Thanks for the good wishes for Mom! Hopefully she is not too sore today since this is her last chance to get any little things taken care of before her chemo begins! She bought some new clothes on Monday, which she rarely does. I was glad to hear she was shopping for herself!
Laurie - I can pretty much guarantee that we'll be at AKV since that is our home resort and we can book at 11 months out. I know the weekends eat mass amounts of points, but when DH and I talked about it yesterday my "spin" was using points and the APs it wouldn't be very expensive.
Weren't you just saying that you would like to try AKL?
We got an AP rate of $150 per night last December, and we also got a $75 dining gift card. Not too shabby!
We love Pop but there isn't a good way to configure the 3 of us in 2 double beds. Been there, tried that!
You are right when I stayed at Pop in 2006, it was just me and our then 10 year old. The bed and bedding there were not my cup of tea.
I WOULD indeed love to stay at AKL or AKV. My DH is not hep on it but it might just be our youngest and me for this proposed meet trip. I can't wait to hear about your upcoming trip to AKV.
If we plan this far enough in advance and settle generally on a date timeline maybe we can get one of those good rates on a regular room.
I am looking at December 2009, are we talking December 4-6th, the first week? I do think there are sometimes good room prices for this time period.
Anyone else for AKV?
I have met my New Orleans friend Cindy twice at WDW over the years, brought my mom twice for just a two of us trip, met up with Laura and Alison last year for the RFTC, and met Sha and her darling of a mom this past Memorial day trip. Meets like these add a special dimension to the trip.
I know Linda has gone with her in-laws and Barbara with her son and DIL. Anyone else travel with others or meet up with others?
Love to hear your experiences and what your game plan is.
BTW, we have not done the dining plan, I really don't plan ahead on meals. I opted for the Dining experience card last year and we used that a bit.
With DVC rooms that we have stayed on 3 times by renting, once on our points, we tend to eat a lot because of the kitchen.
December would work better with our use year, jackskellingtonsgirl? However, have you considered the Food and wine time period at Epcot. You probably know all this but it starts around Sept 26 or thereabouts and goes till early or mid November.
DH & I are going for the first time this October, initially it was for the RFTC, but when he indicated an interest in going, the trip morphed into a 30th anniversary (actually on August 5th). When I realized the trip coincided with Food and wine at Epcot and described it to him, he was even more interested.
For a future meet, this time frame would be best staying in the EPCOT area, but I am putting it out there for future consideration.
I will know more whether it is worth considering after I go.
I have something to compare it to, as the New Orleans Jazzfest that we have been going to since pre 1980 has food booths ( scads of them) where you can buy sample sized portions of Louisiana dishes for peanuts. Most of the food I have tried there over the years has been outstanding, I have a few favorites I would never miss.
I am curious how the food at the Epcot F&W will stack up. I think I am in a good position to assess F&W given our long standing experiences at jazzfest.
So you will get a full blown review from me after we get back.
My godness, as Popdaddy would say, this is a very sexy (read as:long for the benefit of our newer posters) post.
Laura, your summer sounds outstanding!! Glad you are making the most of the warm weather and that great pool!!!
A NOLA meet sounds great Ann. I would definitely steer y'all to either spring or fall. Spring is the best time for crawfish and azalias. Fall there are lots of small town festivals. Summer we are generally more humid than Orlando, you want to avoid that time although the hotel prices are better then. Mardi Gras is generally in February or early March if late.
I would recommend Jazz Fest (last weekend in April through the first weekend in May), however, by then it is HOt Hot Hot down here. This year we also had gullywasher rains that prevented even us diehards from attending although we already had our tickets in hand. We were sad but in our early days we attending after rain and the fairgrounds looked like a minature version of Woodstock. We are too damn old for that stuff now.
Bid order is based on seniority, and he hasn't been there long enough to outrank very many guys! This year he decided to take his weeks consecutively, so the time next month is all he gets.
~~~***GAGWTA sistas***~~~
I'm getting ready to go out back to the pool. When hubby gets home we're having some appetizers and wine, swimming, dinner outside. Making penne pasta with tons of garden (not mine, lol!) fresh veggies, basil, breadsticks...yum!
Whenever we have a hard summer rainstorm we call it FL rain...
DS does usually have one Friday off in October for State Fair. We usually don't go to the fair at all, and especially not the day the entire district is off! 
We have a Cape May dinner where we'll have a group of 21! 
