NOVEMBER 2012 Trip Planners Part 2~yes there IS another!

[weedles]

Just called to see if I had any PINs attatched to my name....and there was a free dining PIN under my husband's name!!!!! WOO HOOOO!! So excited! Definitely upgrading to Deluxe Dining now!!!!

CONGRATS!!!!

 

[Kristina]

Personally I would keep Kona, but we are eating OOP this trip. A large lunch usually means I'm not that hungry for dinner and I would be bummed to spend a lot and not eat it!

I think Kona is an excellent place but I just can't see having 2 steaks the day before I have to fly home long haul lol. Plus if I do keep Kona I love the chicken wings as well and it's a lot of food. I do hope eventually Disney will offer a dining plan where you choose how many TS and how many counter, because I'll be there for 7 nights but 5 TS would be plenty. I'm always full lol! I still plan on running the numbers to see if I'll pay for dining if it doesn't end up free.

 

[ewalshslp]

What week will you be there???????

Nov. 10-18!!!

 

[AquaDame]

I think Kona is an excellent place but I just can't see having 2 steaks the day before I have to fly home long haul lol. Plus if I do keep Kona I love the chicken wings as well and it's a lot of food. I do hope eventually Disney will offer a dining plan where you choose how many TS and how many counter, because I'll be there for 7 nights but 5 TS would be plenty. I'm always full lol! I still plan on running the numbers to see if I'll pay for dining if it doesn't end up free.

Ah yes, if you'd be getting the steak after a steak then I wouldn't go to Kona either!

 

[mommyof3princess27]

Just got my SW points...FINALLY!

 

[mommyof3princess27]

I was thinking about doing coral reef for dinner on our waterpark day and then dad said he didnt like how they stuffed us in the booth so thinking about changing it....any ideas? Is AKL wayyyyy out of the way from POR? I want to check it out one of these days. Not sure if Boma is good or not. I dont want some way out there cuisine lol What about Raglan Road? Teppan Edo? Biergarten? Now im hungry!

 

[jcieutat]

Just called and the CM told me that to no surprise their was no PIN code attached to my account. He said that he is seeing free dining codes attached to accounts for Sept & Oct. Fingers are still crossed for November.......

 

[mydisneyobsession]

I'm starting to think about school absences now, and I'm strategizing how I'm going to deal with the situation. We've missed a week of school each year, and both of my kids are still in elementary school. I'm not opposed to taking them out for vacation, but my parents are now joining us on the front end of the trip instead of the middle. This has pushed us into a Monday check-in, meaning the kids will now be missing the Monday and Tuesday of Thanksgiving week in addition to the week after Thanksgiving (as I'd originally planned.) One week... no biggie. This longer absence has me a bit more concerned. But if I shorten the trip, it's my days at the Poly I'd be missing and I don't know if I can bring myself to do it!

 

[mommyof3princess27]

I'm starting to think about school absences now, and I'm strategizing how I'm going to deal with the situation. We've missed a week of school each year, and both of my kids are still in elementary school. I'm not opposed to taking them out for vacation, but my parents are now joining us on the front end of the trip instead of the middle. This has pushed us into a Monday check-in, meaning the kids will now be missing the Monday and Tuesday of Thanksgiving week in addition to the week after Thanksgiving (as I'd originally planned.) One week... no biggie. This longer absence has me a bit more concerned. But if I shorten the trip, it's my days at the Poly I'd be missing and I don't know if I can bring myself to do it!

Its Elementary school like you said. My DD is missing Middle school for a week but she has straight A's and I know she can handle it. I would def for go a couple of days at school if it meant I need to give up the Poly! Dont ever say such a thing

 

[LaDonna]

okay so I called again for Fantasmic(4th time now), still not showing up, he fooled around a lil' more, the conversation was quite confusing, he had to do a ton of different stuff to try and get something to come up, he finally got Mama Melrose and Hollywood and Vine to show up, he said it was definately something technical and to try back in a few days. I went ahead and booked MamaMelrose though I've heard it isn't good at all Don't you get an appetizer too???? BUT I've also booked non-fantasmic Hollywood and Vine character lunch and SciFi.......now I don't know which one I want to keep????? We really do want to see Fantasmic we missed it last time because of crowds, but we do have 2 Hollywood Studio days, but one of them will be Thanksgiving day

 

[LaDonna]

I'm starting to think about school absences now, and I'm strategizing how I'm going to deal with the situation. We've missed a week of school each year, and both of my kids are still in elementary school. I'm not opposed to taking them out for vacation, but my parents are now joining us on the front end of the trip instead of the middle. This has pushed us into a Monday check-in, meaning the kids will now be missing the Monday and Tuesday of Thanksgiving week in addition to the week after Thanksgiving (as I'd originally planned.) One week... no biggie. This longer absence has me a bit more concerned. But if I shorten the trip, it's my days at the Poly I'd be missing and I don't know if I can bring myself to do it!

