Thanksgiving with Mickey again...a November 2016 TRIP REPORT! (DONE)

[ariane37]

So how was your Universal trip? I take it you guys had a good time since you may go back in November
I was going to wait until August to get our Nov. tickets just so I'd have them in time to make FP's in Sept. However, I may get them earlier. I've been looking into ordering from Parksavers which has recently been getting lots of great reviews here on the Dis. They have a great deal but it's supposedly expiring 7/31, so I may talk DH into ordering from them before the end of the month. BUT, I'd just need tickets for the boys, because over the weekend DH and I planned a quick tip down to Disney for next month! And while we're down there we'll get AP's again. For that trip we're (finally) staying at WL for the first time, a resort I've wanted to try forever
Other than a day trip to 6 Flags Great Adventure next week and the basketball camps the boys are doing, we're staying put for the summer.

 

[kittylady1972]

So how was your Universal trip? I take it you guys had a good time since you may go back in November
I was going to wait until August to get our Nov. tickets just so I'd have them in time to make FP's in Sept. However, I may get them earlier. I've been looking into ordering from Parksavers which has recently been getting lots of great reviews here on the Dis. They have a great deal but it's supposedly expiring 7/31, so I may talk DH into ordering from them before the end of the month. BUT, I'd just need tickets for the boys, because over the weekend DH and I planned a quick tip down to Disney for next month! And while we're down there we'll get AP's again. For that trip we're (finally) staying at WL for the first time, a resort I've wanted to try forever
Other than a day trip to 6 Flags Great Adventure next week and the basketball camps the boys are doing, we're staying put for the summer.

Our Universal trip was great! There is a link in my signature block below to some of the details and photos. It really is nice to NOT have to plan out some stuff (rides, dining) and just be able to go with the flow. It still isn't Disney though.

How cool for you and DH to take your own trip next month. I LOVE the WL also...and have kinda been opening something would open up there for Thanksgiving week but so far no such luck!

Yeah I think we need to do one or two more trips up to Six Flags GA ourselves before our passes expire. I was actually looking into doing a trip this weekend and staying overnight there but I haven't been able to find a hotel I'm happy with so not sure it will happen. Other than that we are mostly staying put and I think the only trip we will do is a short 2-night trip Cedar Point in Ohio. We've never been and it's been on our bucket list for ages...and I got a great rate at one of the on-site hotels right next to the park. As much as we know we should save money and not go, this is such a short trip that I have decided it's worth the splurge.

 

[ariane37]

Great, I'll take a look at your Universal pics
Ooh, Cedar Point! I'd never heard of it until I became a member of these boards lol, and now it seems tons of my friends choose it as their vacation spot. One friend just went at the end of June and had a great time, so I'm putting it on my list of future vacations!

 

[kittylady1972]

Great, I'll take a look at your Universal pics
Ooh, Cedar Point! I'd never heard of it until I became a member of these boards lol, and now it seems tons of my friends choose it as their vacation spot. One friend just went at the end of June and had a great time, so I'm putting it on my list of future vacations!

Yes we have a family of coaster enthusiasts and now that the kids are FINALLY tall enough we are really looking forward to this trip. I was hoping to surprise my kids later but had to spill the beans the other night when a mom of one of my daughter's friends texted me about taking her with them on a trip that would start the day after we plan to return from Ohio. I was afraid she wouldn't be able to do both so I needed to let her know our plans just in case. As it turns out, looks like she will return from our little trip and then go right back out on a short trip with them...to the beach, a waterpark and ziplining so she will be loving life. She's my adventurer for sure!

 

[kittylady1972]

MUCH ABOUT NOTHING

So another random check and still no chance of moving to another resort for us anytime soon. The best I can do is book a Polynesian Studio on Mon, Tue and Wed night only. I'd LOVE to stay at the Poly again, but that leaves us homeless for Thursday night or having to move OR chance we each got that last ONE night. I'm not sure I want to risk that even though it's tempting.

Today I also did a little more research into tickets. I realize that I have only TWO more months before I'll need to get those purchased...and that won't be cheap! We'll most likely get 5-day passes at this point...and then I had another thought. We really don't have anything in the works for next summer at all yet. I'm wondering if maybe while we are down in November, we go ahead and upgrade to Gold Annual Passes and that way we can consider a trip either for next summer or next fall again. I have a feeling this is going to be a bit of a rough year for the family with my MILs health continuing to decline and we may just need to return to a Happy Place by this time next year. I am assuming that if I buy my 5-day hoppers at work, and then use them and activate them at the park that it shouldn't be too tough to at some point visit customer service to upgrade to a DVC Gold Annual Pass. I'll have to do a little more research here on that, especially in terms of how the pricing works.

