*OFFICIAL* July 2010 Thread! It’s Hot. It’s Crowded. AND WE LOVE IT!

[anjalee6]

I missed a day (maybe it was two) and I had to read four pages??? WOW!

Graduation was last night;

School: I have two exams to give on Monday; and I have about 25% more packing and moving to move back to my remodeled classroom. Last teacher day is Wed (half day). Then, I can focus on Daily Disney obsessing (even more than I do currently!)

29 more days for us!!! DH said he thinks he has 18 more days. (I love that he is counting down too. Of course, his is more about just being on vacation!)

I am in the opposite position at school. We are being remodeled this year so the science wing is being done first. I have to pack my whole room and all its contents by next Friday. We have 3 1/2 more days with kids. I am so excited to be done. This has been a tough year.

I am so tired from packing. It is so incredible what you save over 10 years. We have 37 days until we leave for Disney. I am so excited. I have changed my ADRS about 10 times. I just can't get it perfect. I finally had to put my spreadsheet away and just stop looking at it. I feel like I have it the best that I can get it.

 

[Zuzu03]

I missed a day (maybe it was two) and I had to read four pages??? WOW!

Graduation was last night;

School: I have two exams to give on Monday; and I have about 25% more packing and moving to move back to my remodeled classroom. Last teacher day is Wed (half day). Then, I can focus on Daily Disney obsessing (even more than I do currently!)

29 more days for us!!! DH said he thinks he has 18 more days. (I love that he is counting down too. Of course, his is more about just being on vacation!)

I know it's crazy, I miss a few days and SO MUCH HAPPENS on this thread! I started to pack up my room today - my walls are covered in posters and I always bring tons of my own books and DVDs in for my students so all of that is almost packed away and in my basement (DH is already grumbling). Way too much more to do before the end and 9 more days to go!! ARGH!

DD had her athletic banquet last night and she won a prestigious award for soccer and an overall athletic award from the Vermont Principals Association! I was soooooo proud and she was giggling the whole time (it lasted 4.5 hours, so we were all pretty giddy towards the end).

Here is our most recent pic (sorry for the red eye!) from the banquet so anyone who is at the world when we are: if you see us, say hi!

 

[Kurby]

does anyone know if riding up front in the monorails is still shut down?

 

[bangzoom6877]

Well, now I feel like the end of the school year is finally here!! Monday is the last day of classes, but 2 of my classes don't meet on Mondays, so I said good-bye to them today for the summer. I may or may not be teaching them again in the Fall...depends on which level Italian I am teaching next year. I also entered my final grades today!! So everything is done. Now I just have some cleaning up to do (my favorite part...yeah right!). Luckily, Regents exams start on Tuesday so in between proctoring assignments I can do my clean-up. I should be able to get it done pretty quickly. I am also inheriting some more space, as one of my colleagues is leaving unfortunately and I am going to be using one of her file cabinet drawers (right near my current one!) in the office to store some more of my stuff. I'm also helping to plan the end-term party for the faculty, which is on the 24th. That is always a lot of fun!

We went out to dinner for my birthday tonight. It was a lot of fun! I am so stuffed...and the whole time, as I felt fuller and fuller really quickly, all I could think was...imagine all the wonderful food I will be enjoying in WDW in a few weeks!! Everything I do every single day...I somehow relate to this Disney trip!

When I am planning our vacations I go through stages...Stage 1=excessive planning way too far in advance (like over a year) because I get so excited (i.e., as soon as we get back from one Disney trip, start planning for the next one which is 2 years later!); Stage 2=actual necessary planning (i.e., ADRs 180 days in advance); Stage 3=realizing my trip is within 3 months and getting my butt in gear for park touring; Stage 4=unnecessarily (or sometimes necessarily) rethinking our ADRs and changing them about a dozen times (after changing them 100 times in my head) and same goes for park touring plans; Stage 5=becoming overwhelmed by how much I have to get done before the trip, once the trip is less than a month away; Stage 6=cleaning, laundry, packing (and realizing I really CAN get it all done); Stage 7=relaxing to the MAX while on vacation because of all this over-planning!

Hey at least I enjoy my vacations once I am there!!

