Dogs and Disney - My Two Favorite Things! 12/12 - 12/19 PTR - UPDATED 12/9 - Page 2 - PassPorter - A Community of Walt Disney World, Disneyland, Disney Cruise Line, and General Travel Forums
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I loved the video! She's a beautiful dog and you've done a great job with her. I just love the dogs' spirits when going through the course. They obviously love it!
I've already posted in the Family Forum, but my sympathies again on the loss of your beautiful Casey.
It's not easy coordinating a trip with so many other people. My guess is that the dogs will be no problem, but there may be some inter-personal glitches! I'm sure you'll handle it all well, though, and it will be a great trip. Glad you'll be able to share the expense of travelling and the driving chores.
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Wow, am I late! I knew this would happen, but I hope to catch everyone up and actually FINISH this PTR for a change. Especially since it's LESS THAN ONE MONTH
When I left off I had said, how hard could it be to find a vacation rental in Orlando? Oh boy...I was so wrong
First of all, we wanted a house relatively close to both the convention center and to Disney (of course). Our biggest concern was finding a house with a fenced yard for the dogs. It's not an absolute necessity but we'll be having very long days at the competition and it would be nice to just let the dogs in the yard and not have to walk them around waiting for them to potty. Plus, it'd be more relaxing for everyone just relaxing by the pool with the dogs around than having to keep them on leash or contained or what have you.
There are VERY few vacation rentals that accept pets and have fenced yards. Everyone has a fenced pool (I think it's Florida law?) but hardly anyone fenced the yards also. We found less than five possible choices.
We finally picked a house that we really liked, and paid our deposit. Done! Right?
.............
Nope!!
We paid the deposit back in January. At the end of June, the homeowner sent me an email saying that she "regrets to inform me the house is no longer available." What??!
I asked her what happened since we had reserved and PAID the deposit over five months prior. She said that her friend from England is coming over and needs a place to stay . Great businesswoman. I was, and am, furious. If I had a rental home and a friend needed a place to stay, I would NOT kick out a customer just to help my friend.
The homeowner said that there's another location she knew of (I think she used to own it too) in the same neighborhood. We really had no choice but to take it. At that point (less than 6 months before the trip), our other options had already been booked. The house does have a fenced yard and pool but it doesn't look as nice as the one we'd originally reserved
What can you do though.
Anyway, I feel very unorganized about this trip. Normally with under a month to go I'm basically packed already. Not this time!
The hurricane (Sandy) kind of messed my plans up a bit. We're very lucky (a lot of our close friends lost their entire homes and all their possessions) with only minor damage to the house, but it's still a mess. We live right on the Jersey Shore and it's a disaster here. Trying to stay optimistic though.
There are still things to do:
Order MVMCP tickets (I really didn't want to wait this long, but had no choice!)
Order Lisa and her mom's admission tickets
Figure out my plans for a rental car (which days I need it, where to get it from, etc)
PACK!
Figure out where we're stopping on the way down (I think I was outvoted for driving straight through and I believe we're staying over one night but not sure at which location)
And I'm sure a ton more things
Lisa bought a new (barely used, 2011) car for the trip so we'll be riding in comfort too!
In other news, Layla's doing awesome and had a perfect day at an agility trial yesterday. She qualified in both classes (you need to do that 20 times to go toward your agility championship, in addition to having enough speed points) and finished an advanced title.
Doesn't she look proud of herself?
And here is a picture of Lisa/Anna, Ann/Wolf, and me/Layla:
What a mess with the home rental! I, too, am shocked that the owner of the rental house wouldn't honor your agreement. If she wants the house to be available to friends, she shouldn't be in business, or should make them abide by the rules and make reservations like everyone else. I'd be furious! Hope the house you ended up with suits your needs and is a nice one!
So sorry for the hurricane damage along the shore. It's hard to look at the photos of the devastation-- can't imagine what it must be like to see it every day.
Congratulations on the continued success for you and Layla. All the dogs are just beautiful!
I know, I'm late!! But I've been working all my "off" days to get some spending money for the trip. I keep repeating, "It's for Disney!"
We're starting to finalize our itinerary a bit so I thought I'd update you guys.
