Splurge-abration 2010!!! An August PTR **Many updates 7/28**

[Tosie]

Chapter 1: Allow me to introduce us

Welcome to my very first PTR!

As you can see from my post count/join date, I don’t post a lot. But I read A LOT. And I’ve been reading even more lately, especially trip reports, and now, PTRs.

So please get comfy in your favorite chair with your favorite libation and allow me to make some introductions.

As you may have already guessed, I am Tosie, (aka Tracy), the obsessive planner of the family. Every Dis family has one – you all know who you are. I am in the twilight of my early forties, recently unemployed, moderately creative, and my favorite attraction is Splash Mountain. I will be your host through this journey and I’m very happy to make your acquaintance!

Me and the kids, fresh from the rain, waiting to enjoy dinner at Boma

Next up is the man who introduced me to the Mouse in 1994 on our Honeymoon Part 2. (Our honeymoon was broken up into 2 trips – the first, right after our wedding, was a trip to Sanibel Island, then we followed it up 6 months later with My First Disney Trip.)

Dan, aka dh, (sorry, no funky nickname for him) is days away from his mid-forties, is a die hard gamer (think Dungeons and Dragons and musty basement-gamer), has a wicked sense of humor (that’s why I married him) and has an incredible gift with people. More on that later.

Dan works with forensic engineers (not the dead body kind – the natural and man-made disaster kind) and has recently made the decision to become a Catholic Deacon. His favorite ride was Pirates until the movies came out; now the Haunted Mansion is dearest to his heart. One of his favorite DisMoments was meeting Maleficent and The Evil Queen at MNSSHP 2006. He loves the Villains.

Having lunch at Cosmic Ray's

Disney Victim #1, aka ds, aka Pokey (his baby nickname) first visited WDW in person at age 3. (He also visited as a fetus in 1995). He recently turned 14 and graduated 8th grade with honors. This trip is his graduation/Confirmation gift.

He is incredibly smart (like, scary smart) and has inherited his father’s wicked sense of humor. Like many DisKids, he would love to become an Imagineer someday. To help facilitate this, he will be attending a technical high school and majoring in Architecture and Engineering. We are really excited for him (especially because our local public high school doesn’t have the best rep as far as academics go – they are more sports-oriented – oy.)

One of the best things about him (and there are many!) is that the boy is probably the kindest person I’ve ever met. How he came from two viciously sarcastic people like dh and I – I’ll never understand. He loves all the Mountains, but Everest and Splash are his favorites.

Pokey enjoys the zebra dome

Disney Victim #2, aka dd, aka Rosie, first visited WDW at age 3 as well (and also as a fetus in 2000). My baby girl is our artist, our whirling dervish, full of emotion and inherited our sarcasm and humor.

Did you ever hear the term “fruity laugh”? Well she’s got it. I never knew what that term meant until I heard it for myself. It’s the best sound ever.

She’s currently into American Girls, basketball, swimming and teaching herself how to make things. Last week she made about 20 pairs of earrings. Today she is finger knitting a scarf.

She is also amazingly smart and is usually dancing or cartwheeling around the house. She thinks she might like to be a kindergarten teacher someday, but dh and I both agree her ability to argue would serve her well as an attorney. (No offense to any attorneys but we are actually not pointing her in this direction as there are already plenty of you out there.)

She is a true Libra (like me, can’t make a solid decision to save her life) and is 9 years old.

Our Rosie has several food allergies so we have had the honor of meeting lots of Disney chefs! It is sooooo nice for me to know we can go on vacation and I know there will always be something safe AND delicious for her to eat. She loves her some Big Thunder Mountain and is very excited to FINALLY ride Space Mountain (it was closed last year – when she was finally tall enough).

Rosie and an old friend

Our little family is completed by dp (dear pets) Sasha (German Shepherd) and Chestnut (hamster). They have yet to travel to WDW.

We live in New Jersey – in the secret part that not many people know about. For real – when I tell people the name of our town they will always tell me they’ve never heard of it. It is stunningly beautiful here – we live on a mountain on 5 semi wooded acres. We currently have 1 set of twin fawns in our backyard daily. There was also a mama bear and 2 cubs here yesterday. I missed them but Rosie saw mama. She said Sasha could have ridden on her back.

