YIPPEEE We are Finally Heading Home -- DVC Owners & Reservations At Last! 4/16 update

[KatMark]

I cannot believe this is still not signed, sealed and delivered. Keeping fingers crossed it is all done soon.

 

[PracPerfPatricia]

Oh Mary Ellen,

I hope that your DVC business is settled soon...

I think that your ADR plans look good and that TIW & OOP sounds like a good way for you to go... the discount with TIW is good and sometimes you don't want to commit to a full meal with a dessert... I always wished you could choose a appetizer or dessert... but no go...

I also am a big fan of Dis math... I like you're whole Annual pass plan... (Eric got one in December... therefore we "have" to go in July to get the full use...

Sending you pixie dust that today will be the day the DVC settles...

 

[Moira222]

I cannot believe this is still not signed, sealed and delivered. Keeping fingers crossed it is all done soon.

I am once again checking my email every 20 minutes I swear! I just wish that the woman doing the title work were better with following up. YOu know, little things like "check received" "sellers paperwork in the mail" ....things that would keep me in the loop and not sending snarky emails

Oh Mary Ellen,

I hope that your DVC business is settled soon...

I think that your ADR plans look good and that TIW & OOP sounds like a good way for you to go... the discount with TIW is good and sometimes you don't want to commit to a full meal with a dessert... I always wished you could choose a appetizer or dessert... but no go...

I also am a big fan of Dis math... I like you're whole Annual pass plan... (Eric got one in December... therefore we "have" to go in July to get the full use...

Sending you pixie dust that today will be the day the DVC settles...

Look at you checking email from Italy! Looks like you're having fun!

I remember the first year we did DDP I swear that we could choose appetizer or dessert AND the gratuity was included in the plan. Am I imagining the choice part of it? Frankly, 90% of the time I will choose my calories from yummy adult beverages over a dessert. This is challenging for me now because I can't drink right before, right after, or with my meal. Its definitely got me rethinking how to manage things.

I love DisMath. Just last night Joe pointed out that have apparently over planned vacation time, and hes' wondering how he can go to Disney next May when we promised Katie a 2014 birthday trip for her (July). I just said "Let me think on it and do some fuzzy Disney math"

Safe travels Patricia! For sure I'll be posting on the DVC department whenever its all really really really done. sheesh!

 

[Moira222]

We are finally officially DVC owners. woohooo

and more importantly, we finally have reservations!

Sorry I have been awol from here for a while. I just have been so busy with family and work projects I just haven't had much time to get online, and have been spending it catching up on all the great TRs here on the boards.

SO, where ya stayin (said like Isabella from Phineas & Ferb)

(Photo from TripAdvisor.com) On Saturday 4/27 we will check into a two bedroom villa at Animal Kingdom Kidani Villas. We have standard view, so who knows what that view will look like. I'm looking forward to staying in one of the villas and having a kitchen for the first few days. and to the Jacuzzi tub. We never use ours at home but hey, maybe on vacation I will get a chance to soak for a little while.

On 4/30 we will check out of Kidani, and check into two separate studios at Saratoga Springs.

(Photo from TripAdvisor.com) This also works out well for us. After camping together enough times, we have learned that after 3 days or so, Katie and Marie tend to start picking at each other and need some personal space. So switching to two completely different rooms will be good timing I think.

I didn't realize how quickly the DVC properties really do fill up. I went to make reservations for October and found that I could not get anything the week we want to go. I have waitlisted Animal Kingdom and OKW. I could have reserved for most of the week at Saratoga Springs, but here was one night, 10/13, which appears to be booked everywhere. bizarre! I am torn between just waiting (a risk and I am tired of risks!), changing weeks (but then Katie will have to miss 5 days of school instead of 3) in October, or giving up on Halloween and going after Thanksgiving instead (which Joe thinks is totally crazy).

Ok so moving on, now that we know where we are staying, I can share what we are doing once we actually get there, which, by the way, is in 11 days!!!

