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

[jackskellingtonsgirl]

My very clever friend Star has come up with a great idea!

We will load a gift card with the amount the CS dining plan would cost ($1247). We will use that gift card to pay for all of our snacks and CS meals. If the card is empty before the trip is over, we should have bought the plan. If not, the amount left on the card is the amount we would have wasted if we had the plan. If we buy the gift card with our Disney Visa we will get reward dollars for the purchase. (I think. If for some reason it doesn't work like that we haven't lost anything.)

So, this way it is convenient (I don't have to mess with checking room charges for accuracy, except on TS meals) but we aren't risking having a bunch of unused credits at the end. It will also tell us precisely how much we would have lost. My guess is $250 - $300 will remain on the gift card on June 18 after lunch (our last CS meal of the trip).

 

[lovesdumbo]

I hope Bernadette comes back and tells me she LOVED wearing hers at WDW.

I talked to DH about switching some ADR to Flying Fish, or just adding another dinner on a night we were going to do CS. He likes Coral Reef, but their menu is pretty sparse. So we are debating.

Wish I could. I wore them to dinner at California Grill. I knew they were rubbing my bunion so I put a blister band aid on before we left the room. They were rubbing so much that they rubbed the band aid off. We took monorail from CR to Epcot and walked backed to International Gateway and took boat back to BWI. I had a blister by the time we got back to the room. Never wore them after that.

Joe & I had our best meal at Flying Fish. [with no screamers!]

My very clever friend Star has come up with a great idea!

We will load a gift card with the amount the CS dining plan would cost ($1247). We will use that gift card to pay for all of our snacks and CS meals. If the card is empty before the trip is over, we should have bought the plan. If not, the amount left on the card is the amount we would have wasted if we had the plan. If we buy the gift card with our Disney Visa we will get reward dollars for the purchase. (I think. If for some reason it doesn't work like that we haven't lost anything.)

So, this way it is convenient (I don't have to mess with checking room charges for accuracy, except on TS meals) but we aren't risking having a bunch of unused credits at the end. It will also tell us precisely how much we would have lost. My guess is $250 - $300 will remain on the gift card on June 18 after lunch (our last CS meal of the trip).

Great idea! You could use the balance on the gift card to pay off room balance when you check out.

 

[jackskellingtonsgirl]

Welcome home, Bernadette!
Well, crap. I am sorry your sandals didn't work out! I am hoping mine will. I think I only have 30 days to return them, so by the end of the trip it will be past the return window.
We have 2 dinners booked for Flying Fish. Hopefully there won't be screamers on either night! If there are, I will casually go up to the table and tell the kids "Shut up or the evil lobby chairs will get you!"
Can't wait to hear about your trip!

We just came home from Walgreens. 2 things: first, the Disney gift cards at Walgreens have a max value of $500, and if you buy 3 of them it requires a manager's approval of your picture ID.

 

[jackskellingtonsgirl]

THREE weeks 'til departure!!​

​

 

[princessallegra]

YAY FOR 3 WEEKS FOR YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 3 WEEKS ONE DAY FOR MEEEE!!!!!


I wanted to touch on the crowd calendar...I cannot IMAGINE that it will be 8's on Mon 6/7, Tue 6/8....I think that you and I will be pleasantly surprised. Don't get me wrong, last year it WAS crowded by afternoon and HOT, but I can't imagine any more crowded than August. I think they're just trying to psych us out with those 8s!!!!

Great idea with the gift cards, I hope that works out well for you. Silly about the $500 max and the whole picture ID thing

I have STILL been putting off going out to the outlets! Now Uncle Sam finally came through, so I will go next Friday. I'll be checkin in with you along the way for all your updates!!!

 

[jackskellingtonsgirl]

Well, now my crowd levels are "8" for ELEVEN straight days! (I hope I still find that funny when I am in the midst of it.)

