We haven't planned any trips, since our wonderful cruise and WDW trip in June. This summer, we are taking a two-week plus tour of China, which we've been planning for a long time, and I could not figure out how we could afford a Disney trip, too. But, my 50th birthday is coming up this month, and all I want is to go to Disney. I can't be there on my actual birthday, the logistics just don't work out, and I need to save my vacation for the trip this summer, but was there any way to squeeze in a few days? My husband and children's AP's don't expire till March, so I would be the only one needing a pass. We have DVC points, to cover the hotel. My kids get two days off from school, on either side of the President's Day weekend, and I get a day off....Hmmm... Weeks ago, I started checking air fares. Too darn high. I called DVC last week, and virtually every studio on premises was booked, for almost the entire weekend-Saturday and Sunday nights were completely booked, and even the moderates, with an AP discount were too high, in light of our very minimal budget. Today, for some reason, I checked Southwest again. The fares for the dates I wanted had gone down. Since yesterday. There were several non-stop flights, at decent times, for $99. I spoke to my husband, and we figured that we just might be able to swing this, if we watch our spending for the next couple of months. This afternoon, I called DVC again, fully prepared not to be able to get all the nights, and willing to resort hop, maybe more than once. For Friday night, I could get a studio at Wilderness Lodge. Great, I love the Wilderness Lodge, but had never been able to get a villa reservation. As expected, Saturday and Sunday are fully booked, even at SS and OKW. Monday night, I could get a studio at Animal Kingdom Lodge. Great, I love that hotel, too. I asked to be wait listed for the other two nights, then went to Plan B. I got on the Southwest website, and booked our flights, after deciding that my kids could miss one day of school to get the much better fares home on Tuesday, and get three full days of park time. I checked the passholder's website, again, and decided that, worst case, we could do two nights at Pop Century. Had trouble booking on the website, so I called the reservation number, and got the two nights there, with an AP discount (which is not much of a discount on that popular weekend). We were also prepared not to get many, if any, dining reservations, one month out, but what the heck, I'm on a roll. I asked for Cape May Buffet for Sunday night (my kids can practically eat their weight in steamed clams), and Boma for Monday night, and got ressies for both. I have to call DVC back, to keep checking for cancellations on those two nights, and if I can get a studio on points, I'll cancel Pop Century. We really won't have to pack that many clothes, so we can deal with changing hotels twice, if we have to. My kids are so happy, because none of us expected to manage a winter trip this year. I'm perfectly fine with having my birthday celebration, almost a month late.

Yay!!!!! :) How exciting. It seems like everything is working in your favor!:D

Yay!

This summer, we are taking a two-week plus tour of China, which we've been planning for a long time, and I could not figure out how we could afford a Disney trip, too.
We went to WDW & China within a few months of each other in 2002 & have shots of my sister & I, posing the same way with the same camera position, in front of the Temple of Heaven in both Beijing & Epcot... quite awesome.

Yay!


We went to WDW & China within a few months of each other in 2002 & have shots of my sister & I, posing the same way with the same camera position, in front of the Temple of Heaven in both Beijing & Epcot... quite awesome.

We've actually been to Beijing twice, on each of our adoption trips, and to Guangzhou, to get the kids' visas. This time, we will, finally, get to Xi'an, to see the Terra Cotta warriers, to Guilin, and we will also go back to my kids' home provinces, which are next to each other, this time, taking van trips to their hometowns (where the orphanages are), not just the provincial capitals. It's going to be a lot of planes, trains, and automobiles. There are a number of agencies that plan these types of trips, and we'll be going with a group, for part of the tour, and we'll be on our own for a few days, with guides. My older daughter is really excited; she was not quite four when we went back to adopt her sister, and she is old enough to really remember it now.

