We love rack rate! Aug 1-17 More NEW pics 9/1!

[2xcited2sleep]

Your pictures came out great!! Thanks for sharing them and of course for a terrific live trip report. I really enjoyed traveling with you and your family!! Let's do it again soon!!

 

[jackskellingtonsgirl]

Elizabeth - really nice family pictures. I especially like the ones near the water fall.

Thanks! We had heard it was good to go first thing in the morning but there were some where we were really squinting. And some where I had a runaway piece of hair. But we did get some nice ones, too.

Your pictures came out great!! Thanks for sharing them and of course for a terrific live trip report. I really enjoyed traveling with you and your family!! Let's do it again soon!!

I'm glad you enjoyed it! Looks like it will be your turn next!

 

[SnoopyDancer]

I enjoyed reading your trip report especially your tips on dining and pin trading. It sounds like you had a good time. I know you said you wouldn't do the deluxe dining plan again. Do you think it is a better value for a least on member of your party to buy an annual pass and the Disney Dining Experience card? I'm not that familiar with DDE card, but I could see how the DxDP could get expensive with tips for all the extra food.

 

[my3princes]

Here are some pics from our resort photo shoot at Saratoga Springs.

Your pictures came out great. Did they give you extra time on the shoot without an additional charge?

 

[jackskellingtonsgirl]

I enjoyed reading your trip report especially your tips on dining and pin trading. It sounds like you had a good time. I know you said you wouldn't do the deluxe dining plan again. Do you think it is a better value for a least on member of your party to buy an annual pass and the Disney Dining Experience card? I'm not that familiar with DDE card, but I could see how the DxDP could get expensive with tips for all the extra food.

It really depends. We used our APs for 3 trips - 9 nights, 4 nights, and 16 nights so we REALLY got our money's worth just on park admission. We also used the APs for room discounts on 8 of those nights so that saved us a bunch of money. We didn't buy the DDE until this trip because we wanted it to still be valid when we go back next August. The DDE card gives you 20% off most TS meals, which effectively covers the tip. They add an automatic 18% tip to your bill, and there were a couple of times we tipped over the automatic amount. It costs $60, so you have to use it several times before you recover the cost of the card. In December we wouldn't have saved enough to cover the $60, and the card would have expired this December, so we waited to buy it.

Our DS is teeny-tiny for his age and he doesn't eat much at all. He prefers the kids menu, and that's what he orders from when we are paying cash.

I thought it would be nice to have the DxDDP for those 7 nights in the middle. I NEVER would have dreamed that we could have ordered the EXACT same food and paid less using DDE. Of course there is NO WAY DS would have ordered all of that food from the adult menu, but even if he had, we would have been better off with DDE. Then having those credits left over, me not feeling well on the last day the credits were valid, using a bunch of snack credits for bottled water we never did drink, it was a huge waste of money.

I'm not sure how you would have to structure it to SAVE money with DxDDP. The tips really inflated the cost to the point that it wasn't worth it for us. $70 per person, per day, plus another $50 or so per day in tips, plus not maximizing the value of the snack credits was just stupid. I can't imagine that we would have spent $260+ per day no matter WHAT we did or where we ate.

I sort of knew going into it that we wouldn't save much money, but I was shocked at how much extra it ended up costing in the end.

 

[jackskellingtonsgirl]

Your pictures came out great. Did they give you extra time on the shoot without an additional charge?

Thanks! Nope - we had an 8:30 AM appointment and I think we were back in the office to choose our free prints by 9 AM. I know it didn't take very long to take the pics. They had some computer issues so it took awhile to get the pics burned to the CD, but taking the photos was quick. Our cab to the Poly was at 9:45 AM, and I know we were back in the room by 9:20 or so to gather up all of our stuff.

 

[bethbuchall]

Tonight was dinner at Crystal Palace (no pics, it's a buffet, standard buffet food).

We went on some rides, ate dinner, met up with Janet and Riley so the boys could go on rides together. The crowds were definitely better than they have been, but still some significant lines. We were going to get FPs for Space but they were all gone when we went over about 8 PM. We ended up going on Small World, HM, Snow White, Pooh, and Dumbo. The boys went on the Barnstormer 5 times in a row and only had to get off the ride once. That was right as Wishes was starting. They had a blast!

MGM tomorrow, and the big DDA dinner at Cape May!

