The New Lizard Lounge

[Tess]

Good morning fellow lizards!
Well, did any of you wake early enough yesterday to get your AP rate for upcoming travel? Imagine my surprise when I logged in at 6:55 a.m. and saw that several people already had their discount. Wah! But perseverance paid off - after a 1-hour wait on hold and more Disney music than I can handle at that hour!- I got GF and saved $400 which pays for airfare. DH says to me last night - "didn't you book concierge?" What??? Since this is a mom and daughter trip, I figured garden view in Sago would be lovely. But now he has me thinking....I wonder what the wait times will be today....

Hope all of you that were trying were successful. And have a great Thursday. There's warm banana bread, blueberry muffins and a great fruit compote on the sideboard! The orange juice is freshly squeezed and the cap machine is ready- enjoy!

Count me happy minniesota! Two lines working and my husband's call was answered first after a mere 20 minute wait--we were both phoning at 6:58 a.m. and hitting redial--I think he was a tad quicker on the number punching drill before he "let the fun begin". . . Anyway, Polynesian GVC for our June trip, natch!

Sure am happy to hear some of the LLs are convening for a meet--wish I could go--it's been a bear of a winter around here. June can't arrive quickly enough for me!

Anyone put the soup out yet--it's a cold, snowy night here--maybe it will help warm us all up!

 

[#1hockeymom]

I didn't get an AP rate, but I am debating getting the last two weeks in June, "just in case!"

On CL with a mom/kid trip. Not counting the Swan/Dolphin, our first concierge trip was the first mom/son trip we did. I have to say it was also one of our most enjoyable trips! It was so nice having another "area" to be in and to know everything was nice and safe. Yes, I trust Disney a lot when I am on vacation, but when it is only you and no spouse I think you go into safety overload concerning whichever kid is with you. I have no idea if I am making sense or not!

Big wave to all! Tomorrow is Friday!
Debbie

 

[Steph H]

Sounds like so many of you are going to have such a great time. Wish I could be there for the "meet", but my trip is a looooooooong way away. 203 days 13 hrs. 29 mins. 21 secs. to be exact.

There's a cap machine in concierge? Oooooooh, I'm in heaven! Hope the GF has one. I can hardly get through the day without my Starbucks.

Congrats to those of you who got great discounts! It makes it so much more fun that way!

Off to enjoy the cappuccino machine!

 

[#1hockeymom]

I got the AP rate! I don't even know if we're going, but I might have to after this school year! I just booked it at pop since it would probably be only two of us again, that too many trips this year thing, two weeks worth of Disney, and well, it works! I also took a day off our Easter vacation so if anyone wants April 1-2 at CS on the AP rate it just opened up! We're driving, so there is no way we can still be around on Saturday.

If God didn't want me to book disney trips he wouldn't have given me a cell phone and a long drive home, right?

Have a glorious weekend!
Debbie

 

[steveanddonna]

All right Debbie! Just goes to prove the "just keep calling..." theory.

My Disney nut of a husband has been doing tech production for a conference at Portofino Bay all week, and bemoaning not having any time to get over to WDW. So what did he do after the conference wrapped today? Rented a car, drove to the Poly to say hello to the CL CM's, then headed over to MK for a Casey's hot dog! I'm so jealous!

 

[#1hockeymom]

A Casey's hotdog sounds so good right now! Of course, I do believe it is better with that view!

I would love to do AKL concierge for each and every trip, but I had to decide last year if I wanted "often" or "once". I swear going to Disney gives me back my mind, so "often" it is! I did see a picture of the Poly.... Man what a view!

 

[steveanddonna]

Busy weekend filling in for an 8-months pregnant friend at a lot of St. Pat's activities. Forgot how much I hate smoky bars! Now it's right back into the work routine. I'm so glad I have the May trip to daydream about!

Leaving out some Kona coffee, orange/guava juice and plenty of fresh fruit - oh, and a few Casey's hot dogs for the lunch crowd!

 

[johnsonet]

Can't believe we leave in just 11 days! I need to start packing! The forecast in Orlando is really starting to look good (as we get closer to our dates). I CANNOT wait to sit by the Polynesian pool with a drink and watch DD tear down the slide over and over again with her cousins We have so much fun stuff planned. Hope it goes smoothly
Grabbing a Casey's dog ...never had one

 

[Steph H]

Yay, Debbie! And you thought that long commute was just a waste of your time. ;-)

SteveandDonna: I am so jealous. My husband is Disney-clueless. But maybe after we spend 8 days/7 nights at the GF in concierge. . .

Never had a Casey's hot dog. A little too early for one right now, but I'll come back later. Guava juice sounds yummy, though!