 

[Moira222]

Our “want to do” list thus far:

-Watch Wishes from Poly’s beach (Joe and I just did this, but I think the whole group would enjoy it. Maybe on our AK day, when we are free in the evening)

- rent a paddle boat and/or bicycles to tour OKW (We took a good look at those rental bikes and are leaning toward the paddle boat!)


- Tethered balloon ride in Downtown Disney. Groupon had a GREAT deal (Thanks Brook!) for this, and I purchased two (for Katie and I) for $15. I am hoping I don’t freak out.

(borrowed from disney.blog)

- Yeeha Bob

(borrowed from http://www.adisneymomsthoughts.com)

- visit Splitsville (okay this will probably only happen if we don’t have great weather)

- Ride RNR –DHS Neither Katie nor I have done Rockin Rollercoaster. I’m a bit afraid I’ll toss my cookies….so I’ll have to be sure not to eat any cookies! I am very sure that Marie has not ridden RNR, as she was only 4 the last time she was at WDW, and she has a real zeal for wild rides, so for sure she will want to ride this one. I don’t know if O’Malley or Duchess has done this ride.

-tower of terror DHS -- we may have to talk Katie into this one. She loves the dropping part but the video portion leading up to it scares her.

- lights motors actionDHS I know that O’Malley would love this but I think the show is already stopped. I read they are changing over to a Cars Land type attraction instead.

- Studio backlot tour DHS

-great movie ride DHS

- Muppet 3d DHS

-TSM DHS

- star tours DHS


continued next post

 

[Moira222]

- Lunch at BOG! MK
- Hall of Presidents MK
- Tom Sawyer Island MK
- BTMRR MK

- Fantasyland MK
- Sorcerer’s of the magic kingdom MK
-Buzz Lightyear MK

-Keys to the Kingdom Tour MK (This is O’Malley & Marie’s “to do”. Joe and I are not ready to see the behind the scenes of the magic yet. We offered to take both girls around the park so that they can enjoy this tour if they want to.)
-haunted mansion MK

-tiki room MK

- Jungle cruise MK

Just cause this one is so cute:

-The new pirate adventure game which I read about in January. Has anyone played it? MK

- Agent p mission EPCOT
- epcot wine flight EPCOT – I definitely have Duchess signed up to purchase a wine flight as well.
-Turtle talk with Crush EPCOT
-testtrack EPCOT
- Circle of Life show in the land EPCOT

- Soarin’ EPCOT
-Figment EPCOT

- Expedition Everest AK

- Devine AK
- Festival of the lion king AK

- Camp mickey and Minnie AK
-Kilimanjaro safari AK
-dinosaur ride AK

 

[MEK]

Congrats on your DVC purchase coming though and planning a trip so soon. that is truly awesome and I hope you have a wonderful time!

Sorry you could not get a continuous stay for October, but I feel pretty certain your waitlist will come through. Our wait list came through last year. I honestly think people make the reservations, but they end up canceling when they decide they aren't going for F&W.

Enjoyed all your pictures and Katie is too cute!

 

[wiigirl]

Great pics!

 

[pinkxray]

Congrats on finally becoming a DVC member

What are your possible Oct dates? We aren't going to Disney but I have DH about 50% convinced we should do a Universal trip in Oct. I tried to get the week of Oct. 13 off but it was already full at work so I had to take the week of Oct. 6 instead I'm so bummed but not much I can do about it.

 

[Moira222]

Congrats on your DVC purchase coming though and planning a trip so soon. that is truly awesome and I hope you have a wonderful time!

Sorry you could not get a continuous stay for October, but I feel pretty certain your waitlist will come through. Our wait list came through last year. I honestly think people make the reservations, but they end up canceling when they decide they aren't going for F&W.

Enjoyed all your pictures and Katie is too cute!

Thanks Mary Ellen. I am too new to know how well the waitlisting works out so hearing that it should come through makes me happy. It seemed strange to me that several options that I put in were open for every night except one. so I will keep my fingers crossed at this point!

I had fun looking through past year's photos for rides. I just love that one where Katie is sleeping, and Mr. Smee is trying to hard to wake her.

