Tag Archives: Disney Vacation Club

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Upping the Ante/Satisfied DVC Member

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In nineteen days, I get on an airplane and fly to Orlando International Airport. Then I get to transfer to Magical Express and head to Disney’s Old Key West Resort. Hot-dang! So…

  1. Today I upped my daily walk by five minutes. I know that doesn’t sound like much, but to me it is a lot. (Thank you to Noom for encouraging me to walk further!) The featured photo for today’s blog was taken about ten minutes after my walk. I was pooped, hot, sweaty, a little bit cranky, yet invigorated. It felt good to push myself that extra five minutes.  So that is one of my major accomplishments for today.
  2. Also today, I took care of some vacation business. I called Magical Express directly, because only five of the eight of us traveling for this trip received our luggage tags. (We want them all because it is so nice to drop your luggage at your home airport and have it delivered directly to your hotel room. Man, I LOVE this service! Disney Vacation Club, [DVC], you rock]) I had a three minute wait for a rep, who then reissued our tags, so we will receive a new set of eight tags in seven to ten days. Mischief managed!
  3. Then I called DVC Member Services and waited fifteen minutes for a Cast Member who helped me to tweak my reservation. Cribs are sorted out for the little ones. We don’t need the Pack n’ Plays that Disney provides, because the kids rented cribs to be delivered and picked up instead. And I requested to be in a building with an elevator. Usually our three bedroom grand villa in one story up. After a day in the parks, I am absolutely dragging and climbing those steps can be the last straw. There is no guarantee we’ll get that request, but if it is available, then we’ll get it. (Please, please, please…)

So anyway, it’s been a good day so far. I hope you are having a good day, too.

Meet me at the Kingdom.

Donna

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WDW Radio Podcast

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Twenty-one days from now I leave for Walt Disney World and Disney’s Old Key West Resort. It’s just three weeks from today, Baby! (Insert Happy Dance here.) 🙂

Usually when I walk or work out, I listen to my favorite music to help the time to pass and make it more enjoyable. It’s usually Bubble Gum Pop or Contemporary Christian music. Today I wanted something new for my walk, so I joined my first Podcast. Jake, my son, (see photo above) has been talking about Podcasts and how they help him when he works out for quite awhile now. Well, I finally took the plunge.

Since we’re so close to our vacation now, I wanted something Disney-entyishtic. I landed on WDW Radio, Episode #529-Olivia’s at Old Key West LIVE Dining Review. Boy! This is right up my alley! The Podcast is over an hour long. My walk went by so quickly, and I’m ready for more tomorrow. I’m getting some great ideas about new things to try this time at Olivia’s, my favorite, WDW restaurant.

I am a Disney Vacation Club Member, and my home resort is Old Key West. My HOME resort, oh yes, it really does feel like my home away from home. So I’ve eaten at Olivia’s Cafe many times. I usually order the same thing each time, but this time I’m branching out. I hope to share entrees with Mike, my honey, so we can try more dishes. This Podcast has me all jacked up. 🙂 I am so excited to make some alternative choices this time!

Anyway, if you are a Disneyphile, as am I, give WDW Radio a listen. You won’t be sorry.

Meet me at the Kingdom.

Donna

 

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Garden Grocer

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Just 31 days, People! A mere 31 days until we head to Walt Disney World. Today I placed our grocery order with Garden Grocer. It’s a bit expensive, but we had such great luck with them three years ago, that we want to stick with them this time.

One of the benefits of staying at a Disney Vacation Club resort is you have a full kitchen, except for in the studios, which means you can save money by eating some meals in your room. We plan to eat one meal out each day, usually lunch, and we have our other eats in the three bedroom grand villa.

Well…when I placed the grocery order, I put in the wrong date! Instead of entering October 20 as our deliver date, I put in September 20. Yup, tomorrow!! Thank the Lord, I got a call from Jose at Garden Grocer double checking my details. After I was done hyperventilating, Jose fixed my delivery date to October 20. Whew! That was a close call. And thank you, thank you, thank you to Jose and Garden Grocer for checking!

That’s it for today, friends. Meet me at the Kingdom.

Donna

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Online Check-In

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Wow! Only 32 days until our Walt Disney World Vacation! Woo hoo! Whoopee!

That being said, I am a little bit frustrated. The Disney Vacation Club site has been not working as it should for at least three days now. This means I have not been able to complete online check-in at Disney’s Old Key West. As a DVC (Disney Vacation Club) member I am supposed to be able to check-in online up to 60 days in advance. Well, I’m only 32 days away. I have called in the last three days in a row, and so far, no luck. I will persevere, however, it is a bummer! I know I’ve been spoiled by great Disney service, so I feel like a bit of a baby about this. After all, I do still have 31 days to get this done. But geez.

