NJlauren
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Nov 6, 2014
That is perfect! Assuming you get the whole week! We get 2 days and 3 stupid half days
. We are missing Wednesday for a mother daughter trip, are you guys doing the Christmas party the 11th?
Post Pandemic Pipe Dreams: Our 2022-23 PTR (Completed)
- Thread starter TheOneWithTheTriplets
- Start date
. We are missing Wednesday for a mother daughter trip, are you guys doing the Christmas party the 11th?
TheOneWithTheTriplets
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Mar 27, 2018
In prior years, our district would close Tues for election day and Thurs/Fri for convention, leaving two school days.That is perfect! Assuming you get the whole week! We get 2 days and 3 stupid half days
Last year, the school district threw in teacher in-service days on the Monday and Wednesday so that the kids get the full week. So many kids took off anyway that the weird two day, non-consecutive week couldn't involve any real learning. I *love* that they made it a true week long fall break. We used to have a weird 3 day weekends each in October and March with those two in-services. The full week off is a much better use of the time.
We opted not to do the Christmas party. The cost is bonkers for five, the late night could very well mess up the actual birthday celebration day, and we wanted to enjoy the resort day. We booked the 6pm Hoop Dee Doo that night, which the girls will adore, too. Of course, we have a few weeks to change our mind and snap up those tickets, but I don't think we will. We'd rather be really well rested leading up to the birthday so that we can go full tilt for our one park day.
NJlauren
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Nov 6, 2014
They will love HDDR!!! My daughter loved it this summer! (I think they are about the same age, she is 8 in 3rd). But maybe yours are a year older.
We get some many crazy days, it’s so much to keep track of!
TheOneWithTheTriplets
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Mar 27, 2018
Yeah, mine loved it at 5 and asked about it during our August trip, but it wasn't on the agenda. They're going to be so excited for HDDR as a birthday eve meal.
Yes, they are 8 for a bit longer and starting 3rd grade
.
Woth2982
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Oct 11, 2008
Yay!!!!! We are going in January (rescheduled from last weekend) and I was soooo tempted to book Poly. I went with Contemporary, but am still hoping an AP discount pops up for Poly.
JenLovesMM
Mouseketeer
- Joined
- Dec 30, 2016
Congrats on getting the Poly!! Such a beautiful resort! Sounds like the girls will have a wonderful birthday celebration 
- Joined
- Mar 9, 2019
You are going to LOVE the poly!!! It’s such a pretty resort - and my kids loved the pool and slides!
So happy for you!
So happy for you!
TheOneWithTheTriplets
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Mar 27, 2018
Too Many Apps
Ok, I think I may officially be planning too many vacations at once! With the year of APs, it was going to be a bunch of trips but they all required one set of location-based knowledge and planning. Now, I’m researching activities in Grand Cayman, VRBOs in San Diego, and trying not to let slip to the kids that we’re cruising in 5 weeks. It’s too many things!! Even the cookies on my computer are confused: we thought you wanted to search Grand Cayman in April, when did Anaheim in August come into play?
As it stands, I have the DCL, WDW, and DL apps all together on my phone. I pop into WDW to check wait times, then DL to do the same and get a better feel of the layout, then DCL just to remind myself that vacation is right around the corner.
I think I’m going to keep this PTR open through our Disneyland trip next summer, since it was always supposed to represent our August 2022-2023 vacations. Maybe I’ll do mini TRs in here for the non-Disney portions of the year.
On the cruise front, I think I’ve ordered everything I need. We got the girls sparkly silver magic bands and then decals that have Mickey wearing a birthday hat in their favorite colors with a “9” in the middle. Birthday shirts have arrived, full face snorkel masks have shipped, and I have to check in with their friend’s mom about pirate night shirts she’s making. I also found clearance pirate costumes for $5 each, so we have lots of bandanas, eye masks, and the like to go around!
The girls just realized this week that their birthday falls on a weekend, which they got very excited about. I reminded them that, any time we’ve tried to throw a birthday party then, attendance was light because so many kids were on vacation with school closed. Plus, I reiterated that we just did a huge unbirthday party over the summer, so maybe we should keep it small this year. Normally we go all out for birthdays, so coming up with a reasonable excuse to stay low-key that wasn’t “We’ll be on vacation,” was challenging. They are on board with a small friends-and-family dinner as long as there is a pinata. (We’ve never had a pinata before; apparently, they’re deprived.) I’m thinking the small dinner the night before we fly is a perfect time to share the surprise, but I need ideas. Is there some way to get the pinata to be the thing that clues them in? I have to be very careful about any clues or hints because I don’t want them to think Disney World and then be disappointed by Disney Cruise, instead. I know they’re going to love the cruise, but it won’t be the first thing they think of if we put Mickey ears on something…
We booked our VRBO for Grand Cayman, a condo on Seven Mile Beach that includes hotel-like amenities, including a swim up bar and chairs on the beach. None of the actual hotels on the beach have reasonably priced 5 person rooms (is it so hard to put a sleeper sofa in with your two queens???) so VRBO was the best opportunity to be on the water without paying the cost of two rooms. Flights out are booked but SW won’t open the return schedule until later this month. I’ve also been mapping out where various excursions are on the island to see what we should do together on a day. While it’s not large, there are only a few roads that traverse the island, so it’ll take us a good 40 minutes to get to some of the Eastern attractions. We’ll probably load them into one day, rather than driving out a few times over the week.
