September 2011 - The Planning Has Started!!!

[DaniB]

The problem with doing the DDP on a split stay is that you pay insane rates for park tickets because you'd have to split them up.

Isn't it insane though? I keep eyeing the (platnum?) package for 1 night. The one that gives tickets to La Nouba and unlimited tours. But then I remember we would have to purchase a seperate 1-day ticket for for that package. I just don't see how that makes sense $-wise... Ah well.

General question for everyone-What souvenir's and trinkets do you know you want to get or ARE going to get on your next trip?

Top of my list is a pearl from Japan and wooden handheld fan from China! Last year I lost my son's pearl (while packing to leave) and ended up giving him mine in exchange. He doesn't realize I lost his. And I purchased a beautiful fan in China. The next day I brought it with me to AK. Somewhere in that long long day (AK, CSR, dinner, P&PFV) I lost it... Never got it back.

Now this may sound weird, but I'm really hoping to find a Disney address book! Not princesses, or cars, or pirates or fairies. I want the original characters I grew up with! (Mickey & Minnie, Donald & Daisy, Goofy, Pluto, etc)

Here's another giant picture until I figure out what to do....

What a great photo. Where did you find that shirt your husband is wearing?! I know mine would love it as well!

I love that photo! Is that a frog? He looks kind of transparent. I loved all those tiny lizards running around the place.

 

[DaniB]

....especially since I got a call on my way over there from DH saying to go ahead and buy DVC direct from Disney!!!! All we have to do is decide between AKV and BLT. I'm in shock!

I asked him if he wanted to be in charge and he said "Nope. It's your thing. Go ahead and take care of it. Let me know if you need any of my info."

That is awesome!!! You must be over the moon. I would love to be able to purchase DVC or at Bonnet Creek. It's not in our plans any time soon however.

You've made the right decision. Trust me I wish I had been able to resist. I live in fear of the day someone posts a gator experience on the Dis and I have to cancel my vacation.

I so wanted to see a 'gator on our trip last year. But I didn't get to see a 'gator, or armadillo. However we saw (what seemed like) hundreds of these tiny cute lizzards everywhere! I loved them.

Now... don't *ever* open the thread about spiders! That freaked me out..

I got word from my doctor's office today. They scheduled an induction for me on Sunday morning. This is about the most upsetting thing I've heard all week. I cried for about an hour and a half when I got off the phone, and then on and off all day. This is SO not how I wanted my pregnancy to end. Did anyone call the 6th or 7th?! Looks like she will be making her appearance by the 7th.

I woke up about an hour ago contacting every 4-5 minutes!

I'm wishing the best for you & baby! Every birth is different so I really believe everything will go well!

My first was natural and a total nightmare! So much that I swore I was never having a second. It was 5 years before I had my second. I was induced for him, although under different circumstances. He was a couple weeks early (I knew he would be), but after my water broke - labor just never started. So the midwife brought me to the hospital to be induced. And it was so smooth & easy & amazing! I didn't even have an epidural that time. Totally different experiences!

My question to you all, How's the weather in Sept & should worry at about hurricanes?

I worried about hurricanes, rain and the heat for our first trip. The powers-that-be smiled upon us and our whole 10-days there was sunshine! Not a single drop of rain. And while it was hot, we never had issues with the "needing to change your clothes 10 minutes after you step out of the resort". Honestly, there was only one time in our trip that we were dying of heat/sweat and that was in the Jedi Training area. Having said that, I'm still preparing for rain or hurricanes this year just-in-case.

We are staying at Bonnet Creek... I was able to snag a week through the Armed Forces Vacation Club for $400! We wanted to stay onsite but with 4 boys and 2 adults the price difference between offsite and on for the size accomadations we would like was HUGE!

That's a fantastic price for Bonnet Creek! One day I want to stay there. The place looks so amazing and I would love the extra space/rooms. I passed on it last year and this year because Free Dining saves us more. However when Disney stops the Free Dining, I'll be looking over Bonnet Creek again!

 

[L-Harper]

I wanted to thank all of you for your sweet comments on my calendar. It was so fun to make and really didn't take long at all. My boys really love it! It'll be fun to give each of them a copy of it when we're in WDW so they can see where we'll be going next.

 

[Millermom0606]

O man I don't know how you made that calendar but its AWESOME!!!!

I am SO excited!!! Last email I got I was informed that since I have SO many plans for trips and DH wants to go to London we are buying into DVC at AKL!!!!!!!

 

[ThereYouSeeHer]

...we are buying into DVC at AKL!!!!!!!

Wow, that would be awesome!!

 

[mayfam2010]

I woke up about an hour ago contacting every 4-5 minutes!

How exciting!!!! Hoping all goes well for you and your family today!

