Jen and Brook's Excellent Adventure

[stephielela]

Resort hopping is always fun!! I want to stay at AKL for Jack's 5th birthday extravaganza for our pre-cruise nights, so let me know what you think if your go there! I don't want to pay for the view though, so maybe we will stay somewhere else, lol

 

[jenseib]

joining in.. if I can't go I will follow you along!

Welcome!!

Another guilty party here! Last night at the grocery store the cashier asked me about WDW since i was buying a gift card for there (gotta get the double fuel points and start saving now for the billions I expect to blow on our cruise!)

I think we spent about 10 min. comparing WDW to the local park (Cedar Point) which I have a more than familiar relationship with!

Signed, Chatty Patty

I did a lot of comparing this last trip...Disney won.

Resort hopping is always fun!! I want to stay at AKL for Jack's 5th birthday extravaganza for our pre-cruise nights, so let me know what you think if your go there! I don't want to pay for the view though, so maybe we will stay somewhere else, lol

I think I might have to stop over at AKL at some point, if I can. I am thinking at night I could do the night vision goggles, but daytime would be nice too. Good thing it wil lstay light later than when we are there in the spring.

 

[photographymom517]

Me too! Which is why I couldn't make it just a month or so before. I think I'll be there JUST before Stephanie and Hope. Your trip will help us make it through!!

Oh you should read some of our past TRs in my sig! We certainly know how to have fun in WDW!! I do have a PTR but it's been kind of slow lately.......

Yes, Jen!! Definitely take some time to read Nikki's past TR's!!! She writes great reports and they are a very FUN couple!!!!

And Nikki, you are correct! You will be there just a few weeks after Stephanie and I. If I remember your dates correctly, you will actually be there just a couple days after Stephanie's trip and about 5 weeks after mine.

Hopefully our trips will eventually match up at some point! I'd love to meet all of your girls in person!

The letter of accpetance included an intinerary! Guess where they are putting us up at?.....

The Yacht Club Baby!!

I have never stayed at a Deluxe at Disney. In fact I have ONLY stayed at Pop Century.

Yacht Club

I'm sooooooo excited for you girls and cannot wait to see pictures!!!!

Also, I'm going to have to get some tips from you, Mindy, and Stephanie on Pop Century for my parents! They're staying there in October!

So the big question is.... How do you tell your 6 year old you are going to Disney withOUT her?....DENY,DENY,DENY

I let her know that I don't get to plan my days, and I have to do what they tell us to do. Which should still be really fun!

She has taken the whole thing much better than I expected. And she seems Ok to be without me for 6 days. She almost seems to be looking forward to it...that little stinker!

I'm very happy to hear that Claire is taking it so well! I think you explained it to her very well! And I'm sure she will forgive you for going without her whenever you bring her back some souvenirs!

It's a struggle for me to get a good balance. Before Jack, I wanted to be in the parks al the time. But going with an 18 month old, then a 2 1/2 year old, and now a 3 1/2 year old, it has made me slow down and rethink a bit. Now I liek knowing I will have some down time. My current plans have less downtime than I originally wanted, but after my super hectic December trip, I have learned that just because we are going to a park doesn't mean we have to spend a whole day there. If it is a better choice to spend half a day and then go back and swim, then that's what we will do. It may not make the most sense financially, but I have really learned (the hard way) that on vacation, the money is spent regardless, so just make sure you have a good time. Once Jack is older, things will probably change again, and we will probably trend back to the more "commando" style touring

I completely understand what you're saying Stephanie! Since Luke has gone to Disney at 10 months, 2 years, and now 3 1/2 years -- its exactly as you said! If we don't take breaks & slow down a little bit, the entire day would be miserable for all of us. Disney has so much to offer that can be used as "little breaks" for toddlers! We plan to see more of the shows (they're on my list of things-to-do plus it will be a nice break to be in A/C for a little while!) and definitely swim a lot more at the resort pool. It works out great because Luke LOVES to swim!!!

