We invite you, if you dare Summer plans 08/04 Day 25

[annmarieda]

Yay!!! Not only on the change from Pop to BLT, but the hours behing open longer at MK.

 

[WDisneyMom]

Congrats on BLT coming through, Karin! POP is cute but oh my word...the beds are so small!!

 

[pas130]

So I canceled Pop Century .......

how come?

Well, they did it again! They changed park hours again.

Yesterday was my day off and I was planning some itineraries for our park days when it dawned on me that I hadn't checked park hours since before Christmas. Needless to say, as every year, they changed park hours and MK is now open until 1am on our arrival day. Since our park time is already limited, due to 4 days spent on the Disney DREAM, this definitely peaked my interest.
Now, Pop Century is not really close to the MK and we would either have to use the bus or drive and park at the Ticket and Transportation Center after an already long travel day, to take advantage of the long hours.
I started searching for other optional hotels. Poly $700 - thanks, but NO thanks, Contemporary completely booked, Bay Lake Tower completely booked, GF - too expensive.

I was giving up. Hm, but we could try and check DVC. NOTHING available. So over a late lunch Tom and I discussed our options and when we could not come up with a decent solution, I tried DVC again.
Why not try a waitlist?
So I waitlisted a studio at BLT. And guess what .......


WAITLISTED IT YESTERDAY AND IT CAME THROUGH TODAY!!!!!!!!!


So instead of staying at Pop we are staying at BLT

and will just stroll over to the MK after check in and play until they close!
Now this vacation could not start any better!!!!!


BTW - Jeanette and Christine, are you proud of me now? May I join the resort changer club?

Karin that is FANTASTIC!!!! AND of course you can join our RC family

The continuing saga of the resort changers.

Glad your waitlist came through.

 

[YukiPhnx]

OH MY GOSH, I'm so excited that you got BLT, my dream DVC!!!

I'll enjoy the pictures of your room very much.

Yeah, they always change park hours which makes it not so easy to plan ADRs in parks without a park hopper....which is what I'm trying to do with my group.

I'M REALLY SO EXCITED FOR YOU!!!!

The Wishes cruise that you're going on, is it the Pirate and Pals ones? Or is there another cruise? I would love to take my group on it.

Hearing you plan your cruise is making me REALLY excited for my cruise!!

 

[dizneeat]

That is a lovely sounding embarkation day! Relaxed, nice pace but lots done. perfect!

We'll be going through the routine for the 10th time, guess we have it nailed down now.

What a dreamy update!

Thanks, Jen! Can't wait to see my DREAM again.

Hi Karin, love your PTR so far. A cruise is just what I would love to do right now. Sounds like you have some great DisMeets planned too.

Hi Teresa!
I wish we could take you with us on the cruise. But we'll be cruising together soon!
I am really looking forward to our meets. I met the most wonderful people through the DIS!

Christine is coming around !!!Karin I didn't realise you could have a buffet at Enchanted gardens, do any of the restaurants have a sit down breakfast!! I loved them on my last cruise and often was the only one of the 10 of us who went !!I just enjoyed being served .
Now for some questions, when you arrive at Port Canaeveral with your luggage what do you do with it till your room is ready ????Can you request a certain rotation for dinner , with it being 4 nights and 3 restaurants I wondered how that works ??Are tips included in price or can they be( this one is more for P&P cruise in May) That's all for now , more will follow

Oops almost forgot wonderful update!!!

Rosie, I am so happy for you and Christine! She sent me a PM with some questions and if you have some more, just let me know.
Enchanted Garden is open on embarkation day. It is a buffet, but you will be seated and drinks are served. It is a buffet for breakfast on most days - again, you will be seated and drinks will be served. You can also order omelettes.
In the evening it is a table service restaurant in your dining rotation.
Royal Palace does SERVE breakfast (you will be seated, order from the menu and are served)
Yes, you can request a rotation. We never have as you will have an experience in every restaurant and one night will be pirate menu (with a pirate menu).
As for how it works - you will be in the same restaurant on the second and third night - one night will be pirate night (means, there is no Crush in Animators and the servers will weaar pirate attire, not the one that goes with the restaurant)
Like: Enchanted Garden, Animators, Animators (pirate night), Royal Palace

Luggage: When you arrive at the port there will be porters who will take care of your suitcases. (Think - checked luggage). Those suitcases will magically appear in front of your stateroom later in the day.
You will need to take care of your hand luggage. And you will have to keep it with you.

