Thankful, wishful CHANGING plans! NOV '12 PTR, Packing, shopping & last minute plans

[francis6306]

So… I'm a little bummed… But it's not horrible. Sorry it took so long to get on here- the girls had me running crazy last night and today we had Miss Catie's 9 month check up. NINE months!!! Really? How is it that she is that old?!

I have a room discount PIN, but apparently, it's not one that works for the whole trip unless the dates are all included. See. It blackouts the 17-23 of Nov, which is the bulk of our trip. We could get a discount on the rooms for certain nights only, so it doesn't really save us as much money as it could if we could move our trip up or back a week. Which isn't an option.

I'm still VERY excited that we GOT the Pin, and I'm just going to pray that maybe this means there is HOPE for Free Dining that usually IS able to be extended through your whole trip as long as you check in by the last date. We were planning on going before we got the pin, so not being able to use the pin won't stop us, you know?

 

[readytogotodisney]

Well that stinks! But at least you save a little something right?

BTW - It's me Cara!

 

[francis6306]

Well that stinks! But at least you save a little something right?

BTW - It's me Cara!

AWE!!! Hi my Real Life friend!!!!

 

[francis6306]

Hello All!

So, we haven't made any decisions. I have the Pin, but it's not going to save me a whole lot. I got online- finally had some time- and tried to look at my options. I think I am spoiled. I went during a value week last year AND Cortlyn was free- so these prices are scaring me a little! But we are committed to going!

Right now, I have to watch Grey's!

 

[jenseib]

I know all about the pricing situation. I keep working ways to get something high dollar for cheap. LOL

 

[debrapagliasotti]

Well gosh, sorry the PIN code does not work for your dates. Darn blackout dates!!

 

[francis6306]

I know all about the pricing situation. I keep working ways to get something high dollar for cheap. LOL

Yup. Plus, I am REALLY struggling with the room situation since we'll have Catie. We LOVED Pop- I really wish they had some family suites!

Well gosh, sorry the PIN code does not work for your dates. Darn blackout dates!!

Yeah, it sucks, because its a pretty good discount if we could move our dates. But I get it- I mean, they don't NEED to give Discounts during that week, because many people will be choosing to go just like we are- because of breaks from school. We will figure out something.

 

[jenseib]

Yup. Plus, I am REALLY struggling with the room situation since we'll have Catie. We LOVED Pop- I really wish they had some family suites!



Yeah, it sucks, because its a pretty good discount if we could move our dates. But I get it- I mean, they don't NEED to give Discounts during that week, because many people will be choosing to go just like we are- because of breaks from school. We will figure out something.

Well Art Of Animation will be open then...right across the lake from Pop.

 

[francis6306]

Well Art Of Animation will be open then...right across the lake from Pop.

That's true… But the section that I think Cortlyn would like (little mermaid) doesn't have the suites, right? And aren't they more expensive than the ASMu?

 

[jenseib]

You are right, but they won't be open then yet. They aren't opened as of now till Dec. 31st. They are opening the resort in stages and that one is the last stage to open. I think AoA looks so cool though. I will have to go visit it.

 

[francis6306]

Well, I think we have made a decision. We have thought about all of our options and talked to Cortlyn to see what she thought.

The thought of staying at a delux is certainly appealing. The rooms are larger, has the balcony and more food options. Staying at the Villas would be super nice as well. However, for me, cooking doesn't equal vacation. I wouldn't want to have to deal with trying to cook meals. If we were going to be with extended family or more friends, then MAYBE. Of course, we loved Pop when we went before, but I just don't think we'd have a lot of freedom being in the room with the baby.

Soooo……….

We focused on the family suites. ASMu doesn't have very family friendly/exciting theming. While Corey and I would enjoy the musical touches, the girls wouldn't. And I do believe that this trip will find us being "at home" at the resort more. Especially if the weather is nicer. Afternoon breaks where Cortlyn could swim in the pool and play while her sister is sleeping. Of course, Cortlyn would prefer to stay with Little Mermaid, like Jen said- it's not open yet and WON'T be open when we are there most likely, so there wouldn't be an option for us to stay there, EVEN if we wanted to. And now the moment you have been waiting for….

Art of Animation, Finding Nemo section​

We looked over some of the concept pictures and Cortlyn is excited about her bed and we will hopefully be able to enjoy our trip in the new resort!

 

[jenseib]

Wooo Hoo...and my wild girls night out brings me home before 10 PM, and I'm catching up on emails. LOL

 

[debrapagliasotti]

Well, I think we have made a decision. We have thought about all of our options and talked to Cortlyn to see what she thought.

