June, July, August PLANNING thread

[mikeymyles]

Hiya everyone!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

It warmed up here for xmas? 40 today. All the snow has melted that we had.

mkymouse4ever,

I live in Chicago and today seemed like summer - sunny and 40 degrees!!

 

[candizfan]

Merry Christmas Eve from the 72 degrees day here in Southern California!!

See whomever of you at WDW July 14-21!!

I am going to WDW in March but we are also going again in July.

We will be at AKV from July 13 - July 22! Isn't that the same time and resort that you are going to?

 

[candizfan]

Well I hope everyone had a great Christmas.

MKY - it sounds like a lot of kids were admitted on your shift...is that par for the holiday's?

We had a big thaw last week as well and there was a lot of green for Christmas, but we got a few flurries on Christmas eve on the way to church so that was nice. It is hit or miss for a white Christmas in the neck of the woods.

I will write more soon...our new Wii is calling me to come and play with it.

 

[EEyorelover22]

Hiya everyone!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

It warmed up here for xmas? 40 today. All the snow has melted that we had. Christmas eve at work was terrible. We get off at 3:30pm and I left at 5pm. not good. All week we had 5 kids on the unit and xmas eve we had 17. I was shocked. But things are much better today, i am off.

Hope everyone had a great time with there families. And hopefully everyone, is doing better now.

Sis, and I did alot of "planning" today. Going over dinning options. Don't think we will get in on the disney dining experience card next year. I do tip well, but I like the idea of it being, my idea. We are making plans for our adr's for august. I can't believe we are already planning that trip.

Anyone, else see the parade today? They must of photoshopped the sky, it was really gloomy that day it was filmed.

Have a great nite! mky

MKY: We are back from the Windy City! We found Walgreen's open and a coffee shop on Michigan Ave. FREE coffee and $4 hot chocolate We bought rations at Walgreens as the hotel buffet was $65 We had room service for lunch. And they say WDW is expensive. NOT!!
Christmas Day was COLD downtown and windy, but yesterday was perfect for shopping. It was very crowded by the afternoon. We ate at Giardano's (not sure I spelled that correctly!) for lunch. YUM. Too bad we couldn't take the leftovers with us. We had breakfast at Macy's in the morning. Wicked was very good. LOVED IT!!! Too darn funny too. Driving home last night was horrible in the snow it took us 5.5 hours to get home when it should have been 4. 40 mph from the time we hit 80 off the 88 tollway. I thought we were dead. When we got back close to home there was a 6 car pile up

I had to buy a new pair of Dansko shoes...my foot was killing me. I figured out it's the soles on those shoes and they don't bend. DS Was a let down. No Chicago stuff. Nike Town was DD's favorite

DD no longer wants to live in the big city. The slow pace of the cornfields is fine with her

 

[tripplanner2]

Hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas. MKY: Sorry to hear it was so busy. My kids were all sick but they got it together for the big day. We had everything from an asthma attack to the stomach bug.

EE22: So happy to hear that you loved the show. I have to agree that I agree with DD. I lived in the city for 2 years while I was in college and hated every minute of it. I still have no desire to go there ever. Bad because we should really take the kids in to see the museums. Sorry your trip home was trechorous. I hate to drive in the snow.

We watched the parade. Took a break from opening presents to watch. I loved every second of it. I was actually more excited for the parade than to open presents. DH was ready to kill me.

Hope everyone is enjoying some down time now. I am still in PJ's but HAVE to go out. Would much rather stay home tonight.

 

[mkymouse4ever]

Hiya everyone!

Well we are getting snow again today. The heat up didn't last. Hope everyone's holiday's where great.

ee22, Yikees! Chicago is very expensive. Almost as much as wisconsin dells. Way past disney prices. Glad you finally made it home safe. Did you have any problems with Midway? They get out ok?

TP22, Keep passing out the Vitamin C. I am still sick from our trip. Just can't seem to straighten out this asthma. Good news, I always have had a way to strong cough reflex, to ever wind up with pneumonia. Hope the girls are fine. And a friend of mine at work, mentioned her daughter got that Hannah montana doll, I said the one with the throng? Yep! She could not believe I had heard about it.

Tomar, hope your doing well. Hope the princess is still recovering, without any problems.

