Life’s too short...to never sleep in a treehouse! 8/27 TR is up! Link in siggie

[Sandy321]

Well I'm finally all caught up. Holy cow that was some wild planning going on! (Oh and for the record, I for one don't quetion Mama Melrose a bit. We loved the place.) As to all the options before you, all I can say is good luck! I hope you father in law is doing well. He'll be in my prayers.

continued prayers from here as well!

I've read the pages, but not entirely sure I'm "caught up" shweee its a whirlwind Cynthia!! I think you are doing great - Since Kendall is on board with the plan, does she have a calendar she can put the dates on while she's at her mom's house? I would hate for that to interfere with her dates!!

its sure is a juggling act! And you are doing very well!

ADR's when staying offsite (say at HRH) you can book 180 days in advance... when staying onsite you can book at your 180 day mark then up to 10 days after that -

We ate at Mama Melrose - I'll look for pictures, we enjoyed the food and the atmosphere - believe it or not we felt that larger parties got better service! The trick will be booking a Fantasmic Pkg 180 days out - with Fantasmic being shown only a couple of times a week but it really is a good choice!

Look how long it took me to make our choices! We saw Fantasmic in '08 and decided as much as we love it, the crowds just overwhelm us - so we'll wait a bit!

I booked LeCellier, but may cancel - we booked Yachtsman, but I may cancel that too - I want to do Victoria and Albert's since we didnt do a date night - or an Anniversary Trip!!

Just have to hope and pray dh's job comes through!

 

[eandesmom]

Well, I got through half of your update before the grinch said it's bedtime. I'll have to finish on Monday...

Sleep tight and have a lovely Sunday!

You'll be able to book on the 13th but just for one day until you get to your Resort adr window.

Hope that helps.

I think the Hard Rock Hotel looks cool, btw.

Ah so I could make one reservation on the 13th and one on the 14th and one on the 15th but only for each of those dates 180 days out. I don't think I need any till 8/15 so I guess 2/16 is my ADR day. I"ll have to adjust my ticker! Thanks.

continued prayers from here as well!

I've read the pages, but not entirely sure I'm "caught up" shweee its a whirlwind Cynthia!! I think you are doing great - Since Kendall is on board with the plan, does she have a calendar she can put the dates on while she's at her mom's house? I would hate for that to interfere with her dates!!

Thanks for the continued prayers!


oh dear. Kendall can't remember what times her games are on the day of the game! A calendar would not help an iota on that score. The reality is we could tell her mom the dates every week between now and then and she may well "accidentally" book Kendall elsewhere. But we are used to it and are as proactive as we can be, that's about all we can do!

Taylor will actually be the biggest help in this area, as will Sandie. Sandie will email Kendall's mom directly and that seems to help quite a bit as Jeff's ex likes Sandie and will try to facilitate the kids seeing her if she can. Kendall will not have control over her soccer dates, if her coach schedules somethign during that window, it is what it is, she just may have to make a choice and we've done all we can to minimize the chances of conflict.

We ate at Mama Melrose - I'll look for pictures, we enjoyed the food and the atmosphere - believe it or not we felt that larger parties got better service! The trick will be booking a Fantasmic Pkg 180 days out - with Fantasmic being shown only a couple of times a week but it really is a good choice!

Look how long it took me to make our choices! We saw Fantasmic in '08 and decided as much as we love it, the crowds just overwhelm us - so we'll wait a bit!

I booked LeCellier, but may cancel - we booked Yachtsman, but I may cancel that too - I want to do Victoria and Albert's since we didnt do a date night - or an Anniversary Trip!!

Just have to hope and pray dh's job comes through!

Yeah, I'm not sure how fantasmic package bookings work 180 days out....when park hours aren't out! I"m making educated guesses based on days from 09...but we will see.

Did you DH get a job offer? That's wonderful!!! I will keep my fingers crossed that it comes through. For a steakhouse I'd like to try Turf Club, it's supposed to be as good but is a single TS! Good luck narrowing it down.

 

[cjackearl]

Well, that will teach me to be away from the Dis for awhile! Still praying for your FIL. I'm sure you're all anxious to know what's going on with him.

Congrats on your ressies! Ooh, I'm jealous of your HRH ressie. I'm much more a Disney girl than a Universal one, but the hotels look dynamite and the front of the line access is genius.

How nice that you've got a date trip planned. George and I haven't been out in too long, but now that his tennis season is over, it's ON!

So what version are you on? 0.7? Anxiously awaiting 0.8!!

