~Snowbird Chat 2~

[Mndisneygirl]

Test Track reopens on 12/6 - hope you guys get to enjoy it!

I really should be doing something like packing or sleeping.

I did get some more laundry done tonight and we girls did our pedicures. Not complete - Paige wants to add something special to her big toes (they are orange - any guesses?) and I think I need a black mickey head on my red toes.

Will haul out suitcases tomorrow and try to figure out which ones to use. Still need to clean more and change sheets on the girls' beds.
A few small random things to do - ship a pkg, deliver some pampered chef stuff, chiropractor appointment.

Three more days til we leave!!! Hoping I can get out of work early on Friday!!

 

[Disney Mommy 3]

can't believe you are this close!! I know at this point I am killing myself to get the cleaning done!! LOL!!!

 

[Mndisneygirl]

can't believe you are this close!! I know at this point I am killing myself to get the cleaning done!! LOL!!!

Well, I got one bathroom done today since I was home early to take Sarah to the orthodontist - she now has black and orange braces!
I'll vacuum everywhere tomorrow, and hope since the dog got a haircut he won't shed too much more this week.
Then Thursday do the last bathroom and give the kitchen a once over, water plants and pack.
Nothin to it!

 

[MindyLuvsMickey]

I love the last minte rush to get everything done and ready to go.

Glad to l ow that Test Track opens on 12/6. We will be heading to Epcot on 12/9 so I will make sure that TT is our first stop.

 

[Disney Mommy 3]

well, I am weird,..maybe I have OCD? I clean each room from top to bottom and clean out closets and all that before our trip. But, I usually do it before Christmas/holiday time anyway...start getting out clothes that have been hibernating,(our fall/winter is sooo different from y'alls),.and go through toys and all that...Actually, it's more like RIGHT NOW!! I am starting it this week. Also, when we finish school for our first semester, I clean the school room really good and go through books we no longer need~then the upstairs is pretty much finished...by the time the trip comes the whole house is clean and dusted and reorganized...
Of course,I usually have all the presents bought and at least hidden~if not wrapped! I think I am going to wait and do the tree when we get back this time....I usually kill myself trying to do it all before I go...we'll see how I do in the next few weeks...I have way more going on this year than ever before at this time so it might all wait till after Turkey Day!!

 

[Disney Mommy 3]

Sheree:

3 DAYS!!!! and then you will be !!

I hope you can get Friday off!! You really need to~tell them we all said so!


my little ticker is very happy this morning too~

1 MONTH

I am so excited! I was a little baffled/worried that I didn't have my days and ADRs exactly like I wanted them...but I think I have it all worked out now...the main thing is if we do the Christmas Party...I am still on the fence between Mon night the 12th & Thurs night the 15th. We have always done a Thur, but dd and ds both want to do it on the Mon night...
One of our approaches was that we can do it at the beginning (if the weather is good~no rain outs) and then we can rest more at the end and let Thursday be our rest day/shopping for souvies. We always do that anyway, but hurry back for the party~this way it'll be done and we can really relax that day. The other option is that it's closer to the end and we have it to look forward to~I dont know,...I will figure it out in about 3 1/2 weeks when I apply all the weather reports and see what it looks like. Watch both nights be perfect weather!

 

[Mndisneygirl]

Shawna - you're too funny! I think you are a little OCD! I RARELY clean the rooms top to bottom. If I can vaccuum, dust and change the bedding, I'm pretty happy!
The bathrooms are a different story. But I just don't want to come home and see that there's dog hair all over and clutter. I'll be bringing in the clutter when we return!

So I got the girls' bedding in the wash this morning before work. So all the beds are done. Just need to vaccuum, one more bathroom and the kitchen. In two days. Oh and pack!

DH was so tired - he had a 12 hour day yesterday due to the holiday Monday. We didn't even get out the suitcases yet! That will be today.

ONE MONTH Shawna!!! If you're going to do all that cleaning, you better get started! HA!
And Christmas shopping? NADA. Not one gift bought yet. Although I do have a list started for the girls. And I will pick up a couple gifts at WDW too. I have to scale it down this year. For real this time. Although Paige wants an iPod touch from Santa. Because she knows they are expensive. Isn't she sweet.

