Meryll83's SBP/Citrico's/Morocco PJ - Update: Trip Report now underway!!

[Beep]

You been on holiday or for work? Did you have a good time?

Work unfortunately. It was three nights away from home to the Pembroke coast and then across to Swindon. 2 training sessions and 2 days of meetings later and I came back home it was too much.

Who are you going to book with, or are you going to package it all seperately? You must have a lot more patience than I do!

We are booking the flights with BA as they have a 21kgs hand luggage allowance. The Empty Box Company dress boxes are 4.5kgs and there is no way my dress weighs 1.5kgs to bring it under the 6kgs Virgin allow. BA also allow 2 pieces of checked luggage at 23kgs each (same as Virgin I think) which is great for all the wedding stuff! We are booking direct with Disney for the rooms and DVC for the Boardwalk Villas.

I've also managed to get a Durango for £500 for the 3 weeks which is a huge treat for me. I love big ugly beasts of cars and the only chance I get to drive them is in the States. I've got a Vectra and the Durango is just brill. We've decided not to go for the vintage rolls and have the Durango for the holiday instead. We can use the limo to move the guests to the GF and POR and then come back to pick us up

How very rude

*blows rasperry*

 

[Charlee]

Damn you for finally getting me on the DISboards - its the start of me turning into an even bigger Disney geek - and I'll blame you!

Dancing was fun - most people went early and me and Gem were left - I had to get her home and she was much more drunk than me - tis always fun as she giggles most of the time!

Jackie had a good time - don't think she minded our Disney talking - she knows what happens when we get started...

 

[meryll83]

We are booking the flights with BA as they have a 21kgs hand luggage allowance. The Empty Box Company dress boxes are 4.5kgs and there is no way my dress weighs 1.5kgs to bring it under the 6kgs Virgin allow.

I didn't realise those boxes were so heavy, perhaps I'll just keep it in a dress bag, do you think it would fold up enough to be an allowable size though?

Shame you were constantly working in Wales. How did you enjoy York the other week? We've just been across today actually, I didn't realise there was so much scaffolding up on the Minster!

Damn you for finally getting me on the DISboards - its the start of me turning into an even bigger Disney geek - and I'll blame you!

Dancing was fun - most people went early and me and Gem were left - I had to get her home and she was much more drunk than me - tis always fun as she giggles most of the time!

Jackie had a good time - don't think she minded our Disney talking - she knows what happens when we get started...

Mwahahaha!

I managed to get myself to work bright and early and was positively perky compared to after many nights out, so I think i made a wise choice going home.

I once met Si, Gemma and Pete, after dancing I think when they'd all been drinking, and everyone was going home, Si wasn't too bad but I wasn't sure that Pete and Gemma were safe supporting each other when we parted ways!! And there was much giggling!

 

[Beep]

I didn't realise those boxes were so heavy, perhaps I'll just keep it in a dress bag, do you think it would fold up enough to be an allowable size though?

Shame you were constantly working in Wales. How did you enjoy York the other week? We've just been across today actually, I didn't realise there was so much scaffolding up on the Minster!

I'm sure it will fit in a carry-on bag. I bought one for Tim from Matalan and it is a few cm less than the allowed size, and after doing a bit of mental imaging of the dress and the bag I'm sure it will fit. The case was half price at £11 and it is really well made. It surprised me how deep the allowed size is which is why I'm sure the dress will fit.

The only problem with the case I bought for Tim is that the wheels and handle on the case take it over the 56cm (although they sold them as hand-baggage size) so I'm not sure about it. I think we will take off the wheels to make doubly sure it will fit. I might get one to put my dress in rather than one of the boxes - the case has a zip pocket at the front so I can put my passport, tickets etc in it.

I've bought a vacuum bag that is roughly the size of the case and if I need to I'll put the dress in that (wrapped in tissue) and take some of the air out. I've read that the vacuum bags can damamge the bones in the dress so I would only do it lightls to keep it from springing up.

York was brilliant, I had a great weekend with Kirsty. She used to work at Epcot inthe UK section and was showing me all her memorabilia which was really good. We went to Betty's and had brunch, and bought some Fat Rascals to bring back home for breakfast the next day. We went to a shop n the Shambles and had 'real' hot chocolate too. Oh well, still 18 months to lose the weight!

I know what you mean about the scaffolding, shame really. It will be there for ever more though due to the decision won't it? We went for a Thai meal in Boston Spa (where Kirsty lives) on the night and it was fab!

 

[Chilly]

Carrying on the cost theme last September for two people we paid £1,724.50 for Virgin Flights, two weeks at Pop plus car hire so about $3500.

It actually works out cheaper to go to WDW than Disneyland Resort Paris.


As for the BA V Virgin issue i've been pricing up both and they seem to cost about the same so might plump for BA this time to get the bigger hand luggage allowance.

