jjbescher

The points for the Beach Resorts will expire before some of the newer resorts.

Watch out buying resale, not through Disney, they are taking away a lot of the perks from those that do not buy from Disney directly anymore.

I have my airline flights booked for to go to Aulani in April.  However, need to wait to book starting in September.  I had to get the flights because I was able to use airline miles to book First Class tickets for the 3 of us.  Would have cost me over $10,000 if I paid out of pocket.

Gwen, you are 100% absolutely correct about this....  In fact, for Father's Day, I got a pound of Stamey's Bar-B-Que and a pint of bar-b-q slaw and was one happy man... Now granted, it didn't come from Lexington, but from Greensboro,  but that is about as close as I could come to it....  There are slim pickin's over here in the Raleigh area for "que", well it just SMB... so you have to "make do" with your surroundings... 

Duane - Have you tried the restaurant in Raleigh, near the Railhawks stadium called Ole Time Barbecue.

Sorry, you snooze you loose. They are completely sold out for every remaining day.

Amazing.

TCD

At least it saves me some money.

Defintiely waiting on hearing about the Frozen Premium Package.  We are heading there shortly and debating about spending the money.

I have not been on in a while.  Thanks guys!  I was actually at Disney and staying at the Fort on my Birthday.  However, I had to go to a conference.  They gave me the bill at Dinner.  It only $1100 plus tip.  Luckily I have a corporate card.

A couple of things, my wife is required to drive the RV, not because I do not think I should drive the whole way, but she takes it out on her own so she drives it then.  This way I can sleep when she drives it.

As for DVC, it is not YC, but BC.  The villas are the closest to EPCOT and the furthest away from SAB, but SAB is still included.  Self Parking is actually closer to the DVC buildings.  I Love DVC and will be staying at BLT in a couple of weeks.  However, will probably try to camp again at Fort Wilderness in the RV.

The last go around for DVC Annual pass discounts was $300 off the Premium Annual Pass which made it $399 before tax.  I saved over $900 on the passes alone.

There are no packages to go along with staying at DVC, however, you can book the Dining Plan separate and do not need to have a ticket to go along with it.  Also, you can purchase the standard tickets, you do not have to have an annual pass.  Just aas with the fort, you do not even need tickets to stay at a DVC with points.

Watch out for resale from different companies.  Disney is starting to not accept certain perks if you do not buy directly from them.  If you buy resale from them, then all the perks still apply.

  

Yes. She's there until January 5th.

I'm amazed by how much she likes it. The schedule is grueling. Doesn't seem like so much fun to me, but she really is enjoying herself.

TCD

Cool,

I will have to look for her when I am there then.

It sounds like she will still be working through August 8-17.

Hug your loved ones. Very scary event happened at the conference I am at. Guy had a heart attack on conference floor. We think he was stable when he left, hope to get update soon.

On a happier side, dd got to see Anna and Elsa today.

Just met Donnie (stacktester). He is setting up a camper for someone nect door to us in 512.

Yesterday, Friday, was an easy day.  The weather was decent at the campsites, but very hot at the Magic Kingdom.  We were getting a good breeze at the campsite the whole day.

No time to elaborate on what we did.  Just trying to keep connected till I have to get ready.  Today we may try to go meet Anna and Elsa, I am leaving that up to DD and DW.  I may head over to DHS to check out Star Wars Weekend or just hang out.  I have not decided yet.  I could also go and try to ride some rides at MK.  Coming enough we do not need to push to do everything all in one trip.

Firsttttttttttttt

That really stinks about your wallet, I'm glad you weren't any farther along when you realized it was missing.

Happy birthday!!!

Congratulations!!!  I know it is not as special as being First on a TCD trip report, but being First is always a good thing.  I was also glad I was not too far along.  Thanks for the Birthday wishes.

DS's birthday is also May 20. What a great day. Hope your birthday is spectacular.

Well you DS must be awesome to have a great Birthday like that.  Tell you DS Happy Birthday!!!

