~Snowbird Chat 2~

[Dancegrl624]

Awww Meghan you're too sweet!!!! Emily loves anything Princesses or Fairies. She's not picky! Andrew is into Star Wars now. I miss his Lightning McQueen and Mickey Mouse days!
We just got the 2013 planning dvd in the mail today and I can't wait to watch it! I'm so excited to see the new Fantasyland! Em had dance class tonight so it was too late to watch it when we got home. I told them we would watch it for Valentine's Day tomorrow!

It's my pleasure! I love giving my client's kiddos some goodies for their trip. I will look for Star Wars lanyards...I have Mickey, Toy Story and Cars right now for boys. Lots of princess/fairy ones for girls!

Speaking of East Coast trips....if anyone ever has a desire to see Niagara Falls, be sure to let me know! We only live 20 minutes from there and I can be your tour guide! I can show you all the great places to eat and things to do!

 

[Disney Mommy 3]

aaahhhh, Meghan~ You KNOW Niagara is on my Bucket List!

 

[Monny2AE]

Hi Snowbirds! Had to jump on to see my ticker. It's been such a loooooong week!!!!! I needed to see my countdown to make me feel better. Some days I have to remind myself I'm working for my Disney vacation and it gets me through! 105 more days!!!!!

ok girlie! If we don't do Disney I will expect this! LOL!! I am always leaning more toward East Coast vacas when I am off the Disney radar...we just always cave and go back!

Cave and go back! Disney is way more fun than the east coast!

So last night I was with my best friend and her husband when the say the plan to take the kids to Disney World in 3 years. They are penny pinchers and definately live on a budget, so they know it will be enough time for them to save up, and also the youngest at that point would be 4 yrs. So they then asked if I would "escort" them! Jared says he won't go unless I go because I know the ins and outs. He also says he doesn't want to be beaten for taken the kids for the first time without me!

So let the planning begin!! And saving! I'm going to make each kid a piggy bank that says "Disney Fund" on it. I'm so excited!

Never done Disney World with young kids! Ahh!!!

That's so exciting!!!! God luck saving and have fun planning! It's so magical with little ones!

Well, I've finally decided to cancel my Bermuda cruise. Not because of the Triumph problems, and we had a great time on Princess two weeks ago. But they're rebuilding the docks in Bermuda, and there's a possibility that we might have to tender (take the little boats) between the boat docked in the harbor and the land. I really don't want to have to deal with that, especially while traveling with my elderly aunt. So it'll have to wait until next year. Oh, well.

At least the Disney trip is still on for September!

Bummer but with all the cruise troubles maybe it's for the best. At least you still have Disney to look forward to!

Trying to make ADR's right now............ Stupid new WDW site will only let me make them for my first day. It's not recognizing the 180+10. I went to the dining boards here and apparently it has been happening to everyone. Guess I'll have to wait and call at 7:00. Kind of hard when I've got to get the kids on the bus at 7:15. People are reporting waiting over an hour just to talk to someone....

That stinks! Hopefully they get the kinks worked out soon. I'm a little concerned about going in June and having issues with the new system.

It's my pleasure! I love giving my client's kiddos some goodies for their trip. I will look for Star Wars lanyards...I have Mickey, Toy Story and Cars right now for boys. Lots of princess/fairy ones for girls!

Speaking of East Coast trips....if anyone ever has a desire to see Niagara Falls, be sure to let me know! We only live 20 minutes from there and I can be your tour guide! I can show you all the great places to eat and things to do!

No worries if you don't have Star Wars. I can pick one up for him! It's so sad he's at that age now where he's too "cool" for the "little kids" stuff. I always hit the Disney Store outlet in Lancaster PA before our trips and get them a couple character tshirts and it's getting harder and harder to find ones for him. No more Cars or Buzz. Now it's Star Wars and Pirates of the Caribbean.

We have been talking about going to Niagara for a couple years now. The last time we went was in 2000 way back before Sept 11th when you didn't need a passport. Now we would have to get passports to cross to the Canadian side.

 

[Disney Mommy 3]

Kim~I was at Barnes & Noble today and was looking at the new Birnbaums 2013...I have the 2012 and wanted to see what was new before I bought it...(Not enough changed for me to get it)..so we are in the travel section and I said, where do y'all want to go? And they said "Disney'...Gracie said, well, I would like to go somewhere else, but I don't know what it could be. No kidding!! This is why we keep going! lol!

