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

[Northern Disney Girl]

So after all the hoop- la today guess what happened....


So we are now 10 nights at Wilderness Lodge, Courtyardview, from Jan 16th to Jan 26th. WOWZERS

Hey! We will be there from the 20th to the 28th! We'll have to try to meet up and say hi!

 

[Northern Disney Girl]

I was surprised when I called WDW dining yesterday to change around some of our ADR's that I got everything I wanted just 10 weeks out!! I added on Chef Mickey's for our arrival night (since we added an extra night ) and asked for something between 5 & 6 and got 5:30! I also changed the Plaza from lunch to dinner on a Saturday, no problem. We decided on Beaches & Cream for the night we originally had Chef Mickey's scheduled. So I can't make an ADR for that. After I got off the phone DH told me that I should have made an ADR for Big River Grille for that night and then we would have somewhere to go if the wait at B&C is too long! I wish he would have mentioned that when I was on the phone because it is actually a good idea!!

Wow, Shelly that's amazing! That gives me some hope! I am going to be calling tomorrow to try to switch some ADR's around, cancel some and add others! To think, at the beginning of this trip planning process I swore that I would not be one of those people making constant changes to their trip! So is that the 20th that you will be at Chef Mickey's? If so we will be there that evening at 5! WooHoo! I'm gonna get to meet Mama Snowbird!

 

[Mndisneygirl]

I'm SERIOUSLY considering it. It's about 40 minutes away, though, and it's all dependent on when the hospital makes me turn up. Waaay more fun than stressing about what's going to happen or going to work!

I hope you can go and do something relaxing before your surgery! Good luck!! We'll be thinking of you - and Kayte too!


Does anyone know how far in advance (if at all) you have to add a dining plan? We are considering the QS plan now and wonder if we have to add it well ahead of time. I know you have to pay for it in advance, but could we add it and pay at check in?
TIA!

 

[Mndisneygirl]

Okay, I did see on the dining plan thread that Sharadoc already asked this question and you can't add it at check-in. Does anyone know exactly how far ahead of time you have to add it?

 

[Momto2PrncChrmgs]

Okay, I did see on the dining plan thread that Sharadoc already asked this question and you can't add it at check-in. Does anyone know exactly how far ahead of time you have to add it?

I read somewhere 4 days!?

WE GOT CBR!!! I'm so excited! All we've ever done is values, so once we started really looking at it and saw how much more you got for only $230 more! Yeaaaaaa!!!!! Of course all our 6 yr old knows is Pop, so he was upset that we weren't going to do Pop again! We told him that if we got to CBR and hated it, we'd try to move to Pop (ok, so we lied)!

OK CBR fans, now I have a new obsession! I said before we are lazy and don't like to walk a bunch when we get back to the resort. So what areas are closest to busses, beach, the cool pirate pool, etc! HELP!!! I'm out of my element now!

 

[Remmy]

I can see some of us had quite an eventful day. We had much to talk about. I would add in with the in-law and family discussions but I think overall they are just quirky, my family is perfect of course .

My mom has the same quirkiness about her cats. I think it stems back to the one conference she went out west for and came back to one less cat. My dad said it "ran away". My dad would not harm any animal, but he would only look so far and for so long before giving up. He did try, but it could not be found. Now my mom doesn't trust my dad or me (I am an only child) since I think she thinks we should have looked harder for the cat. Once again, we could not find the cat, we loved this cat, it just disappeared. This was also the time the new neighbours moved into the neighbourhood and they detest cats and more than just my mom's went missing but did not end up at the local pound.

I am still waiting for another deal to come out, hopefully sooner than better. Our travel agent thinks something could be coming up, as every year the automobile association has a January deal. Thus far nothing in writing, so we are just waiting, and waiting.

We are still on the fence about dining. I think I may make more ADRs just in case we do decide to upgrade, as we can always cancel when we arrive, as we won't be booking the extra times until later into our trip. We are thinking of the Wave restaurant, and a few more at Epcot.

This is becoming so hard. This is the first trip we are planning as before we always traveled with my DH's family (extended too). We just had to show up, live in a camper for a week at Fort Wilderness, show up for meal times with home cooked meals from Grandma (DH's Grandma loves to cook) and go and come back as you please. No real thinking involved about where to eat and where to stay. Oh well, we are testing it out for his family at a resort and how easy it is to get around. We will be visiting other resorts too to see how easy it is at every level. Our greatest complaint at Fort Wilderness is the wait times for the internal buses to get to the buses to take you to the parks.