I’m thinking we’ll VRBO the San Diego portion of our Cali trip, then stay at one of the cheap, walkable hotels for Disneyland. Thankfully, several of the cheap ones, including the Best Western that’s across the street, do have the sofabed in their two queen rooms. Also, it looks like Hubby’s corporate discount has much better perks for a one-way rental than we thought. With the per-mile fee he was quoting me, I was thinking we’d take the train from San Diego to Anaheim. But, it looks like we’ll be able to do the one-way rental without mileage costs, which would be awesome!! Then, we’ll have full control over getting ourselves out of San Diego and can just drop the car in Anaheim. I have managed to hold off on putting money down on anything just yet, but I’m tempted. My Disney World mentality is always to book early when the cheap room views are still there and then cancel or modify if you get a better rate. I understand that’s not the best strategy for traveling just about anywhere else, but it’s still there, deep in my heart. The only thing that’s really stopping me is looking at the checking account balance. Having just paid for the balance of the cruise, a $6k basement waterproofing project, and the Rocking Horse Ranch December deposit, our float is understandably low. I guess I can wait until 8 months out to book Cali lodgings. LOL
Oooo, other hive-mind question: do you think I should do a small grocery order for our Poly stay? With many resort food options not opening until later in the mornings, I think I’d like to have bagels and cream cheese enough for our two mornings on site, but that’s not coming close to a $35 delivery minimum. I can throw in a little fruit and a snack for our park day, but it still seems like too small a list to justify the Instacart order. What do you think?
Ok, I think I may officially be planning too many vacations at once! With the year of APs, it was going to be a bunch of trips but they all required one set of location-based knowledge and planning. Now, I’m researching activities in Grand Cayman, VRBOs in San Diego, and trying not to let slip to the kids that we’re cruising in 5 weeks. It’s too many things!! Even the cookies on my computer are confused: we thought you wanted to search Grand Cayman in April, when did Anaheim in August come into play?
As it stands, I have the DCL, WDW, and DL apps all together on my phone. I pop into WDW to check wait times, then DL to do the same and get a better feel of the layout, then DCL just to remind myself that vacation is right around the corner.
I think I’m going to keep this PTR open through our Disneyland trip next summer, since it was always supposed to represent our August 2022-2023 vacations. Maybe I’ll do mini TRs in here for the non-Disney portions of the year.
On the cruise front, I think I’ve ordered everything I need. We got the girls sparkly silver magic bands and then decals that have Mickey wearing a birthday hat in their favorite colors with a “9” in the middle. Birthday shirts have arrived, full face snorkel masks have shipped, and I have to check in with their friend’s mom about pirate night shirts she’s making. I also found clearance pirate costumes for $5 each, so we have lots of bandanas, eye masks, and the like to go around!
The girls just realized this week that their birthday falls on a weekend, which they got very excited about. I reminded them that, any time we’ve tried to throw a birthday party then, attendance was light because so many kids were on vacation with school closed. Plus, I reiterated that we just did a huge unbirthday party over the summer, so maybe we should keep it small this year. Normally we go all out for birthdays, so coming up with a reasonable excuse to stay low-key that wasn’t “We’ll be on vacation,” was challenging. They are on board with a small friends-and-family dinner as long as there is a pinata. (We’ve never had a pinata before; apparently, they’re deprived.) I’m thinking the small dinner the night before we fly is a perfect time to share the surprise, but I need ideas. Is there some way to get the pinata to be the thing that clues them in? I have to be very careful about any clues or hints because I don’t want them to think Disney World and then be disappointed by Disney Cruise, instead. I know they’re going to love the cruise, but it won’t be the first thing they think of if we put Mickey ears on something…
We booked our VRBO for Grand Cayman, a condo on Seven Mile Beach that includes hotel-like amenities, including a swim up bar and chairs on the beach. None of the actual hotels on the beach have reasonably priced 5 person rooms (is it so hard to put a sleeper sofa in with your two queens???) so VRBO was the best opportunity to be on the water without paying the cost of two rooms. Flights out are booked but SW won’t open the return schedule until later this month. I’ve also been mapping out where various excursions are on the island to see what we should do together on a day. While it’s not large, there are only a few roads that traverse the island, so it’ll take us a good 40 minutes to get to some of the Eastern attractions. We’ll probably load them into one day, rather than driving out a few times over the week.
