I love credit cards so much! v2.0 (see first page for add'l details)

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I did book through AA. Swan recognized our gold elite status for a room upgrade but not sure on the room charges and the amount we receive in points. I’m going to start charging everything to the room now and then I’ll report back how it all shakes out 😊
I'm trying to dig up the stuff from our stays in June too, I meant to see how it worked and forgot to go back and look into it... They recognized my status for the room upgrade plus welcome points plus amenity for Platinum...
 


I keep saying they aren't worth it and Im not going and I somehow keep buying tickets. This year I think the new fireworks show kinda sold me and some updates to the attractions. SO really wants to do the Christmas party when we are there for our wedding, but I did not enjoy it last year. It was a zoo. The after hour events are so much better.
While I agree the parties have been more crowded, I can't avoid them! I usually go in early, get two special characters and a TS meal before it "starts," stock up on candy/cookies for the night, get all the special PhotoPass pictures, scope out prime viewing for the fireworks and parade, and generally take in the atmosphere. I really don't use it for the rides like DAH. Maybe HM because the makeup is cool if the wait is reasonable (I rush it after the 2nd parade). I will try to fit Space in with the special overlay because that was cool. Pirates was a complete waste of time at MNSSHP and VAH IMO. Still haven't bought my tickets for either. I don't want to part with all that GC money just yet :rotfl:
 
I keep saying they aren't worth it and Im not going and I somehow keep buying tickets. This year I think the new fireworks show kinda sold me and some updates to the attractions. SO really wants to do the Christmas party when we are there for our wedding, but I did not enjoy it last year. It was a zoo. The after hour events are so much better.

I don't regret doing MVMCP last year since it worked out perfectly with our schedule, but I don't know that it's something I'd pay to do again. I liked it, but I don't think we got a ton of value out of it. I'm of course going to do MNSSHP since we've never done it, but I have heard really good reviews of the stage shows, parade, and fireworks. We didn't think the Christmas fireworks were impressive at all and would have preferred to see HEA instead.
 
Just a quick mini review on Wild Africa Trek at Animal Kingdom. It was awesome!!!!

We had the 11:45am slot yesterday. Arrived at the park at 10 and jumped on FOP with a FP (my all time favorite ride). A quick stop at Creature Comforts for an iced coffee and then we walked back to the safari area. There’s a separate check in area between standby and FP queues for the trek.

Some basic check-in paperwork, they weighed DD to make sure she was over 45 pounds and then we got into our gear (similar to zip lining harnesses). They had bug spray and sunscreen available to apply before heading out (we put on bug spray but didn’t really have a problem). There are also free lockers to store anything you can’t take with you. They handed out straps to put on cell phones and sunglasses if you wanted to keep them on the Trek.

The first 1/3 of the Trek is walking. We started out through Gorilla Falls trail and then cut over on a dirt path into the safari. There were several stations where we clipped in to allow us to walk right up to the edge of a habitat (hippos and crocs) and a set of rope bridges over the crocs. It was so much fun.

After the Trek you board a special safari vehicle and do a modified version of the regular safari. We pulled off over to a small hut for a snack and more wildlife viewing. What they call a snack kept me full until well past dinner. Lots of good finger food prepared at Tusker House. Hummus, curried chicken salad, pita, dried meats, fruit, and a few other things. All delicious. They gave my daughter a kids meal with cheese cubes, a ham roll up, fruit, trail mix, carrots and dip and a few other kid friendly foods. All served with an amazing juice blend similar to what they have at Boma.

Up until this point it was crazy humid hot but in the shade. After lunch the skies opened up and the rain and wind were so strong they put the canvas flaps down on the hut. We waited it out a bit and then they handed out free ponchos and we boarded the truck. We drove through the safari to see some additional animals and then ended a bit further down than the regular safari trucks do. We had a short walk through the park to get back to the entrance where we picked up the items from our locker and they handed out a postcard with the link to the photos they took (included).

All in all it was one of the very best adventures we’ve had at Disney so far. We all absolutely loved it, heat, humidity, rain and all. It was worth every penny of the ~$444 we paid for the 3 of us. If anyone has any questions or would like more info just let me know.

292CC4A8-5306-426A-937D-39C410F8808A.jpegCC0ECB49-09E4-4422-9F63-0446F4E20B3C.jpegB6EACD3B-196D-4263-A85A-11BDE1FAA782.jpeg35B1FBA8-53E3-471B-8590-7FCFB3D658FD.jpeg
 


Just a quick mini review on Wild Africa Trek at Animal Kingdom. It was awesome!!!!

