Our First Stay at the Poly - April 2012 PTR!!

[204charity]

I made a change in our off-site hotel for the first night - we had been booked at Fairfield Inn at SeaWorld. I decided to look again because that Day 2 morning plans are bothering me. I'm sure it'll work out but it's a lot to do early in the morning - checking out of the off-site hotel, checking in to poly to get our KTTW cards, and driving over to DHS.

DW asked why not just stay that first night at Poly? I thought, hmmmm, why didn't I do that in the first place. When I looked up the pricing, I remembered - I was trying to save some money by avoiding an extra weekend rate during a peak week. Plus, trying to add another night to the package with less than 45 days to go will add another $50 fee. So, decided against it.

So now we're booked at the Buena Vista Suites. Found a nice price for $99 (advance payment) plus taxes for the night. It also puts about 10 minutes closer. So if the kids or the grown-ups take a little extra time waking up, I could potentially drive to Poly myself at 7am while the family eats the complimentary breakfast, check-in and drop off the luggage, get our cards, and come back to BVS to pick up the family and head to DHS.

Any of you have experience with Buena Vista Suites?

Sounds like a good option to leave the family behind while you go early in the morning to gather your stuff at the Poly etc. That's making good use of time! (Are you sure you're not a woman??)

 

[DaveinFallsChurch]

Sounds like a good option to leave the family behind while you go early in the morning to gather your stuff at the Poly etc. That's making good use of time! (Are you sure you're not a woman??)

I know - I'm such a commando

I started thinking about all of this when DW yesterday casually mentioned that she wasn't so optimistic that everybody will be up and ready to go so early in the morning for the Poly check in. Our kids are usually up by 6am at home, so I don't think they would be having too much difficulty. DW and DFIL does have a slightly different internal clock than I do, so she might be giving me a heads up.

On top of that, I just found out that Buena Vista Suites doesn't start serving the free breakfast until 7am. So it looks like I will be making a solo trip to Poly to check in, then come back for them to shuttle everyone to DHS.

 

[AKL LOVER]

Just joining in, although I don't know what's taken me so long as I'm part of the april 2012 thread.

I've also never stayed late at MK because of my kids schedule so I am all about trying MK out at night too. In fact, that was my #1 requirement for my girls trip. I told them I would be personally offended if we didn't stay late at MK for EMH since none of us will have our DH's or kids to worry about.

Have you checked out the backpacks at Target? We got a really inexpensive over-one-should type there a couple of years ago and it's been great. It was only $20 and we've used it for 4 trips so far. It has lots of compartments to keep stuf fin. My DH will wear it too (it's black and silver) because the color or the style of it is not too girly.

And I am totally for the idea of you leaving the family behind to go check into the Poly then come back and pick them up. Makes them happy because they don't have to be up and ready so early and you can take your time enjoying the Poly and checking in.

Love all your TP's. I really need to get on the ball with mine for our June trip, but I figured that I need something to keep me occupied in between trips.

 

[DaveinFallsChurch]

Just joining in, although I don't know what's taken me so long as I'm part of the april 2012 thread.

I've also never stayed late at MK because of my kids schedule so I am all about trying MK out at night too. In fact, that was my #1 requirement for my girls trip. I told them I would be personally offended if we didn't stay late at MK for EMH since none of us will have our DH's or kids to worry about.

Have you checked out the backpacks at Target? We got a really inexpensive over-one-should type there a couple of years ago and it's been great. It was only $20 and we've used it for 4 trips so far. It has lots of compartments to keep stuf fin. My DH will wear it too (it's black and silver) because the color or the style of it is not too girly.

And I am totally for the idea of you leaving the family behind to go check into the Poly then come back and pick them up. Makes them happy because they don't have to be up and ready so early and you can take your time enjoying the Poly and checking in.

Love all your TP's. I really need to get on the ball with mine for our June trip, but I figured that I need something to keep me occupied in between trips.

Thanks for joining in! I'm actually heading out to the stores today to look for backpack and will be stopping by Target as well! This is my first day off from work in 15 days so i'm spending it by working on our Disney trip to recover from the rough stretch.

I can't wait to try MK late at night! What kind of things are you looking forward to at MK?

 

[204charity]

Thanks for joining in! I'm actually heading out to the stores today to look for backpack and will be stopping by Target as well! This is my first day off from work in 15 days so i'm spending it by working on our Disney trip to recover from the rough stretch.

I can't wait to try MK late at night! What kind of things are you looking forward to at MK?

Good luck on the backpack hunt!

I haven't been to DW in soo long that I don't even know WHAT to look forward to exactly! As you know, it's DD's first time there, so I think just looking at her and seeing the wonder and joy on her face will be what I look most forward to while at MK!

 

[DaveinFallsChurch]

I bought a backpack! Never thought I would get this excited over a backpack but couldn't help it since it was for our Disney trip. Spent a good hour at the mall which is long enough for me - checked out Eddie Bauer, LL Bean, Macy's luggage department, some random store called Luggage+ with not-so-friendly employees. Then went to the North Face store and found this one.

It has a separate zippered pocket for laptops - this will be perfect for carrying my iPad. Separate pocket where I can put all the diaper bag items. And another pocket for the food/drink items.

Also bought children sized headphones for the kids along with a splitter for the audio jack so that both of them can watch my iPad on the plane!