I also noticed DVC discounts on both the Christmas Party and LaNouba. I honestly don't see us leaving on Friday the 18th which would be the only day we could do the Christmas Party. I have no idea if there would be any discounted tickets available for Thanksgiving week for LaNouba but I could call and ask. I think everybody would enjoy that (we did when we saw it years ago) and maybe we'd consider it an early Christmas gift to everybody.

That's where we are right now. So 121 days or so to go until we leave! Before we know it we'll be doing DOUBLE digit countdown!

 

[ariane37]

I have resigned myself to us staying at CSR for the last 3 nights of our trip in Nov. So far Beach Club hasn't opened up for those nights and we haven't found anything else. We haven't really been looking into VWL though, and if DH loves WL next month when we stay for the first time maybe we'll have a look and see if there's a studio available for those 3 nights. BUT, since that includes Thanksgiving night and you can't find anything, um, I guess we'll be at CSR

I won't be any help in the ticket dept. since we're getting AP's again, so of course my vote will be for you to get them, too. But I think you have a good point about your MIL's health. And if she does an awesome turnaround and instead of needing a pick-me-up you all just want to celebrate, that's still a good reason to plan a trip back to the World next year

 

[kittylady1972]

I have resigned myself to us staying at CSR for the last 3 nights of our trip in Nov. So far Beach Club hasn't opened up for those nights and we haven't found anything else. We haven't really been looking into VWL though, and if DH loves WL next month when we stay for the first time maybe we'll have a look and see if there's a studio available for those 3 nights. BUT, since that includes Thanksgiving night and you can't find anything, um, I guess we'll be at CSR

I won't be any help in the ticket dept. since we're getting AP's again, so of course my vote will be for you to get them, too. But I think you have a good point about your MIL's health. And if she does an awesome turnaround and instead of needing a pick-me-up you all just want to celebrate, that's still a good reason to plan a trip back to the World next year

Very slow in my responses...sorry! I should probably accept that we are staying at SSR and get over it already...but I'm still hopeful some magic will happen!

I spoke to my husband recently about possibly upgrading our tickets and he didn't flinch...so that's good!

 

[kittylady1972]

So really nothing new here to report. I'm about a month or so away from buying my park tickets so I'm trying to make sure I know how I'll pay for those!

We had a little mini day trip on Sunday to King's Dominion. I managed to snag a great 24 hour deal on tickets to the park and my kids have been begging to go there so they could finally ride some of the bigger coasters and rides. KD was the park where I visited more often than anything as a child, and even then it wasn't that often but it holds a special place for me. We spent a full day there and it was a nice break for all of us.

Next week we head to Cedar Point and right now it looks like this trip will be a go for us. I was waiting until we got closer to really finalize it, but now Cedar Point is also running a FLASH sell and the tickets are B1G1 Free which is a GREAT deal! I need to purchase them tonight!

Other than that, I've just been tortured by SWA releasing more discounted airfares and so I've been having fantasies about booking a short little trip to WDW just because of those airfares. In the end, I know it isn't worth it and I can't do it but it's nice to dream. I've also revisited the idea of booking the AutoTrain one way for our November trip, but spending $600 that I could use elsewhere on the trip isn't appealing to me, so looks like we'll be driving.

I am still considering going down early and doing Universal for a day though. I'd love to book an APH rate but I don't think they've been released for November yet for the Universal Resorts. I'm thinking we'd love to try Royal Pacific Resort if we did that.

So this week at home my kids finish up their last week at Summer Camp. They attended 3 weeks this year, which is the least amount of time I've ever sent them for summer camp. It's nice to have older kids that can stay home by themselves, but I appreciate getting them out and involved in activities for some of the summer. Next weekend I have a tennis tournament to attend which should be fun as I love spending my day surrounded by tennis activities. I still can't believe August is here ALREADY!

 

[SaintsManiac]

Hi there! I've been a TR board lurker for a while, but had to post in here! We just booked for Thanksgiving week NEXT year at WL

I am very interested to see how your trip goes. Can't wait to follow along on your adventure!

