It's Family-moon time!

[momto3gr8boys]

Thanks, D! I hope I can figure out how to make that planner...haven't even had a minute to try yet.

Great Disney news! We are OFFICIALLY booked!! WooHoo!! I got the confirmations from ***, cancelled my existing reservations, and was able to link up to the website (sort of). I entered all my reservations, but now it is only showing two of the four. There's still some problems with the system, but they are in there somewhere!

The only thing we may change is the level of room at the BC. It was such a good deal, I asked the TA to check club level prices for me. If it's not a huge jump, I may go with it for the BC only. As of now I'm still paying rack rate for the Poly so no splurging there! Fingers crossed some kind of discount comes out over the next few months.

I began studying the calendar and trying to plan out some ADRs this morning, and was checking a few crowd calendars (which were conflicting) and didn't end up getting very far! I'll try again later.

 

[DMGeurts]

Thanks, D! I hope I can figure out how to make that planner...haven't even had a minute to try yet.

Do you do any Photoshop? That's how I do mine... But I know others that have used other programs like Word - I am sure you could do it in almost anything.

Great Disney news! We are OFFICIALLY booked!! WooHoo!! I got the confirmations from ***, cancelled my existing reservations, and was able to link up to the website (sort of). I entered all my reservations, but now it is only showing two of the four. There's still some problems with the system, but they are in there somewhere!

Congrats!! So, what are your offical dates then?

The only thing we may change is the level of room at the BC. It was such a good deal, I asked the TA to check club level prices for me. If it's not a huge jump, I may go with it for the BC only. As of now I'm still paying rack rate for the Poly so no splurging there! Fingers crossed some kind of discount comes out over the next few months.

So, don't leave us in suspense... What kind of deal did you end up with?

I began studying the calendar and trying to plan out some ADRs this morning, and was checking a few crowd calendars (which were conflicting) and didn't end up getting very far! I'll try again later.

I use Touring Plans exclusively, and they have never done me wrong. I don't always follow their "recommended park" but I definately don't go into the "avoid" park either. LOL

D~

 

[StitchIsOurHero]

So glad that it's all booked!! And a big yay for potential CL! It looks like it's all coming together! I am one of those people who (oops!!) doesn't use a tour guide crowd-prediction system. I know lots of people have great success with them, though!!

 

[momto3gr8boys]

Do you do any Photoshop? That's how I do mine... But I know others that have used other programs like Word - I am sure you could do it in almost anything.

I used to have a Photoshop program, but I am sure I can find something to use!

Congrats!! So, what are your offical dates then?

Thanks! We are going August 18-23 at the Beach Club and the 23-27 at the Poly

So, don't leave us in suspense... What kind of deal did you end up with?

A great one! But I still don't know if I can justify CL. The deal I got from *** was $3600 for two rooms (connecting) at the BC (6 days, 5 nights) with 8 day PHs for five, plus a one day pass to either a water park, DQ or golf. Had I booked directly right now it would $5,900. Adding CL is $4500, so $900 more than what I am paying, and still much less than what I would have paid, but $900 is a lot of play money for some snacks and breakfast items, and I'm not really sure just how much we would use it. Plus, at the moment I am still paying rack rate for 4 nights for two rooms at the Poly. If a deal is released between now and the summer, whether it be through Disney or ***, I can get the lower price, so I may add it then, but for now, I am going to say no.

I use Touring Plans exclusively, and they have never done me wrong. I don't always follow their "recommended park" but I definately don't go into the "avoid" park either. LOL

D~

So glad that it's all booked!! And a big yay for potential CL! It looks like it's all coming together! I am one of those people who (oops!!) doesn't use a tour guide crowd-prediction system. I know lots of people have great success with them, though!!

I am not a hardcore planner with the crowd predictions...I'm not sure why I'm hung up on it now...I think the DISers are freaking me out with these fastpass nightmares, etc. lol. I think we will be fine. I'm just so excited to have everything booked!

 

[OregonMomToWDW]

Congrats on the official booking. We arrive a couple of days after you, but we are planning on eating at Poly a couple of times during our stay.
Touring plans just updated all their park info after the hours were released. I moved a couple of things around, but not much. I decided not to do Universal two days in a row, so those have changed. I tried the other sites, but decided to stick with touring plans. There is only one day that I didn't pick their best park and went with a neutral one.

