The all New *OFFICIAL JUNE* 2011 thread! Some like it hot!

[kittylady1972]

We wanted to suprise the boys w/a trip to WDW, but when we told them we couldn't go in April anymore, they were just devistated. So instead, we told them we were going in June. We were able to keep one great suprise for them. We will be down there for the last weekend of Star Wars Weekends. My boys eat, breathe, and sleep Star Wars. We went to SWW during our first trip to WDW and the boys loved it. We keep telling them that we are going to miss SWW this trip. DH and I are taking bets now to see how long it will take them to realize it. Our plan is to show up to HS and see if see the sign or if they don't realize until the Stormtroopers come out. I'm going to have to have the video camera ready! We are hoping to get a good deal on airfare, since driving really isn't an option. Also hoping we don't miss anymore school due to snow, ds is already missing the last 2 days.

I SO wish we could make SWW as well. We took our DS as a reward for a good school year back in 2008 and he LOVED it and the look on his face with each surprise was PRICELESS! He had no idea we were going to WDW when I packed him and I in the car in NC and left his younger brother and sister with his grandparents. When we got to Pop Century he was SO happy and thankful...it made the crying in the beginning of the trip just getting him into the car almost worth it! Trying to prevent him from seeing any of the advertising billboards for SWW was tough...but I truly think he was totally surprised when we finally pulled up at HS for that event. I loved capturing that moment on video and him pointing at the Stormtroopers on the rooftops!

Alas I just don't think we will be able to move our trip up to squeeze in SWW this year, though I am tempted. We could probably make the last weekend and he MIGHT miss the last day of school...but that last day would be his 5th grade graduation day so I'm not going to miss that for my oldest. Hopefully one day in the future we can head back for SWW since even though I was not a big SW fan it was still very cool.

 

[kittylady1972]

Question~ Do you think that Disney will do anything special for the opening of Cars 2? It is do to come out on June 24th. I know many of us will be there at that time. Something special could be fun!

I was wondering the same thing myself this morning. Part of me was thinking perhaps we should at least try to catch a sneak preview of the new movie WHILE we are down there as I'm sure there will be one somewhere. Just not sure what plans we may have to sacrifice to do that? Perhaps we'll just save it for something to do the following weekend when we are still recovering from our trip and missing WDW instead?

 

[MindyLuvsMickey]

Question~ Do you think that Disney will do anything special for the opening of Cars 2? It is do to come out on June 24th. I know many of us will be there at that time. Something special could be fun!

I'm hoping that they do something special. My oldest loves Cars. We check out on 6/24 but wont be heading home til 6/26.

 

[mommyoftwinz]

Yeah DH will be thrilled since we missed it in 2009 by just 2 days. I guess I need to go back and tweak my plans though so we can be at DHS.

Also just wondering if anyone has booked the Wishes dessert party yet? I went into the online system but every date I put in it said it wasn't available, so does that mean the dates aren't up yet? I have never done it before so I am not sure when they post the dates.

I've been getting the same message, I don't think they opened it up yet but I have no idea when they will. I'll just keep checking. If I get through, I'll let you know.

 

[anjalee6]

Question~ Do you think that Disney will do anything special for the opening of Cars 2? It is do to come out on June 24th. I know many of us will be there at that time. Something special could be fun!

That would be nice. I was thinking a new meet and greet or something might be in order! My son is really looking forward to it. We get to Disney the day it comes out.

 

[ZebraDomeCrazy]

Jane,

I updated the ADR list on page 1 to reflect your ADR list. We liked Teppan Edo. My husband liked it better than I did, but I thought it was good. I do like our hibachi restaurant by our house better, but it was still good. My son is pretty picky but he still enjoyed the noodles they made for him. I really like the beef that I had for an appetizer with my dinner. It was the best part of the meal. I liked their little show, but I was kind of disappointed that every chef seemed to have the same little show. Overall, a good meal. I have never been to Chefs de France so I can't speak to that.

Yeah, we missed the bad weather today here in Maryland. I am glad about that. We had to take my son to the hospital. He has been sick and spiked a high fever last night and ended up turning blue (mouth, fingers, toes, very white skin, not responding to us). The paramedics came to get him and I was so glad it wasn't icy. It would have made me more nervous. He was diagnosed with a febrile seizure. It was scary, but they said he should be fine. It's been a long day and now that both kids are sleeping (way earlier than normal) I have some time to just sit.