 

[disneydreamin247]

I got to the hospital at 10 and sure enough I was in active labor with super strong contractions every 3 minutes or less. By 11:45 they got me in my room and it's been smooth sailing since! Got my epidural and took a nap and now I'm just waiting for her to be ready!

 

[MamaJessie]

Right now we are debating whether we should do the MNSSHP. We only have 4 days in the parks (we got the 4 day military park hopper) but will be there with 6 full days to play (plus 2 for driving to/from) I want to allow plenty for downtime as a family but still make sure we are making the most of this trip. Is the Party worth the extra expense? Can we do it on a day we aren't entering the parks and save our full ticket for another day? That might work well if possible, relax all day at the hotel pool and then go to MNSSHP in the evening.

We did this last time, we ahd the morning off and went to MNSSHP at 4.

What a great photo. Where did you find that shirt your husband is wearing?! I know mine would love it as well!

he bought it at wdw. He said I didn't need to pack him anything to wear to mnsshp since he wasn't going to dress up until he saw those jack things.

I got to the hospital at 10 and sure enough I was in active labor with super strong contractions every 3 minutes or less. By 11:45 they got me in my room and it's been smooth sailing since! Got my epidural and took a nap and now I'm just waiting for her to be ready!

Come on baby!!!

 

[ThereYouSeeHer]

I got to the hospital at 10 and sure enough I was in active labor with super strong contractions every 3 minutes or less. By 11:45 they got me in my room and it's been smooth sailing since! Got my epidural and took a nap and now I'm just waiting for her to be ready!

Such great news! So happy for you! It's hilarious, by the way, that you are taking the time to chat on the DIS! Haha......

 

[WelovMickey!]

O man I don't know how you made that calendar but its AWESOME!!!!

I am SO excited!!! Last email I got I was informed that since I have SO many plans for trips and DH wants to go to London we are buying into DVC at AKL!!!!!!!

WELCOME HOME!

 

[WelovMickey!]

I got to the hospital at 10 and sure enough I was in active labor with super strong contractions every 3 minutes or less. By 11:45 they got me in my room and it's been smooth sailing since! Got my epidural and took a nap and now I'm just waiting for her to be ready!

Yay! I am so happy for you!

 

[sjs314]

I got to the hospital at 10 and sure enough I was in active labor with super strong contractions every 3 minutes or less. By 11:45 they got me in my room and it's been smooth sailing since! Got my epidural and took a nap and now I'm just waiting for her to be ready!

So glad to hear things are moving along so well ....this is so exciting

 

[Millermom0606]

So Glad things are going smoothly for all of you Dani

 

[stephielela]

180 DAYS!!!

I just got finished making ADR's- it took so long.

But I got everything I wanted within five minutes or so of the time I wanted, including 'Ohana for supper and Le Cellier for lunch.
Everything was pretty open as far as I could tell.

It kept kicking me out and I kept having to log back in with my reservation- happened probably three times. Very frustrating. I got the ones I knew would be the hardest to get, first.
It opened up RIGHT AT 6 am- I kept trying 5 minutes before up until 6 am and it kept saying I couldn't do it.

Anyone else make reservations this morning? I got up at 4:40 AM my time.



Now, coffee and catching up with everyone.

Congrats!!!

I got bored today while my husband was gone and my boys were sleeping. I'll fill in our flight and ADR times once I know them. I plan on printing the park times and crowd calendar for the week on the back so we can take it with us to the parks each day. I'm also going to put a copy up on our dream board.

I got the idea from this awesome trip report!

That is AWESOME! I want to do one just like it, so when DS looks at it, he knows what we're doing etc, since he is only 2 and doesn't read...

Thank you for the warm welcome everyone!

This is our first deployment, DH's been a Marine for 10 yrs but this is his first time being out of the country for an extended period of time. We just came off of 3 years of recruiting duty so we are definitely looking forward to a vacation and settling back into our "normal military life".

Having this trip to plan for is helping us all feel connected and have something to look forward to. My DH is getting just as excited as the boys and I... he said he can't wait to eat some yummy food so I've been sending him info on the restaurants so he can help me pick where to make our ADR! I am sure everything will look awesome to him after eating in a chow hall for 8-9 mos! lol

We are staying at Bonnet Creek... I was able to snag a week through the Armed Forces Vacation Club for $400! We wanted to stay onsite but with 4 boys and 2 adults the price difference between offsite and on for the size accomadations we would like was HUGE!

Right now we are debating whether we should do the MNSSHP. We only have 4 days in the parks (we got the 4 day military park hopper) but will be there with 6 full days to play (plus 2 for driving to/from) I want to allow plenty for downtime as a family but still make sure we are making the most of this trip. Is the Party worth the extra expense? Can we do it on a day we aren't entering the parks and save our full ticket for another day? That might work well if possible, relax all day at the hotel pool and then go to MNSSHP in the evening.