And to whoever is anywhere near BWV on July 13th...you have been forewarned...I will be the blonde mom in her 30s who is doing the dance of joy with her 2 kids while DH looks at us like we're nuts! The 4 of us will look something like this:

 

[Mom2Elliot]

I made the mistake of buying Ridemax way before the July schedule came out. I bought the 3-month membership, in April. I should have waited until June because I am not liking it. Sometimes it tells me I have too many things planned, then I take just one thing away, and it will tell me I have too few. I know it's a lot more research and "work" for some, but I much prefer Tour Guide Mike. I can purchase it any time I want, and it is good up until 60 days after my trip. Lots of articles to read through, but they are all very informative, I only have to read the articles that apply to me, and they explain why it is best to do certain things at certain times. Very easy to make an itinerary out of this. From what I can see, TGM is good for the Uber-planner like myself, who is interested in learning more about WDW (like a Disney education...lol, they should have a degree for this stuff! ), and Ridemax is great for someone who is planning an itinerary last-minute and just wants someone else to do it for them. But I am pastmy 30 days, oh well. You live and learn I guess. TGM for me from now on!

I definitely went overboard at Easter because I was so worried about the crowds that I got TGM too, and oh yeah, I haave a subscription to touring plans too! LOL! TGM was definitely more informative than Ridemax, but I had a hard time with his site and some stuff just seemed out of date (all of the easter articles referenced the previous year.) At this point, I'm pretty sure I know what to do and although I am glad that I had each of them for different reasons, I doubt I will subscribe to any of them again.

 

[kandy75]

We will be staying at SOG July 3 - July 10th.


DH 39 DD 16 DS 14 and Me 34

 

[bangzoom6877]

I definitely went overboard at Easter because I was so worried about the crowds that I got TGM too, and oh yeah, I haave a subscription to touring plans too! LOL! TGM was definitely more informative than Ridemax, but I had a hard time with his site and some stuff just seemed out of date (all of the easter articles referenced the previous year.) At this point, I'm pretty sure I know what to do and although I am glad that I had each of them for different reasons, I doubt I will subscribe to any of them again.

How did you like Touring Plans? Was it easier to navigate than TGM? Easier to find the info you needed? I have used TGM before so I am familiar with the site, but I remember planning our trip 2 years ago and it took me a little while to get the hang of the site. But then I really liked it. I think he updates info as it changes, so if something is from the previous year and still there, it normally means the information there still applies to the current year.

 

[Zuzu03]

Well, now I feel like the end of the school year is finally here!! Monday is the last day of classes, but 2 of my classes don't meet on Mondays, so I said good-bye to them today for the summer. I may or may not be teaching them again in the Fall...depends on which level Italian I am teaching next year. I also entered my final grades today!! So everything is done. Now I just have some cleaning up to do (my favorite part...yeah right!). Luckily, Regents exams start on Tuesday so in between proctoring assignments I can do my clean-up. I should be able to get it done pretty quickly. I am also inheriting some more space, as one of my colleagues is leaving unfortunately and I am going to be using one of her file cabinet drawers (right near my current one!) in the office to store some more of my stuff. I'm also helping to plan the end-term party for the faculty, which is on the 24th. That is always a lot of fun!

We went out to dinner for my birthday tonight. It was a lot of fun! I am so stuffed...and the whole time, as I felt fuller and fuller really quickly, all I could think was...imagine all the wonderful food I will be enjoying in WDW in a few weeks!! Everything I do every single day...I somehow relate to this Disney trip!

When I am planning our vacations I go through stages...Stage 1=excessive planning way too far in advance (like over a year) because I get so excited (i.e., as soon as we get back from one Disney trip, start planning for the next one which is 2 years later!); Stage 2=actual necessary planning (i.e., ADRs 180 days in advance); Stage 3=realizing my trip is within 3 months and getting my butt in gear for park touring; Stage 4=unnecessarily (or sometimes necessarily) rethinking our ADRs and changing them about a dozen times (after changing them 100 times in my head) and same goes for park touring plans; Stage 5=becoming overwhelmed by how much I have to get done before the trip, once the trip is less than a month away; Stage 6=cleaning, laundry, packing (and realizing I really CAN get it all done); Stage 7=relaxing to the MAX while on vacation because of all this over-planning!

Hey at least I enjoy my vacations once I am there!!

And to whoever is anywhere near BWV on July 13th...you have been forewarned...I will be the blonde mom in her 30s who is doing the dance of joy with her 2 kids while DH looks at us like we're nuts! The 4 of us will look something like this:

HAHA! Take one banana off and that will be DD, me and DH looking on like we're nuts! Is your back all better?

