PTR:Moving to WDW & Earning Your Ears! (TRIP REPORT HAS STARTED!) 8/14

[Mickey_Mom]

Hey Megan.... I don't think I gave a green-with-envy-shout-out for the Yacht Club -- woot! I would love to stay there!

Quite the flight in for you, but glad to hear you're safe in Denver.

You've just reminded me to make my DME arrangements... thanks!

 

[TinkerbellLuvr7]

Wow....sounds like an eventful trip to get there


Hope you have a nice time there!!

Thanks

Megan,

Glad to hear you all made it to Colorado safely ~~ Hope you and your family have a great time on vacation! I look forward to reading your updates when you have time to check in ....

Thanks! I should have known that I would not have loads of time to sit and update like crazy haha. What was I thinking?!

Hey Megan.... I don't think I gave a green-with-envy-shout-out for the Yacht Club -- woot! I would love to stay there!

Quite the flight in for you, but glad to hear you're safe in Denver.

You've just reminded me to make my DME arrangements... thanks!

Thanks! I felt bad for the flight across from us going to Seattle, they were to leave at 7:30pm and ended up leaving after midnight!

 

[TinkerbellLuvr7]

HI DIS FRIENDS!!!!

Sorry for the delay! I should have known better when I said I'd have oodles of time to update while I was away..boy was I wrong!

Well, we made it home from Denver without any issues. Overall it was a great trip! A few bumps along the way and after an almost week vacation, we were ready to get home!

I won't go into major detail but we did a lot of fun things: sight seeing at Rocky Mt. National Park, Maroon Bells, and Aspen. We stayed in Vail for 5 nights/6 days. Our condo that we rented was wonderful! 2 bedrooms/2 bathrooms and it was on 2 levels which made it more like a tiny house! The only complaint we had was there was no elevator access and we were on the 4th floor. We pretty much worked off everything we ate by doing steps. The bathrooms were also pretty tiny compared to other condos we've stayed at in Vail but that was pretty minor.

We went to a place called Red Rocks Amphitheater and saw a John Denver Tribute Band which were really good! Dbro and I grew up listening to his music via our parents so we really enjoyed the concert! The place had A TON OF STEPS though!! I guess you'll have that in a mountain setting!

My dad and I rented Segways and mom and I went to the Spa for a massage, resulting in me having an allergic reaction from the oil/lotion

My Dbro spent 3 days kayaking off and on and loved it! He and my dad also rented mt. bikes and did all that fun bike stuff. We rode the gondola up to the top of the mt. and ate at a bunch of really good/expensive places! Of course we shopped as well!

Dad ended up with poison ivy on day 2 of the trip from branches he cut down at home the day we left. After a trip to Vail Urgent Care and some pills later, he felt much better

NOW FOR SOME COLORADO PICS!!

Me on top of Rocky Mt. National Park, they had snow and it was 40 degrees outside!!

Rocky Mt. National Park

View from our Lodge at Lionshead condo:

Gondola

Lionshead village:

Mom and I at Maroon Bells (near Aspen):

Riding Segways--dad was nervous!

Vail Village

Vail Village ski lifts:

At Red Rocks Amp.

Riding the Gondola

River that runs through Vail

Well that is it! If you are friends with me on FB, I have each day listed in albums if you want to look at more of the pics!

As far as the TR goes, I'll be updating this one and my March one this weekend! Now, I'm off to bed since I didn't sleep until 2am thanks to that time change! Hello Jet Lag!!!!!

Have a great rest of the week, I'll see you all this weekend!!!!!

 

[therussells08]

Hi! I'm subbing!

That is so cool that you were a CM and now your DBro is going to be one too! I have always dreamed of working at WDW! I am so excited to find out which attraction you brother will be working at!

I have to comment on you DBro's Penguins shirt. GO PENS! My family is from the Pittsburgh area and they are all obsessed with the Penguins and the Steelers. My sister swears she is going to marry Sidney Crosby!

Congrats on getting such an amazing discount for your trip! I have never stayed at a deluxe resort before and the YC looks AMAZING!

Okay as a high school teacher, let me just say that if someone cut off the air my classroom they would have twenty five sweaty cranky teenagers on their hands and one VERY cranky teacher in about five minutes. How can they expect students to focus and learn with no AC?!

It sounds like you had a blast in Colorado! I would love to visit there someday. Very nice pics!

I can't wait to read more! Your trip is already getting close! I'm jealous!

 

[Trentmom]

Welcome Home

Colorado looks beautiful. Glad u had a nice trip

 

[TinkerbellLuvr7]

Hi! I'm subbing!