OMG, I am so sorry. I have been so busy at work, this was my first chance to log in and just saw your post. I hope he is doing well. That must have been just awful. Yes, they did change the forecast for this week on us too. Looks like we dodged another storm. I actually see a little grass on my front yard, peeking through. Hope all is well with you and your family. Thanks again for this amazing forum. It is really helping me get through the winter. Jane

 

[mommyoftwinz]

Just got my 2011 WDW planning DVD in the mail yesterday and watched it. I wish there was more pictures of Poly but now I really can't wait to go. I'll have to start planning our days at the parks.

 

[Cindy-rella]

Does your DH drive the whole thing himself?

That's what we do. I have a phobia of driving on highways, so we do the 20 hours from PA to FL with just my DH behind the wheel. We break it into two days, with a stop overnight.

Of course, my job is to keep the kids calm, cool and collected while he drives, which may be way more stressful than 20 hours of driving!

I help him, but he does most of it. Last time it really wore him out, so we are going to split it up on the way down. On the way back, he'll just have to tough it out. He can crash when we get home, but when we hit Disney he better be ready to run to keep up with me!

anjalee6, sorry to hear about your son. I hope everything is much better.

 

[kittylady1972]

Just got my 2011 WDW planning DVD in the mail yesterday and watched it. I wish there was more pictures of Poly but now I really can't wait to go. I'll have to start planning our days at the parks.

We watched the 2010 planning video last week. I was hoping for more photos and video of BLT but alas there wasn't much there. I'm assuming it hasn't changed much from 2010 to 2011 or else I'd order the new one. Anyone know?

The kids still got a chance to see where we will be staying...and Noah got psyched about the new rides he'll be able to experience. He is SO looking forward to riding Expedition Everest for the first time. He wants us to do that FIRST...but it's not in the plans as we want to do Magic Kingdom as our first WDW park.

So yesterday I started looking at the Auto Train. We've looked into this before, but it's nearly as expensive as flying. However my youngest LOVE trains and we've never been on a real train (well except for a short ride on one at the B&O Museum in Baltimore) so I think he'd love it. We are contemplating taking it BACK from Florida. The only thing is that it is MUCH cheaper if we leave on Sunday instead of Saturday. Our current reservation for our room is only through Saturday. So we'd have to plan an extra night in a hotel plus take an extra day off work (Monday). I don't know...it's tempting and we are considering it as a possible option. Anyone done it?

 

[mommyoftwinz]

Kittylady- I liked the 2011 WDW DVD better, we also have the 2010, I think this one is better organized but overall it's basically the same information so you're not missing anything.

I know what you mean about transportation, we are flying and orginally were gonna go down on a Sat or Sun but now we are going Wed.-Wed. and saved a couple hundred on airfare just for the different time of the week. I don't know if you thought about it but the hotels near the Orlando airport are much cheaper than staying on site for an extra night and you can use the ME if you have the magic your way package.

 

[WDWCP96]

So yesterday I started looking at the Auto Train. We've looked into this before, but it's nearly as expensive as flying. However my youngest LOVE trains and we've never been on a real train (well except for a short ride on one at the B&O Museum in Baltimore) so I think he'd love it. We are contemplating taking it BACK from Florida. The only thing is that it is MUCH cheaper if we leave on Sunday instead of Saturday. Our current reservation for our room is only through Saturday. So we'd have to plan an extra night in a hotel plus take an extra day off work (Monday). I don't know...it's tempting and we are considering it as a possible option. Anyone done it?

we took the auto train round trip in 2008 for the same reason, my son loves trains. We figured it was a once in a lifetime kind of experience. We took it down leaving on a Friday and then left on Saturday to get back home on Sunday. We got a sleeping cabin since my son was just two and could share the bed with one of us. It was nice to be able to stretch out and watch a movie and not worry about DS making noise and disturbing others. They also show movies in the snack car so we hung out there as well. Also I was quite impressed with the food considering we were on a train. Overall I would highly recommend it to anyone with a child who loves trains. If you have AAA I know that we got a discount and I think there were other discounts as well to be found online. Also the train gets in fairly early so you might only have to take a half day on Monday that is if you have someone to watch your children and also I don't know how far from Lorton you live. If you have any questions just let me know.

 

[kittylady1972]

we took the auto train round trip in 2008 for the same reason, my son loves trains. We figured it was a once in a lifetime kind of experience. We took it down leaving on a Friday and then left on Saturday to get back home on Sunday. We got a sleeping cabin since my son was just two and could share the bed with one of us. It was nice to be able to stretch out and watch a movie and not worry about DS making noise and disturbing others. They also show movies in the snack car so we hung out there as well. Also I was quite impressed with the food considering we were on a train. Overall I would highly recommend it to anyone with a child who loves trains. If you have AAA I know that we got a discount and I think there were other discounts as well to be found online. Also the train gets in fairly early so you might only have to take a half day on Monday that is if you have someone to watch your children and also I don't know how far from Lorton you live. If you have any questions just let me know.