That was our first night, and we were at MK, too! We looked around for you and Janet but didn't see you anywhere. Well, I looked...dd told me that I better not have any meets set up. We had a little mix up at LTT and wasted time there, but we still had a great night. No rain until almost park closing for us that day.

Here are some pics of the interior of our studio at AKV. When the couch is pulled out there is a severe shortage of space to put those 2 coffee table things plus all of the cushions. The bedding pack in the armoire is a blanket and pillow for the pull-out, so there is some space in there. The green thing in the corner is just a little bench - we have the carry-ons on top of it. We took these pics before we called down to have the luggage delivered!

Here is the DDA gang after dinner at Cape May. The only one missing is DH, because he decided to go to the restroom as were were assembling for the pic.
Debbie brought Mardi Gras beads for all of the kids.
Dinner was very good. It was our first time at Cape May and we thought it was very nice!

I really want to stay at AKL some day! The Cape May meet looks fun, and that is a great picture!

Yesterday we went to MGM for rope drop. We got FPs for RnRC, then we rode ToT. DS decided to give it a try - he said he liked it OK this time.

We walked over to get a FP for Toy Story as soon as we were eligible and our return time was 4:10 PM (at 9:45 in the morning). We rode RnRC. We tried to do the Jedi thing, but it was cancelle3d because it was sprinkling. We went to Pizza Planet for an early lunch, and it POURED while we were in there. After that we just sort of gave up and came back to AKV.

Dinner was at Cape May, then we went to Epcot for EMH with Janet & her boys.

Today we went to AK for rope drop. We got our FPs for Everest, then we walked along both animal trails. The gorillas were fabulous, as always. I think DH got some good pics of them. We saw a family win a $500 shopping spree from the Dream Squad, so that was kind of fun. We all agree that there seem to be fewer Dream Squad members this year. We typically see maybe one pair of them on their way to award a prize each day. It looks like maybe one group per park per day are winning dream Fast Passes and that's about it. We have seen a pitiful smattering of dream ears and even fewer dream pin lanyards.

We rode Everest, then the rain started up AGAIN. We came back to AKV for a nap. We got up in time for 3 PM pin trading. DH and DS went to the arcade from there, and I went to the culinary tour at Jiko.

The tour is just a little talk about Jiko's decor, then an overview of the menu by a chef. We got to sample some little breads and dips. From there we went over to Boma for a tour of the buffet offerings, and a sample of one of the soups and a zebra dome.

Tonight is dinner at Boma and then we're headed to MGM for Fantasmic.

We were at MGM for rope drop that day, too, and that is the time I said "hi" at ToT. We went straight back to Miday Mania to get fast passes. They told us that the ride wasn't open yet that morning. The lines for the fast passes were outrageous, and people kept cutting into our line. When I finally got done, our passes were for 12:45 pm! Then we went to ToT where we met you. We were going to wait stand-by for ToT and RnR, but George (a dream team member) loved our shirts and fast passed us for both rides! That was a lot of fun! Miles ended up loving ToT this year, so we had no problems with trying to decide what to do. I'm glad to hear that your ds liked it, too.

We didn't see many dreams being given away, but we did win ears at AK one day.

Tammi - Glad you made it home safely! It was good to see you guys again!

We went to MK this morning with Bernadette & family. Of course it rained on us. And our pet sitter said it is raining at home, too. I am going to mildew if I don't get some sun soon!

DH and DS are napping now, and we haven't decided which park to do tonight. Our passes expire today so this is our last chance. It is going to be so hard to wait an entire year before our next trip! I thought being here for 16 nights would give me enough of a fix to deal with a 12 month wait, but that doesn't seem to be working. Airfare and lack of valid APs should be quite a strong deterrent, though!

Until I started reading your trip report, I thought that we had pretty good weather at the beginning of the trip. I guess we had more rain than I remembered, but it was nothing like our last four, drenched days.

I really enjoyed reading all about your trip!

 

[SnoopyDancer]

Thanks for answering my question. I'm sorry you didn't get your money's worth, but am grateful you shared your opinion on the deluxe plan here. I'm hope your next trip is just as good as or better than this one.

 

[jackskellingtonsgirl]

Welcome home, Beth!
How cool to get FPs and dream ears!
I'm sorry Laura wasn't up to meeting with the other DDAers. Maybe next time! I am glad we at least got to say hello!
I am sorry you guys (and Anne Marie & Bernadette) arrived just before Miss Fay. I don't like to be rained on, and being rained on for days on end would be a huge bummer!
Can't wait to hear more about your trip!

