Kidnap the Sandy Claws, lock him up real tight- Oct PTR pg. 234 8/25 up to date itin

[ajf1007]

I don't really have any requirements, I just enjoy having room, a full kitchen, washer/dryer, and a non-sleeping common area.

I love a non-sleeping common area, usually since it's just me and my DH, we don't have that since we're usually in a studio. I'm thinking though that 1bdrms are in our future, especially after going with the 2bdrm in DL. I like the idea of having the washer dryer since I won't have to do laundry when I get home! Less work in the return home process.

That sounds heavenly. If we stay there it looks like DH and I will have the master (duh), Gab can take the Queen room, Chloe and Joshua can have the bunks- they love those, and the sofa and chair will remain sofas and chairs.

Perfect for you guys!

Ooooo, a poll?! I love a good poll. In fact, it might be time for me to add a dining poll to this.

I agree with Cynthia about them being stoked to be going. When our friends treated us to DVC we paid for their hotel room the first night and groceries.

They are really excited! I sent my nieces a bunch of the maps and literature and brochures a couple of months ago and always talk to them about the trip. My brother told me last night that they keep taking all of the stuff off of the bookshelf and telling my brother and sis-in-law that "Aunt AMy is going to take us there soon." They love reading and looking at all of the paraphanalia (i'm sure I murdered that word).

Very Important Jenny - I did NOT forget about the spreadsheet. I've been working really late this week and my mom-in-law is at our house recouperating from surgery so by the time I get home, get everyone fed and do my "nursing" duties, I've been exhausted and just go to bed. I promise though to get it over to you this weekend, I'm excited to get your feedback and suggestions! FUN!

 

[ajf1007]

466 days!!! ​

Chloe and Joshua, WDW, May 2009. Does anyone really buy these hats? Think the sun was in their eyes?

Great picture! That's some nice blackmail material in 20 years too!

 

[rentayenta]

I love a non-sleeping common area, usually since it's just me and my DH, we don't have that since we're usually in a studio. I'm thinking though that 1bdrms are in our future, especially after going with the 2bdrm in DL. I like the idea of having the washer dryer since I won't have to do laundry when I get home! Less work in the return home process.

Totally. I bet DH and will do Studios when we don't have the kids with us. Why use the points really?

Perfect for you guys!

We would have SO much room, much more than we are used to on vacation really.

They are really excited! I sent my nieces a bunch of the maps and literature and brochures a couple of months ago and always talk to them about the trip. My brother told me last night that they keep taking all of the stuff off of the bookshelf and telling my brother and sis-in-law that "Aunt AMy is going to take us there soon." They love reading and looking at all of the paraphanalia (i'm sure I murdered that word).

How old are your neices? How wonderful that you get to provide them with something so speacial.

Very Important Jenny - I did NOT forget about the spreadsheet. I've been working really late this week and my mom-in-law is at our house recouperating from surgery so by the time I get home, get everyone fed and do my "nursing" duties, I've been exhausted and just go to bed. I promise though to get it over to you this weekend, I'm excited to get your feedback and suggestions! FUN!

I am so not worried, you are too funny. Hope your MIL gets to feeling better.

Great picture! That's some nice blackmail material in 20 years too!

 

[ajf1007]

Totally. I bet DH and will do Studios when we don't have the kids with us. Why use the points really?

My thoughts exactly, the studios really work for us. I'd love more room, but in reality I'd love the points so I can go more than once or save em up to do a bigger room every couple years.

How old are your neices? How wonderful that you get to provide them with something so speacial.

They're 3 and 5 and the cutest! This summer we all rented a house on the beach for the week and I got to be with them for their first time in the ocean and on the sand..makes me sad we live so far away from them. They live in Kansas right now. This is another reason we decided on DVC so we could have some family trips and I love the fact that I get to be a part of creating their childhood memories.

I am so not worried, you are too funny. Hope your MIL gets to feeling better.

