June 2011 PT: Keeping the sanity on the long drive! (6/6 update, single digit dance)

[WDWCP96]

Your plans look good. I thought you were taking the train home too or did you decide against it?

 

[kittylady1972]

Your plans look good. I thought you were taking the train home too or did you decide against it?

Right now our current plan is only to take the train south...and I'm still waivering on the upgrade. With the new discount code that just came out, the kids can now travel for $19 each...it will mean another $50 savings for us. This means for another $202 I could add two roomettes for the trip and for $363 more I can add a bedroom and a roomette and I think three will fit better in the bedroom while two can cram into the roomette just for sleeping. Still I can think of so many ways I could spend that extra money in Disney!

As it is I've booked the excursions this week which is going to be extra money...but with that I cancelled some dining reservations saving us some money there.

So I was approved for the Continental Airlines rewards card...and that's an automatic 25000 points plus I'll get a $50 statement credit. The $50 could also be applied towards the train...making it seem like a better deal. Plus if we learn there is a way for either DH or myself to transfer our Continental Rewards points to each other and then combine them and transfer them to Amtrak there is a VERY good chance we could actually book our return trip on the AutoTrain for free...since the return trip costs MUCH more than the one down.

Decisions, decisions...there are still so many to make in the next 70+ days or so! So yeah, it could all change again...but mostly in regards to transportation now. I am very happy with our current Disney schedule so I think that will stay set until we leave.

However for NOW we will take the train south only and then travel North via car with the rest of the family!

 

[kittylady1972]

So over the weekend I re-booked our train reservations using the new code that just came out for summer for the kids. It saved me about $50 over our previous reservation. I also booked using our new Continental Credit Card because by using the card I should also get a $50 statement credit.

I'm still debating on booking the roomettes on the train. I just can't decide what would be worth it or better for all of us. I think I still have a bit of time though considering the rates haven't changed. So for now we'll just take the credit and probably later this month I'll purchase our park passes.

 

[amandaluvsgoofy]

Gotta love changes!! That's great that you guys are able to save some $$$! I wonder what the roomettes are like on the train. It might be worth it if you guys can actually get a decent night's sleep. I'm not sure since I haven't ever traveled by train (just bus). I would hate to think you guys might be uncomfortable (picture sleeping sitting up!) and then not enjoy yourself the first day. Hmmmm....

So exciting you guys are getting closer!!

 

[kittylady1972]

Gotta love changes!! That's great that you guys are able to save some $$$! I wonder what the roomettes are like on the train. It might be worth it if you guys can actually get a decent night's sleep. I'm not sure since I haven't ever traveled by train (just bus). I would hate to think you guys might be uncomfortable (picture sleeping sitting up!) and then not enjoy yourself the first day. Hmmmm....

So exciting you guys are getting closer!!

I know...I try NOT to make weekly changes but always finding new information and ways to use it here!

Yes I agree on the train travel and having the ability to sleep. I want to be able to really enjoy the fact that we're arriving much earlier on Wednesday than our original plan. I'd like to sneak in a quick trip over to MK and do some rides that night if everybody is up for it...and having some well rested kids (and adults) will be key to that! I'll never convince DH to go to a park if nobody has had any good sleep!

 

[WDWCP96]

I know...I try NOT to make weekly changes but always finding new information and ways to use it here!

Yes I agree on the train travel and having the ability to sleep. I want to be able to really enjoy the fact that we're arriving much earlier on Wednesday than our original plan. I'd like to sneak in a quick trip over to MK and do some rides that night if everybody is up for it...and having some well rested kids (and adults) will be key to that! I'll never convince DH to go to a park if nobody has had any good sleep!

I have to agree that it was so worth it to be able to get a good nights sleep. That was the great part about the train although I didn't sleep that well but at least DH and DS did.

 

[kittylady1972]

So yesterday this arrived via mail. I just love getting new mail...it's like Christmas!

I was going to go with the 8oz version but when I ordered the 16oz was much less. Well let me tell you...this sucker is BIG! I really, really can't picture myself carrying this around a park. I have enough stuff to haul on a good day. So I'm not sure what to do...but might just send it back. I think we can get by with the kids little squeeze spray fans and I'll take my little mini-fan/sprayer if I can find it!

