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

[Momto2PrncChrmgs]

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!!

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!!

 

[pamouselover]

Wow, I was hoping after the 4th people would be going home, that is why I booked till 7th. Let's hope they just are planning on staying in their rooms at the poly.

I'm seriously starting to get nervous, guys! The Poly is completely sold out during our stay. Not a room to be found from 1/5-1/13. I thought January was going to be slow!

I think I'm going to go in October next time LOL

 

[drakes]

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

When DH was told we could not make a package out of our room only ressie, he got quotes for what we could have. Of course only Pop, AKL and WL were left to choose from with the 3 night free deal and $200 gift card. So he got all the pricing because we had to decide, he spent 40 minutes with the CM confirming she could not make our room only ressie a package regardless of the deal or savings. In amongst all this our room only ressie got cancelled! So Disney IT staff repaired that and created a package for us at the All Stars, but without the savings, without the free nights , and without the gift card- nothing! I honestly think the original CM did not know what she was talking about because why would they not book my room into a package, especially as we were willing to pay full price.

So I come home from work after the stress (and my posting here- thanks for the pixie dust and help), and DH has done the math for the other resorts and how much it will cost per person ( me, DH, Nana, and DD). basically 3 adults sharing the cost. Well with AKL and WL offering us the 3 free nights and gift card, we would be paying pretty much the same as our no special All Stars price. I made a list of all the pros and cons of each resort and the money we would save or not save. With the $200.00 gift card thrown in we pretty much break even from our stay at All Stars versus the quote for WL. So my mom comes over after dinner and we review the resorts online, we review the math (all 3 of us) and .... wait for it.... we decide to change or package!!!!

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

I have always loved the look of this resort, and am so thrilled we decided this. We called tonight and confirmed and booked it and we couldn't be happier. I never dreamed this Disney vacation would result in something so magical. What was the most stressful day or my planning also turned out to be the best day. Now I have to admit AKL was looking pretty nice, but the room was better choice at WL and I have always dreamed of staying at WL.

So now I have alot more work to do planning my trip. We haven't even booked an ADR at this resort! LOL

This will be our last time to go when dd is classed as a child, so this will be the only time we can go deluxe until we're empty nesters

So this is the way this trip has progressed. 7 days extended to 10 days, Dining Plan upgraded to deluxe, Resort upgraded from Value to Deluxe!

I know we're crazy ! So I am off for more research.

 

[sunshine43]

I'm seriously starting to get nervous, guys! The Poly is completely sold out during our stay. Not a room to be found from 1/5-1/13. I thought January was going to be slow!

I think I'm going to go in October next time LOL

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

 

[danceintherain]

Well the DMil issue has been settled. At least as far as vacation goes LOL


She has decided that "she wont ride the rides so don't buy her a park ticket that has rides on it & she doesnt want to be away from the cats more that 3 days." HONESTLY HER WORDS!! I explained to her that it takes 22 hurs each way to drive there. You pay the same price to get in whether you ride or not & that she had said she was paying her own way when we talked about it last year! Its not that I am begrudging her going but to be brutely honest she could pay for our whole trip with the cash she keeps on hand for spending money! She can more than afford to pay for herself. The absolute clencher for me was that she would rather be home with her *%#! cats than spending quailty time with her ONLY grandkids!!! ugg sorry about the vent

Kayte

Wow...she still thinks you can get into theme parks and pay less because you're not going to ride the rides?
My Grandma is still convinced that I should take more credits a semester, because it would cost the same. I have to explain to her every time I talk to her that I take classes by the credit, so if I take more classes it will cost more, and I would probably fail everything. It's interesting how things don't translate over generations....

I'm nervous about the Grandma overload that is going to occur in our house. Phillip and I are both only children which mean the grandparents are only getting grandbabies through us and lately I have the feeling the sharks have begun to circle from both sides...even my dad my one hold-out is being swayed LOL!!!

