*** The Official July 2014 thread, join us won't you? ***

[momofboyz3]

Cosmic Rays is a standard CS for us EVERY trip. It is good food and if you don't want typical CS food, there is the chicken, mashed pots, and beans. Plus there is the fantastic toppings bar. When DS was little, we would just feed him from that, with mushrooms, tomatoes, and pickles. He loved it!!! I know it's crazy but he had a blast and was full.

Thank you!! That will be on my CS list for MK, right above Casey's (I'm not a hot dog person)

 

[nancy155]

Subscribing! I may not be able to go in July but this is such a fun group! lI love following along.

 

[DisneyMomFanatic]

Subscribing! I may not be able to go in July but this is such a fun group! lI love following along.

Hi Nancy,

Glad to have you along, ,

Doesn't matter that you can't go, although I am sorry to hear you aren't able to join us in our happy place, But, we are glad to have you chat with us here. The more the merrier.

 

[RHMH]

Subscribing! I may not be able to go in July but this is such a fun group! lI love following along.

Hello - Nice to hear from you... How have you been? Midori and Lucy had a blast this past trip..

 

[RHMH]

Anyone going to try to score ressies at BOG?

I am thinking about it. We have our favorites and I don't know if I want to add to it. lol.

Our group really enjoyed BOG and we well return next July. If you have the time, we have our BOG dining video on my DD you tube link below if you would like to view it. It's the first one with awesomecookie1010 in the link. Click the link and click on videos.

 

[anjalee6]

Very good directions! Yes, that helped ThankYou!!!!!!!!!!!!
So another idiotic question... So u book your package (hotel, tix, WP&more and dining plan) then months later a room only discount pops up... Do we qualify for that if we got a package? Tia!

We always do this. We book a whole package and apply a discount when it comes out. We just did this for our October trip so I know for sure it is possible. We just call and ask them to apply the room only discount...no problem.

 

[anjalee6]

Sorry I have been missing. This week I went back to work (teacher professional days this week) and on top of that I have a ad sinus infection with fluid in my ears. I have been feeling miserable. Our October trip is getting really close and I feel like I still have so much to do. Ugh! Well hopefully I can catch up on some things this weekend.

 

[momofboyz3]

We always do this. We book a whole package and apply a discount when it comes out. We just did this for our October trip so I know for sure it is possible. We just call and ask them to apply the room only discount...no problem.

Thanks! Makes me feel better hope you conquer your sinus infection, what a horrid way to start out the school year for you feel better.

 

[RHMH]

To all - Hope everyone had a great weekend. Angalee - sorry about your sinus attack. DD suffered allergies all weekend, something must have hit the DFW are this weekend.

DD and I looked at Disney Cruises all weekend. Thought about splitting our 2014 trip between Cruise and Parks. Just thinking about it but not completely sold on the idea..

 

[bangzoom6877]

Anyone going to try to score ressies at BOG?

I am thinking about it. We have our favorites and I don't know if I want to add to it. lol.

Yes! At first I planned it as a lunch. But a friend of mine just got back from 10 nights at BLT. They ate dinner at BOG and loved it. She said the food was great, and Beast was actually walking around and they took pics with him. I'm nit counting on seeing Beast since it's not officially a character meal, but I think we'll enjoy the atmosphere more at a relaxing dinner than a CS lunch, and no worries about lines either. We were originally going to BOG for lunch and Plaza for dinner on the day we will see the nighttime parade but we can just reverse that. So I will be up on that cold, dark January morning when our 180-day mark comes and BOG will be the first ADR I try to score!

 

[bangzoom6877]

Sorry I have been missing. This week I went back to work (teacher professional days this week) and on top of that I have a ad sinus infection with fluid in my ears. I have been feeling miserable. Our October trip is getting really close and I feel like I still have so much to do. Ugh! Well hopefully I can catch up on some things this weekend.

I hope you're feeling better. Sinus infections are certainly no fun. Allergies have started up for all of us in our house. We're all taking Allegra everyday.

DD and I looked at Disney Cruises all weekend. Thought about splitting our 2014 trip between Cruise and Parks. Just thinking about it but not completely sold on the idea..

Sounds great! Have you ever been on a cruise? I've been on many but never on Disney. It's a lot more expensive than the other cruise lines and out of our cruise price range. When you are looking into them, if you find that to be the case as well, or if you just want to spend less, definitely consider other cruise lines that sail from Port Canaveral as well. We love NCL and Carnival, and although I haven't sailed Royal Caribbean for a long time, I hear great things about them also. All family friendly, great food, and lots of fun things to do!

