VWL Lovers & Groupies thread: It all started with a Moose

[Nicoal13]

Stopher - prayers for you and your Grandma. What an extraordinary lady!

Barb - Happy Birthday!! Sorry I'm late.


Do any of you have a link to the Mousesavers Feb newsletter? I want to buy park tickets from the link in the newsletter and forgot to save it. If not, no worries, I can wait until the March newsletter arrives. But if you have it, forward to nicoal13 at yahoo. com

 

[Dizny Dad]

Muushka - Have a great time in Williamsburg; and give Happydinks big hugs from the groupies!

 

[Muushka]

Stopher - prayers for you and your Grandma. What an extraordinary lady!

Barb - Happy Birthday!! Sorry I'm late.


Do any of you have a link to the Mousesavers Feb newsletter? I want to buy park tickets from the link in the newsletter and forgot to save it. If not, no worries, I can wait until the March newsletter arrives. But if you have it, forward to nicoal13 at yahoo. com

Thank you Nicoal! I forwarded the news letter to you. Happy planning!

Oh Stopher, your grandmother does sound like she could be a Groupie for sure.

I will tell our HappyDinks that everyone says Hi. Birthday over now, sadly. But you all made it special for me.

 

[Nicoal13]

Got the newsletter Barb. Thanks! You should stretch your birthday celebration out, I routinely celebrate my "birthday week." LOL

 

[Granny]

Well Muush, here I am a day late and a dollar short...

Actually, I didn't forget your birthday. I just like this card.

Continued prayers for all Groupies and their families.

 

[Muushka]

Got the newsletter Barb. Thanks! You should stretch your birthday celebration out, I routinely celebrate my "birthday week." LOL

Ha! You are talking with someone who has a PhD in stretching out birthday celebrations! It started about 20 years ago when a good friend thought it was March 31st. So we all laughed and established that it could be celebrated at any date during the month of March. Then a few years ago, somehow it got extended into the 2nd week of April!!

Well Muush, here I am a day late and a dollar short...

Actually, I didn't forget your birthday. I just like this card.

Continued prayers for all Groupies and their families.

Thank you for the card Granny.

 

[jimmytammy]

Stopher

Thanks for sharing your grandmother with us. She sounds like a dearheart indeed. Im with Muushka on making her an honorary groupie. She sounds like she fits right in

Barb Have a great time and tell Bob and Leslie hello from the Whitesells

 

[jimmytammy]

15 days

 

[Granny]

Jimmy...sounds great! Have you stayed at OKW before?

 

[eliza61]

15 days

Do you guys have any ADR's?

I've passed my 180 day window and I simply can't get excited about any meals. I've made 1 lousy adr for Artist point. The last couple of trips WDW restaurants have been mediocre at best that every time I think of booking some where I sort of cringe.
I'm thinking of doing Mama Melrose in HS simply to get the fantasmic dinner package since fantasmic is only scheduled for twice during my 8 day trip.

any plans on eating on site?

 

[Dizny Dad]

. . . . . I simply can't get excited about any meals. . . . . . . . . The last couple of trips WDW restaurants have been mediocre at best

Isn't that the truth!

Is it that we just are in a rut? It just seems like every trip the TS meals are slightly less exciting, slightly less delicious, slightly less than expected. And don't get me started about what I think "Free Dining" has done to Disney Dining!

I have come to realize that Disney's TS restaurants are the same as hotel restaurants; they don't depend on repeat customers for sustainability; the traveller or one-time-visitor will always need a meal.

I have always made ADRs for every day before we go, so we have something for the day, and they are usually what we plan around when it comes to Parks or venues for the day. The plan is to have a reservation and cancel it early in the day if we change our minds. Trying to get in at the appropriate time without one is tough! And just think of the thrill someone gets when told "we have a cancellation for that time, we can get you in!" The magic continues!

 

[horselover]

15 days

Woo hoo!!! Too bad I'll miss you on this trip. 23 days to go for me!

Do you guys have any ADR's?

