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Who is on Your (Disney Vacation) Invitation List?

Filed under Grown-Up Disney by aliceinwdw on February 9, 2012 at 2:50 am {3 comments}

So, I was just thinking about the fact that, again, in a few short weeks *happy dancing, dancing, DANCING!* (Oh yea! Isn’t that the Bee Gees, or some disco-eque song? LOL), I will be attempting to seamlessly *fingers-, eyes-, and toes-crossed* book our upcoming trip. However, this time, I have little more to do…

“Go to Your Room!”

On prior trips, again being that we’re Disney Vacation Club (“DVC”) members, we’ve tried out a 1-bedroom for when my mom comes up from South Florida to join us for the first part of our trip. (Nice kid, ain’t I?) Unfortunately, though, we’ve sort of felt that the 1-bedroom wasn’t the greatest choice for us because she was “stuck” out on the sleeper sofa. I mean don’t get me wrong, they’re comfortable enough, but I think they’re “better suited” for kids and teenagers than, um, more “mature” adults (I think she won’t yell at me for that :-P ). So, after her repeatedly saying, “No, no it’s fine,” as she’s sleeping on the couch (*sigh*), last year I finally got smart! We skipped the 1-bedroom and just booked us each our own room. Ingenious, I know!

BLT 1-bedroom Living Room is pretty nice! * photo taken by chezp

Well, this worked out much better, and I think everyone was less “feeling like they couldn’t relax” because we weren’t in each others’ space. So, needless to say, this year I will be doing the same; however, this time, my in-laws have insisted on coming down with us too!

I Love That Show!

“Roseanne” (Season 2, Episode 7, Aired 10/31/1989)

Jackie: “How’s your costume coming along?”
Roseanne: “Ahh-ahh it’s the coolest! Wanna see?”
Jackie: “Yeah.”
Roseanne: “Walk this way.” [skips out of room]
Jackie: “Oh! Yea.”
Roseanne: “Ok. I am going to be…the Wicked Witch of the Mid-West!”
Jackie: “Great. Great…Where’d you get the hat?”
Roseanne: “My mother-in-law.”

*****

This is totally one of my favorite TV shows of all time and this scene popped into my head as I was writing this; however, I have to say that I actually LOVE my in-laws! They are just so much fun when they can let loose and not have to worry about being “Grandma” or “Grandpa” or “boss” or what-have-you; they can just be themselves — and boy do they make me laugh. A lot! I mean, who else can say they thoroughly enjoy hanging out with their mother-in-law (“MIL”)?? (You probably shouldn’t mention it if that’s not you…just in case yours has access to the internet! LOL)

So, this time around, I will be planning for not only DH, my, and my mom’s resort accommodations and dining reservations, but I’ll also have to figure in 2 more “co-guests.” For me, this is no big deal as I *heart* me some planning, but I was wondering:

Have you or do you travel with more than just yourself/significant other/usual travel buddy and do you enjoy it?

I guess I could actually just consider my mom a “regular” at this point, although since she’s not with us the entire trip, I still like to think of her as our guest — and I have to say that we enjoy the company (and this is per the DH too). Plus, it totally helps that she just goes along with the plan and isn’t a “backseat driver.” ;-) However, that’s not to say that I leave her out of the planning completely. I still involve her and always ask for suggestions; i.e. are there any past restaurants she wants to re-visit? Is there a new place she might want to try (well, with her not being as Disney Dorkified — no, no it’s ok; this is a good kind of dork! ), I just ask her what “kind” of food would she like to try this time, etc.

I think involving your guest(s) in part of the planning, like talking about what restaurants to try, for example, is a great way to get your “co-travelers” excited about the trip — and yet it doesn’t overwhelm them (like I know she would be if I did involve her in every detail) — because we all know Disney is so completely void of options. *snickers*

I also keep things in mind like the fact that my mom doesn’t do rides and loves Epcot; so this is where we will inevitably spend most of her stay. :-) However, I tend to look forward to our “traditions” with her and, in turn, I like that I “have” to come up with other things that DH and I can attend/try during the remainder of our trip. This is always a fun aspect of my planning because it definitely amps the anticipation — and it would be great if we can actually make a definitive decision to get on over to Islands of Adventure at Universal for the Wizarding World of Harry Potter this year! I’m hoping that with it being 3 years old, come our next trip, that the crowds will have thinned out a bit. Hey, a girl can dream! LOL

Wizarding World of Harry Potter - Hogwart's Castle * photo taken by DebiDebiDebi

Ok, well maybe I’ll go give my MIL a call and see what’s for dinner, er, I mean where she might want to eat when we’re down on vacation! *wink*

Until next time,

Patience is a Virtue (Unless You’re Planning a Disney Vacation!)