 

[MAGICFOR2]

Nice to have some plans made! Sounds like over your whole trip you'll have a mix of active and restful. Good Plan! Continuing to pray for your FIL.

 

[eandesmom]

Well, that will teach me to be away from the Dis for awhile! Still praying for your FIL. I'm sure you're all anxious to know what's going on with him.

Congrats on your ressies! Ooh, I'm jealous of your HRH ressie. I'm much more a Disney girl than a Universal one, but the hotels look dynamite and the front of the line access is genius.

How nice that you've got a date trip planned. George and I haven't been out in too long, but now that his tennis season is over, it's ON!

So what version are you on? 0.7? Anxiously awaiting 0.8!!

Me too (Universal v Disney) which is why it is a 30/70 trip. And realistically I think it will be more like 3 days at Universal and 9 at Disney if I get my flight times right! But we will have some nice resort time at HRH which I am super excited about.

It will be fun, I am a pretty big Harry Potter freak so that is a huge draw for me, the rest of it will be good to see once! Yep, 0.7!

Definitely have a date night if nothing else, date trips are so much harder but having a date night is SO important!

Thank you for the prayers

Nice to have some plans made! Sounds like over your whole trip you'll have a mix of active and restful. Good Plan! Continuing to pray for your FIL.

That's my hope, a mix of active and restful. I know my in laws will not want to go go go and the kids definitely verbalized that they wanted more pool time so hopefully we've built in enough time that there is as much, or as little, downtime as folks want.

Thanks for the prayers!

 

[creativeamanda]

When we go back as a family, we are going to do 1 day Universal IOA/1 day Sea World/5 days Disney because:

1. dh has always wanted to do Seaworld. My assistant brought back a film from Sea World when he went and I have to admit, it's amazing.

2. My daughters and I are total Harry Potter freaks. DD10 has read the 1st 5 books, DD7 (yes, at the tender age of 7) is reading book 4.

3. I can't go to Orlando area and not be at Disney.

But the next time we go, I am thinking Ft. Wilderness cabins and the CS dining plan.

 

[topdog]

All caught up finally. But you change your plan so much, I forgot most of it. Only part I remember is you will be going to Hard Rock first and then YC.

I visit the HR before. It was a little loud for us. We stayed at Royal Pacific and we love it there. Nice and quiet. I hope the Harry Potter park wil be open by the time you get there. I've been waiting a long time to see what kind of ride will they have. Their Incredible Hulk rollercoaster ride, IMO, is one of the best.

 

[eandesmom]

When we go back as a family, we are going to do 1 day Universal IOA/1 day Sea World/5 days Disney because:

1. dh has always wanted to do Seaworld. My assistant brought back a film from Sea World when he went and I have to admit, it's amazing.

2. My daughters and I are total Harry Potter freaks. DD10 has read the 1st 5 books, DD7 (yes, at the tender age of 7) is reading book 4.

3. I can't go to Orlando area and not be at Disney.

But the next time we go, I am thinking Ft. Wilderness cabins and the CS dining plan.

I the Fort. Our last trip was at the Cabins. The only thing I'd caution you on is the CS plan if you are there....as there is no CS at the Fort itself!

It was tight for 6, it would be perfect for 4!

I'd like to see Seaworld, one of these days though we will probably hit the one in San Diego. Evan is on book 6 right now, he powered through the first 4 and stalled out on book 5 half way though. So he took a 2 year hiatus lol.

Eric is getting ready to start book one. He was NOT into fantasy at all until about 6 months ago or I'm sure he'd have read them long ago. I'm excited as I think he will love them.

All caught up finally. But you change your plan so much, I forgot most of it. Only part I remember is you will be going to Hard Rock first and then YC.

I visit the HR before. It was a little loud for us. We stayed at Royal Pacific and we love it there. Nice and quiet. I hope the Harry Potter park wil be open by the time you get there. I've been waiting a long time to see what kind of ride will they have. Their Incredible Hulk rollercoaster ride, IMO, is one of the best.

I'm sure HR will be loud...and the kids will love it. Although when I've stayed at other HR hotels, the rooms themselves were quite quiet. RP looks lovely, I'd have been quite happy there!

They are saying Spring for HP so hopefully mid August is safe. Fingers crossed.

I love the Hulk. Jeff and I went on it several times on the last trip! I think I like dueling dragons better but that could have simply been because there were about 12 adults racing each other, competing between Fire and Ice. Not sure if it will be the same without that.