We've actually been to Beijing twice, on each of our adoption trips, and to Guangzhou, to get the kids' visas. This time, we will, finally, get to Xi'an, to see the Terra Cotta warriers, to Guilin, and we will also go back to my kids' home provinces, which are next to each other, this time, taking van trips to their hometowns (where the orphanages are), not just the provincial capitals. It's going to be a lot of planes, trains, and automobiles. There are a number of agencies that plan these types of trips, and we'll be going with a group, for part of the tour, and we'll be on our own for a few days, with guides. My older daughter is really excited; she was not quite four when we went back to adopt her sister, and she is old enough to really remember it now.
We went with a travel agency for the first two weeks to Beijing, Xi'an, & Shanghai, & then on our own to my grandparents' villages (near Guangzhou) & Hong Kong (my favorite part of the trip). The Terra Cotta Warriors were sort of overrated for me at the time, but in retrospect I appreciate it much more. One of my more vivid memories was being miserably sweaty & covered in dust. We were there in mid-June & it was unbearably hot, but so worth it. Especially after my grandmother died, I'm so grateful I was able to see where she grew up. We didn't take any trains, but a few small airplanes & a boat or two!

I was 14 when we went & my sister was 10 (turned 11 on our trip), & had I not kept a journal during all the travels, I'm not so sure I would remember all of it because there's just SO much history to take in & SO many different places. It was also a nice place to start taking advantage of our first digital camera.

It'll be interesting to see all the changes since the games... we've been talking about going back in the next few years, once my 1 & 3 y/o cousins get older since my other cousins (who are now 18 & 15) didn't come with us either the last time.

We were also in China, in June 2002, to adopt our second child, who is from Jiangxi Province, so I am prepared for the heat. Our first trip was in August 1999. My younger daughter was only eight months old, and we exited through Beijing, so she does not remember being there, for a couple of days. It was a miserable flight home, and I'm finally ready to take another really long plane trip.

My best friend just adopted a son from Guangzhou a year ago. He had a bilateral clef lip and palate, which has now been repaired (at least the 1st of many surgeries he wll need). He is so darn cute!

Way to go on swinging the weekend. ANY time in WDW is worth the effort--well, maybe except 4th of July--LOL!

Have a great trip!

We got back yesterday, and really enjoyed the great weather. This was a nice trip, at a relaxed pace. Our flight on Friday was not till 12:30 (the fares were cheaper than the flight around 9:00), so we were not rushed in the morning. Got to Orlando airport around 3. The kids were hungry, so we stopped at the airport food court for a quick lunch. Took ME to the Wilderness Lodge, and checked into our studio villa. Decided to head to Epcot, where we spent the evening. We really enjoy the refurbished Spaceship Earth, so we did that. The kids also really liked the Kim Possible activity, which was new to them. We had dinner at a counter service place in the World Showcase. After dinner, people were lining up for Illuminations, but the kids wanted to go on Soarin' so we headed that way. My husband decided to opt out of the ride, so I got in line with the kids. The stated wait time was about 50 minutes, but it went a little faster. When we got closer to the boarding area, there were still a lot of people ahead of us, but a CM called out that he could take a party of 3. My hand shot up, and he pulled us out of line. There were not many parties of 3 in the crowd, and that just saved us at least another 10 minutes of waiting. It was my 7 year old's first time on Soarin'. She is very petite for her age, and wasn't tall enough to ride, on prior trips, and she's also shy about trying new rides. I kept telling her she would enjoy it, because she goes on other rides that take her up in the air. She loved it. My older daughter loves churros,and went to the Mexico counter service place, which has them, and she enjoyed the snack. We headed back to the hotel, a favorite of mine, but we could only stay one night.

