Not All Treasure Is Silver And Gold, Mate - *Update 9-17* P60

What a beautiful update, TK! I have been pretty weepy today, but this may have taken the cake. :hug:

I just love the story of you meeting Heidi! I loved it when I heard it the following night, and I love reading about it! :laughing:
 
We get the biggest kick out of her sometimes. It's really more about the change in what's usual than the trip itself. Everything with her has to be done "like always", right down to what bowl you serve popcorn in. She's nuts.

My DS can be like that about some things, he gets used to routine. :goodvibes

What a beautiful update, TK! I have been pretty weepy today, but this may have taken the cake. :hug:

I just love the story of you meeting Heidi! I loved it when I heard it the following night, and I love reading about it! :laughing:

Thanks, CP! I'm glad you enjoyed it, even if it was a little weep fest. :hug:
 
but, I've been seriously thinking about our first trip back to the World.

And by first trip, I mean, a lot of firsts. First trip after mom's passing, first trip for the baby...for those of you who follow Tink(erbellarella)'s PTRs, you'll know that she's doing the Princess 1/2 marathon in the end of February, and that my goal is to get down there, even if only for a couple of days, just see her cross that finish line.

She's running in honor of my mom, inspired by how my mom lived her life, and plans to make a donation to the American Heart Association upon her completion of the Princess 1/2. So I know that the first time I go back will most likely be with Tink. And that's kind of fitting as well. Since she and I have some tentative plans to go a lot of places I just went with Mom in January (and I'm really looking forward to, truly), I'd rather have the emotional breakdown in front of my best girlfriend than my children. I don't plan to visit a park on this trip, with the exception of seeing Tink cross that finish line. I'm going to focus solely on the resorts and just spending time with my dear friend, making it a really budget conscious endeavor.

So that, hopefully, will be my first trip back.

But my first trip ever as the four of us? Well, that's a whole other ball of wax. And a ball of wax that I've been shaping and molding and reshaping and remolding and basically turning into mush. :lmao:

I've made several spreadsheets and I have a lot of different ideas.

Eventually, I think I'll take this post and make a PTR. I'd promised myself I wouldn't start one until this was finished, but I have so many ideas floating around that I really want to pick some DIS brain, so to speak.

Let me start by saying first, money is not a concern.

:scared1::scared1::scared1:

I know. I just said it. Ms. Financial OverAnalyzation just laid down the trump card. And although it pains me slightly when I look at the actual numbers on my spreadsheet and think, OMG, I'm going to spend THAT much on one trip, I'm really of the firm belief that this should be the cool as all get out, do it in style, splurge vacation. Quite frankly, I'm not even going to quote you price. We're going to base all these decisions on gut and emotion. Not good when you're 35 weeks pregnant, but it'll do. :lmao:

My ideas are based on the concept of free dining v. the summer room rate.

I'd like to take a trip at the end of September 2011. It's possible that we'll buy annual passes, or upgrade whatever passes to annuals so that we can go a little bit earlier in September 2012 and really get our use out of them.

I have looked at DVC. I'm not sure how I feel about paying those annual dues, and about how I would feel not to be able to participate in promotions any more, like free dining or room rates, etc. I'm still in the research phase of this concept, but one of the thoughts for a hotel has been....

the Contemporary.

And let me tell you, this wasn't my top choice, but it's starting to grow on me. So let me tell you who the big spender in my family is: DH. It's going to be our first time with the baby, who at that point will be a little over a year. Long story short, he'll be in a stroller. My DH is in love with the idea of being on the monorail. Of us not having to struggle to carry the various paraphenalia and two tired children.

Let me tell you, I can see his point. ::yes::

So you say, okay, Kat, what's so hard? You like the Contemporary. And when given the choice of which monorail resort he'd like to stay at, DH picked this one. I've stayed there before, but he never has. And so for him, and my boys, it would be totally new. And quite frankly, I can't truly remember the last time I was there. I'm almost positive my Granddad was still with us, so it would have been over 17 years ago.