 

[bangzoom6877]

Hi everyone! Wow, a few days away from the boards and so much to catch up to already. It's gonna be crazy when I go back to work next week...I'll have to just make time, even if it's just a couple of times a week, when things are hectic at work, to check in here. I love this group!

We had a very nice busy weekend. Friday we left a little after 6am and drive to Lancaster, PA (2 and a half hours). We went out for breakfast to a great restaurant we love, then we took the kids to Dutch Wonderland. We got there about 15 minutes after it opened and we had a wonderful day there. The boys went on lots of rides. It was drizzling lightly for a considerable part of the day, which was not in the weather forecast for that area...even the locals were shocked and said it wasn't supposed to rain that day. But not enough to put a damper on the fun. They closed a few random rides...I say random because there was no lightning in the area and the tallest ride (roller coaster) was open and both boys went on. Yet the tilt-a-whirl was closed. Oh we'll, there must have been a reason. Either way we had a great time. They have Dole whips at Dutch Wonderland! So we all got some...DS8 and I each had the float with pineapple vanilla swirl, DH had a pineapple cone and DS6 had a vanilla cone. It started raining a little harder and there was a show in a covered pavilion so we took our Dole whips there, got great seats and saw the show, with a decade theme from the 1960s to the present...it's the 50th anniversary this year of the park.

Once the show was over the rain had stopped. The kids went on a couple of more rides, then we went next door to play mini golf. They include one free round with the ticket to the park. We had a lot of fun, and then we went for an early dinner to a great restaurant, Hershey Farm. We had only been there before for breakfast, but the dinner was amazing. A grand smorgasbord, with just about everything you could imagine in the way of comfort food. It felt like thanksgiving but with even more! They were wonderful with DS8's tree nut, peanut and shellfish allergies. I had called the day before to see if it was ok for him to eat there. The manager and server were both wonderful and there was plenty for him. He was a happy camper!

Saturday DMIL and DFIL came over and brought tons of DH's baby pics. They gave him whatever he wanted so we have a whole lot now. It was so much fun going through all of them. It was a gorgeous day so we went for an early dinner to a pizzeria/Italian restaurant with outdoor seating, called L&B Spumoni Gardens. Adam Richman featured this place on Man vs. Food once when he did his brooklyn show. But we've been going there for years! Great pizza and we had ice cream too!

Yesterday I did the grocery shopping and I made the lasagna recipe from Tutto Italia, courtesy of the All Ears site. It came out delicious, and half was leftover so I froze it. Yay, dinner for a school/work night in a couple of weeks without having to cook! Then at night a friend came over. We had a fun weekend!

DS8 is now very interested in going to Animal Kingdom on next year's trip. DH and I are not crazy about that park and we haven't gone back since 2008, but we always said we would if there is something there the kids really have their hearts set on that we can't see at the Lodge. If it is just to see animals, we could have dinner at AKL and then see the animals, like we'd done on previous trips. But the kids now seem interested in Dinosaur, EE and the Lion King and Nemo shows. So I might have to sacrifice a second day at DHS for a day at AK. We'll see. I guess the plan for AK would be to go for an EMH morning, do everything they wanna do and maybe go t the character lunch at Tusker House, then go back to the resort.

 

[RHMH]

Sounds great! Have you ever been on a cruise? I've been on many but never on Disney. It's a lot more expensive than the other cruise lines and out of our cruise price range. When you are looking into them, if you find that to be the case as well, or if you just want to spend less, definitely consider other cruise lines that sail from Port Canaveral as well. We love NCL and Carnival, and although I haven't sailed Royal Caribbean for a long time, I hear great things about them also. All family friendly, great food, and lots of fun things to do!

We or I have never been on a Cruise. I was on Carnivals site for about 2 hours last night and WOW!! 7 day cruise for 800.00 per person. Jamaica, Belize, Cayman and Cozumel departing out of Tampa sounds tempting.

The group is leaning towards Carnival Cruise instead of Disney Cruise or our annual Disneyworld vacation. I asked them last night how they would feel when the cruise is over with and it hits them, they were not at Disney. No one had an answer. A year without Disney would be devastating and don't know if I would go along with this idea.

The Carnival Cruise is about 1/3 of the price of a Disney vacation, but NO DISNEY for a year...

Sorry everyone - this is a Disney forum and I am talking about Carnival. Again sorry... I am stuck like chuck right now.

 

[bangzoom6877]

We or I have never been on a Cruise. I was on Carnivals site for about 2 hours last night and WOW!! 7 day cruise for 800.00 per person. Jamaica, Belize, Cayman and Cozumel departing out of Tampa sounds tempting.