Candi, No, I have never been busy for xmas holidays, (in 28yrs). Now thanksgiving or New years > is always nuts. Maybe it will be quiet this weekend? Got a stretch coming up work the weekend days, then ny eve 2nd shift (3-11) & then double back to days the 1st & 2nd. Your trip is soooooo close! When we went in march, seemed like it was so quick.

Help, with some planning please, Max is requesting the water parks. (Got 8 months to lose alot of weight) Anyway, we haven't been in years. Which day is the best to go? I am guessing during the week, maybe on a monday or tuesday? And has anyone ever done it more than once a trip? Max also asked about the resort today. We told him we where staying out on international drive in a hojo's. And you should of seen his face drop. Then we told him the Polynesian. He was happier, but said he would like to stay at the contempary, cause of the game room. So we confessed that we where doing both resorts. He is so spoiled.

How is the ADR planning going? Are you guys going to try Italy? Seems very pricey. We did Teppan edo in december & it was very similar to the "before" only the table area is bigger. We are going to try the "toyko" dinning in august. It was a nice room.
The haunted mansion was very nice. Hopefully space ship earth will be a great rehab too. But I will miss Jeremy Irons.

Well, gonna work on setting up my calendar's for 2008. Everyone have a great nite.

Happy Planning, mky

 

[EEyorelover22]

MKP and TP2...your info was wonderful for both of our trips. Thank you

My kids love TL. Ryan went to BB at 10 and didn't care for it. More slides and big ones from what I gather. You and your sis would like the lazy river. Watch that wave pool...it's a bathing suit nightmare. Buy black goggles in case they get ripped off. We went early and left after lunch around 2. It was great for us to relax that's for sure. I would think during the week is best and Mon and Tues sounds good. Watch the water slides too. Biggest things...shoes for the feet. I use to wear those jet shoes and my back was always a mess so then I bought the Nile style of crocs and they were great. My foot would never survive in those jet shoes now. Be sure your nephew has something. I'm not sure who well the Niles would do in the wave pool. If you do the sharks, go early and buy an underwater camera from home. DD did that when she was 8 alone. What a brave girl!!

The boys and the PAP due to DQ, but I just bought a day pass for DD and I with the AP discount which worked well.

I hope everyone has a safe New Year's. We'll be asleep as DD has practice on the 1st at 10 am. I make our ADRs that morning

MKY...you might want to consider Southwest for FL. DH and DS have great things to say about it and Midway is so much better than O'hare. I'm sure you'd be out of luck like I would be with getting a Ding fare with your job, but you never know. They never had any for the week of Chistmas, but they still had $99 flights one way to Reno which was awesome. $2000 on United from the cornfields was way too much!!!

 

[candizfan]

Boy there is a lot of bugs going around. I have been down with a stomach bug for a couple of days but was finally able to enjoy a cup of coffee this morning....I do so love my coffee....

I am down to 68 days before we leave.

We are going for school March Break and getting across the boarder to Detroit can be a challenge once school lets out, so we plan on taking the kids out of school at lunch time, packing up and heading over. We are going to stay the Friday night at the Crown Plaza near the Detroit airport and we fly out very early on Saturday morning.

March 2007, after DH dropped us off in Michigan (since he did not come on the trip) he say lines up to three miles long to get onto the bridge by 5:30 pm. That would be about a 4 hour wait in traffic just to get across the boarder....killer!

MKY - it seems that the holiday's here have always been an issue for illness, but I think it is due to the warm/cold fluctuation...those bugs can sure multiply in weather like that. We had a flu outbreak in 1999 that caught every member of my entire family and extended family. I was so dehydrated, I was admitted for IV fluids. It was so bad they now give free flu vacines to all Ontario resendents every year.

It sounds like Max will have a great time with you on the trip. I have room for one in my room in July and I want the babysitter's daughter (21 now) to come with us since she has never been. She is not sure she can afford the airfare and tickets, but I really want her to come. If not, I will probably find someone else to join us. DH won't be able to come since he does not get enough vacation time.

I am getting so excited....

 

[TOMAR@SSR]

Hi Guys !!
Well....
christmas is over (very nice and quiet in the Tomar house this year...we were missing the princess very much )...She is doing very very well ..thank Goodness
I spent alot of time listening to her say.....Gram-ma on the phone !!
This week coming up is gunna be our 180 day mark to call for ADR`S..... Im all ready !!