I have also ordered the Universal Orlando 2011 guide and am still waiting for that. Hopefully that will be waiting for me today. It's just been so long since we've visited the Universal Parks that I'd like to soak up as many tips as possible to maximize our time there. I just love information!



Sometime before the end of the month I'm going to order our park passes. I think I'm going with an AP for myself and hoppers for the kids. Problem is I'm not sure what to do for DH. We just *MIGHT* try to swing a short trip back this fall for the Food and Wine Festival. I called today and we have the points to book 3 nights there. If so, then it makes sense to get him the AP as well because it will be cheaper than getting another 3 or 4-day pass for him when we return.

Decisions, decisions.

I have not made any changes to our train reservations yet. I should just go ahead and book rooms if I can make a decision on which rooms to book.

And NOW this week I'm hoping to book our first Disney CRUISE!

The prices come out Friday and I've already said in honor of my 40th birthday I want to do the Disney cruise next Thanksgiving. It looks like we'll end up doing a 3-day cruise the Sunday before Thanksgiving. So we'll have to squeeze in some park time either before or after or both. So yep, that's the next thing on the agenda and I'll have to put down the deposit on that this week most likely.

So much planning going on right now!

 

[kittylady1972]

So we have 64 days to go until our trip...and we are already booked for our 2012 trip now too!

On Friday the prices and bookings opened up for November 2012 for the Disney Cruise and so we are BOOKED for a 3-day cruise on the new Dream ship in November of 2012! That means we'll spend Thanksgiving in Walt Disney World in 2012 for sure now! So excited!

I'm already planning that trip out on my head. The cruise leaves on Sunday and returns on Wednesday so for sure we'll spend Wed and Thurs night in Walt Disney World, and I'm thinking maybe Friday night too and then probably drive home Saturday morning. We've invited a bunch of family and friends to join us on the cruise, but so far nobody else has committed to it except for DH's parents, and we put down their deposit on our Disney Visa as well. I'm really hoping maybe we can swing another 3BR Villa for those last few nights in Disney and then have a Thanksgiving feast in our room there!

So there have been no changes to our June 2011 trip for now. We are still in coach accomodations on the train, though I'm happy to report I charged the trip on my new Chase Continental card and they have already posted my $50 credit there so it's now even CHEAPER for us. Due to the talk of federal furloughs as of last week, and DH being a fed employee, I didn't want to risk spending any more money until we knew what was happening there. Now that it's over I can finally start purchasing our park passes which I plan to do before the end of the month.

My book on the Universal parks arrived in the mail yesterday and I dove right into it immediately. I was pretty unhappy with the Disney bashing that seemed to be evident throughout the book but I solidered on so I could make sure I planned out our days at those parks accordingly. So glad we are going there first as I know I'm going to be missing Disney for a lot of the time there. I'm not sure I gained as much information as I could have from it but I may pass it onto the other relatives if they want to read it.

 

[kittylady1972]

So Friday night my daughter attended a birthday party for a friend of hers at a local indoor mini-golf place. Since she is a mini-golf pro, she became bored with the whole mini-golf thing rather quickly.

So in her usual way, she meandered over and sat at the table with the adults. We quickly ceased our talking about Santa Claus (haven't planned on letting the cat out of THAT bag, but earlier in the day she had told me in the car that she was sure we were Santa and I huffed at that) and somehow the adult talk turned to Disney.

And me, being the blabber mouth, told the adults we were taking the TRAIN to Disney...forgetting she was sitting right THERE!

When she chimed in with "WE ARE" I just decided to give in and tell her it was true. I have sufficiently threatened her about telling her brothers or holding this secret over their heads, as I know she will try to do. Let's hope it works!

In any event, I did NOT let on the fact that we were leaving earlier than planned. So I am consoled in the fact that the cat is only partially out of the bag in that only SHE knows about the train and she and the other kids still don't know we are leaving earlier.

