Well, Ain't That Fancy Schmancy! (Not So Much.) A Sept. '13 PTR. Shock-UPDATED 7/2!

[RNem]

I subscribed! I'm new to the boards and I have loved reading your TRs! Your kids are adorable and the fun you guys are having radiates out of those pics! Can't wait to read more!

 

[lsenquiz]

Accelerated reader- it's an elementary school program for kids who are reading well above their grade level

In our school it is required for all kids regardless of whether they are reading at grade level or above or below. Gabriel reads at grade level which means the books he reads are typically .5 points. Since he is required to get 12 points per grade period he has to read and pass the test for 24 books in a 9 week period Ours also goes through 8th grade but does stop when a child enters High School.

I was also a big reader when I was in elementry (used to read 2 big books a week atleast) and would have seriously excelled at AR. But for Gabriel it is a struggle since he is an average reader. He usually has to read every book twice and then we talk about it some to make sure he passes the test.

 

[JDUB]

Hi Jen,
I'm along for the ride too! Love you other TR and video is amazing. As you can see we are a family of 5 too and feel your pain with resort options.
We stayed at the new POR last Sept and loved the resort! The pool and slide were nice but everything was a walk from our room. I wanted a water view but it put us between the main building and bus stop so we should've picked one or the other. As far as the room, you will love the theme. The kids might wrestle for the drop down bed as our two older ones did the first night. (All though the last few night neither of them slept there.... One son with me and two with my wife. So much for seeing my wife at Disney )
One thing you will want is better storage. They have dresser drawers which gets covered up from the drop down bed. Only one area for hanging clothes next to sink. So you will need a better system are you WILL be looking at the cluster of clothes all week.
The resort was quiet for us and we got the first floor too since the second floor is stairs only so remember that from your CBR stay.
Any other questions, just ask! We are going back to AS Music suite for my oldest dance team next year but wanted to stay at AoA soon! Let me know how y'all like it (said I'n my best Yankee southern draw)
Happy planning!!!!

 

[VACamm]

Ok so I admit I'm a bit of a stalker.......... I found your trip report Sunday and read it from start to finish.... Then read your first trip report Monday.... Then I watched your video which was amazing by the way..... THEN I found this Pre trip report and THEN I started following you on Instagram haha (acamm01).... I'm really not a stalker though ... I just think your TRs are pretty thoughtful and hilarious! My dream is to also stay at the Contemporary! I'm so glad I found these though because its making my 24 days til we leave a bit more bearable. Your husband takes ah-may-zing pics and its absolutely a pleasure to read your reports

 

[JDailey]

I am here......a little late but here!

 

[GrandCalifornian]

We're following too! The video is amazing, and we're enjoying the TR. We did Sept last year and had to bounce back to do it again this year. POR looked great when we visited it last year, and we'll be back this year to eat there.

 

[SuperNEMOfan]

Joining in! My boyfriend and i will be at POR from Sept. 9-15. Can't wait to read more. Think I'm going to go read your previous TR.....Just caught up on your current tr. I'm totally jealous!! Your family is adorable

 

[DaveinFallsChurch]

Joining in! Just discovered your PTR - sorry about your initial resort plans not working out but I'm sure you'll have a great time at POR and AoA. We stayed at AoA in January and LOVED the entire resort. Our kids wanted to go back again next year but like you, I have an agenda of trying as many resorts as I can at WDW.

Now that I've tucked the kids in bed, I'm going to head on over to your TR and spend a nice quiet evening reading it!

 

[disneylvr4vr]

So, that's that. Has anyone stayed at POR before? How was it?

I LOVE POR! Last time we stayed in a royal room (free upgrade ) we just loved it! The access to DTD is amazing, lovely food court, and it was very quiet! All pluses in my book! I'm sure you will love it!

 

[Mrs Minnie]

I'm relatively new to this board but wanted to drop in to say hi! I read your last TR and really enjoyed it! You have a beautiful family and a lovely writing style - very easy to read. Looking forward to tagging along with you on your adventures!