MKY- Soooo happy to hear that Max is going with you guys again in `08...Wonderful! I bet he is all excited !! We did TL also one year with our boys ....it was alot of fun....

Candi- Your trip is getting close now !!! Whoooo Hoooo !! Do you have any special Dinners planned?
Glad your better now from that nasty stomach bug

TP2- I bet the girls were up bright and early christmas morning
I was thinking of you the other night...we were in the mall here in NJ....and met friends of my DS & DDIL....They have 3 girls as well... I asked Tara (the mom) what the girls got for Christmas....she said ...Look at Olivia`s outfit (her DD 7 ).....She was dressed from head to toe in Hanna Montana everything !! ....She said that they got them the HM Doll and I told her to check the doll`s undies !!!
She said OMG....I never looked !!
They told me they were going to the HM concert tonight (Sat.) at the Newark Stadium here in New Jersey.....the girls were sooo excited

EE22- GET YOUR DIALING FINGERS READY !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Happy New Year everyone !!!!!

 

[EEyorelover22]

Tomorrow is ADR day for EE and Family.

I am so tired....

The trip to Midway was good and the trip home was good. No bad weather at least this time. We got there about the time DH and DS arrived. Too bad for some unknown reason he went to departures rather than arrivals the crazy woman with the whistle made us go around again. The big city is just not friendly at all that's for sure. We only ever go to WDW so I forget that no one wants to chat. I was doing that on Wed too and finally realized we weren't at Disney

Even though the drive was great my departure from home was less than uneventful I did have everything in the car before
I LOCKED MYSELF OUT OF THE HOUSE!!!!

I was driving DH's car and my house keys are on my key ring. I was so ANGRY!!!!! So, I called DH and he found a place on the internet since he had the laptop and they were going to meet us when we got home around 10 pm. So off I went for DD at practice and to Midway. I left here really angry at 11:30 and we all returned at 9:30 pm. We called from Iowa City They got us in really quick. Far too if you ask me. Locking up the house means nothing.

So...what a week it's been. I'm still blind in my right eye too

 

[Donald Lover11]

I was there for that.

 

[EEyorelover22]

Well, DD14 has now joined up

 

[Freedo]

Sorry to ask a dumb question, but we are going back to WDW in July and am wondering what are the codes everyone is talking about in their posts? Thanks!

 

[TOMAR@SSR]

I was there for that.

WELCOME DL11 !!!

 

[EEyorelover22]

Sorry to ask a dumb question, but we are going back to WDW in July and am wondering what are the codes everyone is talking about in their posts? Thanks!

They are discount codes for rooms. Sometimes there are annual pass rates and sometimes there are general codes for the public. During the last couple of summers, there have not been that many except at the DVC resorts.

 

[Minnie]

Driving home last night was horrible in the snow it took us 5.5 hours to get home when it should have been 4. 40 mph from the time we hit 80 off the 88 tollway. I thought we were dead. When we got back close to home there was a 6 car pile up

EE - My DSIL hosted a teaparty at the AG store in Chicago the Saturday before Xmas. They drove home Sunday in the horrible weather. She said the roads were so awful it was scary. We planned to drive up to Davenport that Sunday for Xmas shopping. Glad we didn't go!!!! Thank goodness you are all safe and sound!!!!!!

 

[mkymouse4ever]

Hiya everyone!

EE22, thanks so much for the info about water shoes. Hadn't even thought about walking around there. We went to TL with max's sisters right after it opened and BB when it opened. But it has been a long while. Back when we could walk around without issues. Sorry, about all your problems getting to chicago. How many hours is it? Will it be cheaper to fly to wdw from midway for you? We used to fly out of midway on ATA, but they dropped out of chicago (pretty much). Now it is actually easier to drive to o'hare from here taking the tollway. 55, is a real parking lot. Also, i think southwest, you can only book so early, I need to schedule out flights early so we will can get a certain date / time.

Tomar, yes max is very excited. We called him from florida one nite sitting in the CR lounge, we told him there was an empty seat next to us. The tables are for 3, and we where missing him. Would you like to fill that seat in august 08'. He yelled "yes" and I said, sorry couldn't hear that, then he said very softly, "yea, that would be ok". He is in 5th grade now so he has to be cool.

Hope everyone is getting ready for 2008! Heres to a healthier year.