That is so cool that you were a CM and now your DBro is going to be one too! I have always dreamed of working at WDW! I am so excited to find out which attraction you brother will be working at!

I have to comment on you DBro's Penguins shirt. GO PENS! My family is from the Pittsburgh area and they are all obsessed with the Penguins and the Steelers. My sister swears she is going to marry Sidney Crosby!

Congrats on getting such an amazing discount for your trip! I have never stayed at a deluxe resort before and the YC looks AMAZING!

Okay as a high school teacher, let me just say that if someone cut off the air my classroom they would have twenty five sweaty cranky teenagers on their hands and one VERY cranky teacher in about five minutes. How can they expect students to focus and learn with no AC?!

It sounds like you had a blast in Colorado! I would love to visit there someday. Very nice pics!

I can't wait to read more! Your trip is already getting close! I'm jealous!

!!!

We are also huge Steelers/Pens fans! I guess we will have to drive back to Pgh from Cincy when we want to see the Pens bc people here have no sense of what hockey is since they don't have a team!

Aren't discounts great I guess it was a good thing that I kept in touch with some CMs!!!

Welcome Home

Colorado looks beautiful. Glad u had a nice trip

Thanks!!! I'll be back Fri or Sat with an update! They are offering OT for the teachers who want to come in on Sun for 5 hours to clean before the State License lady comes this Wed so I'm going to take them up on it and get some good OT in!!!

 

[TinkerbellLuvr7]

HI DIS FRIENDS!!!

I wasn't planning on updating until this weekend but since we have

41 DAYS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Till we pack up the car and head down south for the Mouse, we need a little ADR help. I know right, me, ADR help..you thought I'd never ask! I'm supposed to be top notch at this, especially having lived there and eaten at all the Epcot restaurants (for one!) but we need a little signature restaurant help before all the ADRs are booked!

First of all, I was under the impression that Aug was a HUGE busy time at WDW. With schools not started yet and summer near the end, I figured it was busy but the only thing I can think of is that ppl are holding out till the 15th when Free Dining starts and that is why ADRs are not booked.

For example, 2 weeks ago, before we booked our hotel ressie with DDP, I was able to book a 7:30pm ADR at Chef Mickeys and had multiple times to choose from...ON A SATURDAY NO LESS! Of course I'm going to cancel it now because we are on the DDP and only have 2 days but still geez!


So anyways, we have our Sunday--in park ADR booked, STAY TUNED FOR THAT ONE!

BUT

We need help with a Signature ADR. Since we only have Sat and Sun (since Dbro moves into his WDW apt on Monday) we are doing 1 Sig and 1 normal.

Our choices have come down to 4 (in no order):

1. Luau~reason: Because Dbro has never done it. Our parents went in 1981 for their Disneymoon and got food poisoning from it and never went back. I went with my CP roomies in May 2008 and loved it and then again in Jan 2009 and had a blast as well.

2. NARCOOSEES (sp?)~reason: We had it booked in March and then when Dbro changed his flights to leave a day later, we were able to have an additional day for our DDP and canceled our Sig ADR there. The podcast team on here also raves about the food!

3. CALI GRILL~reason: Because it's Cali Grill and Dbro wants to go for the fireworks. We ate there when we were younger and enjoyed eating there. It's unique and Dbro was under the age of 10 when we went and doesn't really remember it.

4. YACHTSMEN STEAKHOUSE~reason: I hear it's the best steak in WDW, we're staying at the Yacht Club already, never been there, and could get a 7pm ADR and still make it outside to watch Illuminations after dinner.


WHAT WOULD YOU PICK???? IF YOU HAVE GONE TO ANY OF THE ABOVE, WHY SHOULD WE GO THERE/NOT GO THERE.


THANKS FOR THE HELP!!!!!

 

[Mickey_Mom]

First of all... BEAUTIFUL pictures from your trip! That's always been on my list of places I'd like to go.

Hmmmm, signature ADR. I can only offer my personal opinion because I've never been to any of your listed choices. I'd opt for California Grill. It's what I'd choose based on its reputation, location and fireworks.

I think all of them are great, you couldn't go wrong no matter what you choose.

 

[therussells08]

Hmmm...that's a tough one...I think if it were me I would do California Grill or Yachtsmen Steakhouse. Cali Grill is just so Disney and it would be an awesome thing for you and DBro to do together. But your reasoning for the Yachtsmen Steakhouse is very convincing!

