Finished w more picts-Trip reports on how to use 2 years worth of points in 3 months!

[traceyg]

Cast of characters:
Oct trip:
ME! Grew up in L.A., am a Disney nut as my husband calls me.

Gina- BFF(second trip to WDW)
Loralea- other BFF (fellow Disney nut, been tons of times)
Lacey- son's girlfriend (been once)
DS- in the college program. He started in July. Grew up "Disney" thanks to his mother.

In 2008 I received an email from WDW about the inaugural Princess Marathon starting in 2009. I was in the process of losing weight (a lot of weight actually, 140lbs to be exact). I knew I was missing out on exercise so I pondered the aspect of running as a form of exercise. I thought about training for (goodness gracious) a half marathon at Disney World no less, with princesses (how could 13.1 miles be so bad if I had Prince Charming as my guide?!?)... so two weeks later I contacted all of my friends and said I was planning on doing this. Weekly we would meet in different areas of the metroplex and do distance runs. Ultimately it was myself and three other ladies who ran with me. Two of them are returning for this trip. Enough about the marathon- that's a post onto itself.

In July I gave Mickey my first born son (literally). My DH, DS and myself left a week early, spent 3 days at WDW, 2 at US and the last day was dropping DS off at his Disney owned apartment complex for orientation. While we were there that week, my DH asked about the DVC and what it was all about. He even set up the tour. So we went, and a few weeks later, we bought. My DH is NOT a Disney fanatic like me, but he is a fanatic ABOUT me...so knowing it would make me happy he told me to get it set up. Hence the two upcoming trips:

My son is a CP. He gets 50% off of our room. We had stayed at Caribbean for the Princess marathon and my BFF's said they loved it so when I asked him to make the ressies I asked for CBR. Well I couldn't leave well enough alone. I had to start checking dates on the DVC membersite. Lo and behold one day the first night of our stay became available at AKL- Jambo. So I booked it. AKL- Kidani is our home resort. I love love love AKL. Between the two buildings I prefer Jambo. I've only stayed at Jambo as a regular paying customer though. Last July we rented points to stay in Kidani in a studio. It will be interesting to see the difference between being a true (not a rented one) DVC member vs. being a regular Joe who paid wayy too much for a good view of the animals out of her balcony window. The last two nights will be at CBR. So all in all I think it may be the best of both worlds.

As I said, I prefer Jambo. Simply put, I like the convenience of everything. I hope they don't forget to tell me "welcome home" at Jambo though. I know it's so corny but it really makes me smile knowing that I own a small piece of it. (probably the toilet paper holder- but I own it nonetheless- lol). I haven't been since signing on the dotted line. So when I hear those "magical" words this time it REALLY will be true. Albeit, 40 something years of dues true! lol

More tomorrow.....

 

[traceyg]

So I broke down and told my BFF Gina that I changed reservations and we were staying at AKV for the first night. I couldn't help myself. She just smiled and said whatever made me happy.

My son and his girlfriend broke up again this week. I think the distance has put a lot of strain on their relationship. I talked to him yesterday and he said they were off again. I was waiting for her text saying she wasn't going. Today I got her text, but instead she asked if she could still go and would it be akward. Yes, it will be akward for about two seconds. After that they will most likely apologize and go on about life. If not, then well I guess it will be akward a while longer. Worst case scenario is she and him have to make friends out of one another and suck it up. I'm not too worried either way. They're both good kids and however it turns out they'll be ok to be around. When Chase was about 8 and his sister was about 6 they were having this big fight about something stupid right in the walkway at MK. Sibling stuff- no big deal, but it didn't need to be a public appearance. I told them both that I'd spent like a million dollars to take them to the happiest place on earth and if they couldn't be happy then I was taking them back to the room and hiring a nanny to stay with them. (I was pulling their string first off, second- they apologized and the rest of the trip was drama free) My point: he knows my stance on acting up while at the happiest place on earth. You either get along or you go back to the room.
Today I did my online check in. I can't believe it's getting that close. They totally mispelled my son's gf's name so I guess I need to call and get it fixed. I'm not finding ME reservations in there either. I know I asked during the phone reservation, but it doesn't show up online. Still trying to figure all this stuff out. I figure by 2057 (or whatever it is) I'll have a pretty good handle on it.

 

[traceyg]

so the kids are still on the "outs". I finally got the text from his gf that said that she really wasn't going this time. A little while later I got a call from DS and he said the same. So I'm guessing that this may be true this time. I really like her, but I'm tired of them not getting along. I feel bad that she paid for her airfare and is not going now.

