PTR; Joshua and Samantha's 1st Trip (Sep 17-26 '09) [Train Tour Pics!]

[stacikristine]

It looks like your trip was a BLAST! I really like the zoo pics--too cute. And I can remember going to the Precious Moments Chapel when I was little bitty--seeing the pictures of Samantha brought back so many memories Congrats on your new trip!!! Good luck renting points. My aunt just got a great deal renting a few weeks ago--and she's going on really short notice (beginning of Sept).

 

[crocko]

It looks like your trip was a BLAST! I really like the zoo pics--too cute. And I can remember going to the Precious Moments Chapel when I was little bitty--seeing the pictures of Samantha brought back so many memories Congrats on your new trip!!! Good luck renting points. My aunt just got a great deal renting a few weeks ago--and she's going on really short notice (beginning of Sept).

Thanks!



and it appears, Good Luck has been had!


Unfortunately, the Boardwalk Villas studios were booked up, BUT there was availability at Old Key West which is a place I've never stayed at before....which was part of my goal.

Ironically, I happened to get in touch with a DVC owner who lives in Oklahoma City. We worked out a deal and she just confirmed that I have a reservation at Old Key West for those nights.

yay!!


[Now -- how long can I keep this secret?
The goal = until we get to the Magical Express pickup
The reality = ? ]

 

[longing2Batdisney]

WONDERFUL NEWS!!!! we were part of a stroller swap and picked up the stroller at Old Key West.. it was beautiful (from what I could see--it was 8:00 at night)

YOU HAVE TO KEEP IT A SECRET!!! SHE WILL BE SO EXCITED!!!

you need to school me--how does this renting of the points work
would this be something a budget minded mom be interested in for next year...
OH! but you can't be part of the "free dining" if its offered can you...
anyway how does it work if we go in DEC.

 

[crocko]

WONDERFUL NEWS!!!! we were part of a stroller swap and picked up the stroller at Old Key West.. it was beautiful (from what I could see--it was 8:00 at night)

YOU HAVE TO KEEP IT A SECRET!!! SHE WILL BE SO EXCITED!!!

you need to school me--how does this renting of the points work
would this be something a budget minded mom be interested in for next year...
OH! but you can't be part of the "free dining" if its offered can you...
anyway how does it work if we go in DEC.

Well, this is my first time to rent points and I'm still IN PROGRESS, but I'll let you know how it has gone so far....

When talking to Bridgette, she saw that we could get a room at All-Star Music for just over $350 for 3 nights, I believe (that includes taxes/fees/whatnot).

Well, on the DVC Rental forums, I could tell that the "average" price per point is around $10. I looked up some DVC points charts and figured out based on the date we were going, how many points I would need for each resort (only looked at the smallest rooms this time). After e-mailing/pm'ing a couple DVC renters, I found out that pretty much only OKW, SSR, and AKL still had availability for my timeframe. After Sept., I will have stayed at SSR and AKL, so that left OKW as a new place to try.

For a Sat night, Sun night, and Mon night.....standard studio at OKW, it would take 37 points. So, 37 x $10 = $370. Add 3% paypal charge and I will be paying a total of $381.10.

SO....for about $30 more, I will get to stay in a DVC deluxe resort.
(Had I booked OKW on my own, it would have cost just over $1,000)

In about 10 days, my DVC person will get the confirmation letter and then mail to me. I also gave her my flight info so that she could set up Magical Express for us. The ME stuff should arrive at my address a month before the trip.

[How can I save so much money this way? Well, right now, annual maintenance fees are approx. $5/point. So, aside from the initial cost of DVC, this owner spent $185 on these 37 points this year. She rented them to me for $370....making a $185 profit on her maintenance fees. She wins....I win. Yay for all Disney fans]

 

[longing2Batdisney]

sounds like a winner!! can't wait to hear how it turns out...

 

[jenny105]

OKW looks like a beautiful resort. I've never stayed there, you'll have to let me know how you like it! I eventually want to stay in every resort on property. So far I've only stayed in Pop but I'll cross two off my list with the Sept trip!

 

[crocko]

sounds like a winner!! can't wait to hear how it turns out...

Me 2!

