Sand and Sun ~ Trip Number Ten Was Lots of Fun! Clearwater Beach & YC, August 2013

[RinkyTinkyTinky]

Yes, it got so bad that I started answering the recording with a few choice words about their "new" QS DDP!

I may have said a few choice things this morning as well...

...Small World is on AGAIN!

What's even worse than that though is that insane version of Beauty and the Beast that sounds like it's being 'sung' by crickets and bees! OH MY WORD! That is HORRIBLE!

I swear I am not lying... as soon as I typed this, that hideous song started playing!

 

[Momof2Disneyboys]

I may have said a few choice things this morning as well...

...Small World is on AGAIN!

What's even worse than that though is that insane version of Beauty and the Beast that sounds like it's being 'sung' by crickets and bees! OH MY WORD! That is HORRIBLE!

I swear I am not lying... as soon as I typed this, that hideous song started playing!

I know!! I was so irritated with that music by the time they finally answererd!!

It's especially irritating that there are shorter wait times on the regular line and they are making TA's wait hours.

 

[Disney Mommy 3]

Guess who is on hold now?! Trying to make some happen for a couple of 2014 families! I haven't been on too terrible long yet, so I am not crazy yet!

 

[RinkyTinkyTinky]

I know!! I was so irritated with that music by the time they finally answererd!!

It's especially irritating that there are shorter wait times on the regular line and they are making TA's wait hours.

I agree! I kept seeing people post that they were waiting 5-20 minutes on the regular line! Btw, 3.5 hours later and I'm still on hold...

 

[mickeystoontown]

Morning Shelly, I was going to pop over and tell you about the new Southwest sale but it looks like you've already changed and received the credit. I shoulda known you'd be on the ball and already know about it.

 

[Momof2Disneyboys]

Guess who is on hold now?! Trying to make some happen for a couple of 2014 families! I haven't been on too terrible long yet, so I am not crazy yet!

Don't worry, you'll get there...

I agree! I kept seeing people post that they were waiting 5-20 minutes on the regular line! Btw, 3.5 hours later and I'm still on hold...

You're STILL on hold???

Morning Shelly, I was going to pop over and tell you about the new Southwest sale but it looks like you've already changed and received the credit. I shoulda known you'd be on the ball and already know about it.

Thanks for thinking of me Lisa!!

 

[JoBird]

Good Morning Ladies!

Hope all you TA's get what your clients need and want!

Shelly---- M and I had a talk about next year and the dates!!!! One step closer to booking with you!! Now the dang waiting game of a Pin code or something.... for almost a year. GF of course. Not sure about RPC or SL yet. He does want to book the cabana again for the game. Do you know how far out I have to book it? Is it 180 days too? Don't want to risk not being able to get that one that we loved. I know-- it may be under construction. But I am keeping a positive attitude!
I said to him- I'm letting Shelly do it all this trip for us. He said of course, and looked at me like he wanted to say "well duh".

I'll send you my list of demands, I mean, requests when we get closer.

 

[JoBird]

LOVE that you got so much credit!!! Cali is looking good for you!

 

[Momof2Disneyboys]

Here's a little entertainment for those of you on hold...



Tuesday, August 20:


We were up early this morning to get to DHS by opening. As soon as I stepped out onto the balcony I knew it was going to be a HOT day! It was so hot & humid that the lens on my camera kept steaming up.

We used the small single elevator at the end of our hall, which comes out real close to the boat dock. Very convenient! Looking at the time stamp on my pictures, we got to the boat dock right at 8:00.

There were a lot of people there and the line ended up being huge by the time the boat came. Not everybody was able to get on. We got lucky! The boat then stopped at the Swan and Dolphin, where no one got on or off. Not sure why we stopped. Then we were on our way to DHS!

We arrived after about a 15-20 minute boat ride. It was now 8:30. We went through long security lines and then right into the park. It apparently was already open. And we were in the back of the pack!! Tons of people heading for TSM. We had a FP+ for it for 9-10am, so we weren't in a hurry.

