Thanksgiving with Mickey again...a November 2016 TRIP REPORT! (DONE)

[ariane37]

I hear you on the Spring Break no-vacation blues My kids are also off this week; my good friend is in Disney and her oldest DD (my Goddaughter) is texting me non-stop and sending me tons of pictures, making me very jealous! I'm happy they're enjoying themselves though, the girls are 16 and almost 18 and haven't been there since 2007. While helping them plan I realized TSMM wasn't even open last time they were there!

We had one trip with TONS of rain, Oct. 2011. We were off-site for a few days and then at SSR. We did a day in AK in a torrential downpour. It ended up being a not so bad day but we were pretty cold and uncomfortable eating our Tusker House lunch. Then in 2014 we did our first August trip and were expecting showers every day, and it only rained twice for 20 minutes each time! I do dread rain down there though. I know some people keep a smile on their face and charge through it, and even though we'll normally continue with our plans it does put a big damper on the day/night!

 

[kittylady1972]

I hear you on the Spring Break no-vacation blues My kids are also off this week; my good friend is in Disney and her oldest DD (my Goddaughter) is texting me non-stop and sending me tons of pictures, making me very jealous! I'm happy they're enjoying themselves though, the girls are 16 and almost 18 and haven't been there since 2007. While helping them plan I realized TSMM wasn't even open last time they were there!

We had one trip with TONS of rain, Oct. 2011. We were off-site for a few days and then at SSR. We did a day in AK in a torrential downpour. It ended up being a not so bad day but we were pretty cold and uncomfortable eating our Tusker House lunch. Then in 2014 we did our first August trip and were expecting showers every day, and it only rained twice for 20 minutes each time! I do dread rain down there though. I know some people keep a smile on their face and charge through it, and even though we'll normally continue with our plans it does put a big damper on the day/night!

Glad to hear I am not alone in my no-vacation blues!

I do enjoy helping others plan their Disney vacations even if it makes me jealous that I'm not going with them. I honestly just want people to have a good time also. We have been so fortunate to have been able to go so often and I have to try to remember that.

OMG torrential downpour. Let me see if I can find a photo to share here....ah you are in luck and get both.

Obviously you probably realize that this was taken in Hollywood Studios, but you may not realize this was Thanksgiving week! I want to say it was the Tues or Wed before Thanksgiving, and we had some friends that were in Disney at the same time, staying at Pop Century. We had decided to do an early morning at Hollywood Studios *JUST* so we could all ride Rock N'Roller Coaster together. We picked them up at their resort (there were 3 of them: 2A and 1 kid close in age to my daughter) and headed to the park. I think there was a bit of misting, but we all had ponchos with us (they had bought some while there...good idea!) and we were ready...or so we thought.

We hit the park at opening and headed directly to RnRC. The line was actually down the street...backed up the road that leads to Tower of Terror, right in front of the food there on the left. And the rain was light I think...but we soldiered on and soon I guess the ride actually opened and we were soon at the FP+ kiosks and desperate to get a little further inward so we would be under cover from the rain.

It wasn't so bad, and I don't think we waited a terribly long time to ride despite that initial location in line on the street. Then we emerged from the ride and from the exit hallway from the shop to outside...we could see the rain. And it WAS POURING! I think that we were even getting phone notifications about tornado warnings. Where do you even try to hide when inside a park? I think we stood under a small ledge next to one of the food booth locations for a short while. Eventually we made our way into one of the stores for a bit. However just getting there...there were so many puddles. We didn't have a plan to ride anything else. Had it been a nicer day we may have lingered, but it wasn't and by now, even with ponchos, we were all pretty soaked. So we all made our way out of the park and yes this was the main road leading out of the park. Several inches of rain in the streets, you were just walking in a splash pool at that point. Feet totally soaked, we were all pretty pathetic. Thankfully we had a washer/dryer back at our room and we told our friends they could come to our room at use the dryer, but they chose to head back to their own resort, joining the rest of their travel party, and using the laundry machines there.