I’m thinking we’ll VRBO the San Diego portion of our Cali trip, then stay at one of the cheap, walkable hotels for Disneyland. Thankfully, several of the cheap ones, including the Best Western that’s across the street, do have the sofabed in their two queen rooms. Also, it looks like Hubby’s corporate discount has much better perks for a one-way rental than we thought. With the per-mile fee he was quoting me, I was thinking we’d take the train from San Diego to Anaheim. But, it looks like we’ll be able to do the one-way rental without mileage costs, which would be awesome!! Then, we’ll have full control over getting ourselves out of San Diego and can just drop the car in Anaheim. I have managed to hold off on putting money down on anything just yet, but I’m tempted. My Disney World mentality is always to book early when the cheap room views are still there and then cancel or modify if you get a better rate. I understand that’s not the best strategy for traveling just about anywhere else, but it’s still there, deep in my heart. The only thing that’s really stopping me is looking at the checking account balance. Having just paid for the balance of the cruise, a $6k basement waterproofing project, and the Rocking Horse Ranch December deposit, our float is understandably low. I guess I can wait until 8 months out to book Cali lodgings. LOL
Oooo, other hive-mind question: do you think I should do a small grocery order for our Poly stay? With many resort food options not opening until later in the mornings, I think I’d like to have bagels and cream cheese enough for our two mornings on site, but that’s not coming close to a $35 delivery minimum. I can throw in a little fruit and a snack for our park day, but it still seems like too small a list to justify the Instacart order. What do you think?
TheOneWithTheTriplets
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Mar 27, 2018
Congrats on getting the Poly!! Such a beautiful resort! Sounds like the girls will have a wonderful birthday celebration
Thanks so much everyone!! I am still psyched about this! Since booking, I have seen one water view room pop through for over $800 a night, so my standard view grab is feeling pretty good right about now.
Woth2982
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Oct 11, 2008
Could you roll up a note and put a message in a little bottle and stick it in the piñata? Kind of a pirate theme? Or get some anchor confetti to fall out then have them open a gift with a shirt or something?
Hello! Just joining in! Im glad you had a great September trip! Such a bummer they didnt bring back APs but you have so many awesome trips planned out over the year!
So we did a two night stay at the Poly after the Wish as well (great minds think alike!) and I was actually against getting groceries but then hubby forget his whole toiletry bag on the Wish in the shower side of the bathroom and thus we were forced to do a amazon fresh order to get some of things we couldn't get from the gift shop. And truth be told, ordering a 24 pack of water and gatorades even just for the two of us was SO worth it! And actually we were short the minimum shopping fee by a bit but they had some normal things I would buy at home like a deodorant or a second hair gel for hubby that I added to the order to get to the min! But I definitely vote yes!
So we did a two night stay at the Poly after the Wish as well (great minds think alike!) and I was actually against getting groceries but then hubby forget his whole toiletry bag on the Wish in the shower side of the bathroom and thus we were forced to do a amazon fresh order to get some of things we couldn't get from the gift shop. And truth be told, ordering a 24 pack of water and gatorades even just for the two of us was SO worth it! And actually we were short the minimum shopping fee by a bit but they had some normal things I would buy at home like a deodorant or a second hair gel for hubby that I added to the order to get to the min! But I definitely vote yes!
TheOneWithTheTriplets
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Mar 27, 2018
That's a fun idea! As I've been thinking it out, I'm leaning away from the pinata being the reveal, because I've been to too many kid's parties where the thing never opens right and the adults have to rip it. Less fun that way. LOL
Oh dear, a whole toiletry bag!! I can see that warranting an order. I know the shop on the 2nd floor has some basic groceries, but my kids really like access to fresh fruit in the morning. Maybe we'll do the grocery order and then fill in with dry goods that can come home. That's a good idea to hit our minimum.
TheOneWithTheTriplets
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Mar 27, 2018
T-Minus 30 Days
Last night was online check-in for our cruise, and Disney's terrible IT lived up to its promise. You'll be shocked to hear that I had done my research, had the correct photos ready for upload and document numbers saved to copy over. The system flew through all of the personal info with multiple uploads, which you would think take the longest, but then hung up on a screen where all I had to do was check one box regarding kids club privileges. Seriously?? I managed to get through with an 11:15am PAT and BG 5, so I'm happy. I'm sure I'd have done better if I didn't have to do 3 sets of Oceaneer's Club screens; those kids, always dragging me down!!
I made Hubby get up to snag our Royal Gathering while I was doing check in, so that's booked. While I was in there, I also saw that our waitlist for main dining came through. Hooray! I had lots of strategies in mind to make late dining work, but it was going to be a challenge considering we eat dinner at 5:30 here normally.
