ª"˜˜ª¤.¸Official Team August 2013 Thread!¸.¤ª˜˜"ª&#9733

[Koh1977]

So the $119 includes rides, character meals and regular photo pass pics? How many cards do you get (like if your group splits up)?

You can get a new card from a photo pass photographer if you need one, then just add the number later. And the rides, character meals, and regular photo pass photos are all on a CD plus you get the print packages they normally sell you at the character meals. But is the PhotoPass+ the one or $119?

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[squirrel4569]

You can get a new card from a photo pass photographer if you need one, then just add the number later. And the rides, character meals, and regular photo pass photos are all on a CD plus you get the print packages they normally sell you at the character meals. But is the PhotoPass+ the one or $119?

Sent from my iPad using DISBoards

PhotoCD prepaid is $119. This is typically called the standard Photopass. When your PP cards are added to the website you can edit your pictures, decorate, etc and the images are saved and sent to you on CD. (I've heard if you have less than a CD's worth you have the option to download as well.)

Photopass+ is like the PhotoCD option but it also includes digital and physical prints at most of the dining restaurants and digital prints of your ride pictures. It costs $149 prepaid. Also with the PP+ you get a CD of stock Disney pictures that you can use as you'd like.

You can add any number of Photopass cards to your account and Disney will keep them for 30 days, giving you time to enlarge, embellish or delete before finalizing and ordering your PhotoCD to be shipped. You also get a release to print the pictures anywhere you'd like.

We'll be ordering ours soon. That's the last thing we need for our trip. PP+ is very cool for us since we'll be doing a number of character meals and enjoy getting the ride photos that we may not otherwise buy if we didn't have PP+.

 

[Loreli]

Just curious why your DH doesn't want to go back? Mine doesn't want to go either(and isn't) which is fine with us.

He lived in Florida in the 80's for a while and had very bad experiences there. He also hates the hot humid weather.

I am, too. My daughter is going for 'summer school' (it's really a special ed. summer prog so they kind of keep a schedule to go back in Sept.) from July 8 until August 15. By the time she is done IT WiLL be vacation time

DD7's Summer School program is from July 1st to Aug 1st. She's just getting an IEP now and will hopefully become a 12 month student with a longer Summer program.

 

[momto3gr8boys]

Wow this page has picked up now that we are getting so close to August! I've missed a lot here, but we've been distracted trying to get our money pit (starter home) on the market again (vomit). We are LONGING for this trip though I don't want to wish summer away. Especially after the winter we've had! We've been looking forward to it for so long- almost a year! Still haven't paid it off but we only have until July 4 so I guess I'll make that call any day now!

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Good luck with putting the house on the market! I empathize....I hated every minute of the selling/moving process. I'm in my forever (or at least until I no longer want a house) house and it's a relief! Just keep telling yourself it will be worth it in the end!

Officially Wishing My Summer AWAY

This Summer arranging childcare has been a nightmare.
I won't get into it, but believe me it's a fiasco. I can't wait until we are in Disney and it's all good!!!

Good luck with arranging child care! Not wishing away the summer here, but really really really can't wait to get to Disney!

Regarding the dining plan and deciding if it is worth it, on another thread someone posted this information.
The video is here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7jMDg...456VJg&index=1

The website with the file is here: http:/www.seeyareelsoon.wix.com/seeyareelsoon

If you use this, you input all of the restaurants you will use, and calculates the price you will pay for food and tells you if the dining plan is worth it for your family. I found it very helpful.

My family has done the DP before and have found it to work out well for us. This trip we are not doing it. I am nervous to see how it actually works out for us but I figured I will only know if I actually try so why not! I have played around a lot with the above dining calculator. Now this is just what I found for my family (2 adults and 2 children) and this may not apply to all families. I found that if you do a lot of character meals then the dining plan seems to be worth it. If you only do 1 or 2 then paying out of pocket may work better.

Play around with the dining calculator (it is fun and helps to pass the time while waiting for your trip).

I found this thread a few months back and it confirmed what I had suspected, which is the DDP doesn't work for us. We like quick breakfasts in the room (purely a time saver), appetizers, splitting meals and drink water (or wine!) with dinner. According to this calculator with my current ADRs, we'd pay $600 more for the DDP over OOP.