We had the 11:45am slot yesterday. Arrived at the park at 10 and jumped on FOP with a FP (my all time favorite ride). A quick stop at Creature Comforts for an iced coffee and then we walked back to the safari area. There’s a separate check in area between standby and FP queues for the trek.

Some basic check-in paperwork, they weighed DD to make sure she was over 45 pounds and then we got into our gear (similar to zip lining harnesses). They had bug spray and sunscreen available to apply before heading out (we put on bug spray but didn’t really have a problem). There are also free lockers to store anything you can’t take with you. They handed out straps to put on cell phones and sunglasses if you wanted to keep them on the Trek.

The first 1/3 of the Trek is walking. We started out through Gorilla Falls trail and then cut over on a dirt path into the safari. There were several stations where we clipped in to allow us to walk right up to the edge of a habitat (hippos and crocs) and a set of rope bridges over the crocs. It was so much fun.

After the Trek you board a special safari vehicle and do a modified version of the regular safari. We pulled off over to a small hut for a snack and more wildlife viewing. What they call a snack kept me full until well past dinner. Lots of good finger food prepared at Tusker House. Hummus, curried chicken salad, pita, dried meats, fruit, and a few other things. All delicious. They gave my daughter a kids meal with cheese cubes, a ham roll up, fruit, trail mix, carrots and dip and a few other kid friendly foods. All served with an amazing juice blend similar to what they have at Boma.

Up until this point it was crazy humid hot but in the shade. After lunch the skies opened up and the rain and wind were so strong they put the canvas flaps down on the hut. We waited it out a bit and then they handed out free ponchos and we boarded the truck. We drove through the safari to see some additional animals and then ended a bit further down than the regular safari trucks do. We had a short walk through the park to get back to the entrance where we picked up the items from our locker and they handed out a postcard with the link to the photos they took (included).

All in all it was one of the very best adventures we’ve had at Disney so far. We all absolutely loved it, heat, humidity, rain and all. It was worth every penny of the ~$444 we paid for the 3 of us. If anyone has any questions or would like more info just let me know.

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So glad to hear you had a great time! I cancelled mine in June because I felt like I was melting on regular park days in DHS and Epcot. LOL Hoping to do it sometime in a cooler month. Your description and pics make it sound even more exciting! Thanks for sharing :)
 
June was getting to me this year and I swore off summer trips for the 3rd year in a row. Lets see if I cave and book a 4th in 2020 😂

We went in late Sept and late Oct last year. Both were plenty hot and humid (don’t think we had any rain though). I knew Aug would be bad but we really wanted to squeeze in 1 last trip out of our APs before school. It is definitely toasty but honestly it’s not much different than last September for us. The humidity is probably a bit stronger. After the major storm yesterday it cooled off significantly and we had a nice evening walking around DS. We’ll see what the rest of the week brings.

My favorite weather time in the parks so far has been the days before Thanksgiving. That was wonderful weather.
 
tarts," stock up on candy/cookies

I think the cookies at the Christmas party are so gross. It is also dissapointing they went to Mars only candy. Hershey is way better.

Pirates was a complete waste of time at MNSSHP and VAH IMO.

I agree. I did it both times and it was a waste. at VAH we were passing by the live actor and he was just sanding still I guess to act as an animatronic and then has we were passing he just said something to make people jump. it was weird.
 
Soooo I found a lotion that I really like and have been trying to get more. I originally got it in a Walmart box as a sample but they don't carry it anymore. Turns out it is a UK brand and I cant find anywhere over here that sells it... so obviously I should plan a trip ASAP to stock up, right?
Funnily enough...I'm trying to figure out where to go in Europe next year and I'm seriously considering Italy because I want a particular kind of jam....lol.
 
We went in late Sept and late Oct last year. Both were plenty hot and humid (don’t think we had any rain though). I knew Aug would be bad but we really wanted to squeeze in 1 last trip out of our APs before school. It is definitely toasty but honestly it’s not much different than last September for us. The humidity is probably a bit stronger. After the major storm yesterday it cooled off significantly and we had a nice evening walking around DS. We’ll see what the rest of the week brings.

My favorite weather time in the parks so far has been the days before Thanksgiving. That was wonderful weather.
Understandable! I keep adding on summer trips because I want to see the new things that open (Pandora, TSL, DAH, etc) even though I am visiting a few months later. :sad2: Those darn APs! I agree November is nice. October can still heat up pretty badly and December can get frigid!
 
I think the cookies at the Christmas party are so gross. It is also dissapointing they went to Mars only candy. Hershey is way better.