I've passed my 180 day window and I simply can't get excited about any meals. I've made 1 lousy adr for Artist point. The last couple of trips WDW restaurants have been mediocre at best that every time I think of booking some where I sort of cringe.
I'm thinking of doing Mama Melrose in HS simply to get the fantasmic dinner package since fantasmic is only scheduled for twice during my 8 day trip.

any plans on eating on site?

We almost always eat exclusively on-site because of DS10's need for gluten free meals. No one does special dietary requests like Disney. We always eat at Kona Cafe. I've never had a bad meal there. We used to do 'Ohana's before we became 4 "adults" but now it's just too expensive. We also love Boma, but again now that we're all adults it's pricey. If I had to splurge on one of those 2 it would be Boma. We've always enjoyed Le Cellier for lunch. Dinner was too expensive there before & now it's even worse since I've seen the new signature menu. They really raised their prices. We'll usually do LTT for lunch on our last day. Tradition dictates the last day is spent at MK & since DS10 can't get anything to eat at the airport we try to have a big lunch to hold us over until we get home. HTH.

 

[Granny]

Do you guys have any ADR's?

I've passed my 180 day window and I simply can't get excited about any meals. I've made 1 lousy adr for Artist point. The last couple of trips WDW restaurants have been mediocre at best that every time I think of booking some where I sort of cringe.
I'm thinking of doing Mama Melrose in HS simply to get the fantasmic dinner package since fantasmic is only scheduled for twice during my 8 day trip.

any plans on eating on site?

We haven't made any ADR's for our trip next month. We've never been big on making them since we feel like it ends up dictating our days.

We tend to eat mostly on-site, and typically end up getting one TS meal per day, usually around 3:00 p.m. We find we can usually get a table without a huge wait and it frees up our plans which normally aren't figured out until each morning.

The ADR's we usually get are for Fantasmic dinner packages. But I think we'll pass on that on the next trip.

 

[franandaj]

I just made my first reservation at the Villas today. After a huge battle with the dvcmember.com website and a technical support person I logged in to find my VWL points in my account! So I moved my last four days of my trip this Fall from SSR to VWL. I'm not even going to count the days since I'm not even past the 7 month point.

I find that we still like many of the restaurants, but we like to dine at the Signatures, and so far we haven't been as disappointed with those restaurants as we have with the other dining experiences. On the nights that we don't have ADRs we will either cook our own dinner or eat from the F&W kiosks.

I just realized that I'll be returning from a non-Disney vacation the day that my 180 day window opens. Maybe I'll get up at 6AM and do them online before checking out of the hotel.

 

[MiaSRN62]

15 days....whoo hoo Jimmytammy !

I am in a dilemma right now of getting the TIW card vs DDP. Never had DDP before, but the prices of the restaurants have really jumped. I recall paying just a smidge under $30 for Boma last Aug. Just checked and it's almost $40/adult. Is it my imagination or have the restaurants really raised their prices ?

I'm with horselover....Kona is one of our favs......everyone want O'Hana most of the time and we can usually get an ADR at Kona. It's a hidden jewel I think---overshadowed by O'Hana.
I feel like Cape May (dinner) Buffet went up by like $6-$8 too ? That's another one we like.

 

[DiznyDi]

Hi Groupies

I'm excited for you JT! You'll be in single digits before you know it.

Is blossom back from her cruise yet?

Maria, we find that the TiW card works best for us. We're not big dessert eaters and would far prefer a salad/appetizer over dessert. We also noticed the dramatic increase in restaurant prices on our last trip. I just can't justify a $40.00 buffet. Kona is also one of our favorites.

 

[Inkmahm]

Found this thread on page 2!

Stopping in for a quick update:

Still praying for all those in need.

Happy Birthday for those that I missed!

Only 2 weeks for us until we're in WDW! Yay!

