The *Official* February 2011 Thread - Happy Dance Time...The Park Hours Are Out!

[logandsol]

when you say costly are you talking about the rentals in the parks or from one of the stroller companies? I rented from Magic Strollers and it came to $75 for 8 nts. I thought that wasn't too bad.

I will have to check out magic strollers, that sounds far more reasonable. Thanks for the tip!

Pillowcases sound like a cute idea for autographs!
We bought the character encyclopedia for autographs, hopefully they won't be cumbersome!

 

[mrsmom]

In the single digits!! I can't wait to get out of the snow and hoping we don't get anymore snow to delay our flight.

 

[ChocoKat]

WooHoo!
This time next week we'll be already on our way to WDW!!!

 

[Sherrkel]

Heads up for those who use Touringplans.com; check your dates for Pres Week; some numbers have been updated and best/worst parks changed on some days (to reflect recent changes in expanded park hours for that week).

 

[21hearts]

I'm jealous of everyone who has a Disney store by them. There is one by us and its 45 minutes away. Plus its not very big at all and usually has the same stuff as our Wal-Mart store so DH doesn't like to drive their often.

 

[DisneyFirstTimer10]

Oh My!!

Ok so yesterday, at ten days out, my DH's awesome Aunt called and said, "I have 500 DVC points that are expiring soon, and we arent going to use them. They are yours if you want them. I need to check on availability though. Would you be interested? I am thinking a 2 bedroom Villa would be best for you with the kids and all. They may have a 2 bedroom savannah view at AKL Villas."

Me- Coughing, mouth dropping, drooling, freaking "Oh, wow, That would be great. "

Aunt- "Can you call and see what your cancellation fee would be? I dont want you to lose all your money."

Ok, so I call and they said it would be $200 to cancel, then they would refund our money within 5 business days.

Everything is all up in the air- Aunt is calling today to check on availability (closed on Sundays) which there is really a slim chance from my research that there will be anything open in DVC this close to the date.

Not to mention that we wanted to try out Pop. and what a hassle it would be to cancel everything and have to research a new resort all over again.

However- if it all works out we would pretty much pay the exact same for our tickets and dining plan to stay at a DVC 2 bedroom Villa for 9 nights as we are paying for Pop with the tickets and dining plan.....

UGH the stress is killing me- I keep flip flopping. Guess we will wait and see what happens- should know today. I would be excited to stay in a freakin Villa thats like the size of my house lol but I would kind of miss the Pop excitement that I have prepped myself and my family for.

Gina- no matter what I will figure out a way for us to meet up

 

[21hearts]

Oh man that is awesome! I can only dream of staying in a villa (unless we win the lotto).

 

[Gina]

UGH the stress is killing me- I keep flip flopping. Guess we will wait and see what happens- should know today. I would be excited to stay in a freakin Villa thats like the size of my house lol but I would kind of miss the Pop excitement that I have prepped myself and my family for.

Gina- no matter what I will figure out a way for us to meet up

I bet the kids would love the view of the animals! Me, I think it would take a stay in the castle suite to get me away from Pop, but I'm weird.

And I am so looking forward to meeting you and my little Star Wars buddy, but if it doesn't happen it doesn't happen. A villa would give y'all a lot more room, that's for sure! Let us kow what happens!!

Heads up for those who use Touringplans.com; check your dates for Pres Week; some numbers have been updated and best/worst parks changed on some days (to reflect recent changes in expanded park hours for that week).

Changes too for the week before that... I need to re-look at my plans. Again, lol.

 

[Tltorrez]

Changes for next week too. TP has a feature where you can subscribe to the days of your trip and they'll email you if the crowd numbers change. So far I've only gotten emails when the overall crowd changes, not individual parks. But it's a handy feature.

We leave on Saturday. Didn't get nearly enough packing done yesterday but now I'm thinking about pulling out the long underwear and extra layers. Temps keep going up. And the chance of rain keeps going down.

 

[DisneyFirstTimer10]

Our crowd numbers went UP for a couple of the days

I have been checking accuweather for their 15 day forecast, and it shows temps in the 70s and 80s for the early part of our trip- though I guarantee that its not very accurate this far out

still sitting, waiting for the phone call....... nerve wrecking really. Oh well, whatever happens we are going to disney in 9 days! Incredible!!!