Tips are not included and are paid via your onboard account. You may prepay your tips if you want to. We never have, we usually top up the tip when we like our host/servers.

Any more questions - just ask!

 

[dizneeat]

Man! I forgot I wanted to try that breakfast pizza!!! :scrachin now I have to think of when I can fit that in.

looks like a nice day... pretty low key.

You really have to fit that pizza in one day, Ann, it is sooooo good!

I love Embarkation day. We have done it often enough now and it is just so nice to have it all lined up for you!

Hurry up summer discounts!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Woooooooooooooooooohoooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!

Keeping my fingers crossed for you!

Seriously? You are going to leave us hanging like that?

I didn't keep you hanging for too long, did I?

 

[jenseib]

I knew you would have a resort change....just knew it.

 

[dizneeat]

The continuing saga of the resort changers.

Glad your waitlist came through.

I DO feel like a resort changer.

We didn't even think the waitlist would come through when about 24 hours after I had signed up for it I had a confirmation in hand!
And BLT is just awesome! Walking to the MK will make it so easy to really head over and enjoy and play on that first night!

Wow, that is an awesome update from Pop to BLT!

Jill in CO

And all thanks to Disney changing their park hours again.
To be honest, we were fine with Pop, but being back at BLT twice in February is just the icing on this "cruise" cake!

WOOHOO!! Can I be absolutely thrilled for you and a tad jealous as well?!?. this is fantastic news!

Karin, you will always be an honorary member of the RC Club, but given the updates we sometimes receive which include a resort change, I think you are official! Yes, very proud!

I sent a request to two Disney Cruise Specialists I know - heard back from one and she will get back to me soon. Have not heard from the other yet, but she could be on a cruise. AND I have spent my lunch time this afternoon perusing the DIS stateroom reviews of the Dream - a little overwhelming.....but I am serious about trying this cruise because I know I would feel comfortable with three dear friends.. So, are you proud of me?!

Heard back from the other TA - DCL site is down, but she will get back to me soon.

Okay, she got back to with prices.

Well, after reading through the DCL site, it is so easy to do without a TA!

We are so happy the waitlist came through! It is just unbelieveable that we are staying so close to the MK twice this trip!

Wow Karin, what great news to get BLT instead of PoP.

I wish I could have talked Bob into DVC, after paying for the last two trips, plus the one the upcoming one, I could have DVC paid for!

Tom and I still can't believe this is for real, but it worked out so well, it's unbelieveable.
And buying into DVC is really paying off right now. I am keeping track of what I paid and what we would have spent so far and we are getting close to the half way point. Guess our other reservations this summer will push us over.

 

[dizneeat]

Yay!!! Not only on the change from Pop to BLT, but the hours behing open longer at MK.

We were a-okay with Pop UNTIL they changed the park hours. Knowing us and that we will have had a long travel day there would have been no way we would have mustered up the force to drive to the MK or use the bus. But just walking over? And it is just a three minute walk!!!!!! This is going to be such a great start to our trip!

Congrats on BLT coming through, Karin! POP is cute but oh my word...the beds are so small!!

We both really like Pop, but you cannot beat BLTs location. And we really enjoyed our stay there last February!

Karin that is FANTASTIC!!!! AND of course you can join our RC family

I knew you would like it, Jeanette!

OH MY GOSH, I'm so excited that you got BLT, my dream DVC!!!

I'll enjoy the pictures of your room very much.

Yeah, they always change park hours which makes it not so easy to plan ADRs in parks without a park hopper....which is what I'm trying to do with my group.

I'M REALLY SO EXCITED FOR YOU!!!!

The Wishes cruise that you're going on, is it the Pirate and Pals ones? Or is there another cruise? I would love to take my group on it.

Hearing you plan your cruise is making me REALLY excited for my cruise!!

