Two Sisters finally get to go to WDW together! - TR has started!

[Flossbolna]

I don't think it would really matter what area code you choose but I don't really know for sure. I think it's neat that you can do that though and save yourself some money!

It's strange how much we are used to rely on our phones by now, I am really excited that I have a phone that is usable on my WDW trip...

YAY for getting SIM cards....2.00 a minute that is ridiculous...OUCH!! Glad you found a much cheaper alternative!

Roaming is horribly expensive. Within Europe the anti-trust regulators actually started to work against these high costs and the situation has improved.

Congrats on getting the discount on Photo Pass...I think that stopping for every second photographer is a really nice compromise...

I'm not sure you have enough rain ponchos...I think you may need a few more...

Well, at least we will try to get a few of the special pictures. I would love to get the pic on a bench with a character. Never had this so far. And Katharina wants to fight Captain Hook!

You think I need to go and buy more? I have actually thinking about that myself... I started to wonder that since they aren't really reusable and if it rains more than five days, we will run out of them. But then I figured that if that really happens, we would just need to get the Disney ponchos! I think somewhere I still have an original EuroDisney poncho from 1997...

I have been looking at the 14 days forecast from Accuweather for the last weeks or so and tomorrow they will start posting our arrival day! The trip is really geting close! The great thing is that for 1/26 they post a high of 80 (27°C)!!

I know that this means nothing and things can still change dramatically, but it makes me happy at the moment, so I will take it for that!

 

[brookelizabeth]

A high of 80! That would be WONDERFUL! Especially since last January was so chilly.

Very cool about the SIM cards, I didn't even know that was possible, and what a money saver! As far as an area code, it probably won't matter much, I would choose 407 as well since then it's like you have an Orlando phone number...one step closer to living there.

I am still doing no cones. I have my hair much shorter at the moment and found out that I need to use shampoo again, but I am still not using any sulfates. I really like my hair at the moment! Since it is shorter I stopped plopping, but I am still using gel instead of the foam I had before and the curls hold up much better during the day. Of course at the moment wearing hats doesn't really make my hair look great... I am still hoping to convert nodnol, though!

I'm so glad it's working for you!!! Your hair sounds just like mine. When it's long I do "no poo" and use foam. When it's short, I have to use shampoo (and the cones don't matter quite as much, but using none is better) and I switch to gel. Right now I'm sorta in between, so I'm using shampoo still, no cones, and using gel right when I get out of the shower and foam later. I tried to just do foam today and it was a disaster!

I'm with you about the hat. Winter. I used to just skip wearing a hat, but now that I have a toddler who I INSIST wears a hat, if I don't put mine on, he asks me where mine is!

 

[If U Had Wings]

Love all the goodies for your trip. I'm very impressed that you found travel size containers of sulfate and cone free hair stuff. I have some hair gel, but I can never find conditioner. I always end up dragging the entire big bottle with me.

Those rates for the cell phones are crazy. I have one of those phones without a SIM card. (My carrier is Sprint). If I want to switch carriers I need a whole new phone. I'm pretty sure though that the T-Mobile and AT&T phones use cards and can be switched. Not easily maybe, but I think it could be done.

 

[nodnol]

Very interesting about the little house to cook the goose in! Is it used for anything else?

These little houses or big ovens were actually used to bake bread. Usually one village shared one of them, but my in-laws built a new one in their garden and use it quite often. Most of the village ones don't exist anymore.

I tried to get a picture of the inside, but I didn't find one without plenty of people in it. The actual oven is the smaller part, you burn wood in a kind of tube, when it is burnt down you take out the ash and put your bread/cake/meet in. The temperature isn't so high, but it's so much better than your standard kitchen oven.

The bigger part of the house is used to prepare the things you want to bake or to party - my in-laws quite often invite friends, prepare some food in the oven and then eat it in the little house, there is table for about six people. Oh, and there is a little wine cellar underneath..........

