Is it December Yet?? Cancelled with a Heavy Heart!

[DizNee Luver]

Thanks for the welcome!

Wow, times two! You must have nerves and patience of steel!



Congrats on the lower fares and adding resorts! I hope the money comes in soon so you can book!

The pictures and videos of AoA look awesome! The dining options look interesting on the disney food blog http://www.disneyfoodblog.com/2012/...ation-resort-landscape-of-flavors-food-court/ . There is a surf and turf burger with my name on it! Have you stayed at Pop before?

I think this being round two of us parenting (my first born is 27), helps with dealing with the needs of all 4 of the kiddos we've adopted......but also being in my late 40's takes its toll. I'm tired all the time.

I hope we get that money in time to get those lower priced tickets.....but we'll just have to wait and see. I'd love to be able to stay (even just the one night) at both of the other resorts....just to see them & get more pictures!!

We've never been to WDW.......so this is a whole new world for us!!

 

[lovethattink]

I think this being round two of us parenting (my first born is 27), helps with dealing with the needs of all 4 of the kiddos we've adopted......but also being in my late 40's takes its toll. I'm tired all the time.

I hope we get that money in time to get those lower priced tickets.....but we'll just have to wait and see. I'd love to be able to stay (even just the one night) at both of the other resorts....just to see them & get more pictures!!

We've never been to WDW.......so this is a whole new world for us!!

I hear you! I'm mid-40's and some days I am completely exhausted. He keeps me on my toes!

WDW is HUGE!! There is so much to see and do. We have lived here for 12 years and still haven't done everything WDW has to offer. It is a whole world of it's own!

You may want to consider Touring Plans or Ridemax. I subscribe to touring plans and it's helped me, though others prefer Ridemax. There are discount codes available for TP from time to time, I think I got my discount code from either subscribing to the email list of Mousesavers.com or allears.net which are both free and have great info!

 

[DizNee Luver]

I hear you! I'm mid-40's and some days I am completely exhausted. He keeps me on my toes!

WDW is HUGE!! There is so much to see and do. We have lived here for 12 years and still haven't done everything WDW has to offer. It is a whole world of it's own!

You may want to consider Touring Plans or Ridemax. I subscribe to touring plans and it's helped me, though others prefer Ridemax. There are discount codes available for TP from time to time, I think I got my discount code from either subscribing to the email list of Mousesavers.com or allears.net which are both free and have great info!

I hear about people using these plans, but we've never used them before. We've sat down & figured out what are must do's and going down to can miss things. We know we won't be able to do it all (especially with us doing mostly sit-down meals)....but we put meals, entertainment, rides, seeing other resorts, etc as being ALL part of the experience.

The only schedule we keep to on our Disney (Disneyland) trips is reservations & entertainment. We do the rides in between........lol I'm trying to research as much as possible so we'll be ready or at least as ready as I can be.

 

[lovethattink]

I hear about people using these plans, but we've never used them before. We've sat down & figured out what are must do's and going down to can miss things. We know we won't be able to do it all (especially with us doing mostly sit-down meals)....but we put meals, entertainment, rides, seeing other resorts, etc as being ALL part of the experience.

The only schedule we keep to on our Disney (Disneyland) trips is reservations & entertainment. We do the rides in between........lol I'm trying to research as much as possible so we'll be ready or at least as ready as I can be.

We don't use the touring plans, but we do use the crowd calendars from those sites to pick which park to go to.

Here is a link to a free one. The links to the crowd calendars are on the right hand side http://www.easywdw.com/ Josh does a pretty good explanation on why to go to this park or skip that one each day.

 

[DizNee Luver]

We don't use the touring plans, but we do use the crowd calendars from those sites to pick which park to go to.

Here is a link to a free one. The links to the crowd calendars are on the right hand side http://www.easywdw.com/ Josh does a pretty good explanation on why to go to this park or skip that one each day.

Oh, I did look at the crowd calendar & the parks suggested to go to or miss on certain days. For the most part we did pretty good in figuring out our days.....I think I have 2 days that aren't THE worst park for that day but 2nd worst.....but crowd levels are ranked at a "4".......so I believe we'll be ok.

That was the sight I went to!!! Easy to read and help plan out which park. We're not doing parkhoppers, so we definitely wanted to make good decisions for the park we were going to each day.

 

[RooRach0906]

Been looking at flights & finding the times I want & being scared of the prices.......Mike & I talked about it, so I priced out leaving on a Thursday & returning on a Monday to see if that would help......HUGE DIFFERENCE in prices. We've been looking at over $4000!!! Well looking at the new days & we could get our flights for under $2900!!! So then I looked at adding a night at the Pop Century (2 nights) for the night we arrive (Dec 6) and the Art of Animation (1 std rm/1 suite) for the night before leaving (Dec 16) and we'd still save money going this route (and it gives us a chance to see & stay at 2 more resorts!!!!) Now.......I just need to get that money from the IRS & I can secure our plane tickets before those prices are gone!!

