Making the DVC Rounds...A March '11 PTR: TR link added p. 30

[wdwgirl03]

I'm here!

OKW is beautiful and one of my new favorite DVC resorts!

Welcome Joanna!

Glad to hear OKW is one of your new favorites. I can't wait to stay there!

Joining in!

Welcome!

Here!

Woo hoo, hi tinkgurl.

Joining your TR. Have you looked at the new pictures of OKW? Some of the rooms have been refurbished, it looks so nice. I do like the old look too though.

40 years Huh? I went in the Spring of 72', yes I am that old. We begged our Mom to stop on our ride home from our visit to our Grandmothers condo in Ft Lauderdale. I don't remember much. Do you think they will wait until October to start the celebration?

I haven't looked at the pictures...yet. I know I will eventually. I usually will check out those pictures on the resorts boards whenever we stay at a new place. As if I wasn't excited enough.

It usually seems like Disney can't resist a celebration. I'm pretty sure they extended the Happiest Celebration on Earth (or was it when they had the Year of a Million Dreams? or maybe both, haha) and seeing that it's a pretty big milestone...we'll see though. When we went to Disneyland at the end of '04 they already had stuff for the 50th anniversary and Disneyland didn't open until July. So hopefully they don't wait until October!

 

[mickeysmyboy]

Woo hoo for planning a new trip! It should be fabulous!

I love the idea of staying at all the DVC resort! I definitely think that as the years go on we will stay at all of them!

Your celebrations sound wonderful!! I can't wait to see what they for the 40th anniversary! I hope is spectacular!

 

[brookelizabeth]

I'm here!!

Where have you seen the 40th Anniversary merchandise? I'm curious as to what it looks like. It would be REALLY fun to be there exactly 40 years to the day, wouldn't it?

 

[Angies1274]

I'm here too!! I can't wait to hear all your plans for this trip! Ooohh...and I'm so excited to hear what they are going to do for the 40th anniversary! 20 years for you!! So cool!! Oh and I love that song "Remember When"! I just listened to it this morning in fact.

 

[wdwgirl03]

Woo hoo for planning a new trip! It should be fabulous!

I love the idea of staying at all the DVC resort! I definitely think that as the years go on we will stay at all of them!

Your celebrations sound wonderful!! I can't wait to see what they for the 40th anniversary! I hope is spectacular!

Yes, I can't wait until spring break rolls around!

So far we've really enjoyed staying at all the different resorts. I can't wait to try OKW and then the others that we haven't had a chance to stay at yet.

It will be interesting to see what they have planned for the 40th. I wonder when they'll announce anything.

I'm here!!

Where have you seen the 40th Anniversary merchandise? I'm curious as to what it looks like. It would be REALLY fun to be there exactly 40 years to the day, wouldn't it?

Hi Brook! Welcome back. Hope you had a good trip (which it sounds like you did judging from your facebook updates!).

I am going to post the link to the 40th anniversary stuff in a minute... That would be amazing to be there on the exact date. I remember after Disneyland's 50th anniversary celebration I watched a video and it was SO COOL.

I'm here too!! I can't wait to hear all your plans for this trip! Ooohh...and I'm so excited to hear what they are going to do for the 40th anniversary! 20 years for you!! So cool!! Oh and I love that song "Remember When"! I just listened to it this morning in fact.

Welcome Angie! It is so crazy to think that my first trip was (almost) 20 years ago. hehe, I love that song too.

 

[wdwgirl03]

Happy Saturday! Time for another update!

The Cast
As with many of our recent Disney trips, not everyone is able to go at the same time. In fact, the last trip we took as a whole family was when we went in Dec. '07/Jan. '08. It's just hard to coordinate everybody's schedules because of work and/or school. So this trip, it is probably going to be another sisters-only trip. The only difference is that it'll just be me and one of my sisters!

Me: I think I've introduced myself enough with all my TRs/PTRs. But in case you forgot, I'm Sarah, a 25-year old Disney fanatic who can never get enough of the magic.

Claire: My younger sister, 23 years old, and also a big Disney lover (aren't we all?). She's also a teacher. I think the only reason she is coming with me is so I don't have to go alone. Hey, those were her words but I'm glad because as interesting as a solo trip would be I would probably end up being bummed that I didn't have anybody with me.

So why isn't the rest of my family coming? Originally, our plan was to go during our birthday week in March (me, my dad, and sister all have our bdays within 4 days of each other!). We also thought it would be a good time to go visit Emma on the college program. Sadly, she won't be doing the CP this spring . We still kept the dates since our birthdays happen to be during my sister's college spring break. Then I was offered my new job which meant I wouldn't be able to go during that time anymore. Luckily we still had enough DVC points (or more like we had to borrow some from next year's allotment) that I would be able to take a trip over my spring break. So basically our family has two trips planned within three weeks of each other. My parents and Emma will be going March 12 and then I'll be going on the 26th. Believe it or not, Dad was thinking about maybe going on both of those trips! Can you imagine going two times in three weeks? As he said, he'd go, come home for a week, then go back to Disney World. But the other day he said he probably won't do that...I still think he should...that would be kind of epic. LOL!


And as promised, here is the link to where I saw some of the info on merchandise for the 40th anniversary. It really only talks about pins and vinylmations that were previewed at the Trade City pin event a couple weeks ago but I am sure they'll be planning tons more stuff. Is it too early to start thinking about souvenirs? I seriously love the retro vinylmation figures of all the parks!

40th Anniversary Merchandise

 

[RachelNinja]

Ooo, those Vinylmations are really cute! I like that they have them representing the parks. I might have to reconsider my stance on purchasing them ...

 

[wdwgirl03]

Ooo, those Vinylmations are really cute! I like that they have them representing the parks. I might have to reconsider my stance on purchasing them ...

