We always call. I like the human on the other end of the line confirming my reservation!

I don't know if it matters, but you can stay in POR with five people in one room. AND, it is in the rooms closest to the bus stops and the lobby!!!! I WISH!!! Those rooms only sleep 4! I'd book those in a heartbeat though! My dd would just love it!!!! ETA: OP - how old are your kids? How many are there?

They had our local fireworks a couple nights ago. All went well. On the actual Fourth, we will be at a neighbor's house on the lake (ie - it's NOT dry!) where the fireworks they set off will be legal this year!!!! MI just passed a law allowing a bunch of fireworks that have not been legal in years' past. Makes me wonder what kind of extras they'll bring in? :001_smile:

We were living in our same city, in a smaller house. We lose electricity a LOT, so we weren't too concerned until a friend from another city dropped by and told us what was going on. SCARY!!!! I had a son on a breathing machine twice a day at that time. It was a huge pain to drive him to the ER every day. So, I skipped town! I went to my parents' house. A drive that is normally 3 hours, took 6. Everyone was leaving town. Lesson learned - keep 3/4 of a tank of gas in your car at all times!!!! ALL the gas stations between my house and my parents' house were OUT of gas!!!!! Seriously - we keep the tanks nearly full now!

We stayed at POR and have LOVED IT!!!! They just totally renovated all the rooms and the lobby. (They had a musty smell before they did the renovations.) We loved the outdoors. It was gorgeous! The pools are amazing - especially on the island. We found the bus system to be fine. I can send you pictures if you'd like!

I worry about this with my dd. She has blue eyes and gorgeous THICK curly blonde hair. And, she's tiny. Really, really tiny. People are always telling her how cute she is. She's a little shy. So, she usually looks down to the ground and says, very quietly, "Thanks." But, I do worry a bit about the long-term effects of people telling her that all the time. But, maybe it's just that people always tell moms their girls are cute? She's my first girl and I never got this much attention about my boys!

I was hoping to hear updates! She must have other people to call. Or maybe she doesn't have a smartphone!:confused: Lol. I don't mean to make light of this. Courtney, I am praying for your family and your house.

Judo mom - are you still around? Are you okay? I just saw you were evacuated. :grouphug:

We have friends whose son is there. They are packed and ready to go. This photo is SO sad. My friends have a photo of them in front of this just a couple months ago with their son.

:drool5: Oh. my. goodness!!!! YUMMY!!!!! Should we plan on this for one of our meals? Is this sit down or counter service? We are going in Sept (long story - we had a FL vacation (non-disney) planned - then my brother planned a wedding for later on. We just HAD to book Free Dining for the difference in time!!) Anyway, we're looking for nice places to eat (not sit down -we already have those!).

Prayers for everyone.

What do you order at Kona Cafe? Just curious! I may ditch my family and head over myself on our next trip1

Oh my! I will pray for you all. We have a friend with a son at the AFA. I am texting her now.

How horrible! Are you evacuated too?

We were eating at Mexico in Epcot when our waiter said that most people stay at the same resort every time they come back. That was true for us. We were a family of five and Port Orleans Riverside was the only moderate resort that fit us all. We've continued to stay there even after we've become a family of six! We just convince another family member to come with us and we stick one of our kids in their room!

We bought (and I would again) an iPad. I love that I can get 3G when we are on trips. It keeps the kids happy for SOOOO long. My dh just got a Kindle Fire and likes it fine for home use.

Yes. We are staying on-site for 5 nights and going to 2 parks (we go a lot, so we'll just hit our two favorites this time and spend the other three days at the pools!). There are restaurants included in the Free Dining all over the place. So, the two nights we are at the parks, we'll eat in those parks. The other days, we are eating in Animal Kingdom Lodge (Boma! Our fav), Downtown Disney (Portobellos - new to us!), and on the Boardwalk (Kouzzina - new to us!). You don't need tickets to go to those places to eat. For lunch, we'll just grab whatever - probably at our resort. I think when we looked into staying in one of the value resorts one year during free dining, they charged us the actual difference between the two plans. This year, that's about $20/adult/day and $5/child/day. We found it worth it to stay in a moderate resort for that (we stay in Port Orleans Riverside). We're a family of 6 and that resort only sleeps 5, so we go with other family members and officially put one of our kids in their room. HTH!