Wooohoo to staying a little longer.... hoping it all works out for you!!!!

PS ~ I like the new avatar

 

[GoofySon'sMom]

Yay! We almost always do a room only night before we check in for our package. This year we are actually doing two plus one at the end of our package. We are debating on Art of Animation for our last night because I really want to see the Resort. We love POP - I think you will like it there. But I do want to try to stay at all of the resorts so I am debating AoA or AllStar Movies for our last night. Big difference in price!

 

[Sherry E]

Laurie -

I must admit that I've been kind of depressed and down in the dumps this week. I was feeling quite blue, and then I read your latest news about pricing everything out and adding on extra nights to stay at Pop Century and Art of Animation - and it brought an instant smile to my face!

So, you are telling us that by changing your dates a bit and adding on extra nights, as well as adding on 2 extra hotels to your plan, you are cutting costs from what your original price point/budget was going to be? Wow! So it really does pay to make a longer trip to WDW, whereas at DLR it's not like that. One can land in the poorhouse by adding on extra hotel nights at DLR!

Anyway, I hope this works out the way it's looking like it will. It seems like the trip plans just keep getting better and better, and more well-rounded. Thank goodness you are so meticulous about starting your plans way in advance (to allow lots of wiggle room for changes to the agenda) and pricing everything out, re-pricing everything out...and then pricing it all out again! I know a lot of people who would not only wait until the last minute to plan anything - even a trip to WDW - but they would also just settle on a price and never really delve into reworking things a bit to get more for less $$$.

I can't wait for your trip to begin, and the sheer bounty of photos it will produce. I wish I could stow away in the luggage and go with you!

By the way, are you going to pre-order the PhotoPass CD for WDW? I know that the discount for pre-ordering used to be pretty good (unlike the DLR CD, which makes no sense to pre-order). I'm not sure what it is now.

 

[Trentmom]

It is amazing what changing days you fly can save. Weekend is killer and weekday is always cheaper to fly. Hope money comes soon so you can secure those flight.

 

[DizNee Luver]

Wooohoo to staying a little longer.... hoping it all works out for you!!!!

PS ~ I like the new avatar

I hope so too....I know those lower priced fares won't last long!!

The new avatar is a close up from the Disneyland Hotel tree last December. Beautiful colors on it!!

Yay! We almost always do a room only night before we check in for our package. This year we are actually doing two plus one at the end of our package. We are debating on Art of Animation for our last night because I really want to see the Resort. We love POP - I think you will like it there. But I do want to try to stay at all of the resorts so I am debating AoA or AllStar Movies for our last night. Big difference in price!

Are you going before the Little Mermaid section (of standard rooms) open up at the AofA??? They are the same price as the values. We're debating on doing 2 of those or 1 of those & 1 suite (we'd be far away from each other.....but it would give me lots of photo ops!!)

Does WDW move your luggage from one resort to another??? Mike was asking.....I figured we're on our own.....but doesn't hurt to ask!!

Laurie -

I must admit that I've been kind of depressed and down in the dumps this week. I was feeling quite blue, and then I read your latest news about pricing everything out and adding on extra nights to stay at Pop Century and Art of Animation - and it brought an instant smile to my face!

So, you are telling us that by changing your dates a bit and adding on extra nights, as well as adding on 2 extra hotels to your plan, you are cutting costs from what your original price point/budget was going to be? Wow! So it really does pay to make a longer trip to WDW, whereas at DLR it's not like that. One can land in the poorhouse by adding on extra hotel nights at DLR!

Anyway, I hope this works out the way it's looking like it will. It seems like the trip plans just keep getting better and better, and more well-rounded. Thank goodness you are so meticulous about starting your plans way in advance (to allow lots of wiggle room for changes to the agenda) and pricing everything out, re-pricing everything out...and then pricing it all out again! I know a lot of people who would not only wait until the last minute to plan anything - even a trip to WDW - but they would also just settle on a price and never really delve into reworking things a bit to get more for less $$$.

I can't wait for your trip to begin, and the sheer bounty of photos it will produce. I wish I could stow away in the luggage and go with you!

By the way, are you going to pre-order the PhotoPass CD for WDW? I know that the discount for pre-ordering used to be pretty good (unlike the DLR CD, which makes no sense to pre-order). I'm not sure what it is now.

