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

[Pluto_fan]

I may have an opening in mine. . . Not sure at this point. It got so big that we had to split it into 2 groups. Group #1 is all taken care of. Group #2 (for those going in the 2nd half of January) is having some "issues" right now and I'm not sure how that is going to pan out. I will keep you posted if something comes open, I should know by the end of the month.

That would be great, thanks! I hadn't even thought of doing Photopass, but the more I read about it the more interested I get! So much for the DIS saving me money! (But really, if I'm sharing, I'm SAVING so much money I can't pass it up!)

 

[nala87]

So I just realized it could be possible for me to go down to the Adventurer's club for their last night.
My mom called me to tell me I can be added back to her employee passes because of a new company policy for single employees. So airfare would be free and all I would need to do is get a cheap hotel room and buy an admission for Pleasure Island.
The problems would be I may not be able to get on the flight and I would have to drive to Chicago which is 3 1/2 to 4 hour drive, fly to Orlando, and turn around and fly/drive home, all in a matter or 3 days. There is room availability at All Star Sports for $93, so total price of trip would be $140. This is a hard decision...What would you do???

 

[EPCOT is a verb]

QOTD - We have an early flight into Orlando on a Tuesday morning. After check in, I want to drop our stuff and head over to EPCOT for lunch. Maybe Sunshine Seasons? We always enjoy a stop there for CS lunch. Then a stroll around EPCOT.... How am I going to wait till January???

 

[Monny2AE]

QOTD- I guess it depends on if our rooms are ready that early or not. We should arrive around mid-late morning hopefully. If our room is ready we'll unpack a little, maybe grab some lunch and explore ASMovies before heading to a park. If not, we'll check in our luggage and probably head straight to the parks.

I'm also feeling the planning lull. I've made my lists and ADR's. I've even packed a little believe it or not- don't laugh I know I'm not the only one! Now all there is to do is to wait and pray for some pin codes or free dining or something.

 

[laurainsem]

Oooh, my younger sister and I just bought our plane tickets!!! She is coming in from Seattle and i'm flying in from Baltimore. Amazingly, we are arriving at the exact same time so will be able to take the Magical Express together. When we leave Disney , our departing flights will only be 1/2 hour apart; so cool!

I checked for my older sister who is coming in from Anchorage. Another awesome thing is she should be able to get in to Orlando within minutes of us. Even cooler is she could be on the same flight from Orlando to Houston (again, ) as my younger sister, so they could fly together until they hop onto their connecting flights.

It is so neat how things come together, isn't it? Since we get in so early (10:20am) we should have a nice whole day at MK. We're thinking of catching wishes. Does anyone have a link to the schedule for January?

Wow, i'm so excited its even taking my mind off my post-surgery pain. Gotta love Disney planning!

 

[debbieandroo]

QOTD - I have no idea!

We'll be getting into WDW mid-afternoon. If we're all really hungry, we'll check out the All-Stars food court. If I can hold out a little, I'd like to go to EPCOT first and eat my way around the world. EPCOT's open late for EMH and the other parks close kinda early that night [Friday] so my preference would be to stick around EPCOT for the duration, eat, watch Illuminations, eat, ride some rides, eat....you get the idea. If it seems prohibitively crowded, we may hike on over to DTD or scope out a resort or two. In the middle of all that muddley thinking, there is an ADR planned for Le Cellier - I still don't know how excited my crew is about keeping up with reservations - so I might have given up that precious ADR by the time we get there!

I, too, am in a planning lull. I'm rather proud of myself for not nagging the one person in our group who is still on the fence about going [I know, I know - hard to imagine, being undecided about Disney - crazy boy!]. I told him he had until October [code season] to decide - after that, let the planning begin!

I have y'all to thank for this not nagging thing -- our sweet little group is a wonderful distraction!

 

[Mickey's Other GF]

QOTD - We have an early flight into Orlando on a Tuesday morning. After check in, I want to drop our stuff and head over to EPCOT for lunch. Maybe Sunshine Seasons? We always enjoy a stop there for CS lunch. Then a stroll around EPCOT.... How am I going to wait till January???

Hiya Epcot!

 

[MindyLuvsMickey]

Great QOTD!

Here's how it will work, should the day run smoothly. Our flight lands just before noon on a Tuesday. We'll jump on ME and head to the Poly, keeping our fingers crossed that our room is ready. We'll have a quick lunch and explore the resort and take a front seat ride on the monorail. We are having groceries delivered between 4 and 4:30, so we have to be present to pick up, then dinner at 5. Maybe after dinner, we can head over to MK for Wishes or we can settle in at the resort and watch it from the beach

 

[EPCOT is a verb]

Hiya Epcot!

