cinderaimee
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Sep 26, 2016
- Messages
- 721
Hello Friends! I'm back and planning my 4th trip in 4 years. If you haven't come across one of my TR's, I'll quickly introduce us:
Me - Aimee, a 30-something government professional living and working in the Washington, DC area, mom of two boys, commuter extraordinaire, addicted to Netflix and Youtube, crochets a mean baby blanket.
Favorite park: Magic Kingdom
Favorite ride: Expedition Everest
Favorite character: Cinderella
Favorite snack: popcorn
Favorite restaurant: 'Ohana
DH - also a 30-something government professional living and working in the Washington, DC area. Loves fishing and tinkering with his motorcycle.
Favorite park: Epcot
Favorite ride: Soarin'
Favorite character: Goofy
Favorite snack: churro
Favorite restaurant: Geyser Point
DS1 - 7 years old, in the second grade. Loves Star Wars, Minecraft, Legos, cooking, and learning piano. My sweet, helpful boy.
Favorite park: Animal Kingdom
Favorite ride: Flight of Passage
Favorite character: Chewbacca
Favorite snack: Mickey pretzel
Favorite restaurant: Woody's Lunch Box
DS2 - 5 years old, in kindergarten. Loves video games, dinosaurs, snakes, and trains. Full of mischief and energy and is the reason I have to dye my hair.
Favorite park: Animal Kingdom
Favorite ride: Seven Dwarves Mine Train
Favorite character: Chip and Dale
Favorite snack: popcorn
Favorite restaurant: anywhere with french fries
Our first trip as a family was in November 2016. We stayed at the Boardwalk and spent 5 days in the parks. The next family trip was in January 2019 and we had a split stay between CBR and Wilderness Lodge and 8 park days. Most recently, I took a whirlwind of a 4 night trip with my two sisters and sister-in-law in August of 2019, staying at Pop Century. (You can read about those trips at the links in my signature if you'd like)
This trip is basically a year in the making. Shortly after I returned from our family trip last January, my sisters and I began to plan our girl's trip for August. I got away with going with very little fuss from the kids by promising we would all go back after SWGE was open. I also asked the kids if they wanted to know about the trip ahead of time or if they wanted to be surprised, and they both said surprise so we are keeping it all a secret for now.
We chose August versus any other time of the year, well initially because I had assumed we could get free dining again. Unfortunately, the limited dates that were offered this year didn't work with our schedule and we stuck with our plan to go in the second half of August anyway. I found the crowds that time of year pretty manageable since a lot of kids are back in school by then. Yes, it's hot, but August in DC is also hot and extremely humid and pretty miserable so it's not such a big difference that we can't handle it. Last August, I found the weather pretty bearable with all the indoor attractions and air conditioning.
So as of a few nights ago, we are booked for 7 nights at Pop Century, August 15-22, with six day hoppers. Although we have stayed at deluxe resorts in the past, those were DVC rooms gifted by a very sweet family friend. We spend so much time in the parks that the resort is secondary. The room is really just a place to sleep. When I compared the room and resort between CBR and Pop, I really couldn't justify spending so much more money to stay at CBR. I liked the vibe and the pool at CBR, but that was about it. I thought the room was small and cramped, and prefer the layout of the Pop rooms (they even have somewhere to store your suitcase!), and the opening of the Skyliner only makes it more appealing.
Even though I loved it the last trip, we've decided not to buy a dining plan this trip and just pay out of pocket. The splitting of QS credits into adult and child credits is what did it for us. My kids (especially my older boy) laugh at the portions of a lot of the kid's meals, and we liked being able to split an adult's meal between the kids to stretch out our credits. With Disney closing those loopholes, the dining plan has basically lost most of it's appeal for us. (Unless it was a free dining plan, I'd be happy to take that
)
So that's basically where I'm at now. Our ADR date is coming up in a couple weeks, so I've got to put some thought into that. I'd like to do a PPO BOG reservation, BUT if I'm paying out of pocket for it, EMM might be a better value for us. We are also considering doing a Halloween party and are waiting to see what those dates will be. We have also talked about adding 2 or 3 resort only days at AKL or Poly after we check out of Pop, but we're still trying to figure out if that will be possible with our work schedules. I'd love to just relax at the pool after going full tilt for a week.