Resort hopping is always fun!! I want to stay at AKL for Jack's 5th birthday extravaganza for our pre-cruise nights, so let me know what you think if your go there! I don't want to pay for the view though, so maybe we will stay somewhere else, lol

I love AKL!!!! Its a great resort to experience, if only once! We stayed there 2 years ago & who knows if we'll ever be back. I'd love to try to stay there again, but even our 10-day stay at the BC is cheaper than our 4 day stay at AKL (although we did upgrade to the Savana View). If its only for a few nights before your cruise, I'd definitely try to stay Deluxe and splurge a little!!! Although, if you stay at a Value or Mod, you'd have more spending money for the cruise!!! Somehow my budgets always revolve around souvenirs?!?

 

[jenb1023]

Great job explaining the trip to DD! I would love to go on and adults only or girls trip some time but just not sure how I would explain it to my almost 8 year old DD.

I vote for exploring AKL too! If you have not seen it yet, it is a must-do!

 

[DisneyBoundinDec]

Welcome!! It's a bummer you never even got the notification. Did you ask if anyone else at your Agency received it?

no one is getting back to me! I keep getting OUT OF OFFICE replies from everyone.. I guess everyone is out for the holiday weekend.. oh well.. no worries really.. I know there is one coming up in November.. which actually may be better.. it won't be as hot! We were just down there a few weeks ago.. and I am staying at the YC in January for the Marathon weekend.. so a November trip will be nice!

 

[MyPeanut&Bug]

Whoo-hoo! Finally made it over here!

I can't wait to hear all about the trip and all the fun stuff they have you guys doing. And yeah baby, Yacht Club!! That's awesome.

Glad Claire is taking it in stride - I love your emphasis on "It's school, I have to do what they say"

My kids are at each other throats in the background, literally fighting over whose yogurt has the better picture on it, as I read your question of how do you tell Claire you're going to Disney without her. My first thought was "See ya kids!!!" I could SO handle a solo vacation right about now....

 

[jenseib]

Yes, Jen!! Definitely take some time to read Nikki's past TR's!!! She writes great reports and they are a very FUN couple!!!!


Also, I'm going to have to get some tips from you, Mindy, and Stephanie on Pop Century for my parents! They're staying there in October!



I'm very happy to hear that Claire is taking it so well! I think you explained it to her very well! And I'm sure she will forgive you for going without her whenever you bring her back some souvenirs!



I love AKL!!!! Its a great resort to experience, if only once! We stayed there 2 years ago & who knows if we'll ever be back. I'd love to try to stay there again, but even our 10-day stay at the BC is cheaper than our 4 day stay at AKL (although we did upgrade to the Savana View). If its only for a few nights before your cruise, I'd definitely try to stay Deluxe and splurge a little!!! Although, if you stay at a Value or Mod, you'd have more spending money for the cruise!!! Somehow my budgets always revolve around souvenirs?!?

I have a ton of pictures of Pop on my blog and in the pop picture thread. Yo ucan direct them to one of those places to check it out a bit.
I am subscribed to Nikki's PTR, but haven't started reading yet. I may give it a go today.
So far so good with Claire, but of course when it gets closer it may all click that she is home alone. But I am making a bi deal about her staying her with her grandma's too.
I'm gonna try to get over to AKL. I just have so many other things I want to do as well. It's hard to decide which is a must.

Great job explaining the trip to DD! I would love to go on and adults only or girls trip some time but just not sure how I would explain it to my almost 8 year old DD.

I vote for exploring AKL too! If you have not seen it yet, it is a must-do!

Yeah, if this wasn't "school", I don't think she would be so easy going.

no one is getting back to me! I keep getting OUT OF OFFICE replies from everyone.. I guess everyone is out for the holiday weekend.. oh well.. no worries really.. I know there is one coming up in November.. which actually may be better.. it won't be as hot! We were just down there a few weeks ago.. and I am staying at the YC in January for the Marathon weekend.. so a November trip will be nice!

Darn. It always seems I have questions over holiday weekends too.

Whoo-hoo! Finally made it over here!

I can't wait to hear all about the trip and all the fun stuff they have you guys doing. And yeah baby, Yacht Club!! That's awesome.