Okay - gotta get some work done!

 

[Momof2Disneyboys]

Happy 3 DAYS Sheree!!!

Happy 1 MONTH Shawna!


So happy to hear TT will be open for our trip!! Is it posted on the WDW site or where did you find that Sheree?

 

[Disney Mommy 3]

thanks Shelly! You are in the ones!!!!!

 

[Mndisneygirl]

Happy 3 DAYS Sheree!!!

Happy 1 MONTH Shawna!


So happy to hear TT will be open for our trip!! Is it posted on the WDW site or where did you find that Sheree?

Someone posted it on FB and I think there was a link. It may very well be on the WDW site. The DIS main news page had it on there too. You'll have to report how you like it. I also saw pictures that they took down some big wooden walls in FL and now there are tall hedges in big box planters. I guess that would be prettier!

Your ticker says a "1" at the beginning now!!

 

[Lil'Mermaid75]

Although Paige wants an iPod touch from Santa. Because she knows they are expensive. Isn't she sweet.

Someone posted it on FB and I think there was a link. It may very well be on the WDW site. The DIS main news page had it on there too. You'll have to report how you like it. I also saw pictures that they took down some big wooden walls in FL and now there are tall hedges in big box planters. I guess that would be prettier!

Your ticker says a "1" at the beginning now!!

I saw an update from DIS on FB with this information!

Sheree - did you see that they're taking walls down in the FLE area?? Maybe we'll get lucky and have some soft openings. Quite frankly, I just want to walk around the area and take it all in!!!

 

[MindyLuvsMickey]

Are all of the Snowbirds heading back to Disney this Fall? Goodness!

Shawna, I'm a bit OCD when it comes to cleaning. I loathe dust. BLECH! Prior to vacation, I have to have everything clean because I can't stand coming home to a dirty house.

So excited that the FLE walls are coming down!!

 

[Disney Mommy 3]

mindy, what blog or site are you reading with dates for the wall? i am curious what all will be finished by my trip date.. Yeah, I have to have it cleaned and organized when I leave ..one I feel like I can really rest while I am gone,like i deserve a break~ and two, I don't want to have to clean ANYTHING when I get home...Disney makes me tired!

 

[MindyLuvsMickey]

mindy, what blog or site are you reading with dates for the wall? i am curious what all will be finished by my trip date.. Yeah, I have to have it cleaned and organized when I leave ..one I feel like I can really rest while I am gone,like i deserve a break~ and two, I don't want to have to clean ANYTHING when I get home...Disney makes me tired!

I'm sorry. I'm not the one who saw that information. I just got excited reading it here.

Disney exhausts me, too. I'm hoping that going without kids isn't as tiring.

 

[danceintherain]

Grrr....Why do discounts always make my life more complicated instead of less complicated?
First of all, with only the military discount released, I had time to not book. Now that discounts have been released the general public, the availability is going to start to get sucked up.
On top of that, I got a pin for Free Dining in my email, and Free Dining might be a better choice if we stay at a Moderate, which is starting to look more like the better option. But doing Free Dining would change the structure of our trip, because we wouldn't be getting the military tickets, so it doesn't make sense to restrict ourselves to only 4 days in the Disney parks.

Right now, I'm looking at around a $1000 difference between staying in a Moderate with Free Dining and 10 day tickets, and staying at the Wilderness Lodge with 2 day tickets (my online comparison for the AFS tickets) and purchasing the Dining Plan. The AFS room discount would be slightly better, and we probably wouldn't get the dining plan if we went that route, but it's still the best comparison I can come up with without doing the numbers myself (I had to wipe my computer a few days ago, because it was running painfully slow, and I haven't reinstalled Microsoft Office yet). The cancellation for booking with AFS is obviously more favorable, but it doesn't make a lot of sense to plan on spending more money, just because we can cancel at the last minute.

Logan says we can talk about it when he gets home. Part of the problem is that I have to call to book either the military discount or my pin offer (it's in my maiden name for the address we lived in when we first got married) which brings up timing and connection issues.

