We're back from surprising our kids– a grateful family -with pics and video.

[pillow]

It’s in the Beach Club. We ate dinner there on our last trip because it was the only place I could get an ADR for 10 people at a reasonable time of day. I called for ADRs 3 months advance. I was an ADR virgin at the time. Now, I know better. You’ll read different reviews on it. It’s supposedly a seafood buffet but they don’t have a lot of seafood, and, believe, me coming from Maryland – we know our seafood. The salads were fresh and good. Some of the entrees and sides were good – I just don’t remember what they had on them. Desserts were good too. DH and DS12 loved it. DS12 ate 4-5 bowls of steamed clams and he is always talking about wanting to go back and beat his record. In fact, he was talking about it earlier today when I gave him clam chowder for lunch. Little does he know….

You mean Cape May!! Yes, we've been there twice actually. I remember the salads being good, but other than that I didn't love it. It was one of those places where my 10 year old ate mac and cheese and I paid $25 for it!! OK - I'll stop whining about the kids paying adult prices now, I promise.

Have you tried Flying Fish Cafe across from Beach Club on the Boardwalk? $$$, but YUM!! One of my favorites. They actually let my son order off the kid's menu there.

Jodie

 

[sherreis]

Sorry to be away so long everyone! It's been a BUSY few days. Trying to fit in visits to my father at the hospital and getting the boys ready for school. My father needed to have a pacemaker inserted on Friday and then he got moved up to the rehab. unit. Hopefully, he'll be discharged home before long and then it really gets busy in trying to care for him. DSis will take care of getting him to doctor visits and DH will do his grocery shopping for him. DSis and BIL are going to tell him it's time to stop driving. I dread that day for me - I hate not having a car available. When I was on bedrest with DS12 (then, DF - dear fetus), my DSD would use the car to go to school and I would cringe at the idea of not having a car in the driveway. Then, there was getting the boys ready for school - they started 3rd and 7th grades today.

Here is DS12 when he was leaving the house this morning. I get to watch him walk down to the bus stop from the porch - he's too big for me to go anymore.

Here's my new 3rd grader getting ready. He told me I didn't need to go to the bus stop with him cause "I'm old now. I'm in 3rd grade." I told him I get to do this 3 more times- today, next year, and the year after and then no more, so let Mommy be happy. Guess what? I won!

 

[sherreis]

Problems with AirTran... My new addiction in addition to the DIS!

We originally booked our airfare back in April and then in the beginning of May, I'm reading lots of threads here on the DIS. I see many people complaining about AirTran and schedule changes. Oh no! It would be my luck we’ll have all of this scheduled and something will happen. I go to the website and lo and behold, our 6:05 PM flight is moved to 7:45 PM which puts in at MCO shortly after 10. I don’t know about that cause the boys would’ve been up early for school, and then getting the surprise of a lifetime, and I’m expecting them to get to POP after 11, get right to sleep for RD at Epcot the next morning? I think not. I talk to DH about what to do – he’s not happy about the time but thinks it’s OK. I’m not – I tell him that you don’t want to start your vacation off that tired, despite the adrenaline and DS12's ADHD. AirTran has 3 other nonstop flights we could try if they’ll let us switch. They have 2 between 8 AM and 9 AM and one at 3PM. At first, the Disney side of me said 8 AM is perfect – we get down there, go swimming, unpack, go to MK and watch Wishes. Then, the mother side of me kicked in and reminded myself that the boys were already missing 3 days of school for this trip and if we leave at 3PM, they can go to school ½ day that day. Guess who won?

The mother side. The rationale side. The let us never have fun side. It’s OK though. We’ll be at our resort for dinner, swimming, unpacking, and bedtime. We can miss Wishes. We’re going on a totally unexpected trip to Disney World because we're grateful.

I didn't know they would be so wonderful to work with in switching my ressie. We changed from the 6 PM to a 3PM flight without any problem. This was the 2nd time I had to deal with their customer service people and the 2nd time I've had no problem. Let's hope I don't need them a 3rd time. We'll be arriving to MCO at 5:10 PM now and we'll be able to have a nice evening upon our arrival.

Meanwhile, I keep checking the Air Tran website on a regular basis for flight changes. So far - so good. The only change was our return flight being pushed back by 12 minutes. I can tolerate those kinds of changes.

 

[Dylan_&_Blake's_mom]

Great start so far. I have 3 boys and hope to be going back in early Nov. of 2009. I'm also thinking of making it a surprise but haven't decided yet.

 

[Minnie&Nana]

Sherri, I'm hooked! So many wonderful reasons for you to celebrate with a Disney vacation, but having your hubby cancer free for a year is huge!

Your family is charming - the boys so handsome!

Will be following along, looking forward to seeing their faces when they learn the exciting surprise!!

