PART FOUR!! *December 2012 Roll Call* Holidays, FLE & MVMCP!! A very, merry thread!

[happy tink]

Gum chewing, if possible, for the oldes helps.

Do they still make ear planes? I'm not sure what age they're appropriate for, but that's what I used to wear when I was a kid (prone to ear infections). They really helped.

They still make Earplanes! I bought some at Rite-Aid a few days back. I would start with gum, or like someone else said a sippy cup?

 

[WedgieSock]

Busy but a totally unproductive day, do you know what I mean?

Soooo, I'm pottering about (about 5pm) and DD is doing her homework. DH is in the bedroom doing whatever. DD & I hear a loudish crash downstairs. The floor there is tiled so I'm thinking a large tin has fallen from a shelf (despite the fact I don't have a large tin down there ). I then think .... oooh what if there is a critter down there!?!? I'd better go down and get rid before a full scale house drama breaks out - you know the kind .... DD running round screaming, the cats having an eppy, DH bursting out to see what all the noise is, me laughing in the corner ....

As I go downstairs I smell burning, so then I start to run, we have a clear glass panel door and all I can see is thick smoke I can't see flames, but it could be around the corner in the other room. Is the door to that room open? OMG, how long will it take for the house to burn down? All this flying through my head while I absolutely peg it back upstairs and down the hallway. I burst into our bedroom and say really calmly (which was weird) "Hey hun, theres a fire downstairs and I'm not quite sure how to handle it" Then its all slow-motion, he leaps up, "Get Bronwyn & the dog and stay here" he says in a really manly voice, running down the hallway (remember, still in slow motion) jumps down the whole flight of stairs ..... not even a minute passes but it seems like ages. I can hear him coughing, faffing around, he eventually emerges up the stairs ... through the smoke.... coughing ..... and he says "the heater on the fish tank blew up"

Now thats not very dramatic is it??? You were on the edge of your seat until I said 'the heater on the fish tank', weren't you Apparently the flame was about 2 inches high and one cup of water put it out. The thick smoke was from the plastic housing melting

 

[ndpeirce]

We are arriving on 12/26 after a Christmas Present Surprise! We'll be staying at BLT!!!

I am most looking forward to the Be Our Guest reservation and The Candlelight Processional with Marlee Matlin.

I'm wondering how I will possibly be able to get through the next month as I am currently OBSESSED with everything I can read about the craziness of Christmas week.

 

[WedgieSock]

We are arriving on 12/26 after a Christmas Present Surprise! We'll be staying at BLT!!!

I am most looking forward to the Be Our Guest reservation and The Candlelight Processional with Marlee Matlin.

I'm wondering how I will possibly be able to get through the next month as I am currently OBSESSED with everything I can read about the craziness of Christmas week.

Welcome to our group! Congrats on the BOG ressie, we have one for 8th Dec and can't wait!

Yep, its gonna be crowded but you know that, just roll with it - its Christmas at Disney Make a plan and you'll do fine. Are you going with children?

 

[ndpeirce]

My son will be 11 and my daughter 5. We've been many times to Disney, but never at Christmas so this is a special treat!

Any tips for handling the parks that crowded with the little ones would be appreciated!

 

[tmbowers]

Busy but a totally unproductive day, do you know what I mean?

Soooo, I'm pottering about (about 5pm) and DD is doing her homework. DH is in the bedroom doing whatever. DD & I hear a loudish crash downstairs. The floor there is tiled so I'm thinking a large tin has fallen from a shelf (despite the fact I don't have a large tin down there ). I then think .... oooh what if there is a critter down there!?!? I'd better go down and get rid before a full scale house drama breaks out - you know the kind .... DD running round screaming, the cats having an eppy, DH bursting out to see what all the noise is, me laughing in the corner ....

