***Official April 2013 thread*** SEE POST # 4028

[Duzzygirl]

Good afternoon everyone! I've been poking around the last couple days, even posted at least once. Also joined the facebook group.

A little about me/this trip.

*This will be my fifth trip to WDW.
*There will be 19 in my group, most of whom have never been.
*My wonderful Dad-in-law and step-Mom-in-law are footing the bill for this wonderful vacation. Definitely have to give credit where credit is due.
*I am the "official" planner, which works for me as I like to be in control (ask the Hubs).
*Looking to book from April 23-30, 2013, sometime in the next two weeks.
*I thankfully just received a PIN in the mail yesterday good for 35% for up to three rooms, according to the CM I spoke to.
*Probable resort/package: All Star Music, 7 day Magic your way with Park Hopper and Water Parks, and Dining Plus.
*Most likely airline: Southwest.

Can't wait to jump in and actually get things *on the books*!!

 

[TJDisneymama]

so it's tuesday morning @ 8 a.m. and when I first woke up this a.m. the flights were still at $347 & $418. I just checked again and now they're back down to $288 & $347, supporting the theory that fares go down on Tuesdays. Hopefully this isn't it and they'll go down even further.

now the first flight is up to $347 and second flight stayed the same at $347.

This is enough to drive you mad, lol.

 

[wdw4rfam]

Geez, reading this makes me feel good about Its quite a hike for us, but its nice having our van so we can go to (gasp) Universal and IOA, plus if buses are really slow, we can just drive. Although I would rather not drive to the parks. Wish all of you luck with these airfares, sounds like a headache. But my headache will come later as we spend 2 long days

 

[TJDisneymama]

now the first flight is up to $347 and second flight stayed the same at $347.

.

Now 2nd flight is back up to $418, lol.

 

[wdw4rfam]

well I start playing Christmas music in Oct, and right through december. That is the Holiday season right? Then on Jan1 I start what my family calls the Disney season, its all disney music Jan/Feb/march. I like Magicalmouseradio too for in park music. Makes you feel like you are there. I also play my disney cd's in the car So when the tree comes down the Disney season starts in my house. Of course who is kidding, I play the music when I am home doing laundry/cleaning, etc. But its usually official for the whole family in Jan. Am I nuts? Yup.

Same here!!! Caught DH running on the treadmill listening to Disney parks CD Saturday. The beat just doesn't match up with a run, but he does it.

 

[Jays2013]

:

Good afternoon everyone! I've been poking around the last couple days, even posted at least once. Also joined the facebook group.

A little about me/this trip.

*This will be my fifth trip to WDW.
*There will be 19 in my group, most of whom have never been.
*My wonderful Dad-in-law and step-Mom-in-law are footing the bill for this wonderful vacation. Definitely have to give credit where credit is due.
*I am the "official" planner, which works for me as I like to be in control (ask the Hubs).
*Looking to book from April 23-30, 2013, sometime in the next two weeks.
*I thankfully just received a PIN in the mail yesterday good for 35% for up to three rooms, according to the CM I spoke to.
*Probable resort/package: All Star Music, 7 day Magic your way with Park Hopper and Water Parks, and Dining Plus.
*Most likely airline: Southwest.

Can't wait to jump in and actually get things *on the books*!!

We're going to be there the same time! Much smaller group, though.

 

[cherylsmike]

I feel kind of bad about being annoyed by a departure flight for $174 when some of you are facing ones over $250. But I got my arrival flights for $107 and I want them at least under $125. I can wait I guess because it isn't essential that we fly back Sunday. I haven't ever flown on Sunday before. I can't do a morning flight because of the cruise and a friend that travels a lot suggests we wait until Monday (she is also my nanny for this trip). She says the flights delays just get worse and worse as the days goes on. But that is true on any day there are delays I guess. I bought my arrival tickets late on a Tuesday night so I will stay up until about 10 and see if I can get lucky again.

I prefer SW for fee purposes, but I would take any airline if the price was right. Though I will have to keep those fees in mind. Actually, our car will be at DAL so I guess I am stuck with the limited availability out of there or take a cab from DFW to pick up the car. We shall see. Oh, the excitement of the hunt!

I don't even know why I want the flight and rental car taken car of now. What will I obsess about when they are booked? I already have all my ADR's (though I am still trying to talk DH into using them).