I hope everyone has a great tomorrow. I will wish everyone a good night tonight.

Remmy

 

[Dancegrl624]

Ok. I'm nuts. Even though we're spending next to nothing staying at my parents timeshare, I priced out staying on property. Yes, I did look at CBR!!! If we were to book there, it would cost us about $1700 more than we're paying right now. However, that would include all of our food. So, I went out and priced how much I think we'll spend on meals. It still doesn't work out. I'd love to stay on property, but I know there's always next time! Even with my parents having timeshares, they (well, my mom) want to stay on property the next time they go. We'll be able to split the cost, but I have no idea where we'll have to stay. It will be at least 8 of us! Well, I'm off to bed. Good night!

 

[jemgumby]

Does anyone know how far in advance (if at all) you have to add a dining plan? We are considering the QS plan now and wonder if we have to add it well ahead of time. I know you have to pay for it in advance, but could we add it and pay at check in?
TIA![/QUOTE]


I just talked to a CM yesterday who told me that it needs to be 3 days in advance of your arrival to adding the dining plan.

 

[Disneyfan71]

My wife and I are going Jan. 16-24 and really looking forward to it. My only concern is that Pop Century will be booked and won't be able to stay there..we've budgeted our money and are going for the dining plan (one table, counter and snack per day)..and we've made advance dinner reservations for all 8 days I'm so proud of myself. Plus we knew where we wanted to eat.

Hopefully we'll get the money in time to pay for the entire trip...My wife doesn't get paid for nearly three weeks and can't make a deposit yet.

 

[MindyLuvsMickey]

Are those your dates? They are mine, I'll be at the CSR

Where in PA are you, I'm in the Poconos

robin

56 Days till Disney

We are leaving PA on the 5th but not checking in to Disney until the 6th. We are visiting family the day before.

I'm just outside of Harrisburg, so not too far from you. I actually have a cousin the th Poconos.

The only thing that comes up when I search AKL for my dates is Standard. It's kind of irritating, but I have my Pool View Room, so I'm ok. I just have to stop entertaining fantasies of getting upgraded to a Savannah view.

I can't imagine that they're all sold out. It would be odd for them to release those discounts in January if they had higher occupancy than usual.

I am truly hoping they are not sold out. I have this nightmare about my ressies being cancelled and then having no where to stay. Maybe they are blocking off rooms so that when other codes comeout, there are still rooms available

My wife and I are going Jan. 16-24 and really looking forward to it. My only concern is that Pop Century will be booked and won't be able to stay there..we've budgeted our money and are going for the dining plan (one table, counter and snack per day)..and we've made advance dinner reservations for all 8 days I'm so proud of myself. Plus we knew where we wanted to eat.

Hopefully we'll get the money in time to pay for the entire trip...My wife doesn't get paid for nearly three weeks and can't make a deposit yet.

Welcome to the snowbirds! We don't have too many men checking in. Nice to have you aboard!

 

[jenjolt]

Wow, Shelly that's amazing! That gives me some hope! I am going to be calling tomorrow to try to switch some ADR's around, cancel some and add others! To think, at the beginning of this trip planning process I swore that I would not be one of those people making constant changes to their trip! So is that the 20th that you will be at Chef Mickey's? If so we will be there that evening at 5! WooHoo! I'm gonna get to meet Mama Snowbird!

Hey what is wrong with those people LOL Man I think I make a change to my trip everyday!!! LOL!!!

 

[jenjolt]

My wife and I are going Jan. 16-24 and really looking forward to it. My only concern is that Pop Century will be booked and won't be able to stay there..we've budgeted our money and are going for the dining plan (one table, counter and snack per day)..and we've made advance dinner reservations for all 8 days I'm so proud of myself. Plus we knew where we wanted to eat.

Hopefully we'll get the money in time to pay for the entire trip...My wife doesn't get paid for nearly three weeks and can't make a deposit yet.

WELCOME to the Snowbirds!!! I wish you luck getting whatever you would like to get!!!!

 

[Lil'Mermaid75]

So we are now 10 nights at Wilderness Lodge, Courtyardview, from Jan 16th to Jan 26th. WOWZERS /QUOTE]

YEAH!! I would LOVE to stay at WL....maybe someday!!