As I go downstairs I smell burning, so then I start to run, we have a clear glass panel door and all I can see is thick smoke I can't see flames, but it could be around the corner in the other room. Is the door to that room open? OMG, how long will it take for the house to burn down? All this flying through my head while I absolutely peg it back upstairs and down the hallway. I burst into our bedroom and say really calmly (which was weird) "Hey hun, theres a fire downstairs and I'm not quite sure how to handle it" Then its all slow-motion, he leaps up, "Get Bronwyn & the dog and stay here" he says in a really manly voice, running down the hallway (remember, still in slow motion) jumps down the whole flight of stairs ..... not even a minute passes but it seems like ages. I can hear him coughing, faffing around, he eventually emerges up the stairs ... through the smoke.... coughing ..... and he says "the heater on the fish tank blew up"

Now thats not very dramatic is it??? You were on the edge of your seat until I said 'the heater on the fish tank', weren't you Apparently the flame was about 2 inches high and one cup of water put it out. The thick smoke was from the plastic housing melting

Yes, you painted a very dramatic picture, right up to the "heater on the fish tank." Do you blog? If not, you should start one after your trip and we can all follow you! You could be the next Bloggess! (If you have not read her blog, I highly recommend it, particularly her post about Beyonce the giant metal chicken!

 

[happy tink]

Only 1000? They will be gone by lunch.

Is it just me or does Belle look really weird on the phone case? I had to read to see who it was. And why is she smelling the rose????

I think they all look strange, the character's. Snow and Ariel look like tarts. I just want them to be their beautiful selves! I like the cover with the map! Although I don't have an eye phone.

I do want a tee! Yes! Dec 6th is our MVMCP night!

Funny Bachelor party story! Lol

 

[WedgieSock]

My son will be 11 and my daughter 5. We've been many times to Disney, but never at Christmas so this is a special treat!

Any tips for handling the parks that crowded with the little ones would be appreciated!

The biggest piece of advice I can give is Rope Drop. Even at crowded times of the year, you can get so much done in the first couple of hours before the crowds really hit. Would that work for your family or do they like to sleep in?

 

[ndpeirce]

The biggest piece of advice I can give is Rope Drop. Even at crowded times of the year, you can get so much done in the first couple of hours before the crowds really hit. Would that work for your family or do they like to sleep in?

Half of us are night owls and the other half early risers...we'll have to see who wins out or we could divide & conquer some. How are EMH during Christmas week - I see most nights offer past midnight hours somewhere...

 

[happy tink]

Dis Buddies, I present to you our newest fur baby, DOBBY (the House Corgi)!

We picked him up on Black Friday (7 hours round trip in a car, one dog going down there and two coming back, hope to NEVER have to repeat that!), and he has been terrorizing the house ever since.

4 grown adults over the age of 30 sat down to decide on a name and we picked one from Harry Potter Mom and I being English teachers wanted something out of British literature seeing as how the breed originated in Wales, and Dad said we should name him Dobby after the House Elf because of his big ears.

He's pretty much the reason I haven't been posting much the past week. I'd rather forgotten how big a PITA baby puppies are. After getting up 4 times in the middle of the night last night to take the little dude outside for potties (in the freezing weather) he ceased being quite so cute

Oh, he's soooo cute! I love him! Dobby, is a great name! Congratulations!

 

[ciao_gina]

Hi all,

I have been off of this board for days-signing papers, meeting with contractors, selling stuff on-line, packing up the house and oh, by the way, we are leaving in 2 days for WDW! This is crazy, the worst timing but I am so glad we are doing it. I can't wait to relax among the zebras and scream on some rides for stress relief.

Anyway.I started a trip report:

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?p=46795826#post46795826

 

[happy tink]

So, here is a random question for you guys. What type of shoes do you prefer to wear for all day walking through the parks. Last year, I think I wore tennis shoes everyday but one and that one day I wore a pair of Toms. I distinctly remember my feet hurting more that night, too. I'm going to take my Nikes and a more dressy-looking athletic shoe, too. I'm trying to decide whether to order a pair of the Sanuk yoga mat flip flops. DH has a pair and they are extremely comfortable, just don't know how they would be all the walking I will be doing in the parks.

I've spent an entire day at DL in nice flip flops and my feet were hurting after about seven hours! No arch support.

 

[mrstomrice]

We are arriving on 12/26 after a Christmas Present Surprise! We'll be staying at BLT!!!

I am most looking forward to the Be Our Guest reservation and The Candlelight Processional with Marlee Matlin.