So yeah, rain we can manage. I ALWAYS pack raincoats and ponchos. THIS kind of rain, where the streets were more than ankle high with water...it was the craziest!

 

[ariane37]

OMG torrential downpour. Let me see if I can find a photo to share here....ah you are in luck and get both.

All I can say is HOLY CRAP

 

[CMAG38]

I'm glad I found this thread. Our first Disney trip as a family will be during Thanksgiving. I'm glad that Christmas decorations will be up.

 

[ariane37]

I'm glad I found this thread. Our first Disney trip as a family will be during Thanksgiving. I'm glad that Christmas decorations will be up.

That's 3 of us here going down for Thanksgiving this year Maybe nobody else will go

 

[kittylady1972]

I'm glad I found this thread. Our first Disney trip as a family will be during Thanksgiving. I'm glad that Christmas decorations will be up.

WELCOME!!! Thanksgiving is just such a magical time to go because of the holiday decorations. As mentioned before, you most likely won't get all of the decorations on Main Street in MK because they wait until AFTER they record the Christmas parade there (in early December) before finalizing those but everything else will be up. Lots of nice trees and decorations at all of the parks and if you stay through the weekend after Thanksgiving and are interested you can usually do Mickey's Christmas Party as well as the Candlelight Processional at EPCOT. If you have never done the CP at EPCOT, I recommend doing it at least one time, it's simply a beautiful show.

That's 3 of us here going down for Thanksgiving this year Maybe nobody else will go

Yeah wouldn't that be GREAT? HA! Well I'm hoping to get there as early as possible the weekend before so we can squeeze in as much park time as possible before the crazy crowds arrive, around Wednesday!

 

[kittylady1972]

So my last post made me want to review old photos of our only December visit to Walt Disney World. It was early December and we planned time to view the holiday decorations as well as something else we had never done before...the Candlelight Processional at EPCOT. Guest speaker that evening was Andy Garcia. It was such a wonderful performance.

And the other great thing about that time of year were the Holidays Around the World Storytellers at EPCOT. I think we only managed to stop for a few as young kids were not patient enough, but here is a shot we got at one location:

As crazy as it sounds, I would really love to try to visit WDW between Christmas and the New Year just ONE time. The only other holiday we have really celebrated there, besides Thanksgiving, was July 4th and we did that one this past summer. Honestly even the July 4th fireworks were absolutely fantastic of course. I can't imagine what the New Year is like there, but one day I think I wouldn't mind finding out.

 

[ariane37]

you most likely won't get all of the decorations on Main Street in MK because they wait until AFTER they record the Christmas parade there (in early December) before finalizing those

You know what though? Last year they moved the parade taping to early November - the 9th/10th I believe? So when we got down there the weekend before Thanksgiving ALL the MK decorations, including the big tree, were up Who knows what they'll do this year though lol, it's a crap shoot!

the Candlelight Processional at EPCOT.

And the other great thing about that time of year were the Holidays Around the World Storytellers at EPCOT

Love both of these! We did the CP twice in 2012, first night with Geena Davis and it was good; a couple nights later with Neil Patrick Harris and it was phenomenal. And last year we did half of our last day in MK and the second half in Epcot just to see some of the Storytellers, since we were leaving on Sat. and they only start on Black Friday. Funny you posted a picture of the Norway Storytellers; younger DS was picked to participate with them last year and had a blast. We'll be spending part of Black Friday in Epcot again this year to see a few more of them

 

[kittylady1972]

You know what though? Last year they moved the parade taping to early November - the 9th/10th I believe? So when we got down there the weekend before Thanksgiving ALL the MK decorations, including the big tree, were up Who knows what they'll do this year though lol, it's a crap shoot!

