FEBRUARY 2008 WDW travelers post HERE!!!

[5 blind mice]

We got back last night and had a great time! We were at the Polynesian, which was perfect for us. We spent every afternoon swimming and letting our little guy take a "nap." I don't think he ever actually slept, but he got some quiet time anyway. For us, the convenience of the monorail was a lifesaver.

We LOVED the Magic Kingdom and Animal Kingdom. I didn't know what to expect at Animal Kingdom, but we all thought it was a really cool place. We were not crazy about Disney Studios (or whatever it's called). DS5 loved the Star Wars ride and Jedi Training, but other than that, I don't think any of us were that impressed. Maybe when the kids are older it will be more fun for our family. We didn't spend much time at Epcot. We went through The Seas and had dinner at Coral Reef.

I hope we can go back someday. It was heavenly to wear shorts and t-shirts in the middle of winter. We don't get to do that very often in Minnesota!

One other comment...it was much more crowded than I expected. Did others feel that way, too, or is that just how it always is? Early mornings were awesome...no lines, no waiting. Around lunchtime and later, though, it was pretty crazy in my opinion.

 

[Sabrina90744]

One other comment...it was much more crowded than I expected. Did others feel that way, too, or is that just how it always is? Early mornings were awesome...no lines, no waiting. Around lunchtime and later, though, it was pretty crazy in my opinion.

I thought it was crazy!! Tons of people! MOre than doubled from our last two trips.

 

[taramarie]

Hey all....
I am looking for the lady I met on the POR bus that was a member here. I have no idea what her screen name was but i think she was from Louisiana and she mentioned she had showed up for the P&PP meet and greet but didnt see anyone.

I was the redheaded lady with the family in matching shirts.
It was nice having met you!

We were on the POFQ bus and I was talking to someone. We were dressed as Pirates and it was me, DH, and DD7.

Funny

Tara

 

[lori1043]

It was more crowded than I had anticipated, BUT still not that bad!! Been there in summer and never going back at that time. It was more crowded that MG 2005. The longest waits were for bigger rides and they seemed to have about 50 minute wait times. Excpet Soarin' which seemed to be 75 minutes every time we were in EPCOT-thank God for FP!!!

I think the next time we go it will be Septmeber. It will still be hot so the kids can do the water parks but slow enought to avoid crowds!!

Hope my last post wasn't TOOO opinionated-it was humble I tell you in that I would LOVE to be able to consistently do the deluxe resorts!! Key word-"consistantly"!!!

Lori

 

[avic77]

Tara
I might have chatted with you as well LOL I talked to alot of people But this couple had 2 children... I think it was Disneymom14 (after looking at her pictures) and now that i think back i think we were on a bus to Hollywood Studios... So i dont think it was a POR/FQ bus since we ate breakfast at Poly on HS day.

 

[5 blind mice]

It was more crowded than I had anticipated, BUT still not that bad!! Been there in summer and never going back at that time. It was more crowded that MG 2005. The longest waits were for bigger rides and they seemed to have about 50 minute wait times. Excpet Soarin' which seemed to be 75 minutes every time we were in EPCOT-thank God for FP!!!

I think the next time we go it will be Septmeber. It will still be hot so the kids can do the water parks but slow enought to avoid crowds!!

Hope my last post wasn't TOOO opinionated-it was humble I tell you in that I would LOVE to be able to consistently do the deluxe resorts!! Key word-"consistantly"!!!

Lori

I don't think your last post was too opinionated. We all have to do what works for us on vacation. Everyone has different ideas of what the ideal situation is for them. For us, we knew we'd spend most of our time at the Magic Kingdom, that we'd need a rest every afternoon, and that this might be our last Disney vacation for awhile. Because of that, we decided to splurge on this trip. Who knows what we'll do next time? I think we'll go back in a few years, when our youngest is around 5 yrs old. I would consider staying in a DVC at that time, so we could cook some of our own meals. My middle child has a lot of allergies, and while the Disney chefs were super accomodating, it would have been nice to be able to cook a simple dinner some nights. Also, when our kids are older, we'll be able to stay at the parks for longer periods of time. If you're not going to spend much time in the room, I wouldn't think the deluxes are worth it. Of course, for families of more than 4 people, there aren't many options besides the deluxes and DVC's.

 

[lori1043]

on the comment about using DVC, HOW do you do that??? We were wondering about it for future reference. We are alos thinking that our next trip to WDW will be in 3 years, when my DB's newest addition-due in June(which we found out is a girl today!! ), and thinking about getting a 4 bedroom home off property, but not too far. I LOVE the idea of not looking at my vehicle for a week-for some reason THAT really feels like vacation to me .

If we can get enough points and miles from DH's traveling in the next 12-18 months, we may do a long weekend in DL w/ the kids. So far he has 2 flights, we need 2 more and hotel points.

