January 2009. . . Calling all Snowbirds ~ Part I !!!

[peach3es]

I am trying to lose weight, but it doesn't really have anything to do with Mickey! Thought that will be a bonus to be thinner in all the pictures!

Since last August I've lost about 35lbs and kept it off and I started back up again after taking some time off. I did gain a little during that time, so I realized I still need a strict diet and more help. I am more than halfway to my goal! I still want to lose 33lbs. I can do it, but once I get there I have to decide if I want to stay there or level off a little higher. Food is important to me, and I don't want to lose the joy of eating and enjoying good food!

But I am on a weightloss journey...I'll be healthier when I see Mickey!

 

[Momof2Disneyboys]

Hello Snowbirds!

Busy morning here with swimming lessons and grocery shopping. The good news is DS6 is finally swimming!! Not very far, but hey it's a start! He's so excited and I'm so proud of him!! DS9 has really taken off this summer as well, he can now swim the width of the pool at the college, not sure if he can make it the length or not yet.

 

[Momof2Disneyboys]

Morning all...

SHelly the only ADR i have is on

1/6 - 1900 Parkfare at 6:15.

Nobody in my family knew what they want so we decided to just do CS's while at the parks but i'm DEF doing that one with my DD. I missed that one in May...

Hey Mari! I couldn't remember if you were doing any ADR's or not in January since you have such a large group. I'm sure your DD will love Park Fare! We are going there too in January, the boys just don't know it yet! Of course they don't even know we are going to WDW! I figure Park Fare will be the best "princess" meal for boys. At least the mean step-sisters will keep them entertained, and I will finally get to see Cinderella!

 

[Momof2Disneyboys]

Thanks, we took your advice! Add-

1/26 Chef Mickey's 5:15pm

We forgot all about Chef Mickey's, glad we still were able to book a good ADR. Thanks again!

Glad you were able to get Chef Mickey's!

 

[mari360]

Hey Mari! I couldn't remember if you were doing any ADR's or not in January since you have such a large group. I'm sure your DD will love Park Fare! We are going there too in January, the boys just don't know it yet! Of course they don't even know we are going to WDW! I figure Park Fare will be the best "princess" meal for boys. At least the mean step-sisters will keep them entertained, and I will finally get to see Cinderella!

Yeah we did the CRT last year and it was ok. I think it was overpriced for the food you get. i thought it would be a little different since it's in the castle and has the princess and all but i wouldn't do that again.

 

[mari360]

I LOVE chef mickey's.... that one is a must for our trips... I really wanted to do that this Jan but with such a huge group i couldn't. Oh well and then it was 1 ADR in MK area so we choose 1900 parkfare.... In May 09 I will do ALL the adr's i want....

 

[amreli]

Are any of the Snowbirds trying to lose weight before their trip?

Yes... which is why I'm torturing myself running and attempting this half marathon thing in January... well, that and the excuse to go to Disney.

 

[Momof2Disneyboys]

Yeah we did the CRT last year and it was ok. I think it was overpriced for the food you get. i thought it would be a little different since it's in the castle and has the princess and all but i wouldn't do that again.

Yeah, like I've said before I have a hard time thinking that anything is worth 2 TS credits. . . . But you know how cheap I am!

I'm sure I would try CRT once if I had little girls!

 

[Momof2Disneyboys]

I LOVE chef mickey's.... that one is a must for our trips... I really wanted to do that this Jan but with such a huge group i couldn't. Oh well and then it was 1 ADR in MK area so we choose 1900 parkfare.... In May 09 I will do ALL the adr's i want....

You just love Chef Mickey's because it's where we finally met!! I'm so funny today!

We aren't doing Chef Mickey's in January either. I hope we don't regret it. We just want to try some new places.

 

[MindyLuvsMickey]

Count me in on the quest to lose weight before our January trip.

I have 25 to lose. It's just so hard. I lose weight but can't seem to keep it off.

On a side note . . . DH just took his vacation time at work! WAHOO! Looks like some of his co-workers will be in Orlando at the same time for business. Too bad we couldn't take the corporate jet down with them!

 

[Momof2Disneyboys]

I picked up one more thing for the trip last night at WalMart. A pack of 10 plastic hangers! There's never enough hangers at the Disney resorts for all my clothes! So for $1.17 I got 10 hangers and if there isn't enough room in my luggage to bring them home I will just leave them there!