 

[kittylady1972]

Hi there! I've been a TR board lurker for a while, but had to post in here! We just booked for Thanksgiving week NEXT year at WL

I am very interested to see how your trip goes. Can't wait to follow along on your adventure!

We LOVE it at Disney during Thanksgiving, I think we've gone during that week the most of all of our visits. LOVE Wilderness Lodge and hoping once it has been expanded we can stay there again sometime.

I'll do my best to come back and post about our upcoming adventures!

 

[ariane37]

Not sure if I mentioned this to you already, but we went to King's Dominion once, about 5 years ago and I really enjoyed it. I'd love to go back since the kids are older now and DS14 goes on more thrill rides.

I agree about it being nice when kids are older and can stay home by themselves, especially during the summer! Love not having to drag them on every errand.....but if I didn't have them do a few weeks of camp there'd be too much sitting around on electronics! On the other hand I'm tired of getting up, getting them ready and driving to/from camp, too much like the school year Luckily today was their last day of camp for the season so from here on out its hanging with friends and chillin' at home.

 

[kittylady1972]

Not sure if I mentioned this to you already, but we went to King's Dominion once, about 5 years ago and I really enjoyed it. I'd love to go back since the kids are older now and DS14 goes on more thrill rides.

I agree about it being nice when kids are older and can stay home by themselves, especially during the summer! Love not having to drag them on every errand.....but if I didn't have them do a few weeks of camp there'd be too much sitting around on electronics! On the other hand I'm tired of getting up, getting them ready and driving to/from camp, too much like the school year Luckily today was their last day of camp for the season so from here on out its hanging with friends and chillin' at home.

King's Dominion is a GREAT park! We really love it there.

Cedar Point was nice as well. Kids were so glad to get on all of the big coasters there and I think we'll plan another trip there in the future. I just wish the hotels there weren't so expensive but they are so convenient to the park! We loved being able to walk back and forth to the park and the lake there was also really nice.

 

[kittylady1972]

So we are now in DOUBLE DIGITS...about 93 days or so away from our trip. Still no changes on our resort...but not surprised there. I guess I was hoping with the drop in the park attendance that maybe that would translate to people NOT using DVC either...but no such luck.

There has been no change in our plans right now, but of course I'm gearing up to buy our park tickets next month.

Mostly right now we are just getting ready for SCHOOL to begin. The kids will all go back on Tuesday next week and of course are not thrilled about it.

We had our mini-trip last week to Cedar Point in Ohio. Drove down early Tuesday, spent time at the park on Tuesday and all day Wednesday, then drove home Thursday morning. We really enjoyed Cedar Point, so many coasters and rides all packed in there! We rode most of the coasters there with the exception of their biggest wooden coaster (which is about to be closed...and I've read is pretty rough so okay missing that one) and everything went well overall. The only blip was with AAA and the resort that I had booked back in APRIL. On a whim I checked with the resort a few days before our trip only to learn I did NOT have a reservation there but instead was booked at a more distant hotel with a similar name. I was NOT happy at all and the resort I wanted of course was fully booked so I ended up spending several hundred more dollars to book a resort just as close as the one I wanted originally. Still waiting to see if AAA will compensate me all for their HUGE error!

I'm going to work a few short days this week as it is the last week the kids are home so we can spend some time together before the chaos of the school year begins again! Next month I'll have to start seriously planning out our ride schedule. Just learned this week that Sum of all Thrills is closing mid-September and that is one of my kids' FAVORITE things to do in EPCOT. They will be disappointed for sure, but maybe not as much as my DH who really enjoyed it as well.

 

[kittylady1972]

You have no idea how crazy you are about Disney until you find yourself stalking airline sites and debating squeezing in yet ANOTHER trip this year...all before your next trip has arrived.

Last weekend we were THIS <-> close to heading to Disney for the weekend? Why or why you ask? Well I mentioned to DH last week that Sum of all Thrills was about to close in September. This is one of the kids' favorites but it was only during the last trip that they were all able to ride it and design something that would let them go upside down. The kicker was that they chose NOT to design an upside down ride last time, or at least my youngest didn't and DH was riding with him that trip...so DH has yet to go upside down on that ride and this is just HORRIBLE of course.

So we almost just got in the car and went driving down last Thursday...until we realized that our daughter had committed to her very first babysitting gig Friday night, and the family had asked me about it a while ago so it would be wrong to back out last minute. That did it for that trip.

