They Let Anyone In these Clubs Now! An Aug. 2017 PTR * TR link! 8/17!*

[ariane37]

Hi Ariane! The Pirates and Pals cruise does look fun!!! It's on my to do list too...We've done the "Wishes" cruise twice and LOVED it!!! It was a bit pricey, but TOTALLY worth every penny!

I've thought about the Wishes cruise too! If everyone loves the Pirates one that might be next

We actually have one random night booked here for our August trip because during the time we're staying at the timeshare we decided to plan to do two full days involving AK, and we thought we might want a place to crash in the AC in the afternoon and watch some Stacy TV, go swimming, etc., and we could also use the reservation to be able to book Pandora FPs 60 days in advance. The AP discount was decent, so we'll have the room here for as much or as little as we want it for for one night. I'm seriously getting ridiculous with this resort-hopping thing on our honeymoon! But All Star Sports might just be the ticket for both of our trips!

That's not a bad idea, especially for the FP's. I have the AP discount for that too. How many resorts are you staying at for your honeymoon lmao??

We're doing Cape May for the first time this trip and I'm so looking forward to it. I remember you and Chris liking your meal here but being disappointed because Ricky, the mussel lover, would have liked it.

You remember correctly! Steve isn't a huge buffet guy but I know he'd enjoy this. We almost did it in May but I really want both boys there, too.

Ugh! The double beds is what completely turns me away from value resorts as well.

I know Ricky has a double bed, so the other night Steve and I both got on it. Then we just looked at each other lol. I'm going away for the weekend so I'll be tackling this issue when I return!

Why does he hate it so much? We have Y&Y reservations in September... I am looking forward to it. Should I be worried for what the girls will be able to eat?

He hated it because he's Chris and something had either pissed him off before we got there or he wasn't in the mood for anything on the menu. We love the food there, including Ricky. Chris is just a moody PITA! Don't worry at all about the girls

We'll all be waiting for "the change"

Secret confession out tonight: my goal in life is to find a husband who will wear matching shirts with me to Disney! So far... the hunt continues

The first couple trips there was no way Steve was wearing any type of Disney shirt at all, let alone a MATCHING shirt. Now, he'll wear whatever I pack! You'll find your guy, he's out there!

I ordered my Home t-shirt from BellaDesignstl. The shirt has held up well so far. I did order it a size bigger than normal. But I find tees for women tend to run small.

Love them both! I actually have your shirt on a car sticker I need to get going on searching for shirts when I get back next week, too.

OMG how have I not heard about this?!? I will have to read all about it!!

I don't know but I'm glad I gave you something new to research lol!

I have done www.fifthsun.com for some Disney t-shirts. I like the women's scoopnecks as they seem more forgiving.

Scoopnecks and v-necks are my preference. I'll wear a crew neck if I love the shirt and can't get it in any other style but they bother me and feel constricting. Thanks for the recommendation, I'll check out the site

Looks like a great lineup for meals. I love many of the ones you are planning. I will be excited to hear your review of the Pirates cruise, sounds fun.

Thanks! Yeah I've read a number of reviews from families with kids of all ages who have loved it as well as parties of adults only who say the humor is great for them. Looking forward to it!

 

[ariane37]

This is one I think about booking all the time...considered it for October, but I am afraid of doing too many buffets with my mom. Everything I want to book seems to be a buffet! The last time I ate here was in 2001 and it was a villain dinner. I really wish they'd bring that back.

I had no idea it used to be a villains dinner! I wonder why the heck they changed that! Not a smooth move, Disney I can't remember what all you have booked for Oct. but it kind of seems like this one might be fun with your mom? IDK, but I could see them making jokes about you guys not having your men with you, things along that line. I think it might be cute!

This is X's bday!! Snag a birthday button and get a free dessert in his honor, lol!

We will all wear "I'm celebrating X's birthday" buttons!

Bless that baby's heart. He is just having way too much fun, LOL!!

That's Chris!