WE GOT CBR!!! I'm so excited! All we've ever done is values, so once we started really looking at it and saw how much more you got for only $230 more! Yeaaaaaa!!!!! Of course all our 6 yr old knows is Pop, so he was upset that we weren't going to do Pop again! We told him that if we got to CBR and hated it, we'd try to move to Pop (ok, so we lied)!

YEAH!!!

 

[Momof2Disneyboys]

Good morning Snowbirds!

 

[Momof2Disneyboys]

My wife and I are going Jan. 16-24 and really looking forward to it. My only concern is that Pop Century will be booked and won't be able to stay there..we've budgeted our money and are going for the dining plan (one table, counter and snack per day)..and we've made advance dinner reservations for all 8 days I'm so proud of myself. Plus we knew where we wanted to eat.

Hopefully we'll get the money in time to pay for the entire trip...My wife doesn't get paid for nearly three weeks and can't make a deposit yet.

WELCOME to the Snowbirds!

 

[jenjolt]

Good morning Snowbirds!

Good Morning Shelly!! Wouldn't you know my day off and I'm up at 6am LOL!!!

 

[Momof2Disneyboys]

So it's still a secret!! Good for you! It is here too.......but it's getting harder and harder!! When the code came out, I almost blew it several times trying to "secretly" update dh without the kids hearing.

I can't wait until xmas morning!!!

Yep, still a secret! It is so hard, but I am still doing it!! I can't wait to tell them on Christmas!!

Wow, Shelly that's amazing! That gives me some hope! I am going to be calling tomorrow to try to switch some ADR's around, cancel some and add others! To think, at the beginning of this trip planning process I swore that I would not be one of those people making constant changes to their trip! So is that the 20th that you will be at Chef Mickey's? If so we will be there that evening at 5! WooHoo! I'm gonna get to meet Mama Snowbird!

Yep, the 20th at 5:30. . . Maybe we'll see you there!

WE GOT CBR!!! I'm so excited! All we've ever done is values, so once we started really looking at it and saw how much more you got for only $230 more! Yeaaaaaa!!!!! Of course all our 6 yr old knows is Pop, so he was upset that we weren't going to do Pop again! We told him that if we got to CBR and hated it, we'd try to move to Pop (ok, so we lied)!

OK CBR fans, now I have a new obsession! I said before we are lazy and don't like to walk a bunch when we get back to the resort. So what areas are closest to busses, beach, the cool pirate pool, etc! HELP!!! I'm out of my element now!

That is awesome!!! I am so happy for you!!!

I'm sure your 6 year old will love CBR. It's my boys favorite resort and that was before they put in the new pools.

All villages have a bus stop, so you shouldn't have a very long walk to the bus stop from anywhere. Martinique and Trinidad North are right on either side of Old Port Royale (main pool, shopping, food court, restaurant). Then Jamaica and Aruba are the next closest, about a 5 minute walk over the bridge. Barbados and Trinidad South are the furthest out at about a 10 minute walk. CBR runs an internal bus continuously though, so if you don't want to walk you don't have to!

I'll try to post some CBR links for you in a bit!

 

[Momof2Disneyboys]

Good Morning Shelly!! Wouldn't you know my day off and I'm up at 6am LOL!!!

I'd still be in bed if the dang school bus didn't come so early!

I need to get ready anyway. My mom and I are going shopping later this morning.

 

[2disneygirls]

Good Morning Shelly!! Wouldn't you know my day off and I'm up at 6am LOL!!!

Me too! And I'm not a morning person either......had to get my disney fix this a.m. though!

 

[Momof2Disneyboys]

How is Big River Grille? We were considering it, but can't decide which ADR has to go! We are SO not adventurous. When we find a restaurant we like, we keep going back until we have a not so great experience! I cancelled Sci Fi (would've been something new) for WCC (which we did last year). So the only new one on our list this year is Coral Reef. When I mentioned this to hubby, he stated that we didn't do Cali Grill last year (we did it the two prior years). So he seems to think it's "new". Whatever...I guess as long as we're going places we love and we're at Disney-who cares!!

We haven't been there yet. And I have only heard one persons opinion of it - Sarbah77, and she didn't like it. I am going to do some more research and read some reviews and maybe ask about it on the dining board. I am still between Big River and Beaches & Cream. . . I was set with B&C but then I got to thinking that it is pretty much the same as the Plaza and we are eating at the Plaza the day before. . . So I don't know. . .