They were Teva Tirra's... lots of recommendations on the boards for them. I'm going through the threads again making a list of brands that have been recommended, Keen is one of the brands I've seen a lot. I worry about an enclosed show because my feet swell badly.

Take a look at orthaheel sandals. People with PF swear by them. Also look at the Montrail molokini recovery flips - you bake them in the oven to get a perfect fit. And if you don't already, try rolling out your foot each night with a lacrosse ball (and definitely bring one with you!).

Thanks for the info on the photo CD... a little too rich for my blood.

Shoes...I decided to order a pair of Skechers Go Walk Ultimates... I'll report back after I get them and try them out. I like the sound of the all mesh Nike's, I might have to look for them next. I also had a friend recommend socks with arch support so I'm going to try to find them too.

More shoe stuff...I really like the go walks - I hope they work for you!

*****************************************

Wow this thread got super busy!!

I think I can check in in three days And then I guess five days after that for the Poly. I wound up canceling our Kona breakfast and making an ADR for Ohana for breakfast on the 24th. If my friend does come we will just either see if we can get a table at Kona or maybe we'll just do Capt. Cooks that day. I did keep the Ohana dinner ADR for now just in case they change their minds and don't come - then we most likely could get in to Kona for breakfast again and go back to the original plan. Ugh! Still haven't made the BOG decision yet. But the more I am thinking about it, the more I realize we will be back and missing out on a place or two to eat is really not the end of the world. But I'm not making any permanent (as in canceling an ADR I will never see again ) decisions right now

Ok, here's a logistical/ethical question. Now, I KNOW the correct answer, and I am very well aware that what I am about to ask would cause 37 pages of debate, name calling and controversy here on the DIS. And that's why I'm asking your opinions (because we've all gotten to "know" each other) and not throwing it out there in the general public.

On Saturday, 8/24, we have a resort day planned, I have a cabana booked for the whole day (10-7). Technically our friends can hang out in the cabana with us all day, no problem, but can't go in the pool unless they are staying at the Poly. I know at SAB there would be no getting around this, but most people say the Poly doesn't check and use wristbands except at very busy times. Technically speaking, I have enough room capacity to add them to our reservation for the night (it's a room only, and we have two rooms, so I have capacity for 10 people. Adding one adult and two kids is legally doable, it's just going to be a hassle and a bit of paperwork to check them all in, have key cards, issued, etc.

So, my question is, do I add them for that one day so we are truly following the rules, should I add them now or wait until I check in, or should I just let her two kids jump in the pool with mine and cross my fingers? Not looking for huge debates here, just the easiest way to do this.

 

[Gina-Gina-Bo-Bina]

You might be surprised. The least expensive photo pass individual print is $14.95. If you buy 7 prints, you have reached the cost of the CD preorder price. Just something to think about.

That's our rationale as well. We are doing a waterparks only trip (no theme parks....too hot for us!) so we're not sure how many good pics we'll actually get, but yet we don't want to miss out on the better pricing if we do, indeed, get a nice selection of photos from our waterpark days. So we'll pre-order the regular photopass then cancel and purchase individual shots if we don't get at least 7 good pictures. Win-win, price wise.

 

[Gina-Gina-Bo-Bina]

Ok, here's a logistical/ethical question. Now, I KNOW the correct answer, and I am very well aware that what I am about to ask would cause 37 pages of debate, name calling and controversy here on the DIS. And that's why I'm asking your opinions (because we've all gotten to "know" each other) and not throwing it out there in the general public.

On Saturday, 8/24, we have a resort day planned, I have a cabana booked for the whole day (10-7). Technically our friends can hang out in the cabana with us all day, no problem, but can't go in the pool unless they are staying at the Poly. I know at SAB there would be no getting around this, but most people say the Poly doesn't check and use wristbands except at very busy times. Technically speaking, I have enough room capacity to add them to our reservation for the night (it's a room only, and we have two rooms, so I have capacity for 10 people. Adding one adult and two kids is legally doable, it's just going to be a hassle and a bit of paperwork to check them all in, have key cards, issued, etc.

So, my question is, do I add them for that one day so we are truly following the rules, should I add them now or wait until I check in, or should I just let her two kids jump in the pool with mine and cross my fingers? Not looking for huge debates here, just the easiest way to do this.