As for matching shirts, one place you might get everyone to agree on is Brand by You. They have character jerseys...3/4 length sleeves with characters inside the year the movie was made. They open up off and on, so you kind of have to keep an eye out, but I love my Snow White one. I'm thinking of getting coordinating ones for my mom and I, or just get myself the Sanderson Sisters one for the Halloween party.

Main Street Press, Happily Ever Tees, Happiest Tees on Earth, and Happyland Tees are also all good!

I've checked out Main St. Press before and I'm definitely going to look into the rest, thanks! I remember seeing those 3/4 length character shirts you got for your family, loved them

They have hamburgers at Y&Y now. I had one back in <arch. Maybe that will appease Chris.

I believe Ricky got a Kobe burger last November and enjoyed it; Chris was just in one of his moods. Hopefully he doesn't decide to swing that way this time because he would definitely enjoy the burger!

Sounds like some solid plans so far!!

Thank you! I know I'll be tweaking it but so far it's shaping up OK

Ummm...I know you're talking about your bra, but I didn't think it was THAT kind of a board.

I presume TA is Trip Advisor or Travel Agent?

Sometimes I think certain posts come quite close to THAT kind of board!
Yes, TA is travel agent

I and DW are going to CBR in September and we got the $75 gift card deal also. We're DVC members, so first time staying at a non-DVC resort. The only thing that concerns me is how badly the construction will interfere with transportation. Other than that, looking forward to a new resort.

I've been trying to stay on top of the CBR thread in the resorts forum (due to the TA status) and the transportation in general doesn't seem to be affected as of yet. Actually, overall the reports from guests staying there aren't as negative as I thought they'd be. I've heard it's not pretty and while the temporary buffet is good, the offerings from the food trucks and grab n go locations aren't that extensive. Occasionally there is a lot of noise by the pool but many say it's not as loud as the games they hold there every day!

A resort change!!! Congrats you get to stay in the club of being an official Disney Planner like the rest of us!

It's funny because while I do change ADR's quite often and even move our park days around, I'm not a serial resort jumper! So that is kind of new to me. New, and rather exciting

We can only afford a value unless a discount comes out as I've already used my TA rate this year. We may look at upgrading when we arrive in a couple of weeks and have access to a bounceback offer. We shall see!

Good luck, I hope the bounceback works out for you! I still have one TA rate for the year, saving it just in case we go again after August

You can't go wrong with Cape May, Via Napoli, or Naccoossee's for your extra dinner. We have only done Cape May and Via Napoli, but we love both of those!!

We've eaten at all 3 but it's been a couple years since we've been to Via Napoli, and only Chris and I have been to Cape May. However we all LOVE Narcoosee's and on our last family trip Chris and I went before Steve and Ricky got down there, so it's going to be a hard decision!

So true. With teen or close boys, you'll probably be eating before bowling, during AND after.

One thing I dread about summer is that my grocery bill like, quadruples with them being home so much more because boys NEVER.STOP.EATING.

Glad you're trying 1900 Park Fare that is one I make every trip and always cancel. I'll be looking forward to your review.

I swear this time I will NOT cancel!

If my mom had made me wear leopard ears, I'd have had a worse look than that! Just sayin'

But that's the thing, I didn't make him wear them! They're mine and he asked to wear them. So that was his choice and even doing what he wanted he's crabby

 

[ariane37]

It's happened to me and @xlsm too. It's photobucket. I redid most of mine and moved to another site. But they should appear back at date of the month you signed up for the site. (Not sure if they will though now that there's that message about third party hosting mine didn't have that at first so I'm not sure what that part is about. The other message is about bandwidth I think so the size of the pics you uploaded this month plus how many views they have is too high. So they want to charge you. It might be better to use another site from now on, it seems like their holding pictures hostage till people pay. I found Flickr hard to use (I couldn't find a link that worked in my tr but I was probably using it wrong) so I've been using Imgur.

Thanks Raeven! Yeah I saw they want to charge me I think I actually tried Flickr once and didn't like it so I'll try Imgur too

 

[MeghanEmily]

I found Flickr hard to use (I couldn't find a link that worked in my tr but I was probably using it wrong) so I've been using Imgur.