Love both of these! We did the CP twice in 2012, first night with Geena Davis and it was good; a couple nights later with Neil Patrick Harris and it was phenomenal. And last year we did half of our last day in MK and the second half in Epcot just to see some of the Storytellers, since we were leaving on Sat. and they only start on Black Friday. Funny you posted a picture of the Norway Storytellers; younger DS was picked to participate with them last year and had a blast. We'll be spending part of Black Friday in Epcot again this year to see a few more of them

Wow that's pretty cool about the tree.

Totally agree on CP...such a great show. And the storytellers I would definitely like to have the chance to stop and listen to more of them!

 

[kittylady1972]

Sorry for the lack of updates. Last week was Spring Break for my kids. They were off from school Mon-Fri and then yesterday. Since we really can't afford to do any big trips right now, we chose STAYCATION options last week.

On Wednesday, I left work early, got kids, and took them into Baltimore. I had free tickets for the Ripley's Believe it or Not Museum there (I used to love that show as a kid) so I took them to lunch and then the museum, which is along the beautiful Inner Harbor of Baltimore. Afterwards we rented a paddleboat for 30 minutes and just tooled around the harbor a little while. It was a beautiful day.

Thursday I left work early again. This time I went home and we got together with some friends and headed into Washington, DC for the day. We had lunch in the city, walked around to a cool art museum that took us past the White House, went to the Air and Space Museum (I love the free museum in DC...it's so nice) and then walked to the Washington Monument and checked out the cherry blossoms around the DC mall. Another beautiful day.

Friday my husband also took the day off. We have season passes to Six Flags and live 30 minutes from Six Flags America, not the best or biggest Six Flags park but good enough for us. We spent a few hours at the park doing a few coasters and just wandering around for a while. We got rained on a bit and I lost something, which is par for the course for me. We filed a claim with lost and found and later Friday night they called to say they found my item (which was my husbands spare car keys and a small medical pouch I carry around with bandaids, painkillers and other small first aid things) and so I returned on Saturday to Six Flags to pick it up.

My parents visited us for Easter weekend, about a 7 hour drive from where they live in North Carolina, so they were with us until this morning. They were able to have Easter dinner with us AND celebrate my oldest son's 16th birthday last night. So nice.

So busy few days...and now I'm back trying to get into work mode again and also think about my next vacation and of course this November trip!

I am currently in the middle of a ticket dilemma here. I can get a deal on some great tickets where at work, generally they beat Undercover Tourist easily. I was all prepared to do that but was waiting until closer to the trip to purchase them...and THEN the new ticket prices were released. YIKES!

For our family alone, it's about $150 more to purchase the 5-day hoppers now. However it does appear that they may have some still available at the old prices as well, but I'd have to act fast I'm sure to purchase them.

In the meantime, DVC is also offering a pretty good deal right now, which didn't seem as great initially but with the increase...it's much better. Basically for about $3 more per ticket, I can get 5-day park hopper PLUS tickets...so those include entry to the waterparks for those 5 days. Now the waterparks aren't the appeal here...since we have done them before...but I noticed it also includes entry to miniature golf...which we could TOTALLY get on board with as big mini golfers here. It's been a long time since we did the Winter-Summerland course and it's also been a while since we did Fantasia Gardens. Even if we played ONE of those courses (and it has to be before 4pm) during the time we are there it might be worth it to pay the extra $3 a ticket for that chance.

Anyway...no matter what option I chose...buy the tickets from work at the old prices or buy the DVC tickets...they would need to be purchased now. The DVC tickets would need to be purchase by 3/31 so that doesn't give me much time. If I was okay with waiting, I could just buy the regular 5-day hopper from work at the current prices as well...and pay the $150 more.

Decisions, decisions.

I'm leaning towards getting the DVC tickets right now, but coming up with the money right now...ugh that's going to hurt.

Then I need to decide if I should extend the offer to the rest of the family to buy their tickets now at the old prices to try to save them some money.

