eandesmom
I'm with Beast
- Joined
- Jan 5, 2009
- Messages
- 14,172
The BFP_YC_v0.5
I hope everyone had a wonderful weekend, I did! Of course the state of my house bears testament to that but by Friday I should have it back in order.
yeah, right. I'm going to keep telling myself that.
We have the crud going around our house, as it seems to be everywhere right now, but thankfully have been able to keep it at the cold/sore throat and dry cough stage. Annoying but not debilitating (or keeping anyone home from school, yay!). I survived all the prep for the bridal shower and delivered all my goodies to my sister which supposedly were a big hit, survived my baking frenzy for my girls trip and then the oh-too-short girls weekend. I am so incredibly blessed with amazing friends. As our hostess put it, it was nutrition for the soul. And it really was. The fact that we can get 14 of us together for something like this is such a gift! To then have fabulous meals, long walks, girl movies and a little spa time....heaven!
So it ended up being about 24 hours with the girls, and then seeing the English Beat with another couple on a double date Saturday night. Sunday was spent being a bit lazy and taking Eric out selling Cub Scout popcorn. He was SO cute! I really didn't want to go and deal with it and am so glad I did, it was a great experience watching him work the neighbors over. The little charmer sold to every house he went to. Not that there were that many houses (7 I think) but still, not a bad hit rate! And it was nice to actually chat with the neighbors a bit longer than usual, and see a brand new baby to boot! We are lucky to have such great ones and it exposed some of the younger boys (and parents) on the street to scouts and Eric was able to answer some good questions about it. Fun.
All of the events were just wonderful and I even managed to get in one long walk with the girls and a nice work out on sat after my return. I did however muck up one kid schedule item but, had I had it “right” we’d have probably missed it anyway due to a conflict. Black Belt Mandatory meeting for the next test versus Eric soccer game...black belt wins. So glad they went, I have a ton of stuff to get in by friday for the next test or he will have to wait until June.
Still, I felt bad for Jeff, who had the unfun job of taking Eric to a game…that wasn’t there. I had it down twice on the calendar and we both thought it was the later time slot. Oh well. Eric isn't exactly our soccer star and was fine with it.
Jeff and I (and the other couple we were with) did realize that we are out of practice when it comes to the whole “show” aspect. Tickets were for 8pm. Warm up band didn’t start until 9 and the Beat at 10. Which left us leaving before they were done to relieve our friends sitter.
It was actually kind of funny. The whole thing was fun, and fun music, really took us back and it is such HAPPY music it made me feel like I was on vacation in my mind. Apparently it had the same influence on Jeff who brought up some things about the trip while we were at the show.
Either that or it was the Red Stripe, not sure!
Jeff had three points.
And so….
We are entering the “refinement” stage of our BFP. Locked in to date windows by circumstances beyond our control (namely the anticipated start date of FD and Kendall’s HS soccer tryout) we need to work within those dates.
Which, sadly, really doesn’t allow for staying at the YC the whole time as we need to arrive before the date we think FD will start. We’ve decided to do the following.
1. Add one night at the YC for both rooms, bringing us to 7 which lets Sandie and Paul be there with us for a full 7 nights. If we time the flights right it’s really 9 days! They don’t want more than a week or any dates that aren’t FD and so even if FD started earlier we’d need to stay elsewhere as we won’t fit in one YC room and we can’t afford 2 without them sharing that cost. All I know is there better be FD or we are in TROUBLE! I hope they release it as early to Disney Visa as they did last year my concern is that it’s already so booked, maybe they don’t offer it? I dunno. At the rate they are extending promotions I feel relatively safe but it is a wee bit of a stress factor.
2. Cut one night out at the start so the total trip is 9 nights instead of 10. With trying to do both Universal Parks as well, I just can’t see fitting everything in for less nights. And I’m still hooked on the idea of a couple of days on our own with just the 6 of us.
