They'd Better Get Ready on the East Coast!! May 2009 **TR started on TR boards!!**

[autumnpalm]

Great, exciting news!!! Can't wait to hear what you decide to do resort and ADR wise for this trip!

I know, I'm already planning like mad! I don't think we're going to do a lot of ADRs because a lot of food is included in the conference fees... and we'll be on a budget. But I'll definitely sneak a few in!

That is such exciting, awesome news!! I am so happy for you!! Plus great score on the flights!!

I know, I was just amazed at the flight prices. I've never flown with Southwest before but I will definitely check with them in the future. It's great because we'll be flying with extra luggage (conference materials) and we can check out second bags for free.

Aw man, I don't get to WDW until June 22nd! But that is SO exciting for you!

Noooo! I can't believe we're only missing each other by 3 days! It would have been so fun to have a DIS meet!

WOW, what an update!! I think that calls for another...

WOO HOOTY, Shake your BOOTY!!!!


I can't believe your going to Disney twice!!! LUCKY!! I can't wait to here about your new plans!! Now you'll need to decide on more outfits!!!

Hee hee! I think you should consider trademarking that.

And I will definitely need to plan some new outfits! A lot of the daytime ones will be boringly corporate... but I plan to change for the parks in the evening and wear some fun clothes once the conference part is over.

I'm dancin' like that little leprechaun in your siggy for ya!

I can just imagine that. It's quite a picture.

 

[WDWRocksMySocks]

WOO-HOO!! That is awesome news!!!! I'm very jealous...but in a completely good way, of course. Can't wait to hear where you guys decide to stay. Glad to hear you got an awesome deal on airfare, too!

 

[tinkgurl]

Noooo! I can't believe we're only missing each other by 3 days! It would have been so fun to have a DIS meet!

I know, I would've loved to meet you!

 

[stacikristine]

"How's that for an update?"

How about AMAZING!!!

I am so excited for you!!! That is so, so awesome. You're going to have a trip with each of your parents. How fun! I can't wait to hear about all of your planning for it!

 

[TeaForTulips]

holy cow! *jealous* that is crazy! how wonderful did that work out?? i know i would rather take two trips to the world than one trip to the world one to the land... yay!

 

[autumnpalm]

WOO-HOO!! That is awesome news!!!! I'm very jealous...but in a completely good way, of course. Can't wait to hear where you guys decide to stay. Glad to hear you got an awesome deal on airfare, too!

I may or may not have made a resort reservation.

I know, I would've loved to meet you!

Feel like coming down a little early for a May trip?

"How's that for an update?"

How about AMAZING!!!

I am so excited for you!!! That is so, so awesome. You're going to have a trip with each of your parents. How fun! I can't wait to hear about all of your planning for it!

I know, I'm really happy I get to go with my dad. He's away a lot on business and quite busy with work so we don't get to spend a lot of time together. It works out perfectly.

holy cow! *jealous* that is crazy! how wonderful did that work out?? i know i would rather take two trips to the world than one trip to the world one to the land... yay!

When you put it that way, you're right! Although Disneyland would be fun to experience... my heart lies with WDW. I wish I could take all of you guys with me.

 

[Enchanted]

*insert girlish squeal of delight here* OMG, Meg, that's AWESOME! You're so lucky! Two trips to the world that are just a month or so apart! I'm so happy for you, girl! I can't wait to hear what all you're planning for the June trip! We'll be going to the beach in Florida the last week of June, but there are no Disney plans as of yet. Bummer, I know. (Plus, I'm going to miss the ONLY TWO TOUR DATES that I could make for my favorite band's summer concert tour because of the trip. Which is a DOUBLE BUMSKI WITH A TWIST. ) I'm just going to have to live through you! You won't mind, will you?

Did I hear you've already made resort plans? If so, you need to spill those details immediately!!!

 

[autumnpalm]

Okay, time for a tiny little update.

I mentioned a few days ago that I made a countdown calendar of our days left until Disney. Mine isn't nearly as creative as some I've seen. Basically I went to Home Depot, got a bunch of Mickey paint chips, wrote numbers on them and stuck them on the fridge. Not so original but it works for me. This was taken a few days ago so there are some holes now, but this was the calendar in its entirety:

I made it kind of like an advent calendar in that the numbers are all over the place.

It makes the kitchen look a little... well, tacky I suppose? But the rest of the family is putting up with it for now!

I have a pretty quiet weekend coming up. The construction on the basement is done for the weekend, just hanging out with my cousin about, doing some data inputting (woohoo! LOL) and going to church. My uncle's funeral is this coming Tuesday so we've got family coming into the city for that. I've got to call the hospital and tell them I won't be in for my morning shift because of that... and then Thursday is Disney on Ice! It's finally starting to warm up here and time is passing quickly. Things are good. I really believe that life is taking the good with the bad and finding the things that bring happiness. Even though there have been some difficult things in my life lately, there have also been so many wonderful ones. I am a very lucky person.

 

[Beka]

*Love* the countdown calendar! Where did you see other ones? I have quite a few days to go, but I want to get one started soon!

 

[autumnpalm]

Okay, I'll try to remember the PTRs that have them...

I think rentayenta has one in hers... Villainess? Lady Lallie I think you have one, right? Bridetobedisney?

I have a terrible memory so I might be getting them all wrong. But those were the first ones that came to mind and usually going with my first instinct is best.