When we made it to TSM is was 8:47. The stand-by was already 25 minutes. Yeah, and it wasn't even official opening time yet! We walked to the FP+ entrance and asked if we could get in yet. We were told no, not until 9:00. She didn't even let us try our Magicbands. If you tap it to the kiosk and it's not your time it turns red instead of green, but we weren't even allowed to try. So we stepped off to the side. I went over and got regular FP's for TSM for later for DH & DS12, which was for 10:15-11:15. Then we stood there..... When it was about 4 minutes until 9:00 DH said - I'm trying it!! He walked over and tapped his band to the kiosk before the CM could even stop him and it turned green! So we all followed. I'm thinking it will let you in about 5 minutes before and up to maybe 10 minutes after. We were late (because of transportation) to MK another day and our FP+ still worked about 7-8 min late. So that's about as close as I can figure it anyway.

My hair was already a frizzy mess and we had just gotten there. I had decided to wear it down that day because it had been up for days and was causing migraines. So to get rid of the headaches I had to wear it down, and it was so stinking hot!! I'm thinking a major haircut is in my future before the next summer FL trip!

We had a fun TSM ride and then DS14 and I were off to get our thrill on!! RNRC and TOT!! And DS12 and DH headed to Star Tours. We had a FP+ for RNRC for 10-11am and they had one for ST then. But it was only about 9:20 at this point. We all headed off anyway and planned to meet up for lunch around 11am.

Up Next: RNRC and TOT!!

 

[mickeystoontown]

You're welcome! Gotta keep our eyes and ears open for our Dis friends. I was on hold with Disney while I was reading about your SW credit. I received a pin code yesterday! The first one in 19 trips to Disney. But, it's in both my maiden name AND married name, had my mother's address and came to one of my old email addresses. After holding for 20+ minutes, the Grump, a/k/a my boss, came in and I had to hang up. I was afraid that my room category wouldn't be available so I finally just booked the trip online and will call back later to make sure they change my address. I wanted to apply the pin to my existing reservation since I had already make payments on the trip. Guess I'll call back on my lunch hour and attempt to get it all straightened out.

 

[mickeystoontown]

Oops, looks like we were posting at the same time. I am so glad that you had the Magic Bands on this trip 'cause now I can learn all about how they work. It's a good thing that your husband went ahead and tried the bands even if the castmember didn't want you to. Otherwise, you would have been still standing there waiting.

 

[Momof2Disneyboys]

Good Morning Ladies!

Hope all you TA's get what your clients need and want!

Shelly---- M and I had a talk about next year and the dates!!!! One step closer to booking with you!! Now the dang waiting game of a Pin code or something.... for almost a year. GF of course. Not sure about RPC or SL yet. He does want to book the cabana again for the game. Do you know how far out I have to book it? Is it 180 days too? Don't want to risk not being able to get that one that we loved. I know-- it may be under construction. But I am keeping a positive attitude!
I said to him- I'm letting Shelly do it all this trip for us. He said of course, and looked at me like he wanted to say "well duh".

I'll send you my list of demands, I mean, requests when we get closer.

I was wondering when you were going to join us!!


Yay for getting your plans together for next year!! I'm going to have to go back and look and see when the discounts usually come out for that time or year. I can't remember off hand, but am thinking maybe May-ish.

You have me definitely wanting to do a cabana next time we are at the Poly! I think you are right and it can be booked at 180 days. I'll have to check on that as well to be sure.

Can't wait to receive your list of requests...

LOVE that you got so much credit!!! Cali is looking good for you!

 

[Disney Mommy 3]

Still holding..almost an hour~so I guess I am halfway?! LOL!! In the meantime, I am pricing a trip for me and ds14 and dd10 for the end of Jan while I have nothing else to do! LOL... I looked at airfare for the end of jan,..$197 RT!!!! It would be a SIN not to do it,.. I mean we paid $384 for our Nov trip...and I had looked since Feb!!!! So,.... I am sure I could be sorting laundry or picking up SOMETHING right now,..but planning imaginary trips are so much more fun!!
I can't really wear my hair up too tight or pony tails for a long period~headache maker for me too...so, I try to keep it shorter...growing it out now and I am almost to the end of my patience with how long it can go...past my collars for sure, but not toooo much longer... I just can't do long. I feel your pain!

 

[JoBird]

I wish I could sleep on the plane!!