3. Let K&T pick where we stay those first 2 nights! We are going to give them a selection of places to pick from, including Nick, this weekend. We are still not telling the E’s and will decide what to do about that once we finalize where we are staying.
So the BFP_YC_v0.5 is
8/12 red eye out
8/13-14 ??? (currently holding onto the room at Nick)
8/15-8/22 Yacht Club.
We won't be a v0.5 for long
Here is the thing. Issues with neon and Nick Character themed rooms notwithstanding, without the FD promo, it is significantly cheaper. And has that pool. Check it out.
I think we could handle 2 nights there just to get access to that pool and I actually think it would be kind of a bummer not to but I’m turning over control on this one to the teens and am ok with it. My biggest fear is that staying elsewhere will push the water park request and I don’t think we have enough days for that.
However, my non-disney freak husband (as he so lovingly calls me) really likes the idea of staying at Disney the whole time and so we are going to present K&T with a list of properties that might work. My TA is checking on AAA rates right now as some of them look to be significantly better than the rack rates, that weekend of 8/13 seems to be the end of the summer season with some rooms at the summer rate, some at the value. Right now the options on the table (that sleep 6) are:
I hope to narrow down the list before Friday so they have less to decide in between. Personally I’d just as soon skip the values entirely as if we go that route I do think we are better off at Nick. Cost wise we should probably scrap the treehouse if it is just 6 of us and no FD but I can tell Jeff wants it on there. And…if we do a treehouse Jeff and I get our own room for a couple of nights but wow, it’s a pricey way to get privacy! Still, might be worth it since it will be followed by 7 nights of togetherness.
And of course....I wanna sleep in a treehouse!
The cabins, I loved but BTDT. And…double beds. My push is if we do 2 rooms it’s a girls room and a boys room! My personal preferences (and the short list I’d like to show them) are
Nick
Pro: Pool. Slime. Boys are obsessed with the idea of going there.
Con: I’m bunking with K on a sofabed double. Their rates keep going up so I’m glad I have it reserved, although I wonder if our rate will change if we cut out the 2 nights currently on it. It is still the least expensive unless we upgrade to the 3 bedroom and then that cost is almost equal to 2 rooms at a mod. The rooms are pretty obnoxious for those over 11!
2 rooms at a Mod
Pro: Would let us try a new resort.
Con: Cost versus Nick. Dining. We like the sit down offerings at the deluxes and aren’t really food court people so the dining options at these are not a draw. For me anyway.
2 rooms at AKL.
Pro: Everything. I’d love this for 2 nights. If the AAA rates are right, it’s not much more than the posted rack rate on the Mods so seems by far the best value. This really isn't on the boys list at all, it will be interesting to see with K&T think.
Con: Cost versus Nick. We could do this at WL as well but for that I think I prefer the club level option.
WL Club level room:
Pro: club level benefits, location, we love WL. Con: costs more than doing 2 rooms, not much less than the treehouse. I’d have to bunk with Kendall but it’d be a queen.
Treehouse
Pro: My own room for 2 nights!
Treehouse! Con: Cost. We could stay 5-6 nights at Nick for this expense, ouch! AAA doesn’t seem to give any deals on the villa properties , which makes sense.
Financially there is a pretty huge spread on these rooms although we do figure we are potentially saving 2 days of car rental if we are at Disney. The main advantage I see if we are at Disney the whole time is that we could do the Universal and IOA park visits sprinkled throughout the trip as opposed to all at once and that would be nice. It is going to be fun to see what they like versus what we think they will like and how much a factor the pool really is.
There is of course also the Sheraton Vistana...which seems pretty darn reasonable for what we'd get. But it's not Nick or Disney so....
Huh.
Of course we may get dinged for TL/BB no matter what so maybe I'm making too much of it. I know Evan REALLY wants to go to at least one of them on the next trip. Then the question becomes 1 day water park ticket or adding the water park and more to the main tickets? Ugh. If we don't stay at Nick I will take the boys by there at least to check it out, they are dying to just see it if they can.
