Disney...by Land and Sea...Morris Style!

[NiniMorris]

Whine, Whine, Whine!

That is all some people do!

Oops, that was ME doing all that whining!

Promise no more whining today!

With school starting a wee bit earlier than expected, and with it being a cool and rainy weekend, I think we will be taking a family school shopping trip either Saturday or Sunday after church services.

The kids are excited about getting school things, and I will be looking for some trip things! (yes, we are a very strange family, we think of shopping trips as excursions and look forward to doing them as a family)

Good/Great news....the crowd calendars came in for February....and the projected crowd levels for the week prior to the kids being out of school look good...but the week prior to THAT look FANTASTIC...like in the 2's and 3's (as opposed to the 8's and 9's for the week they are out of school!)

I have to verify today what weeks we need to set aside for exams, but it looks like we will be going the first week of February. While we had 80 degree weather last February, I know full well to expect COLD this year!

And on another happy note, using the TA rates, it looks like we can get a Club level room at almost ANY deluxe for just a few dollars more than the Cars Suite! So we are seriously considering that...of course, Miss B wants me to tell dad we are staying at Pop so he won't want to go with us! LOL!

Ugh... I know I said no whining...but I seriously need to clean house today, and I don't want to! I would rather do something FUN! Hopefully I can come up with something quick...

I dreamed about my Disney binder last night...seeing as how I never use it anymore it was kind of strange! I do update it each trip, but I don't really USE it... Last 2 trips I didn't even take it WITH us! So, I might give it a once over in the next few days to make one for some of my clients that are first timers. Not sure if it will be a welcomed thing or seem a bit strange...keep in mind one of my first timers will be there the same time as us and think we are crazy for planning our meals so far in advance! (His mother went when she was younger and they were able to just walk up and eat where ever they wanted!)

To which I replied that on our FIRST trip I did that as well....now 12 years later it is impossible! Except for counter Service meals...and I would hate to think he is wasting money on a dining plan if he is only going to do Counter Service meals!


Ok...that did contain a tinge of whine!


So I will end on a much better note...a question actually...if you were a first time visitor to Disney, would you appreciate 1- a personalized binder of all sorts of Disney knowledge; 2- a Passporter (or other type of Disney book); or 3- a subscription to Touring Plans?



Nini

 

[cogero]

I would want the binder.

It is sad how little actual planning I do now. I know as Sami gets a little bit older I will have to plan a bit better.

I need to check what C needs for school because it needs to get done before our August trip but she is leaving for Arkansas on Wednesday for a week.

 

[NiniMorris]

I would want the binder.

It is sad how little actual planning I do now. I know as Sami gets a little bit older I will have to plan a bit better.

I need to check what C needs for school because it needs to get done before our August trip but she is leaving for Arkansas on Wednesday for a week.

Thanks... I bought the new guidebook...the one that is made for first time visitors. Josh from EasyWDW and the guy that does Your First Visit teamed up to make this book. I have been reading good things about it so I ordered a couple of copies. I'm hoping it will give one of my clients another voice that tells him he needs to plan a bit.

I am also going to make him a personalized binder... geared more towards his daughter than him. (she lost her mother last year to accidental suicide, and I wanted to do something just for her). I think he has a bit of problem taking 'orders' from a female... and he is taking the stance that it is Disney...he doesn't need to plan!

Anyway... the guide book will be in tomorrow, so I am hoping I can read through one copy and decide if I should give him the other by Monday. I also have a couple of other first timers that I want to send something to, but most of them aren't traveling until next year...so I can wait a bit on them.


And I have to ask you...it would seem to me with Sami you would have to plan MORE...not LESS... unless she is that perfect child that will nap in the stroller no matter what is going on around her...(and if she is I think I silently hate her just a little!) LOL!

So we have rain today, tomorrow, all next week...so husband is not going to be able to work at stumps this weekend..so hopefully we can get to shopping sometime... So far it has only rained enough to make the grass wet enough not to be able to cut it! So I officially have no clue as to when we are getting to the school shopping! I know the boots that Miss B wants are on sale this weekend. But it is also the state's tax free weekend! (which sounds like a good idea but makes things as crowded as the day after Thanksgiving!) So any shopping is going to be an adventure!