And the big news- I'll be starting a consulting assignment for my previous employer next week. I think it will start at 2 days per week and I'm not sure if it will increase or stay at that rate. I don't know for how long, either. But it will be a great entry for my resume, being to include a consulting assignment for the company that had to let me go for financial reasons 16 months ago. Now I just have to figure out how much to charge. I think it is an open checkbook at this point.

 

[stopher1]

Hey Groupies! Hope you have a terrific weekend. It's cold, wet and rainy here in the Indy area. Sounds a lot like the Pacific Northwest... makes me think of the Lodge. Wishing I could be there right now... but we will be stepping foot into it in just 31 days. While our upcoming trip won't be for a stay at the Lodge, we will be eating at WCC for breakfast on my DD's birthday. It was her choice (I think she's learning, don't you?) Plus the kids want to hang around the pool at the Lodge for a while, and we want to walk the trail over to the Fort to see the horses. So all in all, I believe, it will be a nice morning. Long story to it - but we actually won't be staying at AKV anymore either - but this time back to OKW. DW and DD have never stayed there, so it'll be fun to get their reactions and impressions. This will be a non-parks trip - lots of relaxing in the villa, with a few excursions out into the world.

On another note - my grandmother has become stable enough that the doctors have released her from the hospital! But she could not go back to her assisted living situation, rather she has gone in to a skilled nursing facility where she'll have more monitoring, etc. My aunt said, based on conversations with the doctors & nurses, it will probably be where she stays. So we'll see. Thanks for the prayers to date. It's still not over, one way or the other, but at least she's stable. As my cousin told me when we talked yesterday - "she's a resiliant lady". Now if only she could recognize her family...

 

[twokats]

Sorry I have been MIA for a while. The pixie/moose dust worked at my cousin's funeral. I was able to get up and speak with no problems. I was able to inject a little humor in it and I was also able to look at my aunt and cousins and not loose it at all. Mom said I did really good.

Happy birthday to all the groupies that I missed. . . Muushka, I hope you had a really good one. . . prayers to all groupies that have personal and family illnesses and congratulations for upcoming vacations and contracts acquired. And if there is any other situation I missed know that I have been thinking of all of you.

The end of January, I lost my main job at a local church that I had been with for 10 years. They decided to merge with another church in town and wanted the new office manager to be more of a presence and it did not work with me taking care of Mom, so I had to tell them no thank you, so I now only work two afternoons a week and am on the lookout for a new flexible part-time job. Then a couple of weeks after that we find out my husband needed surgery for a double hernia and will be on medical leave from his job for six weeks (we still have a month to go). But the icing on the cake is coming up this week. . . I have to have a biopsy done on a lump they found in my breast. Believe it or not, I am not really worried about it, I feel relatively calm about the whole procedure (at least right now I do). It looked like a piece of popcorn on the sonogram, so I have had a little laugh about it, but I will let y'all know what comes of the test next week.

 

[MiaSRN62]

Maria, we find that the TiW card works best for us. We're not big dessert eaters and would far prefer a salad/appetizer over dessert. We also noticed the dramatic increase in restaurant prices on our last trip. I just can't justify a $40.00 buffet. Kona is also one of our favorites.

DiznyDi...we have used TIW many years in past and liked it as well. So we're so torn right now.DH almost just wants to try DDP just to see what it's like ? Still deciding.....we're a family of 5. One dinner at BOMA (i.e.) would cost $200 (without tax....well TIW discount would be the tip). DDP would cost about $47/person/day which comes to $235/day (or the equivalent of ONE dinner at Boma). So dh is thinking maybe try DDP. Just hate making all those ADR's and having to stick to a plan every day.

stopher1....glad your grandmother has pulled through....sorry she must go to a skilled nursing facility. That could be more difficult on everyone. Continued prayers and hugs.

Kathy (Twokats)....praying and sending so many positive thoughts your way that the lump will turn out to be nothing. HUGS !!!! So sorry about your job too. Hoping something comes your way. Hang in there.

Inkmahm....thanks for bringing us back to page 1 ! Congrats on your assignment as well. All the best ! And happy 2 week countdown !