PTR: Thingamabobs, Zebras, & Giraffes, Oh My! - Page 4 - PassPorter - A Community of Walt Disney World, Disneyland, Disney Cruise Line, and General Travel Forums
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There are other changes as well.
Why? Well, the world has changed. And change with it, we must. The lyrics to "We Go On" for IllumiNations say it best:
We go on to the joy and through the tears
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Moving on with the current of the years.
We go on
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To a new day, we go on.
It's time to move on and move forward.
PassPorter is a small business, and for many years it supported our family. But the world changed, print books took a backseat to the Internet, and for a long time now it has been unable to make ends meet. We've had to find new ways to support our family, which means new careers and less and less time available to devote to our first baby, PassPorter.
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So we encourage you to stay in touch with us and your fellow community members wherever works best for you!
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Signing in so I don't miss your trip. sounds like it is going to be great.
Thanks!!!
Quote:
Originally Posted by Colexis Mom
Glad you had a great time in NYC! How great Lisa #1 will be at WDW the same time as you guys!
Thanks!!! yes, we are excited that our trips overlap!
Quote:
Originally Posted by disneydreamer33
Glad you had such a great time for Scott's birthday!
Looks like some nice company during your trip!
Thanks! We do!
Quote:
Originally Posted by Cam22
How great that Lisa#1 and her crew will be visiting at the same time as you all!
Thanks!!! We are excited!
Quote:
Originally Posted by Coop
Finally - I'm here and caught up.
1-I feel the same way about BLT (and we OWN there!).
2- you were a little stinker keeping that secret from Em! I love it!
3- Happy Birthday to Scott - hope his shoulder is doing better. NYC sounded like a blast
4- great pics of Em in her dance costumes. I love that her Company is a Community Service. That's really cool.
Ok - now you may proceed. .
BTW - to meet totally cool PP's you'd have to go at the end of Oct. just sayin.
Thanks!! Scott's shoulder is slowly getting there, very slowly I am so proud of Emily and her dance company! And I'm telling ya - don't be surprised if I show up in October!!! I am trying to figure it out!! I just need more vacation time at work!!!
Quote:
Originally Posted by chezp
What a great time you had in New York!
Thanks!!!
Quote:
Originally Posted by lauriep
Fun for you all to meet up with friends on this trip! Mini-trip to NYC for the show sounded like a lot of fun.
Thanks!! Yes, it will be fun!!
Quote:
Originally Posted by MayraLR
Looks like you had a great weekend!
Glad you're able to meet up with Lisa #1 while at Disney!
Thanks!! We are excited to meet up with them!
Quote:
Originally Posted by llgmommy2
Signing in. What a great suprise for Emily!! I cannot wait to read more! Happy Belated Birthday Scott!
Thanks!!!
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Lisa Co-Guide to Sharing the Adventure: Disney World Trip Reports
**** I edited the intro post of my friends.............sorry I had left out some information about them!!!
Funny thing is.......they only live about 25 minutes from us, but with all the kids schedules, our work schedules (Paul works out of town, so mostly lives in DC), and such, we don't get to see each other as much as we would LOVE to. As a matter of fact, Lisa just stopped by my office to bring me a nice cold diet coke, as she was running errands in the area
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Lisa Co-Guide to Sharing the Adventure: Disney World Trip Reports
I had to laugh when you finally let the cat out of the bag about AOA, my Angel is the same way, she would have passed over that little piece of information as well, she would just have been exicted to get Disney mail she would probably not have read a thing.
Glad you guys had a great time in NYC for his birthday, I was enjoying your FB posts from that evening.
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I hope that you and your family have a magical time at the world
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Congrats on your split stay trip. Sounds like it is all coming together nicely. It's wonderful you were able to work everything out, and add an extra day. I can't wait to hear about your AOA little mermaid room.
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Glad you and Scott had a wonderful time celebrating his birthday in NYC!! That's wonderful that you'll get to meet up with Lisa #1 and family while in Disney!
You crazy kids!!! Going to Disney in the middle of the summer and at a Holiday time as well. That's not a criticism - I've read your other reports, so know you guys figure put how to make the best of any time you go.
I had to laugh when you finally let the cat out of the bag about AOA, my Angel is the same way, she would have passed over that little piece of information as well, she would just have been exicted to get Disney mail she would probably not have read a thing.
Glad you guys had a great time in NYC for his birthday, I was enjoying your FB posts from that evening.