I'm in.

Since everyone is sharing lost wallet stories I'll tell about the one and only time I forgot my wallet.

I left oklahoma to meet with a customer in Shreveport louisanna. Luckily I was in minivan and I had a full tank of gas. I arrive at the Horseshoe Casino with my low gas light on and just enough time to check in, change, and meet my customer down stairs at Binion's steakhouse. It's awesome. I get to the front desk and no wallet. I go back to the man van and no wallet. Call home and it's in my bathroom. Panic time. I go back in and ask the front desk if they could check me in with no I.d. no credit card, nothing. But my MIL is overnighting it to me. She says sorry no go. I ask for manager and he says sorry but than he notices the room is compt. He calls the slot host and she comes over and she recognized me. Checked in, changed and charged dinner to my room. Next day wallet was there.

I don't leave the house without checking to make sure I have wallet.

Thanks for joining and sharing and someone must have played a lot of slots that day.

I'm in! Stinks about the wallet, but glad you made it.

I'm in!! 

 

I haven't decided what I am going to do with the rest of page one though.   >:D

Looks like leaving it alone.

Let's see if my dad chimes in with his CC story. Or my mom with her passport.

Wow, I am not the only one to do this stuff.  Lets hear other embarrassing stories.

I always keep a little money hidden in my vehicle just in case of emergencies like forgetting wallet

We did have cash on hand, but was trying not to use it.

I'm in!

Thanks!

I'm in!

Thanks!

I'm in also!!!! SMB forgetting wallet, but a GREAT thing for Mom's always there to bail us out, what would we do without them :bighug:

Thanks for joining, I think I have more people on the first day of this trip report than I did for all of the last one.   I guess an interesting title helps.

I am in and reading along. I can also make you feel better about your wallet. 

 

A couple of years ago Sil and I were heading to Disney world. It was Christmas day and we had gone to RI to have dinner with family and to visit my Mom. While at my mom's she needed her computer looked at. After fixing what was wrong I borrowed the computer to add some amazon cards to my account. 

 

After leaving my Mom's we headed to New Jersey to meet up with some friends who were riding down with us. After loading there stuff all up in the car they proceed to do a wallet check. Apparently they have had issues in the past with forgetting wallets and losing them. While they are checking I reach to my back pocket just to make sure I had mine....it wasn't there. I tear apart the car thinking I had put it in the arm rest compartment or the glove compartment. Nothing. 

 

I called my Mom's house and asked my sister to check for me. Sure enough there it was. Sitting right next to my Mom's computer. Containing all the Disney gift cards I had been purchasing to pay for our trip. We had just driven 3 hours to get to my friends. It was almost 10 pm at this point and everyone at my Mom's was crashing hard from two long days. We drove all the way back to RI to pick up the wallet and then right back past my friends in Jersey. What should have been an 18 hr drive turned into a 26 hour drive. 

 

I have never been allowed to forget that. If looks could have killed that night Silvia would have had laser beams coming out of her eyes and I would have been incinerated. 

 

So dont feel bad. It happens. And kudo's to your mom for helping you out with getting the wallet. 

That is not the first time my Mother had to bail me out.  A neighbor helped in that one also.  Taking the Disney Fantasy on Saturday after Thanksgiving.  Since I already had the time off we came to Disney a few days early and then on Friday headed over to our friends house that works at NASA.  I had a weird feeling on the way that I did not know where I put the passports.  Well, the reason for that is because they were still in my house in NC.  Luckily I checked early enough and they were able to FedEx Overnight them to a FedEx Facility and we picked them up.  I figured I would have learned from my mistake that time to check that I had everything.

Well, if you followed my last trip report, you would know that I was leaving for Disney World last night.  I will be staying at the Fort from 5/16 Through 5/22.   Work is paying me miles and also paying for the Campground Costs.  All I have to pay for is food for myself, DW and DD for the days I am not working the conference.  I have to drive the the Renaissance at Sea World on Sunday, Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday.