LOL, aren't they?! And the best part is it doesn't look like they will be blindboxed so you know which one you're getting!

 

[dismagiclover]

My family has pin collecting mania. I'm going to stay away from Vinylmation because I don't want to create any more disorders, but I agree that there are some cute retro figures. Some real good retro pins too. Hope they are out by January

 

[klhockersmith]

Great idea...tracking ur goals!

 

[Caretames1]

HI Subbing in, (returning the favor ) I've just found some other WI people to follow,so this is great.

Carey

 

[ashleighbass06]

Subscribing!

What grade/subject do you teach (if you don't mind me asking)? I'm going to school for early childhoon ed and have my student teaching next year and I'm always curious to hear what other people teach

I'm excited to hear more!

 

[wdwgirl03]

My family has pin collecting mania. I'm going to stay away from Vinylmation because I don't want to create any more disorders, but I agree that there are some cute retro figures. Some real good retro pins too. Hope they are out by January

LOL, yeah with pins AND vinylmations my money is pretty much spent before I even get to WDW. I can't wait to see the other 40th anniversary stuff.

Great idea...tracking ur goals!

Thanks!

HI Subbing in, (returning the favor ) I've just found some other WI people to follow,so this is great.

Carey

Yay, welcome! I always love seeing other WI DISers on here.

Subscribing!

What grade/subject do you teach (if you don't mind me asking)? I'm going to school for early childhoon ed and have my student teaching next year and I'm always curious to hear what other people teach

I'm excited to hear more!

Welcome!

I don't mind you asking what grade I teach. My position right now is an assistant so I am helping out with all grades. I am certified for 1st-8th though but I definitely prefer the elementary kids! How exciting your student teaching is next year. I had a great cooperating teacher/placement.

 

[brookelizabeth]

Ooooh, I love those pins! I'm not a pin person, but those are REALLY cool, esp the ones that form Cinderella's Castle.

I'm sure they will all be a fortune.

And the comment on the WS Vinylmations "and Brazil, of course." Is that our next country or are they doing a tribute to the tour groups dressed head to toe in bright colors that descend on the parks throughout the year?!?!

All this makes me really excited for what they will announce and then experiencing it!

 

[wdwgirl03]

Ooooh, I love those pins! I'm not a pin person, but those are REALLY cool, esp the ones that form Cinderella's Castle.

I'm sure they will all be a fortune.

And the comment on the WS Vinylmations "and Brazil, of course." Is that our next country or are they doing a tribute to the tour groups dressed head to toe in bright colors that descend on the parks throughout the year?!?!

All this makes me really excited for what they will announce and then experiencing it!

haha, I know, right? I remember when pins used to cost $5, now it seems like they go up in price every time we go.

The Brazil figure is dedicated to the number of Brazilian visitors. LOL. I can't remember where I read that..I think on the vinylmation blog: Why Brazil? Contrary to popular Internet belief, Brazil is not planned to be a pavilion in World Showcase at Epcot® (though the rumors made us smile). The country was selected based on the fact that there are many Guests from Brazil that visit Disney Parks and Resorts. We felt this country would make a nice addition to the Flags series.

 

[brookelizabeth]

SERIOUSLY!??!!? That is FUNNY!!!!!!!!!!! They should have that Vinylmation wearing neon yellow track pants!

 

[wdwgirl03]

SERIOUSLY!??!!? That is FUNNY!!!!!!!!!!! They should have that Vinylmation wearing neon yellow track pants!

Who knows, the way they are cranking out the vinyls now they might do one like that.

 

[wdwgirl03]

Alright, so here is the rough itinerary for our trip. Not much planned right now but here’s how our days will look:

Saturday, March 26, 2011
-Flight out of Milwaukee…we don’t have a flight booked yet since our dates aren’t available yet but they should be coming out any day now.
-Magical Express to Old Key West
-TBD…what we do in the afternoon/evening will depend on what time our flight is. If it’s early enough maybe we could go to a park, otherwise we could just head over to DTD or resort hop.

Sunday, March 27, 2011
-Park day! Magic Kingdom in the morning???

Monday, March 28, 2011
-Park day!

Tuesday, March 29, 2011
-Park day!

Wednesday, March 30, 2011
-Park day!

Thursday, March 31, 2011
-Park day!

Friday, April 1, 2011
-Come home
-Begin planning next trip

It’ll be nice to have five full days again this trip. In August we were only able to get over to the Animal Kingdom once since we spent one day at Universal Studios. My goal is to visit each park atleast twice.

ADRs
We are not big on doing a lot of ADRs like some people are. We just don’t eat that much and I can’t imagine doing a sit-down meal every day. There is one ADR I’d like to make for this trip and that’s Via Napoli. As we were exploring World Showcase in August we stopped in Italy and I checked out the menu there. It looked pretty good, plus I love Italian food! Hopefully we’ll be able to get something there. What even is the ADR window these days? Is it still 180 days? See, that’s how frequently we make ADRs, I don’t even know the time frame. If it is 180 days I think ours is coming up soon!

 

[wisblue]

Sarah, your DVC reservation calls for a Saturday departure. So, when the flight schedules come out you'll have some flexibility; sometimes Saturday morning flights cost more than Friday morning flights. But, if you want, you could stay for another day and come home on Saturday.Maybe Claire won't want to stay that long. Or, if you decide to come home on Friday we can get some points back to use on another trip. I'll have to look and see if those are points that have been banked before because, if they are, we would have to use them by August 31, 2010. If that's the case you might as well stay another day and enjoy them.

 

[dismagiclover]

The ADR window is back to 180 days. Make sure you take the boat ride from OKW to DTD sometime during your trip. I loved that!