The thought of staying at a delux is certainly appealing. The rooms are larger, has the balcony and more food options. Staying at the Villas would be super nice as well. However, for me, cooking doesn't equal vacation. I wouldn't want to have to deal with trying to cook meals. If we were going to be with extended family or more friends, then MAYBE. Of course, we loved Pop when we went before, but I just don't think we'd have a lot of freedom being in the room with the baby.

Soooo……….

We focused on the family suites. ASMu doesn't have very family friendly/exciting theming. While Corey and I would enjoy the musical touches, the girls wouldn't. And I do believe that this trip will find us being "at home" at the resort more. Especially if the weather is nicer. Afternoon breaks where Cortlyn could swim in the pool and play while her sister is sleeping. Of course, Cortlyn would prefer to stay with Little Mermaid, like Jen said- it's not open yet and WON'T be open when we are there most likely, so there wouldn't be an option for us to stay there, EVEN if we wanted to. And now the moment you have been waiting for….

Art of Animation, Finding Nemo section​

We looked over some of the concept pictures and Cortlyn is excited about her bed and we will hopefully be able to enjoy our trip in the new resort!

Yea for picking your resort

I think AoA looks fun. Thats where we were originally booked for our Oct trip, but switched to CR just b/c of how few days we were going to be there.

I cant wait to see pics of the resort when its officially open and guests start staying there.

 

[francis6306]

Well, I figured since it was Super Bowl Sunday, I should share my Super Bowl experience!! We live south of Indianapolis, so we decided to go to the Super Bowl Village to check out the party! Since everyone else likes to throw in other trip reports of sorts, I figure this is my rabbit trail trip report!

Can't get on the road without something to drink! MMM! McD's $1 drinks!

I passed TWO FedEx facilities. I could pick up my winning envelope if it would help get it faster… At least I know where to stalk… What? You wouldn't be stalking them????

We saw this building from the interstate and I thought it was so cool looking

They had a Zipline set up on the streets of Indy! It was so cool, but I dunno… I'd want something softer than asphalt to land on if I fell!

You would have thought this was a character signing, the way people were lined up to get a picture with it!

I decided to wear Catie and let Cortlyn ride in the stroller. Worked out pretty well!!

We found a FREE face painting set up! Cortlyn was thrilled!

The streets were so crowded!

At some point, Catie wanted her daddy… she LOVED reaching out to grab people's coats when they were close enough! She was just LAUGHING and squealing.

We decided to go to Steak and Shake for dinner. For one, we had the baby- had to have a place to sit, you know? They were moving people pretty quickly, I think we only waited about 20 minutes for a table.

No pictures of the food… it was tasty though!

We finished up and kept walking around and this is were I stink, cause I don't know enough about downtown Indy to tell you much about this area. This Monument is pretty impressive though!

This building had a lightshow of sorts in their windows. The letters for the SB were floating around. It was cool looking!

This set up was showing clips of Super Bowls past. It was really neat, with music and sound bites. Should have taken a video! My bad!

Catie and I are cheering for the GIANTS! My friend Shelley (Yup! That Shelley!) is a Giants fan. Good thing, cause we actually are big Colts fans, so its EASY to cheer for Eli this year!

Here is a shot of the stadium

And here is that first building glowing at night! It was so much fun! I'm glad that we went down there!

 

[francis6306]

WHAT??? I edited those pictures!!!! Why are they still sideways?!?!

Grrrr Photobucket!
ETA- Um… they fixed themselves somehow. Well, that's good! Cause I wasn't gonna try and fix them again!

 

[mickeystoontown]

I'm so excited that you chose to stay at the new Art of Animation resort! I bet that the girls are going to love it!

It looks like ya'll had a good day checking out Super Bowl Village. You can tell that Cortlyn loved her face painting.

 

[francis6306]

I'm so excited that you chose to stay at the new Art of Animation resort! I bet that the girls are going to love it!

It looks like ya'll had a good day checking out Super Bowl Village. You can tell that Cortlyn loved her face painting.

I'm excited about AoA! I think Cortlyn is going to love the Murphy bed! I'm interested to see if the bed will have to be put up during the day. Cortlyn loved for her "babies" to be arranged on the bed. But I'm sure mousekeeping will do something with them on the couch or the table, right?

Oh, and this kid LOVES face painting!

 

[jenseib]

I didn't even know there was such a thing as super bowl village. How fun to be able to experience that.

 

[francis6306]

I didn't even know there was such a thing as super bowl village. How fun to be able to experience that.

Yes! They had all kinds of tents sent up for different things. Of course there was a lot of drinking… but we didn't go for that! They basically shut down the area around the stadium and people were every where. And while it was really crowded, it was exciting to be down there with everyone else.

 

[mom2rtk]

Your timing was great. My 16 year old and my husband were watching the game and I walked in and told them how cool that zip line in the Super Bowl village was. My 16 year was shocked I even knew about it! Score one for mom!