My sister is going through Grandparent overload right now... Our Mom always has to be the favorite, but my BIL's father is not used to not being the favorite. I swear they're having turf battles. My sister is trying to figure out ways to appease her FIL, because we would like to use his house in Orlando when we make our family trip in June, but he's convinced that they need to spend more time with him, because my BIL hasn't taken any days off to spend with him.

Hi Snowbirds! It is monday again! Only 7 more mondays till I am in DISNEY WORLD! Least I think I counted right!


That is great. I tried calling last night and tried switching my Kona ADR for 12/31. No luck. I needed a ADR not in a park since we are just resort hopping that night. No luck. So I am going to do Beaches and cream, that way we can get the kitchen sink. DS is a big ice cream eater. It should be fun.



Becca I hope it works out for you. Are you going to share your wedding pictures with all of us?

I will!

I'm seriously starting to get nervous, guys! The Poly is completely sold out during our stay. Not a room to be found from 1/5-1/13. I thought January was going to be slow!

I think I'm going to go in October next time LOL

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.

 

[Monny2AE]

Absolutely! That was the first store we looked for! I found a few T shirts, and my sister found lots of toys for her neices/nephews. If I lived closer, I would stop in frequently!

I did most of my Christmas shopping for my kids there, althoug hthe prices weren't all that different from the regular Disney store. It's only about 45 minutes from me! Glad you got some good stuff!

I only have 2 more days left to do for my Nov. '06 trip to Disney. Then my whole Jan. '08 trip.

I was working hard core for about 2-3 hours and now I'm getting tired of it.

If it makes you feel any better, I just finished Christmas 2007 and am getting ready to start Father's Day from last June! I gotta get going and get done by January!

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

When DH was told we could not make a package out of our room only ressie, he got quotes for what we could have. Of course only Pop, AKL and WL were left to choose from with the 3 night free deal and $200 gift card. So he got all the pricing because we had to decide, he spent 40 minutes with the CM confirming she could not make our room only ressie a package regardless of the deal or savings. In amongst all this our room only ressie got cancelled! So Disney IT staff repaired that and created a package for us at the All Stars, but without the savings, without the free nights , and without the gift card- nothing! I honestly think the original CM did not know what she was talking about because why would they not book my room into a package, especially as we were willing to pay full price.

So I come home from work after the stress (and my posting here- thanks for the pixie dust and help), and DH has done the math for the other resorts and how much it will cost per person ( me, DH, Nana, and DD). basically 3 adults sharing the cost. Well with AKL and WL offering us the 3 free nights and gift card, we would be paying pretty much the same as our no special All Stars price. I made a list of all the pros and cons of each resort and the money we would save or not save. With the $200.00 gift card thrown in we pretty much break even from our stay at All Stars versus the quote for WL. So my mom comes over after dinner and we review the resorts online, we review the math (all 3 of us) and .... wait for it.... we decide to change or package!!!!

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

I have always loved the look of this resort, and am so thrilled we decided this. We called tonight and confirmed and booked it and we couldn't be happier. I never dreamed this Disney vacation would result in something so magical. What was the most stressful day or my planning also turned out to be the best day. Now I have to admit AKL was looking pretty nice, but the room was better choice at WL and I have always dreamed of staying at WL.

So now I have alot more work to do planning my trip. We haven't even booked an ADR at this resort! LOL

This will be our last time to go when dd is classed as a child, so this will be the only time we can go deluxe until we're empty nesters

So this is the way this trip has progressed. 7 days extended to 10 days, Dining Plan upgraded to deluxe, Resort upgraded from Value to Deluxe!

I know we're crazy ! So I am off for more research.

Wow I'm so glad everything worked out for you! What a change for the better!!!!! You must have been sprinkled with some VERY magical Pixie Dust!

 

[Momto2PrncChrmgs]

YOU PEOPLE ARE BAD INFLUENCES!!! All this talk about CBR, I showed it to hubby online and he was like "Why aren't we staying there." If we did standard it would only be about 230 more that preferred at Pop. So I called my TA (aka my mom) and told her to get on it! According to the website it came up as available, but who knows once she gets on and checks! WISH ME LUCK!!!

