HELP!!!!!! More Disney Dreams to fulfill! 09/04 Exciting news!

[jenseib]

Wow...I love the pins.

 

[dizneeat]

Okay, here come the trip related updates!

Over the holidays Tom and I have been discussing details our summer vacation (and even our summer vacation 2013 ) and decided on a few changes to our vacation.

First off, we had changed the destination of our flights before we booked them in November.
In the beginning we wanted to fly to Miami to start off our vacation. Now the flights were about the same as flights into Orlando and since both flights arrive in the afternoon/evening we decided to stick with MCO.

So, since we arrive around 7pm, then have to go through immigration and customs we will just spend the first night at the Hyatt at the airport and then pick up our rental car in the morning.
After breakfast at WPE we will then drive to Key Largo (and maybe we will stop in Miami for an early dinner at Bubba Gump's) where we will stay at the Courtyard by Mariott.

The next three nights we will spend at the Southernmost on the beach in Key West and the next change is, that we will not spend the night in Key Largo again but go on to Fort Lauderdale where we will spend one more night at the Sun Tower Hotel and Suites before heading to WDW and our stay at the Contemporary Club Level.

And that concludes the updates for our summer trip!

 

[dizneeat]

Yay for more trips. I need you guys to telecommunicate to Skip that many trips are a good thing.

Sending lots of trip thought to Skip! Hope he gets them .....
Many trips a year are just the best thing ever! And those trips within Europe are pretty affordable. Italy is a 5 hour drive and we go in value season, so the apartment is VERY cheap and I plan on using free flights to Paris!

Karin can you adopt me? I am 39 but I don't take up much room

Hm, I might consider it, if you include your daughters in the deal as well!

That is so nice!

Jeff and his family are just such nice people. You would love them too, Jen!

 

[dizneeat]

Oh, Karin, what a wonderful couple of days of surprises!!! I am so happy for you and Tom and no one deserves it more...you are one of the sweetest, kindest DISers I've ever had the honor to "meet". We still have the Disneyland Paris magnet on the fridge and have candles in the lovely candle holders close to our Creche...and Sophia puts the ornaments on the tree and I tell her about our friends who sent them to us from Austria - which I show her on the globe (being only 3 it's still a bit baffling) and I show her photos on line of you and Tom.

I am still hoping that one of these years, sooner rather than later, we will meet and share some Disney fun in person. (I want to dine at California Grill with you two)

That is so nice of you to say, Christine.
I am glad you liked the gifts we sent you, and that Sophia enjoys the ornaments as well.
I am sure some time in the future we will meet and then we HAVE TO have that dinner at the CG!

Wow...I love the pins.

They are so cool, Jen! I just can't believe that he gave us such a wonderful gift!

 

[Minnie&Nana]

Nice changes, Karin!

A word to the wise, as we say here... Be careful at the MCO Hyatt as there have been oodles of bedbug reports. The US has an infestation of bedbugs and of course the critters can be found anywhere, even at Disney resorts, but the MCO Hyatt, being at the airport, has had quite a lot of problems with the unwelcome critter visitors.

Had to take another look at those fabulous pins..and the Disney map from Ron is fantastic - a real treasure!

 

[dizneeat]

After a lot of discussion Tom and I have decided to stick with our reservation for Remy on Day 3 of our vacation.

Therefore I changed that day's planning.

Here is the link to the new itinerary!

DAY 3, February 20

Thanks Abby for pointing me in the right direction!

 

[tinacaplan]

WOW! What amazing gifts. I have to pick my jaw up off the ground after that beautiful print from Ron. Just amazing. When people ask why we're going to Disney again...well, its for reasons like this. I'm so happy to hear that your loyalty has been so richly rewarded.

Now...if you could just get on with your February plans.

 

[dizneeat]

Nice changes, Karin!

A word to the wise, as we say here... Be careful at the MCO Hyatt as there have been oodles of bedbug reports. The US has an infestation of bedbugs and of course the critters can be found anywhere, even at Disney resorts, but the MCO Hyatt, being at the airport, has had quite a lot of problems with the unwelcome critter visitors.

Had to take another look at those fabulous pins..and the Disney map from Ron is fantastic - a real treasure!

Thanks for the hint, Christine! I googled the Hyatt at MCO and it didn't have a bed bug alert on any of the sites ........ shockingly enough there are several Disney resorts which do!!!!!
I never even thought about bed bugs - they are not common here. I am glad I made a refundable reservation - maybe we will try "another" hotel instead.

The pins are awesome, aren't they! I am going to take good care of them!