 

[meryll83]

Thinking of having Rose Wands for my bridesmaids rather than bouquets, after seeing some designs I like on another thread. Something like this:

But with the tails added like this:

Thanks J&J and KellyJo18 for these photos I need to post them on here before I lose them!!

The top one would be in the right colours, with 3 roses, I don't know if you can have a greater number of roses or not, but perhaps 3 is sufficient to keep them delicate looking....

They seem to be becoming increasingly popular (at least with DISbrides!) but they'll probably be quite unique when used at the reception back home, I've not seen anything like these over here before.


Oh and Alex, where did you get 'real' hot chocolate from in York, And how real are we talking?

 

[Chilly]

I think 3 is the perfect number. I might have one for my bridesmaid as well.

 

[orangetiggs]

i'm having the rose wands in silk so that my girls can keep them

 

[meryll83]

i'm having the rose wands in silk so that my girls can keep them

It also means they can be used for our UK do's

 

[orangetiggs]

thats too, df has hay fever so cant really have real flowers

 

[meryll83]

Nothing majorly exciting to report over this last week or so.

I showed Simon the pictures of the Rose Wands and he thinks they look cheap so perhaps we have to go back to bouquets for the girls.

I now have measurements for the girls, so I think I'll get their dresses ordered sometime in the next couple of weeks, just need to match up the online size charts before taking the plunge.

I'm back at the dress shop next weekend, I need to remember to ask about bustling....

I think my dad is going to add the Dining Plan to his holiday (so park passes too in order to do this). I'm presuming this will be OK, coz even though I booked for all 3 of us with Virgin, my dad is on a seperate booking reference number, so hopefully we can get round the 'All members of the party must add the plan" rule because of this.
Obviously we can't add the plan as we'll be getting free annual passes, and you have to book the hotel and tickets together in order to be eligible for the dining plan. Presuming we still get free annual passes when our time comes.
Although thinking about it, didn't Summer have the dining plan?? Might have to check with her......
I wouldn't mind paying for the dining plan, as I think it will still save us a little money, but I just don't think Virgin will let us add this on a holiday package without tickets.
He said he'd call me to let me know if he wants me to call Virgin and add this for him in the next few days, during which time I think he will attempt his final push to get my mum to go, so we shall see what happens!!

 

[figmentfan814]

I just got an email last week from the Annual Pass people saying that they are allowing AP holders to add the dining plan to select packages. It's a new thing, so it might be worth checking into for you.

 

[meryll83]

I just got an email last week from the Annual Pass people saying that they are allowing AP holders to add the dining plan to select packages. It's a new thing, so it might be worth checking into for you.

We won't be booked directly through Disney for the room though, so I think it would have to be Virgin that add the Dining on.
I did notice that AP holders could now add the DDP, but I presume that's only when your room is booked directly through Disney....

 

[figmentfan814]

We won't be booked directly through Disney for the room though, so I think it would have to be Virgin that add the Dining on.
I did notice that AP holders could now add the DDP, but I presume that's only when your room is booked directly through Disney....

Hmmm... I'm definitely interested to hear what you find out, good luck

 

[Beep]

Hi Meryll, I'm not sure where the shop in York was that we had the hot chocolate. It was just off the main Market Square and i think it was in a road called the Shambles but I'm not sure. It was soooo good, real melted chocolate!!

I think the flower wands look lovely, and different to what you usually see over here, but I think bouquets look more 'substantial' which is my your DBF might think they look cheap.

 

[meryll83]

I've ordered the bridesmaids dresses online just now, and had another fitting yesterday for my dress. They told me it's one of those most complicated hems they've had to do (typical! ) so I have to go back for another fitting, and they are going to try out bustling it for me to test out at my next fitting too.

I think we are now going to go for Randy as our photographer, as he doesn't mind leaving at 5.30 and coming back later on for IllumiNations with just an add on price of the extra hour for the dessert party time, rather than us having to pay for him throughout the gap like we would with Misty.
Plus Amanda's photos look fab, including the IllumiNations ones, as sometimes I think these aren't so good from other photographers I've seen, and Disney photographers would have cost more if we'd have used them for the dessert party alone.

Still haven't heard from my dad if he wants the dining plan and/or my mum adding on, might call him later today and see if he's made any progress!

 

[Beep]

I've ordered the bridesmaids dresses online just now, and had another fitting yesterday for my dress. They told me it's one of those most complicated hems they've had to do (typical! ) so I have to go back for another fitting, and they are going to try out bustling it for me to test out at my next fitting too.

I think we are now going to go for Randy as our photographer, as he doesn't mind leaving at 5.30 and coming back later on for IllumiNations with just an add on price of the extra hour for the dessert party time, rather than us having to pay for him throughout the gap like we would with Misty.
Plus Amanda's photos look fab, including the IllumiNations ones, as sometimes I think these aren't so good from other photographers I've seen, and Disney photographers would have cost more if we'd have used them for the dessert party alone.

