The Great Procrastination PTR--Trip in Aug. 2011 - Page 14 - PassPorter - A Community of Walt Disney World, Disneyland, Disney Cruise Line, and General Travel Forums
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Thanks for the Pixies for the job situation. It'll all sort itself out, I'm sure. I just get frustrated because I've been here before.
Anyway...Back to much more enjoyable things...
We had planned for the kids and me to pick John up around 4 and then all drive into the airport hotel. He's got to work until 5 (long day, 7-5...) so he decided that he would meet us at the hotel. This is ridiculous, to be honest. He says that he'll take the Silver Line (one branch of the transportation system in Boston that goes to the airport) and then catch the shuttle to the hotel. Of course, he'll have to walk to a T station that has a Silver Line stop or he'll have to take one train to get to another train...Then he'll have to figure out how to get from the airport station to where the shuttle picks up. If he does that we won't see him until like 9 p.m. I'll give him a day to think about it and then offer to pick him up at 5 outside the building he works in.
I got a lot of packing done yesterday. More than I thought I would. The kids' suticases and mine are almost all set. John went and got some odd and ends. I'll probably throw that in the big suitcase. I'll need to sort that out, but I want to wait until Thursday when the kids are at the sitter for the day. Anna will want to "help me."
Fingers crossed my new glasses come in by Thursday. I ordered a new pair of glasses (which I really need) and a pair of prescription sunglasses. The place told me they would be here on Thursday and they even put a rush on the order. I can't wait to get them and I hope they're here before we leave on the trip.
John brought all the change in the house to a CoinStar machine last night. We got a good chunk of money from it. I knew there was a charge for the service, but I didn't realize it was so much. I think we had originally $287 and the charge was $32 or something like that. Ouch. Oh well.
The mission for today is to sort and fold socks and make up the Mousekeeping envelopes. Then I'm going to do some school work.
The sun is out so the kids and the dogs will get outside to play today (which they both need after yesterday's all-day rain affair). It'll be a good day.
I've checked into our flights and got A boarding passes on Southwest. I didn't think we would because we didn't do early bird check in and I forgot to check in at the 24 hour mark. I'm relieved that we can board together and it'll be easy to stay together.
I got my new glasses yesterday. I'm thrilled because I broke down and bought prescription sunglasses with polarized lenses. Pretty sweet!
The kids are at our sitter's house and I'm about to finish the packing and tidy up the house.
First thing to do is to figure out why the suitcase weighs so much and if it weighs more than we're allowed....
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I caught up, but a little too late to tell you to have a great trip before you left! I hope you're having a wonderful time, and can't wait to hear all about your trip once you are home again!
Just a note: it was extremely impolite of your principal to corner you at a friends wedding and push you to have a job that you've pretty much said you don't want. You certainly handled it better than I would have.
I may not get around to a timely trip report as I really need to get ready for all of us to return to school in a week and a half, so I figured I would sum up everything and then, if I have time, come back and do an actual trip report.
Travel:
We got really (ridiculously) good prices on our flights. We paid $65 per person each way. That means that we spent less than $700 for our flights. This was a huge benefit financially; however, in retrospect, it was a bit much. The trade off for the price was that we stopped twice before we got to Orlando and had to switch planes once on the way back. Maybe if the kids were older it would have been better, but it was challenging—especially with Anna.
Disney’s Magical Express:
This was fine. I don’t find it particularly magical or express, but it serves its purpose. We waited only about 15 minutes or less for a bus to arrive and it really wasn’t all that crowded. Our luggage arrived maybe two hours after we did, if that. It was convenient. Going back was not so much a convenience, but nothing that day went well anyway.
Dining Plan:
I would need to think about paying for this, but if it were offered for free again, I would take it. It was really way too much food, and we left with “credits” still left over, despite last minute snack shopping. There were some meals—particularly counter service meals-- that John and I admitted we could have shared and shaved the credit. But then, we did end up with a bunch of credits left over. This annoyed John, but since it was free it really didn’t bother me. I will admit, though, that the whole process took us a couple of days to wrap our head around. It saved us a boat load of money.
Time of Year:
It was hot. It was humid. It was uncomfortable in a deodorant failing kind of way. It made us crabby and tired. We spent only one day on the go-go-go and fortunately that worked out alright. Because of prices and my work schedule, this is when we can go. If I could do it differently, I would, but…
And it was crowded. I think this had to do with the free dining plan, but the place was packed. I’m sure there are times of the year when it is more packed, but there were A LOT of people there.