Glad Claire is taking it in stride - I love your emphasis on "It's school, I have to do what they say"

My kids are at each other throats in the background, literally fighting over whose yogurt has the better picture on it, as I read your question of how do you tell Claire you're going to Disney without her. My first thought was "See ya kids!!!" I could SO handle a solo vacation right about now....

I know what you eman. There are some days when I would just love to leave the house and not look back for at least a week.
I need to do an update, but I am trying to catch up on my subscribed threads today too.

 

[stephielela]

Jen- Nikki's reports are very entertaining. It's kind of ironic actually, the reports I kept up on the most were Nikki's, Hope's and yours, long before MWT united us all Fate? I think so!

Hope, I have to go back and check Nikki's dates, but I think she is going in between you and I. Between the 3 of us we have September and October pretty well covered!

 

[jenseib]

Jen- Nikki's reports are very entertaining. It's kind of ironic actually, the reports I kept up on the most were Nikki's, Hope's and yours, long before MWT united us all Fate? I think so!

Hope, I have to go back and check Nikki's dates, but I think she is going in between you and I. Between the 3 of us we have September and October pretty well covered!

I read about a paragraph of hers yesterday and got sidetracked the rest of the day, but I loved it so far! I always love her pictures, so it has to be great.

 

[Beth D]

She has taken the whole thing much better than I expected. And she seems Ok to be without me for 6 days. She almost seems to be looking forward to it...that little stinker!

No, she knows Mom's going to bring her back some awesome souvenirs!

 

[jenseib]

No, she knows Mom's going to bring her back some awesome souvenirs!

Maybe....But honestly, I'm not going to bring back much. I wil lbe so busy most of the time and I don't want to spend a ton of moeny either. But she'll get something.

 

[jenseib]

I just thought i would pass the word along.
A few years ago I found on the budget board that KMart was having 50% off all clearance toys. I went and really hit the jackpot and bought a ton of stuff that I saved for Claire's b-day and Christmas. I have been on the lookout ever since and hitting it when I see it each summer.
Well this week is it.
I don't normally shop kmart, as it really isn't in a convenient location for us, but for this I go out of my way.
I spent about $121 pre tax on toys and clothing today...the full price value was $344 pre tax. I was pretty happy. Most of what I got was littlest pet shop stuff, which she loves. And some Polly Pockets, another favorite. I also picked up a few things to give as gifts for upcoming birthdays.
If you have a boy, there were LOTS of pre Cars 2 stuff. And lots of Toy Story 3 stuff as well. Most the TS 3 wasn't really something Claire would use, so I passed on all but a set of Lotso legos.

On top of that, the clearance clothing was also 40% off. I got Claire 3 pairs of jeans, and I Carly short set (she's really into her over the last few weeks) and a 2 peice PJ set. The jeans were only 2.99! And the PJ set was reg. 14.99 and I got it for 3.59.

Just thought I would share with you all!

 

[stephielela]

I just thought i would pass the word along.
A few years ago I found on the budget board that KMart was having 50% off all clearance toys. I went and really hit the jackpot and bought a ton of stuff that I saved for Claire's b-day and Christmas. I have been on the lookout ever since and hitting it when I see it each summer.
Well this week is it.
I don't normally shop kmart, as it really isn't in a convenient location for us, but for this I go out of my way.
I spent about $121 pre tax on toys and clothing today...the full price value was $344 pre tax. I was pretty happy. Most of what I got was littlest pet shop stuff, which she loves. And some Polly Pockets, another favorite. I also picked up a few things to give as gifts for upcoming birthdays.
If you have a boy, there were LOTS of pre Cars 2 stuff. And lots of Toy Story 3 stuff as well. Most the TS 3 wasn't really something Claire would use, so I passed on all but a set of Lotso legos.

On top of that, the clearance clothing was also 40% off. I got Claire 3 pairs of jeans, and I Carly short set (she's really into her over the last few weeks) and a 2 peice PJ set. The jeans were only 2.99! And the PJ set was reg. 14.99 and I got it for 3.59.

Just thought I would share with you all!

I remember you telling us about it! I think I willl run by there Wednesday... I think there is still one here, but I think there is only 1, lol.