We were thinking about Washington DC as our next vacation, but may wait till the kids can REALLY appreciate that area. Maybe when they are 13 and 15. So for now we can do the beach and WDW 1 or 2 more times.

I am happy about not offending anyone-I get a littel to wordy sometimes, sorry!!

Lori

 

[NHWX]

We've opted not to do DVC, even with renting points, because we need three beds. And that would mean a two bedroom unit which is not going to happen unless Disney dramatically drops its prices. I have two boys who are much too big to share a bed.

We've done the Fort Wilderness cabins which I love but even then, the time will come when ds12 won't fit in the bunkbeds. Ds14 didn't last spring.

So... either we try two rooms at Pop (this trip - next week!!!) or stay off-site at either a condo or a Homewood Suites/Residence Inn. The Residence Inn sounds pretty nice. We've stayed at the Embassy Suites as first night hotels but I'm pretty sure my guys would go crazy being in a relatively tightly packed space. (Anyone else have a husband who just needs lots of room and plenty to do?)

Oh, we're going to give WL a try with the 40% discount this summer assuming that we can still afford it. People assure me that the boys will fit in the bunkbeds but I'm still a little concerned. Can you imagine going back down to the desk and saying "I have a problem. My children don't fit in your beds."??? Although thinking about it, it might be better to take the Hoov-enators during free dining. "I'm starving!" is commonly heard in our house.

NHWX

 

[Sabrina90744]

I am thinking about renting DVC to for next years trip. Besides me and my kids my DB, DSil, nephew aunt and cousin are all going with us. I won't be doing the dining plan anymore either so having a kitchen will really be nice. I would love to rent points but if I can't find any we'll just hope for a code or pay rack rate

 

[5 blind mice]

I'm not sure how the DVC thing works, either, but I've got about 3 years to figure it out!

Our next trip will be to Boston and upstate NY this summer. It's time to visit the in-laws. Luckily, I ended up with wonderful in-laws, so I'm looking forward to the trip. Won't be quite as much fun as Disney World, though!

 

[Sabrina90744]

I'm not sure how the DVC thing works, either, but I've got about 3 years to figure it out!

Our next trip will be to Boston and upstate NY this summer. It's time to visit the in-laws. Luckily, I ended up with wonderful in-laws, so I'm looking forward to the trip. Won't be quite as much fun as Disney World, though!

Well I have a few months to figure it out better get over to the DVC board.

Our summer vacation this year is to Seattle/Tacoma. Its our road trip, nice long 18 hour drive that we are going to split up into a couple of days both ways. Since finding the Dis I've used my Dis research/planning methods for all of our vacations and it has worked out great.

Next year besides our WDW vacation we will be going to D.C. and 2010 will be WDW for 5 days and 4 day Disney Cruise and summer I am hoping for New York.

 

[5 blind mice]

I would LOVE to do a Disney cruise. I'm also interested in the Disney Adventure vacations. Don't know much about those, but it's definitely something I'll look into for the future.

 

[Sabrina90744]

I would LOVE to do a Disney cruise. I'm also interested in the Disney Adventure vacations. Don't know much about those, but it's definitely something I'll look into for the future.

I looked into Adventure vacations, but seem a little pricey

 

[DisneyMom14]

Hey ya'll!! Sorry for the short and sloppy last post!! I was at the hotels business center and it was late-my DH comes to check on me through the window on the side of me and scared the sh-- out of me!!!

Anyway-Wendypooh, I must have missed you by MOMENTS b/c I was there later than expected at 6:45-7pm...just thought some of you may be hangin' around. We were in line for Dumbo at 6:25 and up for the next ride and thought we'd make it in time.

Lori

Ohhh, I forgot to mention that we saw Disneymom14's room and window decor, cute!!! We were in the same building just on the 3rd floor.

I was at Jungle Cruise from 6:35 - 6:45, but it was dark and a little crowded and I just couldn't find anyone!

Cool - you saw my window! I have to say we were in a great spot as far as people passing - I heard them every morning!

We were right next to disneymom14's room. The day we got there she helped my boys who were trying to get in the room as I walked up. I introduced myself and told her I mostly lurked the board. It was fun to see all the Mardi Gras and LSU shirts. We decorated our door and window with Mardi Gras stuff. My family usually goes at the end of May so this wasn't bad for us at all! We used Tour Guide Mike which worked out great. We rode Test Track 5 times, Pirates 4 or 5 times and Buzz 3 times on our trip. We spent Friday night, 2/8 at MK and it was pretty busy. LOTS of cheerleaders there with the waits for the big rides at 90-120 min. No one was using fastpasses for these which were only an hour wait time so we utilized those.
All in all we had a great time too but VERY tired!!

Hi neighbor! It was nice to meet you! I liked your Mardi Gras decor. I thought it was quite busy that week too.

