TheRichFam
Mouseketeer
- Joined
- Jun 20, 2013
He really could, but to his enduring credit he is an incredible gentleman in that regard. No "playing the field," thankfully.
Thanks for your kind words. Enjoy the soufflé!
UPDATE 6/26- Didn't we just leave the Pacific Northwest? Wilderness Lodge AND AoA at Christmastime!
- Thread starter TheRichFam
- Start date
He really could, but to his enduring credit he is an incredible gentleman in that regard. No "playing the field," thankfully.
Thanks for your kind words. Enjoy the soufflé!
TheRichFam
Mouseketeer
- Joined
- Jun 20, 2013
UPDATE!!!
So. How's everyone doing?
Fun times over at TheRichFam Global Headquarters.
We (finally) got the house on the market. We managed to do so without harming anyone, which I hear is quite the accomplishment.
The last weekend before we put it on the market, we were neck-deep in prep work. Cleaning, scrubbing, purging, patching, painting, rinse and repeat. A good time was being had by all.
Which is to say nobody was having fun.
As we were working, Mama Rich says completely unprovoked, "I feel like we're not staying at Disney long enough."
To which I said:
I jumped on the phone with Disney Reservations and was sad to realize that extending our stay on the back end wasn't going to happen. There were a couple reasons why, and for those planning trips around promotions, here's a couple things to consider.
* Almost all Disney promotions are inventory controlled. For those who are unfamiliar, that means that whether we’re talking about Free Dining, 30% off rooms, or in our case Military Salute, each resort has a certain number of nights available for that promotion.
* When you’re using a promotion like Military Salute that doesn’t have a specific booking window, it’ll be harder for you to find openings during other large promotions.
The day we check out is the day Free Dining begins. That meant that rooms in general will be hard to come by. Specifically, all the rooms at WL are completely sold out regardless of promotion. That meant staying at WL wasn’t an option, and if we wanted to stay we’d have to extend on the front end.
Boo.
The cast member I was talking to said that the rooms were available at WL on the front end, but in order to get the approval to extend under the military salute we would have to get approval from guest relations. I figured that should be a no-brainer. Basically, “excuse me Ms, Guest Relations Guru, five nights isn’t enough as it turns out. We’d way rather have you fine folks siphon cash directly out of our account for seven nights instead, is that alright with you?”
She put in the request for me and told me we would hear back from guest relations within 24 hours.
In the meantime, I had her check availability at some other resorts on property for that window (12/1-12/3) and due to our party size there were only a couple options. One was Art of Animation. Initially I said no right away because we’ve already stayed there before and there are plenty of places we haven’t stayed yet. But when I relayed to Mama that one of our choices was AoA, she got really excited. So did Rose, who was in the room at the time. Seeing them both so excited about the idea made me intrigued by the possibility, but I was still a bit skeptical for a couple reasons.
First, I strongly disliked Landscape of Flavors. It’s actually one of my least favorite dining spots on property. I know lots of people love it, but I was really unimpressed. Second, I had this scene play out in my head that we would go from AoA to WL on day three and me and Mama would love it but the kids would be begging to go back to the “place with the cool pool.” Talk about a letdown. By my main hesitation was the idea of a split stay with four kids, two of whom are too young to schlep their own luggage. Moving all our stuff from AoA to WL without the aid of Magical Express seemed like a non-starter to me.
BUT
The Lion. He’s the focus of this trip, remember? His favorite things in the world are big trucks. Big trucks like this, perhaps?
Plus, his favorite movies are Moana (the world should be so lucky to hear his 2-yr-old version of Maui singing “You’re welcome”) and Finding Dori. The idea of letting him stay in the Finding Nemo section, a short walk from the big ol’ Mater, at a resort with a zero-depth entry pool, Nemo-themed splash pad and playground …
Oh, alright. AoA is is!
Soooo …. We’re headed to Art of Animation for two nights before we go to Wilderness Lodge!
I gotta admit. I’m pretty stoked about the idea, too. The CM who booked it for me told me that Disney will help move luggage over during split stays. I had no idea! Problem solved! She also told me that when we were there the first time, they had only been open a few weeks, so they were still working out the kinks at Landscape of Flavors. She said it has improved very much since then. Problem Solved!
The other cool thing will be getting to see AoA all gussied up for Christmas. When we were there the first time, it was for Marathon Weekend (side note: runDisney events are the best) so there were no decorations up anymore. I’m excited to see how they decorate, though I’m sure it’ll be pale in comparison to WL!
So there you have it! We’re super excited to have a couple extra days in the parks and resort. It also frees up that second weekend to possibly go see family over near Tampa after we’re done.
Mama Rich strikes again with the great ideas! She really is the Lego Batman of our family.
All that beauty and brains, too!
Now to update my spreadsheet. The excitement about getting to update an excel spreadsheet I use to plan my vacation highlights my sickness. I am not well.
Next time we really will talk GF Food. I promise!
Until then, be good to each other.
So. How's everyone doing?
Fun times over at TheRichFam Global Headquarters.
We (finally) got the house on the market. We managed to do so without harming anyone, which I hear is quite the accomplishment.
The last weekend before we put it on the market, we were neck-deep in prep work. Cleaning, scrubbing, purging, patching, painting, rinse and repeat. A good time was being had by all.