The group is leaning towards Carnival Cruise instead of Disney Cruise or our annual Disneyworld vacation. I asked them last night how they would feel when the cruise is over with and it hits them, they were not at Disney. No one had an answer. A year without Disney would be devastating and don't know if I would go along with this idea.

The Carnival Cruise is about 1/3 of the price of a Disney vacation, but NO DISNEY for a year...

Sorry everyone - this is a Disney forum and I am talking about Carnival. Again sorry... I am stuck like chuck right now.

Carnival also does shorter cruises, 3, 4 and 5 day. So does Royal Caribbean. Maybe combine a few days at Disney with a shorter cruise? That way you can try a cruise but don't have to go a year without disney.

We're used to going to Disney every other year but we couldn't do a 7-night cruise and Disney in the same year. Don't have the funds. I sure wish we did though!

Vacation planning, other than Disney, makes my head spin sometimes. I'm a huge planner and I like to know what I'm doing the summers between Disney trips. We talked about doing an all inclusive somewhere in the Caribbean in 2015 so of course I started looking online and there are just so so many. The issue is, DH and I don't swim so we need more things to do than water sports. We would definitely go to the beach everyday but that would be a couple of hours. I need activities to do besides beach and water. Some resorts have this. All of the ones I looked at have great kids programs. DS8 swims very well and DS6 is ready to learn so he's starting lessons in a couple of weeks.

Ok, I'm sorry too for going off on tangents! Back to WDW talk for July 2014!

 

[momofboyz3]

We or I have never been on a Cruise. I was on Carnivals site for about 2 hours last night and WOW!! 7 day cruise for 800.00 per person. Jamaica, Belize, Cayman and Cozumel departing out of Tampa sounds tempting.

The group is leaning towards Carnival Cruise instead of Disney Cruise or our annual Disneyworld vacation. I asked them last night how they would feel when the cruise is over with and it hits them, they were not at Disney. No one had an answer. A year without Disney would be devastating and don't know if I would go along with this idea.

The Carnival Cruise is about 1/3 of the price of a Disney vacation, but NO DISNEY for a year...

Sorry everyone - this is a Disney forum and I am talking about Carnival. Again sorry... I am stuck like chuck right now.

We went on our 1st vacation this past may. It was pretty sudden and I felt it was something I really wanted to give my boys (single parent). I figured it would be our trip of a lifetime. Our one and only. Well sure enough here I am on the WDW July 2014 forum! Haha! it was the best 8 days of my life and my boys still talk about it.
But, it's pricey. I give up our weekly pizza delivery & do it maybe once a month. Also traded in my 2xs Starbucks for daily coffee from McDonalds. ~ anyways, I decided a vacation is something we need as a family. I too looked into cruises and all sorts of things since my boys are a bit older. But, when it comes down to it WDW works for us. Everything is pre-planned. They become little kids again on the rides. Even my tough, "cool" almost 14 yr old hugs Mickey personally we loved the food, we loved the transportation and the resort. Sure, I looked into cruising as well as an escape to Hawaii and if we had the opportunity to travel twice a year maybe we would. But, for now it's going to be WDW - and so excited!

 

[bangzoom6877]

We went on our 1st vacation this past may. It was pretty sudden and I felt it was something I really wanted to give my boys (single parent). I figured it would be our trip of a lifetime. Our one and only. Well sure enough here I am on the WDW July 2014 forum! Haha! it was the best 8 days of my life and my boys still talk about it.
But, it's pricey. I give up our weekly pizza delivery & do it maybe once a month. Also traded in my 2xs Starbucks for daily coffee from McDonalds. ~ anyways, I decided a vacation is something we need as a family. I too looked into cruises and all sorts of things since my boys are a bit older. But, when it comes down to it WDW works for us. Everything is pre-planned. They become little kids again on the rides. Even my tough, "cool" almost 14 yr old hugs Mickey personally we loved the food, we loved the transportation and the resort. Sure, I looked into cruising as well as an escape to Hawaii and if we had the opportunity to travel twice a year maybe we would. But, for now it's going to be WDW - and so excited!

You are so right about needing and deserving a vacation! I feel like we work so hard all the time that we deserve a little bit of an escape from reality.