I’m thinking of giving them the list, letting them poke around online and then having each rank their top 3 in order. However…this is 8 options already, conceivably there could be zero overlap no matter what they pick and then what do I do?
Hmmn.
If K had her way we’d stay at the GF. T loved WL. GF is NOT an option and for the cost of WL I'd go Treehouse. The boys would pick Nick and then Eric would want the Contemporary and Evan is all about CSR or CBR. So they will be happy with whatever the big kids pick and they'll have their chance to have input on a different trip. The LOVE the idea of the treehouse (of course!).
I’m going to walk them both through the Yacht Club just so they can see where we will be so they can compare and contrast.
In other news, I do have a little update on Jeff’s dad Ron.
According to his stepmom Mary, his symptoms, i.e, cough and sore throat are better. He still has congestion, but that is due to the mass/tumor pressing on the bronchial tube. His energy level is better. They went to the Camaro club mtg Friday night and church today. Overall, he is much better than he was a couple of weeks ago. They see the doctor Friday, 3pm. Will get the results of the fluid he took out of the lung during the bronchoscopy (we thought it was a biopsy). Apparently he is keeping a great attitude which I'm grateful for!
Sandie may be popping out for a visit between now and Thanksgiving and I’m sure there will be a LOT of trip chatter then with everyone if she does! She’s checking airfare right now.
Next....express line baby!
I hope everyone had a wonderful weekend, I did! Of course the state of my house bears testament to that but by Friday I should have it back in order.
yeah, right. I'm going to keep telling myself that.
We have the crud going around our house, as it seems to be everywhere right now, but thankfully have been able to keep it at the cold/sore throat and dry cough stage. Annoying but not debilitating (or keeping anyone home from school, yay!). I survived all the prep for the bridal shower and delivered all my goodies to my sister which supposedly were a big hit, survived my baking frenzy for my girls trip and then the oh-too-short girls weekend. I am so incredibly blessed with amazing friends. As our hostess put it, it was nutrition for the soul. And it really was. The fact that we can get 14 of us together for something like this is such a gift! To then have fabulous meals, long walks, girl movies and a little spa time....heaven!
So it ended up being about 24 hours with the girls, and then seeing the English Beat with another couple on a double date Saturday night. Sunday was spent being a bit lazy and taking Eric out selling Cub Scout popcorn. He was SO cute! I really didn't want to go and deal with it and am so glad I did, it was a great experience watching him work the neighbors over. The little charmer sold to every house he went to. Not that there were that many houses (7 I think) but still, not a bad hit rate! And it was nice to actually chat with the neighbors a bit longer than usual, and see a brand new baby to boot! We are lucky to have such great ones and it exposed some of the younger boys (and parents) on the street to scouts and Eric was able to answer some good questions about it. Fun.
All of the events were just wonderful and I even managed to get in one long walk with the girls and a nice work out on sat after my return. I did however muck up one kid schedule item but, had I had it “right” we’d have probably missed it anyway due to a conflict. Black Belt Mandatory meeting for the next test versus Eric soccer game...black belt wins. So glad they went, I have a ton of stuff to get in by friday for the next test or he will have to wait until June.
Still, I felt bad for Jeff, who had the unfun job of taking Eric to a game…that wasn’t there. I had it down twice on the calendar and we both thought it was the later time slot. Oh well. Eric isn't exactly our soccer star and was fine with it.
Jeff and I (and the other couple we were with) did realize that we are out of practice when it comes to the whole “show” aspect. Tickets were for 8pm. Warm up band didn’t start until 9 and the Beat at 10. Which left us leaving before they were done to relieve our friends sitter.
It was actually kind of funny. The whole thing was fun, and fun music, really took us back and it is such HAPPY music it made me feel like I was on vacation in my mind. Apparently it had the same influence on Jeff who brought up some things about the trip while we were at the show.