Maybe it's time to reinstall Microsoft office and really start crunching the numbers?

 

[MindyLuvsMickey]

When is your trip, Becca?

 

[Momto2PrncChrmgs]

Grrr....Why do discounts always make my life more complicated instead of less complicated?
First of all, with only the military discount released, I had time to not book. Now that discounts have been released the general public, the availability is going to start to get sucked up.
On top of that, I got a pin for Free Dining in my email, and Free Dining might be a better choice if we stay at a Moderate, which is starting to look more like the better option. But doing Free Dining would change the structure of our trip, because we wouldn't be getting the military tickets, so it doesn't make sense to restrict ourselves to only 4 days in the Disney parks.

Right now, I'm looking at around a $1000 difference between staying in a Moderate with Free Dining and 10 day tickets, and staying at the Wilderness Lodge with 2 day tickets (my online comparison for the AFS tickets) and purchasing the Dining Plan. The AFS room discount would be slightly better, and we probably wouldn't get the dining plan if we went that route, but it's still the best comparison I can come up with without doing the numbers myself (I had to wipe my computer a few days ago, because it was running painfully slow, and I haven't reinstalled Microsoft Office yet). The cancellation for booking with AFS is obviously more favorable, but it doesn't make a lot of sense to plan on spending more money, just because we can cancel at the last minute.

Logan says we can talk about it when he gets home. Part of the problem is that I have to call to book either the military discount or my pin offer (it's in my maiden name for the address we lived in when we first got married) which brings up timing and connection issues.

Maybe it's time to reinstall Microsoft office and really start crunching the numbers?

All those tough decisions! All of that unknowing stresses me out! My head was swimming with these promises of discounts and I jumped on the discount today for our January trip. The poor CM said she didn't even know what it was called or what type of discount it was giving, she just quoted whatever the computer said. Weird!! We technically ended up paying about $400 for the dining plan for 5 people (4 of those are Disney adults) for 8 nights. It's not Free Dining, but it's pretty darn close to me!

 

[Mndisneygirl]

Oh my gosh Becca and Jenny - I don't know how to figure that math out anymore! Since we bought DVC, I don't book packages, so free dining isn't an option. It does give us the freedom to do whatever we want about dining, tickets.

Becca - have you thought about not getting the dining plan at all? Just pay OOP and eat whatever you want. You could use a room discount and not have to worry about tickets - still get military discount, I assume. Good luck figuring it out!

This will be our first trip without DDP in ages! I'm really excited about it. We have a few hundred $$ in gift cards and visa rewards, so we will basically charge to our room and pay it all off with those. With food and wine, I didn't book many ADRs either (only 3) and will just eat our way around world showcase.

 

[Dancegrl624]

I'm hoping these two discounts bring in some new clients! They are calling the one promo Stay, Play and Dine and it's a discount on a package (room, tix, dining). It's a cool promo, but it's not free dining. Maybe it's a way to get people off the free dining thing. Not sure.

I think Enchanted Tales with Belle is going to open soon. They were testing again today! The new area looks amazing and I'm dying to see it...just not sure when that will be. Storybook Circus looked great when we were there and the tents weren't even open then!

 

[Mndisneygirl]

I'm hoping these two discounts bring in some new clients! They are calling the one promo Stay, Play and Dine and it's a discount on a package (room, tix, dining). It's a cool promo, but it's not free dining. Maybe it's a way to get people off the free dining thing. Not sure.

I think Enchanted Tales with Belle is going to open soon. They were testing again today! The new area looks amazing and I'm dying to see it...just not sure when that will be. Storybook Circus looked great when we were there and the tents weren't even open then!

I sure hope we get a chance to see Enchanted Tales! I'm excited that even some of the area will be open. I saw that the walls were replaced with big hedges now! That's an improvement for sure. I'll take what I can get! We aren't planning on going back for a couple years so the next time there will be even more new stuff for us!
Of course, I shall report back anything I experience! Keep your eyes open on FB too - I'll try to post there. I've decided the laptop will stay home. We will have our iPad and iPhones, that should be enough technology. I could use a break anyway!