I've made it about 24 hours so far since getting it booked......going to be an uphill battle to keep from talking about it.

OKW looks like a beautiful resort. I've never stayed there, you'll have to let me know how you like it! I eventually want to stay in every resort on property. So far I've only stayed in Pop but I'll cross two off my list with the Sept trip!

That's my goal, too!! OKW is one of the resorts at Disney I know the LEAST about....so, that will make it pretty neat.

 

[crocko]

Okay, back to talking about the real reason for this PTR......our September trip.

Last year, we bought a new camera for my wife.....a Nikon DSLR -- 10.2MP and 18x optical zoom (this thing zooms like crazy!)


This year, though, I decided that I'd like to have my own camera to take pictures with as well. That way, I can try to catch different angles and Bridgette can hopefully be in some pictures. Since she's got the nice DSLR, I figured I would just get a nice Point-and-Shoot. So, on July 3rd I went off to Best Buy with my $50 Best Buy gift card and $20 in Rewards Zone bucks......

and came away with....

10MP and 3x optical zoom. So, not much zoom, but I'll leave those pics up to my beautiful wife. My goal will be to catch some candid shots and try to get some close-up creative shots......my plan is that whenever we're just kinda standing around not doing much (or in a line) to keep my eyes open for unique things to take pictures of.

OH! and part of the coolness of buying over July 4th weekend, for only $40 extra.....I got not only the camera, but an extra rechargeable battery ($40 value), a camera bag (perfect size), and a 4GB memory card.

Now......to make sure I know how to use this thing.

 

[jenny105]

I have that camera! Mine is blue. It's pretty good for a point and shoot. Takes video too.

 

[crocko]

I have that camera! Mine is blue. It's pretty good for a point and shoot. Takes video too.

Jealous!

I really wanted the blue one, but they were out of stock.

OH well, great minds...........

 

[longing2Batdisney]

Great idea on the camera!! :thubsup2
I'm the one who is always taking the pics; Danny never even attempts to pick up the camera--so I'm hardly ever in the pics (which most of the time is OK--but sometimes it would be nice to have a few candid shots).

 

[crocko]

Great idea on the camera!! :thubsup2
I'm the one who is always taking the pics; Danny never even attempts to pick up the camera--so I'm hardly ever in the pics (which most of the time is OK--but sometimes it would be nice to have a few candid shots).

yeah -- going to try and get some candid shots....hoping to get some great reactions from the kids.

 

[crocko]

This weekend we had a garage sale.

Ugh!! It was around 105 degrees for the high this weekend. Luckily, we were at my parents house and they have good shade thanks to big trees. Nevertheless, this was our worst garage sale ever. Hardly anyone came by. Last time that we do a mid-summer sale like this. We still have quite a bit left, so we boxed it up and will give it another go in October we're thinking.

Luckily, we made enough for Bridgette to finish "paying off" her trip she took with her sister to Forks back in April.
The kids did a good job selling their toys.....made a combined $44, so $22 a piece which they have said they want to save for their Disney trip.

 

[stacikristine]

Yay for the camera! Sorry about the garage sale. Yeah, I'm kinda with everyone that didn't show up--I don't think I could brave the weather for some garage sales. Did you all get the rain these past few weeks?

 

[crocko]

Yay for the camera! Sorry about the garage sale. Yeah, I'm kinda with everyone that didn't show up--I don't think I could brave the weather for some garage sales. Did you all get the rain these past few weeks?

We haven't had much rain in the last.....well, the last while.



Last night we went clothes shopping (some of it specifically for Disney trip).

I added 2 pairs of shorts to my collection.
Joshua and Samantha each added a pair of comfy shoes.
Bridgette has added a plethora of cute, clearance clothes.
-- shopped at Kohl's....had a 30% off entire purchase sticker --

 

[crocko]

Time to get back to PTR discussion.


Going to start working on my "gameplan" for each day of the trip. The fact that we have booked a bounceback trip for just me and Bridgette is really going to help us put energy into making sure we do all the things the kids will really enjoy on this September trip.


So....

Day 1 (Arrival Day)

My parents and sister will be getting into MCO at about 1pm, I believe. Our plane is currently scheduled to arrive at 1:55pm. So, they will just wait around for us to get there and we will all get on the Magical Express together.