Either that or it was the Red Stripe, not sure!
Jeff had three points.
1. He really wants his mom there for more than 6 nights. Even if it is just one more.
2. He’d really rather stay at the YC the whole time. I think Sandie got to him on the neon!
3. He’d rather stay less nights and be at the YC since he is not going to do his flying stuff after all.
Sadly, poor Jeff has had a crummy week flight wise. He was hoping to get his seaplane certification last weekend and he’s had plane problems, cancellations, weather issues etc and has only done maybe half of the certification. Which has majorly bummed him out. Ideally you do it 5 days in a row to get the momentum going. Spreading it out over 2-3 weeks just isn’t the same.2. He’d really rather stay at the YC the whole time. I think Sandie got to him on the neon!
3. He’d rather stay less nights and be at the YC since he is not going to do his flying stuff after all.
And so….
We are entering the “refinement” stage of our BFP. Locked in to date windows by circumstances beyond our control (namely the anticipated start date of FD and Kendall’s HS soccer tryout) we need to work within those dates.
Which, sadly, really doesn’t allow for staying at the YC the whole time as we need to arrive before the date we think FD will start. We’ve decided to do the following.
1. Add one night at the YC for both rooms, bringing us to 7 which lets Sandie and Paul be there with us for a full 7 nights. If we time the flights right it’s really 9 days! They don’t want more than a week or any dates that aren’t FD and so even if FD started earlier we’d need to stay elsewhere as we won’t fit in one YC room and we can’t afford 2 without them sharing that cost. All I know is there better be FD or we are in TROUBLE! I hope they release it as early to Disney Visa as they did last year my concern is that it’s already so booked, maybe they don’t offer it? I dunno. At the rate they are extending promotions I feel relatively safe but it is a wee bit of a stress factor.
2. Cut one night out at the start so the total trip is 9 nights instead of 10. With trying to do both Universal Parks as well, I just can’t see fitting everything in for less nights. And I’m still hooked on the idea of a couple of days on our own with just the 6 of us.
3. Let K&T pick where we stay those first 2 nights! We are going to give them a selection of places to pick from, including Nick, this weekend. We are still not telling the E’s and will decide what to do about that once we finalize where we are staying.
So the BFP_YC_v0.5 is
8/12 red eye out
8/13-14 ??? (currently holding onto the room at Nick)
8/15-8/22 Yacht Club.
We won't be a v0.5 for long
Here is the thing. Issues with neon and Nick Character themed rooms notwithstanding, without the FD promo, it is significantly cheaper. And has that pool. Check it out.
I think we could handle 2 nights there just to get access to that pool and I actually think it would be kind of a bummer not to but I’m turning over control on this one to the teens and am ok with it. My biggest fear is that staying elsewhere will push the water park request and I don’t think we have enough days for that.
However, my non-disney freak husband (as he so lovingly calls me) really likes the idea of staying at Disney the whole time and so we are going to present K&T with a list of properties that might work. My TA is checking on AAA rates right now as some of them look to be significantly better than the rack rates, that weekend of 8/13 seems to be the end of the summer season with some rooms at the summer rate, some at the value. Right now the options on the table (that sleep 6) are:
- 2 rooms at Pop.
- ASM Family Suite
- 2 rooms at any of the Moderates
- FW Cabin
- 2 rooms at AKL or WL if the AAA rates are really correct.
- Deluxe club level room at WL
- Treehouse/OKW/SSR villas, 2 or 3 bedroom.
I hope to narrow down the list before Friday so they have less to decide in between. Personally I’d just as soon skip the values entirely as if we go that route I do think we are better off at Nick. Cost wise we should probably scrap the treehouse if it is just 6 of us and no FD but I can tell Jeff wants it on there. And…if we do a treehouse Jeff and I get our own room for a couple of nights but wow, it’s a pricey way to get privacy! Still, might be worth it since it will be followed by 7 nights of togetherness.
