June comes before August & the APs will still be valid! I think we're done here!

[jackskellingtonsgirl]

Wow. 90 days. When did that happen?

I threw together a sort of "budget" for the trip. I was using last year's food total as a guideline, but we were in concierge for 10 nights last year so we had breakfast in the lounge almost every day. We also had a snack there each afternoon, but that was more because the snacks were there. I doubt we will buy a snack every afternoon.

So then DH and I started debating (AGAIN) about doing a grocery order. The thing is, we would probably come out about the same just buying some stuff at Zawadi. A few containers of milk, maybe some donuts or Pop Tarts. I am sure some mornings we'll get food at Mara. By the time we pay a $17 delivery fee plus a gratuity on groceries we might as well just pay the WDW prices and be done with it.

 

[jackskellingtonsgirl]

Huh. Finally got around to making a new spreadsheet today. I discovered in all the flipping and flopping I somehow forgot to add the water park back in there. Now, skipping the water park is FINE with me. But we should really go. Before the tickets get so old they disintegrate.

Still contemplating adding a dinner at bluezoo. Maybe switching a Boma breakfast from midweek to departure day. Our meals at Universal have also gotten kind of squirrelly because we are now doing IOA first, then US the second day. The Town Car will pick us up at 6 PM, so we don't really have time to have dinner at Universal the second night. I don't think we'll be able to make it to Margaritaville this time around. We'll probably end up with chicken strips from Mara that night.

It would be EVER SO THOUGHTFUL of them to release some sort of schedule for Star Wars weekends. That is making it incredibly hard to plan. If there is some HUGE star we HAVE to see, then I need to pencil that in. By the same token, if there is NOBODY we need to see then I want to be able to schedule other stuff for those days! Right now I have 3 days that are completely up in the air while we wait for SWW info. Tap, tap, tap goes my foot while I wait.

 

[jackskellingtonsgirl]

I booked bluezoo for dinner on our last night, and I moved our Boma breakfast to departure day.

DH now says he isn't really planning to be at MGM from open to close every day SWW is going on. In fact, he claims the only thing he is really interested in is looking at the collectibles they have for sale. He doesn't really want to stand in line for celebrity meet & greets or character photos. Huh. Good! That makes things MUCH easier! I am still going to wait for a list of celebrities, because if somebody really cool is going to be there we might as well plan to go try to see them.

 

[PghLybrt]

Bluezoo!!! I can't wait to hear about it!!!


Sorry that Airtran moved you. I guess they do that. I always fly them, for me out of Pgh it is really easy. If we do have a layover it is always in Atlanta so it is not to bad. I hope they work out well for you too!


So Star Wars weekend has collectibles.....!!!!???? This is the first I have ever heard of such a thing. What kind of colectibles?


What are you planing for universal as far as food? Just in the park?

 

[jackskellingtonsgirl]

Bluezoo!!! I can't wait to hear about it!!!


Sorry that Airtran moved you. I guess they do that. I always fly them, for me out of Pgh it is really easy. If we do have a layover it is always in Atlanta so it is not to bad. I hope they work out well for you too!


So Star Wars weekend has collectibles.....!!!!???? This is the first I have ever heard of such a thing. What kind of colectibles?


What are you planing for universal as far as food? Just in the park?

I am looking forward to bluezoo.

I should have known that since the flight we booked to come home is NOT a flight they offer year-round that they would mess with it.

I would think pins, plush toys, not sure what other sort of collectibles there might be. I guess w'll find out when we get there. Or maybe they will have some promo pics once they release more info on the event.

Since I had to flip my days for US/IOA it sort of screwed up my dining plans. Originally we were doing US first, with dinner at Margaritaville. BUT now we are doing IOA first, so we will try for a late lunch at Mythos. The next day we'll do US, but the Town Car will arrive to take us back to WDW at 6 PM so we'll be back at AKV for dinner.

 

[PghLybrt]

Now you can have double the celebration!!!

 

[jackskellingtonsgirl]

Yes, DOUBLE the celebrating is in order!