In the chaos of the gf cancelling left me thinking that now we have an extra spot in the room. My DD goes to school in Georgia. I texted her that we have an opening and I could get her a plane ticket for $250 if she wanted to meet us. She texted her boss to see if she could take the weekend off and he has not responded yet. In the meantime her airline ticket has skyrocketed to anywhere from $320-$1000. I'm game for her coming but I'm not buying American Airlines to get her there. I'll buy the seat but not the plane! lol

Before all this, I called DVC and got the GF's name changed correctly and ME was added, it just doesn't show up online. I LOVE being able to check things online. When you call, they even solicit that everything is available online. I appreciate that, but if they want to make it so available then they need to make name changes and ME reservations available as well.

I started getting things put together. Blister band-aids, previously bought park hoppers with no expiration (in case DS can't make it and get us in) and cash from the bank. Two things I don't think you can ever have too much of while touring Disney: cash and bandaids! lol

I am getting so excited to finally being able to go "home". Yes, I've been tons of times, but THIS is truly my first visit HOME! I still haven't told my other BFF that we are staying at AKV.

So the plans are this: Thursday night I'm taking my 21 month old to Little Gym to run around like a monkey. Then we are grabbing dinner with the family. Sometime in there my bff is meeting up with me. She will spend the night at my house. We need to leave the house at 6am Friday morning. We are picking up the other bff, dropping the car off at the car park place and flying out at 10am. By 1:45 pm we will be in sunny Florida.

Here's my question: While at AKV in July we bought refillable mugs for the three of us. There will be three of us again (unless my DD goes last minute). Are they eligible for use again? They are from July, so they are the same design. If we buy new ones at AKV, can we use them again at CBR?

 

[GAN]

Something may have changed, but as far as I know the mugs are not re-useable. Now if you buy mugs at AKL and move to a different resort I believe the same applies -you'd have to buy new mugs. I've always thought that they should be good for a weeks stay, regardless of how many resorts you stay at during the week. But that's just my opinion.

 

[amyngary]

I remember our first trip as DVC members - it was awesome knowing that it was the first of many!

RE: mugs - we don't drink soda and rarely fill up our mugs that come with the dining plan, so I don't know first hand about reusing them; however, I have read on the DIS that people reuse them all the time. You may want to do a search to see the threads I've seen.

 

[traceyg]

I remember our first trip as DVC members - it was awesome knowing that it was the first of many! QUOTE]

I have a 21 month old who will be 23months when we go after Christmas. I was looking at all the kid's activities and saw that most of them are for like 4 and up. At first I got a little sad that he wouldn't be able to do those things, but then I realized that we can go BACK! again and again....lol

 

[traceyg]

So since my son's girlfriend is truly no longer his girlfriend (and he swears she won't be ever again), I asked my 20yo DD if she wanted to go. She had to clear the time off with her boss and work her flights out to fit her school schedule. I was beginning to think she wasn't going to be able to make it.

Last night I got a text from her that said "I bought our airfare". Ummm huh? OUR?!? She is bringing HER boyfriend. Now I don't mind him, really I don't, but there was ONE spot. I quickly confirmed that I truly was reading it correctly and yes, two seats, two bodies. Yikes! Now what?!?

Honestly my first thought was he could just sleep on the floor. Not very kind I know. Or even worse, honest. After the panic and the rapid heart rate both slowed I called my DS, who remember is in the CP, and asked if he could book another room.

He was on the bus on his way to work so he couldn't do it right then. He said he'd look when he got home. He wouldn't be back to the apartment until 1-2am, his time. 2-3 my time. I asked him to just call when he got up. lol At noon he called and said that he was going to look for me. He logs in, asks what level I want...value...he hits a few buttons and bam...Grand Floridian shows up. Um no! (panic and the thought of checking in a bag with a bed roll in it quickly flash before my eyes) He hits a few more buttons and now Pop is available (thank goodness). So now they're staying at Pop. Yeah- I'm getting the mom of the year award....I'm staying at AKV the first night while I send my kid to the Disney slums. lol

Then I called Mears and rebooked the shuttle that's to pick them up to go to Halloween Horror Nights. Then I rescheduled all of our dining reservations. I think at this point I am truly 100% ready to go. Now if I could just lose these last few baby pounds before Friday. (right! lol) I think I'm ready to take a vacation from planning this vacation. Thank goodness it's only four days this go round. December's planning is bound to be insane!

We are so close I can almost smell the chocolate from my Mickey Head Ice Cream bar. I bet there's a CM stocking a freezer somewhere with my future mouse on it!