Still haven't heard from my dad if he wants the dining plan and/or my mum adding on, might call him later today and see if he's made any progress!

They told me the same thing about my dress hem too! I 'negotiated' a one-off fee for any alterations that needed doing, regardless of the type or number, before the seamstress came to have a look at the dress so I reckon I did ok there

YAY - RANDY!! The man is awsome. We have asked him if he would like to come to our lunch as a guest, not to work, but we would be happy to pay for his time. Problem we are going to have is it is having photos at the GF, then lunch at the Cafe (or onto Kona if GFC mess me about) then photos at POR. We couldn't really ask him to b*gger off for 1.5 hours then come back so we thought he might like lunch with us.

Just a pointer on Virgin re DDP - one of our guests did a bit of research with them and was told that a) they had to book DDP with the reservation ie it couldn't be added at a later date and b) they had to book a park ticket as part of the package for the DDP. When she called back to speak to someone else they told her a) she didn't need a park ticket for the DDP but did need the AP to give the details to Virgin and b) DDP couldn't be added at a later date.

Our guest doesn't have the AP yet, but will be getting it later. She explained that it would probably be a voucher rather than the actual ticket and Virgin said they only accepted the details off the ticket not the voucher.

Confused? Oh yes!

 

[meryll83]

They told me the same thing about my dress hem too! I 'negotiated' a one-off fee for any alterations that needed doing, regardless of the type or number, before the seamstress came to have a look at the dress so I reckon I did ok there

YAY - RANDY!! The man is awsome. We have asked him if he would like to come to our lunch as a guest, not to work, but we would be happy to pay for his time. Problem we are going to have is it is having photos at the GF, then lunch at the Cafe (or onto Kona if GFC mess me about) then photos at POR. We couldn't really ask him to b*gger off for 1.5 hours then come back so we thought he might like lunch with us.

Just a pointer on Virgin re DDP - one of our guests did a bit of research with them and was told that a) they had to book DDP with the reservation ie it couldn't be added at a later date and b) they had to book a park ticket as part of the package for the DDP. When she called back to speak to someone else they told her a) she didn't need a park ticket for the DDP but did need the AP to give the details to Virgin and b) DDP couldn't be added at a later date.

Our guest doesn't have the AP yet, but will be getting it later. She explained that it would probably be a voucher rather than the actual ticket and Virgin said they only accepted the details off the ticket not the voucher.

Confused? Oh yes!

They did quote me a fee already and they haven't metioned any additional expenses - so here's hoping!

We were going to ask Randy to join us, but if we have our meal at the Chef's Domaine in Citrico's it only seats 14 so we may not have room. I explained this to him and if it turned out we would be able to accommodate him then I'd let him know.

It's never easy with Virgin is it?!!!
I was told it was ok to add the plan on later, so I'll just have to argue it out with someone if it comes to it.
If me and Si can't add it, it's ok, to be honest I didn't think we could, but if my dad decides to go for it and the passes I want to make sure he gets it and they don't give us any rubbish about not adding it later - I mean do they want our money or not?!!

 

[Beep]

They did quote me a fee already and they haven't metioned any additional expenses - so here's hoping!

We were going to ask Randy to join us, but if we have our meal at the Chef's Domaine in Citrico's it only seats 14 so we may not have room. I explained this to him and if it turned out we would be able to accommodate him then I'd let him know.

It's never easy with Virgin is it?!!!
I was told it was ok to add the plan on later, so I'll just have to argue it out with someone if it comes to it.
If me and Si can't add it, it's ok, to be honest I didn't think we could, but if my dad decides to go for it and the passes I want to make sure he gets it and they don't give us any rubbish about not adding it later - I mean do they want our money or not?!!

The only thing that might cause us a problem with Randy is numbers but I think we'll be ok. We have a 100% rate of 11 invited and 11 confirmed (we'll see closer to the date) so with Randy that would be 12. Disney told me a group booking is 13 or more at the GFC so that is ok. The other alternative is to book 2 tables of 6 or however many we end up with split.

I think Virgin (and most TA's to be honest) are a nightmare which is one of the reasons we are booking everything independently. We had a few problems when we booked with MyTravel a couple of years ago. I've booked everything on my own before but I couldn't match their price so went with them. Lesson learned!

One of the things you could do is send an email to Customer Service asking them to confirm that it is ok to add the dining and tickets later and then use that as proof if you get problems later. Although, I suppose they could always respond back that you can't add it and then you're stuffed!

WHY IS NOTHING SRAIGHTFORWARD??!!

 

[Chilly]

Good luck on sorting things out with Virgin.