So the kids are still under the assumption that we'll get up bright and early on Wednesday morning and hit the road. The reality is that we'll attend my oldest son's 5th grade/elementary school graduation ceremony on Tuesday, and as soon as it's over we'll get the other kids out of class and take them home...where the car will be packed and we'll hit the road immediately.

I think we still plan to tell them we are just leaving earlier than planned and we'll stop on the way down. So DD still won't know when the train comes into play...or maybe at that point we'll tell her we cancelled it (in private) and that we are driving instead. We'll see how that goes.

In other news, I have ordered park passes for the 3 kids already from Undercover Tourist. They should arrive very soon. DH and I are still on the fence about a return trip this Fall but I am now leaning towards NOT going in the fall. We'll be back in Disney next Fall for our cruise anyway, even though it's not during food and wine. Plus we have some other weekend trips planned for Fall already and this way we can save money for those.

I'll still get one annual pass (for myself) though and plan to order that next month so that I can get our TIW discount card.

Oh and on Friday I rewarded the kids with extra Disney money for their Disney Reward Chart based on report cards. The little kids don't get As and Bs but still getting a low, med and high grade. DD 8 earned ALL highest marks for the 3rd quarter in a row, earning her 19 more dollars! The boys all got honor roll as well so they got quite a few extra marks. There is a good chance that this month DD 8 will have earned a $50 gift card.

DH says maybe we need to set the bar MUCH higher once they reach the $50 mark...maybe so we don't go BROKE! He's also afraid they will just buy all kinds of junk with that money but I told him perhaps we can even let them use the card for things like extra snacks and drinks in the parks that we don't want to purchase. Sound too evil? I don't think that's too unreasonable if they want candy or an extra treat one day that they be allowed to use their own money for that. We'll still feed them lunch and other snacks...we aren't THAT evil!

 

[kittylady1972]

So I've been stalking the Amtrak website almost daily, to make sure the prices of the rooms are staying stable. I know we want to upgrade to rooms...as part of the experience...but I don't want to spend the money until absolutely necessary.

Yesterday was that day. The roomette prices had creeped up just a bit. I knew we were either going to get two roomettes or a roomette and a bedroom so while the bedroom prices were still stable I decided to pull the trigger yesterday and book.

That was an EXPERIENCE on it's own. Now I already knew from reading another thread that Amtrak's Customer Service left a lot to be desired. Their policies are quite messed up in that if you call to make changes to a reservation, they don't just add-on to the current reservations but they REBOOK the whole thing. Why is this important? Because if some rates have dropped but other rates have increased, they won't book at the lowest rate for all...they will book at all of the current rates. So if, for example, the cost to transport your car has increased, even if you are only calling to add rooms or apply a new promotional discount, they will rebook the whole reservation and will include the increase in the car rate. Many people were not able to take advantage of Amtrak's newest Kids for $19 Fare special because if they rebooked just the fares, and the car rates increased, they'd take the hit for that. Make sense?

Now the other issue is that even though they will ALLOW three kids in a roomette or a bedroom, if you are booking for a family of five online, you have to CALL to let them book this for you...it can't be done online. So you are at their mercy in the booking.

So yesterday I call to add the rooms...and am put on hold for a VERY long time!

As it turns out, a computer "glitch" in the system has allowed me earlier in the month to book all three of my kids at the $19 rate, when it should have allowed only ONE child at that rate per adult...so my third child would have to booked at the regular half-adult fare of $46.50. The Amtrak CSR tried to get that waived, but her manager was not budging. I already knew it would do no good, but I was okay as long as just one child was at that rate as long as the other two remained at the discounted rate. What choice did I have really?

So she finalizes everything and at the end she spits out the final totals and my math in my head keeps telling me...it's too much. However I've been on the phone forever now and I just want to be done with this so I hang up and then revisit my math. Sure enough...too much. When I finally work it out it turns out that she did NOT apply the discounted fare to the other two kids as promised. UGH!

This morning I realized the error and I'm ready for a fresh start with Amtrak, so I call them back. The guy at Amtrak wants me to tell him a discount code, but according to their website the fare should be discounted automatically...no code is mentioned. (However I did know the code in case he pushed for it...it was in a previous Disboards thread). He finally gets it fixed and the refund will be issued to me.