 

[traceyg]

Ugh! I have to make it through this last day of work. Fortunately, or unfortunately, whichever way you want to look at it, I have SOOOOO much to do. Right now I am between two meetings and about to head off to my other campus. I don't know if I'll get everything ready at my office before I leave. It will be here on Tuesday when I get back I know, but not having to think anything about work while I'm gone is OK by me.

We finally got all the details ironed out about my DD and her bf. (sigh) That was stressful....kids!

I have the rest of my time planned out until I get on the plane tomorrow. Until then I guess I'll be in stress mode. Every time I go anywhere I do this to myself. I've been all over the world and am a seasoned traveler but you'd think I'd never packed a bag before in my life!

We live in a very rural area. I take my nephew to school every morning and then take him home after school. Tonight I am dropping him off and then heading back to town to grab some dinner, go to Little Gym with the baby, meet up with the bff and then go home and finish packing. I don't have a stitch of clothing in my suitcase yet. Tomorrow we will get up at some horrible early hour and trek across the metroplex and pick up the other bff and head to the airport. By this time tomorrow I will be sitting at DFW with a latte.

 

[traceyg]

I'm in the black jacket. Gina is in the back and Loralea is in the front middle.

 

[DisneyRegulars]

As I said, I prefer Jambo. Simply put, I like the convenience of everything. I hope they don't forget to tell me "welcome home" at Jambo though. I know it's so corny but it really makes me smile knowing that I own a small piece of it. (probably the toilet paper holder- but I own it nonetheless- lol). I haven't been since signing on the dotted line. So when I hear those "magical" words this time it REALLY is true.

More tomorrow.....

I loved the toilet paper holder line! My first trip last year i was so excited for them to say welcome home and they didn't say anything!! So disappointing. . They have said it for our other two stays though.

 

[traceyg]

Sorry it's taken so long to catch back up!

The trip was wonderful!

Oct 4 and 5
My bff stayed the night at my house and the next morning we got up and picked up the other bff (she's on the way to the airport). She was running late so we ended up parking at the airport instead of using the shuttle service on Groupon that I had bought. We checked in, got our tickets, turned in our luggage, made it through security and walked up as they were saying "last call" whew- that was TOO close! The flight wasn't crowded so we all ended up sitting together.

We landed at MCO, picked up our luggage and got on Magical Express. My other friend realized that we were going to AKL instead of CB. I told her that I was surprising everyone and using points to upgrade us. While Gina was super thrilled to be staying there, Loralea just said "well I would have rather stayed in one place so I could have unpacked". Oh well! So much for trying to do something nice for everybody.

As we pulled up to AKL, my son, who is in the CP right now, was standing at the benches waiting on us. It was awesome to see him. It reminded me of how much I miss him. I dropped him off in July. Thanksgiving and Christmas are going to be REALLY REALLY hard this year.

I talked to my daughter, who is going to college in Georgia, to confirm that they made it to the airport and were on their way too. At this point I'm just counting down the minutes to having my ducklings close by...lol

We checked in at AKL and made our way upstairs to drop off our suitcases. Because of our trip in December I only had 9 points available to use at AKL. When the room opened up in the reservation system it was listed as a standard view. I had to "rent" 5 points from Disney to make up the difference. I was a little bummed that I didn't have a savannah view but AKL is AKL so I wasn't going to be too disappointed. I mean a day at AKL in a standard view room is better than a day at work any day!! When we got to the room though it was a corner room, and it overlooked the savannah. It wasn't the greatest of views but it was still amazing. Even when I say it wasn't the greatest of views I am in no way complaining. Disney magic again! If I had the extra 4 points that it would have taken to upgrade I would have been satisfied that it was a savannah view. So, having the balcony and seeing the animals was a wonderful surprise! We "ooohed" and "awed" for a few minutes and then headed down to Boma. They gave us a pager and told us it would go off when the restaraunt opened in a bit. About 10 minutes later it went off. On the way to the desk I noticed that nobody else's were going off, just ours. Turns out we were chosen to be the family that got to open the restaraunt for the evening. They played drums and lined us up in a parade and we marched through Boma like we owned the place. It was really neat. We even got a certificate. Awesome way to start a vacation!

After dinner my two friends and I left to MNSSHP.