 

[Momof2Disneyboys]

Kim~I was at Barnes & Noble today and was looking at the new Birnbaums 2013...I have the 2012 and wanted to see what was new before I bought it...(Not enough changed for me to get it)..so we are in the travel section and I said, where do y'all want to go? And they said "Disney'...Gracie said, well, I would like to go somewhere else, but I don't know what it could be. No kidding!! This is why we keep going! lol!

My family is the same way Shawna!! We always say we are going to do something new, but we never do! We used to go to Niagara Falls once in awhile before you needed passports to go to Canada. I'm not getting passports for Canada! We used to go out to eastern PA and to Hershey and all that out there. It is a lot of fun, but we kind of did it to death. But as far as going on a real vacation far away, we always end up back at Disney. It's just our place I guess! We are however adding on a few days at the beach before our next Disney trip. Maybe you guys could do something similar to change it up a bit, if you're looking for a change. There's lots to do and see in central FL. It's just hard for some of us to break outside those WDW gates!

 

[Mndisneygirl]

You could do what we do - add on a short disney cruise, go to Disney's Vero Beach or Hilton Head. Still Disney!
I have had a lot of people asking me if I'm heading to WDW for spring break, and when I say NO, they are shocked! Of course, I tell them we're going to a Disney resort and then they say, ah, it figures.
When I say we're going to Alaska, everyone thinks that is so out of the ordinary and I tell them we're doing the Disney cruise, they are not really surprised! Some just didn't know that Disney cruises to Alaska.

So in two weeks, Sarah is turning 12!! Then as soon as Paige finishes her dance competition (probably on Sunday) we are heading off to Hilton Head!! I'm really
excited, but have not really planned much of it. I know we're spending a day in Savannah and then stopping for a day in Asheville NC on the way home.

 

[Disney Mommy 3]

one of our Disney trips as kids, my parents took us to Busch Gardens,..it was ok I guess...I just remember that I wasn't that impressed~of course following Disney!!! what do you expect? But we always drove there~never flew anywhere...it would have cut down on the torture I guess to fly! I think of lots of places to go, but it just seems like one of us is going to hate some part of it and at least we all find something at disney we like... i am going to do a Fishing excursion next time~ we watched a family at the WL dock doing it and they were telling us how much fun they were having and when they started catching fish we all started yelling and clapping and the kid was sooooo cute!!!! My bunch is definitely up for that...

 

[danceintherain]

one of our Disney trips as kids, my parents took us to Busch Gardens,..it was ok I guess...I just remember that I wasn't that impressed~of course following Disney!!! what do you expect? But we always drove there~never flew anywhere...it would have cut down on the torture I guess to fly! I think of lots of places to go, but it just seems like one of us is going to hate some part of it and at least we all find something at disney we like... i am going to do a Fishing excursion next time~ we watched a family at the WL dock doing it and they were telling us how much fun they were having and when they started catching fish we all started yelling and clapping and the kid was sooooo cute!!!! My bunch is definitely up for that...

See....that's the thing for us too. Disney has SOO many options that it's nearly impossible to have the same trip twice. If we weren't limited to 4 days on our AFS tickets this year, I would have no problem adding 2 more days and possibly another excursion AT Disney instead of going all the way over to Universal.
Even now that our budget is pretty much maxed out, I've been over on the cake chatter thread, and I'm having a hard time convincing myself that we shouldn't order a cake to be delivered at a restaurant for no reason.

A friend of mine just got back from Vegas with her husband. He insisted on doing something different this year, since they did Disney last year (she actually went to both WDW and Disneyland last year - he didn't go on the second trip). They don't have any kids and just moved to Seattle so I guess that makes sense.
Well....HE was the one complaining the whole trip because "it wasn't Disney."
Now she's asking for my advice for how to surprise him with a trip to Disney for his birthday in May. This is a difficult feat, because he's the one who does all the planning in their relationship, and would definitely notice if money started dashing off to WDW, or on random airfare he didn't know about.

 

[Monny2AE]

Kim~I was at Barnes & Noble today and was looking at the new Birnbaums 2013...I have the 2012 and wanted to see what was new before I bought it...(Not enough changed for me to get it)..so we are in the travel section and I said, where do y'all want to go? And they said "Disney'...Gracie said, well, I would like to go somewhere else, but I don't know what it could be. No kidding!! This is why we keep going! lol!

That's too funny!!!! Like mother like daughter!