Well, now let's talk room catergories. There's the idea of staying in a one bedroom at BLT. One of the reasons I like the idea of staying in a DVC room is to get a feel for what DVC is like. To have the concept of having the kiddos in one room and us in another, to be able to put them to sleep and for DH and I to be able to watch TV as late as we'd like. This is an interesting concept to me, and one that I feel bears further scrutiny. It's a different style of vacation. I'd probably order from Garden Grocer, or one of those services and stock the kitchen so we'd at least be doing breakfast in the rooms, and in the long run, this might save a little money.

Then there's my other thought about staying in the Tower. Because if you're going to stay in the Contemporary, why not stay in the main building so that if it really is pouring outside, you don't have to leave to walk to your room, you're just right inside. :cloud9: Now, if you're going to stay in the Tower, the next question becomes, do you want to pay extra to have a nice view? Because you can, you know. Pay to have the privilege of viewing the Magic Kingdom when you wake up every morning, and most likely fireworks at night. That's kind of a nice thought, but something I wouldn't really decide until we actually get to the booking process.

And really, if you're going to throw down that kind of money, why not stay Club Level? I can see the benefit of this (by far I think the most expensive option). Breakfast, snacks throughout the day, wine, cordials, desserts at night. It'll be easy to get the kiddos fed before we head to the parks, and if DH wants to be up later than the rest of us, he can always hang in the Atrium Club Lounge.

And then, of course, there's your regular standard view in the garden wing. By far, the least expensive, and still, quite wonderful option. One of the reasons I love the rooms at the Contemporary (and certain other deluxe hotels) is that they come with two queens and a day bed. That is absolute heaven to me. It means that I can request a pack and play for the baby, and every single person in my family has their own bed. :cloud9:

Will they stay in them? Who knows, but at least the option is there! :lmao:

In this particular scenario, and the next I'm about to describe, we'd be hoping for a summer or AP room rate similar to the one they have this year, which gives you about 40-45% off.

My next favorite is the Wilderness Lodge. I love that hotel. I'm in love with that hotel. Its only drawback to me is that it doesn't have a day bed, so if we're in a standard room, one or both of the kids is ending up with me or my husband depending on how it goes. We've still got the possibilities of staying Club Level here, and we've got the option of the boat to the Magic Kingdom, or a really quick bus ride. And the bus system at the WL has always been wonderful when we've stayed there. They rarely share with any other hotel, which is dissimilar to the Contemporary.

One of the reasons I love the Wilderness Lodge is because of its interior corridors. You're never walking in the rain to get to the food court to refill your mug, savvy? In some of my other scenarios, I know this is not an issue, but it's something to think about, because of how much we do love WL. There's the option of staying in a standard room, staying Club Level, or staying in a villa, similar to my choices at the Contemporary. It's more, however, the overall feel of this resort that makes me love it so much. The relaxing, homey, you are here feeling.

I can remember walking into that place on our Pirates Life for Three trip and just breathing a sigh of relief, like finally. Finally, home.

My last choice is completely different. It's based on the lack of a special room rate and the offer of free dining.

And that's the Caribbean Beach Resort.

Which I'm in love with. Totally smitten. It's so relaxing and yet so pirate all at the same time. I love the individual villages, the quiet pools and beaches, the overall feel of the resort.

I do not love that the beds are only doubles, and that pretty much with all certainty, someone's going to be "sleeping in my bed" as Goldilocks so aptly put it. :lmao:

But for a moderate resort, this is my top pick. It is not, however, a favorite of my DH. He's not a fan of having to stop at every single village when you're leaving, and I could see how on a crowded bus, later at night, with a stroller and two kids, this could be kind of a nightmare, and maybe something we should save for when the boys are older.

So, there you have it. What I work on in my spare time. The overall picture of what I think we might like to do.

And I welcome you to weigh in with any thoughts or opinions you may have, anything I haven't thought of, any personal experiences.

