Oct 30 2010 7 Night Western

[morgansmom2000]

SCDizneyDawn - I love your cat!

99 DAYS! Double digits!

 

[Fastpaks]

I'm curious about CC myself. But keep in mind that summer doesn't end till Sept 22.

 

[tjbaggott]

Thanks for the advice Nenner, I used priceline and have now secured 4 Points By Sheraton Studio City for 3 nights at a bid of $35.00 per night. No breakfast included, but we'll make do. It's right across from Universal Studios on International Drive. I think thats a pretty good deal.
Now to just GET there!!!! (although I shouldn't be in hurry for summer to end, I'm enjoying this so much too!)

 

[SCDizneyDawn]

SCDizneyDawn - I love your cat!

Jennifer- I love your cat too! Mine is a 15 yr old girl named "Asia". How about yours?

 

[krisces]

I have a friend sailing on the Wonder, but not until the end of August. Have you tried calling Disney Merchandise?

Thanks Sheri, I will try that first! I totally forgot about them
Kristen

 

[kristieuk]

Hi everyone, hope you have all had a great week. We are back from our break in Spain, tanned and relaxed! I have been catching up on this thread, great to see Nachi is all booked up with Disers! We paid our final balance just before we left as the $ was pretty good. Now it is just an anxious wait for 1 August when we can see if there is any availability at Palo!

Here are a couple of pictures from our recent trip. Note the moody 10 year old who thinks she is 15! :-

 

[kristieuk]

Now why didn't that work? The pictures showed up fine when I was writing the post Hopefully a glitch, will check back later

 

[morgansmom2000]

Jennifer- I love your cat too! Mine is a 15 yr old girl named "Asia". How about yours?

Mine is a 3 year old boy named "Meezer." He's a pip and a half, but a total love bug!

 

[JKSWonder]

Mine is a 3 year old boy named "Meezer." He's a pip and a half, but a total love bug!

We have a 3 year old named Pixie. She is nice enough to allow us all to live with her....at least, that's how she sees it! I will try and post a pic of her later.

 

[tjbaggott]

Doing some more internet searching this morning, and now I'm seriously considering purchasing one day tickets to Universal Studios Islands Of Adventure Theme park. We've Never ever been, and this seems to be like MK with it being one huge park with several smaller parks within, along with the new Wizarding World Of Harry Potter. Has anyone been to This Park before? Do you think it's worth the cost of one day park tickets for 4?
I know if I ask DH, he'll just say he wants to spend the day at the hotel, in the hotel pool. So maybe I'll leave him there and just take the boys to Universal.

 

[Fastpaks]

We have had pretty good luck through Hotwire/Priceline. We got a great rate and really enjoyed our stay at the Crowne Plaza Orlando (Universal)...classy and huge room. But not cheap unless you go through Hotwire (IIRC we got it for around $59/nt). We also really enjoyed the Hampton Inn Calypso Cay- again great price through Hotwire and fantastic huge room. For some reason I don't recall if continental breakfast was included in either one. Crowne's pool was nice but I don't think Hampton's was anything special. We did not like the Holiday Inn Main Gate East. It was older and the rooms were really small (esp. the cruiseline sized bathroom ). Not sure if that helps much but there are some deals to be had, for sure!

Thanks for the advice Nenner, I used priceline and have now secured 4 Points By Sheraton Studio City for 3 nights at a bid of $35.00 per night. No breakfast included, but we'll make do. It's right across from Universal Studios on International Drive. I think thats a pretty good deal.
Now to just GET there!!!! (although I shouldn't be in hurry for summer to end, I'm enjoying this so much too!)

I used a service called Kayak.com and found the hotel that my wife and I stayed at last time for $46 but with a breakfast. We chose not to stay there b/c w found a Holiday Express (with breakfast) about 4 miles away from WdW. The thing that sold me was the noon check in. Now I can drive straight through and then sleep the following night. The only thing about the service I didn't care for was there was no way to put children in your quote. In a way, it really doesn't matter as our son will only be 7.

Doing some more internet searching this morning, and now I'm seriously considering purchasing one day tickets to Universal Studios Islands Of Adventure Theme park. We've Never ever been, and this seems to be like MK with it being one huge park with several smaller parks within, along with the new Wizarding World Of Harry Potter. Has anyone been to This Park before? Do you think it's worth the cost of one day park tickets for 4?

I know if I ask DH, he'll just say he wants to spend the day at the hotel, in the hotel pool. So maybe I'll leave him there and just take the boys to Universal.