My family is the same way Shawna!! We always say we are going to do something new, but we never do! We used to go to Niagara Falls once in awhile before you needed passports to go to Canada. I'm not getting passports for Canada! We used to go out to eastern PA and to Hershey and all that out there. It is a lot of fun, but we kind of did it to death. But as far as going on a real vacation far away, we always end up back at Disney. It's just our place I guess! We are however adding on a few days at the beach before our next Disney trip. Maybe you guys could do something similar to change it up a bit, if you're looking for a change. There's lots to do and see in central FL. It's just hard for some of us to break outside those WDW gates!

We always talk about going other places and we always end up at Disney again! We used to rent a house at Outer Banks every summer. Then we discovered Disney. Now everything else is a day trip or weekend getaway but Disney is our vacation!

You could do what we do - add on a short disney cruise, go to Disney's Vero Beach or Hilton Head. Still Disney!
I have had a lot of people asking me if I'm heading to WDW for spring break, and when I say NO, they are shocked! Of course, I tell them we're going to a Disney resort and then they say, ah, it figures.
When I say we're going to Alaska, everyone thinks that is so out of the ordinary and I tell them we're doing the Disney cruise, they are not really surprised! Some just didn't know that Disney cruises to Alaska.

So in two weeks, Sarah is turning 12!! Then as soon as Paige finishes her dance competition (probably on Sunday) we are heading off to Hilton Head!! I'm really
excited, but have not really planned much of it. I know we're spending a day in Savannah and then stopping for a day in Asheville NC on the way home.

Shhhh don't tell DH I was pricing the Disney Alaskan cruise the other day I'm not interested in regular cruises- weird phobia of being confined on something so heavy that floats- but the one to Alaska looks so different I might be convinced to give it a try!

 

[MindyLuvsMickey]

Hey Birdies!

I've been gone too long. I'm here to get my mind off of diabetes struggles. I need a quick mental vacation so I'm "off to Disney" in my mind Makes me wish I had a trip to plan to keep me occupied. I've been trying to talk Matt into celebrating my 40th birthday in Disney. It's still 3 years away but that will give me time to plan and save for the ultimate Disney Vacation. Chase will be big enough to ride most everything by then (except RnR).

I had contemplated taking the boys next October for an extended family vacation next but we move into our new house in two weeks. Need to be responsible with money for a little bit

How is everyone else doing? How were your recent trips?

I can't remember if I even updated after I returned from my Girls Weekend at the Poly. I only had an ok time. I realized that traveling with some adults is more stressful than traveling with some kids. I missed my kids and DH terribly when I was there and it made realize that I shouldn't go to WDW without them because THEY are the ones that make it fun for me. The poly was gorgeous, as usual. Crowds were managable. MVMCP was fun and we loved the new Fantasyland. I'm anxious to see the new Seven Dwarf's Mine Train when we make it down next.

 

[Momof2Disneyboys]

Hey Birdies!

I've been gone too long. I'm here to get my mind off of diabetes struggles. I need a quick mental vacation so I'm "off to Disney" in my mind Makes me wish I had a trip to plan to keep me occupied. I've been trying to talk Matt into celebrating my 40th birthday in Disney. It's still 3 years away but that will give me time to plan and save for the ultimate Disney Vacation. Chase will be big enough to ride most everything by then (except RnR).

I had contemplated taking the boys next October for an extended family vacation next but we move into our new house in two weeks. Need to be responsible with money for a little bit

How is everyone else doing? How were your recent trips?

I can't remember if I even updated after I returned from my Girls Weekend at the Poly. I only had an ok time. I realized that traveling with some adults is more stressful than traveling with some kids. I missed my kids and DH terribly when I was there and it made realize that I shouldn't go to WDW without them because THEY are the ones that make it fun for me. The poly was gorgeous, as usual. Crowds were managable. MVMCP was fun and we loved the new Fantasyland. I'm anxious to see the new Seven Dwarf's Mine Train when we make it down next.

Hi Mindy

Guess I missed you at the Poly. I'm sorry you only had an okay time. I don't think I would be able to enjoy WDW without my DH and boys either.

We loved the new LM ride. I'm very anxious to see the new Seven Dwarfs Mine Train. We were peeking in at it through the walls!!

I'm sorry you have been struggling with diabetes. I hope everything is okay.

I'm writing a Dec TR if you want to pop over there for a quick Disney escape! Just updated it with Kona breakfast!