It's great that you make such an effort to be sure to give your family the vacation they deserve. Your kids will grow up to be very appreciative of that! I know I am very grateful to my parents for taking us in vacation over the years and I make sure to do the same for my own kids. We also do certain things to save money. Little things that add up, like only getting coffee from Dunkin Donuts once a week instead of everyday (our Friday indulgence during the school year), budgeting take-out and eating out (maximum once a week for each), we don't buy designer clothing (I personally was never into it it know a lot of people are), and I don't have a cleaning lady (almost everyone outside of family that I know has one once a week or once every 2 weeks). All of this adds up and helps. Two necessities though for us are an annual vacation, and taking good care of our house. We don't cut corners when it comes to the house. If something needs repair we do it. Reasonably, but we get it done. It's our home and our children's home and for that reason it is very important to us.

Everyone needs to vacation according to their own interests and needs. I know plenty of people who would never go on a cruise, and have no interest in going to WDW. I know some people who like to do nothing but lie on the beach for 7 days straight and they don't care about anything else, so they fly to an island for a week and do just that. I personally couldn't do that. Sure I could go to a beach every day of my vacation, but for a couple of hours. After that I need some more stimulating activities. That's what I love about WDW and cruising. At WDW we stay 10 nights, and we take 2 days off from the parks. We sleep in and go to the pool, enjoy the DVC villa, walk in the boardwalk and just relax. Rent a movie from community hall, grab a snack from boardwalk bakery and watch the movie comfortably in the villa. But those park days are very exciting and we are active people who like to do and see a lot of things. On a cruise, we tour a lot on the islands, go to a lot of activities on the ship, but also enjoy the spa while the kids are at camp and just relax at times. I guess we need a mix if relaxation and stimulation.

It's all about preference!

 

[me23xx]

Hi all.... SOOooooo excited to say that I am going to disney in July 14!!!

I've been to Disneyland Paris 4 times but disney Florida is and always has been my dream!

My civil partner has never wanted to go but I have FINALLY managed to convince her that it will be an amazing decision!

It will be our 7th wedding anniversary and I will have just graduated university when we go so not only will my dreams be coming true by going to disney but there will also be lots of celebration!!! (This helped the we should go discussion too!!)

We haven't booked yet, still in planning stage, would like to stay on site but looking like we will be offsite (cheaper)

Dates will definitely be 27th July - 10th August though.

eeeeek!!!!

P. any tips for us first timers will be gratefully received.

 

[RHMH]

Carnival also does shorter cruises, 3, 4 and 5 day. So does Royal Caribbean. Maybe combine a few days at Disney with a shorter cruise? That way you can try a cruise but don't have to go a year without disney.

We're used to going to Disney every other year but we couldn't do a 7-night cruise and Disney in the same year. Don't have the funds. I sure wish we did though!

Vacation planning, other than Disney, makes my head spin sometimes. I'm a huge planner and I like to know what I'm doing the summers between Disney trips. We talked about doing an all inclusive somewhere in the Caribbean in 2015 so of course I started looking online and there are just so so many. The issue is, DH and I don't swim so we need more things to do than water sports. We would definitely go to the beach everyday but that would be a couple of hours. I need activities to do besides beach and water. Some resorts have this. All of the ones I looked at have great kids programs. DS8 swims very well and DS6 is ready to learn so he's starting lessons in a couple of weeks.

Ok, I'm sorry too for going off on tangents! Back to WDW talk for July 2014!

Thanks - we'll look into trying to combine the 2 together (MAYBE). The Caribbean vacation sound super. We like the beach but for us, DD and I are afraid of Sharks, Jelly Fish and anything that can not be placed on a Sushi or a Sashimi plate.

We went on our 1st vacation this past may. It was pretty sudden and I felt it was something I really wanted to give my boys (single parent). I figured it would be our trip of a lifetime. Our one and only. Well sure enough here I am on the WDW July 2014 forum! Haha! it was the best 8 days of my life and my boys still talk about it.
But, it's pricey. I give up our weekly pizza delivery & do it maybe once a month. Also traded in my 2xs Starbucks for daily coffee from McDonalds. ~ anyways, I decided a vacation is something we need as a family. I too looked into cruises and all sorts of things since my boys are a bit older. But, when it comes down to it WDW works for us. Everything is pre-planned. They become little kids again on the rides. Even my tough, "cool" almost 14 yr old hugs Mickey personally we loved the food, we loved the transportation and the resort. Sure, I looked into cruising as well as an escape to Hawaii and if we had the opportunity to travel twice a year maybe we would. But, for now it's going to be WDW - and so excited!

You are right, Vacations can get away from you and get pricy very quickly. I've been a single parent for 13 years and believe me I fully understand the sacrifices all parents want and will make to provide for our Darling Little Ones.

Hi all.... SOOooooo excited to say that I am going to disney in July 14!!!

I've been to Disneyland Paris 4 times but disney Florida is and always has been my dream!