 

[#1hockeymom]

OH! Those of you who have not had a Casey's hotdog MUST! I do have a secret. The most perfect time to have one is when all of humanity is trying to leave the kingdom. Get your food, find a great table with a view of the castle, people watch, and enjoy! When DS was a little guy he even met Mickey for the first that way! We were just enjoying the scenery (and our food!) and all of a sudden I notice DD squirming and all happy looking. DS turned around and just glowed! AHHH that is why we go to Disney.

 

[wdw47]

we are really enjoying reading all the posts but still having a difficult time in getting a new count down clock to load. Mike

 

[steveanddonna]

OH! Those of you who have not had a Casey's hotdog MUST! I do have a secret. The most perfect time to have one is when all of humanity is trying to leave the kingdom. Get your food, find a great table with a view of the castle, people watch, and enjoy! When DS was a little guy he even met Mickey for the first that way! We were just enjoying the scenery (and our food!) and all of a sudden I notice DD squirming and all happy looking. DS turned around and just glowed! AHHH that is why we go to Disney.

Great story, Debbie! Casey's is our favorite place from which to people watch, any time of the day. It's become our tradition to start our trip with a hot dog and chili cheese fries (we concoct these ourselves) at Casey's immediately after we check in. I guess that's why Steve just couldn't resist running over there. It's not like we don't have great hot dogs in Chicago!

Mike, have you set up a new countdown at a website like TickerFactory.com? There are threads on the tech support board that will guide you step by step on how to get it into your signature.

 

[Steph H]

Good morning all! It's a sunny but still chilly day here in southeast Michigan, and I'm in the mood for some Disney!!! Yesterday I didn't have much to do at work, so I took the time to check out all my PS reservations and make some changes. I also went through the menus on Deb's site to get an idea of where we will eat for lunch each day.

LOL, my husband is the absolute ANTI-planner (he frequently has "planned" vacations by saying, "We'll just drive and find a hotel when we get there." Needless to say, I never let him get away with that.), so he does not get excited about my planning every day of our vacation down to the meals and activities. To compromise, I told him Friday is an open day--I have nothing planned, no reservations scheduled. LOL, of course, that's not entirely true: I have some tentative plans, but I will allow them to be changed.

I sent an email with changes to the GF concierge, and had a response back within an hour and a half letting me know I'm all set, and answering my questions about the location of the Whispering Canyon Cafe.

So who else plans their vacation down to the last detail? Anyone use any of those speciality Disney trip planners that I've seen online and in books? Any recommendations?

Let's see, this morning I feel like something chocolate. How about I set out some chocolate danishes and fire up the cappuccino machine? Enjoy, all!

Oh, I almost forgot to add: I've gone below 200!
197 days 16 hrs. 3 mins. 57 secs.

 

[Goofy's Muse]

Hi all! Just sneakin' in for a quick cordial (actually, I'd better make it a double! ).

Was expecting to have a nice relaxing Friday night and am now awaiting the return of DH and DS10 from the ER. Please explain to me why 10 yr olds treat life as a never-ending audition for a 3-ring circus! According to the on-call doctor, the large goose egg on the back of his head is probably nothing to worry about (this on a kid who's had 3 concussions before the age of 4!)... it's the hand/wrist that sounds like it might be broken.

Oh well... on to more pleasant topics! Steph H ... I go in planning spurts for various things in life but definitely was in big-time planning mode for our first trip last summer. So much so that my oldest DD still cringes when she hears DH and I even talk about the "D word"! Frankly, she thought we were nuts and obsessed and was worried that we were cavorting with other Disney-obsessed folks on the Internet!

I was glad to be so well-planned for that first trip, though admit we did deviate when we felt the need. For our December trip, we had a more relaxed agenda from the get-go and even dropped a few of the PSs we did plan. I really found that the planning and evaluating of possibilities added so much to the anticipation of our trip! I've never used any of the trip planning services but found that the Passporter was a good source of info on how much I could reasonably plan in a block of time.

Wishing all of you lucky Easter-time travelers well! We have a big St. Patrick's Day parade scheduled for Sunday in our area. Our girls are marching with their MS band and as if to add insult to injury on the first scheduled day of spring, we're expecting SNOW!

P.S. DH just called... DSs hand is in a brace but no obvious fracture. We'll be doing the concussion watch tonight; DS is in pain but hungry so it can't be all bad!

 

[Tess]

Hope it all works out well with your son--what a bummer!

Just had to share our most recent update for the June visit!

We had originally booked CBR for one day at the front and back end of our vacation. After toying with all the moving, packing up, etc.--we decided to say to heck with it and just added the extra days at Polynesian GVC. Now, instead of a 9 day stay at our favorite resort, we'll be there for 11! Woohoo! We had been trying to extend our AP rate for the 10th, but hadn't been able to get the day. We called Friday night and found that we could add the 10th, then we needed one day at the end. Of course, I had forgotten you can't do more than 10 days on one res with the AP, so--we had an experienced reservationist working for us and she did remember the caveat. She managed to book us in at Polynesian GVC for 6/20-22/05 on a separate, linked res. We really won't be at Polynesian on the 20th since we're off to visit my MIL for one day. All we need to do now is drop the 20th when we arrive and we will have our AP rate for the 21st.