We will then enjoy the fun Disney video as we take our 30-minute trip to Kidani Village.

Hopefully, we'll make it to the resort by about 3:30. Get checked in, check out the rooms and do a little sight-seeing around.

For arrival night, we have a 7:10 ADR at 'Ohana. So, my thinking is that by 5:00-5:30ish we'll get on a bus to Magic Kingdom. The kids will be able to get a sneak preview glimpse of the park and the castle.
Depending on how much time we have. The plan is to take the monorail to check out the Grand Floridian and Contemporary before dinner. Then, probably around 6:45pm, we'll finish whatever we're doing and head over to the Polynesian.

Have a great dinner, check out the Poly a little bit....take the monorail back to Magic Kingdom and then catch a bus back to AKL. In hopes of getting some good rest to start the trip, we'll try to get to bed in good time this first night.


Potential punctures in the plan:
-- The plane. On our last trip, the connecting flight in Houston was delayed almost 2 hours. If something like that happens again, we'll be pressed to pretty much check-in and quickly get over to dinner.

Most moveable mission:
-- Checking out the MK hotels. If need be, checking out the GF and Contemporary can most easily be scratched....as we'll be on the monorail at other times on the trip and could add this to the itinerary later.

Adventuresome ad hoc add-on:
-- Magic Kingdom entrance. Theoretically, the idea is to not enter a park until the following morning. BUT....my sister, my mom, Bridgette, and I have annual passes. The kids and my dad have 10-day park hopper passes. We're only staying 9 nights, which means we could go to a park every full day of the trip, plus the arrival and departure dates. Will we be tempted to take a sneaky trip into MK while we're so close? I don't know!!

 

[stacikristine]

Sounds great so far! I'm anxious to hear how you like 'Ohana! We weren't able to get in at a decent tmie there, so we're trying Kona instead. I think your kids would LOVE to go to MK for a little bit on the first day!!

 

[crocko]

Sounds great so far! I'm anxious to hear how you like 'Ohana! We weren't able to get in at a decent tmie there, so we're trying Kona instead. I think your kids would LOVE to go to MK for a little bit on the first day!!

Well, I've been to 'Ohana before and we absolutely loved it. Now, the menu has probably changed since then, but still expecting it to be good.

From what I've heard of Kona, though, it sounds very good to.

And yes....MK on that first night is VERY tempting.

 

[crocko]

Yesterday was Thursday, which means one week closer....

9 WEEKS TO GO!!!




AND...it means another letter to start.


The Letter R

Ride: Walt Disney World Railroad (the kids are excited about riding the train over to Toontown)
Non-ride: Rafiki's Planet Watch (This is a pretty fun area and both Bridgette and I think the kids can have some fun back here)
Characters: Rhino, Ryan (HSM), Rusty, Russell, Ramone, Randall, Remy, Roo, Rabbit, Robin Hood, Rex, Rocket (Einsteins)






PLUS, TODAY IS JULY 17TH....WHICH MEANS

2 MONTHS UNTIL DISNEY WORLD!!

 

[crocko]

Last night we watched Snow White as our finish-off for the letter Q

(Would have watched Hunchback of Notre Dame [for Quasimodo] but they've watched it recently and I could tell Joshua didn't really enjoy it much).
So, Snow White since it has the evil Queen in it.

In general, the kids don't always do as well with the older movies, so wasn't sure what to think about this one for them. Samantha fell asleep before it started and missed the whole thing. So, as a "princess" movie, was expecting Joshua to get bored. He stayed attentive throughout, though, and laughed ALOT at the dwarves. His favorites were Dopey and Sneezy. It was so exciting to see him enjoying those characters, despite their 72 years of existence.

Joshua usually gets "closed-down" and sad about "death-scenes" (did not handle Charlotte's Web very well....poor guy) so wasn't sure what he'd think at the end of Snow White, when it looks like she was dead.
The scene where the dwarfs have put her in a glass coffin and are mourning her, I look over at Joshua....he looks over at me and says "Is it over? Now what can we do?"
Haha.....so much for Snow White! Apparently no emotional attachment, there. LOL