Which is why the GRAND part of our Grand Gathering, may have a change!

Hotel wise though, we are set and booked and I really hope for no more changes other than ADR's, Park Hours and just how grand things really are!

 

[All7OfUs]

Phew, made it through! Really only one more thought....

I think renting a fridge will be less than eating breakfast out all those mornings.

What if you did foods that don't need a refer for that leg? Melons that you can cut that day, bananas, dry cereal, bagels (hmmmm...what to do about the cream cheese?) UHT milk, etc...

Is breakfast not included at HRH?

Otherwise, I think you're wise to do the grocery run on the way to the YC.

Here's a deal, I"ll copy your grocery planning ideas, and you can have my hidden gems info.

 

[KathyRN137]

Continued prayers for FIL...

The Hard Rock will be such an amazing experience for the kids, especially Taylor since he's the "rocker" in the family!

Ed's ex used to have "accidental" problems remembering our schedule, too. Thank goodness Eddie's 19 now and we can co-ordinate directly with him!

I'm keeping my fingers crossed for the Free Dining for you guys!!


Kathy

 

[eandesmom]

Phew, made it through! Really only one more thought....

I think renting a fridge will be less than eating breakfast out all those mornings.

What if you did foods that don't need a refer for that leg? Melons that you can cut that day, bananas, dry cereal, bagels (hmmmm...what to do about the cream cheese?) UHT milk, etc...

Is breakfast not included at HRH?

Otherwise, I think you're wise to do the grocery run on the way to the YC.

Here's a deal, I"ll copy your grocery planning ideas, and you can have my hidden gems info.

Deal!

I don't know, I"m going to have to put it all in excel and figure this one out lol.

It is $124 for a 2 leg trip (MCO to HRH and then HRH to YC) but the grocery has to be on arrival. Grocery store or not, a much better deal than the US transfer.

HRH doesn't include bfast unless I get some free upgrade to club level.



don't see that happening.

Fridge is $15 to rent per day. If we are just getting muffins and scones....$45 is probably more than we'd spend for 2 days. I'd planned to do sit down bfast when we arrive, assuming we take the red eye we will be tired, and hungry and will want to sit down and eat.

Which brings up another problem. If we get there at 9am or whatever, with a bunch of groceries and the room isn't ready until 2 or 2...what do we do with them? Leaving bags with bell services is one thing. Groceries? Things that need to be kept cold?

Ugh.

Inclined to run in and get things that don't need chilling and stick in a duffle bag and then have a small GG delivery to YC with juice and milk, etc. $12 for the GG delivery is cheaper than the $15 per day fridge rental. They'll have to live without bagesl for 2 days. Kendall and Eric might revolt but I can bribe them with Chocolate Chip muffins or something.

We will see.

Continued prayers for FIL...

The Hard Rock will be such an amazing experience for the kids, especially Taylor since he's the "rocker" in the family!

Ed's ex used to have "accidental" problems remembering our schedule, too. Thank goodness Eddie's 19 now and we can co-ordinate directly with him!

I'm keeping my fingers crossed for the Free Dining for you guys!!


Kathy

He's actually never even been to a HR Cafe, we were really surprised by that, I know we've bought him stuff from the NY one. No wonder he liked it so much. I kind of think of the cafe's as a tourist trap and forget how cool they kind of are.

Part of it is not remembering and part of it is that she (and therefore the kids) are NOT planners and leave everything until the last minute. And I mean LAST.

Case in point, T has to renew his ski season pass TONIGHT (which is an extended deadline) or lose the discount for being a previous pass holder. He hit Jeff up for the whole thing, tonight. Normally we'd pay half. Apparently now we are paying for the whole thing and that is his bday present.

But we can't get their website to work. And gosh, he was HERE all weekend, it could have been taken care of yesterday, this morning....

Instead poor Jeff has been fighting with the pass website and mis-entered passwords for over an hour. In the past his ex would buy it, then hit us up but apparently couldn't because she bought K new snowboarding gear today.

This for a girl who if lucky, without soccer conflicts, might get up 4x this season?

Needless to say we are not chipping in for any of that. Our deal is we will only pay half it we are hit up BEFORE the expense occurs. Which rarely seems to happen, it is always after the fact.

UGH.

Sorry for the rant...........

thank you for the prayers. Hopefully we will have some news tomorrow.