I think I saw her window too. I meant to write down her DIS name but thought oh, I'll remember it. I got home and wanted to send her a PM and couldn't remember the name. I knew it had Disneymom or DisneyMama in it. Was her room on the first floor corner of a pink building? I think it was the
80's. We were in the 70's and would walk past it to get to our car. I had both of our rooms decorated and really thought I would see more rooms all done up. We had a great time, sad to be back because the time went by so fast. At least we have another trip in the works for next June.

I wish we had explored more to see windows and the big icons, but with our room being on that first corner, it was just too easy to go straight there and crash! We were right there at the inside corner of the rubix cube.

I thought it was crazy!! Tons of people! MOre than doubled from our last two trips.

Hey Sabrina, hope you enjoyed your trip. I've never been to dw during Mardi Gras before and I just kept saying "Is THIS supposed to be SLOW?!!!?? I might try another Mardi Gras just to compare in case this was a fluke, but I really thought that the crowds were higher than I expected and definitely higher than 2 weeks before when my sister went.

Tara
I might have chatted with you as well LOL I talked to alot of people But this couple had 2 children... I think it was Disneymom14 (after looking at her pictures) and now that i think back i think we were on a bus to Hollywood Studios... So i dont think it was a POR/FQ bus since we ate breakfast at Poly on HS day.

Hey! That was me! It was nice to talk to you too!

 

[lori1043]

Revisiting to see if anyone is still around!! Did i say i was holding it down to pay off stuff this year, well maybe a little-BUT we were blessed with a surprise of lower interest rates on 2 loans!!! It is saving us $200 per month!! PLUS I am putting some extra toward it too....sooooooo...

see my ticker!

We were going to do the 7 night cruise but since we have never cruised before and we KNOW my DH has had inner ear problems before, we decied to try to 4 night and do WDW for a couple days before the cruise. I have , what 20 months, to save for it!! I am sad to not be able to go before that time since i could have taken extra advantage of my AP and DDE at homeschool days in Sept or even January, BUT I am hoping this will be worth it. We decided DD8 needs to be a little older and a little more appreciative of DC before heading there.

Anyone want to join us??? We are booked for 12/6/09.


Lori

 

[Sabrina90744]

Revisiting to see if anyone is still around!! Did i say i was holding it down to pay off stuff this year, well maybe a little-BUT we were blessed with a surprise of lower interest rates on 2 loans!!! It is saving us $200 per month!! PLUS I am putting some extra toward it too....sooooooo...

see my ticker!

We were going to do the 7 night cruise but since we have never cruised before and we KNOW my DH has had inner ear problems before, we decied to try to 4 night and do WDW for a couple days before the cruise. I have , what 20 months, to save for it!! I am sad to not be able to go before that time since i could have taken extra advantage of my AP and DDE at homeschool days in Sept or even January, BUT I am hoping this will be worth it. We decided DD8 needs to be a little older and a little more appreciative of DC before heading there.

Anyone want to join us??? We are booked for 12/6/09.


Lori

Hi Lori!!!!

I'm still here! I am planning on either 2/5/09 - 2/13/09 or 1/29 - 2/7/09. Not really sure yet. My brother, DSiL and nephew, Aunt and cousin might be joining us, if they do we are staying at AKL Villas, if its just the kids and me Wilderness lodge. I am planning on buying AP's for all of us this time around, saving for our 2010 trip. I'm not doing the Dining Plan again, to many restrictions on the snacks now and it really didn't work with DS being 10. I paid $38 a day for him and he ate kids meals the whole time.

 

[lori1043]

It was kind'a aggravating, but everywhere we went DD10 got adult menus even though she ALWAYS asked automatically for a kids menu right after sitting. We weren't even ON the DDP!! At the pre paid CRT meal, she was given the adult menu, we got the kids one, and they automaticaly brought her an adult serving of the kids meal. That WAS nice sine we paid so much, but she is usually happy with the kids size.

Good for you heading back every year-I wish! BUT I guess in life it is all tradeoffs, whatever your spot in life. I cannot complain though. I previously said we were hanging low, but we have been blessed with lower interest rates on our school loan(a HUGE difference) and even on the little bit on home equity loan we have used-all for a SUBSTANTIAL savings. So, even though i am putting more $$ to the loans, we made ressies for a cruise and will spend a couple days at WDW. I was hoping to use my AP again in September this year, but if we want to do the cruise and WDW NEXT year, we need to save, save, save!!!

We actually vacation much more than any of our friends-who think we are nutty for wanting to keep going back!

I am planning a road trip for me and the DD's to my cousin's home in Tennessee.
Hopin' for California when the kids get older-so much to doa nd see there!!
great hearing from ya'!