 

[trixiequilts]

Good Luck!

 

[danceintherain]

I thought I'd add a little on the in-laws discussion. Thus far, I have not had trouble with my potential in-laws. We actually keep thinking that they're going to get upset about something, and then they're perfectly fine with it.

However, my Mom has always had family problems. Her in-laws, my grandparents, are very interesting people. When we would go visit, they would make us participate in "quiet time" which was an hour every day. Have you ever tried to make 6 kids be completely silent for an hour every day while they're on vacation? We did not take to it very well. They had other weird rules as well. Also, they came to visit right after my Mom had my older sister, and made my Mom clean the house, and things like that. One day my Mom had a baby shower for someone else to go to. My parents only had one car, and my Mom wanted to take my Dad to work, so she could have the car and drive herself to the Baby Shower. My sister was only a few weeks old. My Grandma made my Mom WALK to the Baby Shower. Now, they're just odd people. They get upset because we never come to visit them. My mom had a HUGE falling out with them a few years back, and finally decided that she just wasn't going to take it anymore.
My Mom's family is no walk in the park either. Her parents got divorced when she was about 5 years old, and since then her Dad has been remarried twice. The woman he has been married to for my entire life is very difficult to deal with. She called my Mom a few years back, and said that she didn't want my Mom coming to visit, but she would pay for my Grandpa to come visit us. Basically, she was telling my Mom that she didn't want her to come visit and show her kids Philadelphia. (where she grew up) Her reasoning behind this was because she didn't want HER grandchildren to know that MY Grandpa wasn't really their Grandpa. She thought that sending Grandpa to visit once a year would appease my Mom. It didn't, and we go visit quite often.

 

[danceintherain]

YOU PEOPLE ARE BAD INFLUENCES!!! All this talk about CBR, I showed it to hubby online and he was like "Why aren't we staying there." If we did standard it would only be about 230 more that preferred at Pop. So I called my TA (aka my mom) and told her to get on it! According to the website it came up as available, but who knows once she gets on and checks! WISH ME LUCK!!!

Haha! I hope you get it!

 

[jenjolt]

YOU PEOPLE ARE BAD INFLUENCES!!! All this talk about CBR, I showed it to hubby online and he was like "Why aren't we staying there." If we did standard it would only be about 230 more that preferred at Pop. So I called my TA (aka my mom) and told her to get on it! According to the website it came up as available, but who knows once she gets on and checks! WISH ME LUCK!!!

Good Luck..I keep calling hoping for something to open up nothing yet...but I have booked my December stay there at the CBR so I'm excited. I was going to wait but decided no time like the present..so I have that trip ready to be planned also LOL!!!

 

[drakes]

YOU PEOPLE ARE BAD INFLUENCES!!! All this talk about CBR, I showed it to hubby online and he was like "Why aren't we staying there." If we did standard it would only be about 230 more that preferred at Pop. So I called my TA (aka my mom) and told her to get on it! According to the website it came up as available, but who knows once she gets on and checks! WISH ME LUCK!!!

Good Luck, you never know what will happen. CBR was also one of my choices, but it was all taken for our time period, no room available.

 

[Mndisneygirl]

YOU PEOPLE ARE BAD INFLUENCES!!! All this talk about CBR, I showed it to hubby online and he was like "Why aren't we staying there." If we did standard it would only be about 230 more that preferred at Pop. So I called my TA (aka my mom) and told her to get on it! According to the website it came up as available, but who knows once she gets on and checks! WISH ME LUCK!!!

Ha! That's what happened to me too! We got it, hope you do too!