So then we thought for some reason we would look at our Southwest accounts and as it turns out DH has quite a few points...enough we could book two RT tickets or several one way trips and then pay for the other way from our area to Orlando and back. This would work well for a long weekend trip and we found we could do one in September...but it would mean the kids missing two days of school. Since they will already miss two days in November...not sure I want to do that to them. Then I looked at some October dates, where they actually have a 4-day weekend...but it would still require us to fly home early Tuesday so they would miss one day (they are off Thurs and Fri in October). I've even looked at Halloween weekend since DD has a birthday on the 29th and DH is on the 31st...and the kids have a 2 hour early dismissal from school Friday before and Monday after...so they would only miss Monday and that's only a partial day. And yet...rooms during that time are very hard to find and so...I think I have to give up on this dream.

I do still think we will go through with the plan to upgrade to annual passes during our Thanksgiving week trip, giving us a chance to visit again in the next year and maybe look into a similar trip NEXT fall. That seems to make the most sense, but I'd be lying if I said I wasn't disappointed.

Anyway I do need to decided where to purchase our tickets and soon. I'm seeing a lot of buzz about parksavers right now and that just might be a better way to go for us. It looks like people are having success upgrading those tickets and bridging them which is a bonus. I do need to decide soon.

 

[ariane37]

I'm totally bummed about SOAT closing, because we've never done it and had planned on older DS trying it in Nov. for the first time I think he would have loved it. Ah well, to date other than Animation Academy and Mulch, Sweat and Shears, nothing has really pissed me off as far as things they've closed/discontinued, so I guess I'm doing pretty good lol. If we lived closer (or hadn't decided our trip this month is adults only) I'd definitely drive down for a weekend so he could do it!

At this point I'm still planning on getting the boys' tickets through Parksavers. Like you I've read all the positive reviews from people, so unless DH can get them cheaper through work, that's what we'll do I've seen that people have successfully upgraded Parksaver tix to AP's which is what we were going to do with just DH and I's tix, but since we planned this last minute trip coming up Saturday we'll just upgrade then.

 

[kittylady1972]

I'm totally bummed about SOAT closing, because we've never done it and had planned on older DS trying it in Nov. for the first time I think he would have loved it. Ah well, to date other than Animation Academy and Mulch, Sweat and Shears, nothing has really pissed me off as far as things they've closed/discontinued, so I guess I'm doing pretty good lol. If we lived closer (or hadn't decided our trip this month is adults only) I'd definitely drive down for a weekend so he could do it!

At this point I'm still planning on getting the boys' tickets through Parksavers. Like you I've read all the positive reviews from people, so unless DH can get them cheaper through work, that's what we'll do I've seen that people have successfully upgraded Parksaver tix to AP's which is what we were going to do with just DH and I's tix, but since we planned this last minute trip coming up Saturday we'll just upgrade then.

I was equally upset about Animation Academy, as it's been a new favorite and a tradition on recent trips to go there. I'm not that upset about SoAT as I think I've only done it once myself...as simulators are not my friend.

Wow your trip is SO close! Can't wait to hear about it!!!

 

[kittylady1972]

So funny how you can be so disappointed in a trip you never really booked in the first place. Logically I just know it makes more sense to delay our plans for a visit to MNSSHP until NEXT year...for so many reasons. Watching my daughter walk around yesterday in a brace for her foot because it was bothering her so badly...makes me realize how much better it will be to wait and visit the parks next fall when she can get around without pain once again!

There is also the stuff we don't want to think about...mainly about we most likely will travel next fall and take my FIL with us. Today my DH heads to the funeral home with his parents to help them decide on final arrangements. My MIL has good days and bad days, but many of them we can tell she is suffering quite a bit. That's hard to watch and I'm sure it's hard for my FIL to deal with every day. My MIL just wants the funeral stuff taken care of now so it's one less thing for FIL to deal with when the time comes, and that time seems like it will be here sooner rather than later.

I can't help but wonder if our Thanksgiving trip will be in danger due to the situation here. Obviously if my MIL is having a tough week with her health when we plan to leave, I'm not sure we would feel comfortable leaving my FIL here all by himself to handle that. They really don't have anybody here other than us and my husband's sister to help them out, and his sister is moving from MD to California as of the beginning of October so it really will just be us here after that to help. I have a feeling we are in for a rough few months to come.