 

[Charleston Princess]

Oh, sorry, I never told you what resort we would be staying at -- it's CBR.

 

[SRUAlmn]

Ok, so in my quest to kill some time until we leave, I've been playing with some numbers and realized that for about $200 more for our entire stay (5 nights) we could move from savanna view at AKL to standard views at either Beach Club or Poly. Now I've stayed at Poly and LOOOOVE it and have always wanted to stay at Beach Club (loved that whole area when we stayed at BWI last summer.) However, it took some arm twisting to convince DH to take advantage of our PIN and upgrade to AKL in the first place.

I lightheatedly mentioned it a few minutes ago and he just laughed and said 'why would we go from the best view at a resort to the 'worst' view at a different one?' Um....can you say monorail? walking to Epcot? hello!! Who raised this kid?!?!? So now I don't know how to proceed. I want to tread lightly since I kind of pushed AKL on him already. I'm just afraid I'm not going to love it. Maybe I'm just trying to find things to fill my time and being silly Who knows!

 

[Marshay]

And to whoever is anywhere near BWV on July 13th...you have been forewarned...I will be the blonde mom in her 30s who is doing the dance of joy with her 2 kids while DH looks at us like we're nuts! The 4 of us will look something like this:

Hey, I'll be at BWV then and will keep an eye out for some dancing bananas!

This will be me and my girls!

 

[NikkiLovesWDW!]

We are going July 1st thru 5th and staying at the Contemporary. We decided not to go to any parks on the 4th but are staying at the Hotel and going on a Bass Fishing Excursion, having some lunch and maybe renting a couple of the little speed boats. We reserved one of those cabana things from 3pm - 7pm by the pool and just plan on relaxing. Looking forward to watching the fireworks from our room! We haven't been for several years so I have been having Disney withdrawals! My DS 7 and DS 5 are sssssoooo excited that they are tall enough to ride on most of the rides. They keep checking the height requirements to make sure they don't change!!!

7/10 to 7/24 AKV Kidani

We will be staying at SOG July 3 - July 10th.


DH 39 DD 16 DS 14 and Me 34

Welcome newcomers!!!

Ok, so in my quest to kill some time until we leave, I've been playing with some numbers and realized that for about $200 more for our entire stay (5 nights) we could move from savanna view at AKL to standard views at either Beach Club or Poly. Now I've stayed at Poly and LOOOOVE it and have always wanted to stay at Beach Club (loved that whole area when we stayed at BWI last summer.) However, it took some arm twisting to convince DH to take advantage of our PIN and upgrade to AKL in the first place.

I lightheatedly mentioned it a few minutes ago and he just laughed and said 'why would we go from the best view at a resort to the 'worst' view at a different one?' Um....can you say monorail? walking to Epcot? hello!! Who raised this kid?!?!? So now I don't know how to proceed. I want to tread lightly since I kind of pushed AKL on him already. I'm just afraid I'm not going to love it. Maybe I'm just trying to find things to fill my time and being silly Who knows!

Oh goodness! I totally know what you're going through. I kind of have been doing the same thing with ADRs. Pushing something and then realizing it can be better another way...then trying to convince DH. But changes resorts is a big deal. I've never stayed at AKL so I can't say for sure you will love it but I can't imagine you'll be disappointed! I've heard nothing but great things about Savannah view. Unless it's bothering you so much that you can't think of anything else, I vote to just keep the peace and stay with what you've got.

Good luck, whatever you decide to do!

 

[NikkiLovesWDW!]

I can't believe how many teachers we're hearing from on this thread! I guess summer WDW travelers are filled with teachers!

I have 8 more days of school. Yesterday I had the parents in for "Authors' Tea," today was field day so Monday is "start taking things down" day! Hopefully they will tell me soon that I have a job for next year so I know where I'm going to be (there's talk of moving grade levels/rooms) so I can figure out if I'm packing my stuff to be moved to a new classroom or moved HOME!

 

[bangzoom6877]

HAHA! Take one banana off and that will be DD, me and DH looking on like we're nuts! Is your back all better?