 

[TinkerbellLuvr7]

First of all... BEAUTIFUL pictures from your trip! That's always been on my list of places I'd like to go.

Hmmmm, signature ADR. I can only offer my personal opinion because I've never been to any of your listed choices. I'd opt for California Grill. It's what I'd choose based on its reputation, location and fireworks.

I think all of them are great, you couldn't go wrong no matter what you choose.

Thanks

Hmmm...that's a tough one...I think if it were me I would do California Grill or Yachtsmen Steakhouse. Cali Grill is just so Disney and it would be an awesome thing for you and DBro to do together. But your reasoning for the Yachtsmen Steakhouse is very convincing!

It will be a tough choice!! I think we are going to decide this upcoming weekend. If we wait any longer, we will be eating where ever we can get an ADR.

 

[therussells08]

Can't wait to hear what you decide about your ADRs! I just wanted to post on your PTR really quickly and apologize because I just realized I "welcomed" you to my PTR twice! I'm such a twit I forgot that you had already subbed to mine. I'm sorry!

 

[wdwgirl03]

Love the trip pictures!

Sorry, I am no help as far as the ADRs go. I've never been to any of them. I would probably choose the Yachtsman Steakhouse though. I remember seeing it on one of the Great Hotels shows and it looked pretty good.

 

[TinkerbellLuvr7]

Can't wait to hear what you decide about your ADRs! I just wanted to post on your PTR really quickly and apologize because I just realized I "welcomed" you to my PTR twice! I'm such a twit I forgot that you had already subbed to mine. I'm sorry!

Thanks!! I will post soon! We only have to book 2 (sad I know) and 1 is already done!! I will only give the hint that it is in Epcot!

I'm off to update my March TR since it's almost July and it is not done yet

Love the trip pictures!

Sorry, I am no help as far as the ADRs go. I've never been to any of them. I would probably choose the Yachtsman Steakhouse though. I remember seeing it on one of the Great Hotels shows and it looked pretty good.

Thanks!

~Thats okay! I wish they still had Great Hotels on I enjoyed the WL one especially! I do remember the BWI one and she opened her door and it was a dead on view of Epcot and right on the boardwalk (naturally!)

 

[TinkerbellLuvr7]

HI DIS FRIENDS!!!

Sorry it has taken so long for me to update and I said I would over the weekend but life took over, as did the sunshine and Toy Story 3!

My weekend started off with deciding to go see the 12:30pm showing of Toy Story 3 (not 3D). I was alone for the weekend and so I made the adult decision to go alone..I have no shame! So I went all alone but was not alone when there were a ton of kids and parents that were at the movie! With popcorn in hand and drink in my cup holder, I enjoyed all of the movie! Of course I laughed and cried! I thought the movie was a little 'dark' and 'violent' for some kids. There were several kids in the theatre who were screaming and crying during some parts! All in all, worth the $7.50!

After that, I went to Books A Million where I bought:

Do you have this or have read it?? We were a faithful family of the Birnbaum books. We would buy them for every year that we would go to WDW (still don't have 2010) but I read on the boards (podcast page) about how Kevin really enjoyed this book and I researched it and a former CM said it was a great book even for those who are avid WDW visitors so I bought it! So instead of buying the famous Birnbaum 2010 book, I bought this one and let me just say IT IS AWESOME!!! The pics are great, the details are great, and even as a former CM/avid WDW visitor, I am really enjoying reading all the ride details!! The best part is that I bought an Amelia Bedelia book at the same time, used my teacher card, and the girl have me 20% off of the Disney book as well!!!

After more errands and Bob Evans for dinner, I crashed on Sat night!

On Sunday, I opted to not sleep in and head to Kings Island and lay out at Boomerang Bay waterpark. TOTALLY not like the Disney ones. Think of Disney ones..all sandy, natural shade from the trees, and totally clean. This one was all concrete, no natural shade, and somewhat clean. I did see some workers walking around with brooms but the bathrooms on the other hand, ugh.
After 3 hours there and not so great sunburn, I headed to work to help clean up my classroom because our State Licensing visit is tomorrow
After 2.5 hours of cleaning, I headed home, made dinner, and crashed!

So that was my weekend!!!

MORE FUN THINGS I BOUGHT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I found this from another fellow Disers TR. I went on Amazon and bought them for $27! They arrived the day we left for Colorado!

6 DVDs total (Dbro took the DL one)

Have you seen the Travel Channel shows called Season of Disney--non Samantha Brown ones. These are the same ones! I was glad to have these on DVD in case they are erased on the DVR! My mom found them at Sams Club a week later (blue ray too) for a cheaper price..or so she claims?