I gave my son the room key so he could relax while his sister's plane landed. After a bit, he took a few busses and went over to Pop to pick them up. I gave him the $60 fare for Mears to get the three of them r/t to and from Pop to US so they could do HHN. My son is 22, daughter is 20 and her bf is 20. They had bought the HHN tickets and front of the line passes. They said it was awesome. My son and daughter's bf aren't very close (I think it has to do with him being a protective big brother) so I was excited that the three of them could do some bonding doing something very cool like HHN. I really like the bf, he's a good kid. I think that my DS just wouldn't like anybody for his little sister though. It turned out well because when they made it to breakfast the next morning they were talking very animatedly about the night before. On a side note: I had made the reservations for Mears for the kids. Mears schedules the time and place that they pick you up (based on when you want to leave and where you're at). For the return trip though, you have to call them two hours ahead of time and let them know you're ready. They run shuttles until some crazy time like 4 am or so. I explained to each of the kids- here is the number "###-###-###", call when you are two hours out from being ready to head back. I made eye contact with each of them as I said it. You guessed it.. at like 2am my DS calls.."hey mom- how are we supposed to get back to the hotel?" lol

That night when my bff's and I got back from MNSSHP to AKL we stopped at Victoria Falls and shared a bottle of wine. Three friends sitting around relaxing and sharing a glass of wonderful wine. Perfect ending to a great day!

Oct 6
The next morning we packed up the few things we took out of our bags and rolled our suitcases down to the lobby to send over to CB. They took them and sent them to a storage area. No fuss, no big deal.

By this time the kids' busses had arrived at the Lodge and we went to Mara for breakfast. I ended up buying breakfast for everyone and it was a little over $40. We shared 3 plates and then got a bowl of pineapple and another of grapes. I had to look at the ticket to make sure everything was accounted for because I didn't think that was right, but it was.

My daughter, my bff and I had tickets left over from previous stays. I had bought no expiration on them thinking of it as an investment. My son can get 3 people in a day on 6 occasions while he is a CP.

Day one- my bf and I use our passes. My son uses his CP card to get my daughter, her bf and my other bff into the park. He gets in free of coarse. They checked his card and issued them a paper ticket.

We started off at Epcot, went over to Hollywood and ended the night at MK. After the parks closed we took the bus over to CB and checked into our room. We had upgraded to a Pirate Room. It was really cool. I'll post pictures soon. The carpet is even themed to be wooden planks. The refrigerater is inside of a wooden barrel. The dresser is wooden crates and the divider curtain from the room to the bathroom has the skull and crossbones from the Pirates movie. The beds are ships. All in all, very cool! If you have young boys who are into the pirate thing then this is your room!

Bed:

Headboard:

Floor:

Bedspread:

Mickey towel:

Dresser- looks like crates:

Dresser with tv:

Refrigerator in barrel:

Privacy Curtain:

Bathroom vanity:

Bathroom shower curtain:

Closer up:

Oct 7
The next day we go to Epcot because we have reservations at Akershus. We arrived a bit early and are told to come back within 5 minutes of our reservations. No problem, we stroll through the countries while we're waiting. Finally it's our time to go back. We stand in line for a few minutes, and it's hot, really hot. We get to the front and our names aren't on the reservation list. Turns out when I changed the party size from 4 back down to three (since my son's gf wasn't going) that it changed the date. Somehow I missed that. Oops. Our reservations are for tomorrow.

We toured the parks for a few more hours. Loralea had a friend from college who happened to be there the same time as us so she asked if it would be ok to go with her friend for a few hours to catch up on lost times. No problem there. Gina decided she was exhausted so she wanted to go back to the room. I hung out with my kids for the rest of the night. It was Magic Hours at MK. We met up at CB, went over to DTD and had sandwiches at Earl of Sandwich. It was really really good. We had four sandwiches, two bags of chips, two desserts and two drinks. I didn't realize until later that I didn't ask for enough drinks for I went back up to the counter to pay it and the guy handed me a cup and said not to worry about it. Dinner was just under $30. Wayyyy cheap for Disney standards! I had the Hawaiian something or other. It was amazing! My daughter had the mozarella and basil- it was ok. The basil became overpowering after a few bites. The boys had the turkey. Those were especially good as well. The Hawaiian one was everyone's favorite though. When we all go in December I plan on going there a few times. Especially since we are staying at OKW and can just take a boat ride over. After dinner we went to BLT to see the Top of the World Lounge. It was really impressive. Mind you, it was myself and my three young twenties kids all dressed in park attire. We weren't really dressed up for the ocassion and got a few eye brow raises. We walked through the lounge itself, which was very pretty, but then we went outside and looked out over the ledges that overlook MK. My daughter's bf decided that it was pretty amazing up there. My DD decided that she wanted to stay at BLT next time. lol I grew up in LA and have been to both DL and WDW tons and tons but I have never been a big fan of the furnishings of the Disneyland hotel years ago or the Contemporary. (They have always reminded me of each other). I'll have to admit though that I was thoroughly impressed with the entire place. I'm with my DD on this one- I really want to stay there. Her bf started asking questions about DVC. I was trying my best to explain it all to him about points, which hotels were on the list, etc. He was like "so your DH had never been to Disney before? and after one visit he decides to just go ahead and buy into DVC? That's sooo cool!" Then he and my DD start asking questions about the CP to my DS. I think they both are very serious about applying.