Thanks, I hope so too. Back surgery isn't pretty.

 

[rentayenta]

My thoughts exactly, the studios really work for us. I'd love more room, but in reality I'd love the points so I can go more than once or save em up to do a bigger room every couple years.

They're 3 and 5 and the cutest! This summer we all rented a house on the beach for the week and I got to be with them for their first time in the ocean and on the sand..makes me sad we live so far away from them. They live in Kansas right now. This is another reason we decided on DVC so we could have some family trips and I love the fact that I get to be a part of creating their childhood memories.

I love that! That's one of the reasons we did DVC, thinking about honeymoons, sweet 16, graduations....

Thanks, I hope so too. Back surgery isn't pretty.

I feel ya. Michael has needed back surgery for years. He has tried everything else, except pain killers, from yoga to electro therapies. Wishing her healing vibes.



I am working on a dining update.

 

[rentayenta]

The only time to eat diet food is while you’re waiting for the steak to cook. —Julia Child

I truly subscribe to this. I am 100% against diet food of any kind. The only unnaturally fat-free thing I ingest is Coffeemate’s ff vanilla creamer and that’s because the ff tastes better, not because it’s ff. A little history, I lost about 35 lb a year ago and have kept every pound of it off. I did it through lifestyle change (getting off my butt) and portion control: no more, no less. What prompted the healthier lifestyle was the promise of turning 40 in March 2009. In Dec 2008 I decided that was it, it was time to be healthy for the second part of my life, and time to lose the baby weight (my baby was 8 at the time ) . We got the kids a Wii for Hanukkah and I started my journey using Wii Fit, Seriously. That prompted me to do some “real life” activity like walking and yoga. I am not a gym girl and hate weights. I prefer to be outside so in the summer I walk more and in the winter I do more yoga.

Having said all that, you can see why the dining part of the trip has some importance. I don’t eat a lot and stop when full so when I eat, it better be good.

Below are the TS we have been to during our 2 trips to WDW in no particular order. I will give a tiny review of each:

• Mama Melrose- decent food, okay service, wouldn’t do again anytime soon.

• Sci-Fi- Gab and I actually missed this ADR due to her being a pre-teen beast. Michael said he and the kids liked it. Fun atmosphere, decent burger.

• Coral Reef- great food, shotty service. I had done the whole personal menu for Keith’s birthday and Debbie, I still remember her name, dropped the ball. Not only did she drop the ball but we had no reservation. Fortunately they could seat all 10 of us but I was not a happy camper. His gf and I had gone to a lot of work gathering photos and planning. Oh well. I would try it again.

• Restaurant Marrakesh- loved it! Food was terrific. Our seating location wasn’t great but we were a party of 15. The boys loved the belly dancers.

• CRT- never again unless they change the menu. The food was horrific! Service was good and the character interaction was minimal.

• Crystal Palace- fabulous characters, moderate food.

• Tony’s Town Square – the décor is the best and they could serve dog food and I would go back. This is our traditional last night place.

• Cal Grill- fabulous food and service and the view cannot be beat. Want to go again.

• Chef Mickey’s- horrible food, dirty restaurant, good character interaction. Not pining to go back anytime soon.

• Ragland Road- we did this without the kids. Loved it. How can you not like U2 on the walls and beer? Impossible! Want to go back.

• Boma- will go again and possibly this trip. I am generally not a huge buffet person but we dug Boma.

• ‘Ohana- has been our first night traditional dinner for both trips. We will eventually go back but probably not this trip.

• Olivia’s- this is where Gab and I ate the night she got in trouble. Had I known it was so yummy, I would have ordered pizza.

Now for where we (read I) want to try. I fear we have missed the Epcot restaurants and I am determined to right this wrong. Below are the new eateries I am looking at:

• Chefs de France

• Rose and Crown

• Tutto Italia

• 50’s Primetime

• Turf Club

Questions, comments, concerns………………

 

[pooh'smate]

Just wanted to let you know that I am following along. I just don't have time to post much. I hope things will slow down once we get in the swing of things here at home with school.

