Finally getting to see the lights! Nov '11 Anniversary/Holiday/F&W PTR-New 11/4 p50

[DisMomAmy]

well based on what I paid to travel in Jan this year...I'm thinking I'll be lucky if anything is lower than $250 rt

I'll keep my fingers crossed for you...

snag that didn't work for me and we had the same flight

Thanks Julie!!

 

[beebeeryan]

Woohoo is right that's great, every little bit helps!

 

[DisMomAmy]

Woohoo is right that's great, every little bit helps!

It sure does! Thanks!

 

[DisMomAmy]

Should we consider a split stay?

If our wait-list doesn't come through to switch to BCV, I'll be completely happy at BWV... But Stormalong Bay... The kids will go crazy over it! But they will also be happy with Luna Park because they don't know Stormalong Bay exists.

Any thoughts?

 

[Lovemy3babes]

I've never considered a split stay because I'm sort of OCD and not sure my brain could handle the unpacking and packing twice. But if you're up for it, why not? It'd be a fun way to see two resorts and experience what each has to offer.

 

[MeMom]

Woo Hoo!! I just rebooked our flight down to Tampa for a $252 credit! ($63/each) The tickets that were $197 yesterday are $134 this morning.

Our return flight is holding at $302 (booked at $199) if I search for one ticket, but shows as sold out if I search for four tickets. So I guess there won't be any credits coming from that flight.

I'll dance to that -
Every dollar counts, for sure!

I'm not liking what we're seeing for Christmas. We'll have to leave Christmas morning to get a good flight price, which means Santa will need to come on Friday night instead of Saturday night. I hope we can get our transportation worked out, because our rooms are ready and waiting!

I think I'll be checking two or three times a day to see if anything changes for us, but with it being Christmas to New Year's week, I'm not too hopeful.

 

[DisMomAmy]

I've never considered a split stay because I'm sort of OCD and not sure my brain could handle the unpacking and packing twice. But if you're up for it, why not? It'd be a fun way to see two resorts and experience what each has to offer.

I worry about that too. I like to unpack and get settled. We'd end up living out of our suitcases if we were 3 nights in one place, 2 in another.

I'll dance to that -
Every dollar counts, for sure!

I'm not liking what we're seeing for Christmas. We'll have to leave Christmas morning to get a good flight price, which means Santa will need to come on Friday night instead of Saturday night. I hope we can get our transportation worked out, because our rooms are ready and waiting!

I think I'll be checking two or three times a day to see if anything changes for us, but with it being Christmas to New Year's week, I'm not too hopeful.

Yikes - I bet Christmas will be a tough one! If we're seeing these prices now... Good Luck!

 

[mousescrapper]

Should we consider a split stay?

If our wait-list doesn't come through to switch to BCV, I'll be completely happy at BWV... But Stormalong Bay... The kids will go crazy over it! But they will also be happy with Luna Park because they don't know Stormalong Bay exists.

Any thoughts?

I don't think I need to give you my answer.... but if you do learn from my virgin mistakes....

A) don't mess w/ their luggage system

B) don't have plans that you need to access your room or mulitple bags till after 4 pm on switching day

C) can't think of a C but I am sure there is one....


ask yourself WHY and do you NEED to split stay....we NEEDed too because of points and we knew we wanted to leave on a non park day so hence the extra night

 

[Momof2Disneyboys]

Should we consider a split stay?

If our wait-list doesn't come through to switch to BCV, I'll be completely happy at BWV... But Stormalong Bay... The kids will go crazy over it! But they will also be happy with Luna Park because they don't know Stormalong Bay exists.

Any thoughts?

We have done a split stay and it worked out fine. In fact we are doing it again this year. With that said, I think you would all be very happy with BWV and the Luna Park pool. It is awesome!

And yes, as another poster said if you do a split -- transfer your own luggage and don't make a lot of plans on the switch day.

 

[jeremysdisneymom]

Congrats on saving money!