My back is so much better! Thanks so much for asking. I haven't taken Advil since Tuesday!!! The only thing I still feel is a tiny little twinge on the left side, all the way over to the side and I feel it occasionally in the front of my left thigh, as if it's pinching a nerve slightly. But not bad at all, I wouldn't call it pain, just a tiny little discomfort. My doctor had told me no exercise for 10 days to 2 weeks...today was 10 days since he said that but no exercise yet, until this twinge goes away completely (I'm guessing over the next few days). But, I decided that when I do start exercising again, I am going to do it as if I am a complete beginner, even though I have been working out hard for years. I am taking it slowly and gradually, because I am trying to prevent other injuries. I am not doing any heavy weight lifting until after this vacation!! So I am going back to some things I used to do, which is aerobics (low impact, going slowly and no jerky movements), and a little bit of light resistance (only 3-pound weights to start, only 3 different exercises and making sure to use proper form at all times).

I also decided that I am never, EVER, doing another deadlift again. Know what they are? Well...I will describe them as best I can...you stand with your legs straight, holding weights in both hands, and bend over with a straight back, then lift up slowly with a straight back and straight legs, to work your hamstrings. What was I thinking?? Of course this would knock my back out eventually...and possibly my knees too had I continued with them. And in my case, I was holding anywhere from 10-pound weights to 20-pound weights in each hand, so I had to lift between 20 and 30 pounds with just my hamstrings and not using my back at all and not rounding my back at all. How does a human being do these regularly and not have back problems? I mean, I have pretty strong legs to lift heavy weights, but come on now...this is just not natural! The human body was NOT meant to do this! Try googling it and see if you can find video of someone doing it correctly...you will wonder how I have been able to do these for over 6 months now and not have back problems up until now! Crazy...but I am done with them! I mean, the point of exercising regularly is to stay healthy, not to hurt.

OK, going to bed now because I am starting to feel kind of like this... , as DH sits on the couch watching TV looking like this... and the kids are fast asleep, probably dreaming of Disney World since we talk about it every day, every chance we get, and both probably feeling like this right now:

 

[mdrob214]

does anyone know if riding up front in the monorails is still shut down?

There is no more riding up front on the monorail.

Welcome newcomers!!!



Oh goodness! I totally know what you're going through. I kind of have been doing the same thing with ADRs. Pushing something and then realizing it can be better another way...then trying to convince DH. But changes resorts is a big deal. I've never stayed at AKL so I can't say for sure you will love it but I can't imagine you'll be disappointed! I've heard nothing but great things about Savannah view. Unless it's bothering you so much that you can't think of anything else, I vote to just keep the peace and stay with what you've got.

Good luck, whatever you decide to do!

We've had Savannah view and loved it! I remember being disappointed that we didn't get the Arusha savannah, but wee ended up in a great location and I have TONS of photos of the animals just outside our room.

I am historically a resort-changer. Every trip before this one has meant reservations at at least 2-3 resorts before we land at our final destination-last year we changed resorts 3 days before our trip. This trip, the resort has stayed but we've gone from no dining plan, then added it, plus I've changed my ADRs many, many times! And will probably change more.

 

[iamcrzymom]

Thanks for the welcome Nikki!

 

[weezy26nm]

6 weeks from today we will be on our way!

 

[bangzoom6877]

There is no more riding up front on the monorail.



We've had Savannah view and loved it! I remember being disappointed that we didn't get the Arusha savannah, but wee ended up in a great location and I have TONS of photos of the animals just outside our room.

I am historically a resort-changer. Every trip before this one has meant reservations at at least 2-3 resorts before we land at our final destination-last year we changed resorts 3 days before our trip. This trip, the resort has stayed but we've gone from no dining plan, then added it, plus I've changed my ADRs many, many times! And will probably change more.

I'm the same way with dining!! For this trip, we went from having the basic dining plan like we did last time, to having no dining plan and opting instead to upgrade my ticket to an AP and get the TIW card. We had several more TS restaurants than the basic DDP allows, and planned to pay OOP for those, but we also would have been left with several CS credits at the end and I was trying to figure out how to use those. I crunched numbers 10,000 times, and discovered that when I added up the cost of the DDP plus extra TS vs. cost of upgrading to the AP and buying the TIW card then getting 20% off TS meals including alcohol plus a few CS meals thrown in and some snacks, we would either break even or pay less with the second option. Plus we could just order what we want and it is all 20% off. Although, we do love our desserts, which is one of the things that attracts us to the DDP...still, many times DH and I go out and share a dessert so we could do this without feeling like we didn't get maximum value out of the DDP.