Thanks for letting us tag along - an arm chair trip to Disney is always great fun!!

Christine

 

[sherreis]

Great start so far. I have 3 boys and hope to be going back in early Nov. of 2009. I'm also thinking of making it a surprise but haven't decided yet.

It’s harder than we thought but only 43 more days!!!! I don’t think we could’ve done it if we planned it that far in advance. We started thinking about it in April and made it final in May. I just keep thinking of the looks on their faces and that keeps me motivated. I do miss having them excited and helping with all the planning.

Sherri, I'm hooked! So many wonderful reasons for you to celebrate with a Disney vacation, but having your hubby cancer free for a year is huge!

Your family is charming - the boys so handsome!

Will be following along, looking forward to seeing their faces when they learn the exciting surprise!!

Thanks for letting us tag along - an arm chair trip to Disney is always great fun!!

Christine

Thanks Christine. I need to go check the grandbaby watch stuff. Did everything go well? Thanks for tagging along here. Being a grandmother is A LOT of fun. We have a 2 yr old DGD and even DH talks about taking her to WDW – after all, she is a princess. Here she is going to preschool for her first day this morning.

 

[sherreis]

The week of 8/11 – the DIS, the Olympics, and the codes

What a crazy week. Rumor on the DIS was that Visa codes were going to be released on Monday morning 8/11. On Sunday, DH and I huddle up and come up with our game plan. I had trouble falling asleep Sunday night. Just like the commercial – “I’m too excited to sleep.” Then, I did what every other normal DISSER would do and woke up early on Monday morning, logged in and NO CODE . Kept checking all morning and still no code. Can’t keep my mind off our trip and I couldn’t concentrate at work at ALL. I work from home so I went outside to get the mail around 1:30 and lo and behold, Sleeping Beauty is staring up at me. How beautiful! She says that I want a happy ending. Isn’t she smart? Inside the card, it says $361 for an adult at a value for 5 nights. Call for other resorts….Hmm… We’ve gotten 2 other PINs since June and both of those had blackout dates. I’m figuring this one will too and we won’t be able to use it. DH came home from the dentist and I told him we got another PIN. He told me to call and let him know. I realize DH is catching on to all this DIS lingo – he now knows what a PIN is besides something he steps on in my sewing room Got on the phone with CRO and had the nicest CM. Whoa baby! No blackout dates. Great answer to my first question. So now, I present her with some scenarios – stay at POP or upgrade to mod. No rooms at POFQ but there are rooms at CSR – which were our 2 mod choices. With the PIN we can stay at POP and save $238 off our AAA rate OR we can upgrade to CSR for $98 more than our AAA rate? Oh – what to do? I went upstairs and told DH, figuring he’d be all about saving the money. He didn’t say no. I told him to think about it and we briefly discussed pros and cons to both. No decision yet, but, I’m kinda hoping for CSR but will still be happy with POP. Hey – we’re going to Disney and our kids still don’t know. Boy, I wish I could ask them for some input.

DH called me upstairs and said “book CSR!” I called CRO and booked CSR and then figure I had to wait a few more days for the fall package codes just to make sure we can’t save even more $$$.

So, all week, I stayed up late watching the Olympics – I’m from Baltimore so I was routing for the home-town hero Michael Phelps. Thursday morning, I woke up early for the code. Will the code beat the PIN? Only time will tell – that’s right- want to get the best rate we can for this surprise trip. On Thursday, 8/14, I woke up before 7 and came down to the family room so I would be able to hide if the boys woke up early. I dial CRO and get placed on hold – the only place I don’t mind being on hold, except, do you know how bad it is to listen to It’s a Small World and you haven’t had your coffee yet? The code comes out to a few cents different than the PIN. Later in the day, I speak with our AAA TA who made the CSR ressie.

The boys will be so excited to be going back to CSR as they are familiar with it and loved it there last trip.

43 more days! And, it is still a surprise!

 

[pillow]