Saturday morning. I really want to try the new Toy Story Midway Mania ride at HS. There are EMH at HS, but we can't make it at 8, because we have to check out of the hotel, and it takes us a little time to get our stuff organized to be moved by Bell Services. We did not take time for breakfast, and only had bananas, which I had purchased in the gift shop. We got to the park a little before 9, and get through security and through the gates around 9. There was a big line for Toy Story, and the fastpasses were for much later in the day. We stood in line for about an hour, and, just as we were about to reach for the 3D glasses, a CM announced that the ride was broken, and we all have to leave. The people behind us in line, who waited a shorter time, would get out before we did, and have a better chance of getting a fastpass. I thought they should hand out general fastpasses to people who wait an hour for nothing. In June, we had anniversary buttons on, and a CM handed us fastpasses for any attraction, while we were at the MK. We were a bit put out that there was not so much as an apology, just a polite "get out." The park was extremely crowded by this time, and we decided to cut our losses for the morning. We left HS, and took the Friendship to Epcot. My older DD and I decided to go get fastpasses for Soarin' and DH and younger DD waited for the World Showcase to open, in a few minutes. After getting fastpasses, for around 3, we joined them in France, and had an early counter service lunch. The kids did another Kim Possible mission. Around 2:30, I decided to go to the new hotel and get us checked in, and to rest a little. They stayed to use the fastpasses. I took the bus to Pop Century, and our room was ready. The hotel is very heavily themed, in a wild and crazy way, but I thought it was fun. I called my husband, to give him the room number, in the 50's section, and he had no problem finding the room. I told him to just walk toward the giant bowling pins, and go to the elevator, which was right behind the giant statute of Tramp. Bell Services brought our bags and Owner's Locker over from the WL. The kids wanted to go swimming, so I took them over to the Hippy Dippy pool, and they loved being able to swim outside in February (we are from suburban Philly). We were just doing a counter service dinner, so we decided to eat at the Pop Century food court. The food was quite tasty. One of my kids had a kids' meal, but ate a significant portion of her dad's salmon. The other kid had beef and broccoli, and was pleased with it. I had an Asian chicken salad. We headed toward the bus stop, but a guy working the DVC booth intercepted the kids, and we ended up in the lobby for awhile. The DVC guy started them playing with a balloon, and I mentioned that we were members, just not using points that night. A guy then started a conversation with us about DVC, because they were thinking about it, and we ended up being their member contact. By the time we got to the MK, it was in the middle of the fireworks, but that was OK. We did Pirates and some other things, had a Dole Whip stop (my husband actually had the citrus swirl, which was good), and headed back to the hotel around midnight.

Sunday. The kids want to go to the Animal Kingdom, but my husband decided not to go. I put a load of laundry in, and we had breakfast at the food court, which was mobbed. DH stayed at the hotel to finish the laundry (we did not pack all that much, because of all the moving we knew we would be doing), and I took my girls to have some fun. We had not been to the AK in the last few trips, so we decided to do the safari. It was a pretty long wait, but they did a good job getting a lot of people through. This time, we saw more animals, and closer than we ever had before, and my younger daughter, who had been a little impatient in line, was very happy. The kids wanted to do the petting zoo, so we took the little train to that area, which was less crowded. I wanted to see the Festival of the Lion King, and we went to the 3PM show. The last time I tried to see the show, I had my younger child with me when she was just a toddler, and ended up leaving early. My kids have been to a few Broadway shows, and enjoy the theater, and we all had a good time there. It was almost time for the parade, and I was able to get a spot on a bench, and my kids got up front viewing. We left the park, and took a bus to the Beach Club, where we had dinner reservations at the Cape May cafe. My husband had enjoyed some time alone at the World Showcase, and met us there. We enjoyed our dinner, then split up with the kids, and headed back, through Epcot. My older daughter wanted to go back to the MK, but wanted to change into warmer clothes, and change her shoes. She also really wanted to get her charachture drawn, because the night before, the DVC guy talked the artist into doing a little sketch of her sister. On the way out, we decided to go on Spaceship Earth again. The line went at a reasonable pace, but there was a rather shrill group of teenage girls near us, who could not stop giggling over the name of the sponsor (only a teenager would make a connection like that), The way the line zigged and zagged we lost them for awhile, and when they were near us again, about 15 minutes later, they were still laughing about it. My 10 year old did not understand the bad joke, but agreed with me when I advised her not to act like that in 4 years or so. After SE, we got the bus back to Pop Century, and she had the picture done, got changed, and we headed back out, getting to the MK around 10. There were EMH till 3AM, but we knew we were two tired to stay that late. My daughter has no desire to do roller coasters, and has only been on Splash Mountain once. We did the HM, the Speedway (she was finally tall enough to ride by herself), and then, decided to try the Stitch's Great Escape. I had heard not great things about it, and we had always skipped it, but what the heck. Yes, it's that lame, and a little gross. We did Buzz Lightyear, and the People Mover, then had Citrus Swirls for a midnight snack, and headed back to the hotel.