 

[MindyLuvsMickey]

Hi Mindy

Guess I missed you at the Poly. I'm sorry you only had an okay time. I don't think I would be able to enjoy WDW without my DH and boys either.

We loved the new LM ride. I'm very anxious to see the new Seven Dwarfs Mine Train. We were peeking in at it through the walls!!

I'm sorry you have been struggling with diabetes. I hope everything is okay.

I'm writing a Dec TR if you want to pop over there for a quick Disney escape! Just updated it with Kona breakfast!

I do want to check it out!! I will take time to do that this morning

The diabetes is Rylan, actually. He was diagnosed over New Years. Just when we felt like we were getting the hang if it, he came down with the stomach flu this weekend. Turn an ordinary, annoying stomach bug into a very scary monster. Can't manage Type1 diabetes with out food and you can't eat food if you're sick. You can take your insulin if you don't eat. It's been awful and frightening.

 

[Momof2Disneyboys]

I do want to check it out!! I will take time to do that this morning

The diabetes is Rylan, actually. He was diagnosed over New Years. Just when we felt like we were getting the hang if it, he came down with the stomach flu this weekend. Turn an ordinary, annoying stomach bug into a very scary monster. Can't manage Type1 diabetes with out food and you can't eat food if you're sick. You can take your insulin if you don't eat. It's been awful and frightening.

Oh I'm sorry to hear that. Poor little guy. That's got to be rough and scary.

 

[Disney Mommy 3]

Mindy~sorry to hear about your little guy!! I saw something on FB, but I wasn't following it well...I hope it soon becomes manageable and not so nerve-wracking for all of you! Congrats on the big move!!! I have asked Mike before about us taking a short *3 day* trip to WDW for our anniversary and he was stunned~couldn't believe I would even consider it without the kids!!! But, I do think I would be bored there without them! It would just be weird and guilt-inducing. We are thinking about going somewhere for a short trip in the spring,..and just keeping our Nov Disney trip as usual...Of course, the dream trip would be to Europe (England,Ireland, or Scotland,etc), but I don't see that happening with the boys being in their school again this coming school year and then college for the eldest the next year!! He actually goes on his Jr College touring trip with his school next week. So, if y'all think about it, keep them in your prayers...I know they will be okay together, but there are so many crazy people on the roads and just roaming around in general!
How is y'all's weather? Ours is ramping up for March no doubt!! It's CRAZY the wind we are getting,...and the nights are going to be dropping back down to the 20s as the week goes on~but we have had loooots of rain....I know many of y'all are just sick of snow...which of course we don't get! Things are starting to bud out down here and the grass is getting green! We fertilized last week and it made such a difference! still patchy and has some weeds, but it's thickening back up and starting to show some growth....
I was tempted to go ahead and start a ticker with our presumed dates, but if we move it around I wouldn't have the heart to start over~and Nov is a long time out!!!!
Shelly & Kim~how are y'alls plans coming?

 

[snykymom]

Mindy, so sorry to hear about Rylan; having our kids sick has got to be the worst. And chronic simply multiplies it.

We've had snow for three weekends in a row. And tomorrow, it's going to rain! Miserable.

So I've made another plan to escape winter! Not this one - next. I've booked another Caribbean cruise in December, 2013. And I'm really looking forward to it!

 

[MindyLuvsMickey]

Our weather has been pretty boring. We've not had any major snows at all. We've just been getting little snow/sleet mixes every couple of days. They typically melt before the sun fully comes up. I wanted just one decent snow. 6"? No such luck.

I'm pretty sure that I have Matt on board for a 2015 birthday trip for me It's a long way away but it gives me something to plan. There is some racing school in Arizona that he wants to go to so I was able to use that as a negotiating tool

Now the question becomes, how do I make this trip one to remember? I'm very excited that Chase will be taller than 44" by that time and we won't have to deal with BabySwap. We can all ride the fun rides as a family for a change.

I also wonder how Rylan's diabetes will effect our trip. Obviously, the food aspect will be a challenge. Heat and exercise can also effect diabetics. I worry about him walking around in the heat for 8 hours a day. We may have to scale things down.

 

[danceintherain]

Hey Birdies!

How is everyone else doing? How were your recent trips?