It's just time to get this out of my head and onto paper. ;)



Next Chapter
 
I love reading about future trip plans. It's funny because Marc & I have been discussing on next trip together. I like thinking of all the possibilities, you know? It gives me warm fuzzies. :goodvibes

Another thing that is funny is that I have very recently become obsessed with the idea of the Contemporary! I don't know why but it's calling me..."LL, you want to stay here....LL, think of the monorail....LL we have a boat....LL you can walk to Magic Kingdom." Let me tell you that Contemporary is VERY persuasive in my noggin. :lmao:

So all of that to say...Go Big or Go Home. :rotfl2:
 

I love reading about future trip plans. It's funny because Marc & I have been discussing on next trip together. I like thinking of all the possibilities, you know? It gives me warm fuzzies. :goodvibes

It gives me warm fuzzies, too.

WARNING, SAP ALERT!!!!

And I know that Mom would be thrilled for me that I'm thinking of planning something. There was a time when I thought I didn't know how to go back, and now I realize that by carrying on these traditions, I'm honoring her and my family. :goodvibes

Another thing that is funny is that I have very recently become obsessed with the idea of the Contemporary! I don't know why but it's calling me..."LL, you want to stay here....LL, think of the monorail....LL we have a boat....LL you can walk to Magic Kingdom." Let me tell you that Contemporary is VERY persuasive in my noggin. :lmao:

It does have a lot of plusses, that's for sure. I guess one of my fears is that staying there will completely spoil us for future trips, and that we won't be able to do non-monorail while the second kiddo is still little.

Not that it's really a bad thing. Just hard on the wallet, so to speak. :lmao:

I totally forgot to mention proximity to the MK as a plus. That's going to be awesome when we're coming home late from MNSSHP. :thumbsup2

I guess I'm not feeling the love on it because I haven't stayed there in so long, which doesn't mean I won't love it, just means I don't know.

So all of that to say...Go Big or Go Home. :rotfl2:

Spoken like a true DISer! :rotfl2:
 
:lmao: The only reason I am laughing so hard is because this is so how I plan a trip. I'm hoping for summer discounts next summer, as well, but I have been toying with the idea of me (by myself) getting an annual pass. I have to do the cost analysis. (Guess that means another spreadsheet).

I'm just glad to know I am with a whole bunch of other people who do everything in a spreadsheet, lol.
 
:lmao: The only reason I am laughing so hard is because this is so how I plan a trip. I'm hoping for summer discounts next summer, as well, but I have been toying with the idea of me (by myself) getting an annual pass. I have to do the cost analysis. (Guess that means another spreadsheet).

I'm just glad to know I am with a whole bunch of other people who do everything in a spreadsheet, lol.

Oh, by all means, laugh. I do. ;)

Seriously, it is funny. Because this is how my brain processes things now that I'm more aware of what the "best" deal really is. The problem with this trip is that it's not so much the "best" deal as what's the best fit for our family.

And I won't even get into my thinking about buying DVC because that's an entirely different ball of wax that I haven't even made a spreadsheet for yet.

An annual pass for one person is a good idea if you plan to go more than once during the course of a year, or if you plan to stay for a long period of time, because it can give you a significant room discount. I would have to say that Mom and Nana went about 2-3 times a year, and their annuals were well worth it to them. They also really enjoyed being able to park hop and not have to think about it, and being able to purchase the TIW card.
 
What a great update!!! I so love the idea of future trips and I love how much planning you have really done for the idea of this big trip back!!! You and your boys are going to have a great time and let's just say I'm all about the Club Level....big 10 year Anniversary that is where I'm staying...so of course I feel the need to completely enable you!!!!!!!!!!!!! :rotfl: GO FOR IT!!!

Your mother will be smiling down on you when you step back onto WDW grounds for the first time and while I imagine it will be hard for you...it will also bring back a flood of great memories that you will be able to share with your boys and that will be priceless!!
 
What a great update!!! I so love the idea of future trips and I love how much planning you have really done for the idea of this big trip back!!! You and your boys are going to have a great time and let's just say I'm all about the Club Level....big 10 year Anniversary that is where I'm staying...so of course I feel the need to completely enable you!!!!!!!!!!!!! :rotfl: GO FOR IT!!!