All of this shopping today just made the trip feel a lot closer!! And it reminded me that I need to find some new shoes/sandals because the ones I have right now are not going to cut it!

 

[wakica]

Sounds perfect!! Glad you found the perfect bag I WISH I could get DH to haul the main backpack but he's always a camera slinging guy (he's a photographer) so he's got a little backpack for that already. Oh well, once the food goes out of the bag and the water dwindles it's always lighter anyway and he's always willing to give me lots of breaks so it works out. i sure would like to not have to carry anyhing of significant size in a park for a change though! I think since we are so close to the studios that we'll attempt it when we are in those parks

 

[AKL LOVER]

Thanks for joining in! I'm actually heading out to the stores today to look for backpack and will be stopping by Target as well! This is my first day off from work in 15 days so i'm spending it by working on our Disney trip to recover from the rough stretch.

I can't wait to try MK late at night! What kind of things are you looking forward to at MK?

WEEELLLLL I have been dying to ride BTMRR late at night, but we know THAT isn't going to happen. So I really need to come up with some other things. Is the Astro Orbitor open during pm EMH? I've never riden it before but I'm thinking it would offer some good night time views that would make it worth a spin.

I like the backpack you got. Gotta love lots of compartments

 

[DaveinFallsChurch]

WEEELLLLL I have been dying to ride BTMRR late at night, but we know THAT isn't going to happen. So I really need to come up with some other things. Is the Astro Orbitor open during pm EMH? I've never riden it before but I'm thinking it would offer some good night time views that would make it worth a spin.

I like the backpack you got. Gotta love lots of compartments

The Astro Orbitor is open during evening EMH. Someone once told me that they tried it during Wishes and the view was spectacular! So during my solo touring, I'm planning to time it right so I'll be up there during Wishes.

 

[DaveinFallsChurch]

With the price increases coming up for Photopass CDs beginning next week, I went ahead and pre-ordered ours this morning.

One month to go!

 

[HalloweenNut]

With the price increases coming up for Photopass CDs beginning next week, I went ahead and pre-ordered ours this morning.

One month to go!

Photopass CD prices are going up? Sorry I must have missed this. I'll have to pre-order mine today too. Thanks for the heads-up!

39 days for us!!!

 

[DaveinFallsChurch]

Photopass CD prices are going up? Sorry I must have missed this. I'll have to pre-order mine today too. Thanks for the heads-up!

39 days for us!!!

I was reading about this bit of news on the Boards the past couple of days - it appears they announced it on the PhotoPass Fanpage on facebook, and one of the DISers called to verify. According to what's been posted, the CD regular price will increase to $169, and the pre-order price will increase to $129, beginning March 21st.

 

[HalloweenNut]

I was reading about this bit of news on the Boards the past couple of days - it appears they announced it on the PhotoPass Fanpage on facebook, and one of the DISers called to verify. According to what's been posted, the CD regular price will increase to $169, and the pre-order price will increase to $129, beginning March 21st.

OK, THANKS!! I just pre-ordered mine too.

 

[DaveinFallsChurch]

Just placed an order at Garden Grocer for delivery to the Poly on the afternoon we check in. Love that we were able to order diapers for DS so that we don't have to pack them. It's the little things.

 

[204charity]

Just placed an order at Garden Grocer for delivery to the Poly on the afternoon we check in. Love that we were able to order diapers for DS so that we don't have to pack them. It's the little things.

 

[wakica]

Nice!! That'll definitely come in handy! I wouldn't want to pack a tonne of diapers either. lol

 

[DaveinFallsChurch]

Nice!! That'll definitely come in handy! I wouldn't want to pack a tonne of diapers either. lol

And it means that there's more luggage space to fill with souvenirs!

 

[DaveinFallsChurch]

I had been putting this off for a while now. As you may have saw in our Epcot day plans, I reserved an Illuminations Cruise as a surprise for DW's birthday. When I made the ressie, the CM told me that I could order a cake to be delivered to the cruise by calling the Yacht Club's Private Dining number. I think I was procastinating because of this irrational fear of trying to order a cake over the phone without actually seeing what I'm paying for. Anyway, it turned out to be a lot simpler than I had anticipated. The CM laid out the standard cake options with the various sizes and flavoring available. I picked the 8" chocolate, told her what I wanted written on it, gave her my credit card info, and that was it. Almost too simple which is making me nervous now whether the cake will actually show up on the boat

Anyway, got to check off another to-do item for the trip!

 

[204charity]

I had been putting this off for a while now. As you may have saw in our Epcot day plans, I reserved an Illuminations Cruise as a surprise for DW's birthday. When I made the ressie, the CM told me that I could order a cake to be delivered to the cruise by calling the Yacht Club's Private Dining number. I think I was procastinating because of this irrational fear of trying to order a cake over the phone without actually seeing what I'm paying for. Anyway, it turned out to be a lot simpler than I had anticipated. The CM laid out the standard cake options with the various sizes and flavoring available. I picked the 8" chocolate, told her what I wanted written on it, gave her my credit card info, and that was it. Almost too simple which is making me nervous now whether the cake will actually show up on the boat

Anyway, got to check off another to-do item for the trip!

It seems everything is pretty easy in Disney. Except finding out 100% for sure what kind of coffee maker is in the rooms at the Poly....that one is proving to NOT be so easy......

 

[wakica]

oh WOW!!! You leave in UNDER 2 weeks!!!!

Are you just about ready???