Lori

 

[Sabrina90744]

Good for you heading back every year-I wish! BUT I guess in life it is all tradeoffs, whatever your spot in life. I cannot complain though. I previously said we were hanging low, but we have been blessed with lower interest rates on our school loan(a HUGE difference) and even on the little bit on home equity loan we have used-all for a SUBSTANTIAL savings. So, even though i am putting more $$ to the loans, we made ressies for a cruise and will spend a couple days at WDW. I was hoping to use my AP again in September this year, but if we want to do the cruise and WDW NEXT year, we need to save, save, save!!!

We actually vacation much more than any of our friends-who think we are nutty for wanting to keep going back!

I am planning a road trip for me and the DD's to my cousin's home in Tennessee.
Hopin' for California when the kids get older-so much to doa nd see there!!
great hearing from ya'!

Lori

I make lots of sacrifices to be able to go down once a year. We actually travel a lot more than anyone in our family to. It is something I always missed growing up and I'm so happy to be able to give that to my kids. We take our annual Disney Trip, summer is always a different road trip. This year we are traveling up to Seattle/Tacoma.

How was it using the DDE? Did you ever try out Sunshine rewards?

 

[lori1043]

I make lots of sacrifices to be able to go down once a year. We actually travel a lot more than anyone in our family to. It is something I always missed growing up and I'm so happy to be able to give that to my kids. We take our annual Disney Trip, summer is always a different road trip. This year we are traveling up to Seattle/Tacoma.

How was it using the DDE? Did you ever try out Sunshine rewards?

The DDE was SOOOO worth it for us, esp since we booked more table service meals than usual and it was pretty much paid for after the first night at the luau. I have never figured out what we saved but I think it was around $300, maybe a little more. With the luau only, we saved $40,and the DDE cost $60(not $65). It was an easy thing to just show up at DD, get my AP activated, walk over and get my Disney Reward bucks, and purchase DDE-took about 10 minutes.

yes, i joined Sunshine Rewards, thank you- but i think it was when you suggested it before you sent the link. I haven't done much with it yet-I MAY have $1.00 on it. Shame on me, huh?!!

I was the only one to get the AP, a suggestion to you is maybe you get the AP and you get your kids the 10 day pass with no expriation. It may come out a bit cheaper and you will all still get the benefits of the DDE and room discounts. This is what my SIL did-they did 4 days last year and 6 this year.They stayed longer than this but had a rest day PLUS the P&PP extra day. They figured if they needed to add a day it would be minimal. I added a day to my DD's passes and it cost a total of $4.26! And we had discounted passes to begin with, so i was THRILED that they didn't have me pay the cost of the difference of the discount,too. Which I had heard may happen. I was told on the Dis to get this transaction done in the MK-so i did with NO problems.

Maybe, just MAYBE we can squeeze in a free DDP week-it would be about $1000 for us to go then since I have the AP and DDE. ugghhh, it kills me-BUT I have to keep looking forward to that cruise!!

Lori

 

[Sabrina90744]

The DDE was SOOOO worth it for us, esp since we booked more table service meals than usual and it was pretty much paid for after the first night at the luau. I have never figured out what we saved but I think it was around $300, maybe a little more. With the luau only, we saved $40,and the DDE cost $60(not $65). It was an easy thing to just show up at DD, get my AP activated, walk over and get my Disney Reward bucks, and purchase DDE-took about 10 minutes.

Was the tip automatically added in? I did a little spreadsheet and figured I would save a lot with DDE and it would include a discount on my daily drink with dinner

yes, i joined Sunshine Rewards, thank you- but i think it was when you suggested it before you sent the link. I haven't done much with it yet-I MAY have $1.00 on it. Shame on me, huh?!!

I did the same when I first started, but have really been doing going lately I have made about $60 this month so far, hopefully I'll have around $600 for our trip next year which will pay for our Table Service meals.

I was the only one to get the AP, a suggestion to you is maybe you get the AP and you get your kids the 10 day pass with no expriation. It may come out a bit cheaper and you will all still get the benefits of the DDE and room discounts. This is what my SIL did-they did 4 days last year and 6 this year.They stayed longer than this but had a rest day PLUS the P&PP extra day. They figured if they needed to add a day it would be minimal. I added a day to my DD's passes and it cost a total of $4.26! And we had discounted passes to begin with, so i was THRILED that they didn't have me pay the cost of the difference of the discount,too. Which I had heard may happen. I was told on the Dis to get this transaction done in the MK-so i did with NO problems.

I will have to price that out. DD will be 9 for our next trip so buying the AP for her now would be even bigger savings for our 2010 trip.

Maybe, just MAYBE we can squeeze in a free DDP week-it would be about $1000 for us to go then since I have the AP and DDE. ugghhh, it kills me-BUT I have to keep looking forward to that cruise!!Lori

Cruise sounds like sooo much fun, DD refuses to get on a ship right now. Yea you need to get on with Sunshine Rewards and make some food and souvie money! You could easily make $200 by for a free dining trip.