 

[rentayenta]

Just wanted to let you know that I am following along. I just don't have time to post much. I hope things will slow down once we get in the swing of things here at home with school.

How's the homeschooling going?

 

[pooh'smate]

How's the homeschooling going?

So far so good. How's life treating you?

 

[loritemp]

Congrats on the weight loss! I was a pretty active person but gained a TON weight when I was pregnant with my first and had a hard time losing it. DH and I decided to take my son to DIsney last Dec and I vowed not to be fat on vacation! It worked, I was back to pre-baby weight by vaca!

Only place I have been on your list is Rose and Crown. The food was really good and we had a prime seat for Illuminations. If you can get an ADR at a good time for Illuminations, do it, it is absolutely worth it!

Another suggestion for you is Kouzina. We went for breakfast our last day and it was an amaing meal! I can't say enough good stuff about it. Highly recomend it.

Oh and my DH surprised me today by suggesting a SPring trip to christen our DVC membership (crazy man sees no problem with going with a 3 month old and a 3 yer old!!) ! So will be reading anxiously for DVC pro advice

 

[rentayenta]

So far so good. How's life treating you?

Good. Busy. Crazy. This weekend is chock full o good things. Two soccer games tomorrow then the Real game (soccer). Sunday we are draining and cleaning the pool...not a good thing....then BBQing....Monday, not sure as it's set to be kinda chilly. What are you doing this weekend?

Congrats on the weight loss! I was a pretty active person but gained a TON weight when I was pregnant with my first and had a hard time losing it. DH and I decided to take my son to DIsney last Dec and I vowed not to be fat on vacation! It worked, I was back to pre-baby weight by vaca![

Congrats! Pre-baby weight feels good. I have found though that even being the same or less, my body will never be the same.

Only place I have been on your list is Rose and Crown. The food was really good and we had a prime seat for Illuminations. If you can get an ADR at a good time for Illuminations, do it, it is absolutely worth it!

Great idea! I love English food. I lived with 3 English girls during college and grew to love the cuisine. I will shoot for an ADR during Illuminations.

Another suggestion for you is Kouzina. We went for breakfast our last day and it was an amaing meal! I can't say enough good stuff about it. Highly recomend it.

What kind of food? Where is it?

Oh and my DH surprised me today by suggesting a SPring trip to christen our DVC membership (crazy man sees no problem with going with a 3 month old and a 3 yer old!!) ! So will be reading anxiously for DVC pro advice

What a good man! When is your Spring Break? What DVC will you stay at? You are past your 11 month for your home resort and near the 7 month mark if not past. It's wide open!

 

[eandesmom]

T
• Chefs de France

• Rose and Crown

• Tutto Italia

• 50’s Primetime

• Turf Club

Questions, comments, concerns………………

LOVE LOVE LOVE Tutto. Our first time this trip and a huge hit with the entire clan. Although I couldn't get K to wear her bday button even with the promise of cute italian waiters singing to her. Yet when they magically did, she sure liked it!

PTC is a blast and is darn good food. However they will pick on you and the kids need to be up for it. K was the primary target and while she handled it well in 08 she was pleased we weren't going there this trip.

Haven't been to the rest (though would like to do Chefs) but have heard nothing but good things about Turf. Had we done THV, we'd have eaten there.

I LOVE the setting for R&C but can't get excited about the menu. ITA about Raglan, I absolutely loved it.

 

[elliefusmom]

I'm going to have to go back and read pages and pages this weekend..but first I have great news!! I'll start off with the statement... "I'm an idiot" because I thought I had to wait til the last night of my stay and then go 7 months out from there. Well when I opened DVC this morning and it said I could book starting Aprl 4 for 7 nights, I almost had a heart attack!