We are down to just one more suitcase with stuff still in it, and the stuff in it is CLEAN. Of course we have mountains of laundry piled in the hall.

 

[PNO4TE]

I enjoyed your pictures, Elizabeth! Thanks for sharing them with us.

 

[jackskellingtonsgirl]

Thanks for answering my question. I'm sorry you didn't get your money's worth, but am grateful you shared your opinion on the deluxe plan here. I'm hope your next trip is just as good as or better than this one.

You're welcome!
You know, it was only for 7 nights so it wasn't as bad as it could have been!
I hope our next trip is this good, too, because we really did have a great time!

 

[tinknme]

Elizabeth your pictures turned out great, thanks for sharing!

 

[jackskellingtonsgirl]

I found another memory card we hadn't loaded to the laptop!

Tusker House breakfast

Lunch at Garden Grill

Garden Grill

'Ohana breakfast (the ONLY character we saw the ENTIRE time we were there)

Breakfast at Crystal Palace with Bernadette's family

 

[jackskellingtonsgirl]

DH and DS's dinner at Terrace Noodle Station the night they went to MK.

Broccoli beef (DS really liked this!)

Orange chicken

Spring rolls

DH said they wanted me to be proud of them, so they took pics of their dinner.

 

[PNO4TE]

Elizabeth -- Tell your DH we are VERY proud of him for taking pictures of his food!

 

[tinker1bell]

Oh man -- we'll miss you, but not by much. We are arriving on the 5th but heading to Vero Beach for three nights, then AKL CL (villas concierge I think) and then OKW until the 15th. Let's all hope for sunny weather this December!

Hey Marti,

Stephanie and I will be at Pop Dec 11-16. Would love to say hi.

 

[loribell]

We were using Soft Lips, but it wasn't doing much good. Switched to Blistex, and his lip looked HORRIBLE yesterday. We started with the Aquaphor just before lunch yesterday and by last night his lip was SO much better! I am going to keep a very close eye on him in case we need to see the Dr. before we leave. Hopefully between the Aquaphor and the straws it will be OK.

I know this was posted many moons ago but I just read your entire trippie and wanted to comment. I finally figured out after using blistex the last 3 times my lips were starting to get chapped that the blistex makes them so much worse. I will never use it again.

Now I wish I had found this before your trip so I could have warned you about changing resorts so many times. We have done 3 changes before over a lenghty stay and it just makes the trip so much less relaxing. Of course until you try it yourself you don't see that. Now I don't even like moving at all.

Great job on the trippie!

 

[jackskellingtonsgirl]

I know this was posted many moons ago but I just read your entire trippie and wanted to comment. I finally figured out after using blistex the last 3 times my lips were starting to get chapped that the blistex makes them so much worse. I will never use it again.

Now I wish I had found this before your trip so I could have warned you about changing resorts so many times. We have done 3 changes before over a lenghty stay and it just makes the trip so much less relaxing. Of course until you try it yourself you don't see that. Now I don't even like moving at all.

Great job on the trippie!

Thanks for reading!

His lip looks a lot better now since we have been putting Aquaphor on it! Really, since we have been home it hasn't been too bad at all. I am hoping he is getting out of the habit of licking his lip all the time.

Yeah, the resort hopping wasn't my favorite part of the trip. Mostly because it cost so much in tips to get all the luggage moved! We were lucky that both the SSR and the AKV rooms were ready when we checked in. Waiting until 4 PM for a room definitely would have made it even worse! Waiting until 1 PM to get our room at the Poly wouldn't have been a big deal at all if I wouldn't have been sick that day. DS had a terrific time in the pool while we were waiting. This trip just shook out weird because we bought into DVC so close to departure. We won't bounce around like that again!

 

[piglet50]

and have been reading all evening. it was great! thanks for all of the neat info on pin trading, resort hopping, and food!. it looked like you had a great time. thank you for sharing your vacation. i'm ready to go back right now. if we're lucky, maybe may of 09. thanks again.

 

[jackskellingtonsgirl]

and have been reading all evening. it was great! thanks for all of the neat info on pin trading, resort hopping, and food!. it looked like you had a great time. thank you for sharing your vacation. i'm ready to go back right now. if we're lucky, maybe may of 09. thanks again.

Thanks for reading! I am ready to go back right now, too!