Sarilas' O-fficial Pre-Trip Report (a.k.a. Vacation, Take TWO!) - Jan. 30-Feb. 8, '09

[Lady Lallie]

I'm glad that DH was able to see the light!

 

[MegansMom]

Well, you just about gave ME a little heart attack in the first few lines of that last update!!!!! PHEW!!! So glad he came to his senses---how exciting about your ADR change!!!

 

[julezdisney]

Hi! I'm tagging along for this PTR. Just found ya this morning though so I'm way behind- have to read later what dates you chose!

 

[Sarilas]

Oh, thank goodness he relented!!! You could have told him that there would be several DISers displeased with him also!

You may have had a lot of choices because it is January and a slow time of year. Also, I think the economy is finally affecting people's vacation plans -- I think that is why we are seeing so many discounts right now for Disney. I just hope that it means I won't have a problem making my ADRs for June.

I'm glad he relented too, but I'm in a FUNK now! He stole my Disney thunder and now I've got to get it BACK... sigh.

I'm glad that DH was able to see the light!

Seriously! Reschedule Disney?!

Well, you just about gave ME a little heart attack in the first few lines of that last update!!!!! PHEW!!! So glad he came to his senses---how exciting about your ADR change!!!

You felt my PAIN! ...and I may make a fes more ADR changes in the near future...

Hi! I'm tagging along for this PTR. Just found ya this morning though so I'm way behind- have to read later what dates you chose!

Welcome aboard! I'm glad you found me... you've got lots of time to catch up on the drama!

 

[Sarilas]

Alright, boys and girls (are there any boys reading my PTR? I know where my girls at- HOLLA!)

Yesterday was THE day... The day DH got to hold his bonus check in his hot little hand! The day that bonus got deposited into our account and I sat feverishly accounting for where each and every penny would be attributed!

And today?... Today was the day I spent THOUSANDS of dollars on textbooks, external hard drives and what nots... but it was also the day I PAID OFF OUR TRIP! I called Michelle, our TA (shout out to Michelle!), gave her my card number and CHA-CHING! That portion of our trip is GOOD TO GO! As you may remember, we're breaking up the trip into sections since I'm getting AN ANNUAL PASS THIS YEAR! I booked the room and dining portion through our TA, and will purchase the tickets/pass through AAA who has killer prices.

9 days, 8 nights at All Star Music Family Suites (really Disney, would it kill you for more family suites that aren't 'suite' suites?). (I'm totally counting our arrival and departure days... we'll get in as much Disneyfication as we can!)

I'm keeping my eyes peeled for those ding fares as well... everybody pray to the Southwest gods for January ding fares sooner rather than later!

Now, I haven't BOOKED deluxe dining yet... I want to and my husband is sort of on board, but while we know we can upgrade it becomes more of a pickle to DOWNgrade... so we wait. But that hasn't stopped me from making my ADR's folks! And there have been ch-ch-ch-ch-changes!

...to be posted tomorrow because I have cute little ankle biters that need to get to bed!

109 days to Disney!​

 

[Charleston Princess]

Isn't it a great feeling to have paid off the trip!!??

Looking forward to hearing about the ADR changes.

 

[TarzansKat]

Oooo, changes and we're so close to the 100 day dance! It's exciting!

 

[Lady Lallie]

I am dying to know about your ADR changes.

 

[MegansMom]

I can't wait to hear about your ADR changes!!! So, how do you find out about AAA's ticket prices??? Are they really that great???? Do they have deals on annual passes too? Where do I get the scoop---need info please!!!!! Thanks Lara, Jen

CONGRATS ON PAYING OFF THE TRIP!!!!!!!!!

 

[Sarilas]

Isn't it a great feeling to have paid off the trip!!??

Looking forward to hearing about the ADR changes.

It's SUCH a relief to make that phone call and pay it off!