Me personally, I would add them to the reservation for the night and adhere by the official rules, just so there was no worry about "maybe" having an issue along the way. But I'm the consummate rule follower and don't have a rebellious bone in my body. So maybe I'm the wrong person to ask!!!

 

[jdd]

Me personally, I would add them to the reservation for the night and adhere by the official rules, just so there was no worry about "maybe" having an issue along the way. But I'm the consummate rule follower and don't have a rebellious bone in my body. So maybe I'm the wrong person to ask!!!

Yep, same here. I would just be nervous the whole time, and not enjoying myself, so I'd definitely add them to the ressie.

 

[momto3gr8boys]

Me personally, I would add them to the reservation for the night and adhere by the official rules, just so there was no worry about "maybe" having an issue along the way. But I'm the consummate rule follower and don't have a rebellious bone in my body. So maybe I'm the wrong person to ask!!!

Yep, same here. I would just be nervous the whole time, and not enjoying myself, so I'd definitely add them to the ressie.

Thank you both for confirming what my gut is telling me! Both my DW and my friend are more of the "relax, you stress over everything" type. Well, quite frankly yes, I have been stressing this since we found out we have guests lol.

 

[pigletto]

I would add them to the ressie. My one time at the Poly they were checking I.D.'s at the pool, and they might check them for Cabanas especially. The pool (as you know) is quite small for the size of the resort. It was rammed when we were there in February
(2012) so I can only imagine how busy it would be in August. That would increase the chances of them checking IMO. I wouldn't want to risk it and have an incident.

Got all my December ADR's today!!

So here's the thing guys.. I have Be Our Guest booked for 4 of us August 27th at 4:30. I got one for our December trip today. My son REALLY wants to do Hoop Dee Doo again. In December we are paying out of pocket and Hoop Dee Doo is $200 or more for us for one meal. It occurred to me today, if we are going to BOG in December, I could book HDDR in August and use our free dining to eat the cost. So that being said, I want to call and see if there is a HDDR left for our week this summer. If there is, I will be cancelling BOG. If someone wants to try for it I would be happy to pm and coordinate a time for them to call. I will be trying for HDDR today. Just let me know. I'll go with the first pm.
It's a long shot because I don't know how long it takes to release them back into the system after cancelling but the very least I can do is tell you when I am calling so you can try

 

[squirrel4569]

You might be surprised. The least expensive photo pass individual print is $14.95. If you buy 7 prints, you have reached the cost of the CD preorder price. Just something to think about.

That's our rationale as well. We are doing a waterparks only trip (no theme parks....too hot for us!) so we're not sure how many good pics we'll actually get, but yet we don't want to miss out on the better pricing if we do, indeed, get a nice selection of photos from our waterpark days. So we'll pre-order the regular photopass then cancel and purchase individual shots if we don't get at least 7 good pictures. Win-win, price wise.

I wouldn't get pictures printed from the Photopass site. Way too expensive. You can get prints at Wal-Mart, Walgreens, Target, CVS, Costco, etc for cheap or even free if you find the right coupon. The only time we've had anything printed from the site was our Christmas cards last year.

Again, it also depends on what you want to use them for. We've gotten a few of them blown up and printed on aluminum & canvas as well as smaller prints for small frames and scrapbooking. My wife is a huge scrapbooker and for our last trip is scrapping just the photopass pictures. She's going to do another book with the plethora of pictures that we took with our phones and camera.

Last year I was fortunate enough to be able to skip the annual "family pictures" trip because we did pictures at Disney. That made it a lot of fun and enjoyable.

 

[Gina-Gina-Bo-Bina]

I wouldn't get pictures printed from the Photopass site. Way too expensive. You can get prints at Wal-Mart, Walgreens, Target, CVS, Costco, etc for cheap or even free if you find the right coupon. The only time we've had anything printed from the site was our Christmas cards last year.

Again, it also depends on what you want to use them for. We've gotten a few of them blown up and printed on aluminum & canvas as well as smaller prints for small frames and scrapbooking. My wife is a huge scrapbooker and for our last trip is scrapping just the photopass pictures. She's going to do another book with the plethora of pictures that we took with our phones and camera.

Last year I was fortunate enough to be able to skip the annual "family pictures" trip because we did pictures at Disney. That made it a lot of fun and enjoyable.