The week of 8/11 – the DIS, the Olympics, and the codes

What a crazy week. Rumor on the DIS was that Visa codes were going to be released on Monday morning 8/11. On Sunday, DH and I huddle up and come up with our game plan. I had trouble falling asleep Sunday night. Just like the commercial – “I’m too excited to sleep.” Then, I did what every other normal DISSER would do and woke up early on Monday morning, logged in and NO CODE . Kept checking all morning and still no code. Can’t keep my mind off our trip and I couldn’t concentrate at work at ALL. I work from home so I went outside to get the mail around 1:30 and lo and behold, Sleeping Beauty is staring up at me. How beautiful! She says that I want a happy ending. Isn’t she smart? Inside the card, it says $361 for an adult at a value for 5 nights. Call for other resorts….Hmm… We’ve gotten 2 other PINs since June and both of those had blackout dates. I’m figuring this one will too and we won’t be able to use it. DH came home from the dentist and I told him we got another PIN. He told me to call and let him know. I realize DH is catching on to all this DIS lingo – he now knows what a PIN is besides something he steps on in my sewing room Got on the phone with CRO and had the nicest CM. Whoa baby! No blackout dates. Great answer to my first question. So now, I present her with some scenarios – stay at POP or upgrade to mod. No rooms at POFQ but there are rooms at CSR – which were our 2 mod choices. With the PIN we can stay at POP and save $238 off our AAA rate OR we can upgrade to CSR for $98 more than our AAA rate? Oh – what to do? I went upstairs and told DH, figuring he’d be all about saving the money. He didn’t say no. I told him to think about it and we briefly discussed pros and cons to both. No decision yet, but, I’m kinda hoping for CSR but will still be happy with POP. Hey – we’re going to Disney and our kids still don’t know. Boy, I wish I could ask them for some input.

DH called me upstairs and said “book CSR!” I called CRO and booked CSR and then figure I had to wait a few more days for the fall package codes just to make sure we can’t save even more $$$.

So, all week, I stayed up late watching the Olympics – I’m from Baltimore so I was routing for the home-town hero Michael Phelps. Thursday morning, I woke up early for the code. Will the code beat the PIN? Only time will tell – that’s right- want to get the best rate we can for this surprise trip. On Thursday, 8/14, I woke up before 7 and came down to the family room so I would be able to hide if the boys woke up early. I dial CRO and get placed on hold – the only place I don’t mind being on hold, except, do you know how bad it is to listen to It’s a Small World and you haven’t had your coffee yet? The code comes out to a few cents different than the PIN. Later in the day, I speak with our AAA TA who made the CSR ressie.

The boys will be so excited to be going back to CSR as they are familiar with it and loved it there last trip.

43 more days! And, it is still a surprise!

PINs, Visa codes?? huh? Afraid you'll have to translate for me.

Jodie

 

[dustermom02]

Wow Sherri -

What a great report. What a crazy year you have had. I finally made it over here from the Turkeys to read about your trip. Very exciting. Can't wait to see how long you make it w/o telling the boys. I'm totally impressed. Your 'mean mom' work first 'maybe' play later sounds like me and cracked me up.

I too need to know about pins and codes. I'm supposedly a disney visa charter member but I must be clueless b/c I haven't paid attention to anything about that.

 

[Melissa79]

Hi! Just came across your pre trip report...looks like it will be a great trip. I hope you can keep it a surprise!

 

[sherreis]

PINs, Visa codes?? huh? Afraid you'll have to translate for me.

Jodie

Jodie and Paula-

Sorry to take so long to answer your questions. Horrible week at work last week and I've been spending my evenings working with Photoshop Elements so I can make some matching t-shirts and stuff for our trip.

A PIN code is an email or mail card that Disney randomly sends out for discounts on packages or rooms. The discount can vary as high as 40%. We've never gotten one before and for some reason, Disney must really want us back this year because we've gotten 3 of them.

Visa code - traditionally, when discount codes have been released for rooms/packages, Disney Visa cardholders have gotten the discount before going to the general public. For some reason when the fall packages were announced in August it didn't come out with a Visa code. Oh well. We were still able to get a good rate so I'm OK with that.

Wow Sherri -

What a great report. What a crazy year you have had. I finally made it over here from the Turkeys to read about your trip. Very exciting. Can't wait to see how long you make it w/o telling the boys. I'm totally impressed. Your 'mean mom' work first 'maybe' play later sounds like me and cracked me up.

I too need to know about pins and codes. I'm supposedly a disney visa charter member but I must be clueless b/c I haven't paid attention to anything about that.

Thanks for visiting! Hope you enjoyed our "heat wave" this weekend. Times are tough when it's hotter in September than it was in August. Gotta say I loved my electric bill this month - $92 due to that rebate that BG&E had to give us.

About being the "mean mommy" - that comes from when DS(13 yesterday - need to change my siggie) was a baby and he'd cry and I would say "go call the mean mommy police. I'm sure they will tell you I was right."

Hi! Just came across your pre trip report...looks like it will be a great trip. I hope you can keep it a surprise!

Thank you and welcome to the DIS!

 

[sherreis]

One month from tomorrow. Hard to believe. And, the best part is that the boys still have no clue!

Yesterday, when we were having lunch, DS8 started talking about our next trip to WDW which he thinks will be when he is 13. He wants us to go for 10 days and he wants us to stay at CSR again so this time he can go down the fancy slide at the pool. He was not a good swimmer 2 yrs ago and was afraid to do it. Now, he's a fish! DH and I just looked at each other.