I can't wait to hear about your ADR changes!!! So, how do you find out about AAA's ticket prices??? Are they really that great???? Do they have deals on annual passes too? Where do I get the scoop---need info please!!!!! Thanks Lara, Jen

CONGRATS ON PAYING OFF THE TRIP!!!!!!!!!

It really does add up... and yes they have AP pass deals too! I'll post it for you in a sec...

I am dying to know about your ADR changes.

Coming up next!

Oooo, changes and we're so close to the 100 day dance! It's exciting!

Can you believe it?! We need a 100 day party!

 

[Sarilas]

SO sorry for the delay in getting this update done, gang! My cable internet went wonky and I had to call someone out to replace my modem... but all seems to be well now! (I hope the girls didn't try to feed the modem a pb&j like they did the printer!)

I don't think I ever shared with you all that I made some new book purchases! I'm biding my time until the 2009 Passporter comes out next month, so I bought some reading material I can share with the kids...

Overall, they're good books though some of the information in them overlaps from one edition to the other, and the format is kind of frustrating for those of us with ADD... flipping back and forth to find the answers with the explanations is fun but so not the instant gratification I normally go for! I need some more 'behind the scenes' type books... any recommendations?

Next... I got an email last night from Disney and I don't know if it's a pin code or not but it's a great deal if anyone wants a Value resort stay for $59 a night from October through December!

ADR changes! I went ahead and filled up most of our meal times with new ADR's. We've only paid for regular dining at this point but will probably add deluxe in December before our trip, or will add the Disney Dining Experience (they changed the name... what did they change it to, I can't remember!) which will give us a discount on our cocktails and such at meals as well... nonetheless, I present you new ADR changes!

I added The Plaza, Yak & Yeti and Tony's, and I moved Cindy's Table from our first day to Thursday - I want the kids to be able to run rampant through the park that first day and build the anticipation of eating IN the castle! I also wanted to make sure we had the big 'fun' stuff spread throughout our trip, not just in the first couple of days. I'm not filling up all our breakfasts because we don't know yet if we'll go all commando each morning and try to make all the rope drops or not- I'd like to make it to at least one of each of the parks' rope drops for sure, but after that I'm open to some SLEEP.

NOW! MegansMom asked about AAA and the discounts available from them. It really is worthwhile in most cases, I have to say! In our situation, we're getting hundreds of dollars off our room rate at ASMusic Family Suites with an AP rate, and with the discounts on tickets and such from AAA we're actually able to buy the AP for what it would have cost to stay at ASMusic Family Suites without the pass... so the pass pays for itself!

Here are some details I just pulled up from AAA.com (well in my case it's AAAsouth.com but I digress):

Disney's AP passes are $469, but at AAA they're $445.95 - a savings of $23.05.

A 7 day park hopper for an adult is $278 from Disney, but at AAA it's $267.95 - a $10.05 savings. For kids, it's $243 from Disney and $233.75 from AAA - a $9.25 savings.

All in all, I'm looking at a savings of $61.65 buy getting our AP pass and tickets from AAA... that makes it worth it for me!

 

[Lady Lallie]

I get really hungry just looking at your scheduled ADR's. You have some really good ones on there!! You also have some on there that I want to try in 2010, yep I commited a 2010 ADR list to paper. Let the listy madness begin!!

I think any money that you save is worth it!

 

[Charleston Princess]

They changed the name from the Disney Dining Experience to Tables in Wonderland -- which goes nicely with your Alice theme .

Your new ADRs look good!!!

I just love that Cheshire Cat! I am glad that you said that about the trivia books -- I can't stand flipping back and forth in a book, so I will pass on those. I am biding my time until the new Passporter comes out, too!

 

[MRYPPNS]

I once had one of those books....hated the lay-out.

For AP room discounts. The UG author claims that an AP will pay for itself with only 3 nights at a deluxe resort because of the discounts. hint hint Jackie!

Of your ADR's I been to 1/3 of them, are going to another 1/3 of them this trip and would never go to the last 1/3!

 

[Charleston Princess]

I once had one of those books....hated the lay-out.

