kid checking her out said it was the biggest sale he ever made! That's mom for you, she loves her shopping and usually buys stuff for everyone else! I'll post a pic of some of our loot later on!

 

[ag98]

I'm in the Dallas area, where is this place or what is it called so I'll be ready when it comes back next year.

 

[exwdwcm]

I'm in the Dallas area, where is this place or what is it called so I'll be ready when it comes back next year.

sure, here is the info my friend got on it via email. apparently it isn't well-publicized other than just driving up and seeing it there!

AMS Warehouse Sales presents A Disney Warehouse Sale

Warehouse Pricing on Disney items. Unbelievable Savings.
We've Extended until June 20th:
Thank you for all your business. Since we have done so well, we have extend the event until Sunday, June 20th. This is scheduled to be our last Disney warehouse sale event for the 2010 year!
New Shipment & 20% discount:
We have also received a new shipment. We have cut prices and are also offering a 20% discount when you bring in this email. Go ahead and print as many copies as you like and share them with friends and family. We want everyone to save some of their hard earned dollars. This discount can not be combined with any other discounts or offers.
Come shop early as items sell out fast. These DISNEY items are discounted up to 85% off the original retail. The majority of these items are over 50% off.
Lake Pointe Crossing - Near Toys R Us & Academy Sports
Disney merchandise Warehouse Sale
2416 S. Stemmons Freeway
Lewisville, TX 75067
615-290-5961 ext. 2130
http://www.ams-liquidation.com

 

[taymacsmom]

Girl, you sure can shop! Great pics of "Pooh"!

 

[exwdwcm]

Okay, so he looks a little more like mighty mouse, but Pooh's montesorri day care does fun activities during the summer. On Wednesday, they had Mickey Mouse in for photos! He blew bubbles and also is a talented balloon artist (who knew?) and this Mickey could 'talk'. Again, who knew? Good thing Pooh is 2.5 and not older- or he might have asked why Mickey talks at day care, but not at WDW? lol

So happy Friday- just counting down this last 1.5 hour and hoping they let us out early!! Have a happy and safe fourth!

 

[meredy338]

Hi! Stumbled across your trip report and PTR and saw you will be in the World in December at almost the same time as us. We are going Dec 5-12 and staying the last four nights at BLT 1 bedroom. So after the 8th, we might cross paths. We have an almost 2.5 year old and this will be her third trip...can you say spoiled. We bought in at BLT in January after our December trip in 2009 and this is our first trip to BLT. We stayed on DVC points at AKV-Kidani for a weekend in May and it was a blast. Once you go DVC, it would be super hard to do value or even moderate again. It is SO worth it.

Will be tagging along for the rest of your PTR and maybe meet you soon.

Meredith

 

[BippityBoo]

HI!! Back from the beach and all caught up! How great that your son takes swim lessons. How old is he again? I am thinking of signing up my 2 1/2 year old.

That Mickey DID look like Mighty Mouse I am sure he loved seeing him, though!