Despite the nature- danger, I love it here. It’s very different from the part of NJ where I grew up and I would never go back.

We are DVC members but are not using our points this year. Those babies will be banked for a trip next Aug that will (hopefully) include DMIL and DFIL.

So that's my intro - I hope you will come back and join me for my next chapter!

Up next: Who did I think I was kidding?

 

[Tosie]

I can’t be the only one who has ever muttered the (ridiculous) words “I think we’ll take a break from Disney next year and go somewhere else.”

Can I?

Nope. Didn’t think so.

Foolishly, I did utter these blasphemous words. And at the time, I really meant them. I actually meant them up until February 2010. But I digress.

In August of 2009 we had a fantastical (fantastic + magical) stay at Kidani Village. It was our second trip “Home” (the first was May 2008 at BWV) and I can’t say enough about this resort.

We had an obnoxiously large 2 bedroom Villa (waaaaay more room than 4 people needed but ever so wonderful!). We took the Master and the kids each had their own bed in the 2nd bedroom, plus they each had their own bathroom, in theory. Only Pokey used “his” bathroom.

Kidani Master Bedroom

2nd Bedroom

Rosie loooooooved the shower (a room unto itself, really) and the Jacuzzi tub in the master bath so dh and I begrudgingly shared.


Kidani Master Bath

The one and only bad thing about our stay was we were very close to a smoking area so we didn’t spend too much time on our balconies. The smokers were ultra polite, smoked where they were supposed to and didn’t make a mess with butts on the ground. Plus we didn’t book a vacation to sit on the balcony anyway.

We were celebrating Rosie’s birthday early and she got this adorable towel birthday cake, and some other little goodies from our friends at Kidani.

Happy Birthday!

We also hired Gifts of a Lifetime to arrange a Scavenger Hunt for her – which was a blast! Dh was able to score us a table at the Wishes Dessert Party (there’s those people skillz in action) and we enjoyed a half day Beachcomber Shack at Typhoon Lagoon.

The Allergy Free Dessert at the Wishes Dessert Party

It was an incredible vacation and we knew we wanted to come back to Kidani with my ILs.

We decided before we left that we would skip WDW in 2010 and plan a big trip for 2011.

For vacation 2010 we thought about taking the kids to Sanibel or the Outer Banks. Sanibel was quickly nixed simply due to price (we wanted to stay at Casa Ybel, where we honeymooned) and travel (we would have to fly).

So I started researching the Outer Banks. I know lots of people who vacation there every year and love it. My kids have never really spent much time at the beach (despite living where we do – we can be at the shore in 90 minutes) so we thought it would be a great opportunity to have a real relaxing vacation. I even had some rental homes picked out – pet friendly, price friendly, and we could drive.

Then it happened.

Pokey and I were in the car and I said, “This trip is to celebrate your accomplishments – where would YOU really like to go?”

He was quiet for a minute, then simply said, “I would really just like to go back to Disney.”

And there it was.

Up next: Me vs. Me

 

[onescgirl]

You have a beautiful family, I can't wait to read more!

 

[Tosie]

You have a beautiful family, I can't wait to read more!

Thank you! I'm so happy you're joining me!

 

[Queenofallthings]

I'm in too

Great start, beautiful family!

We stayed at AKL last year and loved it , next August we're staying at Kidani for 2 weeks, this September ASMusic! I can't wait to hear all your plans!

 

[irishsharon]

I cant wait to read more ,love the pictures,beautiful family!

 

[magickingdom]

I'm in! Can't wait to read more!!

Kammie

 

[Tosie]

I HAVE READERS!!!!

Welcome and thank you for joining me!

And thank you for your kind words about my family.

Today dh and I are celebrating our 17th anniversary so we are heading out for a nice dinner soon.

I hope to have another installment up later tonight!

Buckle up - it WILL get bumpy!

 

[Tosie]

I'm in too

Great start, beautiful family!

We stayed at AKL last year and loved it , next August we're staying at Kidani for 2 weeks, this September ASMusic! I can't wait to hear all your plans!

2 weeks!!! I'm so jealous!! One of these days we'll hit the 2 week mark too - it's a personal goal of mine!

Thanks for joining me!

 

[Tosie]

I cant wait to read more ,love the pictures,beautiful family!

Welcome NY neighbor! Thanks for joining me! I love your screen name - I'm an irish girl myself!