Here’s what the DVC website has to say about Online Check-In:

Online Check-In service is available at select Disney Vacation Club Resorts and Walt Disney World Resort hotels in the Disney Collection. Enjoy a simplified Check-In process when you pre-register online prior to your arrival.

  • Check in 60 days prior to arrival at all Walt Disney World Resort hotels.
  • Check in 10 days prior to arrival at:
    • Disney’s Vero Beach Resort
    • Disney’s Hilton Head Island Resort
    • Aulani, Disney Vacation Club Villas, Ko Olina, Hawaiʻi
  • Check in is available beginning 45 days prior to arrival, up to and including the arrival date, at Disney Cruise Line.

Then, if you have opted for Online Check-In and given your cell phone number, you should be able to go directly to your room when you receive a text saying that your room is ready. Otherwise, when you arrive at your Resort hotel, simply head to the Online Check-In Desk where your Welcome Folder will be waiting. Show your valid photo I.D. and you’re on your way!

Man! I love Disney service so much! The cast members are helpful above and beyond. That has been my experience every single time. Am I just lucky, or are they just that good? Disney is known throughout the world for their customer service. So…they are just that good!

This computer problem will be solved, and I will get checked in before we arrive at the resort. So let it be written; so let it be done. Amen!

Meet me at the Kingdom!

Donna

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Initial Packing and Preparing

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Only 33 days to go and I’m flipping out on my way to seeing Mickey!

Today I’ve been digging up suggestions online for packing for Disney World (Thank you to wdwprepschool.com!). What goes into my checked luggage?  What do I need to fit in my carry on?  What will fit in my purse? Today I will put things I’ve purchased in advance into my suitcase. I’ll spend some time thinking about the logistics of what to pack where.

Carry on: swimsuit, extra underwear (always, in case my checked luggage goes missing), meds and vitamins, book for the airplane, laptop and charger, itinerary

Purse: wallet, MagicBands, all Disney cards/tickets (Disney Vacation Club Membership, Disney PhotoPass, 5-day Park Hoppers, Mickey’s Not-So-Scary Halloween), photo ID, cell phone and charger, insurance cards, taxi confirmation to the airport

Checked luggage: everything else…clothes, sunscreen, vegetarian chili, aloe, toiletries, taxi confirmation from the airport, day-by-day planner, pain medicine, blister pads, wet wipes

And on and on and on…  I will see my beautiful children and their beautiful spouses and my beautiful granddaughters AND my beautiful spouse all in the same room in just 33 days!  What a blessing that will be!

Readers, thank you so-o-o-o much for following me on this journey.  Meet you at the Kingdom!

Donna

PS: I won! Thanks to magicoftmrw for the exciting win! I won “a bag of goodies and trinkets from the Disney World Resort Parks. PLUS a surprise from this years Mickey’s Not-So-Scary Halloween Party!” See the website below.

GIVEAWAY

And the winner is . . . . .

September 16, 2018

Congrats Donna!! And the winner is…. DONNA!! Congrats:) 🎉🍾🎊🎈 Thank you to everyone who participated!:) Be on the look out for a random giveaways on this blog!! pic.twitter.com/PKqwOGFpY8 — magicoftomorrow (@magicoftomorro1) September 17, 2018

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Disney Vacation Club Member

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Now I have only 35 days until heading to Walt Disney World. While there I will be staying at Disney’s Old Key West Resort. I am a Disney Vacation Club Member, and Old Key West is my home resort. When I check in, I will be greeted, “Welcome, home!” And after all this time, it does feel like home away from home. It is so Florida-looking with palm trees and waterways every little while. It smells like citrus and suntan lotion and vacation. It feels warm and mild and, depending on the time of year, muggy. I love it!

Here’s some of what Disney has to say about Disney Vacation Club:

Disney Vacation Club is a vacation ownership program—or timeshare—that helps you stay close to the magic. As a Member, you can enjoy a more cost-effective way of taking Disney vacations.

Membership & How It Works

To become a Member, you purchase a real estate interest in a Disney Vacation Club Resort. This is your Home Resort.

Your real estate interest is represented by an annual allotment of Vacation Points. You’ll use your Vacation Points to reserve accommodations in one of the many vacation destinations available to Members.