I think Walgreens needed approval because of the total amount of the transaction. It wasn't a big deal. We are all set with our gift cards now. It will work out GREAT, because we always charge our TS and souvenir purchases to the room. That Friday night before our Saturday departure we can just put whatever is left on the gift card towards that balance. And it was probably better to break up the gift card balance over 3 cards in case one gets lost. Better to just lose a third of the money instead of all of it!

Princessallegra, have fun shopping!

Bernadette, I am wearing my Ecco sandals today. We'll see how that bone in my foot feels after work.

 

[PNO4TE]

I didn't know that Walgreen's carried Disney gift cards. Since we don't have any Disney Stores anywhere around us anymore, that is an option.

 

[jackskellingtonsgirl]

I didn't know that Walgreen's carried Disney gift cards. Since we don't have any Disney Stores anywhere around us anymore, that is an option.

They started at the end of last year. I bought one for DS for Christmas. They have 4 different designs - really cute! But unlike the ones at the Disney Store you can NOT add to them after the initial purchase, and they can only be loaded to a max of $500 instead of $1500.

 

[MrsHeg]

I see your trip is just around the corner! I really hate that we won't be seeing each other this year, tell DS I said hello.

I think the gift card is a great idea, there's been so much going on here I haven't done much planning for our trip, we only have four ADR's for an eleven day trip, we'll see how that goes.

 

[jackskellingtonsgirl]

I see your trip is just around the corner! I really hate that we won't be seeing each other this year, tell DS I said hello.

I think the gift card is a great idea, there's been so much going on here I haven't done much planning for our trip, we only have four ADR's for an eleven day trip, we'll see how that goes.

Debbie, I am sorry we won't get to see you guys! DS says hello to you and DH! I don't know if he will ride ToT or Splash without you!

We have scaled back our ADRs a little bit this year, but we still have a TS most days. I did cancel lunch at LTT because DH looked at the menu and didn't think it sounded that great. Hmm. Maybe I will book a late breakfast at Kona the day we had LTT booked. We had an early Kona breakfast that I cancelled because I didn't want to mess with taking a cab to the Poly.

 

[jackskellingtonsgirl]

My ticker is in the TEENS!

 

[lovesdumbo]

Thought you might find this interesting....

I added up what we paid for all food for the 2 of us for the 7 nights and it was $437.16-that included all tips. DDP would have been $378 but I also would have had to pay tips, some appetizers OOP, and I would have been short 2 TS points so at least another $110. I would have had an extra 7 snacks and 8 CS points and I could have gotten lots of desserts I didn't want. We probably would have used those snack/CS credits if we weren't staying club level but in the end I don't think DDP is worth the hassle for me.

This summer it would be more expensive-$167/day - $1500 for the 5 of us for 9 nights. Lizzy doesn't eat $47 worth of food per day so right there we would loose. I'll stick with TiW.

 

[jackskellingtonsgirl]

My parking reservation is done, and my voucher for the first 4 days is printed. I am starting to get that fidgety feeling that I have forgotten something.

The first THIRTEEN days of our trip are now crowd level "8". We only have 15 park days. Want to bet the last 2 days will be "8"?

Next weekend is PACKING WEEKEND! I need to do a little sorting and staging today.

I saw a nice Polo for DS at Macy's the other day. Half price. I am trying NOT to go back and buy it. I bet I will go get it. Unless they are sold out of his size. Which would be OK in this case.

 

[jackskellingtonsgirl]

Bernadette, that is interesting!

I like the CONCEPT of DxDDP, but it is too flippin' expensive. And we were STUFFED by about the 5th day. Even just eating buffet breakfast and signature dinner, we were stuffed. And the tips on top of the plan cost made our daily expense just INSANE.

I realized yesterday when I was talking to Heidi that to break even on the CS plan ALL of your CS meals have to be a minimum of $12, and ALL of your snacks have to be $4. It would stress me out beyond words to try to hit $12 on every CS meal for 13 days. Especially since some of the CS desserts are so gross. How do people manage to spend $12 on EVERY CS meal? Well, the short answer is, they don't. Pure profit for dear old WDW.