OK..so the February trip...

Decisions have been made. We are traveling the first week of February, simply because the crowds are SO much lower that week than they are any other week! And I need to make sure Miss B is back in plenty of time for her to get caught up for her finals which are the first week of March.

We will travel down on Monday (which is the day after Super Bowl!) and for the first time since our first trip...we will NOT do a park that day!

Tuesday Hollywood Studios
Wednesday Magic Kingdom
Thursday Epcot
Friday Animal Kingdom.
Saturday Travel home

We may head over to Magic Kingdom after Animal Kingdom closes at 5, but I guess it will depend on if we have all the packing done or not!

I knew I should have booked the room the other day when I was playing around with it...the rates were definitely wrong! LOL... And I really feel sorry for all those TA's that were able to get great rates for their clients because Disney deleted them all. (Boo!) Or at least they will be modifying them once you attempt to put a deposit on it. I will NOT editorialize about that!


Now, I need to find places we haven't eaten at .... which is going to be hard. If the guys go with us it will probably mean we will eat at different places the whole trip...since they are pretty much meat and potatoes and nothing new...and they both have their favorite places to eat and will NOT deviate from it!

Now for the kick me part of this post... you know how I keep saying I wish I had gotten AP's last December...well if I HAD... we were going to purchase a condo this trip ... So that I could basically go down whenever I wanted! We had found several on line and were going to choose one in October... but now that husband has bought the new stump grinder, and since I don't have an AP, there is no urgency to get one... and the money is basically spoken for.

So hopefully by next year he will see that making his monthly payments on the stump grinder is not as hard as he fears, I can get my condo!

(and yes, either way would have been too late to meet up with Chiara and Dorine, but STILL!

Time to get moving!

Nini

 

[DMGeurts]

I love shopping trips too... Especially when I have $$ to spend. LOL

I think the binder is excellent... I bring mine with, and I carry it in the parks because it's small - but I only carry it because my ADR confirmations are on there, otherwise, I am not sure I would bring it at all. Also, I have my meals budgeted on it too - so we don't run out by the end of the trip.

I think the guidebook is a definite good gift for them. What a sad story - I sure hope they have a VERY magical trip!

I hope you get your AP next year... And yay for having your Feb trip all planned out.

D~

 

[NiniMorris]

I love shopping trips too... Especially when I have $$ to spend. LOL

I think the binder is excellent... I bring mine with, and I carry it in the parks because it's small - but I only carry it because my ADR confirmations are on there, otherwise, I am not sure I would bring it at all. Also, I have my meals budgeted on it too - so we don't run out by the end of the trip.

I think the guidebook is a definite good gift for them. What a sad story - I sure hope they have a VERY magical trip!

I hope you get your AP next year... And yay for having your Feb trip all planned out.

D~

Second try. I got too fast in my response and hit a wrong button and it left me into never land!


Shopping...My oldest daughter was only 3 days old on her first shopping trip. Santa needed to get her a pink bear fro Christmas. Seems the boys were upset that a little girl needed her own toys... So we (she and I) went out shopping for a pink teddy bear, The boys name it 'Pinky' for her on Christmas morning, and she still has it!

We had to give it some embroidered eyes, because on of the boys held Pinky for ransom about 20 years ago and sent one of the eyes as 'proof' they had her! Somehow it got lost and we couldn't find a new one that matched. Miss Pinky is now one of Miss Mia's favorite toys!

All that to say I love to shop. Although as I am getting older I enjoy online shopping a lot more!

I don't think my binder is going to be the type you can carry into the parks. It will be a regular school sized, one inch thick binder. Makes it easier to print from the computer. I have to run by Joann's today to see if I can get some pretty scrap book paper to use on it... It is still in the planning stages.


Disney...


This has been one of those weeks. I do not even like the Disney system these days. The TA site has been down since Wednesday! The consumer side has been up and down repeatedly as well. I have 5 packages that need money applied, but the system will not allow me to apply money. I have a BOG reservation to cancel and the dining system will not let me! I have... well a ton of stuff to do and finally gave up yesterday!