 

[dizneeat]

WOW! What amazing gifts. I have to pick my jaw up off the ground after that beautiful print from Ron. Just amazing. When people ask why we're going to Disney again...well, its for reasons like this. I'm so happy to hear that your loyalty has been so richly rewarded.

Now...if you could just get on with your February plans.

Haven't I done enough updates today?
I promise to post some more updates tomorrow - it's nearly midnight here and I need to do a lot of shopping tomorrow which means getting up early.

Ron is amazing isn't he? I could not believe that HE would send US a present. He gives us such immaculate service every time, and now to receive such a gift - I am sooooooooo happy!

Okay, time for me to call it a day!

 

[Minnie&Nana]

Thanks for the hint, Christine! I googled the Hyatt at MCO and it didn't have a bed bug alert on any of the sites ........ shockingly enough there are several Disney resorts which do!!!!!
I never even thought about bed bugs - they are not common here. I am glad I made a refundable reservation - maybe we will try "another" hotel instead.

The pins are awesome, aren't they! I am going to take good care of them!

That is great that the Hyatt isn't on the bedbug registry anymore! Of course, any guest could bring in the critters at any time and at any hotel, top of the line or not. The US began having a problem a few years ago...around 2006 is when it became serious. I never remember the name of the chemical that was stopped being used due to causing cancer, but nothing else has been found to work as well and really, the info did not even become public as a serious issue until about 2 yrs ago.

Now I check anywhere we stay very carefully - the last thing we want is unseen hitchhiker's coming home!

Some DISers will say it is not serious at Disney, but unfortunately it is...they can only treat rooms when guests report a problem and they do take care of guests clothing, luggage etc if it does happen.

So just be careful and enjoy!!

Loved the updates today!!

 

[Wicket's Mom]

What wonderful gifts that you received! I really like those pins, they are amazing!

Your other trips look great, too! We usually take several short trips a year, plus one big one. I don't know if we will get back to WDW this year, but will for sure in 2013. We will be going to Florida in February, but won't be going to Disney.

 

[englishrose47]

Karin 2 companies in the Pest Control business told me they all spray with OFF each Day !!Doesn't kill the Bed bUgs but keeps them OFF you!!!!I too check the beds in any hotel !!I have noticed more and more are using the Bedbug mattress covers !! I think this is the best way to control them as the little bugs can't escape the mattress and eventually die !!

Your plans sound great for February!!!

 

[dizneeat]

That is great that the Hyatt isn't on the bedbug registry anymore! Of course, any guest could bring in the critters at any time and at any hotel, top of the line or not. The US began having a problem a few years ago...around 2006 is when it became serious. I never remember the name of the chemical that was stopped being used due to causing cancer, but nothing else has been found to work as well and really, the info did not even become public as a serious issue until about 2 yrs ago.

Now I check anywhere we stay very carefully - the last thing we want is unseen hitchhiker's coming home!

Some DISers will say it is not serious at Disney, but unfortunately it is...they can only treat rooms when guests report a problem and they do take care of guests clothing, luggage etc if it does happen.

So just be careful and enjoy!!

Loved the updates today!!

I really hope that we won't run into bedbugs, I looked them up and they look creepy
I need to read up on how to check for them, but we still have 6 more weeks to get up to speed on everything.

And Christine, you won't believe the Pixie Dust we were sprinkled with today - I am doing an update when I am finished with replies, so please stay tuned!!!

What wonderful gifts that you received! I really like those pins, they are amazing!

Your other trips look great, too! We usually take several short trips a year, plus one big one. I don't know if we will get back to WDW this year, but will for sure in 2013. We will be going to Florida in February, but won't be going to Disney.

I could not believe how fortunate we are to have such generous friends, first off Jeff and his family and their sweet gifts, then Ron and his terrific gifts and today we got another sprinkling of Pixie dust, well, I would rather call it a bucket load of it! I'll reveal in the next update!

Karin 2 companies in the Pest Control business told me they all spray with OFF each Day !!Doesn't kill the Bed bUgs but keeps them OFF you!!!!I too check the beds in any hotel !!I have noticed more and more are using the Bedbug mattress covers !! I think this is the best way to control them as the little bugs can't escape the mattress and eventually die !!

Your plans sound great for February!!!

I think I still have a bottle of OFF somewhere - what do I do with it? Spray the beds? .. the room? ... that stuff "smells".
I would be thankful for any information and help - we stay in so many different hotels this year, better save than sorry!
Wait for my update, Rosie - you won't believe what happened today!

 

[dizneeat]

Okay, I know I had a lot of updates yesterday, posting all the nice gifts and changes in our trip, but you will NOT believe what happened today!!!!

Let me explain!