Vacation Destinations
As a Member, you can enjoy access to accommodations at your Home Resort or another Disney Vacation Club Resort. You can also choose from thousands of other vacation options in destinations around the world.

Home Resort Priority
At your Home Resort, you can take advantage of the Home Resort Priority Period, which allows you to make reservations 11 months in advance. Members who do not have an ownership interest at that Resort can book up to 7 months in advance. (*This is why I held out until I could purchase my points at Old Key West. It is my favorite resort. It has the largest rooms, and the most laid back atmosphere.)

Vacation Points & Booking Flexibility
With more Vacation Points, you can enjoy extra flexibility when planning vacations. If you’re thinking of becoming a Member, you’ll want to consider the number of Vacation Points that’s right for your vacation lifestyle.

Value & Savings

Disney Vacation Club offers value and potential savings on accommodations as you enjoy Disney vacations for years to come.

Value
By becoming a Member, you are locking in today’s purchase price. You can use your Membership to enjoy decades of future stays at Disney Vacation Club Resorts, which feature spacious 1-Bedroom Villas, 2-Bedroom Villas and 3-Bedroom Grand Villas that offer many of the comforts of home.

Savings
Members can save up to 50% on future Disney Vacation Club Resort accommodations over the life of the Membership.

Why Disney Vacation Club?

Disney Heritage
Disney Vacation Club celebrates the heritage, traditions and values that began with Walt Disney himself. The Disney difference begins with a unique sales approach and continues throughout the lifetime of your Membership—whether you’re on a vacation or planning your next trip.

A Personalized Sales Experience
Enjoy a personalized experience with a knowledgeable Disney Vacation Club Guide—a helpful resource for you as you research Membership. They’re happy to answer any questions you may have about Disney Vacation Club and how it can work for your family.

Disney Vacations
As a Member, you can look forward to magical vacations in Disney destinations. Highlights include:

  • Accommodations at uniquely-themed Disney Vacation Club Resorts designed by Disney Imagineers—with spacious villas that offer many of the comforts of home
  • Convenient proximity to Disney theme parks at most Disney Vacation Club Resorts 
  • Service that exemplifies the Disney standard of excellence

Enjoy the freedom to choose when, where and how often you vacation! As a Disney Vacation Club Member, you’ll receive an annual allotment of Vacation Points (“Points”), which represent your real estate interest in a Disney Vacation Club Resort. You’ll use Points to book your accommodations—and you’re never locked in to a specific Resort, time of year, type of accommodations or length of stay.

We go every three years by banking one year’s points and borrowing one years points. That way we have three years of points to use on out vacations. It allows us a bigger space for a longer amount of time.

One of the best things about being a DVC member is you have access to Member Services. I have always had great service from them. But today I ran into a snag. I had emailed them to reserve Magical Express for Jake, Eliza and Linnie. They emailed me back saying they could only help DVC Members, and I was not a member. Imagine my surprise…I’ve been a member now since 2010. So after I calmed down, I called Member Services. The gentleman I spoke with was wonderful. He was able to straighten everything out, and assured me that all was well with my membership status. Whew! It is a 40 year membership, so I figure I have 32 years left on the contract. (I know, I know, I probably won’t live to be 94 years old, but the kids can use it.)

Anyway, I highly recommend membership in Disney Vacation Club. I love it; I use it, I recommend it!

Meet me at the Kingdom!

Donna

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Time to Get Ready

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Hiya Dear Readers,

I haven’t blogged since November. Wah! We are just 73 days away from our next scheduled vacation at Walt Disney World. Woo hoo! We are Disney Vacation Club members with 150 points to use per year. We banked points from last year, borrowed points from next year, and are using this year’s points. That gives us 450 points to use for this trip. With those points we will stay in a three bedroom Grand Villa for 8 nights. Being able to bank and borrow points is the reason  we vacation together every three years.

By “we” I mean, Mike, Jake, Eliza, Linnie, James, Emi, Ida and me.  That’s my husband, my son and daughter, their spouses and their little girls. When we went to WDW three years ago, Emi and James couldn’t come last minute, because of pregnancy issues. Now that little issue is nearly two and a half years old. I can’t wait to watch her as she discovers her grandma’s Happy Place. It will be such a pleasure to slow down and take it at the little ones pace. I expect to spend more time at the playgrounds of WDW than we ever have before.