I can't remember if I even updated after I returned from my Girls Weekend at the Poly. I only had an ok time. I realized that traveling with some adults is more stressful than traveling with some kids. I missed my kids and DH terribly when I was there and it made realize that I shouldn't go to WDW without them because THEY are the ones that make it fun for me. The poly was gorgeous, as usual. Crowds were managable. MVMCP was fun and we loved the new Fantasyland. I'm anxious to see the new Seven Dwarf's Mine Train when we make it down next.

I'm sorry it was just an ok trip. I don't think I'd have a problem going without Logan and Gideon, but I've never been tested. I just finished booking a 50th birthday trip with my Mom for June, and it's going to be a girls trip. We'll be staying at an all-inclusive resort in Cancun, which is something I've never done before. The longest I've ever been away from Gideon is a single night! This trip is going to be almost a full week!

I do want to check it out!! I will take time to do that this morning

The diabetes is Rylan, actually. He was diagnosed over New Years. Just when we felt like we were getting the hang if it, he came down with the stomach flu this weekend. Turn an ordinary, annoying stomach bug into a very scary monster. Can't manage Type1 diabetes with out food and you can't eat food if you're sick. You can take your insulin if you don't eat. It's been awful and frightening.

Awww...that's so frustrating. I hope he starts to feel better again soon.

 

[Momof2Disneyboys]

How is y'all's weather? Ours is ramping up for March no doubt!! It's CRAZY the wind we are getting,...and the nights are going to be dropping back down to the 20s as the week goes on~but we have had loooots of rain....I know many of y'all are just sick of snow...which of course we don't get! Things are starting to bud out down here and the grass is getting green! We fertilized last week and it made such a difference! still patchy and has some weeds, but it's thickening back up and starting to show some growth....
I was tempted to go ahead and start a ticker with our presumed dates, but if we move it around I wouldn't have the heart to start over~and Nov is a long time out!!!!
Shelly & Kim~how are y'alls plans coming?

Our weather stinks! We were so spoiled last winter with such a short and mild winter. This one has been long and cold and I'm sick of it!!

The trip plans are coming along pretty well. I've been doing little updates on it in my TR. Made my ADR's last week. Got my airfare last month. We are flying into Tampa and renting a car and driving to the beach for a few days before WDW. Don't have that part of the trip booked yet, still working on it...

Our weather has been pretty boring. We've not had any major snows at all. We've just been getting little snow/sleet mixes every couple of days. They typically melt before the sun fully comes up. I wanted just one decent snow. 6"? No such luck.

I'm pretty sure that I have Matt on board for a 2015 birthday trip for me It's a long way away but it gives me something to plan. There is some racing school in Arizona that he wants to go to so I was able to use that as a negotiating tool

Now the question becomes, how do I make this trip one to remember? I'm very excited that Chase will be taller than 44" by that time and we won't have to deal with BabySwap. We can all ride the fun rides as a family for a change.

I also wonder how Rylan's diabetes will effect our trip. Obviously, the food aspect will be a challenge. Heat and exercise can also effect diabetics. I worry about him walking around in the heat for 8 hours a day. We may have to scale things down.

That is awesome that you are planning your 2015 trip already!! Do you know what time of year you are planning to go? I would definitely try to stay at either a MK or Epcot resort, so you can get back to the resort in a hurry from most parks, if you should need to for Rylan. Plan lots of down time/resort time. Maybe just half days in the parks. We usually only do about 6 hours at a time in the parks. It makes the vacation more relaxing and enjoyable for us.

 

[Disney Mommy 3]

Shelly...how the heck did I lose your TR?!! I gotta get over there!! LOL!! My friend told me there is a jam up play area in the Tampa airport....

Mindy~I have heard that Disney Chefs are fantastic to work with for dietary restrictions and I have actually seen them come out and sit with the family to take notes and discuss the meal!! I would try to go off season for sure~I can't handle the heat and I live in it! I know it would be hard for him...stay the the CR, the Beach Club or the Poly where you can walk or mono back if you need to in a hurry...We have been a couple of times in Oct and the last time was soooo hot and humid!!! November always has been great for us~you get some warm days, but not so hot you feel like you are in an oven...Jan was good too, but the rain/cold fronts are always a factor....

 

[disneyshakeygirl]

Mindy - I have severe food allergies and Disney has been fantastic with them. I cannot give them enough praise for how they handle dietary restrictions. I've had some of the best meals ever at Disney.

The chefs do indeed come out and talk to you. the best chef I've encountered was at The Coral Reef. You can also ask for allergy/nutritional books that supply all necessary information.