I'm in the process of reading this but it's a slow process based on trying to study for my Praxis and reading my other new disney book!

THE BABY BINDER!!!

Like I said before, I'm not doing a full-out binder for the trip. We will be gone Fri afternoon-Tues afternoon. With only 1 day at the park, 2 ADRs, and driving, I didn't feel the need to do a full-out binder. I reused the cover from the March trip..thanks to Disboards!

MICKEY MAIL!!!!

When we were gone in Colorado, we got tons of Mickey Mail!!!

The Planning DVD:

The Maps that I custom made on WDW.com

The resort/DDP info. Except..it's for what our first resort was: CR. Now that we switched and are at YC, I'm not sure if they will send a new one. Probably not but I still felt special getting this!

Well, that's it for now. After nearly 2 years, my mom is finally settling down here in Cincinnati. We moved back in May but she wanted to wait until the end of school and use vacation time so this weekend she will be finally and fully moved down..Dbro too! We will be making our last ADR this weekend so stay tuned for that!!


UP NEXT:
~OUR ADR LIST/ADR TIMES!

 

[therussells08]

I saw Toy Story 3 on Monday and I LOVED it! I was bawling like a baby half the movie! I don't want to give anything away to those who haven't seen it, but the part where they all hold hands... Girl, I was a puddle in the floor!

Yay for all your new stuff! I love those Disney Parks DVDs! When I saw those at Sams Club and realized it was 6 DVDs for only $20 I got so excited! The people around me probably thought I was crazy because I'm a grown woman jumping up and down over a DVD!

I love Mickey Mail!! That's always so exciting!

Woo hoo! I can't wait to hear your ADRs! I made mine yesterday! I need to post them on my PTR!

 

[wdwgirl03]

Ooh, lots of fun stuff! I love the planning DVDs. Not like I need them since we've been there so many times but they're kind of fun to watch anyway. Plus they're free. Can't beat that!

The KK books are great! I've read the first 2 and am going to start the 3rd one soon.

Glad you liked Toy Story 3!

 

[TinkerbellLuvr7]

I saw Toy Story 3 on Monday and I LOVED it! I was bawling like a baby half the movie! I don't want to give anything away to those who haven't seen it, but the part where they all hold hands... Girl, I was a puddle in the floor!

Yay for all your new stuff! I love those Disney Parks DVDs! When I saw those at Sams Club and realized it was 6 DVDs for only $20 I got so excited! The people around me probably thought I was crazy because I'm a grown woman jumping up and down over a DVD!

I love Mickey Mail!! That's always so exciting!

Woo hoo! I can't wait to hear your ADRs! I made mine yesterday! I need to post them on my PTR!

I my new stuff!!!

I thought that TS3 had more adult type scenes in it than child friendly. I guess it might just be me. As a teacher now, and only able to show my kids G rated things..I don't know about this one. When it comes out on DVD, I would have to see it again before I would show it to my kids at school. Some of them were scared when we watched A Bugs Life and Lion King (which we ended up turning off because of the violence and death elements)
I just thought 1 and 2 seemed more kid friendly than this one did.

I enjoyed reading your ADRs! I posted back

Ooh, lots of fun stuff! I love the planning DVDs. Not like I need them since we've been there so many times but they're kind of fun to watch anyway. Plus they're free. Can't beat that!

The KK books are great! I've read the first 2 and am going to start the 3rd one soon.

Glad you liked Toy Story 3!

They are free??? I could have saved $27! I enjoy watching them as well..even though I worked and have been there a dozen times. I wish the Samantha Brown episodes would be on DVD!

 

[Trentmom]

Have to look for that book next time I go to barnes and nobles. I Love Birnmbaum book too, but would like to try something new

Those DVDs look great. I am pretty sure I saw them in DTD last year, but could be mistaken

Yay to finally have your whole family back together again in same house

 

[TinkerbellLuvr7]

Have to look for that book next time I go to barnes and nobles. I Love Birnmbaum book too, but would like to try something new

Those DVDs look great. I am pretty sure I saw them in DTD last year, but could be mistaken

Yay to finally have your whole family back together again in same house

Thanks

I'm enjoying the book like you would not believe. All the colored pics make it great to look at but it even has pics of what the resort rooms look like, typical wait times for each ride and sooo much more! It puts the other book to shame..I'm assuming since the last one we bought was 2009!

 

[DrMomof3]

Hi Megan!
I need to get caught up but thought I'd say hello.

Amanda