I started working on my personal trip.

I have been having problems deciding which hotel to stay at for our pre cruise portion of the trip. I had narrowed it down to three or four and researched each one yesterday (along with a couple others I found) I called teh one at the top of my list to verify a few bits of information and made a horrible discovery!

We have a bit of a logistical issue. The cruise starts on a Sunday, and we WANT to be able to go to church services before we board. Should not be much of an issue, as I will have shorts for the kids to change into in one of my carry ons...(we will only have 2 carry ons) Except for the tiny little fact that ALL of the shuttles only run ONCE from the hotel to the port...at either 10 or 10:30! The earliest we will be back at the hotel is 11:30!

So parking at the hotel and riding the shuttle is now out of the question!

Another alternative is to stay at a place that offers a 40% discount on the port parking. So that started a whole new round of searching....only to find out this option is much more popular than I thought...there were only 2 of the couple of dozen possibilities that had any availability for my dates! So after another hour of comparing and contrasting the two possibilities, I made my decision, but had to talk with husband before I made the decision to pull the trigger. Of course he did not get home until 11 last night.

This morning I will make our reservations for that night, And tomorrow I have to tell our friend at church that we have decided against going to the cape for the VIP tour he was going to arrange for us...The money for the extra night has gotten eaten up in other things in the budget. Sigh...


A fact that most of you don't know about me is that I am terrified of running out of money on a trip. When we were military, we would travel for a month at a time. My budget looked like I was running a war campaign (not by the size of it but by the complexity of it!) I carried a little notebook that had all the receipts in it....and I would compare them to the budget each night! And if needed I would redo the future budget!

That is similar to the way I budget for a Disney trip. I will have 'x' number of dollars set back for the trip home....money set aside in case the car needs some major work done while we are gone, (who knows when you are going to need a new tire! I mean it is not like it is something you can just wait until payday for!) , money in case the price of gas skyrockets while we are gone...(and that DID happen to us on one trip to Panama City Beach! Bombing started in Iraq the second day at the beach and the price of gas DOUBLED over night!)

Any way... some of the line items in the budget are turning out to be a bit more than I was planning on, and I don't want to run out of money. So no Space tour this trip.

Now promise that you will laugh behind my back and not to my face....even though we all know you are...

Since it is after 7 I guess I need to see if the Disney site is back up and running so I can get these trips paid for!


Have a great day!

Nini

 

[cogero]

I think you are being very logical and reasonable.

Glad you got your hotel all worked out. We actually parked at the port and it was reasonable to us but then again I live in NYC so anything would seem reasonable.

 

[NiniMorris]

I think you are being very logical and reasonable.

Glad you got your hotel all worked out. We actually parked at the port and it was reasonable to us but then again I live in NYC so anything would seem reasonable.

Logical and reasonable huh? can I quote you to my family? (I guess I left out the part where I end up coming home with an extra 2 - 3 00 dollars huh?)

The parking at the port is what I initially wanted to do...so we could be on the road to Epcot as early as possible. Husband is the one concerned with parking there...he is very concerned about the safety of the van, especially since some of our bags will still be in there.

I need to see if I can find pictures of the parking area. I am thinking it is a parking garage... but I can not remember where I got that impression! LOL!


Nini

 

[cogero]

It is a parking garage with security

 

[NiniMorris]

It is a parking garage with security

I was able to get some great pictures from a TA friend from her personal cruises... and while husband is not in love with the idea he has agreed it is 'safe enough' that he will leave MY van there! LOL. But he did make it clear that if we were driving HIS truck we would NOT leave it there... which makes very little sense when you consider that if we were in his truck there is a cover over the bed and no one could tell we even had anything back there...

I made the reservation for our room yesterday. Now the only other thing to do is to rent the wheelchair. I was hoping we could build up Mr D's stamina more by then, but at less than 11 weeks, I know there is no way he will be able to do Disney without it. He has made great improvements over the summer, but since we aren't able to get in the pool every day I can see the regression.