Family Bonding:
I was afraid it would be too much of my family for John, but it wasn’t bad at all. My sisters had their plans and we had ours. If those plans met up, that was great. If they didn’t, that was great too. It was nice to have the family around. They took the kids one day and John and I went and had some time alone(ish).
The only problem was with my parents. We had all thought that if we got them the scooters, then they could go off by themselves or they could hang with us. We overestimated their physical well-being and the ease of the scooters. My parents are charming people, but they’re frail. That was kind of a sad wake up call, I think, for all of us. My father was humbled by having to use a scooter —particularly since he couldn’t get on and off the buses without help (that’s a Disney safety issue) or get them in the van without two other people. My mother never got the hang of driving it and she would accelerate and decelerate awkwardly. She also doesn’t really pay attention to what’s going on, and at one point, nearly ran over Anna. It could have been way more serious than it was, and I brushed it off at the time. Now, though, I get shivers. They took a day about half way through the trip where they refused to be with any of us. The stayed in bed, watched TV, and then strolled around POFQ. They were better then until the drama of Irene hit the airwaves.
Eating:
On the first night, we were in DTD and a thunderstorm was coming in. We found the nearest place which was the Rainforest Café. They had immediate seating on the terrace. It wasn’t crowded and the storm just skirted around us. It was ok. We can do Rainforest anywhere.
Garden Grill was very good. The food was good and the character interaction was good enough to let Anna warm up to the characters. And when she warmed up, she was hot! I would definitely do this one again.
Tusker House was OK. It was crowded and loud and my parents were with us and they were overwhelmed. I would like to go back when it’s not so crowded.
Biergarten was good. I won’t rush back (I’d like to try other things first), but the food was tasty and the service was great.
Chef Mickey was good. The food was ok, and the characters were great. I would do it again, but I’d like to try other things first.
Flying Fish was great. The food was excellent. The place was beautiful the service was almost too attentive. The only thing was that there had been a key lime dessert listed on the menu on-line. They no longer serve it, and it was the only reason we picked the place. We were not disappointed, however, because the meal was delicious.
Crystal Palace was great. The food was good. The characters were awesome. It was fun. Definitely on the must do again list. This is a big hit with John. He just really enjoyed it, even though he was surrounded by my family.
We had packed cereal for breakfast, but never opened the bag. We ate at, I think, the Electric Umbrella and Cosmic Rays.
The “Magic”
The CMs this trip were amazing (with one exception). We got to the hotel, and before we had made it to the front desk, both kids had coins and beads. In fact, my kids are ready for Mardi Gras now. Because we had done on-line check-in, our materials were waiting for us and we didn’t have to wait in line.
My sister and mother put together some goody bags for the kids to amuse them in the hotel room and had wanted to say that Mickey sent them. They asked the front desk to help them, thinking that someone would deliver them to the room and say that these were from Mickey, but they went all out. The manager called us to the concierge desk and then pulled us aside. He came out from the back room with the bags. The hotel had added balloons and inside was a card with a signed picture. Jack’s was “from” Mickey and Minnie and Anna’s was “from” the princesses.
Even in the park there were CMs with hula-hoops, bubbles, jump ropes, and all manner of other interactive, quick games for kids to play. It was nice.
Even the poor kid who was on the receiving end of my hissy fit (for which I later apologized to him), was gracious.
The exception was a woman who was working the front desk at 6:30 on Tuesday morning. I had a question and she made me feel a little stupid for having asked it. It did make me feel a little bit better though that the answer she gave turned out to be a little inaccurate.
The Wrap Up of the Wrap Up
There were things that we didn’t do at all. And there were things we did more than one human should possibly do (I think Jack did the Spaceship Earth ride 5 times in 7 days). But it really was a magical experience. My kids are still happy about it. They can’t wait to go back. My husband has even decided he wants to go back before the kids get too much older. We had a happy time.
PassPorter's Free-Book to Walt Disney World It’s hard to believe anything is free at Walt Disney World; but there are actually a number of things you can get or do for little to no cost. This e-book documents over 200 free or cheap tips to do before you go and after you arrive. You could save a considerable amount of money following these tips. Perhaps more importantly; you can discover overlooked attractions and little-known details most people whiz by on their way to spend money. Click here to see free sample pages from the e-book! Get this popular e-book free of extra charges when you join the PassPorter's Club for as little as $4.95. A club pass includes access to all our other e-books; e-worksheets; super-size photos; and more! This e-book is also available for separate purchase in the PassPorter Online Store for just $5.95.
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