Countdown until I can check on changing my current DVC room reservation: 22 DAYS!

 

[kittylady1972]

Sometimes it really helps to read these boards. Saves me so much time and money and saves me from making costly mistakes!

This morning I was reading through the DVC area and found several threads regarding the 25th anniversary DVC tickets. Today is the last day to purchase them...and I was stressing about if I should get them and how many to buy. I can get up to 8 and thought about asking the other family members if I should purchase for them as well.

My plan was to buy the 5-day Hoppers (with free PLUS option) and then when I got to the parks I'd most likely upgrade them to a 6-day ticket...or more depending on our arrival and departure dates which still have a little bit of flexibility. Usually you can "bridge" you upgrades if you use the tickets FIRST, then decide later to upgrade, you just pay the difference between a regular 5-day Hopper and a regular 6-day hopper. From what I'm reading, that is NOT the case with the DVC tickets. Since they are purchased directly from Disney, they know how much you paid and since the offer to buy them ends today, if I decide in November to upgrade them I would pay the difference between what I paid NOW and what I guess a standard 6-day hopper and maybe 6-day hopper plus would cost at the time of our visit. That would be QUITE a difference.

Since really our only plan to use the "PLUS" feature would most likely be at one of the miniature golf places, and we qualify for a 15% DVC discount there anyway, I think we can just wait and if that's something we decide to do while at Disney we can just pay for it at that time. I can now wait to purchase the 5-day hopper tickets at work and then I will still have the ability to bridge them after I arrive in WDW in November for whatever number of days I need. Much, much easier.

WHEW!

Now I get to focus on my other deadline today and that is enrolling my kids in summer camp! Today is the last day for early bird discounts so I have to plan out my kids' summer and put down deposits on their camp weeks!

 

[ariane37]

Whew! Deadlines are a pain, especially when they're so early! I'm doing the early bird camp thing today too, and trying to figure older DS's weeks based on 2 friends schedules AND trying to figure what day his high school orientation will be, which apparently they have a date set but I can't get anyone at the HS on the phone who can GIVE me that date Think I'll be online close to midnight tonight doing the camp registration.........

I had wanted to buy our tickets before the increase, and almost did, but wasn't sure what I wanted. I know I could've upgraded there since we've done that many times. Our AP's expired earlier this month, wasn't sure if we were renewing or not, wasn't sure if we'd be getting them again in Nov. or possibly going down in Aug. Bottom line I haven't bought tickets yet lol. DH can get them somewhat cheaper through work, occasionally they beat UC by a few $$ but sometimes not.

On another note we DID finally book BCV through "our guy" last night However Thanksgiving night isn't available so we have to waitlist that night. Once his 7 month window opens we can see what else is available and possibly move somewhere else for our last 2 nights.

Sounds good about just using your DVC discount for mini-golf, too.

 

[kittylady1972]

Whew! Deadlines are a pain, especially when they're so early! I'm doing the early bird camp thing today too, and trying to figure older DS's weeks based on 2 friends schedules AND trying to figure what day his high school orientation will be, which apparently they have a date set but I can't get anyone at the HS on the phone who can GIVE me that date Think I'll be online close to midnight tonight doing the camp registration.........

I had wanted to buy our tickets before the increase, and almost did, but wasn't sure what I wanted. I know I could've upgraded there since we've done that many times. Our AP's expired earlier this month, wasn't sure if we were renewing or not, wasn't sure if we'd be getting them again in Nov. or possibly going down in Aug. Bottom line I haven't bought tickets yet lol. DH can get them somewhat cheaper through work, occasionally they beat UC by a few $$ but sometimes not.

On another note we DID finally book BCV through "our guy" last night However Thanksgiving night isn't available so we have to waitlist that night. Once his 7 month window opens we can see what else is available and possibly move somewhere else for our last 2 nights.

Sounds good about just using your DVC discount for mini-golf, too.