The BIG bonus is having concierge service for our check out day on 6/22! It's such a bonus because on Friday our airline reservation had a schedule change. Originally we were leaving on 6/22 at 2:55 p.m., but the Gods have shined upon us and we are now scheduled to fly out at 7:55 p.m.! We will have the whole day to luxuriate in WDW.

Another great surprise (and it just had to be destiny) is I was able to purchase 14 day Ultimate Park Hoppers (includes all 4 majors/water parks/PI & DQ with unlimited access--just as the old LOS/UMPs offered). We decided to go with these tickets since we were already planning 11 days at WDW. With the flight change (which actually occurred after I purchased the 14 day tickets) we will now be there for a full 12 days AND we won't have to finagle the plus features on the 10 day MYW tickets to stretch admissions! Freedom and flexibility PLUS the tickets were only $39 more per ticket than the 10 day! Ya' gotta' love it when a plan comes together! Guess I'll be reworking our plan. . .

Anyway, just had to share the great news and I knew my fellow LLs would appreciate the way things all came together within a 24 hour period!

 

[Steph H]

Goofy's Muse: I'm so sorry to hear about your DS's accident. My goodness, he really keeps you on your toes, doesn't he. Hope he's feeling better.

Tess: Wow, am I jealous! Sounds like your trip is going to be wonderful! Don't you love it when the stars align perfectly for you? Enjoy!

I ordered the "Unofficial Guide" from Amazon yesterday. I perused it a little at Borders on Saturday, and it seemed like something that I could read in spurts during lunch, etc. Amazon had it for only $12, so I figured it's worth that much to me.

Hope everyone is enjoying their Monday. Bleck. Personally, I'm just waiting for Spring to actually get here. For real, I mean, not based on the calendar.

193 days 11 hrs. 38 mins. 33 secs.

 

[#1hockeymom]

Reminding Steph that we have two seasons in Michigan, winter and construction. Sometimes they even overlap!

I hope your son gets better, GoofyM! For all the close calls we've had with DS, DD is the only one who gets all the emergency visits! So far everything has come out fine, and I bet it will with you, too!

It is almost Tuesday! (not really, but when you're leaving Friday evening you need to count forward!)

Debbie

 

[Steph H]

Argh, Debbie! I didn't realize that your vacation starts this weekend. My jealousy is acute, because you not only know what miserable weather I'm trying to get away from, but you're actually DOING it! Waaaaaaah.

Please bring back some warmth and sun. Please please!! And have lots of fun!

 

[lovesdumbo]

Argh, Debbie! I didn't realize that your vacation starts this weekend. My jealousy is acute, because you not only know what miserable weather I'm trying to get away from, but you're actually DOING it! Waaaaaaah.

Please bring back some warmth and sun. Please please!! And have lots of fun!

And throw some of it toward MA too! I think we've had more snow this year than you guys? And its been sooooo cold and 2 of my 3 kids HATE the cold (both January babies) so its been a really LONG winter and we're all going crazy! Today it is near 60! BUT...they say that isn't going to last but it does give hope.

Debbie have a great trip!

Goofy'sMuse-hope your DS is having a speedy recovery and will be more careful.

Tess-how wonderful that all your plans are falling into place! It was meant to be. I felt that way when I got my great airfare and AAA discount on the room for all 9 nights. I'll still try for AP but feel like some of that pressure is off because I've already got something.

Steph-I usually just plan days roughly. I have a good idea of which park, where we might have lunch, maybe a PS or 2. But I don't plan minute by minute. I think fast pass has helped eliminate some of that need. Plus its hard to plan minute by minute with 3 young kids and its more fun to go slow and enjoy the magic. You can't do it all in one trip and you'll drive yourself crazy if you try.

 

[#1hockeymom]

This is how horrid it has been this winter. It is 39 degrees out and I've been in and out of school, my car, the house... without a coat on! Its gorgeous out! I think if my skin feels 80 its liable to just fall off! LOL DD's last final was Thursday and she claims she is coming with us (WOO HOOO!) DS's last day of school is tomorrow, a half day, and he has no choice but is already singing Disney music as he walks through the house. My last day is Thursday, but I only have kids half of the day. DH won't call in sick with the plague on Friday or we could leave Thursday night! I might have to throw his cell out the window, too, since he claims he will need it all vacation for work. What I do know is...

WE'RE GOING TO DISNEY! happyhappyjoyjoy! I hope everyone's counter starts to move faster!

Debbie