 

[All7OfUs]

If you do the UHT milk and cream cheese you can keep things pretty cold using the ice bucket and ice with ziplock baggies. I would think you'd go through a whole brick of cr. cheese each of 2 mornings, and a whole quart of milk. The rest can be non-refer items that can be packed. Right?? For only 2 mornings, it shouldn't be too hard. Yeah, I'd also go for a nice sit down meal that first arrival morning. You'll need it after the red eye!

 

[creativeamanda]

I didn't realize there was no CS there, but we usually only do cs at the resort for breakfast, and if we stay at the fort, we'll have breakfast in the room. DH cooks every morning for this kids--pancakes or french toast and eggs and bacon.

 

[eandesmom]

If you do the UHT milk and cream cheese you can keep things pretty cold using the ice bucket and ice with ziplock baggies. I would think you'd go through a whole brick of cr. cheese each of 2 mornings, and a whole quart of milk. The rest can be non-refer items that can be packed. Right?? For only 2 mornings, it shouldn't be too hard. Yeah, I'd also go for a nice sit down meal that first arrival morning. You'll need it after the red eye!

Right but the problem is that I won't have access to the ice bucket, or ice machine, for potentially hours depending on when our rooms are ready. I think I'm just going to skip any refer right away items for those first 3 days but bring my rolling cooler and just store what we buy in it and give it to bell services with the rest of the bag. It will still save us $$ to stop by the store on the way in, we just won't be buying as much, which is fine. Less to move and worry about sitting out at the YC if we get there before our room is ready, which is likely.

Yeah, I could buy ice at the store, fill up our cooler and all that but the idea of leaving an ice filled cooler with bell services for heaven only knows how long is...meh...to me. Too much work. I think I'll just work around it.

I didn't realize there was no CS there, but we usually only do cs at the resort for breakfast, and if we stay at the fort, we'll have breakfast in the room. DH cooks every morning for this kids--pancakes or french toast and eggs and bacon.

We had breakfast in the cabin every day we were there, there is a good list on the camping board as to what comes in the kitchen for supplies. Oddly there is not a baking sheet of any sort so making biscuits was a challenge

I think as long as you know there isn't any CS nor any real snacks available at the Fort then you will be ok but it is a big complaint most people have. There is sit down TS at the Trails End and 2 trading posts for groceries (but they are VERY pricey groceries). Very very few items at the trading posts count as snack credits. We always used our snack credits at the parks so that wasn't an issue for us. You can fill up your mug at TE though if you get the QS plan, but the TE is not remotely close to the cabin locations. It is however right on the way to the marina to catch the boat to the Magic Kingdom.

I will say though, having breakfast on your deck at the cabins is just a wonderful way to start the day! We loved it. Well the boys and I loved it, the teens were still sleeping We'd have coffee (me) cocoa (boys) and then breakfast. So lovely! And Garden Grocer was perfect for the cabins, it was already in the cabin when we got there, cold stuff in the fridge. Which was wonderful when we were getting there at 11:30 pm and hungry!

 

[elphie101]

Hmmmm.........so you guys have already booked at the YC but FD hasn't been released yet.....does that mean you can add on FD once it's released? Or nay. I'm really flying by the seat of my pants here.

Speaking of flying (ooo, see what I did there? ) I'm 90% certain I have my flights picked out, on Delta. Roundtrip for two people for $438, which my dad assures me is a good deal. I've never flown on a paid ticket before; my dad works for USAirways so as a perk we've always flown standby. We could fly for free on this trip (saving us a little over 200 each!) but he's insisting we fly direct, which USAirways doesn't offer. When it comes to airlines, I've got to trust my dad, he's been in the business for over 25 years!!

 

[eandesmom]

Hmmmm.........so you guys have already booked at the YC but FD hasn't been released yet.....does that mean you can add on FD once it's released? Or nay. I'm really flying by the seat of my pants here.

Speaking of flying (ooo, see what I did there? ) I'm 90% certain I have my flights picked out, on Delta. Roundtrip for two people for $438, which my dad assures me is a good deal. I've never flown on a paid ticket before; my dad works for USAirways so as a perk we've always flown standby. We could fly for free on this trip (saving us a little over 200 each!) but he's insisting we fly direct, which USAirways doesn't offer. When it comes to airlines, I've got to trust my dad, he's been in the business for over 25 years!!

Wow that seems pricey. I would think it's too early to buy personally but I do agree that direct is the way to go.