P.S. my husband and I will be in the world in September too! 9/18-9/25

 

[Fantasyland Mom]

My daughter, Carmen, LOVES reading and loves AR- for the prizes. Lol

She's in 2nd grade, reading at a 6th grade level- she has read so many series (diary of a wimpy kid being her fave), she says she will be starting Harry potter soon! (Good thing her nerdy mom has the whole series )

She sounds very much like Julia! She's first grade and at least fifth grade level. She has her series faves, and she's also really into non-fiction books right now. She wants to learn all she can! I keep catching her reading under the covers at night. I pretend to be upset, but I'm actually proud!

Oh, they dont have that at our school district! Wish they did, but then again I think what yall have been talking about would happen with my little ones.

Yeah, it's a blessing and a curse for sure.

I'm jumping on board!

Here's another plug for POR riverside! We stayed there in a royal room last summer. I dont want to be anywhere else! It is so relaxing and lovely! We are going in August and will stay there again. This time I am requesting the reg mansion. No royal room for us, too $$$$$ and I dont have much desire to stay in the bayou!

We aren't allowed in the royal rooms, unfortunately, because there are five of us. I wish we could, because the girls would love that! The Bayou is our only option. I'm okay with it, though. The resort itself looks really nice!

Oh my goodness.....you're babies are adorable in that picture!!

Glad to hear Sawyer is doing better! And also, Congrats to Julia and her Accelerated Reader achievements...definitely something to be proud of

I would love to put in my two cents about the resort choices but I've never been to Disney World.......ya I know...just to Disneyland...Hopefully soon though. I do think AOA Lion King should be awesome...I love Lion King!!

Hope you had a good Mother's Day!! Can't wait for more!

Thanks!!
And when I come to Disneyland (note that I said WHEN, not IF!) I will come to you for resort expertise!

I subscribed! I'm new to the boards and I have loved reading your TRs! Your kids are adorable and the fun you guys are having radiates out of those pics! Can't wait to read more!

Aw, thanks so much! We do have so much fun. That's what life is all about!

In our school it is required for all kids regardless of whether they are reading at grade level or above or below. Gabriel reads at grade level which means the books he reads are typically .5 points. Since he is required to get 12 points per grade period he has to read and pass the test for 24 books in a 9 week period Ours also goes through 8th grade but does stop when a child enters High School.

I was also a big reader when I was in elementry (used to read 2 big books a week atleast) and would have seriously excelled at AR. But for Gabriel it is a struggle since he is an average reader. He usually has to read every book twice and then we talk about it some to make sure he passes the test.

It's required of everyone at our school, too. In kindergarten, it was just required that you try it. They did lots of tests in class over books the teacher read to them, and I went in and tested the whole class at once. This year, it was almost exclusively books they read on their own, and they had a set number of points that affected their grades. She did win the reading award at the end of the year!

Hi Jen,
I'm along for the ride too! Love you other TR and video is amazing. As you can see we are a family of 5 too and feel your pain with resort options.
We stayed at the new POR last Sept and loved the resort! The pool and slide were nice but everything was a walk from our room. I wanted a water view but it put us between the main building and bus stop so we should've picked one or the other. As far as the room, you will love the theme. The kids might wrestle for the drop down bed as our two older ones did the first night. (All though the last few night neither of them slept there.... One son with me and two with my wife. So much for seeing my wife at Disney )
One thing you will want is better storage. They have dresser drawers which gets covered up from the drop down bed. Only one area for hanging clothes next to sink. So you will need a better system are you WILL be looking at the cluster of clothes all week.
The resort was quiet for us and we got the first floor too since the second floor is stairs only so remember that from your CBR stay.
Any other questions, just ask! We are going back to AS Music suite for my oldest dance team next year but wanted to stay at AoA soon! Let me know how y'all like it (said I'n my best Yankee southern draw)
Happy planning!!!!

That sounds wonderful! We called and requested first floor, and I got the preferred room and asked for building 14. We'll see.
I fully expect my children to fight for the fold down bed! I'm considering just telling them only Sawyer can sleep on it because he's little and doesn't need to get pushed out of the "big" bed by one of them! Fighting problem solved! (But not without some whining, I'm sure!)
I have an idea for storage, and I'll go into that later. You can give me your opinion then!
I did think about those AS Music Suites, so I'd love to hear about that, too.