Now comes the frustrating part of packing without getting caught. I only work three days a week, so Monday and Friday are my days to get things done. Right now, I'm packing into large, rubbermaid storage bins. Normally, the bins hold clothes the girls have sized out of that I need to go through, so the kids are used to seeing them loaded up in a corner of my bedroom. They don't realize that they're actually full of packing cubes! Because nothing is ever easy, I've been dealing with some medical issues that mean my Monday/Friday free time also has to be allocated to iron infusions and various tests to figure out why I'm anemic and feeling the effects. Fun times! At least this trip, I can pack all of the shorts and short sleeves I want without the kids needing them in rotation here.
I have our one-day hoppers purchased with an MK park reservation for the birthday, as well as a Crystal Palace brunch (last breakfast of the morning). I'm going to give the girls the choice of doing the meal or canceling for more park time. One the one hand, they love character meals and will love to see the Hundred Acre gang. On the other hand, rides! We'll decide either way once they know about the trip but before the cancellation fee comes into play.
The beginning of this school year has been rough for all of us, so I'm really excited to have such fun Fall Break plans to surprise the girls with. It may not be the trip we had in mind for going on two years, but it's going to be amazing anyway!
Last night was online check-in for our cruise, and Disney's terrible IT lived up to its promise. You'll be shocked to hear that I had done my research, had the correct photos ready for upload and document numbers saved to copy over. The system flew through all of the personal info with multiple uploads, which you would think take the longest, but then hung up on a screen where all I had to do was check one box regarding kids club privileges. Seriously?? I managed to get through with an 11:15am PAT and BG 5, so I'm happy. I'm sure I'd have done better if I didn't have to do 3 sets of Oceaneer's Club screens; those kids, always dragging me down!!
I made Hubby get up to snag our Royal Gathering while I was doing check in, so that's booked. While I was in there, I also saw that our waitlist for main dining came through. Hooray! I had lots of strategies in mind to make late dining work, but it was going to be a challenge considering we eat dinner at 5:30 here normally.
Now comes the frustrating part of packing without getting caught. I only work three days a week, so Monday and Friday are my days to get things done. Right now, I'm packing into large, rubbermaid storage bins. Normally, the bins hold clothes the girls have sized out of that I need to go through, so the kids are used to seeing them loaded up in a corner of my bedroom. They don't realize that they're actually full of packing cubes! Because nothing is ever easy, I've been dealing with some medical issues that mean my Monday/Friday free time also has to be allocated to iron infusions and various tests to figure out why I'm anemic and feeling the effects. Fun times! At least this trip, I can pack all of the shorts and short sleeves I want without the kids needing them in rotation here.
I have our one-day hoppers purchased with an MK park reservation for the birthday, as well as a Crystal Palace brunch (last breakfast of the morning). I'm going to give the girls the choice of doing the meal or canceling for more park time. One the one hand, they love character meals and will love to see the Hundred Acre gang. On the other hand, rides! We'll decide either way once they know about the trip but before the cancellation fee comes into play.
The beginning of this school year has been rough for all of us, so I'm really excited to have such fun Fall Break plans to surprise the girls with. It may not be the trip we had in mind for going on two years, but it's going to be amazing anyway!
NJlauren
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Nov 6, 2014
I hope you feel better soon!!
I am not sure why I didn’t realize this was a surprise!! How fun!!
I’ve never done a Disney cruise, my husband isn’t into the cruise idea but I’ve been selling it hard lately so I’m excited to hear about it!!
I am not sure why I didn’t realize this was a surprise!! How fun!!
I’ve never done a Disney cruise, my husband isn’t into the cruise idea but I’ve been selling it hard lately so I’m excited to hear about it!!
TheOneWithTheTriplets
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Mar 27, 2018
Thanks! The illness is most frustrating because my symptoms could be a ton of things, so docs are playing process off elimination and in the meantime I feel like crap. Boo!
Yeah, my girls love a good surprise, so I'm psyched. Hubby isn't into the idea of a cruise in general, but he's excited for a *Disney* cruise because he's heard such good things.
Yeah, that check in is bonkers. I'm glad I had detailed notes from the boards so I had all of my ducks in a row before I got started.
I'm not sure about Crystal Palace. With only one park day, we all might want to just scarf some QS and keep moving. Especially as it presumably won't be as unbearably hot as August was. That meal will be much tastier and the characters are great, but we need to decide if it's worth the time commitment.
TheOneWithTheTriplets
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Mar 27, 2018
It's Time!!
TheOneWithTheTriplets
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Mar 27, 2018
Yeah, I know surprises aren't for everyone. My girls love a surprise, so I knew they'd be thrilled.
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