Yeah it is hard to plan out your kids' entire summer...in Feburary/March! This year I'm only doing 3 weeks of summer camp and then I'll try to work a few shorter days or take a day off here and there during the week just to get them out of the house. I hate to think of the kids just sitting inside all day long in the summer.

Yes I do wish I had bought the hoppers at work BEFORE the increase...but too late now. We definitely beat the prices at UCT here at work.

Happy for you that you got BCV! I'm sure the one night will come through. I'm still not sure if I'll try for that one since BCV is nice, or just stick with BLT or maybe Wilderness lodge. I'm going to see what it's like at 7 months (in 19 more days) and then make a decision. It's much more complicated to waitlist when you are doing two different rooms.

 

[kittylady1972]

So I just made a quick check for a few resorts on the DVC website for the week of Thanksgiving. Yep...there's no doubt in 19 days I'll most likely be waitlisting some rooms for other resorts.

I got SOOO excited when I saw that the Polynesian had Studio Villas available for all of Thanksgiving week...so I thought I should book one now...um yeah not possible since I don't own at the Polynesian. I don't know, as much as I'd like to do a bigger room and have some of the family stay together, I just might go with booking 3 studios at the Polynesian instead because I just LOVE that resort.

Anyway most of the other DVC properties have only partial availability for studios and 2BR units with the Wed or Thurs (or both) of Thanksgiving not available. The Wilderness Lodge has nothing available at all for a studio EXCEPT for Tuesday Nov. 22nd though and for a 2BR the only available day is either the 22nd or 23rd. I checked Bay Lake Tower and Beach Club as well...again the unavailable dates are Wed and Thursday there.

It's gonna be tough but hopefully at 7 months out there are other people making switches and perhaps something else will open up for us.

I should probably start putting together some restaurants and prices for our week as well and throw those out to my brother and SIL to see if they have a preference. I just want the boys to have a great time but I don't want anyone to break the bank over this. After all, tickets alone for the 5-day passes are going to us about $1900 and them about $1200. So nice that we don't have to worry about resorts costs on top of that.

 

[kittylady1972]

All is quiet on the trip report as of now. Spoke to my mom last night who said she's fine with wherever we end up staying and my brother and sister-in-law are also excited for the upcoming trip. I'll worry about narrowing down some ADR choices next month.

I have a cousin on FB who has two kids close in age to my oldest and youngest and they are doing a trip to Disney in July. She posted asking for advice and of course got flooded with suggestions. Somebody was wondering if she won the lottery because the price of tickets was going to be expensive and she made a comment like yeah the 3-day hoppers were almost $300 and that wasn't happening. OK?? Well I'm curious what she will end up buying as it sounds like they are staying for a week, off property, and planning to do Universal and Disney...did I mention in JULY? So high crowds time and I am wondering what her expectations are on getting stuff done at any of those parks? I ended up emailing her a bunch of ideas for tickets, mentioning that the nearly $300 for 3-day hoppers was pretty much on par since a 1-day 1-park tickets cost over $100, especially since seasonal pricing will be in effect for that time as well. She didn't respond so hopefully she didn't take that as me butting in but I didn't see the point in arguing on FB with some of the people responding to her who acted like they knew what they were talking about but I knew that they did not.

Two more weeks to go or so and I'll be frantically checking the DVC site to move our room. Wish me luck!

 

[kittylady1972]

HARD DECISIONS.

Yes as we approach my deadline for changing my reservation for Thanksgiving week, I am really wrestling with what to do. Availability as of today still shows limited availability for 2BR units the week of Thanksgiving. However one thing that has not changed is that we can still book Polynesian Studios for the entire week right now! I think I'd be happy with 3 Polynesian Studios. We truly have a soft spot in our hear for the Polynesian and this way everybody would get their own space during vacation for their downtime. Would we miss the kitchen aspect of having a 1BR or larger? Possibly but I think we have learned we can make due pretty well with the refrigerator and microwave for most of our purposes. We certainly did during our last trip to the Polynesian in July.