Not to start a rabbit trail on your PTR, but where do you find the link on Imgur, @Raeven? I'm not that popular yet, but I'm thinking about moving away from photobucket anyway...but photobucket was the only site I was good at!

That's not a bad idea, especially for the FP's. I have the AP discount for that too. How many resorts are you staying at for your honeymoon lmao??

Oh gawd, don't even get me started!! I have a feeling if I end up writing a TR for this trip it'll be about how we stayed somewhere different every night for 10 nights! lol Right now our first night is at the Grand, then 3 at CSR, 3 at Poly, 4 at Orange Lake (timeshare), but with one of those nights also booked at Sports for whatever we want to use it for, and then our last night at WL. And then we're planning to hit Daytona the day before we drive home, so we'll probably stay there a night, too. I'm making my head spin just thinking about it. Never again!! But I'm also kind of looking forward to it! It'll definitely help our stay-at-every-resort-on-property goal since we'll technically be crossing off 5! lol I think it'll only be doable because we'll have our car to store things in the trunk, and because I'm planning to send the wedding dress and stuff home in a suitcase with my mom right after the wedding. ...I'm crazy. (I told Nathan that if I ever said anything about doing a split stay at Disney with more than two hotels again to give me a good smack.)

He hated it because he's Chris

I love this. I think Chris is my secret spirit animal. My mom calls me Eeyore.

 

[kastoney]

They had a beaver exhibit too, but he was hiding. Well he was hiding his face but we could see the rest of him and he was a HUGE sucker. So my friend Maureen was like, "geez he's huge, look at him!" I tried to say "That's a big beaver" but after "That's a " I started snorting and laughing too hard and I couldn't get it all out. A dad on the trip was like, "I'm walking away now...." The best part was that just as the dad walked back over to us this kid came up behind him, looked in the beaver exhibit, and blurted out exactly what I couldn't

We are two of a kind Funny aside I used to live on Shy Beaver Court. I could never say it without cracking up

Hi everyone! I'm sorry it's been slow going with this PTR, I've just been super busy with work and end of year stuff for the kids.

Sorry you are busy but awesome to hear that work is going well for you!

so I changed our resort. Not to anything that exciting either; we'll now be spending August 5-7th here:

Um, hell this is not about you, this is about me and being a full service travel agent Your photos aren't showing up, where are you staying until you change it again?

lunch at either LTT or the Plaza (no judging! Yes I'm holding both!)

No judgement and both are good choices, but I'd go LTT all the way.

I say possibly something for dinner because I booked something else for us tonight and between lunch and this "special surprise" I'm not sure if we'll just eat in the lounge or what. I need to think more, because there are snacks involved with our surprise. The snacks totally won't satisfy Steve and Ricky so regardless they'll need something afterwards from Roaring Fork or Geyser Point. What is this special surprise that only Steve knows about you ask? Something else I've wanted to do for awhile:

Ok, photos still not working and I have no idea what this is Are you playing an evil trick on us and the kids?

-Via Napoli, I've been wanting to return since our 2015 Thanksgiving trip!

If I remember right this was your poor sick trip and you couldn't even eat the pizza, so another visit should definitely be in the mix. We find it really easy to get day of lunch reservations there

Lastly I'm debating ordering matching pirate shirts for us for the fireworks cruise. Nothing fancy, maybe just a pirate Mickey head or something. Of course I have my awesome SMEE shirt but I'd like to match if I can talk the boys into it.

You really do have it out for those poor boys don't you

 

[docsoliday1]

We are two of a kind Funny aside I used to live on Shy Beaver Court. I could never say it without cracking up

Now that's just too funny. Shy beaver. Literally (well, maybe not literally, but lot's o' laughter) Would that be lol squared?

 

[docsoliday1]

Thanks Raeven! Yeah I saw they want to charge me I think I actually tried Flickr once and didn't like it so I'll try Imgur too

That stinks!!!
I would offer to let you use my server (manage my own website and mail server), but...I don't have a nice, easy interface to upload or remove files, so it would probably be too time consuming for ya.