HAPPY PLANNING, mky

 

[EEyorelover22]

EE - My DSIL hosted a teaparty at the AG store in Chicago the Saturday before Xmas. They drove home Sunday in the horrible weather. She said the roads were so awful it was scary. We planned to drive up to Davenport that Sunday for Xmas shopping. Glad we didn't go!!!! Thank goodness you are all safe and sound!!!!!!

The weekend before Christmas was a nightmare here and in the Quad Cities. I got stuck up at the bank and we went to the show like dorks and DS and I had to get out and push at the corner. It rained Sat before it snowed so there was ice under the snow.

When we driving to Chicago on Christmas Day we saw at least a dozen cars off the road on I-80. It was horrible. I can't imagine what it was like in the 9 inches when we only drove back in the 2-3 inches on Wed night.

I'm so done with winter after our additional 7 inches on Thursday

 

[EEyorelover22]

Hiya everyone!

EE22, thanks so much for the info about water shoes. Hadn't even thought about walking around there. We went to TL with max's sisters right after it opened and BB when it opened. But it has been a long while. Back when we could walk around without issues. Sorry, about all your problems getting to chicago. How many hours is it? Will it be cheaper to fly to wdw from midway for you? We used to fly out of midway on ATA, but they dropped out of chicago (pretty much). Now it is actually easier to drive to o'hare from here taking the tollway. 55, is a real parking lot. Also, i think southwest, you can only book so early, I need to schedule out flights early so we will can get a certain date / time.

Tomar, yes max is very excited. We called him from florida one nite sitting in the CR lounge, we told him there was an empty seat next to us. The tables are for 3, and we where missing him. Would you like to fill that seat in august 08'. He yelled "yes" and I said, sorry couldn't hear that, then he said very softly, "yea, that would be ok". He is in 5th grade now so he has to be cool.

Hope everyone is getting ready for 2008! Heres to a healthier year.

HAPPY PLANNING, mky

Flying out of Midway probably would be cheaper for us if I can't get on Allegient out of here or Air Tran out of Moline. The drive would be long going home. But, it's an option I suppose. And, it would depend on if we got a Ding flight. Looking now at their fares, they would be the same as out of here so it wouldn't be good. Getting a Ding flight with my job would be difficult too.

We picked up DH and DS right around 5 and we were home at 9:30 with one stop. It's not too bad. 4.5 hours in good weather and decent traffic. But we didn't hit any traffic. It was heavy but not stopped. On the way out we hit a toll booth situation...it was on 88 when we came out of downtown so we must have missed it on the way back through going 55 to 294. If we flew out of Midway, I would want to stay over night to ensure we made it...so there goes some of the savings. If we ever had to go back to AA or NWA I'd consider Midway then as Moline is 1.5 hours from here. We were paying nearly 400 per ticket with them. We flew out on ATA one year through Midway. Acutally, it was a nightmare...we were booked on ATA out of here and they dropped service in May and we were due to fly out in June so we had to drive to Moline. What a mess.

That is cute about Max. Need good shoes for the water parks!! Those hydro crocs are new. The Niles worked great but they would not stay on in the wave pool that's for sure!!

Our ADRs are made. Even the Castle for lunch although I'm rethinking that one. $97 and I don't think I can eat anything Will chat with DDL11 on that one. I do have to call tomorrow for the Rainforest for the boys. They only book exactly at the 180 mark.

Here's Pixie Dust to Tomar for hers!! Especially 1900 Park Fare

 

[mkymouse4ever]

Hey EE22!

That would be great if you and DD came back for a P&P party, in august. We could definately hook up. Are you and Tomar overlapping? I would take a Star Wars weekend in August if I could get what ever I wanted. I really wanted Max to get to go to a special party. He is a big pirate fan.

Ok, Tomar & EE22, Hope the ADr's worked out. So did they let you make the 10 days? Last Aug, I got to make 10 days, called back the next day to add the 11th and told No, you have to wait till it is 180 from the 11th day? Which is pretty incovient when you staying 10+. Not sure if this was really true, but the cm was nasty and I didn't want to get yelled at again by calling back.
EE22, we haven't been to the castle meals for about 3yrs (did a breakfast) thought it was over rated / built up too much > would like to take max for L or D but not sure if he would get into it. 11yr old boy thing. Aunts would like it.

Hope everyone has a great nite. Have 1 hr till I get ready for work.

Happy New year 2008! mky