Great pics!

Thanks!!!

Congrats on finally becoming a DVC member

What are your possible Oct dates? We aren't going to Disney but I have DH about 50% convinced we should do a Universal trip in Oct. I tried to get the week of Oct. 13 off but it was already full at work so I had to take the week of Oct. 6 instead I'm so bummed but not much I can do about it.

Right now we are wait listed for the week of Oct 13 at OKW and AKL because Katie's school is closed Monday & Tuesday, so she'd miss only 3 days. The week before (same week you're going!) is my back up, though I haven't made any reservations because to do it I'd have to borrow points from 2014 and I don't want to do that for October. But if we do go then, I'll let you know --Katie & Caitlin would be great pals!

 

[PracPerfPatricia]

Mary Ellen...

I'm so glad your DVC went through after all of that frustration... Congratulations...

(You're going to love it when they say "Welcome Home"... and it really is...

Your plans look great... I highly recommend that wine walk in Epcot...

I have to look into the Pirate Adventure in MK... David would love that... (me too probably)

Your photos are very cute...

 

[Moira222]

Mary Ellen...

I'm so glad your DVC went through after all of that frustration... Congratulations...

(You're going to love it when they say "Welcome Home"... and it really is...

Your plans look great... I highly recommend that wine walk in Epcot...

I have to look into the Pirate Adventure in MK... David would love that... (me too probably)

Your photos are very cute...

I would say that you can't imagine how excited we are to be going "home" at the end of this week.... but I know you can!!!

You have inspired me for quite a few new adult libations there Patricia....I am not sure if I should be thanking your or not, but I will!

I'll fill you in on the Pirate Adventure, I am pretty sure we will check it all out!

 

[Moira222]

In three days from now we will be packing up the mini van & hitting the road. CAN'T WAIT!

Duchess and I have been chatting and texting back and forth about what we'll be packing, travel details, and all the joys of getting nine year old girls through the week of school and PSSA's (state testing) while we try to check off our to do lists at home and work before leaving.

I recently shared my Disney packing list with her and (GASP) she called me "anal". Cracked me up! I have learned to list everything and just go down the list so I don't miss anything! I had her laughing even harder when I brought up her full binder, complete with TripTicks, maps of the states we'll go through, park plans in detail --- and a "mini planner" just of park days to keep on hand as we go. Hmm perhaps I do have a bit of a problem.....I can't help myself. There is just SO MUCH to do at Disney that I want to make sure I get in the "wish I had done this" from the last trip, ya know?


As I go through my list of to do's I am happy to say I have completed quite a bit (as it should be, right?)

- Disney Visa redemption card received DONE
- put together travel binders (one per family) DONE
- finish park planners ( one per adult) DONE
- trip tix for the drive down DONE
- quarters & pennies in a tube for pressing pennies DONE
- mani /pedi DONE
- laundry - DONE (mostly!)
- Mickey Tye Dye's DONE (forgot to take a picture of all of them so you'll just have to wait till we all wear them!
- Mousekeeping Envelopes (nearly forgot about these, but we only need 3 so it will be fast & easy!)
- PhotoPass Purchase DONE
- packing clothes- I have packed for Katie & I, Joe has to pick his own clothes.
- packing toiletries
- Pack household stuff for DVC stay DONE
- pack a car bag (we are driving) with snacks, cd's, movies, fm transmitter, blankets
- pack dry grocery items DONE sort of (I have a bin into which I have been tossing stuff for the past week or so. I have to tidy it up and add just a few things to it still.)
- buy more dog treats
- vacuum
- clean guest room (SIL is house and dog sitting along with her two dogs. FUN!)
- finish up girl scout service unit purchases/ banking UGH a never ending saga for sure
- liquor store run DONE Figured I'd make my life easier and buy something pre-mixed, so I opted for Bacardi's rum punch which will be quite lovely by the pool. mmmm and wine of course, gotta have that!
- clean out car (ugh, my car is always a mess!)

So, you may be wondering what is the big plan?

