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

[crzyred]

45 DAYS

​

 

[Momof2Disneyboys]

Hello everyone. Hope the weekend has been good and productive.

We have O'Charley's here in WI, and agree that it's ok. Nothing really jumps out at me. I never "crave" food from there, but when I do eat there, it's good food. (does that make any sense?)

Yep, that makes perfect sense!

 

[trixiequilts]

Hey everybody! Remember me? I'm Trixie, the one who hadn't done ANY Christmas shopping yet? Well, good news! I bought ONE gift the other day!

 

[crzyred]

Hey everybody! Remember me? I'm Trixie, the one who hadn't done ANY Christmas shopping yet? Well, good news! I bought ONE gift the other day!

Crap. You're doing better than me!

 

[Mndisneygirl]

I have an idea - tell everyone you are cutting back on gifts this year, blame the economy, your big trip plans etc. Then you don't have to buy gifts!
Yeah, it's not gonna work here either. Although my dad thinks its great - he says "Don't buy me anything - I don't need anything." My mom disagrees, saying he does need stuff, and everyone needs to have a gift to open. We are getting our kids less stuff, although what they're getting is more expensive than usual!

I have a friend at work who says the kids only get three gifts. That was good enough for Jesus, so it should be good enough for them!! I might have to adopt that theory!!

I am going to a little boutique of sorts this afternoon where my neighbor hosts a number of direct sales vendors like Pampered Chef etc. I'll try to pick up something for teachers, or my mom, or my boss. Thankfully we don't have such a large family to exchange gifts with. We used to do that with cousins etc., then narrowed it down to just gifts for the children. Now all our kids have so much "stuff" we just get together and spend a day hanging out and eating!

Oh, I have to tell you - I was out walking the dog, and came home and told DH - There is not one house with Christmas lights up on our block!! Just us! And we only had some of ours up. nothing on the roof lines. So we go out and start some, and two other guys are out on their roofs!! I was beginning to get scared that our neighborhood went all Scrooge on us!! Whew! Unfortunately, DH had to go to work for the rest of the day/night, so he couldn't finish. And the sun was just coming out too. Oh well, we're not supposed to have much snow this week, so maybe we'll get it done by next weekend and can turn them all on!!

Do they send the magical mail after you pay in full? I can never remember stuff like that?

 

[Momof2Disneyboys]

Do they send the magical mail after you pay in full? I can never remember stuff like that?

I think you get stuff right around the 45 day mark and then your ME luggage tags a few weeks later!!

 

[Mndisneygirl]

I feel like I have asked this before, but in terms of requesting a specific building at the resort (CBR), when can/should I do this? Should I have mentioned it at the time I booked? Can I call now and do it or wait until paid in full? I did mention we would like ground floor since MIL and SIL have trouble with stairs and the reservationist noted that.

Perhaps my CBR experts (Shelly!) could advise about what buildings are good. I am not paying preferred. Considering Aruba and Jamaica. I understand they may be rehabbed next, hope they'd be done by the time we go. Would they tell us that certain buildings are not available because of rehab?

TIA!

 

[Mndisneygirl]

HEY!! I was just perusing the DIS home page on resorts and it says in Jan 2009 you will be able to check in on line 10 days prior!!! How cool is that? Then if you are arriving late, maybe it will be easier! Gotta go read that in detail!

 

[Momof2Disneyboys]

HEY!! I was just perusing the DIS home page on resorts and it says in Jan 2009 you will be able to check in on line 10 days prior!!! How cool is that? Then if you are arriving late, maybe it will be easier! Gotta go read that in detail!

I read about that too. . . Not sure how that's going to work. . . It will be interesting!

 

[MissMagnolia]

crzyred - we're from WI too - La Crosse area (whereabouts for you?). Also looks like we will be at WDW the same time.

We will be there 1/2-1/11. We are staying near Sea World the first two days and then moving over to All Star Sports 1/4-1/11.

 

[Momof2Disneyboys]

I feel like I have asked this before, but in terms of requesting a specific building at the resort (CBR), when can/should I do this? Should I have mentioned it at the time I booked? Can I call now and do it or wait until paid in full? I did mention we would like ground floor since MIL and SIL have trouble with stairs and the reservationist noted that.

Perhaps my CBR experts (Shelly!) could advise about what buildings are good. I am not paying preferred. Considering Aruba and Jamaica. I understand they may be rehabbed next, hope they'd be done by the time we go. Would they tell us that certain buildings are not available because of rehab?

TIA!

I have requested Jamaica or Aruba. Those are the best non-preferred locations in my opinion. . . Martinique & T.North are preferred villages, but not all buildings in those sections are preferred, so you can request them too. I made my requests when I booked. I will send a fax the week prior too!

They are currently working on Aruba. I would think they would do Jamaica next. . . Sure hope they are done by January!

 

[crzyred]

crzyred - we're from WI too - La Crosse area (whereabouts for you?). Also looks like we will be at WDW the same time.