How does your school system handle absences? I know at ours over 5 days unexcused and you can actually be fined/jail

I never had a problem taking out a week before, done that a few times, for our next trip I decided against it because dd is starting high school and will have advanced classes and they have an incentive if you don't have more than 3 days unexecused you can exempt yourself from 3 finals at the end of the semester!

 

[sjs314]

okay so I called again for Fantasmic(4th time now), still not showing up, he fooled around a lil' more, the conversation was quite confusing, he had to do a ton of different stuff to try and get something to come up, he finally got Mama Melrose and Hollywood and Vine to show up, he said it was definately something technical and to try back in a few days. I went ahead and booked MamaMelrose though I've heard it isn't good at all Don't you get an appetizer too???? BUT I've also booked non-fantasmic Hollywood and Vine character lunch and SciFi.......now I don't know which one I want to keep????? We really do want to see Fantasmic we missed it last time because of crowds, but we do have 2 Hollywood Studio days, but one of them will be Thanksgiving day

We did the F! Pkg in March at MM and I would definitely do it again. You get an app, entree, drink and dessert. The dessert is shared Ours was a chocolate cannoli cake and some type of cheese cake. Both were small but adaquate, we each had half of each one. We had the antipasto for two which was huge and our steaks were great! While waiting for your app you will be served bread & olive oil

 

[AquaDame]

How does your school system handle absences? I know at ours over 5 days unexcused and you can actually be fined/jail

I never had a problem taking out a week before, done that a few times, for our next trip I decided against it because dd is starting high school and will have advanced classes and they have an incentive if you don't have more than 3 days unexecused you can exempt yourself from 3 finals at the end of the semester!

At my schools it was always excused if you had a parent's note - surprised they have changed that! What if your child is sick? I missed two weeks in 7th grade due to pneumonia!

 

[mom2rtk]

At my schools it was always excused if you had a parent's note - surprised they have changed that! What if your child is sick? I missed two weeks in 7th grade due to pneumonia!

It varies greatly by district. Serious illnesses with a doctor's note usually don't count. And if you're out for 2 weeks, you probably will have seen a doctor at some point.

 

[LaDonna]

At my schools it was always excused if you had a parent's note - surprised they have changed that! What if your child is sick? I missed two weeks in 7th grade due to pneumonia!

yeah it is excused if you have a doctors note
it may actually be excused if you have a parents note saying you were sick..... I'm not realy sure because I haven't done it since my kids were younger and I'm not sure the rules were the same then....but yeah if they were out for 5 days sick I would have taken them to the doc anyways and had a doc's note....hmmm they might think something is up if I wrote 3 notes saying all my kids were sick for a week

 

[Disney Mommy 3]

At my schools it was always excused if you had a parent's note - surprised they have changed that! What if your child is sick? I missed two weeks in 7th grade due to pneumonia!

our area is really weird about absences-the public schools, I mean-..they frown on a certain # of days for the year and will bring you before the board even if you have a Drs excuse!! When my older kid and our niece were in 1st grade in this local school, she was in the hospital for over a week--her case is severe, she has a condition that's rare and it resembles Lupus but has some differences. Basically, her body is at war with itself. Anyway, she was on IVs for several days and super ill...the school threatened to file truancy charges on the mom, and hold the kid back a grade--even though she is an honor roll student. This area is aaaall about the money! They want you to bring the child to school even if you 'suspect' they are sick--they will decide after the school nurse checks your kids out--basically, they want them there till after 9 o'clock for the state tax money.

 

[TinkPirateMom]

I'm pulling my daughter out of high school for 3 days for our Nov. trip. I thought it was only going to be 2 days which I was ok with but next school year they will not be closed for Election Day like they have been in the past. I think it will be fine but I do have a bit of anxiety over it.

 

[denman007]

Woohoo - we got our 100,000 southwest points credited today. Now I am ready for the fares to be released.

 

[TiggerTrigger]

We are pulling DD5 (who will be in 1st grade at the time) out for a mere 1.5 days for our Nov trip and I'm terrified. We happen to live in one of the states with extremely strict attendance laws. More than 2 unexcused absenses in a 6 week period could be grounds for criminal charges, court time, fines, etc. And there aren't very many things which qualify as an excused absence. Still- we're going b/c I think it's ridiculous. I just also don't want too much trouble with the school

Sadly, a lot of states are either switching or considering switching to similar models since they can tie individual school funding into school attendance records.

 

[denman007]

We are pulling DD5 (who will be in 1st grade at the time) out for a mere 1.5 days for our Nov trip and I'm terrified. We happen to live in one of the states with extremely strict attendance laws. More than 2 unexcused absenses in a 6 week period could be grounds for criminal charges, court time, fines, etc. And there aren't very many things which qualify as an excused absence. Still- we're going b/c I think it's ridiculous. I just also don't want too much trouble with the school

Sadly, a lot of states are either switching or considering switching to similar models since they can tie individual school funding into school attendance records.

Your DD will probably learn more during the trip then the the 1.5 days of school.

I always liked teaching my dd about budgeting and shopping around while on vacation.