Which is to say nobody was having fun.
As we were working, Mama Rich says completely unprovoked, "I feel like we're not staying at Disney long enough."
To which I said:
I jumped on the phone with Disney Reservations and was sad to realize that extending our stay on the back end wasn't going to happen. There were a couple reasons why, and for those planning trips around promotions, here's a couple things to consider.
* Almost all Disney promotions are inventory controlled. For those who are unfamiliar, that means that whether we’re talking about Free Dining, 30% off rooms, or in our case Military Salute, each resort has a certain number of nights available for that promotion.
* When you’re using a promotion like Military Salute that doesn’t have a specific booking window, it’ll be harder for you to find openings during other large promotions.
The day we check out is the day Free Dining begins. That meant that rooms in general will be hard to come by. Specifically, all the rooms at WL are completely sold out regardless of promotion. That meant staying at WL wasn’t an option, and if we wanted to stay we’d have to extend on the front end.
Boo.
The cast member I was talking to said that the rooms were available at WL on the front end, but in order to get the approval to extend under the military salute we would have to get approval from guest relations. I figured that should be a no-brainer. Basically, “excuse me Ms, Guest Relations Guru, five nights isn’t enough as it turns out. We’d way rather have you fine folks siphon cash directly out of our account for seven nights instead, is that alright with you?”
She put in the request for me and told me we would hear back from guest relations within 24 hours.
In the meantime, I had her check availability at some other resorts on property for that window (12/1-12/3) and due to our party size there were only a couple options. One was Art of Animation. Initially I said no right away because we’ve already stayed there before and there are plenty of places we haven’t stayed yet. But when I relayed to Mama that one of our choices was AoA, she got really excited. So did Rose, who was in the room at the time. Seeing them both so excited about the idea made me intrigued by the possibility, but I was still a bit skeptical for a couple reasons.
First, I strongly disliked Landscape of Flavors. It’s actually one of my least favorite dining spots on property. I know lots of people love it, but I was really unimpressed. Second, I had this scene play out in my head that we would go from AoA to WL on day three and me and Mama would love it but the kids would be begging to go back to the “place with the cool pool.” Talk about a letdown. By my main hesitation was the idea of a split stay with four kids, two of whom are too young to schlep their own luggage. Moving all our stuff from AoA to WL without the aid of Magical Express seemed like a non-starter to me.
BUT
The Lion. He’s the focus of this trip, remember? His favorite things in the world are big trucks. Big trucks like this, perhaps?
Plus, his favorite movies are Moana (the world should be so lucky to hear his 2-yr-old version of Maui singing “You’re welcome”) and Finding Dori. The idea of letting him stay in the Finding Nemo section, a short walk from the big ol’ Mater, at a resort with a zero-depth entry pool, Nemo-themed splash pad and playground …
Oh, alright. AoA is is!
Soooo …. We’re headed to Art of Animation for two nights before we go to Wilderness Lodge!
I gotta admit. I’m pretty stoked about the idea, too. The CM who booked it for me told me that Disney will help move luggage over during split stays. I had no idea! Problem solved! She also told me that when we were there the first time, they had only been open a few weeks, so they were still working out the kinks at Landscape of Flavors. She said it has improved very much since then. Problem Solved!
The other cool thing will be getting to see AoA all gussied up for Christmas. When we were there the first time, it was for Marathon Weekend (side note: runDisney events are the best) so there were no decorations up anymore. I’m excited to see how they decorate, though I’m sure it’ll be pale in comparison to WL!
So there you have it! We’re super excited to have a couple extra days in the parks and resort. It also frees up that second weekend to possibly go see family over near Tampa after we’re done.
Mama Rich strikes again with the great ideas! She really is the Lego Batman of our family.
All that beauty and brains, too!
Now to update my spreadsheet. The excitement about getting to update an excel spreadsheet I use to plan my vacation highlights my sickness. I am not well.
Next time we really will talk GF Food. I promise!
Until then, be good to each other.
Last edited:
TheRichFam
Mouseketeer
- Joined
- Jun 20, 2013
He really loves the part "the haaaaaaiiirrrrrr!!!! The BBBBOOOOOODDDDDDDD!!!!!" It's pretty amazing.How awesome for a longer trip!!! Good job Mama Rich! If your little Lion's singing is anything like our 2 yr old Maverick's for "Your Welcome" I am sure it is adorable and I could listen to it over and over!
TheRichFam
Mouseketeer
- Joined
- Jun 20, 2013
YAY more Days. Mama Rich she has it going on.
Now to update my spreadsheet. The excitement about getting to update an excel spreadsheet I use to plan my vacation highlights my sickness. I am not well.
It's funny ... when I was booking the split stay I remembered that comment I put over on your PTR about how "split stays" and "four kids" don't go well together!
Elizabeth Smith
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- May 7, 2017
Glad you're going for more days! For me, personally, I have a hard time imagining staying for less than a whole week at Disney! Sounds like a good plan and look forward to hearing your updated dining ideas for the extra days.
Luna_Belle
Earning My Ears
- Joined
- Jul 24, 2017
Following along! I love that you have such a big family with a big range in ages, it'll make for such an awesome trip with lasting memories! I can't wait to see what else you have planned!
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