DS was accepted to the Arts Magnet high school, so now we have to have an even MORE SPECTACULAR cake and some other stuff. I am getting ready to call the Disney Florist to see what they can customize for me, because none of the baskets and things on the website are really what I want.

We usually do one special thing each trip, so I am running out of special things. We have done 2 tours at MK (he isn't old enough for the others, except the train one and he isn't really into trains), we have done an IllumiNations cruise, we have done Lunch with an Imagineer, we have done a bass fishing charter, we have done the Sunrise Safari twice. I am just not sure what is left that he would be interested in. He is too young for Segways.

The Star Wars weekends people have been announced. There actually are some folks from the earlier movies! Might be cool to meet Chewbacca and Lando. I guess we'll just see how it plays out the days we are there. Darth Maul will be there both weekends, so I suppose if we want to fit him into the schedule it should be pretty easy to do!

 

[lovesdumbo]

Can't wait to see your cake! Where will you get it? I should order one for DH for his bday!

Isn't Universal kind of special? You don't normally do that.

How about horse back riding.

 

[jackskellingtonsgirl]

Can't wait to see your cake! Where will you get it? I should order one for DH for his bday!

Isn't Universal kind of special? You don't normally do that.

How about horse back riding.

I may not do a cake after all. Kristine the Enabler convinced me to book a Wishes cruise. And DS doesn't like cake in the first place.

I phoned the Florist but the girl I spoke with wasn't getting the point that I DO NOT want a 22" plush Mickey. I also don't particularly want to spend $275 on some confetti and a plush toy. OK, so there is more to the package than that, but I still felt like she wasn't quite understanding that the reason I was calling was because NONE of the pre-set packages were what I wanted.

So, by the time you add the cost of a cake to the cost of a basket from the florist (which may or may NOT have included the stuff I really wanted) it is darn near the same cost as a Wishes cruise.

11 weeks 'til departure!!

 

[lovesdumbo]

Wishes cruise sounds great!

 

[jackskellingtonsgirl]

OK, so MAYBE we will have a cake on the boat. It depends. If I can't get the logistics worked out the way I want them, then I will forget the cake. Because there is a cake on the Restaurant board right now that looks like crap, and they charged the lady $120 for it. There is NO WAY I will pay $120 for something that looks like it came from a second rate grocery store.

Of course I know the cakes from Boardwalk Bakery are good, so I could have one brought to our table at Flying Fish like we have done in the past. I could probably figure out how to get a nice cake from Yachtsman, too. Too many choices.

 

[lovesdumbo]

I saw that cake. It scares me to order a cake at WDW with such inconsistent results.

Do you think BWI CL will order a cake to DH to be delivered to FF for his birthday? What kind of cakes have you had there?

I think FF would work better for you than the Wishes cruise.

 

[jackskellingtonsgirl]

I saw that cake. It scares me to order a cake at WDW with such inconsistent results.

Do you think BWI CL will order a cake to DH to be delivered to FF for his birthday? What kind of cakes have you had there?

I think FF would work better for you than the Wishes cruise.

You know, the first year we asked AKL CL to order my birthday cake and they TOTALLY punted it back to us. DH was mad, because he can't ever call anyone for anything (not Dr's, not Chinese food delivery, nothing). He had to call Boardwalk and they kept transferring him around - it was pretty bad. He did manage to get the cake ordered and it was perfect. Last year AKL CL handled the cake order just fine. I have read conflicting reports about CL doing custom cake orders, so like everything else, it depends.

My cakes were 10" vanilla cake, whipped cream frosting, custard w/strawberry filling, garnished with white chocolate curls and fresh strawberries. Same cake both years. FYI, a 10" cake is HUGE. We ended up tossing more than half both times because it got old sitting in the room fridge.

I have seen some gorgeous cakes from Yachtsman, and we just adore our waiter there. It would mean a lot to DS to have his cake served by our sweet friend. So I can't decide. I am trying to do some research now, then I will figure out if we want a cake or not.