 

[debbieandroo]

...could have happened except that I've been sitting around so much, reading the boards, that I think I've gained weight!

And, can you really gain weight by looking at food pics?

Seriously, I do plan, when it gets cooler, to get a little more active - walking, etc. for a lot of reasons, one of which would be so that the shock of walking so much at WDW won't be too great.

Some more folks *might* be going with the original three of us and the original three whittled down to two so we could have as many as five in a room. I changed my room only reservation to the All-Star Family Suites. Hopefully, within the next couple of weeks and when the packages come out, I'll know who all is actually going [have been strongly encouraging them to commit ASAP!]. Funny, the two of us who originally planned to go were saying - what's up with us having to twist people's arms to go to DISNEYWORLD!?!?!

Caught myself getting a little stressed out with the planning, thinking - 'am I getting the best deal?' 'am I overthinking/overplanning?' etc. Had to tell myself - this is MY vacation, too!

Also, had it all planned out to do the basic dining plan - talking it out with one of the original two who wasn't so hip to the idea of paying all that money on the front end. He intimated that he'd rather just have food in the room and get sandwiches in the park. Nothing against all that but I really had my heart set on my little ADRs. I do have a few months to work on him, though. And I've sent him links to more info about the wonders of Disney dining - if I'm going to do all that walking, I definitely want some reward for it!

Goodness, long post! I do have a testimonial to the awesomeness of the DIS. When I was calling to change my room ressie, the CM gave me a price [a quite high price in fact ] and said that this was the room rate for 2009?!?!?!? But that the '09 packages haven't come out yet. I said - I thought that you would be quoting me the 2008 peak season room rate and that the 2009 rates hadn't been published yet. He said - oh, let me ask - came back to the phone and said that I was right.

I wouldn't have known all this if it hadn't been for y'all.

 

[Momof2Disneyboys]

Isn't it funny how DISers know more than some CM's???

Hope it all works out for you Debbieandroo!

 

[LastLookAtTheCastle]

He intimated that he'd rather just have food in the room and get sandwiches in the park. Nothing against all that but I really had my heart set on my little ADRs. I do have a few months to work on him, though. And I've sent him links to more info about the wonders of Disney dining - if I'm going to do all that walking, I definitely want some reward for it!

You can always do a bit of both... no dining plan, but a few ADRs anyway! That's what we're doing. A couple of cheap days, and a couple of stuff your guts days.

 

[Remmy]

Yeah!! I booked CRT today for the 26th of January. It was so funny, I phoned right at 7am and sailed right through, no busy signal, only to have the CM tell me she didn't think that date was available as of yet. Thanks to the DIS, I knew that it was time and should be available. She quickly checked and everything was ok.

We booked for lunch, the same as we had before back in 2006. We enjoyed the food and had a fabulous sever and the princesses were divine, all loved my little princess dressed like her favorite Sleeping Beauty. She is 9 now, and the magic may soon be gone, so we thought we should try this one last time.

We also like that the princesses come to you, no long line ups. Last time we were lucky and she was able to see Sleeping Beauty, Belle, Snow White, the Fairy Godmother and of course Cinderella.

I only wish we could make all our other ADRs.

 

[SplashMtnCrew]

Okay I just read a thread w/ a link to the Orlando Sentinal about how disney is going to be turning 384 rooms at CBR into PotC themed rooms
That is very cool!

The article also mentioned about the new cs dining plan that will be available Jan 11.....2cs meals, 2 snacks and a resort refillable mug. Here is my question, we've never done ddp so all I really know about it I've gotten from these boards....Right now only the dxdp includes the mug and the basic plan does not...correct? So, if the new cs dining plan includes a mug, and the dxdp already includes a mug, do you think the basic plan will start to include a mug? I hope my question makes sense I'm not even sure if I understand what I'm asking

 

[SplashMtnCrew]

Sorry, I meant to add the link

http://blogs.orlandosentinel.com/business_tourism_aviation/2008/07/pirates-of-the.html

 

[kaos928]

Okay I just read a thread w/ a link to the Orlando Sentinal about how disney is going to be turning 384 rooms at CBR into PotC themed rooms
That is very cool!

