Roll Out Those Lazy, Hazy, Crazy Days of Summer: an August Trip Report (Complete!)

[Gina-Gina-Bo-Bina]

Yep...much older DD. 23 to be exact. She also was a dancer in her younger days. Equally as accomplished as her younger sister has become but in a totally different style.

It's amazing that by the time we reach our destination I still have a tongue attached from all the biting I do.

I envy your daughters' dancing abilities. I, personally, have two left feet and absolutely no rhythm . The only time I give in to the urge to boogie is in my kitchen, when only my boys are there to witness my ineptitude. 'Cause they will love me regardless .

Your last comment made me absolutely LOL. Thanks for my morning chuckle!!! I have visions of a road trip to Orlando turning out like the Griswold's pilgrimage to Wally World , so that's probably one of the reasons we fly vs. drive.

 

[dancin Disney style]

So why is it that after you post you zero in on spelling errors that somehow you missed before? I really need to type a little slower and not rely on spell check....cause it doesn't work. Actually, thanks to spell check I'm a terrible speller now....not that it was my strongest suit in my pre spell check days but hey, I've gotta' lay the blame somewhere. DH is unavailable right now.

 

[EastYorkDisneyFan]

But all that wonderful food aside, let’s be honest…..we hadn’t even made it to our favourite part of the meal yet. The best was yet to come. I seriously would make the trip from Canada all the way to Orlando just for this dessert…………its THAT good. And Jake and I were giddy when it arrived in all its sweet and chocolately splendour:



Reeses Peanut Butter Pie . Heaven on a plate . Go ahead, admire and drool.

Just found this TR tonight and catching up. The only thing I can say well it looks good Can it out do Billy Minor pie from the Keg?

 

[Gina-Gina-Bo-Bina]

Just found this TR tonight and catching up. The only thing I can say well it looks good Can it out do Billy Minor pie from the Keg?

Hmmmmmm..........I have no idea! No Kegs in our neck of the woods, so its not a restaurant I've ever tried. But if they might have pie like TGI Fridays, then I will totally have to seek one out!!!!

 

[dancin Disney style]

Billy Miner pie is a whipped, jamocha almond ice cream pie. It is to die for.....I would skip the meal all together for the pie. They bring you an ENORMOUS slice that you think you will never finish but you do and still want more. I think they put crack in it or something.

Since I love all things peanut butter and chocolate I would imagine that a Reese's pie would be pretty amazing. I'm going to tuck that one away in my memory banks.

 

[Gina-Gina-Bo-Bina]

Billy Miner pie is a whipped, jamocha almond ice cream pie. It is to die for.....I would skip the meal all together for the pie. They bring you an ENORMOUS slice that you think you will never finish but you do and still want more. I think they put crack in it or something.

I wonder where our nearest Keg is? There must be a few in the GTA..... :.

 

[Gina-Gina-Bo-Bina]

Well, I received some interesting information today .

On Friday afternoon, I received confirmation that our purchase of the two Vistana units had settled on the resort level, and we were "official" owners . We had registered deeds in hand and were ready to go ahead and book for 2014.

Today on my lunch hour, I called Owner Services and chatted with a lovely young lady who went ahead and booked us (tentatively, of course) for the last two weeks of August. She was super helpful and made an awesome impression, I must say . At the end of the call, she grew kind of serious and said "before I let you go, there's something else important that i need to talk to you about".

Oh oh.

When I said to her..."this sounds serious! ", she laughed and said "well it is, but in a good way". Then she proceeded to tell me that we still had both 2013 weeks that were not used by the previous owners, and that were ours to use (or bank with an exchange company). She wanted to know if she could book me in for another two weeks before the end of this year.

Um, hello, let me pick myself up off the floor.

So I texted Steve at work with the update, and (jokingly) said "hey, you want to spend Christmas in Orlando?".

I got one word back...."YES".

I said...."um, I was kidding".

And I got back "I'm not".

Lord almighty.

I know it will never come together (I am sure we'll never be able to co-ordinate vacation time, availability at the Vistana during the two busiest weeks of the year, reasonably priced flights, etc. at this late date) but OMG...isn't it fun to think about?

And either way, we'll have a couple of extra weeks to use between now and June 2015 (assuming we deposit them with an exchange co.). Or maybe we will rent one and make a little money along the way.

I will keep ya'll posted .

 

[dancin Disney style]

Well isn't that great news!!!!!! Gotta' love that kind of surprise.

I'm starting to feel like I will never vacation again with all my business changes So of course, all I do is think about a trip.