Monday, our last full day on this short trip. I was determined to do the Toy Story attraction, so back to HS. Again, we had to prepare to move to another hotel, which took some time, and my older DD and I had been out so late, I did not want to make her get up very early. We got there a little after 10, and the fastpasses were already for after 7PM, and were almost out for the day. We got them anyway, even though we had a dinner reservation, figuring worst case, we could go back that evening. We got in line, and shortly after we did, the wait time changed from 60 to 90 minutes. This time, I got the kids a snack first, and we had water, and they finished their popcorn before we were even in the building. We got into the vibe of waiting, talking with another family. We got on the ride around noon, and it was worth the wait. We all loved it. I gave our fastpasses away, because I knew we would not be back later. DH used his Blackberry to get us checked in for our flight on Southwest. He also returned a message from an animal shelter that had a kitten we were adopting, to set up a pick up time on our return. The prior week, my daughter had seen it during a Girl Scout troop field trip to a pet store chain, that does not sell cats, but displays some from a shelter, and I put in an application while we were there. They had called our vet, who gave a good reference, and she was thrilled to get a new cat. We already have an older male at home, and he was not going to be so thrilled. My 10 year old was craving churros again, and had two (where does she put all that food-the kid is so skinny). My younger kid wanted to see the car show, so my husband took her to that, and I went on the movie ride with my other child. We met up for lunch, stayed for the parade, during which my kid ate another churro, then headed for our third hotel in four nights, the Animal Kingdom Lodge, where we checked in, and got our studio room. With all this moving, we had the complication of having to reseal our Owner's Locker twice, and they don't provide enough seals to do it repeatedly. We had called them, and they assured us that the hotel should have more seals. In fact, Bell Services had a bunch of them, right on the counter. My husband realized that one of our bags was not brought up with the rest of the things from Pop Century, but Bell Services called Pop, and the bag was brought over. My older daughter changed to swim, and I took her down, but it was a little cold, so she did not stay in long. We had dinner at Boma, and just relaxed for the evening.

Tuesday. We had breakfast at Boma, and took ME to the airport. The girls actually could not wait to get home, to get their new kitty.

Great "quick" trip! I am glad you got to do TSMM! It is a lot of fun!
I am glad you enjoyed Pop. We have not stayed there, but we have stayed at ASMu and ASM. We have also stayed at BC. Every resort had that Disney service and we have always loved staying on property!

Good luck with your new pet! :)

I forgot to mention my kids' Valentines Day surprise. Before we left home, my older daughter told me she wanted to make Valentines, to give out to CM's. My husband helped the kids design one on the computer, ran off several sheets, and the kids cut them out. It was a pretty heart with the message Thank you for the Magical Day, and their names. On Saturday, the girls were handing them out to CMs throughout the parks. The look on the face of the boat captain on the Friendship, an older gentleman, was just priceless. He probably has grandkids about that age. They got high 5's from young male CM's, and at least one hug from a young female CM. Lots of smiles. It was very sweet.

Grat mini trip. I do have a question lol. Did you notice if they changed the mugs yet?

Sounds like a fantastic trip, although it took me a while to realize ME means "magical express" & not you personally... I was like, "Why is she emphasizing that SHE went to the WL & the airport? Didn't the rest of the family come too?" :p

& the Valentines for CMs? Sooooo sweet!

Enjoy the new kitty :)

Grat mini trip. I do have a question lol. Did you notice if they changed the mugs yet?

I bought a mug at Pop, and it was different from the last one I bought at a resort. I noticed people bringing in old model mugs, and nobody stopped them from filling them.

Great fast trip. We love Pop also. We have stayed Deluxe a lot, but still prefer Pop. Total immersion in Disney. I'm weird but we do love it.

Thanks for sharing.

Ellen

Sounds like a fun trip! Enjoy your upcoming China trip.:)

By your report, sounds like you had a great bonus trip to WDW! I went on a bonus trip similar to yours over Christmas and it was a blast! *cough* despite the *cough* crowds *cough*