My civil partner has never wanted to go but I have FINALLY managed to convince her that it will be an amazing decision!

It will be our 7th wedding anniversary and I will have just graduated university when we go so not only will my dreams be coming true by going to disney but there will also be lots of celebration!!! (This helped the we should go discussion too!!)

We haven't booked yet, still in planning stage, would like to stay on site but looking like we will be offsite (cheaper)

Dates will definitely be 27th July - 10th August though.

eeeeek!!!!

P. any tips for us first timers will be gratefully received.

Welcome aboard... WOW!! asking for tips may be dangerous. We are all counting the days until we finally return to the world and all of us are ready to gab, talk, sing Disney when someone asks.

 

[bangzoom6877]

Hi all.... SOOooooo excited to say that I am going to disney in July 14!!!

I've been to Disneyland Paris 4 times but disney Florida is and always has been my dream!

My civil partner has never wanted to go but I have FINALLY managed to convince her that it will be an amazing decision!

It will be our 7th wedding anniversary and I will have just graduated university when we go so not only will my dreams be coming true by going to disney but there will also be lots of celebration!!! (This helped the we should go discussion too!!)

We haven't booked yet, still in planning stage, would like to stay on site but looking like we will be offsite (cheaper)

Dates will definitely be 27th July - 10th August though.

eeeeek!!!!

P. any tips for us first timers will be gratefully received.

Welcome to the July thread!

Best thing I could tell you seeing as this is your first trip to WDW...it's huge and there is so much there to see and do! It's great that you'll have so much time there to do so many nice things.

Also, WDW is about so much more than just rides. The resorts are beautiful if you get a chance to see some of them, the food is delicious in so many restaurants, and Downtown Disney is an area definitely worth checking out for some great shopping, and restaurants.

Thanks - we'll look into trying to combine the 2 together (MAYBE). The Caribbean vacation sound super. We like the beach but for us, DD and I are afraid of Sharks, Jelly Fish and anything that can not be placed on a Sushi or a Sashimi

Welcome aboard... WOW!! asking for tips may be dangerous. We are all counting the days until we finally return to the world and all of us are ready to gab, talk, sing Disney when someone asks.

Both of these made me

 

[momofboyz3]

You are so right about needing and deserving a vacation! I feel like we work so hard all the time that we deserve a little bit of an escape from reality.

It's great that you make such an effort to be sure to give your family the vacation they deserve. Your kids will grow up to be very appreciative of that! I know I am very grateful to my parents for taking us in vacation over the years and I make sure to do the same for my own kids. We also do certain things to save money. Little things that add up, like only getting coffee from Dunkin Donuts once a week instead of everyday (our Friday indulgence during the school year), budgeting take-out and eating out (maximum once a week for each), we don't buy designer clothing (I personally was never into it it know a lot of people are), and I don't have a cleaning lady (almost everyone outside of family that I know has one once a week or once every 2 weeks). All of this adds up and helps. Two necessities though for us are an annual vacation, and taking good care of our house. We don't cut corners when it comes to the house. If something needs repair we do it. Reasonably, but we get it done. It's our home and our children's home and for that reason it is very important to us.

Everyone needs to vacation according to their own interests and needs. I know plenty of people who would never go on a cruise, and have no interest in going to WDW. I know some people who like to do nothing but lie on the beach for 7 days straight and they don't care about anything else, so they fly to an island for a week and do just that. I personally couldn't do that. Sure I could go to a beach every day of my vacation, but for a couple of hours. After that I need some more stimulating activities. That's what I love about WDW and cruising. At WDW we stay 10 nights, and we take 2 days off from the parks. We sleep in and go to the pool, enjoy the DVC villa, walk in the boardwalk and just relax. Rent a movie from community hall, grab a snack from boardwalk bakery and watch the movie comfortably in the villa. But those park days are very exciting and we are active people who like to do and see a lot of things. On a cruise, we tour a lot on the islands, go to a lot of activities on the ship, but also enjoy the spa while the kids are at camp and just relax at times. I guess we need a mix if relaxation and stimulation.

It's all about preference!

ThankYou for sharing! I love seeing what others do to make their vacations possible. I think if it was just myself i could lie on a Sand beach or by a pool all day every day but my boys... Nooooo way!!!!
I agree 100% a mix of relaxation with plenty of Activity is what makes WDW perfect. Sounds like your plan is pretty fabulous! We went for 7 nights 8 days w/one resort day and one typhoon lagoon/DQ day. I'm thinking this trip making it 9 days ~ that would be amazing!!!!
You definately make cruising sound pretty amazing I must say