 

[wlwilliams9]

We have a countdown calendar too!! Here it is when we first started at 100 days!

http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=29961062&postcount=137


Now it's at 55!! I love watching it get smaller and smaller!

 

[autumnpalm]

Ahh! I was certain I'd forgotten a few. Did you cut all those Mickey heads out by hand?!?

This is kind of off topic but I love Emily's snowsuit, especially the snow pants. You have the best dressed little girl around!

 

[wlwilliams9]

Ahh! I was certain I'd forgotten a few. Did you cut all those Mickey heads out by hand?!?

This is kind of off topic but I love Emily's snowsuit, especially the snow pants. You have the best dressed little girl around!

Most of the Mickeys peel off that backing. I peeled them off, laminated them, cut them out and put magnets on the back! I know, I'm obsessed!

Thanks for the compliments about Emily! I LOVE those snow pants too! The best part is, they have a grow option, you cut out a seam and they get longer for next year!!

 

[autumnpalm]

Oh my gosh, you deserve an A+ for your countdown calendar. THAT is commitment! I'm going to go try peeling mine off now.

That's so smart they make kids clothes that last longer than just one season now. I didn't know that. I'm glad she'll get an extra year out of them.

 

[tinkgurl]

Aw I love the countdown on the fridge!

 

[Lady Lallie]

Love the countdown!! I love it when you have to hunt for the numbers, that is what I did for mine. Here is mine without any removed. LL's Countdown. But I have more pictures of it throughout my PTR to see it's progress.

EDIT: Here is a more recent one that shows it better I think. Countdown.

 

[autumnpalm]

Aw I love the countdown on the fridge!

Thanks! The fridge is one thing I get to every day no matter what, so I never forget.

Love the countdown!! I love it when you have to hunt for the numbers, that is what I did for mine. Here is mine without any removed. LL's Countdown. But I have more pictures of it throughout my PTR to see it's progress.

EDIT: Here is a more recent one that shows it better I think. Countdown.

Oooh I love yours! I knew I remembered it. I love all the framed Disney photos underneath the countdown too. What a great idea!

 

[HeatherBelle614]

Uh, did I see you say you may have a resort? You can't say something like that and then not share the news!

I love the calendar; I need to start going around to HD and taking some Mickey Heads. We'll make one for us and one for my mom's daycare kids to help her with every day!

 

[autumnpalm]

So I mentioned yesterday (was it yesterday? I think so) that I made a reservation for our June trip. It's a bit confusing, but here's what ended up happening:

We were originally going to stay at the Marriott for the first 3 nights and then switch to a Disney resort for the last 3 nights. However, I realized that if we were planning on hitting the parks after the conference each day, we would need to be able to take advantage of Extra Magic Hours. Eventually we came to the decision that we would stay at a Disney resort for all 6 nights and rent a car to drive to the conference each day.

I wanted to get the closest resorts possible so I checked on a map of Disney World and the closest resorts were:

Pop Century
Caribbean Beach Resort
Port Orleans Riverside/French Quarter
Saratoga Springs

I definitely wanted to take advantage of the 4/3 deal so I check availability online. That immediately took Pop Century out of the running leaving us with CBR, POR/POFQ and SSR. We really didn't need the extra space (and expense!) of a deluxe villa DVC resort so I crossed off SSR.

And then there were two. PO resorts and CBR. We stayed at POR in 2003 and really enjoyed it, so I entertained the idea of going back. The grounds are beautiful and the boat ride to DTD is just beautiful. Also, it's slightly closer to the conference by about a mile. On the other hand, I love trying out new resorts and since this was kind of a "bonus" vacation, I thought it would be fun to check CBR, no harm done if I wasn't a huge fan since we wouldn't be spending much time there anyway.

I checked both POR and CBR online and there was availability for both. My father voted for CBR since it would be something new and when I read about the parking lots being right outside each village that sounded perfect since we will be driving every day. There was a room available and I grabbed it up right away. And that was it! We were booked from June 13-19 at Disney's Caribbean Beach Resort!

I know there's a lot of... hmm... controversy? Over on the resort board of people loving vs. hating CBR so I figure this will be the perfect opportunity to form my own opinion of it. It seems like a good fit for us this trip (especially because there's a fridge for morning breakfasts, nearby parking and larger rooms for conference materials) plus the theme sounds really appealing to me. I can't wait to see what it's like in person!

So next up was finding a rental car. I went to mousesavers.com (as recommended by WDWRocksMySocks! ) and looked at all the codes and coupons and hints and... well I got totally overwhelmed. I ended up heading over to Priceline.com where I got our flights for our May trip and bidding on a car rental. I ended up with a compact car from Hertz for $20.00 per day. Not too bad! I probably could have found a better deal but Priceline was so quick and convenient that we were okay with it.

So now for our June trip I've got:

Flights
Room
Park Tickets
Rental Car

I don't think we're going to make any ADRs but rather play it by ear. I'm thinking of eating a few offsite meals because it would be cheaper and there is also a fancy dinner or two as part of the conference schedule. So we'll see how it goes!

And.... as of today....

47 Days till Disney!!!!!

 

[HeatherBelle614]

Controversy over CBR? Hm; that's where we used to stay all the time when I was younger and we LOVED it. Maybe it has gone down hill or something? But, I sure hope not! You will have to make sure to let me know what it's like now! We loved all of it back then, though - the beach areas, the pool, the food court, the rooms, etc.