This was our STANDARD view room last time (July 2015):

And no I do not expect Disney magic like that again...but that's okay with me. The resort grounds are just so beautiful and the convenience to both MK as well as the TTC cannot be beat!

Seriously love the inside of the lobby:

And the kids enjoyed this extra bed in the room:

So right now I think my current plan will be:

If nothing is open at Bay Lake Tower for our trip (I would prefer a 2BR and a Studio there) AND they do have Polynesian Studio Rooms available, I'm going to do this:

Book THREE Standard View Studio rooms at the Polynesian.

WAITLIST a 2BR and a Studio at Bay Lake Tower.

Even if one of those comes through at Bay Lake, then I'll take it and we may end up splitting up at our resorts, but that would not be horrible. After all, we are only a monorail ride away from each other.

Here's hoping things don't change a TON in the next two weeks. Maybe I'm not the only one waiting to change to the Polynesian? After all, the only people that can book there right now for Thanksgiving are those with points there. That's probably not a lot of people. I could be getting my hopes up for nothing for another stay here. Our stay in July was simply PURE luck as they didn't release the rooms until a few months before July, so if people didn't know that rooms were available they didn't book...it wasn't about 7 month advantage there because they weren't available at that time. Plus they were still opening up inventory, which also worked to our advantage. We stayed at Tokelau:

And I'm pretty sure it had JUST opened up that week! It was simply beautiful and the location was fabulous. I'd probably ask for a room there again for sure.

Well that's about it on my planning front for NOW. Have I mentioned TWO more weeks until I begin my search for a new DVC resort room...or rooms really? It will be here soon enough.

 

[ariane37]

Maybe I'm not the only one waiting to change to the Polynesian

Um.....you're not! Unfortunately after I posted that we got Beach Club, the guy we rent points from emailed me to say he was sorry but he made a big mistake and doesn't have enough BCV points left to book for us Ugh! So last weekend we happened upon a friend of younger DS's teacher who had points to rent and DID get booked at Beach Club, but at that point (2 days later) not only was Thanksgiving night not available but neither was the night before Bottom line we're booked at BCV the 19th-23rd and waitlisted the 23rd/24th. When this guys' 7-month window opens, so 4/23, he'll see what else is available for us and if we can get the 23rd-25th at another resort we'll move rather than take a chance on those nights becoming available. I'm fine with a split-stay.

SO, my point is when he checked last weekend, as you said Poly was available every night of our stay! Kind of surprising. But we really want to try BC plus he doesn't own at Poly, the 2 reasons we didn't just decide to stay there for our whole trip. We're hoping though that, unless our nights come through in the next couple weeks, Poly is still avail. the 3 nights we're looking for. DH and I stayed there in Jan. and while I preferred AKV, he liked the Poly, it's definitely convenient and the extra bed works well for younger DS!

I hope we both get what we want! I started a PTR too, and I REALLY need to finish my TR from last year's Thanksgiving trip lol

 

[kittylady1972]

Um.....you're not! Unfortunately after I posted that we got Beach Club, the guy we rent points from emailed me to say he was sorry but he made a big mistake and doesn't have enough BCV points left to book for us Ugh! So last weekend we happened upon a friend of younger DS's teacher who had points to rent and DID get booked at Beach Club, but at that point (2 days later) not only was Thanksgiving night not available but neither was the night before Bottom line we're booked at BCV the 19th-23rd and waitlisted the 23rd/24th. When this guys' 7-month window opens, so 4/23, he'll see what else is available for us and if we can get the 23rd-25th at another resort we'll move rather than take a chance on those nights becoming available. I'm fine with a split-stay.