We are meeting at a well located Wawa at 6 p.m. on Friday. This lets anyone who needs to fill up on gas, coffee, snacks & take care of any over excited bladders etc. and then we will hit the road.

In our car, I will take the first driving shift. I don't mind driving, but not at night - I get way too sleepy. Joe works a lot of midnight shifts, so he doesn't mind the night driving, so it works out well for us. Not exactly sure how Duchess & O'Malley are handling their shifts, but I think it may work out the same way.

The plan is to drive straight through, stopping of course for coffee, gas & bio breaks. Once the sun is up on Saturday we'll find a good place to stop for breakfast. By then we'll have been on the road 12-13 hours and should be in Georgia. Not sure where we'll stop, but it won't be a Waffle House. Joe's one and only experience with Waffle House was not good, and on last year's drive, I kept jokingly point out all the Waffle House locations from the road -- to which he'd reply, in a gravelly and deep south/cowboy sorta voice "I hates waffle house". silly but it still cracks us up.

Hopefully we adults will get to catch some sleep during our non-driving stretches so that we are not too over tired & miserable.

Once we get near Orlando, we'll need to make a Walmart stop. I know lots of folks are not fans of Wally world, but its a staple in our lives around here, and there's something to be said for consistency in traveling.

Top on the list are autograph-able tee's, especially for Katie but hopefully for all of us. Katie just LOVED her tee last year, and in February, Joe and I saw the same white Mickey tee so hopefully they'll have it -- it was perfect for the characters to sign.

Unless I have better luck tonight, we'll need sunblock too. Its still pretty cold here in PA and so selections of sunblock are pretty slim, same for Off! wipes, which are great for keeping the mosquitoes away.

We're hoping to check in at Animal Kingdom around 1 p.m. I'm not expecting our room to be ready though it would be lovely. We have more shopping to do!

Next stop: Conch Flats General Store, Old Key West

Crazy as it sounds, neither Katie nor I have swim suits right now. A recent trip to Great Wolf Lodge in PA showed just how unwearable both of our suits were. (I apparently had a Sharon Stone moment ala Basic Instinct ) I had seen really cute Mickey suits at the OKW shop, but we were traveling light so didn't buy one in February. Now Miss K & I will cross our fingers that they are still in stock.

Moving on: Downtown Disney

Assuming our room is not ready yet, we have some dealing to do in Downtown Disney.
We need to pick up our park tickets for one. And we'll be buying a Tables in Wonderland card. We figured between this trip & our trip in October, it will more than pay for itself in meal discounts.

And Katie and I need to do this:

(Borrowed from Diz-abled.com).

Joe figures that he will need one of those banana foster mixed drinks in order to sit and watch his two girls go soaring off into the wild blue yonder

I'm not sure how long we will stay at Downtown Disney - we definitely want to get to a park on Saturday so we will play it by ear. (see, I can be casual about it ! LOL)

 

[MEK]

Is laundry every done? Seriously?

I didn't realize Joe worked night shift. No wonder you can drive all night. That really does help with things.

Now here's my question - don't you guys hit a lot of traffic when you drive through DC that time of night?

Our drive to HHI was pretty uneventful a few weeks ago. I drove for the first four hours and actually made it to the NC welcome center. Pretty proud of myself.

Did Katie really call you anal?

 

[Moira222]

Is laundry every done? Seriously?

I know!!! I had to do another load last night because my foolish hubby wore 3 different Mickey/Disney shirts between Sunday & Monday. Sheesh!!

I didn't realize Joe worked night shift. No wonder you can drive all night. That really does help with things.

Joe LOVES night shift. At this point, he works every and any shift - and currently holds two different jobs so I live and die by our google calendar for sure. But overnight has been his shift of choice for years. As he puts it, all the stuffed shirts & bosses work day shift, and middles is the busiest shift because people are off work, drinking, partying, and doing stupid things. Midnights -- heck once the bars close it can be pretty quiet until people start heading out for work in the morning. Gotta love his thought process

Now here's my question - don't you guys hit a lot of traffic when you drive through DC that time of night?