We are doing our first split stay this summer and if my waitlist doesn't come through, we will be at Thanksgiving. Not sure how I am going to like switching rooms as we never have in the past. Will let you know how it goes when we get back. Sorry I couldn't be of more help now!

 

[irish dancer]

I've done split stays and I would NOT do it again unless it was a long trip. Long enough so that it would be like two different trips, 5-6nts at each place. I too like to settle in and not unpack and repack. When we switched we used their luggage svc and had no problems but then again our new room wasn't ready until almost 5p and we were ready for it long before then. The only kind of split I'd do again is for 1nt at the beginning of the trip, that way you're not really settled in yet and it's not disruptive.

My kids also commented that they didn't like changing hotels, they're like their Mom and like to settle in for the duration.

 

[Native NYer]

I've done split stays and don't care for them. I love unpacking and settling in. I hate wasting time mid vacation to pack up and move resorts. The one positive aspect of a split stay is getting to try two resorts.

 

[KathyRN137]

Add me to that list! I don't want to be bothered with re-packing/unpacking. PLUS: Always worried it would throw Billy 'off' too much to switch up the environment!



Kathy

 

[DisMomAmy]

I don't think I need to give you my answer.... but if you do learn from my virgin mistakes....

A) don't mess w/ their luggage system

B) don't have plans that you need to access your room or mulitple bags till after 4 pm on switching day

C) can't think of a C but I am sure there is one....


ask yourself WHY and do you NEED to split stay....we NEEDed too because of points and we knew we wanted to leave on a non park day so hence the extra night

Yes I remember what happened when you guys transferred from Pop Century to BLT!

We have done a split stay and it worked out fine. In fact we are doing it again this year. With that said, I think you would all be very happy with BWV and the Luna Park pool. It is awesome!

And yes, as another poster said if you do a split -- transfer your own luggage and don't make a lot of plans on the switch day.

I am feeling the same way about the Luna Park pool, and for that matter, think that the boys would enjoy the slide at Luna Park better than the slide at SAB. I'm not sure Zach will like the SAB slide because it's enclosed. Alex is a slide boy... he'll slide for hours at a time on any slide! There is a whole lot more to SAB though...

The "don't make a lot of plan on the switch day" make me nervous though... we only have 4 1/2 days so we'll have a lot of plans every day!

Congrats on saving money!

We are doing our first split stay this summer and if my waitlist doesn't come through, we will be at Thanksgiving. Not sure how I am going to like switching rooms as we never have in the past. Will let you know how it goes when we get back. Sorry I couldn't be of more help now!

Good luck! I'll be anxious to hear how it works out.

 

[DisMomAmy]

I've done split stays and I would NOT do it again unless it was a long trip. Long enough so that it would be like two different trips, 5-6nts at each place. I too like to settle in and not unpack and repack. When we switched we used their luggage svc and had no problems but then again our new room wasn't ready until almost 5p and we were ready for it long before then. The only kind of split I'd do again is for 1nt at the beginning of the trip, that way you're not really settled in yet and it's not disruptive.

My kids also commented that they didn't like changing hotels, they're like their Mom and like to settle in for the duration.

Interesting that the kids even had an opinion about the split!

The room not being ready until 5pm is what makes me nervous... I'm not sure I could handle that twice since we'll be arriving early on our first day too.

I've done split stays and don't care for them. I love unpacking and settling in. I hate wasting time mid vacation to pack up and move resorts. The one positive aspect of a split stay is getting to try two resorts.

Experiencing both resorts would be great... I'm just not sure the pros outweigh the cons in this situation.

Add me to that list! I don't want to be bothered with re-packing/unpacking. PLUS: Always worried it would throw Billy 'off' too much to switch up the environment!

Kathy

I think the boys would be OK with the actual switch, but the mid-day "homelessness" or "villalessness" could definitely throw them off, especially if they are needing downtime more than a pool could offer.

 

[DisMomAmy]

Thank you for all of the input on the split stay!