And considering how popular your PTRs TRs DRs are, I think you'd kill my bandwidth.

 

[Raeven]

Not to start a rabbit trail on your PTR, but where do you find the link on Imgur, @Raeven? I'm not that popular yet, but I'm thinking about moving away from photobucket anyway...but photobucket was the only site I was good at!

So on Imgur (and I could be doing this wrong) I can make albums but when I click into each album and click on a picture it doesn't offer me a link that works on here, but if I go to images in general and click on an image there's more options. I think it's the one that says "direct link" or direct something. That's what I've been using.

 

[ArielSRL]

Remember how our first two nights were booked at CBR? None of us had any issue with the construction but I WAS concerned about us all eating when we arrive at what will be after 10pm. As of now the food trucks and buffet aren't open after 10 so our options would be the grab n go "rooms" in each section of the resort, and I don't think that will satisfy any of us. We could eat at the airport before getting on DME but I know we'll want to just get there even if now we say that's what we'll do; so I changed our resort.

I'm glad because I read a review recently of someone arriving late and not being happy with the food choices AT ALL there.

we'll now be spending August 5-7th here:



I do keep checking for TA rate availability at WL CL for those 2 nights but so far no luck. I know the boys will like the over the top sports stuff here and while Steve and I will certainly not like the double beds, we'll deal. We'll have the food court to eat in when we arrive and that's probably the only time we'll eat there.

Obviously I can't see the photos but I figure it is All Star Sports. I've done Music and Movies but it has been a long time. I don't really like the bus situation and I don't usually do values anymore...but I am sure it would suffice for your purposes. However, maybe you should check Pop and request a refurbed room. Then you would get two queens.

IF we do indeed stay here.
​

I'm already itching to change it so we'll see how long it lasts.

I'm about 99.9% sure you will change it before your trip! LOL

lunch at either LTT

I have this on the list for next trip (yes I am planning 715 days in advance...I mean, what else am I going to do?

Sanaa lunch

Love it. We will be back next trip.

What is this special surprise that only Steve knows about you ask? Something else I've wanted to do for awhile:



You might think between this and Park Fare dinner that I hate my boys but I really do love them. They just tend to not know what will be fun until I force it on them I've heard so many excellent things about this cruise, how it's fun for people without kids as well as families, and I have it booked for a number of clients; I wanna do something new and fun! Plus, it's all in the name of research, right?

Again can't see the photo but I am assuming it is Pirates and Pals. I wanted to do it last year but my parents ix-nayed it. I'm not sure if we will do it in the future or not. I liked the HEA dessert party so that will probably be our go-to from here on out.

Be Our Guest dinner

I have only done lunch but dinner is on the list for 2019.

Cape May Cafe

I've done breakfast and want to go again but also want to try dinner. if we end up at BWV or BCV I will do both. Otherwise, I'll pick one.

Tusker House

I want to go back here for breakfast but it sounds like we are doing Sanaa on our AK day next trip and DH only wants one AK day. None of my family was really happy with AK other than FoP and Triceratops Spin.

anyone have any Etsy sites they've ordered from before and been happy?

I will message you as there is someone in my one of my Disney FB groups who did DH's dri-fit Figmenbt shirt for him. He loved it and I will definitely be getting more from her...but I think she does dri-fit for $20 for t-shirts and $25 for button ups and your guys may appreciate that in the FL heat.

 

[ArielSRL]

Oh and I don't use a hosting site for my photos. I upload them directly to the Dis with the "Upload a File" button. The only issue is max 10 per post so I have to "con't" my posts if I have more than 10 photos for that post.

 

[Whit64130]

My computer is acting crazy and deleted everything I was going to quote on..So I am winging it..
Hate you didn't get a FP for FOP your first AK day. Hopefully something will come up sooner rather than later for you!
Your ADR's look good! I know I told you this the other day but regardless if the boys want to go or not I think they will end up enjoying it because the stepsisters are so much fun!
Ahh I can't wait to hear all about P&P! This is something I have been wanting to do for a while! Take lots of pictures!
And that's it. My mind is mush. I can't remember what else I had quoted.