For AP room discounts. The UG author claims that an AP will pay for itself with only 3 nights at a deluxe resort because of the discounts. hint hint Jackie!

Of your ADR's I been to 1/3 of them, are going to another 1/3 of them this trip and would never go to the last 1/3!

Really? Oh, wow!

Anyone know how far in advance they release AP rates for hotels?

 

[Sarilas]

I get really hungry just looking at your scheduled ADR's. You have some really good ones on there!! You also have some on there that I want to try in 2010, yep I commited a 2010 ADR list to paper. Let the listy madness begin!!

I think any money that you save is worth it!

It is! That's more souvenir money in my pocket! And I would totally make my ADR list that far in advance. I'm already thinking of the places we won't make it to this time around!

They changed the name from the Disney Dining Experience to Tables in Wonderland -- which goes nicely with your Alice theme .

Your new ADRs look good!!!

I just love that Cheshire Cat! I am glad that you said that about the trivia books -- I can't stand flipping back and forth in a book, so I will pass on those. I am biding my time until the new Passporter comes out, too!

Table In Wonderland! LOVE IT! I remembered it was something to do with tables but missed the Wonderland part entirely. And yeah, the information in the book is interesting but I'm so not patient enough for the flipping!

I once had one of those books....hated the lay-out.

For AP room discounts. The UG author claims that an AP will pay for itself with only 3 nights at a deluxe resort because of the discounts. hint hint Jackie!

Of your ADR's I been to 1/3 of them, are going to another 1/3 of them this trip and would never go to the last 1/3!

I can totally see that about the AP's. Heck mine's paying for itself in one trip!

Tell me about the ADR's - which have you been to, which are you going to next and which wouldn't you go to?! Must know!

Really? Oh, wow!

Anyone know how far in advance they release AP rates for hotels?

From what I've been gathering they come out in waves - not all the resorts offer AP rates at the same time... ?

 

[Sarilas]

Two updates in one day!

I just got my Disneystore.com order (thank you Mr. UPS man!) and had to share with you what I bought!

First, for the spousal unit... Now, you should know my husband is an artist and a musician, and overall tends to be a pretty serious sort of fellow. So the average Disney t-shirt really doesn't cut it for him. HOWEVER, this one was perfect!

And I'm giving it to him for Christmas so it's being tossed into the Disney bin with everything else and he'll be none the wiser... muuuuahahahahaha!

Now for Kyle... Kyle has NOTHING Disney. But we sat down and looked at things online that he didn't think were geeky ( ) and here's what he got:

A Jack Skellington shirt...

An angry Mickey shirt (this one cracks me up for some reason...)

And some Mickey pj bottoms (all the kids are getting new pj's as arrival gifts when we get to ASMusic!)

Then I got Tatiana a shirt that I think will go with the color scheme of Stasia and Lexi's previously purchased aqua colored Ariel shirts (Tatiana's more into Tink though):

And last, but certainly not least, I got matching shirts for Stasia and Lexi! Similar... but different (just like them!)

and you know what I realized? I haven't bought a THING for myself! I've been buying clothes for everyone else and NOT ME! That'll have to change...

 

[Lady Lallie]

I just love all the Disney clothes you have bought! I love the Jack Skellington tshirt, I love Jack!

You must start buying your own Disney wardrobe!!

 

[Charleston Princess]

Table In Wonderland! LOVE IT! I remembered it was something to do with tables but missed the Wonderland part entirely. And yeah, the information in the book is interesting but I'm so not patient enough for the flipping!

I can totally see that about the AP's. Heck mine's paying for itself in one trip!

From what I've been gathering they come out in waves - not all the resorts offer AP rates at the same time... ?

Did you already get an AP discount for your hotel in January?

 

[MegansMom]

Thanks for the AAA info----has me thinking!!?!?!?!?!?!?! Good scoop!

Love the Disney items!!! You MUST go order something for yourself right this instant!!! I insist!!! Ha ha ha ha ha!!!!