That's the front:

 

[nodnol]

Just a small update today:

Nodnol and I decided that it would be worth it to get US SIM cards for our mobile phones!

Thank you flossbolna! I'm really grateful. Although I think, Remy and I could have managed without texting a calling only when I'm at AKL, it will be much easier now... I remember, when I went to study in London for one year and Remy and I decided we would talk on the phone only once a week! Well, when I called after the first week, we both agreed on calling whenever we needed to, because otherwise we would go crazy....

 

[If U Had Wings]

The little baking house is just adorable. I've never seen anything like that before.

 

[brookelizabeth]

Thank you nodnol for sharing about the baking house! I really like the idea behind that - cooking in it and having guests over during the cooking for a little party!!

 

[Flossbolna]

A high of 80! That would be WONDERFUL! Especially since last January was so chilly.

Very cool about the SIM cards, I didn't even know that was possible, and what a money saver! As far as an area code, it probably won't matter much, I would choose 407 as well since then it's like you have an Orlando phone number...one step closer to living there.

I'm so glad it's working for you!!! Your hair sounds just like mine. When it's long I do "no poo" and use foam. When it's short, I have to use shampoo (and the cones don't matter quite as much, but using none is better) and I switch to gel. Right now I'm sorta in between, so I'm using shampoo still, no cones, and using gel right when I get out of the shower and foam later. I tried to just do foam today and it was a disaster!

I'm with you about the hat. Winter. I used to just skip wearing a hat, but now that I have a toddler who I INSIST wears a hat, if I don't put mine on, he asks me where mine is!

Isn't it great how your son gets you to do just that what your mother had wished you would have done when you were a teenager!! And di you know that you loose a lot of body heat through your head? A friend of mine is married to a serious mountaineer and he once explained to me how essential a hat is to keep your whole body warm.

I actually stopped using any foam, can't get anything without cones here, so I don't bother. It took me some time to find a gel that I like. But the one I have now works great. With the short hair I even can get it to look good on a second day without washing it! Never was possible before!

More on weather and SIM in the update which will come shortly!

Love all the goodies for your trip. I'm very impressed that you found travel size containers of sulfate and cone free hair stuff. I have some hair gel, but I can never find conditioner. I always end up dragging the entire big bottle with me.

Those rates for the cell phones are crazy. I have one of those phones without a SIM card. (My carrier is Sprint). If I want to switch carriers I need a whole new phone. I'm pretty sure though that the T-Mobile and AT&T phones use cards and can be switched. Not easily maybe, but I think it could be done.

I was really happy to find those! However, they are so tiny, I will take my big bottle anyway. I am using a lot of conditioner... Those small bottles will just go into the hand luggage, so in case my luggage gets delayed I will have something to use. The Disney shampoo and conditioner make my hair look absolutely horrible!! The small bottles are from a drug store chain here in Germany which has its own brand of organic cosmetics. It is a wonderful chain which generally has good prices, really nice shops and their own lines of products which are very good. And on top of that, they are known as a very good employer. I love shopping there!

Thank you flossbolna! I'm really grateful. Although I think, Remy and I could have managed without texting a calling only when I'm at AKL, it will be much easier now... I remember, when I went to study in London for one year and Remy and I decided we would talk on the phone only once a week! Well, when I called after the first week, we both agreed on calling whenever we needed to, because otherwise we would go crazy....

I guess if you had kept to that schedule you wouldn't be married today!

Thank you nodnol for sharing about the baking house! I really like the idea behind that - cooking in it and having guests over during the cooking for a little party!!

Katharina's in-laws are really very sociable people, I think this baking house fits them so well. They also have the cutest little hut in the wood for hunting (which the rest of Remy's family does, but neither Remy or nodnol) which is a great place to get away into the nature.

 

[Flossbolna]

Wow, it's just another 12 days until our trip!!

The big news today is that I finally found some info about what is going on with the AKL pool. Mousesteps posted ab update about it and the brilliant news is: the hot tubs are both open! So Katharina and I will be able to jump into the water with a drink in our refillable mugs on the evening of 1/27 to relax after 17 hours traveling!