 

[jenseib]

Monday, August 15

I will most likely wake early. I usually do at Disney. No alarm clocks are needed , except on departure day. My body must know it doesn't want to go home that day!

My plan is to head over to Yacht Club EARLY. I need to transfer luggage. I'm not sure of the best way. I could have AS Movies do it, but I don't know how long it will take. It must be at Yacht Club no later than 3 PM, so I guess I'll ask and see if that is possible. If it isn't guaranteed, then I'll go the route of a taxi and bring it over with me.

If anyone knows anything about transferring luggage, I would love to hear your opinions.

After checking in, I should be receiving my 5 day park hopper pass. My plan as of now is to head over to Epcot and spend the morning there. I am also tossing around the idea of heading over to HS as well, but I am guessing it will take too much time to hop and I most likely won't do it.

No plans for Epcot exactly. I will most likely try to get on Soarin. Maybe Test Track too, and then maybe check out the different countries. I never seem to have enough time to explore there with the family. I am also wanting to try a drink from one of the countries...maybe the grand Mariner Slushi. (I know I butchered the spelling). I always hear how good it is, and I didn't get one this last trip. I basically was close to it, but we had to run back towards the front to get on Soarin at the time and I didn't want to have it then.

I'll head back to the Yacht Club and hopefully get freshened up around 3. We are to meet in the lobby of the Yacht Club at 3:45. I am assuming I may run into Brook before that. And possibly Mindy and Patty. I'll give them my phone number so we can text or call each other if we want to meet a little earlier.

I also have these to pass out.New tshirts



Mindy came up with the idea of getting matching shirts with our company on them. We all liked the idea, but we were all kind of cheap too. It was looking like it was going to cost around $15 -$20 to make a custom shirt, plus the shipping. We talked about doing iron ons, but my experience with those are they peal after a couple of washes.
Then one day I got an email offer from Vista Print. Those who have read with me in the past, know that I tend to buy a lot of stuff there off and on.
Well the shirts were reduced majorly and we got a free graphics upload. If you purchsed $30 worth of stuff, the shipping was free. So I ordered 1 for each of us and will pass them out when I get there.
I also ordered a cute notebook and Mindy got one as well, so I need to pass that along as well.



I also made myself another shirt to wear on our ship touring day!

So back to the meet up.... We meet in the lobby at 3:45. I'm not sure what the ritual will be, but it will be fun to see how many of us are participating. I have read on someones blog that they usually will divide you into smaller groups.
Our first activity is resort inspections. We'll be headed off to Coronado Springs and then to Caribbean Beach Resort.

At 6:45 we have a Welcome dinner and opening session at the Norway Loft in Epcot. I have tried to find info about this place, but it is very limited. Basically what I found is that it is used for seminars and for wedding receptions that get rained out. In fact from what I have read, many CM's couldn't even point you in its direction. It's kind of hidden, I guess. There are next to no picturtes of the place out there that I could find. The ones I did, were poorly taken as the guy was taking them on the sly when he was allowed a tour. He was told no pictures becuase the place hadn't been decorated. I sure hope they don't restrict our picture taking here, but you never know.
At 8:30 we have a dessert Party at Eau de France. Since Illuminaions is at 9, I assume we will have a nice front row seat for it. I'm excited about it....and my favorite course of any meal IS dessert!!!

After that, the night is ours. I don't think I will be heading to any other park this night...but stranger things have happened. I'll see what the othere girls want to do. Maybe we'll do some exploring of the Yacht Club, or hit the pool/hot tub. Or just konk out for the night...though I tend to be a late nighter on vacation....well at least till 11!

 

[Beth D]

There are next to no picturtes of the place out there that I could find. The ones I did, were poorly taken as the guy was taking them on the sly when he was allowed a tour. He was told no pictures becuase the place hadn't been decorated. I sure hope they don't restrict our picture taking here, but you never know.
At 8:30 we have a dessert Party at Eau de France. Since Illuminaions is at 9, I assume we will have a nice front row seat for it. I'm excited about it....and my favorite course of any meal IS dessert!!!