 

[Tosie]

I’d like to just take a moment to tell you a little bit more about us, because it directly relates to my PTR title.

I mentioned earlier that dh works with forensic engineers and because of those previously mentioned people skills is quite good at what he does.

After being a SAHM for almost nine years, I was offered a position at my kids’ school as a Classroom Aide in a Preschool Handicapped class. I had a terrific year working with some really great kids, but, due to budget cuts (and our school budget being voted down) I was laid off. I still hold out hope that I will be invited back for this coming school year, but I know my chances are slim.

My point is that we are not rich; but we have food on the table and a roof over our heads. We don’t drive flashy cars, I don’t care much for jewelry/shoes/designer clothes, etc. I cut coupons, watch Netflix instead of going to the movies, you get the idea.

The one thing we enjoy is getting our Disney on. Several years ago we had the option of putting in a pool or buying DVC. We all chose DVC (and DVC actually worked out to be cheaper, even over the long haul.)

I wanted this trip to be extra special for Pokey. I had a budget in mind, but I also knew that there was some room for flexibility, plus a yearly bonus for dh somewhere down the road. Little did I know just how special it would end up.

Thus began my planning. And canceling. And replanning. And canceling. And replanning. And so on.

In February, I booked a MYW package at Wilderness Lodge (Pokey’s choice of accommodations) for a 9 night stay, standard view, with 5 day water park and more tickets.

Whoo hoo we’re goin’ to DISNEY!!!!!!

We’re going to Disney without a washer and dryer in our room.

Meh…no biggie…I’ve schlepped laundry to the ice cold laundry rooms before. I’ll start saving my quarters now.

We’re going to Disney with no full size fridge and microwave.

We can live without a microwave. We’ll buy less food (or at least more non-perishables) and make sure we put our water bottles in the baby fridge every night. We’ve done this pre-DVC. We can re-learn the old ways.

We all have to sleep in one room.

We’ll be sleeping. We won’t notice.

No fridge? Really?

Seriously, I am my own worst enemy sometimes. I was back on the Disney website…just for research purposes. Just to see. Just to price some villas out…you know, just to see.

We had been spoiled rotten during those DVC trips. Having a washer and dryer in the room meant we could really pack light (thus saving money on those pesky baggage fees).

5 days later I was on the phone with the automated lady, who was so very excited I had visited WDW 5 or more times in my lifetime. She transferred me to a wonderful CM who helped me switch my reservation to the Fort Wilderness Cabins, where they don’t have a washer and dryer BUT they DO have an adorable full kitchen!!!

I was so excited and relieved. It sounds sooooo stupid, but when you have a kid with food allergies, you tend to travel with a backup plan. In our case, the backup plan is actually backup food, just in case. So the kitchen meant a lot to me. It meant freedom.

I was excited to tell the kids – I knew once Pokey saw the Murphy bed he’d be happy because he really is too tall for a bunk bed. He’s just under 6 feet (towers over me) plus he’d have his own “room.”

Rosie was excited about the horses, the movies, the horses, the pool and the horses. She’s wanted to try riding for a long time now. Pokey was looking forward to the archery – something he’s wanted to try for a long time. Rosie wanted a printout of the resort map which she promptly hung on her wall.

Pokey wasn’t disappointed about moving from the WL – we’d stayed there before (Happy 40th Birthday to me).

Life was good!

Then I got a letter from the IRS.


Up next: The best laid plans…..

 

[Tosie]

Today I am making our countdown calendar. Even though my kids aren't little, it's still fun for us...adds to the excitement and anticipation. I will post pics later on.

When I last left you, I had just received some ominous mail.



Uh oh.

Turbo Tax done me wrong. With cheese.

We had hoped to use some of our refund to fund our vacation. It seemed the IRS disagreed and rather than giving some money TO us they wanted just a little bit more FROM us.

Sigh…I thought it might be time to consider downgrading. One thing I like less then not having a fridge or geographically convenient laundry

is debt.

I bet you can guess what I did next. It’s a good thing the WDW site is on my favorites list.

Now, one of the reasons we bought DVC was because Dan decided he was not a value kind of guy. We had a very nice stay at ASMovies in 2000 (Pokey’s First Trip) and another terrific time at Pop in 2006 (Happy 10th Birthday and Star Wars Weekend Pokey ). But the food court was his undoing. You are free to call him an elitist – he will heartily agree with you. Disney Value resorts are great – they just don’t meet our needs at this time.