I'm wondering how I will possibly be able to get through the next month as I am currently OBSESSED with everything I can read about the craziness of Christmas week.

Welcome to the club friend

 

[QueenElinor]

Haha all this bank talk... I think my bank and cc see enough charges from Disney to know better... I can see it now "She's finally gone to the motherland..." I've never had an issue with my CC I purposefully don't use my debit because I worry about scams and its a lot easier to get home and transfer the $$ and a lot less worry... I just see dishonest people making easy targets out of tourists...

Too funny - and so true! My bank doesn't bug me anymore about domestic travel, because I travel so much and have two kids out of state using my card. But we haven't been to Florida in a while so I probably should let them know.

I'd be pretty pissed at CapOne if they shut off my card - considering they failed to notice $450 worth of debit charges to a Chinese-based gaming company. On the plus side, I went to the branch today and they were able to give me a temporary card. Honestly though, I've never had my cards shut off when I travel -only when I make large electronics purchases from home.

Wow, that's one of those scams one reads about on the internet but never think would really happen! I had given Capital One a detailed itinerary of our trip to Europe, but I can see their suspicion- I won't even say how much it was (let's just say I needed all my kids' customs limits to get me home tax-free ) and it was at a Fendi store. Electronics and designer goods are where the fraud is. The shop girl said "Just use your Amex" (in a lovely French accent, of course!) but I was holding out for that 3-4% savings on the exchange fee. And boy, did I let them have it when I finally got someone on the line.

The only other time we had trouble was when my husband was billed $500 through a liquor store. It turns out it was a friend of his selling him parts for his hobby, and the friend used his business to process the transaction!

As a professional pet sitter and the manager of the pet sitting company, definitely let your vet know, give them the sitters name, etc!! We once had a vet almost turn us away with a dog who was dying and refused to help him without us paying the $700 fee they wanted up front! The owners were not answering their cell phones to give their okay and my sitter was in hysterics thinking this 14 year old dog was going to die because she didn't have $700 to pay them. After myself and my boss talking to them for 2 hours they finally agreed to save him for $100 down. He was in very bad shape by then (he had cancer, hadn't eaten for 2 days and they found a tumor had burst inside him and he was bleeding badly internally) but they did save him. The owner actually called them during the night and chewed them out, as they had called and told them that we had permission and had given a credit card number to bill, but the girl who took their call never put that info in their file. I think they wound up suing the vet even over it, and gave my sitter a $100 tip (on top of paying the $100 she put down) for the hassle and stress she went thru. So, I would go in person to the vet and make sure they put the info in the system. But I'm sure your dog will be okay. I've seen many dogs have ACL surgery and they have all healed so well.

Yikes! My vet knows me well enough not to do that, but I'm not sure the surgeon would take our housesitter's word for it... definitely am going to call them when we leave just in case there are late postop complications. Gratefully, our housesitter is more than willing to watch the pets despite this additional concern. She's really a terrific person, and we are lucky to have her.

And I'm really glad to hear dogs recover from ACL surgery so well. The reason why I'm up right now is because I could hear her limping through the house... I told my husband "That dog's ACL is clearly my Achilles heel." I may be a softie but she's just been such a wonderful pet! She's old, but in good shape. If she were a person I'd say she's a good surgical candidate. So I'm hopeful it will work out well.

All special offers at the moment are for stays from Jan 2 - March 7 so if you book through Disney you'll be paying rack rate. Are you a member of AAA? If so, they might be offering a discount

I did get a discount of 15% with AAA before the 30% discount they ran for the fall season, but I did have to mention it.

The biggest piece of advice I can give is Rope Drop. Even at crowded times of the year, you can get so much done in the first couple of hours before the crowds really hit. Would that work for your family or do they like to sleep in?

I second this. The other thing that worked for us was early lunch ADRs followed by non-ride activities and then a break during the peak time in the afternoon. My husband (who knows nothing of the particulars of planning for Disney) said he thought that made a huge difference for our family.

 

[QueenElinor]

Well, I gave the absent-minded professor (that's DS 20) his Magical Express tickets before he departed after Thanksgiving vacay. He is flying directly from his college town to meet us in Orlando. I'd say there is a 50/50 chance of his remembering them.