 

[SEASONK]

Took a little break from disboards, but I'm back and following along. We stayed at sports last December, it was just DS and I, it was fine except for our room location.

 

[Wood Nymph]

We booked Citricos for July 3rd so that we can watch the MK fireworks from the GF. We have never been there before so I hope we like it.

 

[ariane37]

Not to start a rabbit trail on your PTR, but where do you find the link on Imgur, @Raeven? I'm not that popular yet, but I'm thinking about moving away from photobucket anyway...but photobucket was the only site I was good at!

I read that this is what you've ended up using, correct? I tried and even poor @Raeven couldn't help me through messaging lol. In the end I updated my dining report by shrinking all my pictures and using the link here to upload, which is fine other than having to take the time out to shrink them Silly old person question: for Imgur are you clicking on "direct link" and if so, do you just hit "copy" and that works for you?

But I'm also kind of looking forward to it! It'll definitely help our stay-at-every-resort-on-property goal since we'll technically be crossing off 5! lol I think it'll only be doable because we'll have our car to store things in the trunk, and because I'm planning to send the wedding dress and stuff home in a suitcase with my mom right after the wedding. ...I'm crazy.

I know I wrote this in your PTR but I do think it's awesome! If you love it great, and if not you'll look back, laugh, and talk about that time you stayed in FIVE resorts lol.

I love this. I think Chris is my secret spirit animal. My mom calls me Eeyore.

I want to see the two of you go head to head lol

We are two of a kind Funny aside I used to live on Shy Beaver Court. I could never say it without cracking up

If the kids hadn't been there Sunday I would have went with this a little more

No judgement and both are good choices, but I'd go LTT all the way.

The main reason I was thinking of the Plaza is because of their fried green tomato sandwich. I LOVE fried green tomatoes and they aren't on any menu around here at all! But I think everyone else will enjoy LTT more so that's probably where we'll go.

Ok, photos still not working and I have no idea what this is Are you playing an evil trick on us and the kids?

It's the Pirates and Pals Fireworks Cruise. And it would fit in perfectly with your Nov. Disney trip theme

If I remember right this was your poor sick trip and you couldn't even eat the pizza, so another visit should definitely be in the mix. We find it really easy to get day of lunch reservations there

You remember correctly. And you bringing it up yesterday has me thinking more and more about it so it'll probably be a go.

I would offer to let you use my server (manage my own website and mail server), but...I don't have a nice, easy interface to upload or remove files, so it would probably be too time consuming for ya.

Well time consuming I'm sure, too difficult for me to figure out, most definitely!

Obviously I can't see the photos but I figure it is All Star Sports.

Score for you

I don't really like the bus situation and I don't usually do values anymore...but I am sure it would suffice for your purposes. However, maybe you should check Pop and request a refurbed room. Then you would get two queens.

Other than a LM room in 2014 for 3 nights and 1 night at All Star Sports back in 2012 we haven't done value. I went with AS Sports because of the theming, figure since the boys will wonder why we're not at our usual deluxe maybe the big balls all around will satisfy them However Pop may be the better option with the queens I just got back a few hours ago from Maryland so I need to work on my trip the next couple days!

Again can't see the photo but I am assuming it is Pirates and Pals. I wanted to do it last year but my parents ix-nayed it.

Right again I think I remember that happening? It just looks so FUN!!

I want to go back here for breakfast but it sounds like we are doing Sanaa on our AK day next trip and DH only wants one AK day. None of my family was really happy with AK other than FoP and Triceratops Spin.

You can't go wrong with Sanaa, ever. That stinks nobody was thrilled with AK I used to feel that way but it's grown on me in the last couple years. Still not either of the boys' favorite park but they stay longer than the like for me.

I will message you as there is someone in my one of my Disney FB groups who did DH's dri-fit Figmenbt shirt for him. He loved it and I will definitely be getting more from her...but I think she does dri-fit for $20 for t-shirts and $25 for button ups and your guys may appreciate that in the FL heat.