I would call Disney. To get the dining plan, you have to get a package - which includes 2 day passes to the parks. It doesn't matter if you stay longer. For example, we are staying for five nights in September on Free Dining. But, we only have 2 day passes to the parks. We have meals for all five days. Then, you could turn around and buy more days through the Homeschool Days place. Does that make sense? You'd just book the rooms, free dining and the 2 day passes through Disney. I'm not sure at the new hotel, but all the other values give you the value meal plan - 2 counter service meals/day and one snack. BUT, you can pay the difference to get the better meal plan - 1 counter service and one sit down (this is where we make out like kings!), and a snack a day. ETA: This is with free dining. If you are paying for it, you can get whatever meal plan you want!)

Oh my goodness!!!! How ADORABLE!!!! I'm SO temped to check Etsy for matching outfits for Meg and her Bitty for our upcoming trip!!!!!

We've done it both ways. What I love about staying on-site: 1. Convenience 2. The magic stays with me 3. I can leave the car at the hotel and not see it again until we drive home. 4. We always get the meal plan when we stay on site and not having to cook meals makes it a true vacation for me. We love to eat at the places that would cost us $300 - $400 for dinner for the six of us and walk out just paying the tip. 5. I can send packages that I buy right back to my resort and pick them up there. (I don't do it often, but it's a nice perk!) 6. The pools!!!! When the parks get overwhelming, it's nice to have a themed pool (with a bar!) to relax at. Cons about staying on-site: 1. Small room. But, we don't go back mid-day for a rest. We come back usually after Meg is asleep and we crash. Wake up and leave again! 2. Occasionally the bus service is slow and you have no control over it (we got stuck in construction one night!). 3. Price. It does cost more. Pros about staying off-site: 1. HUGE space!!! We can spread out. 2. Our own kitchen. This is also a con, however, as it's not truly a vacation if I'm cooking all our meals! But, it is nice to have access with teen boys. 3. Laundry in the condo. There are laundry rooms in the resorts, but they're certainly not as convenient! Cons: 1. I think it requires more planning. Bringing your own food. Packing it up. Driving the car. Etc. 2. Getting back to our condo (we were in a GREAT one in Windsor Hills - I can get you the guy's name and contact info if you want) was NOT an easy thing to do. Maybe from Animal Kingdom and Disney Studios where the parking is right outside the park. But from Magic Kingdom, it took nearly an hour to get there. You drive to the parking lot, take a tram to the monorail, ride the monorail to the park. Lots of waiting! Epcot is a HUGE park and it just would take a lot of time to get there and back. 3. having a kitchen. yes, it's convenient. BUT, it means you are cooking and packing lunches and snacks for your vacation. We've done it and I'd do it again. Just know it's hard! We are actually staying in "our" condo again in August and doing SeaWorld and Discovery Cove and all the other parks. Then, we will move to WDW with free dining for five nights!!! I can't wait!

Meg takes one doll with a couple changes of outfits with us on each trip. The doll does not come with us on outings. Meg is very responsible with her doll, but I'm more worried about it getting stolen! So, dolls stay in the hotel and wait for us to come back. The best thing about taking them to Disney is the Mousekeepers always arrange her stuffed animals and dolls in fun ways - like they've had adventures while we were out!

:iagree::iagree::iagree::iagree::iagree: I couldn't agree more. I LOVE Christmas. Everything about it. I spend August/September planning - making my list of people, start looking for gifts, get my address list up to date, get the kids' pictures taken for cards. In October/November, I plan my menu - including the shopping lists and a "countdown." I then spend December pre-cooking a lot of the food and freezing it. Then, when Christmas actually rolls around, we are able to fully enjoy our company! (We have anywhere from 12 - 22 people staying at our house every year!!!)

:thumbup: Awesome!!!

Not crazy. But, it's a huge difference! If she gets really competitive (I'm assuming it's gymnastics) she'd be going 4 - 5 times/week. Are you ready for that?

We had baseball, baseball, and oh yeah, more baseball!!!!! Ds14 had a tournament (they lost in the semis) and ds11 had his first game of his World Series games (they lost). We had a Little League party last night at our local park. VERY fun!!!! Tonight we're watching the Good Luck Charlie where she has her baby! The older boys won't say they're looking forward to it, but dd and I are!!!! Today was 84. Haven't had to turn on the AC for three days now!!! Superpower? I agree with Marianne - ENERGY!!!!! Lots of it. Maybe MOTIVATION added to that. Yes. Those.