As for booking now, yes you can do that and add FD later. To do that you need to book it as a package (at least 1 day of park tickets), not room only. It is $200 to hold the reservation, the remainder is due NLT 45 days before your trip. While the fine print says they can charge a change fee for any changes, I've never heard of them doing so and many people hold a spot and then tweak the ressie as needed. We did that on our last trip, with 5 changes before all was said and done.

1. Thanksgiving week 08, OKW 2 bedroom villa. I'd wanted BWV but by the time I tried to book it, it was gone.
2. Spring break week 09, FW Cabin
3. Presidents break week 09, FW Cabin
4. Presidents break week 09, FW Cabin with the buy 4 get 3 promo!
5. Presidents break week 09, FW Cabin with the buy 4 get 3 promo, added on the DDP.

I hope that helps!

 

[eandesmom]

we got a little bit of info today.

The Pulmonologist today told us today the cells they flushed out of his lung during the endosocopy were "atypical" which means they are either cancerous or a very bad infection. He is having a total body pet scan and breathing test tomorrow. They will see a lung surgeon on Thursday. The surgeon will schedule an open biopsy in the next week. They are still trying to put the pieces together so we don't know yet what the final result is so keep us in your prayers. It's frustrating as we are very unclear as to whether the pet scan will indicate infection or not or if that has to wait for the biopsy.

The tumor is in the upper lobe of the bronchial tube. If the tumor is contained only in that area we will be very fortunate. Let's hope that it has not spread to other areas of the body. They can tell by the pet scan tomorrow.

Jeff and I hope that the plan, no matter what, is for surgery at the time of the biopsy, I cannot understand why they are moving so slowly on this and it is really frustrating.

Thanks for keeping him in your thoughts.

 

[Lady Lallie]

I'm so sorry about your FIL. It does seem like they are moving very slowly with this, I wonder why..??

 

[elphie101]

As for booking now, yes you can do that and add FD later. To do that you need to book it as a package (at least 1 day of park tickets), not room only. It is $200 to hold the reservation, the remainder is due NLT 45 days before your trip. While the fine print says they can charge a change fee for any changes, I've never heard of them doing so and many people hold a spot and then tweak the ressie as needed. We did that on our last trip, with 5 changes before all was said and done.

That DOES help immensely!! In this case I'll probably book our room/tickets now, since it can be changed, and wait for JetBlue to release their fares. We'll either be flying Delta or JetBlue most likely, since they're the only airlines that go direct to MCO out of Logan Airport (well, also AirTran, but my dad said he'd rather we fly on a connecting flight then a direct on AirTran. I'm sensing an airline employee rivalry? ) This is excellent news and makes everything seem to come so much sooner!

I see you updated your tickers ...........me too, I pushed our trip back one day (and it bugged me knowing that the ticker was wrong) because it makes me feel nervous booking the first week of bounceback free dining when it hasn't been released to the general public yet - but if we want to do 8 days then starting our trip on the 17th is the latest we can go!

Also, sorry to hear things aren't moving as desired with your FIL. Sending good karma and thoughts up your way!!!

 

[eandesmom]

I'm so sorry about your FIL. It does seem like they are moving very slowly with this, I wonder why..??

I wish I knew, it seems crazy to me when time is of the essence

thanks.

That DOES help immensely!! In this case I'll probably book our room/tickets now, since it can be changed, and wait for JetBlue to release their fares. We'll either be flying Delta or JetBlue most likely, since they're the only airlines that go direct to MCO out of Logan Airport (well, also AirTran, but my dad said he'd rather we fly on a connecting flight then a direct on AirTran. I'm sensing an airline employee rivalry? ) This is excellent news and makes everything seem to come so much sooner!

I see you updated your tickers ...........me too, I pushed our trip back one day (and it bugged me knowing that the ticker was wrong) because it makes me feel nervous booking the first week of bounceback free dining when it hasn't been released to the general public yet - but if we want to do 8 days then starting our trip on the 17th is the latest we can go!

Also, sorry to hear things aren't moving as desired with your FIL. Sending good karma and thoughts up your way!!!

I hear you, makes me nervous too, we are actually booked starting the first day of bounceback, otherwise Kendall can't go a whole week. Oh well, I'll cross that bridge when we come to it. To me you have nothing to lose by booking now and everything to gain. Well except the $200.00



I did update my tickers for 2 reasons. One the ADR one was wrong and 2 I wasn't in love with either one of them. I like the new ADR one a lot better, I'd have done a different background on the other one but couldn't find anything I liked better and I did like that I found a decent Yacht Club slider And besides, we no longer have slime so I needed to rename it.

lol,.