On to the moderates.

I looooooooved Port Orleans Riverside during our 2005 stay (Happy 40th Birthday Dan and I’m so sorry you had to go on IV steroids when we returned).

We traveled with the ILs and had a blast – went to our first MNSSHP that year. Dan had a less than magical time. The October heat exacerbated a health condition he has and when we got home he really did need some serious medical attention. Rather than risk stirring up some unpleasant memories, I kept moving along with my research.

(** This was one of the very rare occasions we’ve seen less than magical CM behavior. Dh fell at the pool (went down without any warning) and the CM just looked at him. No, “are you OK?” or “Do you need some help?” Not cool. He was fine, but still. **)

We had also stayed at CBR (1994-Honeymoon Pt 2 and 2003-Our First Grand Gathering/Rosie’s First Trip) so I felt a little “been there, done that, let’s move on.”

Coronado Springs had some potential. ILs had stayed there and loved it. Beautiful buildings and grounds. Pool looked like fun. Lots of photo ops. Great reviews of Maya Grill and Pepper Market. Oooooohhh…bonus! No conventions scheduled for our dates!

Twenty days after my last chat with a CM I was back on the phone with Automated Annie ready to modify my existing reservation.

Zip a dee doo dah – we were modified and it shaved a nice little chunk o change from that Fort Wilderness stay.

I briefly mourned the loss of the kitchen, the Murphy bed, the horses and the archery.

BUT I was excited about eating at Maya Grill, exploring the grounds at Coronado, and possibly enjoying the thing they do at the pool in morning. I requested the Casitas, and all was well.


Up next: Sometimes, the best things in life are free.

 

[Queenofallthings]

That was a great update! I get the tax man only too well. He felt I should make a sizeable contribution to him this year and it almost cost us our Disney vacation, but through clever saving and giving up dinners out, stopping for coffee etc our trip is back on!!!!

 

[Tosie]

That was a great update! I get the tax man only too well. He felt I should make a sizeable contribution to him this year and it almost cost us our Disney vacation, but through clever saving and giving up dinners out, stopping for coffee etc our trip is back on!!!!

Queen, I'm glad you were able to save your vacation too. Like you, we did some financial tap dancing and have been able to pull together a really awesome trip (I hope).

I don't like the tax man. He needs some pixie dust.

 

[Queenofallthings]

Queen, I'm glad you were able to save your vacation too. Like you, we did some financial tap dancing and have been able to pull together a really awesome trip (I hope).

I don't like the tax man. He needs some pixie dust.

Yes he does, piles and piles of it....glad we're both able to make this work.

 

[Tosie]

Like many of you, I had been waiting (im)patiently for the free dining announcement to be made. I knew it was coming – I had faith. I also knew when it was supposed to be announced (or at least, when it had been announced in prior years).

Nothing. The buzz on the board got a little louder, and, I daresay, a little panicked.

But I still had faith. As a Disney Visa cardholder, I knew that when the announcement was made, I’d be one of the first to know.

As a member of the DisBoards, I should have realized that I need not look to Visa…I simply needed to keep reading the boards.

As usual, my brethren did not disappoint.

The morning of the official announcement, around 8:30 am, Eastern time, I secured free dining for our trip.

I saw the official announcement on the web later that day.


Up next: Give A Day, Guilt Yourself

 

[Tosie]

Now it was time to complete our Give A Day service. We had chosen Project Linus. It is an organization we were already familiar with as Rosie and I had made blankets for them with the Brownies. It was a project we could all do rather easily too. We each chose a fleece design we liked and ended up making an extra blanket to donate. Our vouchers were emailed to us and it was an experience we all enjoyed. I should have taken photos of us with our individual blanket, but didn’t even think of it at the time. As soon as I get them uploaded to photobucket I'll add them here. Project Linus is a great organization and I wouldn’t hesitate to volunteer for them again.

It was around this time I started having Mother Guilt.

I can hear some of you heaving that knowing sigh, and I’m sure more than a few of you are giving me the sympathy nod. When Mother Guilt kicks in, no one is safe.