 

[momto3gr8boys]

Congrats on the official booking. We arrive a couple of days after you, but we are planning on eating at Poly a couple of times during our stay.
Touring plans just updated all their park info after the hours were released. I moved a couple of things around, but not much. I decided not to do Universal two days in a row, so those have changed. I tried the other sites, but decided to stick with touring plans. There is only one day that I didn't pick their best park and went with a neutral one.

Where are you going to eat at Poly? I think I have it down to Ohana for dinner and kona for breakfast. I had thought about SOA, but after some reviews I'm going to stick with HDDR.

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[DMGeurts]

Where are you going to eat at Poly? I think I have it down to Ohana for dinner and kona for breakfast. I had thought about SOA, but after some reviews I'm going to stick with HDDR.

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We are also planning one breakfast at Ohana... I really wanted to do Kona, but the girls vetoed me. I am gonig to try for a late breakfast ADR on one of our days off, and I am just planning on being there at whatever time our ADR is and waiting to be seated for an hour, because it seems that Ohana has never been very prompt. Ever.

We need to try to do a Dismeet if we are ever in the same parks/same days.

D~

 

[momto3gr8boys]

We are also planning one breakfast at Ohana... I really wanted to do Kona, but the girls vetoed me. I am gonig to try for a late breakfast ADR on one of our days off, and I am just planning on being there at whatever time our ADR is and waiting to be seated for an hour, because it seems that Ohana has never been very prompt. Ever.

We need to try to do a Dismeet if we are ever in the same parks/same days.

D~

Yes we should! Or if I pass you while you are waiting for breakfast at O'hana . Tell me your dates again? We are planning a resort day at Poly on Saturday 8/24. I figured Saturdays are always so busy in the parks and that's a little more than half way through our stay...we will be wanting it then!

Ok, I wasted way too much time yesterday trying to plan and not planning anything at all . So today needs to be a little more productive (meaning I actually have to do non-Disney things ).

I did do my walk/run this morning. I started the C25k (couch to the 5k) program just before Christmas and today was week 5, day 2. I am hoping to lose some weight by summer, and do something I've never even dreamed of....exercise at Disney I would love to wake up early and go for a run around the BC and Poly areas. I would also LOVE to get to a point where I can actually do one of the runDisney events (what a great justification for a trip ).

Ok off to my day. I'm sure I'll be back soon (who am I kidding about a non-DIS day!)

 

[DMGeurts]

Yes we should! Or if I pass you while you are waiting for breakfast at O'hana . Tell me your dates again? We are planning a resort day at Poly on Saturday 8/24. I figured Saturdays are always so busy in the parks and that's a little more than half way through our stay...we will be wanting it then!

Ok, I wasted way too much time yesterday trying to plan and not planning anything at all . So today needs to be a little more productive (meaning I actually have to do non-Disney things ).

I did do my walk/run this morning. I started the C25k (couch to the 5k) program just before Christmas and today was week 5, day 2. I am hoping to lose some weight by summer, and do something I've never even dreamed of....exercise at Disney I would love to wake up early and go for a run around the BC and Poly areas. I would also LOVE to get to a point where I can actually do one of the runDisney events (what a great justification for a trip ).

Ok off to my day. I'm sure I'll be back soon (who am I kidding about a non-DIS day!)

We are planning to be at the Poly for Ohana on Fri, the 23rd. Hoping for a late breakfast that day.

Congrats on the c25k... It's an awesome program - I tried it once. LOL And then the Dr. said no more running for me ever - since my knees are so bad. So, I've resorted to things with a lot less impact. It's always been my dream to run, but I've decided that I don't need to do everything I dream about - I'll just settle for doing most of it, at a slower pace.

So, how did you do with the non-Dis day??? Let me know how that works for you... It's been several years since I've skipped a day here.

D~

 

[MyKidsMom1820]

Thanks, D! I hope I can figure out how to make that planner...haven't even had a minute to try yet.