 

[lovesdumbo]

Your cakes sound yummy but Joe is allergic to strawberries-we could do the fresh strawberries that he could take off. Joe's not a big cake eater either so I don't know if he would eat any anyways...

Maybe I should just order a cake from the Boardwalk Bakery to pick up and bring it to the cookout on the 22nd then we'd have enough folks to help us eat it. His birthday is the 23rd.

 

[jackskellingtonsgirl]

I think I will have some sort of a throw down between the cake people and the Disney Florist. Whoever can pull it together and come closest to what I want will win! Of course with cakes you don't REALLY know until you get there, which is scary. So maybe we'll just do the cruise and get on with it.

 

[PghLybrt]

I seem to remember some company in Orlando that comes up with special Disney things. This was a few yeas ago and my memory is quite fuzzy about it. I wil have to go back in my notes for past trips to see if I wote them down.
( yes i keep notes )
I like the horseback riding idea!
Or what about a special car picking you up at the airport? I remember seeing that on here too.

 

[jackskellingtonsgirl]

I seem to remember some company in Orlando that comes up with special Disney things. This was a few yeas ago and my memory is quite fuzzy about it. I wil have to go back in my notes for past trips to see if I wote them down.
( yes i keep notes )
I like the horseback riding idea!
Or what about a special car picking you up at the airport? I remember seeing that on here too.

There is "Gifts of a Lifetime" that does scavenger hunts and stuff, but with just 3 of us I don't know if that would be fun. There are a couple of gift basket companies, but I am not 100% sold on the gift basket thing. I might call Disney Florist back and see if I get a different person. Because we all know that makes a HUGE difference. Also, I wanted some little graduation stuff in there and that isn't available yet so I can't really make a decision.

I like horseback riding, but it is WAY too hot to do that in August (when we usually go). It may be too hot in June, too.

We booked a Town Car to take us back to the airport, which we will keep even though our departing flight isn't at dark o'clock in the morning anymore. Despite my irritation with Magical Express in December we typically do OK with them. And they are free. Which gives me more money to use for other stuff!

 

[PghLybrt]

There is "Gifts of a Lifetime" that does scavenger hunts and stuff, but with just 3 of us I don't know if that would be fun. There are a couple of gift basket companies, but I am not 100% sold on the gift basket thing. I might call Disney Florist back and see if I get a different person. Because we all know that makes a HUGE difference. Also, I wanted some little graduation stuff in there and that isn't available yet so I can't really make a decision.

I like horseback riding, but it is WAY too hot to do that in August (when we usually go). It may be too hot in June, too.

We booked a Town Car to take us back to the airport, which we will keep even though our departing flight isn't at dark o'clock in the morning anymore. Despite my irritation with Magical Express in December we typically do OK with them. And they are free. Which gives me more money to use for other stuff!

All good points! You are probably right June can get really hot too!

That is the name of the company!
Hmmm I will keep my thinking cap on!

 

[jackskellingtonsgirl]

Did I mention that we got our Magical Express tags already? I called to tell them our flight info, and to tell them I will need more than 3 yellow tags because I will check more than 3 bags. I know it costs a fortune. I know we have an Owners Locker. I know there will be a washer & dryer in the villa. None of that matters. 4 bags, at least.

So they sent me the booklet and 3 tags in one envelope, and 3 more tags IN A DIFFERENT ENVELOPE! Hello? I told them I needed more tags so they could send it TOGETHER. Whatever.

I am trying to sort out the Wishes cruise. I am still not sure about cake on the boat. So maybe we should plan a dinner ADR for before the cruise. But where? And what time? Should we have a cake with dinner? Decisions, decisions...

 

[lovesdumbo]

Yay for ME tags-must mean your trip is coming up soon!!!


I don't think I would do a cake on the Wishes cruise. I think it would take away from the fun/relaxing atomosphere of the cruise to try to cut, serve and eat a cake. Don't you get some sort of snack? How about something easier to serve/eat like cookies or chocolate covered strawberries.