Yes! Steve loves dri-fit. Is this the one that you posted the link to on my page already?

Oh and I don't use a hosting site for my photos. I upload them directly to the Dis with the "Upload a File" button. The only issue is max 10 per post so I have to "con't" my posts if I have more than 10 photos for that post.

I ended up doing this for my dining report update today. It works great, but I need to downsize ALL my pictures which takes a lot of time. But at least I can post!

Your ADR's look good! I know I told you this the other day but regardless if the boys want to go or not I think they will end up enjoying it because the stepsisters are so much fun!

I really think they will Once they finish giving me dirty looks lol

Ahh I can't wait to hear all about P&P! This is something I have been wanting to do for a while! Take lots of pictures!

I will! I've heard so many adults say they've enjoyed it without kids!

Took a little break from disboards, but I'm back and following along. We stayed at sports last December, it was just DS and I, it was fine except for our room location.

back to Disboards and to my PTR! I'm sorry you most likely couldn't see any of my pictures. Stupid photobucket I have it figured out now and while it may take awhile for me to fix my previously posted pics my next update which will be coming soon should be picture-perfect
Where was your room? As of now we don't have a preferred room booked. I have it in my head that it's "just two nights" and we'll be fine with a standard room, standard food court, standard double beds. And honestly there's NOTHING wrong with any of that! I book tons of clients in value rooms and they are happy there and have great trips. It's just very different from what we're used to......

We booked Citricos for July 3rd so that we can watch the MK fireworks from the GF. We have never been there before so I hope we like it.

So it'll be your first time there? I really hope you love it as much as we do!!! You can actually see the MK fireworks from some of the windows in Citricos that face that direction but if you're at a table up towards the front of the restaurant or along the side windows the face the GF pool, you can't watch from your table. Our server has always been Rony and he's the best so I hope you get him, too! I look forward to hearing your thoughts about it

 

[ariane37]

Picture issue should be fixed! I managed to update my dining report today and all is good. Just got back from a weekend trip to Maryland so I plan to get an update here in the next day or two! Thanks for standing by!!​

 

[MeghanEmily]

I read that this is what you've ended up using, correct? I tried and even poor @Raeven couldn't help me through messaging lol. In the end I updated my dining report by shrinking all my pictures and using the link here to upload, which is fine other than having to take the time out to shrink them Silly old person question: for Imgur are you clicking on "direct link" and if so, do you just hit "copy" and that works for you?

Correct! I click a picture and in the list of links on the right hand side I click the "copy" button beside "direct link." I think it works to just right click and choose copy as well. And then it works for me just like photobucket used to. If it's a GIF rather than a still image I choose the link that says something like GIF source or something.

 

[SEASONK]

Glad you got the photo situation fixed, I had to use context clues to figure out what some of them were!
We were in room 4119, pretty much in the back parking lot! We didn't book preferred, but I did request the baseball section. This was not our first value stay, but it was our worst location ever. My DS did like the theme, but the tennis section didn't really do much for him

 

[ArielSRL]

Yes, the link I put on your FB page is who I used for the dri-fit shirt! And yes, I have to resize all my photos too. That can be a pain but I'm used to it.

 

[Raeven]

I read that this is what you've ended up using, correct? I tried and even poor @Raeven couldn't help me through messaging lol. In the end I updated my dining report by shrinking all my pictures and using the link here to upload, which is fine other than having to take the time out to shrink them Silly old person question: for Imgur are you clicking on "direct link" and if so, do you just hit "copy" and that works for you?

I'm also wondering if it could be a problem with different browsers and computer types. I have a Mac but use Google Chrome, and on my phone I use Safari if that helps. I could not get Flickr to work at all, but the direct link on Imgur seems to be working now.

 

[cstorm65]

I have been having the same problem with Photobucket. I just did a PTR post using Google Photos and as far as I can tell it worked. They don't give you a link with the IMG tags, so you have to add those manually, but it is certainly faster than having to deal with the slowness of photobucket and closing out all of their pop up ads. So, hopefully I'm not missing something, but I think Google Photo is working for me.