We did a bit of school clothes shopping yesterday. Mr D found a few shirts he and dad were able to agree on, and Miss B found the shoes she wants...get this...army boots! She originally found the ones she wanted on sale at a store she was convinced was at the mall closest to our house in Athens (about 45 minutes away) Once we got there she discovered it was the wrong mall...it was the one that was an hour away in the OTHER direction!

So she had to find something different. She managed to find the exact shoes she wanted at Target, on sale, and with the tax free holiday she only used up $30 of her $100 budget! She was pretty happy...but spent the rest of the evening not able to find anything she wanted.

It is the first time I have ever been able to get her to shop at Target. She has decided it is her new favorite store...because they have guest WiFi! The girls that can't walk and chew gum at the same time walked all through the store with her iPod in her hand!

Since yesterday was like a crazy Black Friday shopping day, the store was in a wreck. There was racks of clothes in every isle...some were clearance, some were new items...and just because there was a sign on the racks saying clearance did not mean they were clearance.

She ended up getting a little frustrated because every time she would find something she liked it would be over her budget, or I would veto it!

Such is the life of a teenager!

Today we are heading to Ft Gordon...about a 3 hour drive to Agusuta. While I am pretty sure they will not have any clothes, it is the cheapest place to get school supplies, and sometimes we can find some good buys on other things as well.

And now, being the great mother I am, I have let the kids sleep in to long. They will never be ready for church services in time! One hour is NOT enough time to get all four of us up and ready!


Nini

 

[cogero]

C loves shopping at Target but if she wants something more expensive she waits until her birthday and asks Grandma to take her shopping.

I think the only thing C is really looking for school is new sneakers. She is holding off for her birthday since she needs new dance shoes and a leotard.

 

[NiniMorris]

Quick Drive By!


You know all that complaining I did about the Disney website?

Well, I just discovered that Disney cancelled two reservations that I put on hold. The rooms are no longer available.

While a large part of me want to blame Disney and their stupid computer issues, I know that I should have kept checking each and every time I got on the computer. I should have known this would happen!

I am feeling like the worst TA in the world. I really dropped the ball and can only hope I have an understanding client...but I know I would not be so understanding if it were me,

That's all...I'll go back in my room and sulk some more while I try and figure out how to make this right.


Nini

 

[NiniMorris]

C loves shopping at Target but if she wants something more expensive she waits until her birthday and asks Grandma to take her shopping.

I think the only thing C is really looking for school is new sneakers. She is holding off for her birthday since she needs new dance shoes and a leotard.

We had a very successful shopping trip at the base. Both kids are now ready to at least start school. I am sure that early next month I will be doing more shopping....but I do believe that giving Miss B a budget helped a TON! It was kind of cute having her look at prices for a change, and making choices even before she tried them on.

There was one shirt that she wanted, but was above her budget. So after she tried all the others on, she went back and got it and tried it on. It took her a while but she decided the shirt was not worth having to put something else back so she decided to do without it...what she didn't realize was that Dad went ahead and got it for her...She will find out next week....a pretty cool surprise!




Now, to my rant from last night!

I was able to make my clients happy...but it was a gut wrenching night for me! I was literally sick at my tummy! I am leaving that rant ...and I did think about removing it, but i want to remind myself that a simple screw up can make a big difference! I sell myself and my services more than selling my destinations. Anyway...


On the trip front. Yesterday afternoon as we were driving back from Augusta, husband mentioned that he really wanted to eat at Tutto Italia again... if anyone has noticed, this is the third or fourth time he has mentioned wanting to eat there...even though it was NOT on his list when the planning started. So, I did a quick look at our days and changed out Crystal Palace for Tutto Italia... So now I have to change our shirts out...since our MK shirt was designed around Pooh and friends!

Since I had a captive audience in the car yesterday, we were able to get a lot of stuff ironed out for the trip. And a certain husband is starting to get excited about the trip!

Today is a busy day...I have to get some studying done and a few hours in the studio to finish up some stuff!



Nini

 

[NiniMorris]

Since you are seeing this...you probably notice that my last post posted double....so I will post something a little different...