I think we'll see what happens with the wait-list & be happy wherever we end up. Our trip is too short to waste time packing/unpacking & being potentially homeless for several important hours. We like our mid-day breaks so we need our "home" during those hours that we could end up without one. I also like to get settled in on day one and stay that way until it's time to pack up again. No split stay for us!

 

[DisMomAmy]

Earlier in this PTR, I mentioned "something new" that we are going to do on this trip. Well I guess there are a bunch of new things we're planning this time but I think the only new thing left to talk about is a Disney photo session!!

We haven't had a nice family portrait taken since Zach was a baby. Plus Tim & I would like to get a nice shot of us to help celebrate our 15th anniversary.

There is a $350 package that is really tempting, but way too much money! Plus, I don't think the kids could tolerate an hour long photo shoot. The package includes retouched photos taken at any location or combination of locations anywhere in WDW! Epcot would be such a cool place for a photo shoot!

We're going with the 20 minute, $99 package at the Beach Club. It's pretty much the package that they've always offered, but it's now done by Disney Fine Art Photography. You can check out their website if you are interested.

Now I just have to figure out where to fit it into our itinerary & what to wear!

At the moment, our itinerary looks like this:
Tuesday 11/8: arrival/check-in/DHS afternoon/Epcot dinner

Wednesday 11/9: DTD am/MVMCP pm (could fit it in here)

Thursday 11/10: Sleep late/AK morning to early afternoon/DHS or Epcot evening (depending on Osborne Lights) (could fit it here)

Friday 11/11: MK am/Shula's & Sandcastle Club pm (could fit it nicely here but I'm not sure if it would put the kids in a bad mood for the kids club)

Saturday 11/12: Epcot am/DHS pm (could do it here but probably want to pack during mid-day break)

So my choices are:
Wednesday 11/9 - either after breakfast (Cape May at 9am) or mid-day after DTD/before MVMCP (this is our only morning option)

Thursday 11/10 - Between AK & evening plans

Friday 11/11 - Between MK & night out, but autism overload could cause problems for their kids club visit that night.

Saturday 11/12 - Between Epcot & DHS but I'd probably rather pack.

I think I'm leaning toward Wednesday morning before DTD. We can avoid the mid-day heat & I think the lighting is better in the morning & evening.

What do you think? Also, do you have any suggestions on what we should wear?

 

[MRYPPNS]

Same color pants/short and shirts always look nice. How 'bout khakis', shorts for the boys, carpis for you, and polo shirts for them and a color coordinated shirt for you. You all look good in red but with khakis it would look like a Target employee picture! lol Blue shirts maybe? white? both would look good at the Beach Club. No Crocs!

 

[Charleston Princess]

A family photo shoot will be awesome! That's something I have been wanting to do at Disney because it has been a really long time since we had a nice family picture taken! I can't wait to see how yours turn out! Maybe you could do something like khakis and blues and greens for the boys, and you could find a cute dress that matches?

 

[DisMomAmy]

Same color pants/short and shirts always look nice. How 'bout khakis', shorts for the boys, carpis for you, and polo shirts for them and a color coordinated shirt for you. You all look good in red but with khakis it would look like a Target employee picture! lol Blue shirts maybe? white? both would look good at the Beach Club. No Crocs!

Target employee pictures...

I agree about no crocs!! We'll probably go barefoot unless I can find the right shoes for everyone. If we go with pants (which the website recommends) shoes will be easier, but that will involve a lot more "stuff" to lug to Florida with us!

A family photo shoot will be awesome! That's something I have been wanting to do at Disney because it has been a really long time since we had a nice family picture taken! I can't wait to see how yours turn out! Maybe you could do something like khakis and blues and greens for the boys, and you could find a cute dress that matches?

I think it will be fun & hopefully we'll come out of it with a few good shots. A framed family portrait will make a great Christmas gift for each of our mothers.

I like the idea of a dress... I'll have to start shopping for me first then find some coordinating shirts for the boys. I'm glad I'm thinking about this now because when it gets closer to our trip, I'll only be able to find fall clothes in the stores.