I'm sorry you're down in the dumps......maybe you're having sympathy pains for me. I tell you, I'm in a funk. I think with life crashing around me and it's starting to take it's toll.

So, yes.....changing flying days from Friday to Thursday and from Sunday to Monday does make enough of a difference that adding on 2 extra nights still keeps the price cheaper (and we're back to flying into Orlando vs Tampa). I just hope we can take advantage of the lower prices before they're all sold out.

I wish you could join us......I know we'd have an amazing time!!!

So we're not going to pre-order the photopass CD because we want to get the Photopass + which right now can only be purchased at WDW (parks & some resorts). The plus will get us all our on-ride pics included as well as most of the character meal pics....so I won't have to purchase those separately (and you know how fast that can add up!).

It is amazing what changing days you fly can save. Weekend is killer and weekday is always cheaper to fly. Hope money comes soon so you can secure those flight.

Me too!!! I didn't figure Mike could take the extra days....but he said he had extra days to use up......so gonna try & take full advantage of that!!!

 

[Sherry E]

Oh, I see. Yep, the PhotoPass+ situation makes much more sense for your group. I totally forgot about that. Good thinking.

It makes me wonder what's going to happen with PhotoPass for DLR. Even though the new lands (CL and BVS) may give us only one or two extra PhotoPass photo spots, Disney tends to get crazy with its price hikes when new stuff is added. I can see them going way overboard with a CD price hike now (still for only 2 parks, though).

Wow - only 6 more months until you are WDW-bound! I knew this year was going to fly by, for some reason. I know 6 months sounds like an eternity, but considering that 6 months ago you and I were at Disneyland together, with Molly and Liza, you can see how quickly the time is zipping by! You will be soaking in the WDW holiday magic in no time!

 

[DizNee Luver]

Oh, I see. Yep, the PhotoPass+ situation makes much more sense for your group. I totally forgot about that. Good thinking.

It makes me wonder what's going to happen with PhotoPass for DLR. Even though the new lands (CL and BVS) may give us only one or two extra PhotoPass photo spots, Disney tends to get crazy with its price hikes when new stuff is added. I can see them going way overboard with a CD price hike now (still for only 2 parks, though).

Wow - only 6 more months until you are WDW-bound! I knew this year was going to fly by, for some reason. I know 6 months sounds like an eternity, but considering that 6 months ago you and I were at Disneyland together, with Molly and Liza, you can see how quickly the time is zipping by! You will be soaking in the WDW holiday magic in no time!

Hopefully DL will keep the photopass CD where it's at. There may be new areas, but as you said......it's still only 2 parks.......so they need to be careful in raising prices.

Hard to believe it's been 6 months since I was soaking in all the holiday goodness at DL with you & the gals. Its been a hard six months though......really hoping the next six months are much better, less stress & definitely less sadness. I get to do our ADR's at 3am Sunday morning online.....and then we'll be set!! I feel confident in getting everything I want!!!

I probably won't be sleeping great that night anyways since Derek will be getting on a plane at 11:30pm for Orlando. Sure gonna miss that kid.....but look forward to seeing his pictures, stories & insider tips for our family.

 

[debrapagliasotti]

Yea for the possibility of extra nights at WDW!!!!!!!! I hope you get that money in quick AND the airfare doesnt change between now and then!

Saturday is almost here! Cant wait to hear how you do with your ADRs!!

 

[DizNee Luver]

Yea for the possibility of extra nights at WDW!!!!!!!! I hope you get that money in quick AND the airfare doesnt change between now and then!

Saturday is almost here! Cant wait to hear how you do with your ADRs!!

I sure hope we can get in on that lower prices.....a couple extra nights (and extra resorts) would be awesome!!!!

I'll definitely report how I do on the ADR's.....I do them Sunday!!

 

[lovethattink]

If you can work it out to stay at Art of Animation, you won't regret it!! We had to drop off ds at the airport tonight and I didn't want to leave Orlando until his plane was off the ground. We ate supper at the Art of Animation food court. The resort is beautiful and pictures don't do it justice!!

 

[DizNee Luver]

If you can work it out to stay at Art of Animation, you won't regret it!! We had to drop off ds at the airport tonight and I didn't want to leave Orlando until his plane was off the ground. We ate supper at the Art of Animation food court. The resort is beautiful and pictures don't do it justice!!

I sure wish we could get away with 7 people in the suite......but rules are rules!! We'd probably do 2 standard rooms (Little Mermaid themed)....since we'd be together & it's cheaper. But I'd love to get the suite just so I could get pictures of it!!!

 

[GoofySon'sMom]

Are you going before the Little Mermaid section (of standard rooms) open up at the AofA??? They are the same price as the values. We're debating on doing 2 of those or 1 of those & 1 suite (we'd be far away from each other.....but it would give me lots of photo ops!!)