Hi there, DD!!
Looks like our plans for our first day in Disney are remarkably similar!!

 

[Monny2AE]

Has anyone ever done the Fairy Godmailer thing or do you know where I can get some WDW post cards to send to my kids before the big trip? I want them to get some mail from Mickey before we go

 

[trixiequilts]

Looks like this is just about the end of 200 pages! Can you believe it??? Let's have a party! (Oh boy, here we go again!)

 

[Northern Disney Girl]

Woo hoo, 200 pages! And nearly 3000 posts! Let's keep it going Snowbirds! We have just under 4 months until January! Let's see how many pages and posts we can do! Maybe set a DIS record or something! Good night All!

 

[dundeehunter]

I always like to start the trip off at MK to see the castle. One year we ate at Whispering Canyon and last time we ate at the Concourse, but this trip we are on the Quick Service meal plan so no sitdown dinners for us but maybe just one since Fantasmic is only showing one night during my stay. I think we will do the Hollywood and Vine that night but other than that...MK the first and last day.....I get teary eyed both times.

 

[Phairest 1]

we get into orlando about 10:30...we're hoping to be at POP by 1 the latest...we will then go right to MK hoping to see some princesses while everyone else is watching the afternoon parade...hit some rides and dinner at CP

btw....i just got an email from jet blue that my return flight home on the 31st is an hour earlier...anyone else experiencing this problem???

we still dont leave till 6:30 but you know disney will have us leaving on site by at least 3pm, so im a little annoyed that we cant stay in the parks a little longer....i hope it doesnt go any earlier than that!

 

[Remmy]

Woo Hoo, page 200!! When do these threads get locked? Hopefully not too soon. We still have much partying to do.

For the QOTD, if all goes well we will arrive on Friday sometime (driving so who knows exactly when) and we won't be checking into POP until Saturday. I plan on outlet shopping on Saturday and getting all of that out of our system so we can enjoy Disney at the fullest. Last trip, we went outlet shopping mid-vacation and we didn't purchase anything beforehand since we heard you may be able to find more and cheaper at the outlets. Unfortunately, some of what we wanted to purchase was then sold out at WDW or we forgot what stores they were located in. I know, silly us, forgot to write down the store names. Do you think it is cruel we are at WDW but on the first day not going near the parks? That is the other reason on why we are going outlet shopping first. I think if the kiddos get a taste of Disney parks they won't want to stop their fun for shopping.

Planning this trip has been so much fun. I enjoy going to all the different sites and finding all there is to do. I always seem to find more things to add to the lists.

I love the idea of printing out the menus of the restaurants you are going to for that day and putting it in the passporter folders. I will be doing that too now. Thank you for that great tip.

 

[debbieandroo]

Woo Hoo, page 200!! When do these threads get locked? Hopefully not too soon. We still have much partying to do.

I think the threads end after 250 pages so, at this rate, we still have a couple of weeks to go! Then we can start another partying-snowbirds thread

I am a little torn about visiting MK first - I just don't want to get there only to have to leave just a few hours later. Who knows what my plan will be by January!

 

[MindyLuvsMickey]

200 pages!

Morning, everyone!

 

[peach3es]

Hi, Snowbirds! Wazzzzzzzup?????

I am avoiding work. What else is new!

QOTD from yesterday...it all depends on what time we actually arrive. We haven't booked tickets yet because we're truly hoping we can drive. But hte car we are being loaned is a 17 year old Dogde Grand Caravan and Scot's nervous about trying it out on the road to Florida in January. Might be great...might leave us stranded. None of our parents own a car big enough to fit us all, and taking two cars completely defeats the purpose. If we have to take two cars it would be cheaper to fly.

Since there are so many of us (7 traveling together) driving in one car saves us a bundle over airfare, so I'm still hoping we can drive. I have faith!

But, if we get there late morning, then I'd like to hop on over the the Magic Kingdom for a look-see. Maybe catch a ride or two, just to wet the kids' appetite for things to come! We have dinner reservations at 5pm at O'Hana, so we can't stay long.

Otherwise I thought we might just hang at the hotel and gear up for the next day. After a long drive, we might be happy to just hang.

 

[Momof2Disneyboys]

I think the threads end after 250 pages so, at this rate, we still have a couple of weeks to go! Then we can start another partying-snowbirds thread

Hello Snowbirds!!

YAY for making it through 200 pages in such a short time!! You are right, the DIS started closing out threads at 250 pages to make things run faster. So when we get there (probably pretty soon ) I'll just start a Snowbirds II thread!!

 

[MindyLuvsMickey]

Peaches~I didn't realize we would be at the World at the same time! We arrive 2 days prior, actually.