Thanks! Isn't it crazy how these kids don't even really pay attention to details? :roll eyes: I think at that moment she was more excited about the Minnie Jelly Beans that were sitting on the table!
Quote:
Originally Posted by dutchdisneyfamily
Your night in New York sounds fantastic! I love how the Disney plans are shaping up!
Thanks! It was a great night!
Quote:
Originally Posted by mommapants
signing on - Happy Birthday Scott.
YAY another TR.
Great intros for everyone.
Thanks!!
Quote:
Originally Posted by bsblady01
I hope that you and your family have a magical time at the world
Thanks!
Quote:
Originally Posted by DisneyKimber
Congrats on your split stay trip. Sounds like it is all coming together nicely. It's wonderful you were able to work everything out, and add an extra day. I can't wait to hear about your AOA little mermaid room.
Thanks! I can't wait to see that room!
Quote:
Originally Posted by Ciavobella
Can't wait to read more.
Thanks!
Quote:
Originally Posted by KMB733
Glad you and Scott had a wonderful time celebrating his birthday in NYC!! That's wonderful that you'll get to meet up with Lisa #1 and family while in Disney!
Thanks! We are pretty excited to get together!
Quote:
Originally Posted by shazza
You crazy kids!!! Going to Disney in the middle of the summer and at a Holiday time as well. That's not a criticism - I've read your other reports, so know you guys figure put how to make the best of any time you go.
Your accommodation plans look perfect!
ha! I know! :roll eyes: But yes, we do find a way to make it work - one of the key points is making it an extended stay - especially with having a teen in high school......makes it hard to go any other time!
__________________
Lisa Co-Guide to Sharing the Adventure: Disney World Trip Reports
I apologize now , as I realized that I had mentioned that I would discuss dining next......but I have decided to change the format of my PTR a bit.
I realized that I gave details of where and when and who will be going, but I haven't mentioned how (transportation) yet, so that's what I will discuss this evening!
Of course when we started discussing this trip we knew that we would fly (Scott has back issues and as much as I would love to drive, at least once :roll eyes: so that I wouldn't have to worry about what I packed, we knew that was not an option). But we had to wait a bit to book our flights, as we usually fly Southwest and those flights were not open yet at the time. And if you have followed any of my other TR's, you might know that we just went to the Dominican Republic in April and we flew with United Airlines. That trip was booked back in October. Scott is very obsessive about watching flight prices , and about a month after that flight was booked, the tickets dropped by $246 per person!!! Scott got on the phone with United and was able to get a credit for each of us ~ so there was our flight to Orlando!
The time came for us to book our flights, and MAN are flights outrageouson United from here to Orlando!!! But we wanted to use up that credit, as it was only good for one year, and heck it was essentially already paid for :roll eyes:. So we checked several options, one of them being driving to NJ (staying with our friends and flying from there), but that was actually $20 more per person! So we were able to book one way from Hartford to Orlando, with a stop in Newark (which is where we would have flown from if we stayed with our friends!). And then we checked our Southwest accounts and realized that we had enough points per person to cover the flights home, with no money coming out of pocket. So there we had it, flying down on United, flying home Southwest!
As I mentioned we usually only fly Southwest, and this flying United bit actually has me so stressed out!!! It drives me crazy that we have to pay for checked bags! Seriously......we are NOT light packers......no matter how HARD I try! I am thinking I might ship a package to ourselves at the resort with all our toiletries, etc. But then I wonder, will I really save any money??? Then I would most likely have a near empty suitcase for the flight home (we are leaving some items with a friend that lives in the Orlando area that we only use in Disney - kinda like our own "personal" owners locker!) that can be filled with purchases! And Southwest will NOT charge us for checked bags!! And we can have 2 per person for FREE on Southwest!!! So I guess I have to check what shipping charges will be to make that decision. Oh yeah, and we have to change planes in Newark, and I am so worried about bags not showing up in Orlando!!!
We almost always rent a car when we visit WDW, especially for lengthy trips. We have managed to do a couple short trips using DME and no rental car and it worked well for us. Scott really wants to save the $$$ this trip and use DME and no rental car, or if we feel we need one, get it for a short term on property (it is actually coming up much less to get on property rather than at the airport). But he said this last summer too........and he ended up renting a car, so we will see!