My Birthday falls into the this trip and is on Tuesday May 20th, one of the days that I have to work.  Turns out we also have to take out customers to Dinner and going to Bonefish Grill.  Things could be a lot worse, so I will mke due and spend a lot of time with my DD while we have a chance.

Like last time I have the same crew.  It is myself, DW and DD.  Along with that I have my 3 dogs, Daisy, Scamp and Jewel.   I most likely will not post many pictures until I get home.  The modem I got this time is working, which is a big plus.

Why the title of this post?  Lets just say I had an interesting night last night.  I get home from coaching swimming where the swimmers threw me a quick party.  They would have liked it to last longer, but they had swimming to do.  When I get home I was ready to get on the road.  I walk in and my DD is making me a birthday card.   Not surprising since my Birthday is on Tuesday, I figured she was making it to give to me on the trip.  Nope, turns out my gift is sitting upstairs and I had to go up to go get it.  What is it you ask?  One of the best camping gifts ever, NC State University Cornhole Board, with 4 NC State Bean Bags and 4 Black Bean Bags.  Now, I was not planning on packing these, so I have figure out where to put them.  After figuring out how to get them in, we get on the road.   I live about 2 hours from the SC Border, maybe closer on a good day.   Well, the rain storm that we had on Thursday Night slowed things down a lot.  It took us 3 hours to get 11 miles into SC.

Not bad since we had plenty of time to get down and still be at the Fort by around 6 in the morning.  We stopped to get gas because it is cheaper in SC than NC.  This is where the problem comes in.  No Wallet.  We look hi and low in the camper and the Pilot.  Nothing.  I call my my Mother and ask her at 10:00 at night to go to my house and see if she can find my wallet.   It is not in my house, but in my car I drove to swim practice.  Now I am 2 hours away and need to get my wallet.  Thanks so much to my Mother who met me half way at a gas station so I would not have to drive the whole way.  During this time, my DW drove the camper part way down into SC.

I feel like such an idiot, mainly because I asked my DW if she had everything.  I had to drive without my license and the credit card I needed to pay for the campsite was in the wallet and my wife did not have it since it was a company card.

Instead of getting in around 6 in the morning we hit traffic in Orlando and did not get in till around 9:30, 10ish.  One plus by getting in later is that we got our campsite when we checked in.  I did not have to go into the building to check in and was able to use the people at the check in booths.  Also, Kenny had a cart at the Marina for me so I did not have to go and pick one up and drive into the Fort.

We are in site 514 and are almost all set up.   I have my ice maker making ice, my new sign I bought at the RV show up and my new light working.  My DD got to decorate the Golf Cart and part of the campsite.

I think I will stop there for tonight.

Saturday December 28^th Continued

We would normally not have anything interesting to talk about or show after we leave Disney.  Depending on traffic and how long our stops are, we would have gotten home that night.  However, that was not the case.

On our way out of town on I-4, we get a call from my 2nd Cousin Once Removed or something crazy like that.  Essentially my Mothers Cousins Daughter.  I could never figure out the 2^nd, 3^rd Cousin thing.  This would not be so important, but she now lives in London and has a Daughter that is my DD’s age.  She was only in town for a little while and the 2 youngest have never met.

The problem is that we have lunch plans with our Friends in the Daytona area.  We had our dogs with us and we did not want to just stop and say hi and then leave.  We wanted the cousins to be able to hang out.  So we did what any other non –sane person would do.  We drove to Daytona, ate with our friends, unhooked the car, turned the generator on, locked up the RV, drove back to Orlando and met my Cousin, Husband and her Daughter at the Mall.  Btw, the parking lot was awful.  It took us forever to find a parking spot.

Cousin and her Daughter eating Ice Cream

They were very shy at first and then after the Ice Cream were like they have known each other forever.

Playing Around






Picture of the related family



The two youngest cousins







The two older cousins



For those of you wondering, I was adopted, that is why I am not the same shade as my cousin.   I had not seen my cousin in at least 15 years.  We would normally see each other every year at Thanksgiving and Christmas.  Her parents are my God Parents.