When I sent Katharina an email about this, her reply was "banana banana" - you see how the DIS has influenced us!

Other bits and pieces: We are still checking the weather and I like Accuweather much better than my German Wetter.com. Accuweather has highs of 78 and 79 for us, Wetter.com offers 70 and rain for one day!! Can't have that!

I registered my SIM card and used an Orlando postcode (the one of my TA and she has a 407 phone number) and ended up getting 321 as area code! It turned out that 321 was split from 407 at one point... Now I have to register Katharina's phone as well... Still have to ask her wether she wants a 407 code now or wether she would be finde with the same as me (not that it really matters...)

Dining: Katharina mailed her special dietary requests back to Disney last week, so this is done as well. But the other day this got me thinking, what about CS restaurants, what will she be able to eat there? Of course there generally are some things on the menu which she can eat without problem. But if you have only one thing you can eat, it might be good to do some planning to find out at which place the offer something that you can eat and you want to eat! So I copied the relevant CS menus in a document, deleted the items which she couldn't eat at all (e.g. any pizza - not good for someone who can't eat tomato or cheese) and condensed everything into four pages which can be printed front and back, so we have two sheets of paper which we can use to figure out where we want to eat lunch!

More updates during the weekend, I promise!

 

[nodnol]

Wow, it's just another 12 days until our trip!!

I'm getting really excited! Not as much as flossbolna though, I guess, she admitted already to be a little nervous. There seems to be no equivalent to the German Reisefieber (travel fever) in English, at least the dictionaries don't know about it. But I guess that's also because of her role as tour guide - but I promise I won't give her a hard time

I registered my SIM card and used an Orlando postcode (the one of my TA and she has a 407 phone number) and ended up getting 321 as area code! It turned out that 321 was split from 407 at one point... Now I have to register Katharina's phone as well... Still have to ask her wether she wants a 407 code now or wether she would be finde with the same as me (not that it really matters...)

I guess I don't really care about the code. Maybe it would be good to have the same one???

Dining: Katharina mailed her special dietary requests back to Disney last week, so this is done as well. But the other day this got me thinking, what about CS restaurants, what will she be able to eat there? Of course there generally are some things on the menu which she can eat without problem. But if you have only one thing you can eat, it might be good to do some planning to find out at which place the offer something that you can eat and you want to eat! So I copied the relevant CS menus in a document, deleted the items which she couldn't eat at all (e.g. any pizza - not good for someone who can't eat tomato or cheese) and condensed everything into four pages which can be printed front and back, so we have two sheets of paper which we can use to figure out where we want to eat lunch!

Thank you again! I had a look at it in the underground on my way to work. I think I will find something to eat in every of theese locations. It will just depend on what we want to eat when we get hungry. So it will be great to have the menus with us!

More updates during the weekend, I promise!

looking forward to it!

 

[PNO4TE]

I can't believe that it is almost time to leave for you two!! Less than two weeks.

 

[Flossbolna]

I'm getting really excited! Not as much as flossbolna though, I guess, she admitted already to be a little nervous. There seems to be no equivalent to the German Reisefieber (travel fever) in English, at least the dictionaries don't know about it. But I guess that's also because of her role as tour guide - but I promise I won't give her a hard time

Well, and you have always been the calm influence when I was running around with "Reisefieber". So this just fits into our traditional pattern of shared responsibilities!

I guess I don't really care about the code. Maybe it would be good to have the same one???

Or would it make sense to have different ones, so it is easier to remember which one of us has which phone number???

Ok, I guess I need to put any more thought into this matter, it really isn't worth it!

Thank you again! I had a look at it in the underground on my way to work. I think I will find something to eat in every of theese locations. It will just depend on what we want to eat when we get hungry. So it will be great to have the menus with us!