Yuki, you really need to stay there some time. The units are the smallest DVC units, but you cannot beat the location and the whole feel is so cool and crisp! Really love it there.
I knew something was not right when I first saw that they were only open until 10pm President's Day weekend, but then I checked and checked and nothing happened until ..... last week. Thank god, things worked out!
I never even thought about how much impact this must have if you don't have hopper tickets. Having had an AP for so long, really blocks out those thoughts.

We are NOT doing the Pirates and Pals cruise. There are pontoon boats you can rent for either 8 or 10 people. 8 is without sound, 10 offers sound as well. We will be 10 people, as I invited Ann and her family and Michelle and her family as well. Guess we will have a swell time.

 

[dizneeat]

I knew you would have a resort change....just knew it.

Looks like you know me better than I do!
But to be honest, I was absolutely fine with staying at Pop UNTIL I found out about the park hours.
And now that BLT came through, I am really over the moon!

 

[dizneeat]

UPDATED WITH CHANGES!!!

Day 1, February 16

Travel day

Our first day will start pretty early. I guess I will spend the night at Toms so I dont have to get up even earlier. Pixie will have gone to her cat hotel the day before and we will have to get up around 4.30. Then after quickly getting ready we will grab a bite to eat before we have to be out the house at 5.30 at the latest. The drive to the airport should take around 20 minutes if we dont have too much snow that day. We will then park our car at the long time lot at the airport and I am sure I will have done online check in, so all we will have to do is send our luggage off. At 6.40am our plane to Frankfurt should depart

and after a delightful little morning snack

we should arrive at Frankfurt airport at around 8am. We will then have 5 hours to kill at the airport and yes, there is a later flight to Frankfurt, but the stopover times for the second flight are pretty short and I am always afraid of missing my connection if we were delayed because of snow.
I guess we will just check out the airport shops and then pick up something for breakfast or an early lunch.

At around 12 we will head towards our departure gate as our plane is leaving shortly after 1pm.

Once we will have reached cruising altitude we will be fed some lunch,

then we will take some sleeping aid, watch a little on board TV (or on Toms pad) and hope to drift off to sleep for a while. Hopefully a longer while.
I guess we will have woken up in time for dinner,

so will be fed again and hopefully we will arrive on time at around 6pm.
Once we are off the plane we will need to get in line for immigration and when we have finally gone through that line we will pick up our luggage and head to the rental car stations.
There will be another line we will have to get through, then we will be assigned a car

and when we have finally found it and loaded our luggage into the trunk we will be on our way to Walt Disney World.

And after about half an hour's drive we will arrive here!

Since it will be way past 8pm by then, I should hope our room is ready and waiting for us.

Once we are settled in we will quickly pop over to the Contemporary Resort to pick up a few drinks and snacks from the store and after placing those in the room we will head on over to the Magic Kingdom.

We will most likely go and have some dinner at Cosmic Ray's. (and funnily enough, even though we have eaten there before, I do not even have a food photo!)

Once we have filled our bellies we will stroll the MK, probably ride the

Peoplemover and

Pirates and hopefully even catch a glimpse of the

No matter what we will do, we will enjoy the Magic Kingdom at night

and fall into bed, totally exhausted shortly after 1am!

Guess we won't be up too early the next morning!

 

[dizneeat]

Day 3, February 18

Nassau day

We will sleep in a little if we can, as our body still will not have completely adapted to US time, so I guess we will catch a glimpse of the Dream pulling into Nassau.

Once we are up we will put the Rainforest shower in our stateroom to good use and then head to the Royal Palace for breakfast. I know exactly what to order (and I guess, Tom does too)

and after a hearty breakfast we will be ready to tackle Nassau.
If the weather is fine we will attempt to head to the Queen’s Staircase and up to Fort Fincastle

to enjoy the view, before we will head back to the more touristy areas close to the ship

to stock up on rum and rum cake.

We hope to be back to the ship on time for lunch, which we will again have at the Royal Palace.

If we should be too late for that, we’ll just order room service. And maybe we will also sign up for a tasting in the afternoon.

If not, we will just check out the bars

and have a drink or two. We will then watch the ship leave Nassau harbour

and relax until it will be time for dinner.