Does WDW move your luggage from one resort to another??? Mike was asking.....I figured we're on our own.....but doesn't hurt to ask!!

Yep. It is scheduled to open the week we leave. But if we can swing it, I want to stay in the Lion King suite anyway. Andrew and I are (hopefully) taking a Mom & Son trip next year and I will look into the Little Mermaid section versus Pop. We'll see.

I do believe that Disney will move your luggage but I am so controlling that I do it myself! We will have a rental car this year so I will just load it up and take it with us when we recheck in and leave it if the room isn't ready. We are starting at Animal Kingdom Lodge for two nights, then moving to Coronado for 8, then somewhere for our last night. We have never actually changed resorts before. Our room only nights were always at the same hotel so we just re-checked in. We'll see how it goes this year.

 

[DizNee Luver]

Yep. It is scheduled to open the week we leave. But if we can swing it, I want to stay in the Lion King suite anyway. Andrew and I are (hopefully) taking a Mom & Son trip next year and I will look into the Little Mermaid section versus Pop. We'll see.

I do believe that Disney will move your luggage but I am so controlling that I do it myself! We will have a rental car this year so I will just load it up and take it with us when we recheck in and leave it if the room isn't ready. We are starting at Animal Kingdom Lodge for two nights, then moving to Coronado for 8, then somewhere for our last night. We have never actually changed resorts before. Our room only nights were always at the same hotel so we just re-checked in. We'll see how it goes this year.

I'd love to do the Lion King suite!!! If I win the lottery between now & then.....we'll do that one!!

I'm kinda OCD, and would probably prefer to handle my luggage myself anyways. Do you think its safe to leave luggage in your vehicle at the resort parking lots?? Just wondering if we need to lug it all in on the first night & then lug it all back to the car and into the registration area of POFQ? Are plan is to park the car at the FQ and take the boat over to DTD for the day. Just want opinions on how safe leaving stuff in the vehicles is.

 

[lovethattink]

I sure wish we could get away with 7 people in the suite......but rules are rules!! We'd probably do 2 standard rooms (Little Mermaid themed)....since we'd be together & it's cheaper. But I'd love to get the suite just so I could get pictures of it!!!

I think any room whether regular guest room or suite would be just perfect at AoA!! It's an amazingly well put together resort! I like the idea of inside corridor rooms too! If we ever get to stay there, I'd want the cars area. Radiator springs looked amazing from what little we saw!

I'd love to do the Lion King suite!!! If I win the lottery between now & then.....we'll do that one!!

I'm kinda OCD, and would probably prefer to handle my luggage myself anyways. Do you think its safe to leave luggage in your vehicle at the resort parking lots?? Just wondering if we need to lug it all in on the first night & then lug it all back to the car and into the registration area of POFQ? Are plan is to park the car at the FQ and take the boat over to DTD for the day. Just want opinions on how safe leaving stuff in the vehicles is.

We have left our luggage in the car many times on property, though not over night. DTD is the only place where I would be a little nervous about leaving it in the car as that is where you read about more thefts. Be sure to keep your doors locked and no valuables within sight. I read a TR recently that had b-day presents and electronic equipment stolen from a car at Port Orleans. We have left electronic equipment in the car over night many times and never had a problem. But after that report we have made sure to hide them in the trunk or under seats out of view.

FQ did have security driving through the parking lot when we stayed there a few months ago.

 

[DizNee Luver]

I think any room whether regular guest room or suite would be just perfect at AoA!! It's an amazingly well put together resort! I like the idea of inside corridor rooms too! If we ever get to stay there, I'd want the cars area. Radiator springs looked amazing from what little we saw!



We have left our luggage in the car many times on property, though not over night. DTD is the only place where I would be a little nervous about leaving it in the car as that is where you read about more thefts. Be sure to keep your doors locked and no valuables within sight. I read a TR recently that had b-day presents and electronic equipment stolen from a car at Port Orleans. We have left electronic equipment in the car over night many times and never had a problem. But after that report we have made sure to hide them in the trunk or under seats out of view.

FQ did have security driving through the parking lot when we stayed there a few months ago.

The Radiator Spring section reminds me of CarsLand which is opening next week at Disney's California Adventure. The pics do look amazing.....but the Lion King movie has a special place in our hearts (especially with my 20 something sons) I love the Little Mermaid, so me & Addy would be in heaven staying in that room.....lol

I wouldn't want to leave the car full at DTD and hesitant to leave luggage in over night at one of the resorts.....but the thought of lugging 7 peoples suitcases & carry-ons for an overnight stay seems daunting.....lol