Ha! This is the absolute worst place to talk about this kind of thing, because we're all such enablers. And I did throw out the "I don't care about money" card, so I invited it myself. :lmao:

Your mother will be smiling down on you when you step back onto WDW grounds for the first time and while I imagine it will be hard for you...it will also bring back a flood of great memories that you will be able to share with your boys and that will be priceless!!

It will be hard. I'm pretty sure there are certain places that I won't be able to go, certain restaurants that it will take a lot of time for me to head back to. In all honesty, though, there's not one place I can think of in the World that won't remind me of my mother in some small way. We took so many trips together, and I'd like to think that she'd be smiling down on us, like you said. :goodvibes
 
I love how fuzzy Disney math is just getting tossed completely out the window. :lmao:

I've never stayed at the CR, but my brother and SIL did a couple of years ago. They were off in the garden wing, and they both weren't overly impressed. They said they would have rather just spent the extra money to be in the tower. The location was great, but it felt like just a room.
 
I love this.......seriously, when are we NOT thinking of our next trips "HOME!" I think the monorail would be perfectly ideal for the babes and the strollers situation!!! IDEAL indeed! Just reading about all of this gave me the warm fuzzies.....why? I'm not sure, just loving that you are thinking about your trip with your pirate crew!!!! :)
 
My vote, hands down, with a baby that age is BLT 1 bedroom. Given the ages of your kids at the time, nap schedules, feeding needs being pretty different and being on the monorail will give you so much more freedom than any of the other options.

Not to mention better sleep!

I :love: WL...but with the baby that age, BLT wins for me.

I love that you are thinking about it! And it's never too early for a PTR.
 
Ok here are my thoughts...

I'm with you on a monorail deluxe:thumbsup2
CR:thumbsup2
Tower room or BLT :thumbsup2:thumbsup2

But you lost me at Club. Pack 4 adults into a club level room and eat and drink booze everyday then I can see the value. Can't see it with your 4.

Buying DVC could be a good thing if you decide to start staying deluxe from now on ....IF you can pay cash. The interest rate Disney charges is somewhere between 10% - 17%. ouch.

Sorry I'm in Bookkeeper mode today.

BTW....I'm thinking of getting an AP next year :goodvibes
 
I love how fuzzy Disney math is just getting tossed completely out the window. :lmao:

Yup, there's none of that for this trip.

Just biting the bullet, so to speak. Disney must love people like me. :lmao:

I've never stayed at the CR, but my brother and SIL did a couple of years ago. They were off in the garden wing, and they both weren't overly impressed. They said they would have rather just spent the extra money to be in the tower. The location was great, but it felt like just a room.

Thank you for sharing their opinion with me! This is actually one of my fears of not being in the tower, that I'll wish I was, you know?

I love this.......seriously, when are we NOT thinking of our next trips "HOME!" I think the monorail would be perfectly ideal for the babes and the strollers situation!!! IDEAL indeed! Just reading about all of this gave me the warm fuzzies.....why? I'm not sure, just loving that you are thinking about your trip with your pirate crew!!!! :)

I am definitely thinking about it. I've been thinking about it for a little while now, and it's so nice to share it on here because everyone gets just as excited as I am! Wonderful to have people who "know." :goodvibes

My vote, hands down, with a baby that age is BLT 1 bedroom. Given the ages of your kids at the time, nap schedules, feeding needs being pretty different and being on the monorail will give you so much more freedom than any of the other options.

Not to mention better sleep!

I :love: WL...but with the baby that age, BLT wins for me.

I love that you are thinking about it! And it's never too early for a PTR.

You make a good point. There's even the possiblity that the baby could be with us in the bedroom and DS could get better sleep not interrupted by his brother, that's something to think of as well. I wasn't even thinking about the fact that DS#2 might keep DS #1 awake.

Ok here are my thoughts...