I agree. I did it both times and it was a waste. at VAH we were passing by the live actor and he was just sanding still I guess to act as an animatronic and then has we were passing he just said something to make people jump. it was weird.
My favorite cookies are the sugar cookies with the sugar crystals (snowmen, Santa, Mickey Santa, etc in the past few years) and the ginger molasses cookies. Being individually wrapped also made the germaphobe in me happy last year 😂 I also love Hershey's and think some more variety would be nice, but I also enjoy Snickers, Milky Ways, M&Ms, Twix, etc. Disney can keep the gummy Life Savers👍

I really don't know how they justify that as an overlay 🤷‍♂️
 
Im trying to set up a budget for our 2020 vacations. We didn't budget this year and I think we went too crazy. I have totaled everything up yet and im not sure I want to lol. I was originally thinking 12,000 for four week long vacations and maybe a few long weekend trips. But now I do not think that will be enough. We have our ABD (5,000) two annual passes (2,000ish) Rome is covered except for excursions and food (1500?I could probably get this cheaper but I wanted to rent a fiat and have a driver for the day and that was like $300 lol) our trip with SO's family to their lakehouse (Car rental $500, Boat rental $1000 and a nice meal to treat his family $300 (we spent this this year and I had a heart attack because I was not expecting that much maybe like $150), plus helping out with the occasional groceries and taking his niece out for a day another $200) (I could cut the boat rental, but thats a lot of fun) DVC dues (500) That leaves $1000 left over for a weeklong Disney Trip and long weekends. Yuck, im not sure if I want to up the budget or start cutting things. I think considering I mostly use points for flights and hotels 12 grand on incidentals is ridiculous, but idk maybe im out of touch. My family traveled maybe once a year and my SO only went to the lake house for a week and his family only continues to do that so 12,000 seems like a lot, but maybe it isn't, idk? any thoughts?
 
June was getting to me this year and I swore off summer trips for the 3rd year in a row. Lets see if I cave and book a 4th in 2020 😂
Never been in June. We’ve only ever gone in March, September and December. And we’ve gone every sept for 10 years and then didn’t for 2018 and now 2019. This trip in aug is far more stormy and humid. Heat is similar and we don’t mind that. The lightning just keeps shutting down so much and shifts all the crowds, which are the highest we’ve ever had as well.
 
1 night AAA rate, 1 night on AA miles (2 separate reservations): AA rate $186 before taxes, no room charges, earned 4790 points = 1860 base, 930 elite, 2000 for current Marriott promotion (1st weekend paid night gets 2k points)

3 nights AAA miles, same reservation, charged 1 visit to Picabu, 1 visit to Java Bar, 1 visit to Il Mulino to room: earned 1198 points = 132 base, 66 elite, 1000 extra (maybe from skipping housekeeping 2 days?)... This one confuses me.

Java Bar $10 plus 65 cents tax, Il Mulino $98.04 including tip/TIW card (so ~$76 pre tax/tip), Picabu $13.26 (I know they have a service charge)

ETA: Nope, the 2k was a separate line in my activity for the promotion. Maybe this is for my Platinum amenity, I took the 1k points every time so that first one was technically two reservations and the 3 nights was one reservation? Then I'm missing points for skipping housekeeping, which would make sense as those have never ever posted automatically for me, even the time I stopped at the desk and turned in the vouchers they used to put under your door.

The 10x points is for all charges excluding taxes/fees, right? Plus 50% bonus? So I have no idea where the 132 base points came from on that stay.

Now I think I'm more confused :confused:
 
I've been putting off buying my prescription meds from my online pharmacy service because it was depressingly expensive - what cost me $48 last year for a 90 day supply became $2,560 for the same stuff. 😕 I don't know if it was because our insurance company changed at the start of 2019, or if it was because we decided to go with a HSA plan, or what. But I spent an hour on the phone yesterday with the pharmacy company to clarify the costs. I decided to check out the price at Walgreens since that is the retail pharmacy partner to this online pharmacy before ordering online. It ended up costing me $95 for a 90 day supply through Walgreens! What the everlasting *%$!? That just boggles my mind. That's a savings of close to $5,000 just on these meds for the remainder of the year. Maybe we won't meet our high deductible this year after all.

To make this churning related, I put the $95 on DH's new Hilton Biz MSR. 😀
 
Anyone here attending the upcoming Halloween parties?
Going Oct 10 on my solo trip. Thinking about adding a dessert party to get a good spot for the new fireworks. I've been once before 2015 maybe? For some reason they had the first party in med-Sept during my trip, and it was so crowded there were a lot of complaints. I'm hoping this year will be a little better, at least I have an idea what to expect.
 
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