The four of us....

We leave there and go over to MK. The next day (like in a few hours) my DD and her bf are supposed to fly out extra early so they can make it to class back in Georgia in time. It's like 2:30am and we realize that they are now in a time crunch to get back to Pop, pack up their stuff and make it to the airport. My DS and I walk the two out to the busses. As we are walking up we realize there's a Pop bus sitting there. Being in a time crunch and not knowing the time of the next bus, my DD and her boyfriend take off and run. We yell our goodbyes to one another as they are running away. I realize that I won't see her until December so I start running too. She gets to the stairs of the bus and a few seconds later I'm right behind her. The driver is ready to close the doors but waits while I give them each a big hug and a kiss and tell them I love them. I'm sure we looked a sight!!! lol A while later DD calls me panicking that it's the middle of the night and no one is manning the phones at ME and they have no way to the airport. She is standing at the front desk at Pop and they have told her that they can't get a hold of anyone at ME. I remind her that I have already set things up and that someone somewhere should have the time that the bus should be there to get them. From somewhere, someone comes up with a time that the bus should be coming. I don't know why the ME envelope wasn't put on their door- maybe because they were leaving so early? I don't know, but it was a very stressful few minutes while we figured things out. We hung up for a few minutes while we were both trying to get in contact with someone who would know what time the bus was supposed to be there. About ten minutes later she calls me back saying that they are actually ON the bus heading to the airport. Good grief! I don't know what it is about airports and this trip but we are on a roll!

The next day my DS gets all of us into Epcot so we can do lunch. We grab lunch, head over to Hollywood Studios buy a few last minute things. ME is supposed to pick us up at 3:30 at CB. We leave HS at 2 thinking we have tons of time to get back. Turns out that we wait for a bus at HS for over 30 minutes, then we have to go by Blizzard Beach (no one gets on the bus or gets off...ugh) and finally we make it to CB. Of coarse our room is the very last stop. By the time we get there ME has already left. When I dropped DS off in July we missed ME by 5 minutes and had to pay for a cab to get my DH and I to MCO. That was $75 for two people. I'm now worried about how much we are going to shell out for three people. I talk to the bell hops and explain that we missed it and they start calling for us. For another thirty minutes I sit there in sort of a panic as they figure out when the next bus is coming to CB and if it will be in enough time to get us to MCO so we don't miss our flight. Luckily it all worked out and just about the time they figured that there was a bus with enough room for us, it pulled up. As the driver was loading our things I said goodbye to DS. That was hard! He reached to give me a hug first and squeezed me. I know he's homesick. I can't imagine. He even knew the exact amont of days until he was heading home for good.

We get back to MCO, check in our luggage again, stop by a sandwich shop and grab some lunch and walk towards our gate. As we are nearing it I hear "last call for flight ###" I look at my friends and say "isn't that us?!??" Yep! Good grief! Here we go again!!!

The three of us in matching pj's. Everytime we go anywhere someone buys pj's for everyone else. It all started when we went to Austin and someone forgot her pajamas. We stopped for her to buy some and the rest of us thought they were so cute that we all had to have a pair. It all just evolved from there.

 

[spears2008]

very entertaining report. glad you had a great trip and all the buses worked out. excuse my ignorance, but what is HHN?

 

[traceyg]

very entertaining report. glad you had a great trip and all the buses worked out. excuse my ignorance, but what is HHN?

Halloween Horror Nights at Universal Studios. The adult version of Mickey's Not So Scary. US actually puts together haunted houses, which are very very cool. Unfortunately the crowds are not so cool. A few years ago we took the kids and didn't realize how crazy the crowds were going to be so we didn't invest in the front of the line passes. This time the kids know the ropes so to speak and got the line passes as well.

