Leaving Soon & Live reports, cruise updates pg19

[iluvtot]

Just tell them you are clebrating your anniversary. It doesn't have to be the actual date. Have a great time.

Thankyou! We can't wait

Jules x

 

[wayneg]

Hi Wayne and co!
We arrive OKW on Monday,by which time you would have sailed off into the sunset....!
You said you have been avoiding EMH, is that because they really are that bad, or because of Karen's leg ?( hope things are getting easier, Karen)
I am still playing with our itinerary, (I know, but it's not over till the fat lady sings, and I have been warbling away like a parrot with a sore throat!) I go from including EMH to avoiding them! Do you think it would be best to forget them?
Also, it is our anniversary when we get back, but I wanted to 'celebrate' on our last eve there. Do you have to tell them the real date, or can you tell a little porky?
Have a fab cruise, chill out and enjoy!! Thanks for all the help.

Jules x
Oooh! I love these little icons! I wonder if I could do a trip report on our return, and use all of them! That's an ! Or has it been done before?!

As Kathryn says tell them whenever you want, we have worn our anniversary badges most evenings and its not until 2nd Sept, majority of places we have just had a "Happy Anniversary, how many years?" but Turf club grill we got champagne and Crystal Palace we got a cup cake and card. Done Disney 22 or 23 times over 16 years and not celebrated anything upto this year with them so we are making most of our 20 years anniversary, also got Birthday gift card in May so its been nice to get something from them for a change.

EMH we have done we have hardly been on anything for the crowds and lines, been much better getting in parks early on non EMH days. We were planning on doing MGM today until we saw EMH morning so now going to EPCOT.

 

[scojos]

glad your having a great time, how did you get the birthday gift card, i want one!!
ironically we too judged a few of the restaurants "ok" that you have visited - we have free DDp again next year, and totally agree we wouldnt pay for it, as you just wouldnt eat that much normally, would you, imho?
sorry to hear your wife is still in pain, hope she feels better soon
Tracy

 

[Netty]

Great report Wayne I don't think I could do more than a week in a disney hotel, I'd feel it was too much for me all that disney!! dont get me wrong, I love disney but to live eat and breathe it 24/7 just isnt for me! like you we like to stay offsite.
enjoy your cruise-the boards going to be quiet with you not being around though
Hope you all have fun

 

[disneyholic family]

just caught up on all your posts..

i'm not a fan of tutto italia, but those deserts look yummy!! (guess you've figured out i have a MAJOR sweet tooth )

i agree with you Wayne, i would never pay for the DDP, but free dining is definitely worth doing (if the whole advance booking insanity doesn't drive you mad)...

as it turns out, we've had to cancel our trip - we were scheduled to be in WDW from aug 31 to sept 14 for free dining.
I had two rooms - all paid up and everything, but had to cancel (i got all the money back except for $200 - $100 per room).

my sister was just diagnosed with a third kind of cancer and will have surgery next week. So it wasn't really possible for her to travel right away..
besides she'll have to start chemo and radiation again..

so i canceled the WDW trip...i'll probably pop over to detroit at some point to be with her during her treatment..

anyway, since we're not going to the states, we've decided to compensate ourselves with a quick trip to italy.... DH and DD have never been there..
DD picked it...
so that's what i have to research now and plan a trip..
we'll go the first week of october....

anyone know anything about italy? last time i was there was 40 years ago (when i was 14)....i'm assuming it's changed just a tad...

Karen, Wayne, Matt - have a wonderful time on your cruise!!!!!!!!!!!!! Bon Voyage!!!

 

[tennisfan]

Just caught up with the last couple of days. The food is making me hungry.