What would you do if you couldn't take any photos? The one thing I love reading your posts is all the pictures make me feel like I'm right there with you! I imagine it would be like telling an Italian they couldn't wave their arms around when they talk (and yes, I'm Italian and I do that)

You'd have to go all super secret agent on them, but I'd guess they'd still know where they came from when they see your TR's!

MMMM Desserts!

Thanks for the advice on K-Mart! I may have to make a road trip tomorrow!

Loved Claire's dance photos!

 

[MyPeanut&Bug]

I'm seriously so jealous of all that alone Disney time! Exploring WS would be pretty darn fun - I'm not even a big Epcot person at all, but being able to explore at my own pace and take pics, without hearing how bored the kids are, would be heavenly!! And I totally planned on getting a Grand Marnier slush last time and it didn't happen - have one for me!!

 

[jenseib]

What would you do if you couldn't take any photos? The one thing I love reading your posts is all the pictures make me feel like I'm right there with you! I imagine it would be like telling an Italian they couldn't wave their arms around when they talk (and yes, I'm Italian and I do that)

You'd have to go all super secret agent on them, but I'd guess they'd still know where they came from when they see your TR's!

MMMM Desserts!

Thanks for the advice on K-Mart! I may have to make a road trip tomorrow!

Loved Claire's dance photos!

I'm guessing we will be able to, after all, they have wedding receptions there. But you never know, But it will only be for a couple of hours and then we are off for dessert!

I'm seriously so jealous of all that alone Disney time! Exploring WS would be pretty darn fun - I'm not even a big Epcot person at all, but being able to explore at my own pace and take pics, without hearing how bored the kids are, would be heavenly!! And I totally planned on getting a Grand Marnier slush last time and it didn't happen - have one for me!!

Claire is usually pretty decent at WS, but we don't stop too long for anything. I know we have lingered too long in years past and she would become impatient. This past trip we took a lot of Topiary pictures back there and Claire would pose with each. But as for exploring the actual countries, we didn't do much of that. But I would say that our afternoon together was one of the best. We were just goofy and had lots of fun.

 

[Daddy_of_Princesses]

My plan is to head over to Yacht Club EARLY. I need to transfer luggage. I'm not sure of the best way. I could have AS Movies do it, but I don't know how long it will take. It must be at Yacht Club no later than 3 PM, so I guess I'll ask and see if that is possible. If it isn't guaranteed, then I'll go the route of a taxi and bring it over with me.

If anyone knows anything about transferring luggage, I would love to hear your opinions.

I'm not sure what time the luggage transfer actually takes place. We had ours sent from AKL to the Poly, and it was there when we got to the resort, probably around 4:30. If I had to guess, I would say it will be there at 3. Don't hold me to that though.

At 6:45 we have a Welcome dinner and opening session at the Norway Loft in Epcot. I have tried to find info about this place, but it is very limited. Basically what I found is that it is used for seminars and for wedding receptions that get rained out. In fact from what I have read, many CM's couldn't even point you in its direction. It's kind of hidden, I guess. There are next to no picturtes of the place out there that I could find. The ones I did, were poorly taken as the guy was taking them on the sly when he was allowed a tour. He was told no pictures becuase the place hadn't been decorated. I sure hope they don't restrict our picture taking here, but you never know.

I can see it now, they will say no pictures, and about 10 minutes in Jen will sitting on the floor shaking and bobbing forward and back, and will be heard muttering. Pictures, I need to take Pictures

 

[jenseib]

I'm not sure what time the luggage transfer actually takes place. We had ours sent from AKL to the Poly, and it was there when we got to the resort, probably around 4:30. If I had to guess, I would say it will be there at 3. Don't hold me to that though.




I can see it now, they will say no pictures, and about 10 minutes in Jen will sitting on the floor shaking and bobbing forward and back, and will be heard muttering. Pictures, I need to take Pictures

Ok. I might start a thread and ask what seems to be the norm for transfers.

MUST...Take...Pictures!!!!!!!

 

[GoofyWife]

Yes you can. But the week after Christmas is less than likely to have a discount,...but it could happen or a PIN sent out. I knopw a good travel agent you can work with! [/QUOTE]

Thanks! Ill keep her in mind!