 

[npierce25]

allison that is awsome!!!!!!!!!!!!! i hope it all works out for you!!!

 

[npierce25]

Go Steelers!!!!!!! Really hoping for that MVP parade during my trip in MK!!!!!! I told my husband in Aug that this was going to happen..

might pay for the next trip with $ from my new job as a psychic!!!!

 

[holliedd]

Changes for next week too. TP has a feature where you can subscribe to the days of your trip and they'll email you if the crowd numbers change. So far I've only gotten emails when the overall crowd changes, not individual parks. But it's a handy feature.

We leave on Saturday. Didn't get nearly enough packing done yesterday but now I'm thinking about pulling out the long underwear and extra layers. Temps keep going up. And the chance of rain keeps going down.

I have noticed that to temps go up and chance of rain goes down

Do you really think we will need long underwear down there?! I wasn't going to pack mine based on the temps that are forecasted now.

 

[BethR9]

Oh no!

I was just reading that the safari at AK, at some point one of the bridges you cross could "shake". This is going to frighten my 3 year old (very sensitive, gets scared very easily)! Does anyone know more about this? How long does the shaking last? I was SO looking forward to the safari also!

 

[DLB]

Allison - that would be awesome! I will send lots of prayers your way! That is my dream to stay at AKL - never mind a VILLA! We always stay offsite in a condo/villa, so that is what we are used too. I am SO nervous to be stuck in a hotel room for a week!! Since it is disney and we won't be in out toom very much I think I can handle it!!! Allison - no matter where you end up it will be amazing!!!

It is SO cold here - (NEGATIVE numbers- BRRRRRR!) and we have a ton of snow heading our way this week. I just looked on Weather.com app on my phone and I can check 10 days out - it shows 60% chance of snow Tuesday into Wed (we fly out wed)!! YIKES I am so nervous that we will have bad weather that will delay us flying out.

It seems that Orlando is warming up! I hope that it stays that way. I have learned from past trips to NOT pay any attention to the precipatation forcast as it changes so quickly there. We have moved around plans and then it never rains! So? I am just focusing on the temp! Dreaming of 70 degree weather. We will be so thrilled to have anything over 50!!!

Last night we played Toy Story Mania on the Wii and talked about our favorite rides at Disney! WE are in SIGLE digits!!! WOO HOO!!!!

I think I have about 80% of my packing all set. Just need to throw in the stuff that we are using now and we should be good to go!!!

 

[Marlynmik]

Chris: I bought a Tink autograph book on eBay. The ones with the photo sleeves on each page.

Logandsol: I bought a brand new First Years Ignite stroller for about $55 at Wal Mart. It goes to 50 lbs so we'll be able to use it for years to come.

http://www.walmart.com/catalog/product.do?product_id=13352095

21hearts: The nearest Disney store for me is 3 hours away. AND I can't even do online shopping from Canada.

 

[DeeCee735]

I have noticed that to temps go up and chance of rain goes down

Do you really think we will need long underwear down there?! I wasn't going to pack mine based on the temps that are forecasted now.

We've been to Disney in January and February quite a few times, we've never needed long underwear. Think layers, short sleeves under long, and a good heavy sweatshirt. Jeans and socks. But...pack a pair of shorts too, it can hit 80 in February one day and be 55 the next.

 

[lamb616]

Changes for next week too. TP has a feature where you can subscribe to the days of your trip and they'll email you if the crowd numbers change. So far I've only gotten emails when the overall crowd changes, not individual parks. But it's a handy feature.

If you use the "Crowd Tracker" feature it should email you about each park.

 

[lamb616]

Ugh, this whole weekend went by without us watching a Disney movie. We will *never* make it through the entire list before our trip. I'm gonna have to tie up the kids and force them to sit on the couch and watch, lol.

 

[PoppyGirl]

Ugh, this whole weekend went by without us watching a Disney movie. We will *never* make it through the entire list before our trip. I'm gonna have to tie up the kids and force them to sit on the couch and watch, lol.

I saw your post a while back about watching EVERY Disney movie....seriously??? How many are there? How long has it taken you? How many do you have left?