Hope you enjoy the cruise

 

[irongirlof12]

just caught up on all your posts..

i'm not a fan of tutto italia, but those deserts look yummy!! (guess you've figured out i have a MAJOR sweet tooth )

i agree with you Wayne, i would never pay for the DDP, but free dining is definitely worth doing (if the whole advance booking insanity doesn't drive you mad)...

as it turns out, we've had to cancel our trip - we were scheduled to be in WDW from aug 31 to sept 14 for free dining.
I had two rooms - all paid up and everything, but had to cancel (i got all the money back except for $200 - $100 per room).

my sister was just diagnosed with a third kind of cancer and will have surgery next week. So it wasn't really possible for her to travel right away..
besides she'll have to start chemo and radiation again..

so i canceled the WDW trip...i'll probably pop over to detroit at some point to be with her during her treatment..

anyway, since we're not going to the states, we've decided to compensate ourselves with a quick trip to italy.... DH and DD have never been there..
DD picked it...
so that's what i have to research now and plan a trip..
we'll go the first week of october....

anyone know anything about italy? last time i was there was 40 years ago (when i was 14)....i'm assuming it's changed just a tad...

Karen, Wayne, Matt - have a wonderful time on your cruise!!!!!!!!!!!!! Bon Voyage!!!

hope you sis' is okay . My sister has been through a lot recently and it is hard to cope with sometimes, you want to deal with it for them but you can't.

italy is amazing. where abouts are you going? italians really value family meal times and make a big deal of this and in the early afternoon; out come the ice-creams and cute little sweets pastries. they are a great nation, very friendly, totally love kids,food etc ( they also love to shop )

 

[UKDEB]

DVC means different things to different people. Like you, we enjoy staying offsite and eating offsite, but we also enjoy an onsite fix for part of the trip. Buying into DVC has allowed us to have the best accommodation available for that element (rather than paying top whack for a room which is what we did pre-DVC). DDP on the other hand is our idea of hell - free or not. It simply wouldn't work for us. We need to pick and choose our Disney dining, not be forced to eat onsite every meal. Eating is a huge part of the holiday for us and there are just too many great places offsite to be tied to Disney restaurants.

Have a wonderful time on the cruise. I can't wait to see the photos and hear all about it.

 

[amystevekai&bump]

Just got back from a week in Cornwall - and had to catch up with Wayne immediately!! More great posts and pics from you and Matt - really loving your report!!

Hope you have a wonderful cruise - just not sure how I am going to stand waiting to see all the pictures!!!

DVC means different things to different people. Like you, we enjoy staying offsite and eating offsite, but we also enjoy an onsite fix for part of the trip. Buying into DVC has allowed us to have the best accommodation available for that element (rather than paying top whack for a room which is what we did pre-DVC). DDP on the other hand is our idea of hell - free or not. It simply wouldn't work for us. We need to pick and choose our Disney dining, not be forced to eat onsite every meal. Eating is a huge part of the holiday for us and there are just too many great places offsite to be tied to Disney restaurants.

Have a wonderful time on the cruise. I can't wait to see the photos and hear all about it.

I love that we all have different ideas and different things work for each of us!! I have just bought into DVC for exactly the reasons Deb has said. Although it took me eight years to realise this made sense for us, and now I wonder why I waited so long!!

I am also trying the DDP for part of our trip next year, and I agree with what Wayne posted earlier - it can make sense, but only if you want to eat onsite for the whole time, (and would have done so without the plan).

We are working it so that we do all our onsite dining during the 5 days we have the plan - and we have worked out we will definitely save money, by the time we do all our character meals at Crystal Palace & Chef Mickeys, Le Cellier(we'll save even more if they still allow the Candlelight Processional package on DDP when we go!!), Ohanas & Whispering Canyon dinner, that really does add up when you look at the menu prices!!

This option suits us, as we will have 5 days of 'planned and prepaid' expensive meals (all meals we would have booked anyway!!) - and I don't mind having a small part of my holiday planned around eating, but wouldn't like it every day. It will mean our character meals are concentrated during one part of our holiday - but i'm willing to put up with that for the savings on the plan.

Anyway, as I say, different ways suit different people - its just figuring out which way suits you and your family best!!

 

[Pegasus928]

When reading the trip reports from everyone on here it is always tempting to book loads of ADRs based on peoples reviews and the pics they are posting - but that would cost an absolute fortune and would take too much money away from doing other things that we enjoy doing.
We like Disney, and enjoy having the odd meal in the restaurants but would hate being tied to a plan and only eating on site. There are just too many excellent places to try away from the parks.
Thanks for all your honest reviews Wayne - I'm sure they go a long way to helping a lot pf people decide exactly what sort of holiday would work best for them.