Even though I was just there last August, so many new things have opened or will be opened by time that we go on this trip, I'm so excited to see it all!
Me - Aimee, a 30-something government professional living and working in the Washington, DC area, mom of two boys, commuter extraordinaire, addicted to Netflix and Youtube, crochets a mean baby blanket.
Favorite park: Magic Kingdom
Favorite ride: Expedition Everest
Favorite character: Cinderella
Favorite snack: popcorn
Favorite restaurant: 'Ohana
DH - also a 30-something government professional living and working in the Washington, DC area. Loves fishing and tinkering with his motorcycle.
Favorite park: Epcot
Favorite ride: Soarin'
Favorite character: Goofy
Favorite snack: churro
Favorite restaurant: Geyser Point
DS1 - 7 years old, in the second grade. Loves Star Wars, Minecraft, Legos, cooking, and learning piano. My sweet, helpful boy.
Favorite park: Animal Kingdom
Favorite ride: Flight of Passage
Favorite character: Chewbacca
Favorite snack: Mickey pretzel
Favorite restaurant: Woody's Lunch Box
DS2 - 5 years old, in kindergarten. Loves video games, dinosaurs, snakes, and trains. Full of mischief and energy and is the reason I have to dye my hair.
Favorite park: Animal Kingdom
Favorite ride: Seven Dwarves Mine Train
Favorite character: Chip and Dale
Favorite snack: popcorn
Favorite restaurant: anywhere with french fries
Our first trip as a family was in November 2016. We stayed at the Boardwalk and spent 5 days in the parks. The next family trip was in January 2019 and we had a split stay between CBR and Wilderness Lodge and 8 park days. Most recently, I took a whirlwind of a 4 night trip with my two sisters and sister-in-law in August of 2019, staying at Pop Century. (You can read about those trips at the links in my signature if you'd like)
This trip is basically a year in the making. Shortly after I returned from our family trip last January, my sisters and I began to plan our girl's trip for August. I got away with going with very little fuss from the kids by promising we would all go back after SWGE was open. I also asked the kids if they wanted to know about the trip ahead of time or if they wanted to be surprised, and they both said surprise so we are keeping it all a secret for now.
We chose August versus any other time of the year, well initially because I had assumed we could get free dining again. Unfortunately, the limited dates that were offered this year didn't work with our schedule and we stuck with our plan to go in the second half of August anyway. I found the crowds that time of year pretty manageable since a lot of kids are back in school by then. Yes, it's hot, but August in DC is also hot and extremely humid and pretty miserable so it's not such a big difference that we can't handle it. Last August, I found the weather pretty bearable with all the indoor attractions and air conditioning.
So as of a few nights ago, we are booked for 7 nights at Pop Century, August 15-22, with six day hoppers. Although we have stayed at deluxe resorts in the past, those were DVC rooms gifted by a very sweet family friend. We spend so much time in the parks that the resort is secondary. The room is really just a place to sleep. When I compared the room and resort between CBR and Pop, I really couldn't justify spending so much more money to stay at CBR. I liked the vibe and the pool at CBR, but that was about it. I thought the room was small and cramped, and prefer the layout of the Pop rooms (they even have somewhere to store your suitcase!), and the opening of the Skyliner only makes it more appealing.
Even though I loved it the last trip, we've decided not to buy a dining plan this trip and just pay out of pocket. The splitting of QS credits into adult and child credits is what did it for us. My kids (especially my older boy) laugh at the portions of a lot of the kid's meals, and we liked being able to split an adult's meal between the kids to stretch out our credits. With Disney closing those loopholes, the dining plan has basically lost most of it's appeal for us. (Unless it was a free dining plan, I'd be happy to take that
)So that's basically where I'm at now. Our ADR date is coming up in a couple weeks, so I've got to put some thought into that. I'd like to do a PPO BOG reservation, BUT if I'm paying out of pocket for it, EMM might be a better value for us. We are also considering doing a Halloween party and are waiting to see what those dates will be. We have also talked about adding 2 or 3 resort only days at AKL or Poly after we check out of Pop, but we're still trying to figure out if that will be possible with our work schedules. I'd love to just relax at the pool after going full tilt for a week.
Even though I was just there last August, so many new things have opened or will be opened by time that we go on this trip, I'm so excited to see it all!