 

[traceyg]

Cast of characters:
I'd like to think we are from some enchanted place and that WE are ALL enchanted in my quaint little life, but alas, I'm sure that we are probably more like Cruella DeVil and her henchmen than Cinderella and her mice. (sigh)

So this trip is the reason we chunked off the change we did and signed on the dotted line and took the plunge into DVC. We are staying in a 2 bedroom villa at OKW. Our home resort is AKV-Kidani. I love love love AKL. (there wasn't availability at AKV when we booked- but we are waitlisted) One time many years ago I stayed at OKW by renting points. I wasn't impressed with the resort. I am hoping that OKW will rise up and be everything that I missed out on last time. I know that for some that OKW is the be all end all of resorts. I'm sure the magic is there, I just didn't feel it before. I really want to feel the charm this time. My son is in the CP so we saved a bundle by purchasing now. We knew we'd go back to pick him up so we knew we'd need another room. This time however, we decided to take ALL of the kids. And since we had two extra spots in our villa I invited the parents. Now I'm wondering if it'd be worth the extra money spent to upgrade to a Grand Villa...lol I love these people, truly...but 5 days in a two bedroom villa with 9 people?!?? There may not be enough magic in ALL of WDW! The rack rate price of the 5 days in our 2bd villa is almost as much as our purchase price. (made it justifiable in my book!, yes I know there's codes and then there's my son's CP discount yadda yadda BUT I NEED to justify it to myself so don't spoil it for me. Besides my husband thinks so too! )

So here we go:
ME! Been to WDW tons of times. I'd like to think I'm Cindy, but I'm probably closer to Belle in the way of Princesses. My husband's daughters (ie my bonus kids probably put me up there with Malificent though j/k).

DH- new to the whole Disney thing. He went his very first time in July when we dropped DS off for the CP. If you missed it before, my DH asked questions about DVC because we were renting points to stay at AKV-Kidani. He set up the DVC tour while we were there and then encouraged me to get everything set up when we got home. He refers to Mickey as "the rat who takes all of his money" in a joking fashion of coarse...otherwise I'd really turn into Malificent.

Our combined families:
My DS- 22 in the CP.
My DD- 20 going to college in Georgia

About four years ago:

My bonus daughter- 17, senior in high school. Has never been to Disney. (I almost called child protective services to report neglect when he told me that in our dating stage)
My other bonus daughter- 14 Eighth grader...going through that yucky stage in life where you don't like yourself much less everyone else. Never been to Disney either.
My husband has custody of both girls so they live with us full time.
Our DS- the love of EVERYBODY'S life...22 months right now. Will be turning 2 the week after we return. He is the bond that keeps us all glued. Cutest little kid in the entire world.

My mom- 60, lives in another state and doesn't get to see the grands nearly enough for her liking, especially the 22 month old.
My dad- 65, facebooks with all the kids to keep in touch. Loves the fact that he gained an extra three grandkids with my marriage. One time sent a facebook message to the 17 year old that said "ROFLMAO" He thought the "f" stood for "fat". Poor dad- he tries to be hip. Poor kid called me at work to let me know what my dad had said because she knew he didn't understand. I called him and gently explained it to him. He quickly edited his post and apologized to the facebook community about his lack of etiquette and knowledge of all things cool. Poor dad. (oh yeah- and Dad is like an Elder of their church in a small town and of coarse facebooks with all of his church friends too. I don't know that any of them understood the "f" either...I'm hoping not. I still don't think he has caught on that the "A" is a bad word as well. We will leave well enough alone.)

We are still in the hunting and gathering stages of this trip. I am hunting for good car rental prices and my DH is gathering as much moolah as he can because he knows how much everything costs at WDW, especially those "crazy ears with everyone's name on them! from the rat who takes all of his money!"

Oh Yeah- to add insult to injury...we are driving! A 12 (yes, count em', 12!) passenger van from the great big humongous state of Texas to Florida. With 3 kids and two insane parents (me and DH) from Texas to Mississippi and THEN we are picking up the grands to pursue the rest of our trek. We need to drive so we can get all of my son's stuff back home after his "tour of duty" is over. He started off with two duffle bags worth of clothes, but the last I heard he was up to three bags, a bonsai tree that he had to have as a "housewarming gift" from the China Pavilion in Epcot, a 36 inch tv, a surround sound system for said tv...gotta buy the important things while you are on your own, various household items and last but not least one of the HUGE sombreros from Mexico. He found it at the Disney company store for "waaayyy cheap", and since "he'd always wanted one" he bought it! (If you see a 12 passenger van somewhere between Florida and Texas with two distraught looking parents, a child in every available seat, and a young man donning an enormous sombrero in the back seat, you might have spied OUR family!) Talk about enchanted?!?? This is becoming the Griswold's Family Vacation!!! I'm thinking of Where's Waldo actually.... except "Waldo" will be in a ginormous sombrero.

 

[traceyg]

Like I mentioned in my previous post, we are staying at OWK. I AM excited about the size of the room, seeing as how there are going to 9 people bonded together.