And of course....I wanna sleep in a treehouse!
The cabins, I loved but BTDT. And…double beds. My push is if we do 2 rooms it’s a girls room and a boys room! My personal preferences (and the short list I’d like to show them) are
Nick
Pro: Pool. Slime. Boys are obsessed with the idea of going there.
Con: I’m bunking with K on a sofabed double. Their rates keep going up so I’m glad I have it reserved, although I wonder if our rate will change if we cut out the 2 nights currently on it. It is still the least expensive unless we upgrade to the 3 bedroom and then that cost is almost equal to 2 rooms at a mod. The rooms are pretty obnoxious for those over 11!
2 rooms at a Mod
Pro: Would let us try a new resort.
Con: Cost versus Nick. Dining. We like the sit down offerings at the deluxes and aren’t really food court people so the dining options at these are not a draw. For me anyway.
2 rooms at AKL.
Pro: Everything. I’d love this for 2 nights. If the AAA rates are right, it’s not much more than the posted rack rate on the Mods so seems by far the best value. This really isn't on the boys list at all, it will be interesting to see with K&T think.
Con: Cost versus Nick. We could do this at WL as well but for that I think I prefer the club level option.
WL Club level room:
Pro: club level benefits, location, we love WL. Con: costs more than doing 2 rooms, not much less than the treehouse. I’d have to bunk with Kendall but it’d be a queen.
Treehouse
Pro: My own room for 2 nights!
Treehouse! Con: Cost. We could stay 5-6 nights at Nick for this expense, ouch! AAA doesn’t seem to give any deals on the villa properties , which makes sense.
Financially there is a pretty huge spread on these rooms although we do figure we are potentially saving 2 days of car rental if we are at Disney. The main advantage I see if we are at Disney the whole time is that we could do the Universal and IOA park visits sprinkled throughout the trip as opposed to all at once and that would be nice. It is going to be fun to see what they like versus what we think they will like and how much a factor the pool really is.
There is of course also the Sheraton Vistana...which seems pretty darn reasonable for what we'd get. But it's not Nick or Disney so....
Huh.
Of course we may get dinged for TL/BB no matter what so maybe I'm making too much of it. I know Evan REALLY wants to go to at least one of them on the next trip. Then the question becomes 1 day water park ticket or adding the water park and more to the main tickets? Ugh. If we don't stay at Nick I will take the boys by there at least to check it out, they are dying to just see it if they can.
I’m thinking of giving them the list, letting them poke around online and then having each rank their top 3 in order. However…this is 8 options already, conceivably there could be zero overlap no matter what they pick and then what do I do?
Hmmn.
If K had her way we’d stay at the GF. T loved WL. GF is NOT an option and for the cost of WL I'd go Treehouse. The boys would pick Nick and then Eric would want the Contemporary and Evan is all about CSR or CBR. So they will be happy with whatever the big kids pick and they'll have their chance to have input on a different trip. The LOVE the idea of the treehouse (of course!).
I’m going to walk them both through the Yacht Club just so they can see where we will be so they can compare and contrast.
In other news, I do have a little update on Jeff’s dad Ron.
According to his stepmom Mary, his symptoms, i.e, cough and sore throat are better. He still has congestion, but that is due to the mass/tumor pressing on the bronchial tube. His energy level is better. They went to the Camaro club mtg Friday night and church today. Overall, he is much better than he was a couple of weeks ago. They see the doctor Friday, 3pm. Will get the results of the fluid he took out of the lung during the bronchoscopy (we thought it was a biopsy). Apparently he is keeping a great attitude which I'm grateful for!
Sandie may be popping out for a visit between now and Thanksgiving and I’m sure there will be a LOT of trip chatter then with everyone if she does! She’s checking airfare right now.
Next....express line baby!
1 week 3 resorts - never again!! 