Miss Mia has been saying a ton of stuff lately, but she will not say my name, Memaw. Saturday she kept saying Mimi and jibbering and would cry. My daughter had trouble trying to figure out what she was saying. Finally she pointed at a picture of me, and the light bulb went on...She was calling me Mimi. While she will say other 2 syllable words, all names are one syllable repeated twice...Mama, Dada, Pawpaw, Nana, Dae Dae....so of course Mimi is Memaw.

Yesterday my daughter had told Miss Mia that they might come over and see me...and then we ended up shopping...so she was upset that she didn't get to come over. Then she realized the toy she was holding was her favorite doll....and the last time she visited me she was upset that her mommy did not bring her doll...



So sweet....I am seriously hoping that once shcool starts back I will get to see her a bit more!

Nini

 

[cogero]

we love tutto italia.

Miss Mia is really too cute for words and I love it.

So nice that Dad bought the shirt for Miss B. I love what you are teaching her.

 

[DMGeurts]

I totally understand your issue with budgeting for a trip or IRL... I am much the same way.

Did I ever tell you about our first Disney trip? The one where we ran out of $$? Seriously - back before the days of debit cards... So, we carried checks and cash... Never carried our credit cards on us, which is why I forgot them at home. Sigh. Yah - we had NO idea how much it was going to cost for food in WDW... We literally ran out of $$ on our way home - like, I gave my very last dollars to our Town Car driver as a tip - thinking, phew - no one else to tip... Then the porter at the airport took our luggage... I had to explain to him that we just ran out of cash and he didn't have to take our luggage... He was a nice guy and took it anyways - but geesh, how embarassing! So, now I am an over planner and budgeter. I budget everything out and then I add extra just in case. I will never be in that situation again!

On our last trip - I forgot my debit card at home... but I remembered the credit cards. DH freaked out and offered to send me my debit card... I just figured, if I needed anything, I could charge it, and he could pay it off right away from home. Thankfully, I never needed anything.

UGH.... I hate school shopping! It's so expensive! We can never agree on anything... Then we can never find anything to fit properly. It's annoying. Something I am putting off until AFTER we get back from our trip...

Oh no!!! That's awful about the rooms on hold! I have heard that the Disney website has been a hot mess lately. I plan on signing on from my phone today and screenshotting everything just in case. I am glad you were able to have happy clients in the end, I am sure I would have a sick tummy too.

And yay for the captive audience! Glad you have some of your trip stuff ironed out.

Awww... Miss Mia is so precious! She loves her Mimi!!!

I hope you have a great day!

D~

 

[NiniMorris]

we love tutto italia.

Miss Mia is really too cute for words and I love it.

So nice that Dad bought the shirt for Miss B. I love what you are teaching her.

Thanks, Chiara. We try.... LOL. Miss Mia is definitely a stinker! I really need to post some more pictures of her...

I totally understand your issue with budgeting for a trip or IRL... I am much the same way.

Did I ever tell you about our first Disney trip? The one where we ran out of $$? Seriously - back before the days of debit cards... So, we carried checks and cash... Never carried our credit cards on us, which is why I forgot them at home. Sigh. Yah - we had NO idea how much it was going to cost for food in WDW... We literally ran out of $$ on our way home - like, I gave my very last dollars to our Town Car driver as a tip - thinking, phew - no one else to tip... Then the porter at the airport took our luggage... I had to explain to him that we just ran out of cash and he didn't have to take our luggage... He was a nice guy and took it anyways - but geesh, how embarassing! So, now I am an over planner and budgeter. I budget everything out and then I add extra just in case. I will never be in that situation again!

On our last trip - I forgot my debit card at home... but I remembered the credit cards. DH freaked out and offered to send me my debit card... I just figured, if I needed anything, I could charge it, and he could pay it off right away from home. Thankfully, I never needed anything.

UGH.... I hate school shopping! It's so expensive! We can never agree on anything... Then we can never find anything to fit properly. It's annoying. Something I am putting off until AFTER we get back from our trip...