Problem is, having these new totals in front of me it suddenly dawns on me...that final total is pretty close to AIRLINE fares BOTH WAYS! Sure enough, because I'm a glutton for punishment, last night I look at airfares and YEP if I wanted to I could book us RT to Florida for the same price as the train ONE-WAY!

Now it would be totally different if we were to travel coach...that is still much cheaper. Plus having our car with us is a huge plus, and to fly we'd need a rental for at least a few days as we plan to do the Universal parks.

So I keep telling myself this train travel thing is an EXPERIENCE...trying not to think about the cost! Trying REALLY REALLY HARD. We'll see if I succeed in leaving it alone for now. The only thing good I can say about train travel right now is that it's still, unlike airfare, fully refundable!

 

[kittylady1972]

SEVEN MORE WEEKS TO GO!!!


We went on a mini-vacation over the weekend...did the approximately 8-hour drive to visit my family in North Carolina. The weather was in the 70s and 80s, we were wearing our shorts most days, we spent EASTER at the beach and got sunburns. Oh summer is just right around the corner!

For the past week+ we've been doing daily walks to help us all get into shape. We walk between 2-3 miles each day either in the morning or in the evening. The kids are walking as well and not complaining...MIRACLES DO HAPPEN!

Everybody actually looks forward to the evening walks...but of course we aren't walking in high heat and humidity like we'll probably have in Walt Disney World. We plan to keep the walks up through our vacation and beyond.

Over the weekend I started working on some magnets that I'm hoping to put on our door at the resort. This will serve to help others in our family identify our room easily and will help us find our room. I'll never forget the year we were staying at the Contemporary and I took several tries trying to open a door, convinced my key wasn't working, going back to the front desk...only to realize I was trying to open the wrong DOOR! OOOPS!

Perhaps I'll post some photos of the magnets soon.

Other than that, no other changes to our plans. The big push now is really to just get us all in the best physical shape as possible in the next 7 weeks. I'd like to fit comfortably in my summer clothes and right now that's not going to happen. We're working on eating better and walking and hoping that it will just be enough to help us out in 7 weeks!

 

[WDWCP96]

I am jealous you got to Easter at the beach.

How are you making your magnets? I would like to do that so it is easier for my MIL to find our room when she is alone.

 

[kittylady1972]

I am jealous you got to Easter at the beach.

How are you making your magnets? I would like to do that so it is easier for my MIL to find our room when she is alone.

Yes well Easter at the beach was definitely nice...it's nice to have family living so close to the beach and a little further south to allow for some warmer weather. The ocean was pretty cold...but of course the kids didn't mind!

With the magnets, I'm recycling some old magnet calendars. I'm using construction paper, glue dots and some Disney punches. The results are here:

Now with these I am also using some document laminating pages to laminate the entire magnet and protect it, but you don't have to do that. I just have a bunch of those laminating pages and once I make a few magnets I put them on the laminate paper and then cut them out.

So I take construction paper and do a Disney punch. Then I have a contrasting color piece of construction paper and I glue them together and then cut them out. Then I glue both pieces of paper to the design side of the calendar magnet and then cut around it. I thought about buying the magnetic paper but this worked out well. I am then laminating the entire thing, magnet and all.

 

[kittylady1972]

Ok, so as of yesterday we were officially SIX weeks away from our trip! You know what that means? Time to order some more stuff!

My annual pass was ordered yesterday...well the certificate for the pass which I'll use once I arrive at the World! Kids passes are ordered and I still need to get one for DH. He still thinks we should make a return trip in the Fall for the Food and Wine Festival...and believe it or not I'm not convinced it's a good idea. We may have to wait until 2 years or so to return for that.

I have emailed the rest of the family regarding their passes, which I will order for them if they would like me to do so. DH has to go to work today and finalize some information regarding the passes for Universal. According to the paperwork he brought home, they seem like a REALLY great deal...unless they don't include taxes in the price, in which case we can do better ordering them elsewhere.