We will be there 1/2-1/11. We are staying near Sea World the first two days and then moving over to All Star Sports 1/4-1/11.

I'm in Appleton. I'll be at All Star Music for the first 2 nights and then moving to Saratoga Springs.
Did you get snow yesterday? My cousin's wife just moved to the La Crosse area and she said it snowed all morning yesterday.

 

[EPCOT is a verb]

Did any of you see Bolt this weekend? We loved it! We saw the 3D version, and it was great. So cute! The theater was filled with children laughing and enjoying it. I hope the Bolt character is in WDW in January when we are down.

 

[MissMagnolia]

crzyred:
We had a little snow - just enough to cover the roads. It was done by mid-morning. It's still pretty brown around here...not that I'm complaining!

BTW, it's so nice to get back into the planning mode now that everything is booked! We just got great airfares out of Minneapolis ($229) direct to Orlando on 1/2!

 

[drakes]

I have requested Jamaica or Aruba. Those are the best non-preferred locations in my opinion. . . Martinique & T.North are preferred villages, but not all buildings in those sections are preferred, so you can request them too. I made my requests when I booked. I will send a fax the week prior too!

They are currently working on Aruba. I would think they would do Jamaica next. . . Sure hope they are done by January!

We added our room request after we booked our package. The CM on the phone was happy to add it, and you can call back and change if you want . I asked for another confirmation to be emailed- and it was on there, we will also be faxing them before we go !

 

[Tropigal]

Hi everyone.....I can't believe we are on the 4th board for this....wow.

We now have less than 54 days till we are in Disney! All is booked except the rental....Do you have any advice on rentals? When we were there in June we rented and had to get 2 car seats that were a pain to install....we'll have to do the same. I can't remember who we rented with then either.

Any suggestions for doing all the parks with an almost 2 yo and a 3 1/2 year old? I'm sure you have great tips!

Thanks!!

 

[Fire14]

I personally have had best luck with prices from Alamo. As for car seats I can't help you any as only one I know how to intall is one I bought for Nephew and that was years ago.

 

[Mndisneygirl]

We added our room request after we booked our package. The CM on the phone was happy to add it, and you can call back and change if you want . I asked for another confirmation to be emailed- and it was on there, we will also be faxing them before we go !

I have requested Jamaica or Aruba. Those are the best non-preferred locations in my opinion. . . Martinique & T.North are preferred villages, but not all buildings in those sections are preferred, so you can request them too. I made my requests when I booked. I will send a fax the week prior too!

They are currently working on Aruba. I would think they would do Jamaica next. . . Sure hope they are done by January!

Thanks guys! I knew you'd know! I have to look at the maps and decide where we want to be. Yes, I get to decide for all of us! I guess I'll be on the phone this week again! I better remember to check on park hours and such while I'm at it! So much to do! It's so fun! I love exclamation points!!

 

[Mndisneygirl]

We have rented from Alamo and had good experiences and rates. We often find discounts either on line or through work or Happenings book coupons. We got upgraded from a mid-size to minivan one time for free! You have to shuttle from the airport to the lot I think at MCO.
I can't remember any others that we have used.

 

[Remmy]

Recipe for Baked Potato Soup

WARNING THIS IS NOT HEALTHY ONE BIT

I use about 4-5 Baked potatoes (I just microwave potatoes for about 18-20 minutes) I do these early enough so that they have time to cool before I use them.

Recipe for Soup

2/3 cup butter
2/3 cup flour
6 cups milk (I use 2%)
salt and pepper for taste
4-5 green onions chopped
potatoes peeled and cubed
1- 8oz container of sour cream
1-2 bags of bacon bits ( I use 2 because my NDH loves BACON)
1/2 bag of cheddar cheese

Melt butter completely on med. high then add flour slowly to create a roux.
Add milk 1 cup at a time whisking completely.
Continue to whisk until mixture is thick and creamy. Once thick turn the heat down to low (you don't want to burn it)
Add salt and pepper for taste.
Add the green onions, potatoes, and bacon bits.
Stir in the entire container of sour cream and keep stirring while it melts.
Once melted add the 1/2 bag of cheddar cheese a handful at a time. Stir while cheese melts, this will give the soup an orange tint to it.
Let the soup sit on low for about 15-20 minutes to allow the flavors to simmer in the soup. You can also put into a crock pot and allow it to sit on warm for awhile. Check on it and stir the soup every once awhile.

Serve in a bowl and top it off with a little bit of cheese as a garnish.
At our house we cut up some pieces of bread for dipping.

Hope you enjoy!! PM me for any questions.

Thank you for this recipe. It sounds so good. My DH will be the one making it as I only know how to dial the phone for food.

He is asleep right now, but I will leave it out for when he wakes up to go to work tonight to put in my request for tomorrow's dinner plans. He is such a sweetie. He loves making new things along with our favorites. You know the saying on how we marry those who have skills opposite of us. That is true for cooking and baking and DH and I. Thank goodness he loves it, or we might starve.

Remmy