Oh no!!! That's awful about the rooms on hold! I have heard that the Disney website has been a hot mess lately. I plan on signing on from my phone today and screenshotting everything just in case. I am glad you were able to have happy clients in the end, I am sure I would have a sick tummy too.

And yay for the captive audience! Glad you have some of your trip stuff ironed out.

Awww... Miss Mia is so precious! She loves her Mimi!!!

I hope you have a great day!

D~

OH MY! That story of your first trip is EXACTLY what I am afraid of! Back when we were still in the military, we only had our grocery money for the month to use on our trips, so it was always really really tight! I always would put enough cash back that was equal to the amount of money we needed to get home. Just in case!

I heard from 6 other TA friends that had issues with rooms being cancelled by Disney without notice. At least mine had a happy ending. Others did not. One even had the threat of a lawsuit, but it really will not go anywhere...since until money is paid it is only a quote.

I have to wait for him to be a captive audience in order to get him to actually talk about Disney! LOL...he is so funny. He pretends to be listening...but them he will ask me the same question again...Everything we went over yesterday in the car was stuff we have talked about before.

This time it actually seemed to click a bit. And he seems to be a bit excited...which usually doesn't really happen until just before we leave. With a few spots of excitement through out .... He was even mildly excited that I get to do the online check in for the cruise tonight.

The way I could tell he had actually listened to what we were talking about yesterday was that he asked me about what excursions I was going to sign up for. And yesterday was the only time we even discussed that I could make the excursions at the same time I could do the online check in...and I had not realized I could do that so soon.



Well it looks like it is time to put the kids to bed, so I better run...


Nini

 

[NiniMorris]

Last night I posted a long response and update. Pressed 'submit post', waited for it to appear, read it to make sure I didn't make any stupid errors (which I do a lot!) and then went on to something else. This morning the post is gone. I know I wasn't dreaming it!

Any way, last night at midnight was my online check in for the cruise portion of my trip. I managed to stay up until 11, but then kept thinking of the fact that I had to get up at 6...and went to bed! I did, however, manage to get the online check in done this morning and even printed out the contract....so it is all set.

I did find it interesting that everyone was complaining/hoping they could get what they wanted...I waited until 5:30 and still was able to get everything I wanted...ok, so I really didn't book anything...but everything (except the cabanas) was available! So I am not sure what the big deal was...

Anyway, I will be coming back later to day to redo my responses....sorry, but it is time to get the kids up and at them for our therapy day!





So, obviously my post was there after all...

Nini

 

[cogero]

Cabanas are usually the first to go.

have a great day and glad your DH is excited I think it is so cute.

 

[NiniMorris]

Cabanas are usually the first to go.

have a great day and glad your DH is excited I think it is so cute.

Yes.....very cute! LOL!


It has been a very busy day already! I will be glad when school starts back on Mondya, maybe I can get a break!

Just a quick picture of Miss Mia....her first taste of Banana pudding. First thing to note is she HATES Bananas! She will actually gag if you even try to give them to her...she will not even let YOU eat them near her!
Second, this picture was taken in mid laugh.
Third, this is a dress her Mom made her. It is an Aline. One of her first attempts. Her mom prefers her to wear dresses instead of shorts or pants (probably because her hair is so light you can't see it!)

 

[NiniMorris]

Absolutely no Disney news today!

Well, not totally true. I did rent the wheelchair yesterday for our October World trip. And today I am hoping to finish up on the Disney book for a first timer client. But basically not much new to report.

Today is the orientation and open house for Miss B...at HIGH SCHOOL! I am so not ready for this! As much as I would like to blow this off, if we don't go then she will not get her iPad until after school starts. I don't see me wanting to do this on Monday, so I suppose I will go sit in the 4 hour long class today! Mr D goes for his open house tomorrow evening... and I am already apprehensive. He is getting a new teacher...not only a new teacher to him but a NEW teacher... as well as all new class mates!

I seriously can't believe that they are doing that to him, but I can understand them wanting to disperse the class size and 'scope' of each class. I have agreed to wait to pass judgement.

Mr D went to 'work' with Dad today! It should be interesting! And in case you are wondering, NOT police work!

Nini