 

[kittylady1972]

Ok time to return to happy thoughts. I have just pulled the trigger on our FIVE ParkSavers 7-day parkhoppers. So we are committed to going this year for sure, though I made the redemption date Oct 1st just in case we change our mind about doing an early trip, which is very unlikely now. I just wanted to keep the option open in case we end up having a rough September and just need a break in October.

We had dinner last night with the whole family...our crew plus my in-laws plus my SIL and nephew. Wow...tension is clearly high there between my MIL and SIL and it's obvious. My SIL didn't even acknowledge her parents when she arrived at the table and I'm not even sure she thanked them when they paid for dinner. In fact, I'm not sure my SIL really even interacted with anybody else at the table other than her son...and her cell phone. DH asked her a few questions about the house she is looking into buying (I think) in California and she mentioned the catholic school where she plans to enroll my nephew. She also mentioned applying for loans for the school AND the house...which has me curious because I know her credit rating is extremely poor, so much that I know she mentioned applying for a Disney Visa not too long ago...and being turned DOWN for it. I don't know...I guess we'll see what happens. She is moving the first weekend in October according to her FB posts!

ANYWHO...Tickets...they are MINE all MINE and I look forward to adding them to my account so I can experiment with the new system of adding ride reservations. I know it's changed a bit so I want to be all practiced up for next month when I make our plans!

 

[kittylady1972]

Wow how is August going by so, so fast? Kids are all back in school and so far so good I guess. My husband is on travel for work this week, which means I have to work a shorter schedule myself and get the kids to school and back from school. That means I'm having my son drive us to/from school in the car I bought for him...every single day. We started last Thursday, his first time this school year, and he did...okay. Friday morning was a bit better...and DH picked him up Friday afternoon so he didn't get any driving practice in for that.

This week we are on day three of driving to and from and while in some ways I'm getting a little more relaxed with his driving...this morning we had to take a different route due to some unforseen traffic and that added a bit of craziness to the drive. He handled it all well, and he's taken the advice I've given him this week about certain situations very well and he's doing what I think he should be doing. On the plus side, very soon he'll know the main route to school very well and I think he'll have handled a lot of different traffic related situations and I think I'll be comfortable with how he handles them. I also thinking being behind the the wheel every single day also helps him. I may just have to start driving "his" car on a regular basis so he can get experience every day, since my husband refuses to drive with him because they just clash too easily.

We had a bit of a miscommunication this week with my mom and my brother which caused me to do some additional checking in with my brother and family. My mom called to tell me my brother said he didn't plan on doing the Disney parks EVERY day. What? They have 5 days there with 2 small kids and four parks to hit...what else would they be doing? It was a bit crazy as I sent a group text message to my brother and sister-in-law to get the full scoop, and they both replied that NO they were definitely down with all that we had planned (I thought perhaps my Disney spreadsheet scared them a bit) and they would just roll with everything for as long as they could and put the boys in a stroller if they needed to keep on going during the day. Whew! That was a relief. I haven't yet bought their tickets but plan to do so next week and I was concerned I'd need to buy something else for them, which makes no sense because a 4-day ticket really didn't save much money.

So it's all good now...and I've already attached our tickets to our MDE account and they are good to go. I tried to use the app to do some FP+ ride reservations last week but wasn't having any luck for some reason, like I wasn't getting any of the dates I wanted to check (just in September since I know I can't check our actual dates quite yet). I'll have to try again soon.

 

[ariane37]

We had a bit of a miscommunication this week with my mom and my brother which caused me to do some additional checking in with my brother and family. My mom called to tell me my brother said he didn't plan on doing the Disney parks EVERY day. What? They have 5 days there with 2 small kids and four parks to hit...what else would they be doing? It was a bit crazy as I sent a group text message to my brother and sister-in-law to get the full scoop, and they both replied that NO they were definitely down with all that we had planned (I thought perhaps my Disney spreadsheet scared them a bit) and they would just roll with everything for as long as they could and put the boys in a stroller if they needed to keep on going during the day. Whew! That was a relief. I haven't yet bought their tickets but plan to do so next week and I was concerned I'd need to buy something else for them, which makes no sense because a 4-day ticket really didn't save much money.

This is funny! I've never planned a trip for more than the 4 of us except back in 2012 when some friends were going at the same time, and we just discussed meeting up a couple days and so I made like 2 ADR's for 8. I can only imagine trying to make plans/purchase tix/make ADR's and FP's for a larger group and the issues it brings up, serious or not! I'm glad your brother and SIL are planning to do what you're planning to do!