A non-stop flight from here to LAX would be just under 5 hours. If we went with a stop it could be 6-7+ hours travel time, depending on the stop/layover. But, we would be able to get up and strech and move around. So, IDK...

I've done it both ways.

I flew from Rochester NY to ATL, to LAX. LONG behind day bc then we had to get on the flight to HI after a two hour or so lay over.
Another time I flew from LAX straight to ATL, coming back from HI.
That one wasn't as bad.

The flight that we went to DL, I flew from here to LAX in one shot. Not too bad. But not as long of a flight as for you coming from PGH.

I do tend to get claustrophobic after awhile so it's tough not getting off and seeing things in other airports. It breaks it up, but makes it longer. If it were me with the kids, I'd do a straight shot, get aisle seats if possible so you can get up and walk easily.

Remember you will be super tired when you get to LA and probably fall asleep early, but will be up early the next day too. Probably like around 3-4 am. It takes a couple of days to adjust to the time. You have to force yourself to stay up the first couple of nights as long as possible to try to get to that time zone.

 

[JoBird]

I was wondering when you were going to join us!!


Yay for getting your plans together for next year!! I'm going to have to go back and look and see when the discounts usually come out for that time or year. I can't remember off hand, but am thinking maybe May-ish.

You have me definitely wanting to do a cabana next time we are at the Poly! I think you are right and it can be booked at 180 days. I'll have to check on that as well to be sure.

Can't wait to receive your list of requests...

I'm late today-- P90x kicking my tail. Again.

You will LOVE the cabana! My advice though to anyone doing it in the summer, is don't get it for the afternoon if you can help it. All day is okay- that is what we did. The rain comes in every afternoon and they make you leave it bc it's aluminum. If it stops and you still have a good amount of time left, you can return. When you sign up for it, they tell you that no matter what, no refunds are given. So if you do the afternoon shift, and get there at 2 pm, you may get a couple of hours in before the rains come.

WE had just ordered room service to be delivered to the cabana when it started raining, so they told us to go to Captain Cooks and they brought it to us. It was funny bc they brought it in with nice cloth napkins and the silver serving pieces all fancy with real dishes and set it up for us all proper-- and people eating in there were looking at us all strange like we were snooty patooty's that couldn't bother to eat at CS on *gasp!* paper plates.

The cabana is wonderful. Seriously awesome. They took great care of us. We look back on that day as our favorite, and it was the day before we left!

I sure hope they don't ruin it with construction.

 

[JoBird]

Gosh it must have been humid and nasty that day you went to DHS--- holy cow! The foggy lens -- I hate when that happens.

My hair was in a pony every day as well. It's just too dang hot not to wear it up.
(Speaking of hair guess what I'm doing Friday!?! YUP.)

That is really good info that you figured out the times you can use the FP+. Seems like little precious CM could have told you....

It does make it nice to have the FP, though and you can take your time and not go running with the bulls heading to TSMM all crazy like someone is chasing you.

Looking forward to TOT!!!!
(I didn't get to ride RNRC- Belle refused I told you.)

 

[RinkyTinkyTinky]

I do believe that I am a magic band convert! Not having to run with the herds to get on TSM is reason alone to love those MBs! So glad to hear that you can be late too. I'm certain that will be important information for us in a few weeks.

As for the hair... all my family vacation pictures are always so ugly because I wear my hair pulled back every day. I can't help it though. I just cannot deal with hot hair in Florida! And besides, one ride on BTMRR with my hair down and I'd look like Cousin It anyway!

Btw, I was on hold for 4 hours before I got through! Ridiculous! Had to upgrade to garden view for my client because standard was sold out.

 

[Momof2Disneyboys]

You're welcome! Gotta keep our eyes and ears open for our Dis friends. I was on hold with Disney while I was reading about your SW credit. I received a pin code yesterday! The first one in 19 trips to Disney. But, it's in both my maiden name AND married name, had my mother's address and came to one of my old email addresses. After holding for 20+ minutes, the Grump, a/k/a my boss, came in and I had to hang up. I was afraid that my room category wouldn't be available so I finally just booked the trip online and will call back later to make sure they change my address. I wanted to apply the pin to my existing reservation since I had already make payments on the trip. Guess I'll call back on my lunch hour and attempt to get it all straightened out.