I love IoA! That being said, the park is actually smaller than MK. I have been there 3 times and it is more of a thrill park ie. roller coasters (including my favorite Hulk), 3-d sims and the like. The theming of the rides are nice. It has arguably one of the best themed log flumes. If you ride Jurassic Park ride you will be SOAKED. (There is a way where you can be minimally wet in the front row and totally get the second row instead.) You'll find though that you may miss the Disney touch. For instance, if you want a fast pass, you have to pay for it. Go on a day where the park is not busy and its not an issue. I think there is a misconception of a small parks in a larger park. Each "island" may have only about 2-3 rides in it. One thing that you will find a little better there is the shopping. Meaning, there are more unique items to that specific location or island rather than finding a lot of similar items throughout the park. One more thing to consider, there is a restriction to ride Harry Potter. If you are too tall or over weight, you won't be able to ride. (This is where I think Universal is moronic.) As far as the ride things happen sometimes like this
http://www.wdwinfo.com/news/univers...de_Harry_Potter_and_the_Forbidden_Journey.htm Lastly, City Walk is pretty cool and the fact that you walk through it before and after you are done with the park is rather nice. Parking can be outrageous, but then isn't all parking fees outrageous?


IMO, if you never have been there and enjoy thrill rides, then you will likely love it. Personally, I won't go there unless I have them in a package with other parks. But again, I have been few times. They charge as much as Disney for a day, and Disney they are not!

 

[mmouse37]

Was casually browsing the main board but haven't heard this mentioned: does anyone know how the progress is going at Castaway Cay? I know Pelican Plunge has opened but I was wondering about the family beach expansion, Cookies II and the new waterplay/splash area Spring-A-Leak.

I know I have read this should be complete in Summer 2010 so I assumed it would all be done by the time we arrived, I'm just curious if anyone is aware of how close it is getting to completion.

Thanks!

I read on the main cruise board that construction won't be complete until this fall, so hopefully by our cruise. Even the cabanas won't be ready until then.

MJ

 

[nenner1]

Doing some more internet searching this morning, and now I'm seriously considering purchasing one day tickets to Universal Studios Islands Of Adventure Theme park. We've Never ever been, and this seems to be like MK with it being one huge park with several smaller parks within, along with the new Wizarding World Of Harry Potter. Has anyone been to This Park before? Do you think it's worth the cost of one day park tickets for 4?
I know if I ask DH, he'll just say he wants to spend the day at the hotel, in the hotel pool. So maybe I'll leave him there and just take the boys to Universal.

IMO, if you never have been there and enjoy thrill rides, then you will likely love it. Personally, I won't go there unless I have them in a package with other parks. But again, I have been few times. They charge as much as Disney for a day, and Disney they are not!

^^Yep what he said, LOL! IoA is great in the thrill ride dept. Spiderman and Hulk are awesome, as I'm sure the new Forbidden Journey ride is. But the park is small, and lines can be brutal on a busy day without the Express pass (their version of the fast pass). Personally, I do think it is worth the admission price to experience if you have never been. We haven't been in a few years (while we go to Disney every year), but that is because there just isn't as much for little ones to do @ Uni because of all the thrill rides. IMO the Express Pass is not worth the cost (like $40/pp) so when we go, we try to go when it is not busy to maximize how much we can accomplish. And Jonathan mentioned Jurassic Park..yeah, when Universal does water rides, they do mean WATER. The Bluto and Olive raft ride will soak you to the bone too, and I even managed to get really wet (and nearly a broken nose) on the Ripshaw Falls. (Fun rides though!)

Judy and Jonathan your hotel deals sound really good!

I read on the main cruise board that construction won't be complete until this fall, so hopefully by our cruise. Even the cabanas won't be ready until then.

MJ

Good to know, thanks MJ.

 

[tjbaggott]

Fastpaks and Nenner, thanks for that info on Universal. I myself am NOT at all into thrill rides, and neither is DS6. DS12 IS and DH only goes because we don't like putting DS12 onto those kinds of rides by himself. So maybe the $$ wouldn't be worth it for us this trip. Our hotel has a really nice pool according to photos and reviews, so I think we'll just have a relaxing day there on the Wednesday, do MK on the Thursday and then Coco Beach on Friday then check into CI&S at Check in time and meet the group thats meeting at FishLips.

I think we are going to spend a good part of a day touring Washington DC on the Monday prior to our Cruise and Meet up with ThreeIsCrazy later that day. (Sheri, DH is a go for that plan now!!)
Our plan now is to drive 13 hours ? straight through from just south of DC, right to our Orlando Hotel. That will be on a Tuesday, so I don't imagine bad traffic ect..... so we should we able to make that drive in 13 hours plus a few bathroom breaks?
It's ALL coming together, I dont' know that there is anything else to plan!!! Now what am I going to do for the next 90 some days?

 

[Fastpaks]

It's ALL coming together, I dont' know that there is anything else to plan!!! Now what am I going to do for the next 90 some days?