Ok so I admit I'm a bit of a stalker.......... I found your trip report Sunday and read it from start to finish.... Then read your first trip report Monday.... Then I watched your video which was amazing by the way..... THEN I found this Pre trip report and THEN I started following you on Instagram haha (acamm01).... I'm really not a stalker though ... I just think your TRs are pretty thoughtful and hilarious! My dream is to also stay at the Contemporary! I'm so glad I found these though because its making my 24 days til we leave a bit more bearable. Your husband takes ah-may-zing pics and its absolutely a pleasure to read your reports

Well, that's just flattering!!
So glad to know someone actually reads and enjoys! Sometimes I update my TR and get no response. And thanks for following on IG, too! I love your pictures on there!

I am here......a little late but here!

Dude. I'm slow on the updates. You're right on time.

 

[Fantasyland Mom]

We're following too! The video is amazing, and we're enjoying the TR. We did Sept last year and had to bounce back to do it again this year. POR looked great when we visited it last year, and we'll be back this year to eat there.

We just love September. It's our forever month!

Joining in! My boyfriend and i will be at POR from Sept. 9-15. Can't wait to read more. Think I'm going to go read your previous TR.....Just caught up on your current tr. I'm totally jealous!! Your family is adorable

YAY! RESORT BUDDIES!!

Joining in! Just discovered your PTR - sorry about your initial resort plans not working out but I'm sure you'll have a great time at POR and AoA. We stayed at AoA in January and LOVED the entire resort. Our kids wanted to go back again next year but like you, I have an agenda of trying as many resorts as I can at WDW.

Now that I've tucked the kids in bed, I'm going to head on over to your TR and spend a nice quiet evening reading it!

Hope you enjoyed the current TR!

I LOVE POR! Last time we stayed in a royal room (free upgrade ) we just loved it! The access to DTD is amazing, lovely food court, and it was very quiet! All pluses in my book! I'm sure you will love it!

Those perks all sound great. I'm getting more and more excited about staying there!

I'm relatively new to this board but wanted to drop in to say hi! I read your last TR and really enjoyed it! You have a beautiful family and a lovely writing style - very easy to read. Looking forward to tagging along with you on your adventures!

P.S. my husband and I will be in the world in September too! 9/18-9/25

Thank you so much!
Our dates overlap some! I love knowing DISers will be at WDW during our stay. We have to be on the lookout--not that you could possibly miss my wild crew! LOL!

 

[SuperNEMOfan]

Woohoo! Yay resort buddies!!

Hopefully we will run into each other on a bus or something!

 

[GrandCalifornian]

Our dates overlap some! I love knowing DISers will be at WDW during our stay. We have to be on the lookout--not that you could possibly miss my wild crew! LOL!

Our dates are September 6-15, so we should have some overlap. We can't wait, is it time yet?

We totally agree about posting a TR and wondering if anybody is reading it, but in your case people definitely are. It is great to read about all that WDW fun in detail. We have to be careful about reading it at work though, because some of the funnier parts actually made us laugh out loud. The part with Euphemisms at the Poly was hilarious!

 

[tinkgurl]

Thought you'd like to know I'm home and started a new TR!

 

[Mommy Poppins]

Loving your pre-trip report. Your kids are adorable! We will be at POR 9/10-9/15 in AB (hopefully) as well.

 

[Cinderella16]

i just finished your TR, which I loved by the way, so I thought I would pop on over and say hello!

Based on what I have read about you and your family, I don't think it will matter where you stay--you will find a way to have a magical time and make magical memories! That is what Disney is all about in the long run anyways. Haha I sound like an after school special, so I will stop now.

Can't wait to read about more plans!!

 

[TruLovesKiss]

Just found your PTR and decided to join in! We're headed to the World in Sept too! (We arrive just a couple days after you leave) My mom will be staying at AOA so I can't wait to check out the resort. It looks like so much fun! The theming looks amazing!

Looking forward to reading about the rest of your plans for your trip, ...and from the great reviews that you've gotten from your readers, it sounds like I should go back and read your other TRs

 

[Adrieske]

Following along...we will be at POR Sept. 9-19 in a Royal Room (gotta appease the 5 year old princess since this is "her" five-year-old birthday trip (five months late, but April wasn't in the budget!)

 

[momofmaz]

I LOVE LOVE reading your reports!!!