That's good! Yes, I think the menus will be a great thing to have available. I actually found some interesting sounding places yesterday that I thought might be worth for trying something new! I am just glad that we don't have to make ADRs for CS places as well!

I can't believe that it is almost time to leave for you two!! Less than two weeks.

I can't believe it either. Everytime I post an update I go to the first post to add a link to it and the list of updates is soooo long. Katharina and I will not know what to talk about after the trip if we don't have a trip to plan anymore.

 

[brookelizabeth]

Very soon you will be single-digit dancing!!!

I like the "travel fever" term. I guess here we just say we are anxious about traveling.

That is GREAT news about the hot tubs!!!! I laughed at the "banana banana" response!!!

 

[PracPerfPatricia]

These little houses or big ovens were actually used to bake bread. Usually one village shared one of them, but my in-laws built a new one in their garden and use it quite often. Most of the village ones don't exist anymore.

This is absolutely charming...it looks like something out of a fairytale...

I think that Katherina will be fine...Disney is very good about knowing what' is in their food...they are careful and should be able to answer any questions about the ingredients...if you aren't sure-ask...

I would be happy to open a curly hair thread with you and Brook anytime you'd like...curly hair is a simultaneous blessing and curse...

Congrats on 12 days and congrats on the hot tubs...

btw...I went to get my passport photos today and renew my passport... so they will let me into France with the rest of my family...

 

[manntra]

for being so close!!
Although the pool is closed at Jambo you will be able to use the pool at Kidani if it is warm enough for you to swim. It's a quick walk or you can take the DTD bus and it will take you to Kidani.
You don't happen to have an iPhone or an Itouch do you? I have an iPhone and there are so many useful apps for Disney such as a WDW dining. It has all of the menus, locations, etc.
The weather is looking good for you too and that is very good news after the recent cold weather that was all across the US. I hope it continues that way.
Very excited that I added Jiko (I know you like it here) to my May trip...moved another ADR around and I am having dinner with another Dismember! I was afraid I was going to miss it on this trip.

Tracy

 

[MEK]

Flossblona -
I just discovered your PTR and I have seen your name on other TRs I sub to. I am really enjoying this PTR and I am so excited that your trip is only 11 days away. or should I post ! I hope that you and your sister have a marvelous time! A 9 day trip in the dead of winter sounds so wonderful. If you need a AKL fix in the next 11 days don't hesistate to click on my June TR. I stayed at Kidani and I posted a ton of pics of Kidani and the main lodge and both pools. Definately check out the Kidani pool. The water is the most crystal clear blue!

 

[Flossbolna]

I like the "travel fever" term. I guess here we just say we are anxious about traveling.

That is GREAT news about the hot tubs!!!! I laughed at the "banana banana" response!!!

I guess "anxious" is the right word. I think it's funny how different languages have words for things which in other languages don't have their own word. For example, there is no German word for brain freeze. Most Germans even don't consider it necessary to have a term for it. I was so excited that there is a word in the English language that just describes what I am experiencing when I am eating/drinking really cold stuff to quickly.

I think that Katherina will be fine...Disney is very good about knowing what' is in their food...they are careful and should be able to answer any questions about the ingredients...if you aren't sure-ask...

I would be happy to open a curly hair thread with you and Brook anytime you'd like...curly hair is a simultaneous blessing and curse...

Congrats on 12 days and congrats on the hot tubs...

btw...I went to get my passport photos today and renew my passport... so they will let me into France with the rest of my family...

for getting passport photos! Do the passports in the US now have a chip with finger prints in them as well??

I wonder wether there isn't a curly hair thread already on the community board... Actually, If You Had Wings and Brook were really great in explaining the curly girl method to me and pointed me to the naturallycurly.com website which has a whole forum dedicated to curly hair! Isn't the internet an amazing thing? I agree with you on it being a blessing and a curse. As a kid my dream had always been to have really straight hair, but now I love my curly for what they are. But then, when I was a teenager nobody in Germany used conditioner and I had the frizziest hair imaginable...