SO, my point is when he checked last weekend, as you said Poly was available every night of our stay! Kind of surprising. But we really want to try BC plus he doesn't own at Poly, the 2 reasons we didn't just decide to stay there for our whole trip. We're hoping though that, unless our nights come through in the next couple weeks, Poly is still avail. the 3 nights we're looking for. DH and I stayed there in Jan. and while I preferred AKV, he liked the Poly, it's definitely convenient and the extra bed works well for younger DS!

I hope we both get what we want! I started a PTR too, and I REALLY need to finish my TR from last year's Thanksgiving trip lol

AHHHH...that's terrible about you losing out on those nights. We definitely don't want to do a split stay for such a short trip and with so many of us, so it may be that we stick with the two rooms at SSR and waitlist others. I'd be okay with Boardwalk or Beachclub also though but I can only have 3 waitlists active. So I'll probably end up waitlisting two different 2BRs at BLT and a studio there too unless any of them are available. Funny thing is that you can waitlist a 2BR unit AND a 2BR lockoff, which seems odd as a 2BR is a 2BR to me but I guess people have preferences. Sometimes having that extra door for the lockoff is nice.

I'm not that optimistic about Poly, but we have a slight advantage in that I'm booking beginning on Sunday 11/20 instead of later in the week which is when all the availability is gone. Of course, other people could try to book earlier dates and then 'walk" the reservation if it opens up. Who knows?!

I liked AKV as well but I think this time, with small kids, my preference is either a MK Resort or even EPCOT area resort just because we aren't stuck with buses for all of the parks. We will all have cars since we are driving there, so maybe it's no big deal, but there's just something nice about being closer to one of those parks.

Agreed on us both getting what we want and can't help you finish your TRs because I am TERRIBLE at that. I'm doing this PTR just to keep me coming back regularly and help with my planning but as for completing the actual TR afterwards...well we will see.

 

[kittylady1972]

REMINISCING....
I never put together a PTR or a TR for our last Disney trip because it was a very unique trip for us. It was our first stay at the Polynesian Studios and we had a FANTASTIC room. Although I had requested a standard view room, we ended up with probably one of the BEST standard view rooms available, on the 3rd floor at the end of Tokelau and we could sit out on our balcony each morning and view the castle at MK. It was incredible.

Since we had purchase some great DVC Park Hopper Plus passes, we took this opportunity to visit the waterparks as much as possible and spend time at the pool. After all, we had just been to WDW in November previous to this trip, and September, so really rides weren't our main focus. Since we didn't have to pay for the room, or the tickets, I felt it was okay to splurge a little bit on some extras this trip. Oh and we also packed a lot of food and ate in the room for most of our meals, even used the grills at the Polynesian one night to make hotdogs.

We were also celebrating my youngest son turning 11 on July 5th, so his birthday dinner request was California Grill. We did do that. Since he also really loves trains, I scheduled the Behind the Scenes train tour at MK for him and his dad, because I didn't see the need for all of us to go on that. They both REALLY enjoyed it and came back with so much cool information about the trains at Walt Disney World. I think they felt it was worth it for sure.

Our other big splurge was the Behind the Scenes Safari at Animal Kingdom. This one was the most expensive, but a little cheaper because we booked the afternoon instead of the morning and got a slight DVC discount too. It was a FABULOUS tour and they just took some great photos of all of us:

There are SO many fabulous pictures from this tour honestly. I can't even begin to share them all here. While it was hot, it was still a great experience that I would not hesitate to recommend to anybody looking for something a little different.

We also spent one afternoon renting some boats on Bay Lake. My oldest son was FINALLY able to drive them, so he was excited about that:

He drove his little brother around while I took my daughter. My husband ended up going out on a large pontoon boat with his dad and our nephew while we did this. Again the DVC discount (or was it Disney Visa?) came in handy here.