I am looking forward to the great April weather. We had fantastic weather on our February 2011 trip, but DH doesn't want to take his vacation that early in the year again. Free Dining (more likely than April), low crowds, great weather...I just don't get it.

I got to see the last day of Flower and Garden Festival in 2009 and I am looking forward to taking my time exploring all the beautiful blooms. At my own pace with no DS13 complaining that I am making him look at flowers.

 

[TJDisneymama]

Pretty sad that I was over the moon to get $210/pp. for our flight home......'til I see people talking about their $100 fares, lol. That's ok, after my credit it only ended up costing $500, so I'm just gonna pretend they only cost $125/pp.

BUT.... then I start thinking if I could have found $100 flights, then it would have cost practically nothing...... *sigh*

Sent from my SCH-I405 using DISBoards

 

[DisMomAmy]

Pretty sad that I was over the moon to get $210/pp. for our flight home......'til I see people talking about their $100 fares, lol. That's ok, after my credit it only ended up costing $500, so I'm just gonna pretend they only cost $125/pp.

BUT.... then I start thinking if I could have found $100 flights, then it would have cost practically nothing...... *sigh*

Sent from my SCH-I405 using DISBoards

I feel your pain! I bought $1800 worth of tickets but paid less than $700. Pretty good deal! Until I think about how far those points could have gone if only the prices had been better.

 

[librarygeek]

We are now seriously considering driving down. For 5 of us it would make a lot more financial sense - right now we're looking at almost $1500! Driving would also save us money on not having to get a rental car. Plus my mom hates flying so I think she would rather drive. We'd get a hotel on the way down and back, which wouldn't be too bad since DH's mom works for Marriott and we can get some good rates through her. The only wild card is my brother - he can be a real pain in the butt sometimes, and I don't know if I want to be stuck in a car with him for 18+ hours!

On the issue of the Fast Pass +, the thing that concerns me the most about it is that the on-property guests will get a big advantage. If off-property guests can't even use it I'll be really disappointed. We almost always stay on-property but this one time we were given a gift of a stay in our uncle's timeshare, so it made sense. I'm just hoping it won't be ready to launch by April... I'm willing to deal with it after that, even though I don't love the idea.

 

[pwdebbie]

So, with the 2013 theme brought out, what do you think Disney might do for the last two weeks of April? I'm sure that the first part of April will be holiday related.

I think we are going to have to wait a bit. They said that they will be releasing more themes as the weeks go by.

Honestly, I hate the name of the promo. I come from the perspective of someone who lives daily with the thought that time with my dh is limited because of his illness. We've already gotten 18 more years than we thought we were going to get when he was originally diagnosed. But things could change for him quickly. The theme of "Limited Time Magic" just sounds depressing to me. I choose not to think of our time together as limited.

And then when you look at some of the promos related to the theme, they are all about how your kids are growing up so fast and you better grab the chance now to take them, almost makes me feel like this whole promo is oriented toward young families and not those with teenagers or empty-nesters like us.

Oh well. We wait and see.

 

[pwdebbie]

Today was ADR day....and I got everything we wanted. Yay!!!! It's a bit like Black Friday with the sense of accomplishment. Lol

Do you want your ADRs listed in post 991? If so, then just post them here in a list this way:

Date -- Restaurant -- Time

and I'll get them pasted to the ADR post.

I love looking at the ADRs to see who is where when but I have to say that the doc on FB works a lot better for that since everyone can edit the doc themselves. We don't have that ability here.

 

[pwdebbie]

Good afternoon everyone! I've been poking around the last couple days, even posted at least once. Also joined the facebook group.

A little about me/this trip.

*This will be my fifth trip to WDW.
*There will be 19 in my group, most of whom have never been.
*My wonderful Dad-in-law and step-Mom-in-law are footing the bill for this wonderful vacation. Definitely have to give credit where credit is due.
*I am the "official" planner, which works for me as I like to be in control (ask the Hubs).
*Looking to book from April 23-30, 2013, sometime in the next two weeks.
*I thankfully just received a PIN in the mail yesterday good for 35% for up to three rooms, according to the CM I spoke to.
*Probable resort/package: All Star Music, 7 day Magic your way with Park Hopper and Water Parks, and Dining Plus.
*Most likely airline: Southwest.

Can't wait to jump in and actually get things *on the books*!!

You are going to have a great time planning, I can tell! You are already off to a good start. What a fun family trip this will be. Will it include a lot of children? How many individual families? Any step-siblings coming?