As I mentioned in the beginning, my son is really the nicest person I know. The boy rarely asks for things, he works his butt off in school and is an all around great guy. I started feeling bad that we weren’t staying in the resort he had hoped to stay in. I actually was justifying this guilt by telling myself “he never asks for anything….this was the one thing he asked for….”

Please….I know. He’s going to Disney. There are people out there who can’t stay moderate and are very very happy to stay value, or offsite, or come for the day.

But this is my confession and I am well aware of how ridiculous it sounds so no flaming please. My kids are NOT snowflakes, in any way, shape or form, so it’s not like I even think they ONLY deserve the best. It was just Mother Guilt.

So I said to him, “I feel really bad that you wanted to stay at WL, and then I switched us, and got you excited about FW, and now I switched us again…”

The boy cut me off, looked me dead in the eye and said, “Mom, it’s DISNEY. I don’t care where we stay.”

See why I think he’s amazing? He’s sooooo much smarter than me.

But I switched us back to Fort Wilderness anyway. I had been socking some money away from my job and figured why not? I also changed our 5 day water park tickets to 9 day park hoppers with water parks. I guess I was having a moment.

But worry not. Nothing is set in stone.

Up next: Weather 101

 

[Tosie]

If you are from NJ or have spent any time here at all then you may be familiar with the following statement:

“If you don’t like the weather, just wait a few minutes and it will change.”

We get to enjoy every season and that’s one reason why I love NJ. In April and May we had days that felt like summer and days that felt like winter, in that order. And it was on one of those summer teaser days that I remembered.

It was hot in Florida.

In August.

Uh oh. Thinking about FW and traveling within the resort, I started getting nervous. I knew it was necessary to take a bus to get to other parts of the resort. I wasn’t sure how much walking would be required – and I became VERY concerned for dh.

Heat + Dan = problems/possibly involving ambulances and more IVs.

Having traveled in the summer before, we knew we needed to keep cold water handy, duck into the A/C as needed, leave a park to cool off in the pool, etc. But the expanse of FW was new to me; I didn’t want the vacation compromised by a health issue that could have been avoided.

I did some more reading; I considered renting a golf cart. I read more, figured I probably didn’t need a golf cart. I kept reading.

But it wasn’t sitting well with me.

Up next: Can a dream become a reality?

 

[Tosie]

June came. June was a majorly busy month. Here in NJ school doesn’t let out until mid-to-late June. I was working in a Preschool Handicapped class and we had lots to finish before the end of the year. Rosie had a class trip, Pokey had his 8th grade trip, his semi formal, his graduation ceremony and his confirmation. Although vacation wasn’t far from my thoughts, I had to focus on getting through the month and not forgetting anything along the way.

One night I was perusing the DisBoards and I was reading something about the Poly. Now I can’t even remember what it was, but it made me want to see more pictures of the Poly.

I have only been to the Poly once, and that was to eat at Kona in 2006. But I thought it was beautiful and that I would like to stay here someday. The kids agreed, but dh, having stayed there as a kid, wasn’t as enthused with the idea. I hadn’t given the Poly a second thought since that day.

Until that moment.

Up next: “So I was thinking….”

 

[Tosie]

Once I started thinking about staying at the Poly I couldn’t stop. I looked at hundreds of photos here on the Dis, on Tikiman’s site and on the WDW site. I read lots of Poly posts and devoured the info Tikiman has to offer. I imagined what it would be like to just hop on the monorail and zip off to the Magic Kingdom, zip back to the Poly for a dip in the pool, then back to MK for some night time fun. I liked the idea….A LOT.

Then I thought about Dan, and how easy it would be to navigate this resort compared to Fort Wilderness.

Sold.

I forgot about the fridge and the laundry and felt an incredible sense of relief.


The next day Dan and I were in the car and I hesitantly said to him, “So I was thinking…”

He immediately gave me the look. Some of you may be familiar with this look. The head barely turns but the eyes dart to the corners and the lips kind of disappear into a very thin line. The shoulders square and the chest puffs slightly as every muscle tenses in preparation for the coming blow.

“Okaaaaaaaay….Now what?” he said, with some trepidation.

And I simply explained my earth shattering revelation and how this would be so much easier on him.

He just chuckled and said, “Do whatever you think is right. But promise me one thing?”

I looked at him, smiling sheepishly.

“Can this be our last change?”


Up next: Welcome to the Club