Although this meeting set us back about 4-6 hours it was well worth it.  The kids now know who we are talking about when we mention the other ones names.  They now are saving their money to go visit each other across the pond.  At least I have a free place to stay if I ever go to London.

After the meeting, we headed back to pick up the dogs, hooked the car up and headed home.  We made it to the Georgia line before we stopped for a while and slept.  Got up in the morning and drove the rest of the way home.

Some observations from the trip

I realized that by doing the FP+ in the afternoon and then doing rope drop, you avoid lines in the morning and then when you go back to the park or park hop, you have your FP+ to show up for.  We are going to try that same thing on this trip, even though we can now add on other FP+ after we use up the three.  Sounding from TCD’s trip report, it sounds like we would not be able to get any good ones afterwards anyways.

Thank you for those that have read through this and stuck with it so long.  Just because I leave for the Fort tonight, does not mean another trip report will come.  I am heading there for Business, my work is paying for me to camp, but I will be at the Conference for half of the time.

My DD and DW will be able to spend some quality time together.

Saturday December 28^th

We are near the end of the trip.  This Saturday, although we did not have many plans for Saturday, it turned out to be a VERY busy and LONG day.

We started the day at MK, here is picture of Clementine’s Beach in the morning.  Looks like the Tether Ball is still there.

They started off at Buzz Lightyear



While I rode Space by myself



Then I was the First one Splash.  I just got in line and the crowd all went different directions and I just followed the CM’s.



While DD did the Little Mermaid ride, I decided to go visit Ariel.



The obligatory Castle Picture



Dumbo – I love what they have done with this ride.



Fairy Godmother





This ends the pictures we have from Disney.  We packed up our things and headed out.  We had lunch plans with our Friends that we saw on Thursday, but our plans got added onto.

Friday December 27^th.

I was challenged by TCD to get this trip report done before I leave tonight and I am going to to do that.

Friday was a Hollywood Studios kind of day.  However, we had to go eat at Fulton’s Crabhouse first.  We love this place and try to go every trip, if we can.  With the TIW, DVC or AP you can get 20% off at Lunch, where you can only get 10% off at Dinner.  You can still order from their Dinner menu at lunch.

DD still in her crown



Pood Forn for DIT – Crab Legs



The food once again was great and now it was time to hit Hollywood Studios.



We had to get use of the Memory Maker for this trip.

I went and rode Star Tours.  While waiting in line, I saw the CM come out of the vehicle and move the Monitor out, look at a picture of the on the Monitor.  The CM then chose the Rebel Spy from the Monitor.



We then had to go see LMA.  My DD had never seen it and we wanted to watch it before it gets torn down, hopefully for Cars Land.  If you have never been to Disneyland, Cars Land is AWESOME.

My DD loves getting her Face Painted and we use that as a Bribing method.  I forget what she had to do in order to get her Face Painted, but she get it done as Rapunzel.

That picture was taken before the Osborne Lights and we were watching Mulch, Sweat and Shears.  We then headed over to the Lighting of the Lights.  This is the first time we have seen the ceremony.  We were very surprised to see who the guests were that were turning them on.



The Osborne Ladies – Breezy, the Daughter who asked her Father for lights is the one in Red.  That is her Daughter and the Mother/Wife, Mitzi, of Jennings Osborne is the one behind the Emcee.  It was very cool to see the original family turn them on.  Breezy’s husband is the gentleman in the jacket on the other side of the switch.

This one update concludes Friday.  All we have left is Saturday and we are done.

What a great Christmas you had!

 

Love the family photo, including the three dogs.  Awesome.

 

That's great that you got to the top of BLT- I thought it was restricted to BLT owners who are actually staying at the resort?

 

You still have two days to go with this report- and you are leaving for your next trip tonight?  Are you going to make it? 

 

You can do it!