The article also mentioned about the new cs dining plan that will be available Jan 11.....2cs meals, 2 snacks and a resort refillable mug. Here is my question, we've never done ddp so all I really know about it I've gotten from these boards....Right now only the dxdp includes the mug and the basic plan does not...correct? So, if the new cs dining plan includes a mug, and the dxdp already includes a mug, do you think the basic plan will start to include a mug? I hope my question makes sense I'm not even sure if I understand what I'm asking

But..but... the CS plan doesn't start until January 11th!! No fair, I leave the 12th.

Yeah, it makes sense that the regular DDP would include mugs as well, guess we'll have to see

 

[backinoz]

Please let me know if I've forgotten anybody or anybody's ADR's.

Hi Shelley & other snowbirds.

We're not actually staying at ???,we're at ASMo on 22Dec, (Waaaaayyyy) Offsite 23-29Dec, Pop 30Dec - 9Jan, Universal 9-11Jan (we hope), and back to Pop for 11-14Jan. Not sure how you'll be able to figure that into your nice neat listing of snowbirds though!

As for our ADR's...

Dec 23 - Ohana Character Breakfast 10:10am/1900 Park Fair Cindy Dinner 4:30pm
Dec 31 - Akershus Princess Breakfast 10:25am/Nine Dragons 5.45pm/Coral Reef 8.10pm
Jan 1 - 1900 Park Fair Character Breakfast 11:10am
Jan 2 - Whispering Canyon 6.00pm
Jan 3 - Hollywood Brown Derby 11.35am
Jan 4 - Jiko 5.30pm
Jan 6 - Crystal Palace Character Breakfast 8.05am/San Angel 7.00pm
Jan 7 - Boma 6.05pm
Jan 8 - CRT Dinner (15th Anniversary) 5.45pm
Jan 12 - Sci-Fi 11.30am/Mama Melroses (Fantasmic Package) 4.15pm
Jan 13 - CRT Lunch 12.25pm

At least these are what's booked. Some are subject to change and modification once packages, prices, and AAA/AP discounts are announced. (Coral Reef is exception - I think maybe that there's no way we will be able to eat dinner, get to FW from WS, and be ready for dessert in that amount of time. Any suggestions for a WS TS restaurant for supper/late dessert on NYE?) We'll probably leave accom RO until a few weeks before, then we can weigh up the options.

Yeah we did the CRT last year and it was ok. I think it was overpriced for the food you get. i thought it would be a little different since it's in the castle and has the princess and all but i wouldn't do that again.

So now you have me thinking... I want to do the CRT dinner for our anniversary, but also booked there for lunch on our last day as a 'last day in WDW celebration' type meal. Now I think it's probably not worth it, any other suggestions for a 'special' final day's lunch????? (We'll be in MK for the morning, and back for Wishes later that night, but are open to 'hopping' or heading to a resort for lunch) Chances are we won't be back to WDW again so wanted to make it special for my DDs (who'll be 10 & 11 when we're there).

Like everyone else, I'm hanging out for a ticket/package/2009 rates announcement. Not going to rush and buy in advance though, as am seriously considering an AP (could save $$$ on accom), but need to wait for AP rates for Jan before deciding.

BTW - for the last 2 questions of the day....

1. I'll pack a day or two before we leave. No disney stores here in Oz so no bags of surprises. Will save the $$ and give to DDs as 'surprise' spending money instead.

2. Have increased exercise (going to gym & doing 2nd class of Karate twice a week) to get fit and tone up. Am hoping that some weight comes off as a result, but I love nice food & cooking tooooooo much to implement any sort of diet/eating plan.

 

[Momof2Disneyboys]

Hi Shelley & other snowbirds.

We're not actually staying at ???,we're at ASMo on 22Dec, (Waaaaayyyy) Offsite 23-29Dec, Pop 30Dec - 9Jan, Universal 9-11Jan (we hope), and back to Pop for 11-14Jan. Not sure how you'll be able to figure that into your nice neat listing of snowbirds though!


So now you have me thinking... I want to do the CRT dinner for our anniversary, but also booked there for lunch on our last day as a 'last day in WDW celebration' type meal. Now I think it's probably not worth it, any other suggestions for a 'special' final day's lunch????? (We'll be in MK for the morning, and back for Wishes later that night, but are open to 'hopping' or heading to a resort for lunch) Chances are we won't be back to WDW again so wanted to make it special for my DDs (who'll be 10 & 11 when we're there).

I think I've got you all updated on the lists Backinoz!

What about Chef Mickey's for your last day lunch? It's in the MK area and all of the original Disney characters are there. It's a great place!