Thanks so much! We are about an hour from Lorton...so no big deal we could easily make the trip. I'm now thinking, since we planned to drive down on a Wednesday as of right now, perhaps we could take the Autotrain DOWN to FL beginning Tuesday night. I don't want to spring for the sleeper cars...and think we could tolerate one night in the coach seats. We'd have all day Wednesday in Florida to relax and recover with nothing planned anyway and with any luck we'd be able to get into our room early on a Wednesday. We do have AAA and I've priced it out with the discounts. When I factor in what we will probably pay for gas one way at current rates, it will be another $300 for all of us to take the train down. It's sounding better each time.

Now the only issue is timing. Right now the kids scheduled last day of school is MONDAY provided they have no more snow days. So leaving Tuesday night is more than possible for us and no need to pay for an extra night in a hotel. Still we won't know for sure until at least early next month...as that's the last REAL chance for any snow here. I think we could make the decision and book in March and feel confident of no more snow days. It's supposed to be high-50s or maybe even 60s here next week...or so they say!

 

[kalee45]

We did the train for atrip from FL to DC last spring break & were just fine in the coach seats overnight. The seats are really big, like Lazyboy recliners. My DS whohad just turned 4 could actually lay flat out when the seat was reclined because of the covered footrest! We, however, found the food to be $$ & packed bagged snacks/sandwiches for the trip back (which we noticed everyone else doing for the trip up). Also it was freezing overnight so don't forget to bring a roll-up blanket!

 

[WDWCP96]

I should add about the food that if I remember correctly that since we had a sleeping cabin that our food was included in the dining car for both dinner and breakfast and I think they had water and coffee for us the whole trip free of charge.

 

[princess aleya]

We will be there June 2-9, 2011, Pop.

 

[anjalee6]

Yay! So happy that Phineas and Ferb have been confirmed to start appearing in Hollywood Studios in May, but it says they will be in the spot where the Cars characters were. I hope they still have the Cars characters somewhere especially since the new movie opens this summer. My son is happy about Phineas and Ferb, but doesn't want to miss the Cars characters.

 

[aprilfoolwed]

We were thinking about the Auto-Train too, but I am not sure it makes sense for us. It's still quite a drive from PA to Lorton (IMO, that's the worst stretch of the 20 hours drive!) and when I priced flights, there was almost no difference in cost (aside from having to rent a car if you fly).

It's still at least $1000 more for us to do the train, but if gas prices get much higher, it may make more sense for us to try it. Wish there was a promo better than the AAA discount.

 

[anjalee6]

We will be there June 2-9, 2011, Pop.

Welcome! I added you to the list on page 1.

 

[kittylady1972]

We were thinking about the Auto-Train too, but I am not sure it makes sense for us. It's still quite a drive from PA to Lorton (IMO, that's the worst stretch of the 20 hours drive!) and when I priced flights, there was almost no difference in cost (aside from having to rent a car if you fly).

It's still at least $1000 more for us to do the train, but if gas prices get much higher, it may make more sense for us to try it. Wish there was a promo better than the AAA discount.

I agree...honestly having to go through VA at all is always the WORST part of the drive and I can imagine if you do the DC beltway that can get ugly as well.

I am still not looking forward to even making that drive to Lorton...as short as it is...but it should be okay if we are doing it close to noon for a 1pm arrival or so and the the 4pm train. We have decided NOT to tell the kids about this possible change of plans. At least once a week they ask us about the drive, as our current plan is to wake them up around 3:30am on Wednesday morning and start the drive. Now the plan would be pack the car on Tuesday morning and head out around noon...they will certainly just think we are leaving earlier than planned. When we pull up to the train stop it will be a huge surprise though...especially for my youngest train lover! I think it will be an adventure and hopefully we won't regret it! Personally I'm looking forward to arriving in Florida and WDW in the early morning/early afternoon worst case instead of evening and just having the rest of the day to relax at our resort.

The rest of our travel party won't leave until Thursday so will arrive probably sometime Thursday evening as of right now. So we'd have nearly two days to just do stuff alone before the gang arrives.

 

[melser13]

We are going in June too! June 9th - June 12th. It is a kids free trip for our 10th anniversary...which is actually June 9th! We are sooooo excited, but we aren't going to tell our kids we are going without then!