Congrats on the PIN code! That's weird how it came though. Hope you get it all straightened out!

Oops, looks like we were posting at the same time. I am so glad that you had the Magic Bands on this trip 'cause now I can learn all about how they work. It's a good thing that your husband went ahead and tried the bands even if the castmember didn't want you to. Otherwise, you would have been still standing there waiting.

The Magicbands are awesome!

Still holding..almost an hour~so I guess I am halfway?! LOL!! In the meantime, I am pricing a trip for me and ds14 and dd10 for the end of Jan while I have nothing else to do! LOL... I looked at airfare for the end of jan,..$197 RT!!!! It would be a SIN not to do it,.. I mean we paid $384 for our Nov trip...and I had looked since Feb!!!! So,.... I am sure I could be sorting laundry or picking up SOMETHING right now,..but planning imaginary trips are so much more fun!!
I can't really wear my hair up too tight or pony tails for a long period~headache maker for me too...so, I try to keep it shorter...growing it out now and I am almost to the end of my patience with how long it can go...past my collars for sure, but not toooo much longer... I just can't do long. I feel your pain!

Are you still on hold???

Well, pricing imaginary trips is always fun!! That is awesome airfare! You are right, it would be so wrong to not book it!

Yeah, I'm thinking my hair will be a whole lot shorter before the next time I go to WDW in that kind of heat!

 

[Disney Mommy 3]

YES!!! Over 3 hours now...DAAAAAANNNNNGGG!!!! We have already finished all our homeschool for today!..We are ready for lunch, but I am not starting all that...If I wait past 4 hours, I will be tempted to hang up... mercy!!!!!

 

[Momof2Disneyboys]

I've done it both ways.

I flew from Rochester NY to ATL, to LAX. LONG behind day bc then we had to get on the flight to HI after a two hour or so lay over.
Another time I flew from LAX straight to ATL, coming back from HI.
That one wasn't as bad.

The flight that we went to DL, I flew from here to LAX in one shot. Not too bad. But not as long of a flight as for you coming from PGH.

I do tend to get claustrophobic after awhile so it's tough not getting off and seeing things in other airports. It breaks it up, but makes it longer. If it were me with the kids, I'd do a straight shot, get aisle seats if possible so you can get up and walk easily.

Remember you will be super tired when you get to LA and probably fall asleep early, but will be up early the next day too. Probably like around 3-4 am. It takes a couple of days to adjust to the time. You have to force yourself to stay up the first couple of nights as long as possible to try to get to that time zone.

I'm not sure what we'll do. If I keep getting these credits I am going to have to book with SW. Which will mean a stop. Still not sure what would be best.

IDK how I will ever adjust to the time change!!

I'm late today-- P90x kicking my tail. Again.

You will LOVE the cabana! My advice though to anyone doing it in the summer, is don't get it for the afternoon if you can help it. All day is okay- that is what we did. The rain comes in every afternoon and they make you leave it bc it's aluminum. If it stops and you still have a good amount of time left, you can return. When you sign up for it, they tell you that no matter what, no refunds are given. So if you do the afternoon shift, and get there at 2 pm, you may get a couple of hours in before the rains come.

WE had just ordered room service to be delivered to the cabana when it started raining, so they told us to go to Captain Cooks and they brought it to us. It was funny bc they brought it in with nice cloth napkins and the silver serving pieces all fancy with real dishes and set it up for us all proper-- and people eating in there were looking at us all strange like we were snooty patooty's that couldn't bother to eat at CS on *gasp!* paper plates.

The cabana is wonderful. Seriously awesome. They took great care of us. We look back on that day as our favorite, and it was the day before we left!

I sure hope they don't ruin it with construction.

PX90 kicked my tail all summer. Not anymore, I'm on break from it.

That is good advice about the cabana. I never even thought about that. Those dang storms break out almost daily in August/September.

I can't beleive you had to eat your room service at Captain Cook's! I bet people were wondering what the heck was going on. That is good that the CM's took great care of you. Makes the cabana sound even more inviting.

I'm worried that it will be ruined with construction. No dates on the pool closure yet. I wish they would just lay it all out and tell us what they are doing and when. Then we could all proceed with our plans for the next 2 years. But, for now we just sit here and wonder and don't know if/when to book a stay there...