Tuesday, 12/11: Leave NJ!! I'm not sure what time we're leaving. I'll be speaking to Lisa this weekend and ironing out the details about our departure. We also have to discuss things like how we'll split gas and tolls (add it up at the end and divide by two, or pay halves as we go, etc). We did find a nice hotel (hopefully ) in South Carolina, about half way down. I wasn't sure if she'd prefer stopping at the halfway mark or stopping closer to GA, but this hotel seems fine. Plus it has a free breakfast!
Wednesday, 12/12: Check into our house in FL. I'm not sure what time we'll arrive but it really doesn't matter. We can take our time. I don't know what time Lisa's mom Mary is arriving either. I asked Lisa to double check that her mom is flying into MCO and not Sanford, so hopefully that's not an issue Depending on what time we arrive, I'm hoping we can go to DTD for a bit in the evening. My vote is either for Earl of Sandwich or Wolfgang Puck - and of course Ghirardelli for dessert
Thursday, 12/13: The morning and early afternoon are free so far. We've been trying to find a local place to practice with the dogs before the competition but haven't had luck so far I'll most likely go to AK in the morning and try to see my first vet procedure. Lisa and her mom don't want to go to AK so it'll be a solo day. Until.....MVMCP!!! That's our night for the Christmas party. (Except I don't have tickets yet ) I'm VERY excited. I've only ever been to MNSSHP. This will be my first time seeing Disney all decked out in Christmas decorations. AND this will be Lisa and Mary's first time in Disney EVER!! I hope it's as great as I've been told We'll either eat at Cosmic Ray's or Columbia Harbour House. I'm especially excited to ride the Little Mermaid ride (I don't even know the real name of it ) because that's my favorite Disney movie.
Friday, 12/14: This is the unofficial first day of the competition. This is the day when everyone checks in and gets their packets, unloads their crates and all into the crating room, and there's an optional practice run in the afternoon. It has no effect on the tournament itself but most people (myself and Lisa included) are taking advantage of it. This'll be the dogs first time on this specific equipment, in this specific building, on sod, etc. You get less than a minute but it's better than nothing! I don't know what time we'll be done. Our run is between 4 and 5. Layla also has an appointment with her physical therapist at some point on Friday (yes, she has her own PT ). It's more for preventive measures, but I'd like to have her stretched out and worked on after the long trip. They do cold laser therapy and she benefits from it. This is technically her PT's wife, but I'm sure since they're in the same practice it'll be fine. If we're done early that night, I'll take a solo trip to DHS.
Saturday, 12/15: The first day of THE BIG SHOW! There are two runs this day. For every mistake they subtract points (a different point value depending on which error you make) so the goal is to be clean. They already released the time schedule, and our two runs are about 10 am and 2:30 pm. If I'm not overly tired, I'll solo trip to Epcot and eat at Sunshine Seasons - or maybe treat myself to some sushi at Tokyo Dining .
Sunday, 12/16: The last day of THE BIG SHOW. There are also two runs this day, but they take the top % of dogs and they advance to a fifth and final round to determine the overall winner. I think in our height class there are 147 dogs and they're only taking 13 to the finals (Total, there are I think 600 or so dogs entered) We'll just have to do our best! There are also awards for other aspects too - top dog of your breed (you get a fancy medallion which I would LOVE), top dog with an obedience title, etc. But really everyone's goal is to make it to the finals. Our two runs are about 8 am and 1:30 pm. The finals round (which we will make! Positive thoughts!! ) is between 4:30 and 5:30. I'm sure I'd stay to watch the finals regardless of whether we made it. I'll most likely be too tired to go to any park after that, and we'll stay home and relax in the nice heated pool.
Monday, 12/17: During the day I'm going with Ann and her family to at least one of the parks. I'm not 100% sure which one and I don't really care. They're good friends and they love Disney so wherever we go, I'll have a good time. If they're going to be getting started late, I'll head to AK in the morning for another vet procedure, and then meet up with them elsewhere. But I can't stay all day! We have a 9 pm ADR for California Grill . I scheduled it right around Wishes. I can't remember the exact time for Wishes but I think it's 10 pm. That way we have time to get seated and eat a bit beforehand. Right now it's just me, Lisa, Mary, Pete & Denise. Ann and her husband had to cancel, so we have 3 extra spots open on the ADR. I'll be talking to Lisa about it this weekend if there's anyone else she wants to invite (a LOT of local people are going to be there too) and if not I'll just decrease the party size on the ADR. I'm REALLY hoping everyone likes it as much as I do; it's one of my favorite restaurants!