If we do not rent a car, then I will have to place an order through Garden Grocer, but of course I probably will not want it delivered until we are at AKL. I think we could get by the first couple nights without a huge grocery order. I could pack a few snack items to bring for those days, and we can suck it up and pay resort price for a few sodas/waters/beers for the room those first few days. Although as I am typing this, I am remembering that Lisa #1 will already be there and they will have their car.....so maybe I can convince them to take me to the store??? hmmm.....:roll eyes:
Backing up to the topic of saving $$$, I would like to mention here that I am a MAJOR bargain hunter/rewards program type of person. I am always looking for ways to save $$$, especially when it allows me to travel in style! We have actually saved quite a bit of money this trip, so let me in on that too!
We already mentioned the flights, although I don't really see the United as a savings, because we already paid for it, but it was less $$ out of our pocket at that time! And the Southwest flight was free for us, as we had plenty of points to use!
We have a Disney Chase Visa, and have accumulated almost $200 worth of rewards on that for this trip!
My (easy one for me) New Year's resolution this year was to purchase a Disney Gift Card at Target with my Red Card for the 5% savings each pay period.....I am right on track for that, and should have $650 in Disney gift cards, with a savings of $32.50.
We also have a Capital One credit card that we earn rewards, and we will be able to use a $150 credit from that on this trip - so I am using that to pay for 1 night at AoA.
We are DVC members, so usually we get a decent discount on Annual Passes, well this year they offered a good discount again (not as good as last year, but still good!) on the Premium Annual Pass, so we took advantage of that!
We will purchase the Tables in Wonderland card for 20% savings on dining. Even though this cost $$$ to purchase, we always come out ahead as we enjoy our sit down dinners, and we like the flexibility of it and that it includes discount on adult beverages as well!
Just another simple way of saving cash for the trip......we have a "Disney" jar. All of us put loose change and sometimes small bills in it almost daily (Scott never pays using change, so he adds more to it than Emily and I do :roll eyes, and each year we manage to save up about $300-400 that way!!!
So when people ask how we manage to go on so many vacations, if I feel like answering them (because really, it's no one else's business ), I basically say - I don't live in a HUGE brand new home, we don't drive expensive cars, and I budget for it, and find ways to save along the way so that we can enjoy ourselves with vacations!
__________________
Lisa Co-Guide to Sharing the Adventure: Disney World Trip Reports
Hope all goes well flying United! We've always had good luck with Southwest, so I'm usually apprehensive flying anyone else. Awesome to have a free flight home! We save almost exactly like you all.
Hope all goes well with United and you can manage to fit everything into your bags under the weight limits! I do all the savings tips you do. Coin jar (mine is a Mrs Potts piggy bank), and Disney Visa are my favorites. I use the Visa for everything I can, including my DVC dues and love when I get to add those rewards to my card!
I'm exactly the same as you and I always give the same answer as you when people ask how we can afford to take so many vacations. If you use every loyalty scheme you can find, it's amazing how much you can save and the more you save, in my mind, the more you can travel!
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How great Lisa #1 will be at WDW the same time as you guys! 
I am so proud of Emily and her dance company! And I'm telling ya - don't be surprised if I show up in October!!! I am trying to figure it out!! I just need more vacation time at work!!! 
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Holly: 
, as I realized that I had mentioned that I would discuss dining next......but I have decided to change the format of my PTR a bit.
, and about a month after that flight was booked, the tickets dropped by $246 per person!!! Scott got on the phone 
with United and was able to get a credit for each of us ~ so there was our flight to Orlando! 
on United from here to Orlando!!! But we wanted to use up that credit, as it was only good for one year, and heck it was essentially already paid for :roll eyes:. So we checked several options, one of them being driving to NJ (staying with our friends and flying from there), but that was actually $20 more per person! So we were able to book one way from Hartford to Orlando, with a stop in Newark (which is where we would have flown from if we stayed with our friends!). And then we checked our Southwest accounts and realized that we had enough points per person to cover the flights home, with no money coming out of pocket. So there we had it, flying down on United, flying home Southwest!
Then I would most likely have a near empty suitcase for the flight home (we are leaving some items with a friend that lives in the Orlando area that we only use in Disney - kinda like our own "personal" owners locker!
And Southwest will NOT charge us for checked bags!! And we can have 2 per person for FREE on Southwest!!! 
So I guess I have to check what shipping charges will be to make that decision. Oh yeah, and we have to change planes in Newark, and I am so worried about bags not showing up in Orlando!!! 
), I basically say - I don't live in a HUGE brand new home, we don't drive expensive cars, and I budget for it, and find ways to save along the way so that we can enjoy ourselves with vacations! 
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