Great Disney news! We are OFFICIALLY booked!! WooHoo!! I got the confirmations from ***, cancelled my existing reservations, and was able to link up to the website (sort of). I entered all my reservations, but now it is only showing two of the four. There's still some problems with the system, but they are in there somewhere!

The only thing we may change is the level of room at the BC. It was such a good deal, I asked the TA to check club level prices for me. If it's not a huge jump, I may go with it for the BC only. As of now I'm still paying rack rate for the Poly so no splurging there! Fingers crossed some kind of discount comes out over the next few months.

I began studying the calendar and trying to plan out some ADRs this morning, and was checking a few crowd calendars (which were conflicting) and didn't end up getting very far! I'll try again later.

Glad you are officially booked! cant wait to hear about your ADRs!!

 

[momto3gr8boys]

We are planning to be at the Poly for Ohana on Fri, the 23rd. Hoping for a late breakfast that day.

Congrats on the c25k... It's an awesome program - I tried it once. LOL And then the Dr. said no more running for me ever - since my knees are so bad. So, I've resorted to things with a lot less impact. It's always been my dream to run, but I've decided that I don't need to do everything I dream about - I'll just settle for doing most of it, at a slower pace.

So, how did you do with the non-Dis day??? Let me know how that works for you... It's been several years since I've skipped a day here.

D~

Hahaha...well I peeked on my phone a few times . Actually I sat with the August dates and a notebook at hockey practice tonight and made some headway. I'll type up my tentative itinerary tomorrow or Monday.

The 23rd is our move day...we will be checking out of the BC and heading over to the poly. You probably won't see us, but you may see our luggage .

Sorry about your knees. I have lower back problems so I'm going slow and steady on this. So far so good.

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[momto3gr8boys]

Glad you are officially booked! cant wait to hear about your ADRs!!

Thanks! I am having a hard time narrowing them down!

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[MyKidsMom1820]

Thanks! I am having a hard time narrowing them down!

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How often to you like to do sit downs? I wish we could do more, but our oldest is HFA or as some refer to it, aspergers, and is extremely picky of new foods, and our toddler is "strong willed" and "active" most times we are happier to do quicker service options, tho I did book chef mickeys so far.... I should really start my own PTR shouldn't I?

Do your boys still like character interactions?

 

[momto3gr8boys]

How often to you like to do sit downs? I wish we could do more, but our oldest is HFA or as some refer to it, aspergers, and is extremely picky of new foods, and our toddler is "strong willed" and "active" most times we are happier to do quicker service options, tho I did book chef mickeys so far.... I should really start my own PTR shouldn't I?

Do your boys still like character interactions?

We like to sit down to at least one full meal a day. When they were younger, we usually did a character breakfast every morning. Now they don't like getting up as early, which I have finally surrendered to...cranky tired teens are not fun, so we now alternate early days and maybe hit RD once or twice (mainly to hit TSM and the overall experience of RD at the MK). So that leaves us looking at dinners for most of our ADRs. We do a lot, but don't go commando where we need to be on the run all day. And we really do enjoy the experience of sitting down, regrouping and being served as opposed to eating on the run. If I were in your shoes, I would definitely do more QS and if I did TS, I would make it a buffet so you don't have to wait long for the food and there is usually the entertainment of the characters walking around so maybe that will appease your toddler

My boys are probably outgrowing the characters on some levels, but I still make them pose for pictures . Actually, my DS12 still loves them. And DS16 is moving into that age of having fun with them again. DS14 is just too for it all. He is actually the only one who has not submitted his request list to me. He loves Disney, but he's just happy to go and enjoy the parks and whatever we do, we do. But in general, I would say my kids are more Disney freaks and open to the silliness and fun of it all than most teens. Part of that is just the nostalgia of having done it their whole lives.

 

[Wanna be Ariel]

I am here!!! Wow that is a great savings. I cant wait to here the good and the bad about the Poly since you will be there a month before.

Sounds great so far. Ohana and Cape May's are 2 of my favorite dinner places at Disney. Cant wait to hear what you will pick.

 

[momto3gr8boys]

I am here!!! Wow that is a great savings. I cant wait to here the good and the bad about the Poly since you will be there a month before.