We switch resorts over to a standard 1BR at Bay Lake Tower for the last few nights of our trip. We were able to utilize the full kitchen there which was nice. Also spent one night watching the fireworks from up here:

Photos can be very deceptive. While we look happy enough here, the truth is both kid that were up there (and my husband) were getting bit by some little bugs flying around the lights up here. I'm not even sure they stayed for the fireworks...but they may have just barely. Still just can't beat this view.

It was actually overall a nice trip...for the most part. We won't get into the fact that my husband had a SEVERE allergic reaction, we think to a protein bar he ate the day before we left for our trip. He ended up visiting at least two different E/Rs while there for treatment, plus called his own doctor back home and had a prescription sent to the nearby Florida pharmacy to help him out. Pretty much every day he broke out with hives or a rash on some part of his body, which of course made it uncomfortable for him to be out in the heat. One night we went out to the parks while he stayed in and then had issues with breathing to went to visit a local E/R for treatment. I think by the time we checked out of the Polynesian he was improving and most of our stay at Bay Lake Tower was tolerable for him. Still while I think our time was quite fun, I don't think he had quite the same experience as he battled his body most of the time.

Overall I still think this was one of our favorite trips. We visited both Blizzard Beach and Typhoon Lagoon, one of them at the end of the day so we had some low crowds. One day we spent some time in the RAIN at the waterpark...no lightning so the water rides were all open! We also spent a lot of time at the pools and then focused most of our park time for early mornings or evenings. It worked out very well for us.

Since my husband's parents decided somewhat last minute to join us, and they brought their grandson (our nephew) along with them. we did our best to try to include them in our activities. They really wanted to do a few other sitdown restaurant meals for family time (very important to Italians) and while it wasn't my choice, I did end up booking a few of them. We actually treated them to a really nice meal at Jiko, our first time there but so expensive!

Can't wait to see what this next trip has in store for us!

 

[kittylady1972]

One week to go...and another wrinkle to fix within the next few weeks.

So next Wednesday will be my "change my DVC Resort" day...which will most likely be "add me to a DVC Resort waitlist" day. I was just reviewing all my Disney stuff in the system and realized that in another month I'll need to add dining...and I like to add all the appropriate "people" to my reservations. I know it's not quite as necessary for dining, but it will become crucial for when we get our tickets and make our ride reservations.

As you can imagine, I'm handling all of this myself. I have already added my brother, SIL and two nephews to my My Disney Experience Friends and Family list. So today I realized I also need to add my mom and dad to this list. And here begins the joy that my family experiences quite often...the joy known as "the perils of naming your kid after you".

For those not familiar with this fun, there is an extra complication added to many automated systems when you have been named after a family member and have a JR/SR and in our case III after your name. We were not a family who did this to our own kids...however my husband is a JR with his dad as a SR, and my dad is a JR and my brother is a III. For those who don't know this...Disney (as well as many otehr automated systems) doesn't handle this very easily.

It caused a lot of issues a few years ago when we checked into Bay Lake Tower and had my FIL (the SR) in one room and we were already in another room (my husband being the JR) and for some reason the reservation system would attach my FIL room key to our room instead of his and then deactivate my husband's key for our room. It was a long process to sort out...but that was a few years ago so hopefully it is better.

However right now the DVC Reservation system has noted that I added a new person to a new reservation and despite the fact that this person is a JR (my dad) and has the same address as my mom, it seems to only recognize the first name...which is the same as my brother, who is already on another reservation in my name. So the system currently thinks my brother (the III) is entitled to TWO Magic bands and is linked to TWO different room reservations (even though I indicated his proper home address on the other reservation...and they are not the same as my dad) and so I also can't add another person with the same name as one of my friends and family.

I'm surely going to have to call at some point and fix this mess since it's nothing I can do myself.

I've already had to juggle having my husband and his dad with the same name on my list, and now I have to work with my dad and my brother, both having the same first name.

You can only imagine the fun I have when I need to book things for them.

So I'm not sure if DVC Member Services can fix this or I'll have to deal with somebody else. I have another month to figure it out at least.