So I have 9 nights from April 1-10 at BCV! I didn't even have to go into my second or third choice or even shorten my stay!!

I had to post here because my husband said "cool" which was nice but not as much excitement as I have right now!

My new job is crazy and I NEVER have time to even lurk.... .. but I can start making dining plans on Oct.3 so I will have to read through all of these posts.

Are you doing the dining plan??? We did last time and ended up with some left over...

Have a great weekend everyone!

 

[rentayenta]

LOVE LOVE LOVE Tutto. Our first time this trip and a huge hit with the entire clan. Although I couldn't get K to wear her bday button even with the promise of cute italian waiters singing to her. Yet when they magically did, she sure liked it!

PTC is a blast and is darn good food. However they will pick on you and the kids need to be up for it. K was the primary target and while she handled it well in 08 she was pleased we weren't going there this trip.

Haven't been to the rest (though would like to do Chefs) but have heard nothing but good things about Turf. Had we done THV, we'd have eaten there.

I LOVE the setting for R&C but can't get excited about the menu. ITA about Raglan, I absolutely loved it.

PTC? I cannot figure it out. I am losing my DIS egde as DH would say.

I also love the setting for R&C. My kids have never tried tradional English fare but are adventurous so I think they'll be good.

I have heard tons of good about Turf too. I am likening it to Olivia's. Probably a very good reosrt restaurant that doesn't get a lot of press which is fine by me.

I am excited about Tutto. DH is a huge Italian foddie.

I'm going to have to go back and read pages and pages this weekend..but first I have great news!! I'll start off with the statement... "I'm an idiot" because I thought I had to wait til the last night of my stay and then go 7 months out from there. Well when I opened DVC this morning and it said I could book starting Aprl 4 for 7 nights, I almost had a heart attack!

So I have 9 nights from April 1-10 at BCV! I didn't even have to go into my second or third choice or even shorten my stay!!

I had to post here because my husband said "cool" which was nice but not as much excitement as I have right now!

My new job is crazy and I NEVER have time to even lurk.... .. but I can start making dining plans on Oct.3 so I will have to read through all of these posts.

Are you doing the dining plan??? We did last time and ended up with some left over...

Have a great weekend everyone!

Yay for getting your first choice at the BCV! What size villa did you reserve? I am so excited for you. Where are you going to make your ADRs?

I will update my thought on the DDP but for now I have decided against it. I am leaning towards upgrading one of us to an AP and getting the TIW card. We are big appetizer eaters, enjoy our wine, and are not huge dessert people. We like sweets but would never order 5 sdesserts at one sitting. We found that we end us either gorging ourselves or wasting copius amounts of food. TIW allows a 20% discount at certain places, most of which are on our dining list. The 20% is off the entire bill including booze.

465 days!!! ​

This is from Disneyland 2005. Look how tiny my babies were.

 

[eandesmom]

PTC = Prime time cafe

BEST tuna noodle casserole EVER

 

[rentayenta]

PTC = Prime time cafe

BEST tuna noodle casserole EVER

I tuna casserole! Is it creamy? I like the whole sarcastic server thing. have you been to a Dick's Last Resort? Oh my gosh- great servers. We went to one in Vegas. Not G rated.



On a total side note, Gabby's team won all 3 tourney games so it's on to the championship game Monday!

 

[pooh'smate]

This is from Disneyland 2005. Look how tiny my babies were.

They were so cute!!!!

Congrats to Gab for winning.

 

[rentayenta]

They were so cute!!!!

Congrats to Gab for winning.

How did your Tiramisu turn out? That is my most favorite dessert ever. Not too sweet, creamy, expresso......


Anyone doing anything fun this weekend? Today I have a looong list to do and thankfully I don't work tomorrow. Today I am planning on:

• grocery shopping
• walk
• clean the drained pool
• laundry
• kids' personals for soccer
• bbq

464 days!!! ​

This is from Disneyland, Fall 2009. I love Disneyland in her fall decor!