Sounds great so far. Ohana and Cape May's are 2 of my favorite dinner places at Disney. Cant wait to hear what you will pick.

Thanks for joining in! Cape May is a favorite of ours. I haven't eaten anywhere at poly in 13 years! I am looking forward to going back!

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[momto3gr8boys]

Ok in case you haven't seen this, this is an awesome tool to calculate your ADRs and decide if the DDP is for you. We will actually do better paying OOP based on this, which is what I thought being that we have several signature restaurants on our list.

Here's a video on how to use the table and the file. I saw this on another DIS post:


The video is here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7jMDgzoJLI8&list=UUkY9dkUEV93HxeRkD456VJg&index=1

The website with the file is here: http://www.seeyareelsoon.wix.com/seeyareelsoon

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[momto3gr8boys]

I have been ignoring this PTR for too many days and now I want to catch up! Ok, so first, I have super exciting news that I can't even believe I just did! Click here to see: http://disboards.com/showthread.php?p=47313001#post47313001 It's post #63

Ahhhh....ok, next post is back to THIS trip

 

[momto3gr8boys]

Ok, time to get back to planning this family-moon!

Just to recap, we are booked through ***, and I opted not to do CL at the BC for a number of reasons. The first being that in my reading up on the reviews of CL, it seemed like the BC one was among the less desirable...I'm sure everyone has their favorites, but "smaller" and "less" seemed to be the comparisons among the BC and the others, esp Poly, which seemed like a much better one. So, given that it will be the first few days of our trip and we will want to be on the go a bit more and we want to experience a number of Disney restaurants, I don't see us using it for more than breakfast and we could do five mornings of character meals for less than what it would cost us to go CL. Plus, after making the decision in my previous post I need to save that $$. And I plan to do that with a GG order to the BC. We did that last time and it saved time and money in the mornings and snack money (and time) during the days. If the kids want a Disney snack, it comes out of their own money.

Ok, so we are booked, air is bought, I can FINALLY see all of my reservations on My Disney Experience (ok, well the majority of the time it works) and we still have a few weeks to go until ADR time. Here is my thinking for our ADRs:

Day 1 (we arrive at MCO at 9:45 am):

Lunch: We will grab something wherever we are, probably try B&C and if no, HH, unless we head to a park first thing.
Dinner: Le Cellier or Via Naopli

Day 2:

Breakfast: in the room or we may grab something at the new bakery in France (is it still the Patisserie?)
Lunch: QS in Epcot - probably Sunshine Seasons since that is our fave. FW QS
Dinner: Flying Fish (DWI - not 100% we are going to do this yet) or dine around the world in WS

Day 3:

Breakfast: quick in the hotel
Lunch: Flame Tree
Dinner: Sci-Fi Dine in

Day 4:

Breakfast/Lunch - ? I am going to try to book the Wild Animal Trek this morning. It includes something to eat, so we wil probably eat in the room then head to AK.
Dinner: Chef Mickey's

Day 5:

Breakfast: Cape May
Lunch: QS at TL or BB
Dinner: Raglan Road

Day 6:

Breakfast - quick in the room
Lunch - 50's Prime Time
Dinner: ADR for BOG or QS in MK - probably CHH

Day 7:

Breakfast - Kona
Lunch - Capt. Cook's
Dinner- Ohana

Day 8:

Breakfast - in room or Capt. Cooks (I don't mind doing b'fast here...the BC MP is just so eh on breakfast)
Lunch - ? (Clara and I will be getting massages this morning at the GF, boys can go to whichever park they want and we will meet up with them, so QS somewhere)
Dinner - HDDR

Day 9:

Breakfast: in room or CC
Lunch: maybe Coral Reef - not set on this one yet
Dinner: ? again, not sure - maybe we will hop over to AK for dinner. I like spending one day until close over there...doesn't seem to be working this trip so far.


Day 10:

Breakfast - 1900 Park Fare
Lunch - QS in whichever park we are in - probably MK (may try for BOG if not too long of a wait)
Dinner - at MCO before boarding to go home - so

So, what do you think?

 

[OregonMomToWDW]

Your plans look great and congrats on booking the other fantastic trip too. I am jealous...a bit.