My friend's mil and stepfil did this last year at Christmas. It was great idea full of good intentions but she planned it at the worst time of the year in terms of crowds. And she had no idea what she was doing. You are going at a much better time of year AND you know what you are doing, so I think you will have a wonderful time.

 

[pwdebbie]

Geez, reading this makes me feel good about Its quite a hike for us, but its nice having our van so we can go to (gasp) Universal and IOA, plus if buses are really slow, we can just drive. Although I would rather not drive to the parks. Wish all of you luck with these airfares, sounds like a headache. But my headache will come later as we spend 2 long days

We drive also, about 16 hours on the road. We leave after church on Sunday and drive as far as we can (hopefully past Columbia, SC, if we take the inland route or just north of Savannah if we take 95) and then arrive at our resort late morning or early afternoon. I would like to try AutoTrain one day. If we did it for the return trip home, we would have one more full morning in WDW and we would probably get home earlier on Saturday than if we drove. I haven't been able to convince hubby yet.

 

[Miss lorissa]

Did our ADRs yesterday!
4/19: T Rex for dinner (we land that day, late morning)
4/21: Hollywood & Vine 12:30
4/22: le Cellier 3:00
4/23: chef Mickey 7:45, crystal palace 5:15 ( my sons 4th bday!!!)

Very happy with all the reservations we got. Is Le Cellier a mistake with a 4 yr old? Really want to eat there, but worried it's not kid friendly enough.
Was also advised to get dinner at Beaches and Cream (going to do that on our AK day, don't want to be stuck on the other side of the park if my son doesn't love it there).
Thoughts? Advices? Traveling with husband, 4 yr old birthday boy and his grandparents (all 4!)

 

[Mousemommy1]

Did our ADRs yesterday!
4/19: T Rex for dinner (we land that day, late morning)
4/21: Hollywood & Vine 12:30
4/22: le Cellier 3:00
4/23: chef Mickey 7:45, crystal palace 5:15 ( my sons 4th bday!!!)

Very happy with all the reservations we got. Is Le Cellier a mistake with a 4 yr old? Really want to eat there, but worried it's not kid friendly enough.
Was also advised to get dinner at Beaches and Cream (going to do that on our AK day, don't want to be stuck on the other side of the park if my son doesn't love it there).
Thoughts? Advices? Traveling with husband, 4 yr old birthday boy and his grandparents (all 4!)

LOVE, LOVE, LOVE Le Cellier!!! Our girls have been there 3 times, 1st time when they were 3 and 5. It's actually a pretty loud restaurant. Your 4 year old should be fine.

 

[Mousemommy1]

pwdebbie I just noticed that you updated and reorganized page 1. Looks great! Thanks for all of your hard work on this thread!

 

[Duzzygirl]

You are going to have a great time planning, I can tell! You are already off to a good start. What a fun family trip this will be. Will it include a lot of children? How many individual families? Any step-siblings coming?
...

I am having a great time planning already. I love this stuff. I live for it. lol

10 Adults, 9 Children. 5 Family groups.

My Dad-in-Law and Step-Mom-in-Law
Sister-in-Law, 3 Children (7-11), Fiance, 1 Child (13)
Step-Sister-in-Law, Husband, 3 Children (9-14)
Step-Brother-in-Law, Fiance, 1 Child (9)
Me, Husband, 1 Child (4)

We drive also, about 16 hours on the road.
...

I love driving down! This will be the first time I've flown into Orlando. We do the same as you, drive to around where you hit 95 in SC, spend the night, get up early and keep plugging. We've always had a blast!

pwdebbie I just noticed that you updated and reorganized page 1. Looks great! Thanks for all of your hard work on this thread!

+1 ... You're on the ball!!

 

[TJDisneymama]

Now 2nd flight is back up to $418, lol.

shortly after this, the 2nd flight went back down to $347 and that's where both have stayed.
So that one flight did drop down to $288 on tuesday a.m. like most airlines do but I expected it to stay down longer than a few hours. I'm curious to see if it goes down again next Tuesday. I have a few weeks 'til the rest of my SW points come in, so i have nothing to do but watch them go up and down (and hope they don't sell out) until then then, lol.

 

[Miss lorissa]

Thanks mousemommy1! I'm personally excited to eat there, and lunch is 1 credit! Doggy bags!!!!