I almost let it out the other night. DS13 and I were at the grocery store and somehow he started talking about turkey legs and how he was going to try them the next time he went to Disney World. DS13 just got braces 2 weeks ago so I responded with "you might not be able to eat turkey legs with having your braces." As soon as I said it, I cringed..... Luckily, he didn't pick up on anything and said "by the time we get to go back to Disney World my braces will be off" and I reminded him that what I meant was that he may have braces for a lot longer than this first 1 1/2 yrs for phase 1. Good catch.

On this week's agenda -- make Tenshi's reservation for the doggie hotel. We're trying a new place for him that I've heard good things about. The last time we boarded him was when DH was in the hospital a yr ago and I wouldn't be able to take care of him, especially in case something happened. The dog was sick for days after coming home so we won't go back to that place. This new "hotel" has rooms with TVs, a doggie swimming pool, air conditioning, grooming. Makes you want to go that "spa" with him, doesn't it?

The other thing on this week's agenda for DH is to make calls about ECVs and get rates.

Here's what I've been doing the past week and a half -- learning more about Photoshop Elements. Going to be making some matching t-shirts - here is what I'll be ironing on.

Here's DH's...

DS13...

DS8...

and mine...

 

[sherreis]

This is what I spend all weekend learning how to do. These are the papers we'll be giving to the boys at the airport.

DS8

and DS13

 

[pillow]

LOVE the shirts and the notes. They both look very professional!! Great job!

How does one get a Visa code? We have a Disney Visa, but we also have DVC so we never book rooms through Disney. I guess we're not on the mailing list due to that???

Jodie

 

[Minnie&Nana]

Awesome job, Sherri!

You must be beside yourself with excitement (well, you know what I mean! lol). I'm not good at secrets b/c I always want to share the joy, but wish I could have pulled off a surprise like this just once. Kudos to Mom and Dad!!

So....remind me, please...this trip is when...and for how long? Want to be sure to think of you when the big say arrives and while you all are celebrating in WDW!

 

[sherreis]

LOVE the shirts and the notes. They both look very professional!! Great job!

How does one get a Visa code? We have a Disney Visa, but we also have DVC so we never book rooms through Disney. I guess we're not on the mailing list due to that???

Jodie

Thanks Jodie. I have a ways to go with photoshop but it is so much fun to play with. As for Disney Visa codes, some people get emails from Chase when there are discounts. Mine are hit and miss. On your account, you can sign up to be notified of things and you can get emails. Otherwise, when there are discount codes, the best place to find them is here on the DIS. I paid for the trip on the Disney Visa so I would have more rewards points to use. Right now, we have $300+ in rewards points that we're saving for the cruise.

Awesome job, Sherri!

You must be beside yourself with excitement (well, you know what I mean! lol). I'm not good at secrets b/c I always want to share the joy, but wish I could have pulled off a surprise like this just once. Kudos to Mom and Dad!!

So....remind me, please...this trip is when...and for how long? Want to be sure to think of you when the big say arrives and while you all are celebrating in WDW!

I am beside myself with excitement. Our trip is ONE MONTH from today! October 15th. It's getting closer. And, as far as surprises - I'm one not to do it either and am so proud of ourselves that so far we've been able to do it.

 

[sherreis]

Woo hoo! Just got an email from our TA that our travel documents came last week and she is just holding them until our ME documents arrive! I asked her to let me know when she mails them so I can keep my eye out to make sure the boys aren't around when I check the mail for a couple of days. They often will be outside when I go to the mailbox. Don't want to get this close and let the cat out of the bag.

 

[Minnie&Nana]

 

[dustermom02]

Wow Sherri -

What you're doing in photoshop is just amazing. The boys are going to be so surprised. I just got a new computer -after 11 years - so I think I have the juice now to try that sort of thing. I can't wait. Maybe in a couple more weeks when things slow down a little and we get used to our school routine.

And only one month to go - not long now. You did good covering about the braces slip.

I never stay on site either so that must be why I haven't gotten the codes or PINS.

 

[sherreis]

Photoshop Elements 7 is coming out in October. I'm using version 5 which I've had for awhile but really didn't use. DH is starting to play with it as well.

Have fun with your new computer. I remember when we got our first computer - it was a Leading Edge and ran DOS and we thought that would be all we would need for a long time.

We have 3 computers in our house. We have our main desktop which is in the Living Room and that is the computer DH uses when he works from home 3 days a week. I have a laptop from work and I use that one downstairs in my office because I also work from home. Last summer, my father gave us a nice $$$ gift and I bought my laptop which is the computer I use most of the time now. I like the portability of it. I didn't buy anything expensive - just something that would do what I needed which is mainly for pictures, some word processing, and managing my mp3 player.