This is really our dilemma now. I think my son and I are going to redo our countdown calendar. I think for us as a family the hard part is not spending our spending money we are trying to save these last few months. My weeks are going by fast, but the days seem to go slower. Fortunately, my kid starts football in about 5 weeks and we will be having games up until we leave. At that point, we will get Crazy busy. I'll need the vacation just to get away from how hectic it becomes around here.

I don't know where I found it, but there was a few pillowcases that some people dropped off and had signed from the characters. I think we are going to do this with may be a image from the mickey mouse sunset. May be frame it and put it in my man cave in the basement...wait... man cave and mickey mouse.... hmmm I may have to relinquish my card man card. Then again, family is everything so what the hay! May be you could help me there tjbaggott?

 

[tinkerbelltwins]

Fastpaks and Nenner, thanks for that info on Universal. I myself am NOT at all into thrill rides, and neither is DS6. DS12 IS and DH only goes because we don't like putting DS12 onto those kinds of rides by himself. So maybe the $$ wouldn't be worth it for us this trip. Our hotel has a really nice pool according to photos and reviews, so I think we'll just have a relaxing day there on the Wednesday, do MK on the Thursday and then Coco Beach on Friday then check into CI&S at Check in time and meet the group thats meeting at FishLips.

I think we are going to spend a good part of a day touring Washington DC on the Monday prior to our Cruise and Meet up with ThreeIsCrazy later that day. (Sheri, DH is a go for that plan now!!)
Our plan now is to drive 13 hours ? straight through from just south of DC, right to our Orlando Hotel. That will be on a Tuesday, so I don't imagine bad traffic ect..... so we should we able to make that drive in 13 hours plus a few bathroom breaks?
It's ALL coming together, I dont' know that there is anything else to plan!!! Now what am I going to do for the next 90 some days?

Judy,

Depending on what you and Sheri are planning, maybe I can swing by with the twins and say howdy. I haven't met Sheri yet but we've figured out that we live fairly close to each other.

Beth

 

[Pudo]

I was checking the first page and noticed the section between the Disboard Roll Call and the Palo Brunch appears to be "greyed-out" (not as visible as the rest of the page). Not a big deal, just noticed it.

Anywho, after I mentioned adding ourselves to the FE group Missy really got into the whole idea already ordering a bunch of stuff. She asked me if there was a list so she had a better idea what else she could get. Is Leslie the "Gate Keeper" of the list? If so, is it best just to PM her to get the latest version?

Thanks,

Jeff

 

[morgansmom2000]

We have a 3 year old named Pixie. She is nice enough to allow us all to live with her....at least, that's how she sees it! I will try and post a pic of her later.

Ah yes, we are allowed to live with Meezer and his nearly 13 year old "wife" Alley. Have you ever seen the video of the cat that cries and cries while its owner sleeps and then bashes him over the head with a baseball bat? That's my Alley. She's the queen of this castle!

 

[morgansmom2000]

I was checking the first page and noticed the section between the Disboard Roll Call and the Palo Brunch appears to be "greyed-out" (not as visible as the rest of the page). Not a big deal, just noticed it.

Anywho, after I mentioned adding ourselves to the FE group Missy really got into the whole idea already ordering a bunch of stuff. She asked me if there was a list so she had a better idea what else she could get. Is Leslie the "Gate Keeper" of the list? If so, is it best just to PM her to get the latest version?

Thanks,

Jeff

Jeff, if Leslie isn't around, I can email you the latest I have.

Jennifer

 

[nenner1]

Brainstorming here....I was looking at the spreadsheet (post 1) and wondering...

I think that moving the ToT to Sunday Morning (Halloween- Key West morning) might be better than Monday. It makes much more sense to me to do the T0T on Halloween than the day after. We do not arrive in Key West until 12:30 PM, and to me the morning hours before an afternoon port arrival might cause less interference in people's plans than the morning of a Sea Day. Not to mention it being actual Halloween and all.

No matter which morning we do it (if we choose to do it in the morning) there will be the same interference with Character Breakfast and Palo. There's no avoiding that. We could make it 11 AM or 11:30 AM and that would be plenty of time after the late seating CB to allow those folks to attend. There is not much to be done about avoiding Palo Brunch aside from moving it to the afternoon. The only problem IMO with afternoon plans is that folks are more likely to not want to diverge from what they are doing in the middle of a sea day. (Been there, done that, guilty as charged.)

I know originally we had the PJ breakfast scheduled this day. Since Kris's (knewton64) departure there has been no discussion about it. Is it something everyone is still planning on doing? Maybe we could adjust that to a different day. That is something we could even do on a port day: i.e. 8:30 AM on Cozumel day (when we arrive in port at 9:45). Or really if we go with the 11 O'clock hour it wouldn't interfere with PJ breakfast anyway.

Just thinking out loud. Opinions? Discuss away. LOL!!!