Thanks again for welcoming me into your group, I can't wait to hear about everyone else's planning!

Yay for end of deployment!!! And as the others have said, thanks for everything you and your husband and family have sacrificed for us!!

As far as MNSSHP, with the ticket for the party, you are allowed to enter the park at 4 pm (every year there are rumors that they won't let you in until 7 pm, and every year those rumors are false) so you can enjoy some time at MK before the party starts. Because the party goes so late, it's a great idea to do it on a nonpark day so you can rest up and relax. It's a lot of fun!

I got to the hospital at 10 and sure enough I was in active labor with super strong contractions every 3 minutes or less. By 11:45 they got me in my room and it's been smooth sailing since! Got my epidural and took a nap and now I'm just waiting for her to be ready!

Yay!!!!! So happy for you. I was induced with DS due to complications and was in labor for 17 hours, pushing for 3 1/2 before they finally knew they had to do a C-section. Needless to say, I am not a fan of induction! How exciting!!

 

[MissLiz]

Wow! I missed a lot this weekend!!!

Congrats on the baby coming, Dani!!!! And without having to be induced!!!!

Welcome to all the new people on the thread! It's great to see it growing.


So, I have news for everyone. Yesterday we did it! We are now the proud owners of DVC!!!!!! After a lot of thought, we decided on AKV!!!!

Of course, that meant cancelling our room only reservation and booking with points, but we got AKV for 9/16-9/19 savannah view and we got BLT for 9/19-9/23 with a lake view!!!!

We had to lose club level and Magic Kingdom view, but it's so worth it!

It seems so surreal right now. But September will be our official first trip HOME!!!!!

 

[MamaJessie]

Congrats MissLiz!!​

 

[L-Harper]

O man I don't know how you made that calendar but its AWESOME!!!!

I am SO excited!!! Last email I got I was informed that since I have SO many plans for trips and DH wants to go to London we are buying into DVC at AKL!!!!!!!

Thank you for your comments on my calender. Yay for DVC!

I got to the hospital at 10 and sure enough I was in active labor with super strong contractions every 3 minutes or less. By 11:45 they got me in my room and it's been smooth sailing since! Got my epidural and took a nap and now I'm just waiting for her to be ready!

I am so happy that things have turned out so well and that you didn't need to be induced. See, she just wanted to come in her own time.

Wow! I missed a lot this weekend!!!

Congrats on the baby coming, Dani!!!! And without having to be induced!!!!

Welcome to all the new people on the thread! It's great to see it growing.


So, I have news for everyone. Yesterday we did it! We are now the proud owners of DVC!!!!!! After a lot of thought, we decided on AKV!!!!

Of course, that meant cancelling our room only reservation and booking with points, but we got AKV for 9/16-9/19 savannah view and we got BLT for 9/19-9/23 with a lake view!!!!

We had to lose club level and Magic Kingdom view, but it's so worth it!

It seems so surreal right now. But September will be our official first trip HOME!!!!!

I have you changed on the first post. Congrats on the DVC!!!

 

[L-Harper]

Well, I have yet another change. I'm so excited! When our agent called Disney to cancel our AKL days he some how pulled strings to get 2 days of free dining on our Pop Century reservation extended!!!! It wasn't that we couldn't go for those 2 days, we just didn't want to pay the price of AKL plus the cost of food. I am SO excited!

 

[ThereYouSeeHer]

Wow! I missed a lot this weekend!!!

Congrats on the baby coming, Dani!!!! And without having to be induced!!!!

Welcome to all the new people on the thread! It's great to see it growing.


So, I have news for everyone. Yesterday we did it! We are now the proud owners of DVC!!!!!! After a lot of thought, we decided on AKV!!!!

Of course, that meant cancelling our room only reservation and booking with points, but we got AKV for 9/16-9/19 savannah view and we got BLT for 9/19-9/23 with a lake view!!!!

We had to lose club level and Magic Kingdom view, but it's so worth it!

It seems so surreal right now. But September will be our official first trip HOME!!!!!

That is so cool!! So did you handle everything over the phone? How did it go? I love that you chose AKV and it's great that you were able to do a split stay!

 

[ThereYouSeeHer]

Well, I have yet another change. I'm so excited! When our agent called Disney to cancel our AKL days he some how pulled strings to get 2 days of free dining on our Pop Century reservation extended!!!! It wasn't that we couldn't go for those 2 days, we just didn't want to pay the price of AKL plus the cost of food. I am SO excited!

Wow, sweet!