 

[Lynne G]

HaHa! Potential 2 times to meet! Crazy to spend another holiday in Orlando? I don't think so. For one, flights actually went down not that long ago, so I have some SW credits to use for our August trip. You'd only need a rental car, and so far, the KLM rate has not been too bad.

Stranger things have happened! See, I told you, planning and scheming is half the fun and since you have Water Park APs, why not use them some more this year?

Congrats on being offical timeshare owners! Great news!

Kids are excited about our upcoming trip. I am too, though the idea of crowds is something I am not looking forward to. However, the thought of enjoying DC on Christmas is something I am definitely looking forward to.

 

[Mrs Doubtfire]

Wow that is great news

It seems like you might be going sooner rather than later

 

[Gina-Gina-Bo-Bina]

Well isn't that great news!!!!!! Gotta' love that kind of surprise.

I'm starting to feel like I will never vacation again with all my business changes So of course, all I do is think about a trip.

HaHa! Potential 2 times to meet! Crazy to spend another holiday in Orlando? I don't think so. For one, flights actually went down not that long ago, so I have some SW credits to use for our August trip. You'd only need a rental car, and so far, the KLM rate has not been too bad.

Stranger things have happened! See, I told you, planning and scheming is half the fun and since you have Water Park APs, why not use them some more this year?

Congrats on being offical timeshare owners! Great news!

Kids are excited about our upcoming trip. I am too, though the idea of crowds is something I am not looking forward to. However, the thought of enjoying DC on Christmas is something I am definitely looking forward to.

Wow that is great news

It seems like you might be going sooner rather than later

Thanks ladies .

I called Sheraton Owner Services, and there's no availability for either Christmas week (as I kind of expected). So a hastily-planned December trip is a no-go.

We will probably deposit the weeks and use them at a later date. This will be a lesson in patience for me, lol! Lord knows I need it!

 

[disneybound08]

I wonder where our nearest Keg is? There must be a few in the GTA..... :.

There is a Keg downtown in Kingston, I'm guessing that might be closest to your location given that you flew out of Syracuse, or there are two in Ottawa

 

[greenclan67]

HaHa! Potential 2 times to meet! Crazy to spend another holiday in Orlando? I don't think so. For one, flights actually went down not that long ago, so I have some SW credits to use for our August trip. You'd only need a rental car, and so far, the KLM rate has not been too bad.

Stranger things have happened! See, I told you, planning and scheming is half the fun and since you have Water Park APs, why not use them some more this year?

Congrats on being offical timeshare owners! Great news!

Kids are excited about our upcoming trip. I am too, though the idea of crowds is something I am not looking forward to. However, the thought of enjoying DC on Christmas is something I am definitely looking forward to.

We are going to DC Xmas day as well!!! Very much looking forward to it! Gina maybe you can book my friends in at Orange Lake with us and then you could take their 2 week ressie at Sheraton! LOL Only they are going the 14th to 28th of Dec.

 

[Gina-Gina-Bo-Bina]

We are going to DC Xmas day as well!!! Very much looking forward to it! Gina maybe you can book my friends in at Orange Lake with us and then you could take their 2 week ressie at Sheraton! LOL Only they are going the 14th to 28th of Dec.

Now, don't tempt me .

As I suspected, there was no way we could make a Christmas trip work at this short notice. Getting confirmed time off for the guys was an issue, reasonably priced flights were an issue, and SVR had no remaining availability. Not to mention it would have broken my mothers heart to have us away again this year......that was really, really hard for her last Christmas.

So, yesterday I opened an account with Interval International, and after a quick call to Sheraton Owner Services we have successfully deposited both 2013 weeks. We can now trade them anytime up to June 30th, 2015 . We have the option of using them virtually anywhere, but I am pretty sure we will end up with more vacation weeks at the Vistana somewhere along the way. I think it is going to take quite a few trips before the guys get sick of going there!

I am seriously considering a Halloween-inspired trip next October, when Jake would be on reading week at College. We would LOVE to do Halloween Horror nights at Universal, MNSSHP at MK, Spooktacular at SeaWorld, and Howl-o-Scream at Busch Gardens, and its always been a time period that we couldn't travel in before. Since we have done a Christmas trip once already, we are kind of leaning toward trying something new and different. So we shall see!!

 

[pigletto]

Now, don't tempt me .

As I suspected, there was no way we could make a Christmas trip work at this short notice. Getting confirmed time off for the guys was an issue, reasonably priced flights were an issue, and SVR had no remaining availability. Not to mention it would have broken my mothers heart to have us away again this year......that was really, really hard for her last Christmas.