I also changed our ADRs several times. Went from lunch at Coral Reef & dinner at Chefs de France to lunch at Chefs and dinner at Biergarten again (love it there!!). From Crystal Palace dinner to Crystal Palace breakfast. Then switched around resort restaurants we are going to (Captain's Grille and Kona Cafe) and added Sanaa for one dinner! Dropped Hollywood & Vine character breakfast because my kids are not into Little Einsteins anymore. Going to Sci-Fi lunch instead and having a quick breakfast in the villa that morning. So, several changes for us! I was actually nervous about filling out the allergy form and emailing it to Disney (DS5 is allergic to shellfish) because I thought maybe I would be neurotic again and change ADRs again!! But I sent it in a couple of weeks ago and I am content with our ADRs! DH doesn't really care...he trusts me and knows I have good taste. I always ask him before booking or changing though.

 

[Zuzu03]

My back is so much better! Thanks so much for asking. I haven't taken Advil since Tuesday!!! The only thing I still feel is a tiny little twinge on the left side, all the way over to the side and I feel it occasionally in the front of my left thigh, as if it's pinching a nerve slightly. But not bad at all, I wouldn't call it pain, just a tiny little discomfort. My doctor had told me no exercise for 10 days to 2 weeks...today was 10 days since he said that but no exercise yet, until this twinge goes away completely (I'm guessing over the next few days). But, I decided that when I do start exercising again, I am going to do it as if I am a complete beginner, even though I have been working out hard for years. I am taking it slowly and gradually, because I am trying to prevent other injuries. I am not doing any heavy weight lifting until after this vacation!! So I am going back to some things I used to do, which is aerobics (low impact, going slowly and no jerky movements), and a little bit of light resistance (only 3-pound weights to start, only 3 different exercises and making sure to use proper form at all times).

I also decided that I am never, EVER, doing another deadlift again. Know what they are? Well...I will describe them as best I can...you stand with your legs straight, holding weights in both hands, and bend over with a straight back, then lift up slowly with a straight back and straight legs, to work your hamstrings. What was I thinking?? Of course this would knock my back out eventually...and possibly my knees too had I continued with them. And in my case, I was holding anywhere from 10-pound weights to 20-pound weights in each hand, so I had to lift between 20 and 30 pounds with just my hamstrings and not using my back at all and not rounding my back at all. How does a human being do these regularly and not have back problems? I mean, I have pretty strong legs to lift heavy weights, but come on now...this is just not natural! The human body was NOT meant to do this! Try googling it and see if you can find video of someone doing it correctly...you will wonder how I have been able to do these for over 6 months now and not have back problems up until now! Crazy...but I am done with them! I mean, the point of exercising regularly is to stay healthy, not to hurt.

OK, going to bed now because I am starting to feel kind of like this... , as DH sits on the couch watching TV looking like this... and the kids are fast asleep, probably dreaming of Disney World since we talk about it every day, every chance we get, and both probably feeling like this right now:

Holy Smokes, yes, I remember DH number 1 doing the deadlifts (he was a football player) and it does look pretty strenuous! Yikes! My back hurts just thinking about it - you must be going nuts not being able to work out though! You're probably luck you were so fit, it might have taken a lot longer to heal - yay for exercise!!!!! Oh and DANCING!!!

 

[bangzoom6877]

Holy Smokes, yes, I remember DH number 1 doing the deadlifts (he was a football player) and it does look pretty strenuous! Yikes! My back hurts just thinking about it - you must be going nuts not being able to work out though! You're probably luck you were so fit, it might have taken a lot longer to heal - yay for exercise!!!!! Oh and DANCING!!!

Oh yeah, love dancing too!!! Before I started doing heavy weight lifting in the Fall, I used to do Turbo Jam, which is a combination of kick boxing moves and dancing, it was so much fun! Then I started doing ChaLEAN Extreme, a DVD program created by the same person who created Turbo Jam. It's 3 days a week of weight lifting (heavy weights, lifting very slowly), and 2 days of aerobics. Sometimes I would do the Turbo Jam workouts on cardio days, for variety. I do miss working out and I am going crazy...but a few more days and I should be fine! I woke up this morning, and feeling even better!

I didn't think about my back healing faster because I am fit...it makes sense though. Still a little nervous about working out again but I will take it easy. Once you feel better sometimes you forget and do too much too fast, and I am not going to let myself fall into that trap!