DD18 made it back to school in CA just fine after the priceline debacle. It's kind of funny in retrospect, even the lady at United said "Don't ever use priceline if you can help it." LOL! Well, I wouldn't have except the ticket would have been $600 without them. Not sure it was worth the savings, though. Priceline sold us a ticket through US Airways, but the flights were with Alaska (coming home) and United (going back). DD18 couldn't do online check-in with Alaska, but we managed to get it done with United by calling and getting a totally different flight- which saved her because the line through security was enormous on Sat. morning (by our standards). We are used to leaving the house an hour before the flight (we're in Montana) so it was a little anxiety-provoking for a few minutes!

Finally, I'm still trying to figure out if older children would be interested in goody bags, and what to put into them? Previously, I gave the kids a bag on the plane. But now they don't get excited quite so easily. They have traveled a lot and so the whole prospect of a big vacay is not that unique & exciting for them- but it's Disney for heaven's sake! I know they're looking forward to it.

So- any ideas for a goody bag for DS20, DD18 and DS14? I know their aunt is already getting them Disney gift cards for Christmas. Thanks!

 

[Tltorrez]

So, here is a random question for you guys. What type of shoes do you prefer to wear for all day walking through the parks. Last year, I think I wore tennis shoes everyday but one and that one day I wore a pair of Toms. I distinctly remember my feet hurting more that night, too. I'm going to take my Nikes and a more dressy-looking athletic shoe, too. I'm trying to decide whether to order a pair of the Sanuk yoga mat flip flops. DH has a pair and they are extremely comfortable, just don't know how they would be all the walking I will be doing in the parks.

My running shoes. That's it. Right now I have a pair of Saucony.

 

[Tltorrez]

All special offers at the moment are for stays from Jan 2 - March 7 so if you book through Disney you'll be paying rack rate. Are you a member of AAA? If so, they might be offering a discount

Also check out the Swan/ Dolphin. They often run discounts.

 

[Tltorrez]

Busy but a totally unproductive day, do you know what I mean?

Soooo, I'm pottering about (about 5pm) and DD is doing her homework. DH is in the bedroom doing whatever. DD & I hear a loudish crash downstairs. The floor there is tiled so I'm thinking a large tin has fallen from a shelf (despite the fact I don't have a large tin down there ). I then think .... oooh what if there is a critter down there!?!? I'd better go down and get rid before a full scale house drama breaks out - you know the kind .... DD running round screaming, the cats having an eppy, DH bursting out to see what all the noise is, me laughing in the corner ....

As I go downstairs I smell burning, so then I start to run, we have a clear glass panel door and all I can see is thick smoke I can't see flames, but it could be around the corner in the other room. Is the door to that room open? OMG, how long will it take for the house to burn down? All this flying through my head while I absolutely peg it back upstairs and down the hallway. I burst into our bedroom and say really calmly (which was weird) "Hey hun, theres a fire downstairs and I'm not quite sure how to handle it" Then its all slow-motion, he leaps up, "Get Bronwyn & the dog and stay here" he says in a really manly voice, running down the hallway (remember, still in slow motion) jumps down the whole flight of stairs ..... not even a minute passes but it seems like ages. I can hear him coughing, faffing around, he eventually emerges up the stairs ... through the smoke.... coughing ..... and he says "the heater on the fish tank blew up"

Now thats not very dramatic is it??? You were on the edge of your seat until I said 'the heater on the fish tank', weren't you Apparently the flame was about 2 inches high and one cup of water put it out. The thick smoke was from the plastic housing melting

LOL. Were the fish ok?

 

[Tltorrez]

Hi all,

I have been off of this board for days-signing papers, meeting with contractors, selling stuff on-line, packing up the house and oh, by the way, we are leaving in 2 days for WDW! This is crazy, the worst timing but I am so glad we are doing it. I can't wait to relax among the zebras and scream on some rides for stress relief.

Anyway.I started a trip report:

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?p=46795826#post46795826

When do you close?

 

[melissac]

My running shoes. That's it. Right now I have a pair of Saucony.

Saucony are my favorite brand. Once I started wearing them about 8 years ago I have never bought anything else.