We aren't too worried about Katharina's food, it is less a question of finding something to feed her, but also get something she really wants to eat. It is just that bit more difficult if your choices are more limited than for us. That's one reason why we are quite excited about our TS meals.

for being so close!!
Although the pool is closed at Jambo you will be able to use the pool at Kidani if it is warm enough for you to swim. It's a quick walk or you can take the DTD bus and it will take you to Kidani.
You don't happen to have an iPhone or an Itouch do you? I have an iPhone and there are so many useful apps for Disney such as a WDW dining. It has all of the menus, locations, etc.
The weather is looking good for you too and that is very good news after the recent cold weather that was all across the US. I hope it continues that way.
Very excited that I added Jiko (I know you like it here) to my May trip...moved another ADR around and I am having dinner with another Dismember! I was afraid I was going to miss it on this trip.

Tracy

for adding Jiko! You aren't doing a PTR for your May trip, are you? Jiko will be our last evening at WDW, we thought it would fit very well as a grand ending to our trip - and it is convenient since we don't have to travel. Have you ever been seated at the counter there? I was wondering wether this would be a fun thing to do?

We are really hoping for the weather being nice enough to go swimmig and we are planning on checkin out the Kidani pool. From the pics I think I like Jambo better, but the slide looks awesome there! However, I don't think the play area will be used very much by us. Hmmm, perhaps we could have lunch at the pool one day, I think I read that they offer sandwiches there. Must go and check out those menus...

And it is so funny that you are asking about the IPhone, I guess Katharina will be suspicious that I set you up to it! I just got an IPhone three days ago (and I think everyone here around me in Berlin can't hear about it anymore! ). I am still debating wether I should bring it since using it for the internet is just too expensive and I won't be able to use it with the US SIM card (it is locked to my German one). But if there are any good apps that would help me and especially which don't require internet access, it might be worth it. So any tips would be appreciated!!

 

[Flossbolna]

Flossblona -
I just discovered your PTR and I have seen your name on other TRs I sub to. I am really enjoying this PTR and I am so excited that your trip is only 11 days away. or should I post ! I hope that you and your sister have a marvelous time! A 9 day trip in the dead of winter sounds so wonderful. If you need a AKL fix in the next 11 days don't hesistate to click on my June TR. I stayed at Kidani and I posted a ton of pics of Kidani and the main lodge and both pools. Definately check out the Kidani pool. The water is the most crystal clear blue!

great to have you onboard for the last 11 days!!

I have seen you around as well and was lurking quite a bit on your Kidani TR. Sorry for not posting. I know how much nicer it is when readers actually comment instead of just reading along.... AKL pics are always wonderful and we definitely going to check out Kidani and the pool there as well!

 

[brookelizabeth]

I guess "anxious" is the right word. I think it's funny how different languages have words for things which in other languages don't have their own word. For example, there is no German word for brain freeze. Most Germans even don't consider it necessary to have a term for it. I was so excited that there is a word in the English language that just describes what I am experiencing when I am eating/drinking really cold stuff to quickly.

I find all that funny as well-it's so interesting how words translate, and don't translate. What do Germans do when they get brain freeze? Just excuse themselves for a moment until it clears up? Americans shout "AH! BRAIN FREEZE!!!" and sometimes it becomes a bit of a laughing matter!

I wonder wether there isn't a curly hair thread already on the community board... Actually, If You Had Wings and Brook were really great in explaining the curly girl method to me and pointed me to the naturallycurly.com website which has a whole forum dedicated to curly hair!

I would not be surprised if there was something on the Community Board already!! I will probably have to go back to naturallycurly.com for a bit to refresh my memory on everything as I grow my hair back out.

I remember being on that forum quite a bit when I was first starting out. It was SO helpful and informative. And their "community board" can get a bit sassy - just like the one here!

 

[John's Mom]

Magdalene,

Sorry for just lurking and not posting.

I'm been enjoying your PTR with all your interesting pictures and stories.

Kathy