 

TCD

A couple of years ago, DVC Changed that policy to ANY DVC member can go up.  They are allowed to restrict at any point, but the few times we have gone up, it is not very crowded.  If you are not staying at one of the Magic Kingdom Resorts, it is a pain to get to.  You either need to drive or you need to get to the Magic Kingdom, then get over to BLT.  Also, a lot of DVC members still think it is only those staying at BLT.  They do not read over the Perks that we get before they leave.  I plan on going over there again this trip if time allows.  Hopefully it will be warmer than the last two times we have gone.

We actually leave tomorrow night, so I will definitely be able to finish since we did not do much either day.

jon

December 26^th Continued

After hitting EPCOT in the morning we looped around the fort and went to the pool. 

While looping we came across this car.



Definitely not expecting to see a Porsche at the Fort.

As you saw from the Christmas Photos, we had HDDR tonight.  My daughter was SO Excited about this.  She loves it.  We have to play some of it on youtube and see she will just start singing some of the songs.  This show was a little different as it was their Christmas version, so some of the songs were different.  The food was the same.

We had Category 1 seats.  We were right up front, second row from the stage.




Opening act


The Washboard Picture that everyone needs to take


Closing Act


And that was it for the HDDR.  We went to the 4:15 show and we had friends come over.  They both work at NASA and are able to come over during the week.  It was great seeing them.  They were nice enough to take a picture for us in front of the Christmas Tree with our Dogs.

It was bit chilly that night, but it was fun.  We took the boat over to the Contemporary.  One of the perks that we have as DVC members is the ability to watch Wishes from the top of BLT.  We are allowed to bring guests, so we brought them and had a lot of fun.  They bought us some Hot Chocolate.  I did not have the camera that night, so no pictures of the fireworks or the view.

That ends Thursday.  All we left is Friday and an adventure on Saturday.

Thursday December 26^th

Today was an EPCOT Day in the morning.

We had never done Character Spot at the EPCOT.  The line always seemed too long.  However with FP+ and already done Soaring, I decided to try it.

We got to the park for opening and something crazy happened.  They had us park in the grass area.

This made it very easy to leave when we wanted to, but I guess they were expecting a big crowd.

Family Picture –Since we had Memory Maker, thought we would get our use out of it.





Character Spot with Mickey


Goofy


Minnie


That was it for the characters.  I would not wait in line for just the 3.  Using FP+ was worth it since we did not do Chef Mickeys.  It was a quick and easy way to meet the Big Cheese and the Minnie and Goofy.

We had FP+ for Spaceship Earth, but I did not feel like riding.  There was a line for Pluto.  I was one of those parents that waited in line while the other rode Spaceship Earth.  I did let others go in front of me when I got closer to the Pluto and they did come back.


Mickey and Minnie Topiaries


Some Stage with the ball behind it.


I feel like I am getting close to running out of space, next HDDR

Christmas Day – Time to open the rest of the gifts.

Let’s just say gift opening took a while.  We like to buy things during the year when they are on sale.  So we had lots of little things.

Cinderella


Tiana


Mulan – This maybe only the third one pictured, but I think she got 8 of these.  After the first few we heard.  “Another One”  However, she plays with all of them now and they take up a lot of her bed.


A watch and me resting my eyes, we had to get up early and I was tired.


Either an Anna or Elsa dress, I know she got both.




A Hoop-Dee-Doo Pin and a note that we were going tomorrow night.  She loves this show.  We went with Friends in August and every time we would go by Pioneer Hall she would ask us to go to the show.


See, I am up reading her the note.


Why we keep going to it.  She finally realizes what it is all about.  I wish I could bottle up that smile.




Looks like that is all we took of gift opening.   We went to the campfire that night.  We brought our own Marshmallow sticks and stuff with us.  One good thing about camping, you have all the equipment.

Meeting Dale




Wow, it looks like Christmas Day is over.  I know that the dogs were brought to the Dog Park and taken for a few walks.  Our oldest Dog does not play nice with others when there are toys involved so she does not get to the park as much as she would like.