When I got home from shopping this evening I saw the light on my answering machine blinking. I checked the number and it was 407 something - yikes that is a Disney number, I thought.
My mind raced, what could it mean, well, most likely they will not be able to finish the Royal Guest Rooms in time, so we will have to move - that was what I came up with.
Then I pressed the button and listened to the message - needless to say it had to do with our reservation at Port Orleans.
They left a number to call back, so I pulled up the reservation on my computer and sat down to call them. Fun thing - there was only an answering machine and they requested name and phone number - so I told them.
About an hour later my phone rings again and there it is that 407 number - so I picked up and got a very nice guy informing me that the Royal Guest Rooms we had booked would not be available for our check in date and they would like to know where we would like to stay now.

"Are you kidding me?" I thought and I guess I paused too long as he said, we could stay at POR or we could move "somewhere else".
He then asked if we had ever stayed at WDW before and after making sure we had he went on to ask, what resort we would like.
My heart raced, as I thought if he was offering me an upgrade and so I sheepishly asked, which resorts had availability and what he would recommend.

He told me that ALL resorts were open apart from the Contemporary (buhuu, I would have loved to stay there ) and Bay Lake Tower (no interest, as we are going to stay there anyway AFTER the cruise!) and then he went on and suggested



why not stay at

the POLYNESIAN RESORT!!!!!

While it is not our favourite resort, we have not stayed there yet and the good thing is that the difference in price between POR and the POLY is on Disney! Yes, we are getting an upgrade!!!!!! (And yes, I am a greedy person and I checked prices on their site and our room would come to 658$ without any discounts and around 500$ with an AP discount - we paid a mere 210$ for it!!!!!!!!! Now that's a discount I like!

So this means that we will change and tweak our arrival day a bit - once we have arrived at the Poly we will drop our luggage, head to the Monorail and try to catch a little Magic Kingdom magic and watch Wishes. What a nice way to start off our vacation.

Thank you Uncle Walt! We LOVE you!!!!!!!

 

[Minnie&Nana]

I really hope that we won't run into bedbugs, I looked them up and they look creepy
I need to read up on how to check for them, but we still have 6 more weeks to get up to speed on everything.

And Christine, you won't believe the Pixie Dust we were sprinkled with today - I am doing an update when I am finished with replies, so please stay tuned!!!


I think I still have a bottle of OFF somewhere - what do I do with it? Spray the beds? .. the room? ... that stuff "smells".
I would be thankful for any information and help - we stay in so many different hotels this year, better save than sorry!
Wait for my update, Rosie - you won't believe what happened today!

How exciting - more PD!!

OFF will only keep them away from climbing on your luggage, but that is not even a guarantee ~ we keep our luggage off the floor, pack clothing in special zip lock bags and put those in the drawers, check the mattress, behind the headboard and drawers - take along a small flashlight for checking. Then we relax and enjoy!!

http://www.bedbugs.umn.edu/Travelers/index.htm

Can hardly wait for the update!!!!

 

[annmarieda]

Very nice gifts!

And...

I think I am jumping up and down a bit here. I am so so SO excited for you to get that upgrade!!! You deserve it!!!! How absolutely fabulous!!

 

[jedijill]

What a fantastic upgrade! Congrats!!!

Jill in CO

 

[Minnie&Nana]

OMG!!! Karin, just the other day I read about guests who had reserved a Royal Room being moved and offered deluxe resorts...I thought of you, but didn't think it would affect you because you'd not said anything....but The Polynesian is our home resort and it will always be the resort of my heart.

It is in need of a refurb, but not awful...oh and may I suggest a room request? Figi Marina side ~ many rooms have a view of the lagoon, CR and the Electrical Water Pageant - not straight, but still nice! Tokelau has the largest rooms (and Tahiti and Rapa Nui, but Tokelau has nicer views from most rooms). We could see the end of the lagoon, ferries going back and forth, the monorail gliding out of CR, the top of WL...all in a GV room. AND when you walk down the hall from your Toakelau beach end rooms the Castle is looking right back at you from the glass door to the deck, which leads to the beach.

I am SO EXCITED for you and Tom!!!! Congrats!!

 

[jenseib]

oh my goodness. They must be running way behind to know that already. What an upgrade...woo hooo. I'm not sure what I would've picked. Maybe GF just because it was on Disney. LOL

 

[tinacaplan]

WOW! When we see eachother we'll be able to compare notes about the Poly! That is amazing. So happy for you. I've been hearing about people being upgraded that week from mods to deluxes. Does that mean its going to be crazy busy that week? Well, yes of course. So, so, so happy for you and Tom!