I wouldn't buy the photo prints, but I would buy the digital downloads (which are the same price or very close, I think) . A much better value IMHO.

But I must say......we had photos printed at Walgreens last August while in Orlando and the quality was HORRIBLE. Terrible awful! Our skin was green . We did the printing there before we flew home because its way cheaper than here in Canada but OMG, the quality was awful. Perhaps we just got unlucky with that particular photo lab (the Walgreens on Sand Lake Road) but I would steer clear of that chain in the future.

 

[JavArmy]

So I know someone posted the link to the per-order photo pass, but can someone post the link to the photo pass plus preorder? Thanks a bunch!!

 

[Gina-Gina-Bo-Bina]

So I know someone posted the link to the per-order photo pass, but can someone post the link to the photo pass plus preorder? Thanks a bunch!!

Voila!

http://www.disneyphotopass.com/specialoffers/wdwppp.htm

 

[pigletto]

Voila!

http://www.disneyphotopass.com/specialoffers/wdwppp.htm

Thanks for this. I don't normally do photopass. I am a horrible picture taker. I get so caught up in the moment I barely take any pictures. My dd takes a ton on her Iphone so we have them but I haven't done photopass since our first trip.
However the Christmas trip we have planned deserves photopass I think. There's going to be so many unique character photo opportunities. And I think a few of the kids would make great gifts for the grandparents. I would have to get them printed there though to have them done in time. We get back on the 23rd!
I will probably pre-order this time.

 

[squirrel4569]

Busy weekend for me. 18 1/2 hour drive on Saturday to get up north to visit my in-laws. Only in the 70's here all week. It's cold! Spent yesterday with my father-in-laws, which was nice.

We're already talking about our trip next year and found out that our friends who we were initially planning our trip around/for aren't going to be able to go. This opens up our planning time for next year and potentially gives us more time to save/plan for things. Initially we were going to go the first weekend in June right when school lets out, which would enable us to see slightly lower crowds that normal summer, plus Star Wars Weekends, but now we're not sure.

We are forced to work around school schedules so we could even do another August trip in 2014 or possibly return for Thanksgiving. We had a good time during Thanksgiving last year, but you do have to fight higher crowds and cooler temps mean no pool (except for the Canadians of course ) Some of our decision will be guided by the BB offer as well. Assuming we can get a decent offer we will book that this trip.

Spring break for us is in March, which I think would be too soon and too busy. We don't want to deal with park closing due to capacity and the crazy crowds.

Oh well, just food for thought.

In other news we booked the Pirates League for the girls on our first MK day. We thought it would be a cool alternative to BBB and not nearly as expensive. Plus it's a new thing and should be a lot of fun. My wife and I may get in on it too.

Tomorrow is our check in day. Looking forward to seeing what options we have for it.

 

[Gina-Gina-Bo-Bina]

Busy weekend for me. 18 1/2 hour drive on Saturday to get up north to visit my in-laws. Only in the 70's here all week. It's cold! Spent yesterday with my father-in-laws, which was nice.

My heavens, that's a heatwave up north. 70's is swimming weather where we're from!!!

Have I mentioned lately that I'm terribly envious of your southern climate?

 

[cinnderly]

62 days today!

To check in or not to check in...that is the question. On the one hand: what could go wrong? On the other hand: WHAT could go wrong? It would be fun to do it, to make the trip seem more tangible. I just don't know...

 

[Mrs. M. Mouse]

62 days today!

To check in or not to check in...that is the question. On the one hand: what could go wrong? On the other hand: WHAT could go wrong? It would be fun to do it, to make the trip seem more tangible. I just don't know...

We're at 60 days today and i was thinking the same thing... I've never done online check in, the reason is we want the cm's to tell us about the new resort.

We're impatiently waiting for mickey mail now lol

 

[racinjunkie]

62 days today!

To check in or not to check in...that is the question. On the one hand: what could go wrong? On the other hand: WHAT could go wrong? It would be fun to do it, to make the trip seem more tangible. I just don't know...

I did online check in and now you have me worried LOL... have there been horror stories about stuff going wrong? What kind of stuff? I was thinking worst case is we would have to do the whole thing over again once we get there...

We are at 48 days

 

[pigletto]

Ok guys.. I haven't gotten a pm so I am going to cancel a BOG for four people at 4:30 on August 27th. I'm calling now