As I also mentioned, I love AKV simply for the atmosphere. I think that if you never left the lodge that you'd still get Disney magic. I love being able to sit on my balcony with a cup of coffee or glass of wine and just relax. I love being able to listen to the story teller in the evening and use the night vision googles. The decor and the artwork are just breathtaking to me. I do not like, however, that to get anywhere from AKV is an adventure. Other than Blizzard Beach I don't think there is anything relatively close by. Getting to MK and back is an ordeal.

I know there are plenty of threads about why (pick your favorite) is your favorite resort. Given what you know about my upcoming trip can you think of a specific reason why I should be more excited about staying at OKW over any other resort? If it were just me I'd only be slightly disappointed, but this is the first time I'm taking the baby and my bonus daughters. I truly want everything to be perfect in every way.

There are so many things I know about Disney because of others sharing. Examples would be the umbrella at Hollywood, the sticker over the marijuana poster on Rockin Rollercoaster, etc. ALL of those things, good and bad, but all unique, make Disney magical to me. What is YOUR magic at OKW?

 

[traceyg]

We plan on arriving at WDW on December 29th. I'm not sure when we will actually arrive so ADR's are out of the question. On December 30th we have reservations for all 9 of us at Chef Mickey's. I REALLY want Blake (the 22month old) to meet Mickey up close and personal. I'm going to let them know also that we are there for a birthday celebration.

His actual birthday is Jan 12. He will be 2.

What else can we do to celebrate his upcoming big day?

 

[traceyg]

I think I"ll start the journey off with the food... it kinda all started with the food. There were 9 of us and the baby- so there was enough food for a herd!

Two weeks ahead of time I bought all the non-perishables (plastic forks, paper plates, laundry detergent, soup, spaghetti sauce, ranch dressing, etc etc).

The day before we left I bought the somewhat perishables (tortillas, meat, etc) I froze all the meats and we have a cooler that will keep things for days on end. Everything was still frozen when we arrived.

The day we arrived I bought the fragile perishables (bread, eggs, etc)
All in all I spent about $400-$500 at the grocery stores total.

Our menu went like this:
Day 1 arrive at 4 pm, Dinner with Chef Mickey, put sausage in crockpot to cook overnight
Day 2
Breakfast-
Breakfast roll ups
I broke up the sausage, scrambled a dozen eggs and laid out paper plates, cheese and tortillas. Everyone got to wrap their own sausage rolls as they cycled through their showers and such.
Lunch-
Sandwiches
back to the room for a nap and a sandwich. I made the sandwiches and set them out on the dining room table for everyone to grab and relax.
Dinner-
Tacos and nachos
I put hamburger meat with taco seasoning in one crockpot and nacho cheese in another crockpot before we left that morning. It was ready and waiting when we returned. I put out paper plates, taco shells, tortillas, shredded cheese, lettuce, tomatoes, sour cream and tortilla chips. Everyone got to make what they wanted.

Day 3-
Breakfast- Pigs in a blanket
My DH made them the night before and cooked them until they were lightly brown and still somewhat doughy. After they cooled I placed them in a gallon ziplock bag and put them in the frig. The next morning I placed them on the cookie sheet and finished cooking them. It worked out perfectly!
Lunch- leftovers and sandwiches (this will be the theme for every day from here on so I will leave it out from now on).
Dinner- Brisket, baked potatoes and green beans
I bought three medium sized preseasoned bags of trimmed brisket. I cut them down to size to fit in the two crockpots and cooked them all day. I also put potatoes in the crockpot and let them cook all day as well. That evening I placed the brisket on a plate, the potatoes on another plate and heated up the green beans on the stove. I laid out sour cream, grated cheese and the nachos cheese from the night before. Some of the kids had a loaded baked potato. Again- it was laid out and done so that everyone could easily make it the way they preferred.

Day 4-
Breakfast- Sausage biscuits
The sausage patties were already cooked so I just heated them in the microwave. I cooked two packages of biscuits. I cut the biscuits in half, added a slice of sandwich cheese on the biscuit and added the sausage patty. I then placed them on a plate on the table and let everyone help themself.
Dinner- Crockpot Lasagna, french bread and salad
I layered all the ingredients- spaghetti sauce, lasagna noodles, uncooked hamburger, noodles, sauce, ricotta cheese, noodles, sauce, shredded cheese. I worried for a moment that it would be greasy from not precooking the meat but it was fine. Everyone complimented on this meal. The salad was the lettuce and tomatoes leftover from the tacos. I brought some ranch dressing for it as well.

Day 5
Breakfast- Sausage roll ups again
Lunch- 50's Prime Time Diner... we had a blast!
Dinner- Creamy Chicken and potatoes, left over green beans
I used two crockpots. Each crockpot contained a bag of chicken breasts, a large can of cream of chicken soup, half of the remainder of the left over sour cream, 1/4 cup of lemon pepper seasoning, cup of milk, half a bag of red potatoes cut into fourths.