 

[lovesdumbo]

I could have forced value out of the DDP since I was paying for one adult and one child but I don't want to have to work at it.

We had 4 CS lunches-here what we paid for both of us-never got dessert but I guess Joe's grapes are dessert for a kid:
Boardwalk to go (is this even on DDP?) $15.00

Sunshine Seasons (this includes a $4 soup not on DDP) $22.64

Pizzafari (got 20% TiW-Joe wanted water so I had his child size drink) $13.40

Flame Tree BBQ (Joe wanted fries and those would be OOP on DDP, plus I bought him one of those save the wild life pins-I did get 20% TiW) $17.81

None of our snacks were $4.

You could "maximize" the DDP by going to Wolfgang Puck Cafe and getting big meals at say Cosmic Rays but I really don't want to think about it that much. I always think before a trip it would nice to go here for lunch, I have to get this snack or that snack but then when I'm actually there I end up just grabbing something that is convenient or sounds good at that moment. I prefer to just get what I want when I want it and not worried about how to get the most out of my DDP points.


I did do a grocery stop and bought a case of water and 4 pack of yogurt. I will buy a few more things in July because I will need more stuff that I know Emma will eat.

 

[jackskellingtonsgirl]

I know from our December receipts and menus on AllEars that we would never spend $36 on a CS breakfast at AKL. And that is where we will eat the majority of mornings. At Mara I will sometimes get a soup and a side of couscous for lunch, which is nowhere near $12.

We are only spending one evening at DTD. And every time we go to Cosmic Ray's we end up with burgers because nobody wants to stand in separate lines.

I didn't know AK CS were still honoring TiW. That's handy! I don't think we have ever eaten a CS there. We usually give up before lunch becasue it is so HOT. Or we do Tusker House breakfast and skip lunch.

 

[lovesdumbo]

Would soup & side count as a CS credit?


We chose Pizzafari because we all wanted the AC. I got the hot Italian sandwich. It was really quite good. I would go back!

The next time we went I wanted to do Flame Tree. I got the pulled pork-is was pretty good but I also like the salad they have there.

 

[jackskellingtonsgirl]

If soup & side did count as a CS it would be a waste of a CS credit!
Especially since we'll have our mugs to use at AKL - I won't need a drink when we eat at Mara.

DH would like Flame Tree. Not sure I would.

I am working on re-doing my itinerary sheet. Tedious. I need to look up the hours for Blizzard Beach.

Speaking of Blizzard Beach, I need to choose a bag to bring with me to use at the water park. We have a really nice DVC canvas bag, but if it got stolen I would be really mad.

 

[lovesdumbo]

The salad at Flame Tree is pretty good.

My kids like that they have hot dogs on the kids menu-not many places do.


How about a $1 reusable bag from a grocery store? They even sell some at Disney but I'm sure they are more than $1-but I didn't look.




OH....I didn't get a chance to look for any graduation stuff. I did see some stuffed Mickeys with graduation hats on as we were rushing out of MK on our last night but I didn't walk over to them to see how much they were-I was really exhausted-we started at Epcot at 8am, went to AK then were at MK til 9pm. I had just lost my Mickey ear ring a few hours earlier and was in a real funk.

 

[jackskellingtonsgirl]

We have a vast collection of tote bags. I am sure I can find one.

Don't worry about the grad stuff! Did you see Peggy is doing gift baskets again? She has a pic of some graduation plush on her website, but I think I am over the gift basket idea. Again. For now.

I am sorry about your earring. Hopefully you can find another pair you like in July!

I am NOT very pleased with Talbots today. I washed one of the polos in cold and dried it on medium until it was damp. I lost at least an inch in the length. Luckily the other one hadn't been washed and still had the tags on, so I took it back. WHY is it so DIFFICULT to make a shirt that doesn't lose a size or more in the wash? It makes me crazy!!

Gap was having a "secret sale" where they give you a scratch off thing to reveal your discount. I got a 30% off one, so I bought 2 pairs of shorts and a polo for DS.