Tuesday, 12/18: Our last full day This is a big park hopper day. Lisa and Mary want to see DHS in the morning, and then hop to Epcot in the afternoon for the rest of the day. First, let me say.... I think it's a bad idea to try and see two new parks for the first time in one day. There's no way they'll have enough time to see everything properly, but we'll make do with what we can. For DHS I'll have them ride ToT and RnRC (I know Lisa will like them, not sure about Mary), the Great Movie Ride and depending on how quick we're moving through, maybe some others. I'm on strict orders from Pat (my DBF ) to ride Star Tours, as it was down for refurbishment last time we were at Disney. I think he's more disappointed he can't ride that than anything else! For Epcot, we'll ride Spaceship Earth (of course), Soarin', Test Track (I think it'll be open by then?) and spend most of the day touring World Showcase. We have an ADR for Teppan Edo for 3:40 pm. We'll stay for Illuminations too.
Wednesday, 12/19: Goodbye, FL : I'm not sure what time we're checking out but I'm guessing it'll be relatively early. I also am not sure if we'll be stopping over on the way home but I'm assuming we will. Then, back to home!
I still have a lot to do, and I'm still not THAT excited about the trip . It still seems so far away, I can't comprehend that it's right around the corner. I did find my bathing suit, and the best part is, it fits! There's still a lot that needs to be done but I'm hoping after speaking to Lisa this weekend I'll have a better game plan and make a dent in the to-do list
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Last edited by Wolfy6688; 11-29-2012 at 07:02 PM..
Made me tired just reading your plans, but they do sound great! I hope you do get to go to Rafiki's one morning. I wish my trip had been planned for a week later so I could have gone to at least one day of the competition. One of the vet techs at Rafiki's, Liz, is very excited about going to the show. She's taking some days off work so she can do all the days.
I just found you report. I love the title as that is what I always say - dogs and Disney my 2 favorite things. I'm in awe when I see the agility training. I can't even get my dog to sit so I know how much time and effort goes into training a dog.
Good luck with it all. I'd loved to be able to take my dogs with me on vacation so think of it as a little added bonus. They get to have their competition and you get to have Disney
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So nice that you'll be able share the gas and toll costs! 
Dreams, Wishes, Hopes... these are the parts of childhood we should never lose.
. Great businesswoman. 
But I've been working all my "off" days to get some spending money for the trip. I keep repeating, "It's for Disney!" 
I'm not sure what time we're leaving. I'll be speaking to Lisa this weekend and ironing out the details about our departure. We also have to discuss things like how we'll split gas and tolls (add it up at the end and divide by two, or pay halves as we go, etc). We did find a nice hotel (hopefully 
) in South Carolina, about half way down. I wasn't sure if she'd prefer stopping at the halfway mark or stopping closer to GA, but this hotel seems fine. Plus it has a free breakfast! 
) I'm VERY excited. I've only ever been to MNSSHP. This will be my first time seeing Disney all decked out in Christmas decorations. AND this will be Lisa and Mary's first time in Disney EVER!! I hope it's as great as I've been told 
We'll either eat at Cosmic Ray's or Columbia Harbour House. I'm especially excited to ride the Little Mermaid ride (I don't even know the real name of it 
.
it's 10 pm. That way we have time to get seated and eat a bit beforehand. Right now it's just me, Lisa, Mary, Pete & Denise. Ann and her husband had to cancel, so we have 3 extra spots open on the ADR. I'll be talking to Lisa about it this weekend if there's anyone else she wants to invite (a LOT of local people are going to be there too) and if not I'll just decrease the party size on the ADR. I'm REALLY hoping everyone likes it as much as I do; it's one of my favorite restaurants! 
This is a big park hopper day. Lisa and Mary want to see DHS in the morning, and then hop to Epcot in the afternoon for the rest of the day. First, let me say.... 
) to ride Star Tours, as it was down for refurbishment last time we were at Disney. I think he's more disappointed he can't ride that than anything else! For Epcot, we'll ride Spaceship Earth (of course), Soarin', Test Track (I think it'll be open by then?) and spend most of the day touring World Showcase. We have an ADR for Teppan Edo for 3:40 pm. 
We'll stay for Illuminations too.
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