After dinner, depending on how tired we are we will either have a relaxing drink in one of the bars or spend more time out on the veranda, sipping some drinks out of our fridge before we will call it a day.

 

[Teri1]

Great plans so far! I love looking at your cruise food pictures. I have to remember to take pictures of the food before I start eating it! That was my problem last year.

Sent from my iPhone using DISBoards

 

[pas130]

Keeping my fingers crossed for you!

Thanks Karin!!! I changed back to August...WL! I had a PIN, NO idea, called to change dates, and these resorts were coming up no availabilty that had availability on the website. I was soooo the wonderrful CM explained since I was losing the 30% Spring discount she did a search for available Summer discounts and VOILA So after a LOT of searching....we booked a WL Deluxe room with a CY room (requested connecting they say guaranteed....you know how that goes)

I DO feel like a resort changer.

Resort changers are special...so of course you ARE a resort changer

 

[englishrose47]

Great Cruise update !! I am sooo gonna have those eggs benedict!!!!

 

[Wicket's Mom]

Karin I finally started my trip report today. Here is the link. Thanks.

Fast Passes, We Don't Need No Stinkin' Fast Passes
(url)http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=3050319

 

[annmarieda]

Magic Kingdom at night will be awesome!

It took me a minute to figure out that you were going back and demonstrating the changes. I was so confused... At MK at night and then having your Nassau day. I guess that is what i get for trying to read right after I go for a run... my brain is all...

lunch looks awesome as does dinner!

 

[dizneeat]

Great plans so far! I love looking at your cruise food pictures. I have to remember to take pictures of the food before I start eating it! That was my problem last year.

Sent from my iPhone using DISBoards

You know me, Teresa, nothing touches my mouth without having taken a photo first.
I just love looking at those pics too. They bring back happy memories.

Thanks Karin!!! I changed back to August...WL! I had a PIN, NO idea, called to change dates, and these resorts were coming up no availabilty that had availability on the website. I was soooo the wonderrful CM explained since I was losing the 30% Spring discount she did a search for available Summer discounts and VOILA So after a LOT of searching....we booked a WL Deluxe room with a CY room (requested connecting they say guaranteed....you know how that goes)

Resort changers are special...so of course you ARE a resort changer

August is back on. Are your dates still the same? Will they overlap with ours?
Ah, it's always great when there is a wonderful cast member at the other end of the phone line. And how awesome that they found you a great discount! I know how you love the WL - this is going to be a great trip!

Great Cruise update !! I am sooo gonna have those eggs benedict!!!!

Rosie, they have some at Cabanas as well, but they are far better at the Royal Palace!

Karin I finally started my trip report today. Here is the link. Thanks.

Fast Passes, We Don't Need No Stinkin' Fast Passes
(url)http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=3050319

I already visited you there.

Magic Kingdom at night will be awesome!

It took me a minute to figure out that you were going back and demonstrating the changes. I was so confused... At MK at night and then having your Nassau day. I guess that is what i get for trying to read right after I go for a run... my brain is all...

lunch looks awesome as does dinner!

I just LOVE the MK late at night. There is something absolutely magical about it.
Sorry for the confusion about the changed arrival day and then the Nassau day. I realized it didn't really go together after I had posted them. But then I was so excited I just had to share my ideas.

 

[WDWaddictt]

I am joining along and now caught up.

I am read your TRs but don't post very often. They are great to read though.

Your plans look great so far. One day I would love to stay at BLT, it looks so awesome.

We have been on the dream and it is wonderful, would love to go again one day.

 

[dizneeat]

I am joining along and now caught up.

I am read your TRs but don't post very often. They are great to read though.

Your plans look great so far. One day I would love to stay at BLT, it looks so awesome.

We have been on the dream and it is wonderful, would love to go again one day.

I am so glad you decided to say hello!
Thank you so much for your kind words about my TR. It means a lot to me that so many DISfriends enjoy them, even though English is not my first language.

If you haven't stayed at BLT, you should consider it. Are you DVC? If not, it's easy to rent points.

We just love ALL the Disney ships. So relaxing, I just love everything about them ...... yeah, and, well, the food!