I'm with you on a monorail deluxe:thumbsup2
CR:thumbsup2
Tower room or BLT :thumbsup2:thumbsup2

But you lost me at Club. Pack 4 adults into a club level room and eat and drink booze everyday then I can see the value. Can't see it with your 4.

I see your point. Because really, I'm not the type of person that partakes in alcoholic beverages every day (and my husband doesn't drink at all), and if I stayed at Club Level, that probably wouldn't change.

Club Level is probably something I should save for a trip that's just DH and myself, or perhaps Tink and myself.

I should have mentioned that in all likelihood, we will be doing the dining plan. Although I really wanted a very hippy, go with the flow man kind of vacay, once I crunched the numbers on the few TS I thought we'd do and the CS I thought we'd do, the dining plan only came out to be $30 more. Total. So, even though I love the free flowin' idea, I know the regular dining plan is far more sensible.

And, by the time we get to the World, I'll probably have so many rewards dollars stocked up that I won't need to worry about spending money for food for the baby.

Buying DVC could be a good thing if you decide to start staying deluxe from now on ....IF you can pay cash. The interest rate Disney charges is somewhere between 10% - 17%. ouch.

Sorry I'm in Bookkeeper mode today.

BTW....I'm thinking of getting an AP next year :goodvibes

No, Bookkeeper mode is good. I like Heidi's bookkeepre mode, it helps me a lot, trust me! I wouldn't be financing DVC. I'm just not certain with other things we may have going on this year, that it's a good financial choice.

I'm also not sure if it really makes sense given my propensity to take multiple trips a year. Although I'm sure with a new little nugget, there will be a kebash on that for a while, with the exception of Feb.

Speaking of the AP, is there another solo Heidi trip on the horizon? ;)
 
Given the ages and tastes of your family (mostly thinking of DH here) I think you need to go with CR. It's so easy to slide on into the mono with a stroller-never having to collapse it! Yeah, more expensive than CBR, but hey, the tiny tot factor needs to be considered!
 
Given the ages and tastes of your family (mostly thinking of DH here) I think you need to go with CR. It's so easy to slide on into the mono with a stroller-never having to collapse it! Yeah, more expensive than CBR, but hey, the tiny tot factor needs to be considered!

That seems to be the general consensus.

I had a little chat with DH last night where we revisited the idea of staying on the monorail and his thoughts.

I must say, the poor man got some sticker shock when I showed him pricing. And that was with a 40% off room rate. So then I had to do a little mock comparison. Honey, this is what we payed to stay at the WL for just the three of us. You're staying on the monorail. It's pricey. :lmao: I had to mock up a trip with no discounts just to "prove my point." :rotfl2:
 
Thank you for sharing their opinion with me! This is actually one of my fears of not being in the tower, that I'll wish I was, you know?

He had said that the hotel was nice, but that there wasn't alot of themeing outside of the tower. For him it felt like just a hotel room anywhere.
 
He had said that the hotel was nice, but that there wasn't alot of themeing outside of the tower. For him it felt like just a hotel room anywhere.

Yeah you know the garden wings aren't very special when they raze one whole side to build BLT and no one seems to care.
 
Oooh, decisions, decisions! All options are equally lovely in their own way. If money was no object I would go for Club Level at CR. (actually I would pick the Poly, but that wasn't in your list ;)) I so understand the ease of the monorail + small children. It makes it worth the money!

It will be fun to hear your plans unravel...
 
Oooh, decisions, decisions! All options are equally lovely in their own way. If money was no object I would go for Club Level at CR. (actually I would pick the Poly, but that wasn't in your list ;)) I so understand the ease of the monorail + small children. It makes it worth the money!

It will be fun to hear your plans unravel...

You know, I do love the Poly, but the reason it's been ruled out is that my DH has never stayed at the Contemporary, and we have stayed at the Poly together. Plus, I love the newly renovated rooms.

I'm sort of weighing all the options (plenty of time to decide as well) and trying to figure out what's best.

My gut is the Contemporary, I know that much, but what level of room is totally up in the air. :lmao:
 












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