Then there is my planned weight loss. I had HOPED to lose about 15 pounds before our trip...which is now 6 weeks away...and I am still about 9 pounds away from my goal. DH and I started a new diet and fitness routine and it appears to be working...if I can just stick to it. I'm trying very, very hard right now. I'm at a bit of a stall for the last few days so hopefully the scale will continue it's downward trend next week. If only we had started this routine last month or the month before...but nothing I can do now.

So we wait and see and I may check in more frequently. As it is, I've been going back and reviewing photos from a previous trip. You can see a lot more in my link in my siggy to my May 2009 trip...yes it was TWO years ago I was enjoying a fabulous week in Disney! Hanging at the pool daily, enjoying sunshine and warm weather...and today here it's 58 degrees!!

This was one of my favorite comments from my then not-quite-5 year old son on Spaceship Earth:

 

[kittylady1972]

So this week I gave my in-laws a copy of our schedule for June and I told them I was making NO MORE CHANGES! I meant it...truly...and then, well....

...my MIL pointed out our very last night where I had a Kona Cafe reservation. It was more of a placeholder...but since it's our LAST full day and night at Disney, I really thought we may not want to spend it sitting down for a meal. She started talking about the wonderful drinks from nearby O'Hana (yeah we spend some time waiting at the bar for our reservation usually). We really enjoy Kona Cafe...and so I decided maybe I should try to make a reservation there earlier just in case.

So now we have TWO more Kona Cafe reservations for the previous week. Both of these reservations are on our Universal Park days but they are late enough that we figured we can probably try to make one of them. After all, the restaurant is just a monorail ride away from our room!

And speaking of changes...I did make a few more this week but they don't really count. Amtrak...they lowered their rates again for the rooms I had already booked in a panic when the rates had increased on one set of rooms. Amtrak doesn't DO changes...but you can cancel any reservation you make through them. The problem is that while I can cancel and rebook online for MOST of the reservation...I can't book the rooms without assistance on the phone because I'm booking FIVE people into two rooms that really hold four. Their website does say the one room can hold three...but they don't let you book it online. So I found myself on the phone once again with dear Amtrak...rebooking our rooms again but it saved us another $60 or so and so I felt it was worth it. I honestly do NOT see the rates dropping for Amtrak again...but you never know!

 

[amandaluvsgoofy]

Your trip is soooooooo close!!

Keep up the good work on the diet/exercise! . It's always those last few stubborn pounds that seem to take forever to go away! But you'll do great!

And here's to hoping no more issues with Amtrack!

I love that pic of you DS!

 

[kittylady1972]

Your trip is soooooooo close!!

Keep up the good work on the diet/exercise! . It's always those last few stubborn pounds that seem to take forever to go away! But you'll do great!

And here's to hoping no more issues with Amtrack!

I love that pic of you DS!

Thanks! The diet isn't doing so well but this week I seem to be losing again so hopefully it will continue. The exercise is definitely going well. Love our evening walks!

So far I think I'm done with Amtrak changes. I don't think it will drop any more.

Thanks for the compliments on the photo. It was just too funny!

 

[teachermommy78]

The dreaded weight loss stall. Ugh. I'm in the same boat. Good news is that I'm not gaining, at least!!! Keep that chin up! You are super close!!!

 

[Becc1]

Hey there, finally all caught up on your report. I am so jealous of your stay at BLT. I would love to stay there someday, DH told me if we take a larger break in between trips then I can stay anywhere I want but who wants to do that?

We took the autotrain back in 2008. We also rode the train down and drove back but that was not by choice. Our trip was during a big tropical storm and the tracks flooded so they were unable to get us home on the train We were supposed to come home on a Saturday but they couldn't get us on a train until the following Thursday, while I love Florida, the kids were starting school on that Monday so it wasn't happening. The ride down was nice though, we got a family room and a roomette right outside of it. The food was good and we all actually slept pretty well.

Looking forward to reading more!

 

[kittylady1972]

The dreaded weight loss stall. Ugh. I'm in the same boat. Good news is that I'm not gaining, at least!!! Keep that chin up! You are super close!!!

Yes I feel the same way...at least I'm not gaining. I am losing a little bit, but last night's birthday dinner for FIL with the two bottles of wine we consumed did not help at all! Back on track again today and for the next three weeks!