So, yesterday I opened an account with Interval International, and after a quick call to Sheraton Owner Services we have successfully deposited both 2013 weeks. We can now trade them anytime up to June 30th, 2015 . We have the option of using them virtually anywhere, but I am pretty sure we will end up with more vacation weeks at the Vistana somewhere along the way. I think it is going to take quite a few trips before the guys get sick of going there!

I am seriously considering a Halloween-inspired trip next October, when Jake would be on reading week at College. We would LOVE to do Halloween Horror nights at Universal, MNSSHP at MK, Spooktacular at SeaWorld, and Howl-o-Scream at Busch Gardens, and its always been a time period that we couldn't travel in before. Since we have done a Christmas trip once already, we are kind of leaning toward trying something new and different. So we shall see!!

And then we could plan an October 2014 trip at the same time.

 

[Gina-Gina-Bo-Bina]

And then we could plan an October 2014 trip at the same time.

Now THAT would be absolutely awesome!!!

I had a thought earlier today.....if we are there for two weeks in August, then do an October vacation, that would mean we're headed back just 6 weeks after we come home from our longest getaway yet. Does that make me sound a little...nutty?

Our other (potentially viable) option is the week before Christmas.....the 13th to the 20th of December '14. I think that the colleges get out the week before the elementary and secondary school kids, so that week would also then be a possibility. We would still be home for the actual holiday, would would please my mom. And we'd have more time between trips, which is a good thing.

Thank goodness I have a while to ponder it all. I don't know which is worse.....having too few options, or too many options!

 

[pigletto]

Now THAT would be absolutely awesome!!!

I had a thought earlier today.....if we are there for two weeks in August, then do an October vacation, that would mean we're headed back just 6 weeks after we come home from our longest getaway yet. Does that make me sound a little...nutty?

Our other (potentially viable) option is the week before Christmas.....the 13th to the 20th of December '14. I think that the colleges get out the week before the elementary and secondary school kids, so that week would also then be a possibility. We would still be home for the actual holiday, would would please my mom. And we'd have more time between trips, which is a good thing.

Thank goodness I have a while to ponder it all. I don't know which is worse.....having too few options, or too many options!

I know Dh's program has the schedule listed for school breaks already. They are on the college website for 2014/2015. You should be able to see the exam dates and you are safe to book the evening of the last day of exams. At least that's what we've done for the last 3 years.. including this upcoming trip. He'll write his last exam ever on the 13th of December and we leave that night. 3.5 years.. talk about a celebration!!!!. With the reading week in October, the one in February and the week before, during and after Christmas you'll find you have several good weeks to pick from. They are set weeks, but with the exception of Christmas, they are low crowd weeks.
And Jake should be done by the last week of April so you'll have May and June before camp. DH always went straight from work to co-op so we haven't had as much time, but there was usually a week in between.

 

[Gina-Gina-Bo-Bina]

I know Dh's program has the schedule listed for school breaks already. They are on the college website for 2014/2015. You should be able to see the exam dates and you are safe to book the evening of the last day of exams. At least that's what we've done for the last 3 years.. including this upcoming trip. He'll write his last exam ever on the 13th of December and we leave that night. 3.5 years.. talk about a celebration!!!!. With the reading week in October, the one in February and the week before, during and after Christmas you'll find you have several good weeks to pick from. They are set weeks, but with the exception of Christmas, they are low crowd weeks.
And Jake should be done by the last week of April so you'll have May and June before camp. DH always went straight from work to co-op so we haven't had as much time, but there was usually a week in between.

Its going to be so nice to have the added flexibility . I am very much looking forward to enjoying Orlando at different times of the year!

So when you guys leave for your Christmas trip, is your DH done as in "done, done" (fully completed his program)? Or just done that semester? Three and a half years is a long haul. I can only imagine how much he must enjoy your getaways when he's been working hard on studying and exams right up until departure day. Makes Disney even more magical!

 

[pigletto]

Its going to be so nice to have the added flexibility . I am very much looking forward to enjoying Orlando at different times of the year!

So when you guys leave for your Christmas trip, is your DH done as in "done, done" (fully completed his program)? Or just done that semester? Three and a half years is a long haul. I can only imagine how much he must enjoy your getaways when he's been working hard on studying and exams right up until departure day. Makes Disney even more magical!

Done Done Done!!!!!!!!!!!
He's working on a project now that is literally keeping him awake at night. It's huge and he's a perfectionist. Then it's the last push until exams. This trip will be extra special.

 

[Gina-Gina-Bo-Bina]

Done Done Done!!!!!!!!!!!
He's working on a project now that is literally keeping him awake at night. It's huge and he's a perfectionist. Then it's the last push until exams. This trip will be extra special.

Now if that doesn't deserve a Disney "I'm Celebrating!" button, nothin' does!