My Dw was concerned about doing Christmas at the Fort, but being that we are talking about going back in 2015, I think she enjoyed it.  Having a big enough RV and towing a car makes it possible for us to bring all the gifts.  Maybe in 2015 we will only bring a few and tell her Santa left the rest at our house.  We will have to see.

We only have a few days left and not many pictures after today.  So I am thinking a few more updates and I will do my best to get them done today since I leave tomorrow in the evening.

That has to be the most perfect Christmas morning ever for a little girl!!

It will definitely be a hard one to top.  We are planning on doing Christmas at the Fort in 2015 (not enough vacation time for 2014).

I have to say that is a very authentic looking Snow White.  That's a nice pic of the two of them. 

Thanks.

Well, you tell her Santa loves her, too. And I'm so glad the Cindy dress fit! (Grin) Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Thanks Santa.

Reading what Shanta quote about your DD being into the elf, you mean elf on a shelf?? Did you bring it along?? My son LOVES his elf but that thing stresses me out!!

I do mean Elf on the Shelf.  We did bring it along and it stressed out DW.  I had to get up to do different things with it on the trip.  With the RV and the tents outside we had enough space to keep moving it around.  She had to get something that was very close to the Elf one day and would not get it.  She said that she was not allowed to touch it and did not want to chance having Santa be upset with her, so we had to get it for her.

OK- you need to spill the beans and explain how you were able to score so many great ADR's during a busy holiday time.

 

Were you up at midnight on the 180th day?

 

TCD

I actually did not book them at 180 days out.  I think a lot of people did not want to head to the parks that early in the morning.  It was not till after we got out of breakfast, around 10:30ish that it really starting to get busy.  I was just very lucky.

Wow, what an amazing Christmas morning!  And you just finished breakfast!  I hope the rest of your day was just as great.

Thanks and as you will see in the next few updates, it was a great time.  The rest of it was spent at the fort, so it had to be fun.

Christmas Day – Continued and it is only 9:30 in the morning on Christmas and already on the third update.  We are about to have Breakfast.

This is the second thing of the day that I said I was never going to do.  The first was BBB.  Thought it was too expensive and not worth the money, why would any parent waste the money on something like that.  Well, I will admit when I am wrong.  Although it is fairly expensive, when looking at other salons and things we could have done with her for the money, it is right in line.  They also give her the nail polish and the makeup kit.  The makeup kit lasted till just about a month ago and the nail polish I think she still has and uses it.  If you do not buy the dress at BBB and bring your own, it becomes a lot cheaper.  The dresses are either $64.95 or $69.95.  They are ALL the same price no matter which one you pick.  Since Santa brought her a Cinderella Dress it was a lot cheaper.

The second thing is Cinderella’s Royal Table.  Eating in the castle never was something I wanted to do and my DD did not know about it.  However, after realizing I was able to BBB and CRT on Christmas Day, it was a must do.  When was I going to be able to see my Daughter all dressed up like a princess and then meet Cinderella in her Formal Gown.  The princesses are everything to this girl and I wanted to give her a magical Christmas Day.  It was hard enough on her that she would not see her cousins, Grandparents and one of her Aunts, but she was in Disney with her Parents and Dogs and Santa found the camper.
 

Now onto meeting Cinderella
 

Menu

DW and DD

DIT beware, Snow White



Aurora


 

Jasmine



Ariel



A couple pictures of the castle


 

Getting a kiss from Princess

We ended up seeing Aurora and Cinderella at Fairytale Princess Hall, but we already have enough of those pictures.

Here we are on our way back to the Fort



It looks like we are done with the Magic Kingdom.  As we were leaving Hoards of people were arriving to the Magic Kingdom.  We decided it was time to go back and see the dogs along with open up the rest of the gifts.  If you saw the pile a few posts back, it was going to take a while.  I was able very glad to not move the gifts again.

We will pick that up in the next update.