 

[ajf1007]

Hi Jenny! Congrats to Gab for her soccer victory! That's awesome! That picture of your babies is too sweet, it's really amazing how time flies! To comment on your dining choices, I agree with eand3smom, the PTC is great! I think that was one of my favorites and the waitress was great, picking on my DH! It was pretty funny but I was hoping sad she would have picked on me!! The food was good too, my DH had the pot roast and said it was great, I hate to admit it, I don't remember what I had but I remember it was good! Rose and Crown and Tutto are on our list as well!

My plans for the weekend are still continueing my "nursing" duties with mom-in-law. SHe's getting alittle better every day and is starting to walk a bit. Today we're going to try walking to the end of the driveway and back. Her surgery was a bit gnarly - so it will be a bit of a slow recovery but considering she was basically bed ridden for the last 3 months, she's completely rid of the horrible pain she had before. That's a plus.

I volunteer a few nights and weekends a month at our womens shelter (protection from domestic violence). Helping the kids and women get acclimated to the shelter and work the hot-line phone as well as working with our first response team and police department to respond to scene if a woman requests to talk to us. THis weekend we have a booth at a local Polish-American festival so I'm working that booth today. Tomorrow, preparing for the upcoming work week with the typical laundry, ironing, grocery shopping, etc.

26 days!!!!!!! So much to do, since I'm traveling for work the week before and get home the day before we leave (via red-eye flight UGH!) I have to have myself packed BEFORE I leave for Seattle on the 26th and mail my box to the resort. I used to have all this time before our trip and now it's catching up with me and I'm starting to get the crazies!

 

[rentayenta]

Hi Jenny! Congrats to Gab for her soccer victory! That's awesome! That picture of your babies is too sweet, it's really amazing how time flies! To comment on your dining choices, I agree with eand3smom, the PTC is great! I think that was one of my favorites and the waitress was great, picking on my DH! It was pretty funny but I was hoping sad she would have picked on me!! The food was good too, my DH had the pot roast and said it was great, I hate to admit it, I don't remember what I had but I remember it was good! Rose and Crown and Tutto are on our list as well!

She is so excited!

Glad 50's is getting such good reviews. I am so excited for Rose and Crown. Brings me back to my college days, sitting at the Fish Tale drinking Guinuess.

My plans for the weekend are still continueing my "nursing" duties with mom-in-law. SHe's getting alittle better every day and is starting to walk a bit. Today we're going to try walking to the end of the driveway and back. Her surgery was a bit gnarly - so it will be a bit of a slow recovery but considering she was basically bed ridden for the last 3 months, she's completely rid of the horrible pain she had before. That's a plus.

Excellent that her pain is gone. It will make her recovery so worth. you are an excellent DIL for caring for her.

I volunteer a few nights and weekends a month at our womens shelter (protection from domestic violence). Helping the kids and women get acclimated to the shelter and work the hot-line phone as well as working with our first response team and police department to respond to scene if a woman requests to talk to us. THis weekend we have a booth at a local Polish-American festival so I'm working that booth today. Tomorrow, preparing for the upcoming work week with the typical laundry, ironing, grocery shopping, etc.

Sounds like a busy weekend. I used to volunteer for a local DV shelter here. Now that I work with people we refer there, I can't really volunteer. I work on an inpatient, locked psych unit for adults.

What are you selling/making at the festival? I love international fun and fare!

26 days!!!!!!! So much to do, since I'm traveling for work the week before and get home the day before we leave (via red-eye flight UGH!) I have to have myself packed BEFORE I leave for Seattle on the 26th and mail my box to the resort. I used to have all this time before our trip and now it's catching up with me and I'm starting to get the crazies!

[/quote]


26 days? Are you beside yourself with excitement or too busy to grasp that yur vacation is so close?