Day 6
Breakfast- scrambled eggs, biscuits, gravy (my husband cooked all of the eggs and what we didn't eat he placed in a baggie and put it in the frig)
Dinner- left overs

Day 7- Breakfast- left overs
Lunch- Earl of Sandwich on the way out

We had a crockpot going most of the time. I always use crockpot liners so it was as simple as throwing the bag away, wiping the bottom and lid and relining it.

We spent $50pp at Chef Mickey's and almost $300 for lunch at 50's PT. We didn't scrimp on snacks or drinks while we were in the parks. Since the baby was with us we had the stroller. Mom and Dad had ECV's. Every day we would load each with a few bottles of water. We bought a Coke here and there, some of those beloved Mickey head ice cream bars, some cupcakes, candy from Goofy's, funnel cakes and a host of other goodness. With the money we were saving on food I didn't mind splurging somewhat on snacks. (We had snacks in the room as well- but there's no comparison to a yummy ice cream bar!). I cannot imagine what our food bill would have been had we not cooked meals in the room.
Let me end by saying that I did not mind "cooking" as long as it was 20-30 minutes or less. Every day I would wake up and start the meals. Usually my husband or mom would come in and finish things up so I could get ready. As I was getting ready and being the last one in the shower by this point, it gave me the opportunity to collect towels and throw them in the washing machine. There was also a standing opportunity that if you needed something washed to put it on the washing machine lid. I would throw various things in with the towels. At night I would throw them in the dryer. We always had fresh towels. 30 minutes of my vacation every day for cooking and a load of laundry made for a well oiled machine.
Side note: We put bottled water, cokes, sprite and dp in the door of the frig to drink. Being Texans, we also make iced tea. Funny story: my husband prefers unsweet tea and the rest of us prefer REALLY sweet tea. There was only one tea pitcher though. I noticed that we didn't have a can opener so I knew I had to ask for Mousekeeping to deliver one. While I was on the phone I decided to ask and see if they could deliver yet a second tea pitcher. Always hospitable, of coarse they said yes. Mom answered the door when they came by and I could hear her laughing...turns out that they brought me a tea kettle! lol Not wanting to bug Mousekeeping I looked through the cabinets to see what if anything I could use to improvise. I found the blender. From then on we had a pitcher of unsweet tea and a blender of sweet! lol

 

[traceyg]

So after three days of traveling (we took our time and we stopped in West Monroe, LA to see the Duck Dynasty headquarters) we finally arrive to OKW.

I wait my turn and finally get up to the desk. She gets my name, driver license, types a few keys into her magic computer and then hands me the map. We ended up in building 62. Glorious 62! It was perfect! Close to the HH, had an elevator and we could see Illuminations fireworks at night. It was room 6222 to be exact, a 2bd. It was even a number I could remember! And our view was both water and golf coarse. How perfect can you get?

She hands me our STACK of key cards- yes, stack and says those magic words "Welcome Home!" H-E-A-V-E-N!

One of the kids grabbed the baby while the rest of us started grabbing stuff. I got the chore of unpacking everything, groceries, baby stuff etc while they did the grunt work of unloading the car. It worked out pretty good because I'm more meticulous about "where things live". My DH is more a "its somewhere over there" kinda guy.

If you remember, I was concerned about not liking OKW. But in the end we all enjoyed it very much. "Quaint" is a good adjective. The room was beautiful! The grounds were pretty and it was soooo quiet. We were on the second floor and I was concerned we'd hear neighbors but we never heard a thing.

My DH declared that he'd like to stay at each property one time to get a feel for them all. SOLD! He even started talking "add ons"! Of coarse he was in the jacuzzi with the bubble bath I'd just bought from Basin and some Texas Tea I'd bought from Publix, but hey, HE was the one talking! We decided that when we start getting grandkids that we are going to need more points.

Mom and dad were pretty much in awe. When I explained to mom our rationale of buying I think it eleviated her intial fears of thinking "time share". They really enjoyed being with the kids and having a place to actually relax.

Enough food for sustainable life.... check
Perfect room............................ check
the tickets....
ECV service...
the parks......
meeting Mickey Mouse....
did the surley 14 year old and grumpy 17 year old end up having a good time.......

 

[TinkerKeeks]

Sounds like you had an amazing trip. Can't wait to read more

 

[traceyg]

Sounds like you had an amazing trip. Can't wait to read more

Thanks! The only thing that would have made it any better was the crowd level. I decided not to stress over it though so it was no big deal.