We are going out 81 and heading down to 95 that way instead of down through Philly, so we skirt around DC, don't go through it. That said, we sat for about 45 minutes last year at 11 p.m. due to construction & an accident from lanes merging. but its better than going through in the middle of the day for sure!

Our drive to HHI was pretty uneventful a few weeks ago. I drove for the first four hours and actually made it to the NC welcome center. Pretty proud of myself.

Did Katie really call you anal?

I was watching your FB updates, it seemed like a nice easy drive.

It was my friend "Duchess" whose family is going with us---it cracked me up. she is the QUEEN of lists---I think I got my first packing list for camping from her actually -- so there's a lot of irony.

(though trust me, Katie probably has too!)
**************

my sweet girl woke up this morning all WOOHOO Tomorrow we leave!

I was sad to tell her it's only Wednesday -- there are two more "wake ups" and school days after this.

 

[MEK]

We are going out 81 and heading down to 95 that way instead of down through Philly, so we skirt around DC, don't go through it. That said, we sat for about 45 minutes last year at 11 p.m. due to construction & an accident from lanes merging. but its better than going through in the middle of the day for sure!

That's right - you did tell me that. That's cool and so much better.

my sweet girl woke up this morning all WOOHOO Tomorrow we leave!

I was sad to tell her it's only Wednesday -- there are two more "wake ups" and school days after this.

Poor baby - how will she ever sleep for the last two nights?

 

[blessedmom4]

Okay...I am behind, what is new.... Let me just put a plug in for going 81 to 77 and stopping in Charlotte to see me on your way...Just saying...

SOOO excited for you, PLEASE let me know when the TR gets underway. Have an amazing time!

 

[Moira222]

Okay...I am behind, what is new.... Let me just put a plug in for going 81 to 77 and stopping in Charlotte to see me on your way...Just saying...

SOOO excited for you, PLEASE let me know when the TR gets underway. Have an amazing time!

So glad you stopped over Judy -- you amaze me on a daily basis with what you are able to accomplish.

This trip I had to promise no detours (well I am insisting on a stop at South of the Border on the way home). BUT I am hoping that if Katie & I go to NC over the summer to visit my BFF that we can take a detour (though she is in Jacksonville, so its quite a detour) because we would love to meet you & your family in person.

I will let you know when I start my TR. I am hoping to get Joe to reconsider his photo ban, because it really puts a damper on my photos when I have to blur out my handsome hubby

Katie was absolutely bouncing in her chair this morning eating her breakfast, singing "one more day till Disney, one more day till Disney"

 

[KatMark]

I'm sorry I've been missing in action. I have been crazed since I got back from Florida and just yesterday finally got to my own reports.

for finally having your "home." That is awesome. You are going to LOVE AKL...I so want to go back.

I'm sorry you are having trouble in October with getting some place.

Tell Joe, we went the week after Thanksgiving last year and the crowds were very low.

Plans sound great!

 

[Moira222]

I'm sorry I've been missing in action. I have been crazed since I got back from Florida and just yesterday finally got to my own reports.

for finally having your "home." That is awesome. You are going to LOVE AKL...I so want to go back.

I'm sorry you are having trouble in October with getting some place.

Tell Joe, we went the week after Thanksgiving last year and the crowds were very low.

Plans sound great!

LOL I just realized yesterday that you had added your work/trip to your last TR... but didn't finish reading that either. Too much going on! Don't know how you are managing with the wedding coming so quickly!

Can't wait to be checking into AKL in approximately 49 hours.

October is crazy. I don't understand why only one night is not available, but ME said that people book early and then cancel. worst case scenario, we pay OOP for a single night at an off site (cheaper) hotel--but that would be annoying for sure! At this point I have reservations at SSR for the week, with 10/13 wait listed, and a second waitlist for OKW. something will turn up, right?

now I am watching for when they release dates for MNSSHP so that I can get our tickets.

When I suggested leaving the day after Thanksgiving he really thought I was nuts. (like he doesn't know this after 20+ years? LOL)