 

[Mndisneygirl]

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

When DH was told we could not make a package out of our room only ressie, he got quotes for what we could have. Of course only Pop, AKL and WL were left to choose from with the 3 night free deal and $200 gift card. So he got all the pricing because we had to decide, he spent 40 minutes with the CM confirming she could not make our room only ressie a package regardless of the deal or savings. In amongst all this our room only ressie got cancelled! So Disney IT staff repaired that and created a package for us at the All Stars, but without the savings, without the free nights , and without the gift card- nothing! I honestly think the original CM did not know what she was talking about because why would they not book my room into a package, especially as we were willing to pay full price.

So I come home from work after the stress (and my posting here- thanks for the pixie dust and help), and DH has done the math for the other resorts and how much it will cost per person ( me, DH, Nana, and DD). basically 3 adults sharing the cost. Well with AKL and WL offering us the 3 free nights and gift card, we would be paying pretty much the same as our no special All Stars price. I made a list of all the pros and cons of each resort and the money we would save or not save. With the $200.00 gift card thrown in we pretty much break even from our stay at All Stars versus the quote for WL. So my mom comes over after dinner and we review the resorts online, we review the math (all 3 of us) and .... wait for it.... we decide to change or package!!!!

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

I have always loved the look of this resort, and am so thrilled we decided this. We called tonight and confirmed and booked it and we couldn't be happier. I never dreamed this Disney vacation would result in something so magical. What was the most stressful day or my planning also turned out to be the best day. Now I have to admit AKL was looking pretty nice, but the room was better choice at WL and I have always dreamed of staying at WL.

So now I have alot more work to do planning my trip. We haven't even booked an ADR at this resort! LOL

This will be our last time to go when dd is classed as a child, so this will be the only time we can go deluxe until we're empty nesters

So this is the way this trip has progressed. 7 days extended to 10 days, Dining Plan upgraded to deluxe, Resort upgraded from Value to Deluxe!

I know we're crazy ! So I am off for more research.

SO glad it worked out well for you in the end! It sounds like a great trip and I'm sure you'll have fun! Live it up!

 

[crzyred]

Alright, birdie friends, I'm off to happy sleepy land.

I have to work at 6am of course the rest of the week I have to be in at 5. However I'll be done at 1:30!! So goodnight everyone!

 

[sarbah77]

How is Big River Grille? We were considering it, but can't decide which ADR has to go! We are SO not adventurous.

Hee. Allow me to restate: worst meal of my trip. Waiter was terrible and manager was only moderately sympathetic. As a result, our food was slightly less than mediocre - which was the worst of the whole trip. (All but one meal had not good waitstaff, but this guy lowered the bar!)

Another friend tonight told me that she's 13.5 weeks pregnant with twins. This is ESPECIALLY exciting because she's been trying to get pregnant for the 3+ years I've known her... and!!! she's a stage III ovarian cancer survivor. I am SO thrilled for her! I guess I better bust out my knitting and hop on it!

 

[trixiequilts]

Hey Sarah! You should totally go to that sale Friday morning.

 

[2disneygirls]

We'll be spectating! Since he usually finishes a marathon in 3.5 hours, there's not a lot open that early in the morning! So I'll be there from start to finish! (My parents are going to be there, too)

Wow, 3.5! Not sure what my dh is shooting for this time......he's usually between 3:45 ~ 4:00. Who knows, he may still be eating bagels & guzzling gatorade when my dh comes through!

 

[sarbah77]

Hey Sarah! You should totally go to that sale Friday morning.

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!

Wow, 3.5! Not sure what my dh is shooting for this time......he's usually between 3:45 ~ 4:00. Who knows, he may still be eating bagels & guzzling gatorade when my dh comes through!

Haha - oh, probably. He'd love to qualify for Boston, but he's not sure if it's do-able (I think that means 3:20?). Last September, he did Toronto in 3:35. I tried to convince him he wanted a technical running shirt with his name on the front, so the crowd could cheer him on by name. He'd rather wear his Michigan one - well, oh well!!

 

[2disneygirls]

I just can't bring up the rest or the kids might start to get suspicious!

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!!!