Filed under Grown-Up Disney by aliceinwdw on January 25, 2012 at 6:45 pm {no comments}

Let me start by clarifying: I don’t mean that patience is needed to do the (fun!) stuff; i.e. the planning, etc., I mean that you, well, I, will need patience for the waiting to plan!

You Totally Do This, Don’t You?

So, I can honestly say that I love starting to thinking about our next trip practically as soon as I set foot in the door after returning home from our latest vacation! Ok, so I may not exactly be knocking the luggage out of DH’s hands while tearing down the hallway to go and grab my Disney Vacation Club (“DVC”) points chart — because I already have them memorized. *eyeroll* Ok, not really! — but, I have more than likely already had a conversation, or four, with him about where we should stay next time. Huh. Yeah, I guess it’s not really screaming “World’s Most Patient Person” is it? But I can’t help it! I want to go back before I’ve even left (that makes sense)!

Where else can we stay?

Ok, so being that we are also DVC members, we have been pretty spoiled by our ability to stay at quite a few of the resorts at Walt Disney World (“WDW”), including:

Saratoga Springs Resort & Spa:

Saratoga Springs Villas * photo taken by GTCindy

Animal Kingdom Lodge (“AKL”), both Jambo House (main building) and Kidani Village (DVC villas):

AKL - Kidani Village - Savannah * photo taken by chezp

Bay Lake Tower (“BLT”) at Disney’s Contemporary Resort:

Bay Lake Tower - Bay Lake * photo taken by chezp

And even BoardWalk Villas:

BoardWalk Villas - BoardWalk/Crescent Lake * photo taken by mestitch

Like I said, totally spoiled! I know this, but we’ve been able to do so much with our membership, like stay at all of these resorts, because we’ve learned a few tricks! For example, with these couple of stays under our belts (or is that all those zebra domes?), we have realized that we can make the most of our trips if we do split-stays; i.e. if we change rooms/resorts at some point during our trip. (Although, on one occasion, we did this four times in two weeks! *Please do not attempt this on your next vacation; it is not recommended!* :-P ) However, as crazy as that trip was, it did, to say the least, allow us to experience a lot more “resort” than if we had chosen to do a more “traditional” reservation.

There’s only one hitch to this brilliant (if I say so myself!) idea: When staying on DVC points, I cannot book at another resort, except my home resort, until seven months out from my anticipated arrival date. Whhhhy? (Well, I know why, but I’m going for dramatic effect here!)

So, not only do I have to try and decide where we’re going to (hopefully) stay next time, but I have to wait to see if any of my choices are even viable options! This is where my issue (and subsequent topic for this week) lies, I need patience! Unfortunately, I don’t really have much of it. LOL! I mean, I know I’m a grown-up (well, by “definition,” as we’ve previously discussed! ;-) ) and, as such, I’m supposed to know that “good things come to those that wait,” right? Well, do the “preachers” of this zen-like thinking ever go to Disney World? I’m thinking no, because, there are just too many of us over on the PassPorter message boards who have either have a vacation ticker, some sort of countdown, create posts for their double, and then single, digit dances and/or actually have all of the above! So, I know your out there and that’s why I had to discuss the waiting; I knew you’d understand!

However, and I don’t mean to only direct my conversation to the DVC members, but, there is super, ginormous news that will make it seem like whatever-such-holiday-you-celebrate-that-requires-torturous-waiting-for-presents to any do-it-yourself planners out there: We can finally book our own vacations online! *Cue the chorus of angels singing!* OMGosh I’m so excited about this news (thanks for the reminder, Cheryl!) and yet so bummed, all at the same time, because I can’t “do” anything with it beyond August at this point (which is 7 months out from now).

Oh the humanity! (Yeah and if you think I’m bad now, you should see me when it’s time to book my dining reservations online! Ha ha ha, oh but you will!)

Anyway, the news of the online reservation system made me think about my planning that’s on hold, which then made me think about the prior resorts we’ve stayed at, and thus the sharing of my rambling thoughts — since that’s all I can do for the time being! Well, that and wonder: What’s worse? The waiting to book or the waiting for the actual trip?! I can’t really say for sure; however, being that I’m currently at the waiting-to-book stage, I’m totally voting for that! :-)

So, I guess I should get going; that DVC website isn’t going to “test” itself! And, while I’m at it — *channels my inner rock star* — I am going to attempt to try and find myself “a little patience…yeeeeah…just a little patience…ooooooo oooo yeeeah…” (Just be thankful you can’t actually hear me!)

So, until next time!