 

[scojos]

When reading the trip reports from everyone on here it is always tempting to book loads of ADRs based on peoples reviews and the pics they are posting - but that would cost an absolute fortune and would take too much money away from doing other things that we enjoy doing.

i totally agree, looking at all the images makes me want to eat in restaurants we had decided "were not for us", and we have the free DDP so wont cost us anything!
i think, as many have said before, its everything in moderation, like wayne - we last year felt we were escaping disney on our short trips out, hey we were excited about pepsi and not coke (and im a coke drinker).
2 weeks on site with free ddp is an offer to good to refuse, for our family of 5 (2 adults and 3 kids of 12, 10 and 7 but i have upgraded to adult dining for her..) the cost of eating is a major issue, even when we took limited snacks into the parks we still spent alot on cakes etc (well it would be rude not to have a dole whip and a cookie sandwich, wont it?)
now, i know that i dont have to budget for food, whish suits me, and i know ill pay OOP for somethings (ghiardhellis on the 1st night) i also know that the kids will be feed, when i run out of money!
we are going off site for the last few days and will eat at our old favs GC, taco bell, wendys and new one, texas de brazil, the other thread has got me quite excited!!
i do think people forget what a vacuum disney creates, how it draws you in, and how hard in can be to pull out, hey why bother going off site when you can get everything you need onsite?
i have tried to plan a little "off site" time every other day, even if it is just a trip to the crossroads for icecream or walmart for "bits"
glad you re having a good time wayne, sorry went off on a tagent!

 

[castanea1985]

Have a great time on the cruise, Wayne.
Hope Karen is feeling a bit brighter?? Loved all your reports and food pictures.

Tracy xx

 

[Pootle]

Every time we have gone out of Disney Matt has said "yeah we have escaped again", thats exactly how it feels, escaping from Disney but I am sure that is because of the DDP, it is very tying.

Catching up with this thread after just getting back from a long weekend at a Marriott Village outside of Paris - and didn't even go into Disneyland once despite its being on the doorstep! So ..... it goes without saying I'm sure the 'escaping' Disney feeling is more to do with the DDP ... when I'm with DH I go into the parks very little but still appreciate the DVC accommodation and flexibility. I'm with UKDeb on the DDP - more like my idea of hell too; the thought of being tied to Disney dining reservations every day , but I can see the attraction in terms of value for families. For my trip with friends in November, I've made a couple of reservations (Cali Grill - again agree with Deb ; and Boma - and that's it).

When I go with DH, we found that the way we approached Florida holidays changed once DS stopped coming with us regularly (at aged 16). It's interesting to read others' preferences though, even when you know it wouldn't suit you

Enjoy the rest of your trip, and as always, looking forward to reading about it - from you and Matt

 

[juliebro]

When I go with DH, we found that the way we approached Florida holidays changed once DS stopped coming with us regularly (at aged 16).

Same for us when our DS stopped coming with us (at aged 17)!

We still enjoy Florida very much - but in a totally different way!

 

[wayneg]

Got back off the cruise today. Had a fanastic week, hardly a drop of rain just all went too quick. Our server for meals was Laura from Manchester, got on really well, one meal she brought me 2 lobster tails and the tuna, had to skip dessert that meal. Will upload pics when home, not much time left here now to do them. Checked into Regal Sun Resort DTD for our last 2 nights, £25/night inclusive and got upgraded to tower room on 17th floor, amazing views can see right upto Universal and Seaworld.

 

[Pegasus928]

Looking forward to hearing all about the cruise ands seeing the pics Wayne.
Enjoy your last couple of days and have a safe trip back

 

[amystevekai&bump]

Looking forward to hearing all about the cruise ands seeing the pics Wayne.
Enjoy your last couple of days and have a safe trip back

 

[Netty]

enjoy your last 2 days, hope they go so slooooooowwwwwllllllllllllly!

 

[jockey]

Looking forward to seeing the cruise pics

 

[Lizzybear]

Hope you enjoy the last days of your holiday Wayne, looking forward to more pics and reports