To get ready for WDW, I began my daily walking today. Thirty minutes is a lot for me right now, but I feel so good about getting out there. On Tuesdays and Thursdays, I get to watch Linnie for a few hours. She will benefit from my walking, because she absolutely loves being outside. And, when it appears, a cruise in her stroller can even sooth the savage beast in her .  🙂  I tend to chat to her while we walk. Usually she just studies me, as we stroll along, a look of pure concentration on her sweet face. I’m grateful to Linnie for making me move around more than I have for a long time. She’s a great workout buddy.

That’s it for today. It’s good to be writing again, and I hope to keep up daily until our trip.  God bless and keep you, dear readers.

Meet you at the Kingdom.

Donna

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Carrying On

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Hello Dear Readers,

I hope this post finds you healthy and at peace.

In just 5 days I will call Disney and schedule our next trip to Walt Disney World. We hope to go on October 20 of next year. Because we are Disney Vacation Club members, we can call and book our home resort, Old Key West, 11 months in advance. Lord willing and the creek don’t rise, we will have 8 nights and 9 days at Disney: Mike, Emi, James, Ida, Jake, Eliza, Baby Jarvi and me.

This time it won’t be so much about time in the parks, although we will have tickets for 5 days. This time it will be all about the babies. Ida will be 2 & 1/2 and Baby Jarvi will be 8 months old. Dumbo, Prince Charming Carousel, Meeting Mickey, It’s a Small World and splashing in the water fountains will be the focus of our days. Probably just a few hours in the parks and then time at Old Key West.

I take none of this for granted. I know that if we are all there it will truly be a gift from God. I am doing my part to be there. As of this morning, I am 54.4 pounds down since May. I am learning how to eat as a diabetic. Now I just need to start moving more. Please pray that I can and do move more.

May God bless and keep you, dear Readers. Meet you at the Kingdom.

Donna

2017 Goals

Being Accountable

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The thing that bothers me about blogs, is that they seem so narcissistic. “This is me. This is what I know. This is what I do. Me, me, me, me, me….blah! I think of that each time I make an entry here. Even I get tired of reading about me, thinking about me, examining me. I am not writing this blog because I NEED an audience. I am writing this blog to keep myself accountable for the choices I am making everyday. Will I really move more? Will I really take control of the portions that I eat? Will I really make better food choices to actually feed my body and not just stuff myself with empty calories? Will I really test my blood glucose every day.  So this is my way of being accountable.

In that vein, let me share that I am having a very good day. Two meals consumed so far, nutritious and appropriately proportioned. Activity? I vacuumed the living room, changed the 4 ink cartridges in the printer, bagged some clothes to give away, worked the cat litter (Ugh!) and I plan to do some laundry today.

Now, why is this still called a Disney blog? Because it is a wonderful motivation for me. We had planned to go and spend four days at Disneyland Paris in the fall of 2018; however for our same amount of DVC (Disney Vacation Club) points, we can spend 8 nights in a Grand Villa at Walt Disney World in Florida. I want to be able to enjoy that time as much as possible. Watching my first grandchild (Ida, sweetest and smartest baby girl!) discover all things Mickey is a very exciting prospect! And sharing that time with the family? The best! I will use some visualization of that reunion when things get tough; it will help me to carry on. It may sound ridiculous, but Old Key West is my “laughing place.” (“Everybody has a laughing place, a laughing place to go-ho-ho.” From the movie Song of the South. Hmmm… no wonder I like Splash Mountain so much.) When I finally get there, I exhale and truly relax.

My latest Disney discovery is a book titled, “the easy guide to your Walt Disney World visit.” I really like it because it is snippets of info, rather than long tomes and epic-sized missives. In the Twitter universe where we want our info fast and short, I find this book very appealing. I highly recommend it; check it out.

Enough for today. Love and peace to you dear readers with prayers for our great country and the world.

Donna

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January 7, 2017

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Confession time: I have not been cleaning my house. There, I said it.  Cleaning is bloody hard work, and I have not had the energy to do it nearly often enough. I try to get Molly Maids in once a month to get the floors cleaned, most things dusted, kitchen cleaned and bathroom cleaned. But it’s been Christmastime and the money just hasn’t been there. So in an effort to be more active, yesterday I cleaned my toilet, tub and bathroom sink. And today I vacuumed through the house. I have heard that one should clean from the top down. We have a comfy Cape Cod house, so I started upstairs: two bedrooms, the bathroom, the landing.

Next, I vacuumed the stairs. I just hate that job! But with my relatively new and lightly used Shark vacuum it is so much easier.  I bought myself the Shark a year ago for Christmas, and I’ve probably used it less than a dozen times since then. I LOVE my Shark! (Thanks for telling Mike how much you liked using one, sister-in-love Julie!)

Finally, I vacuumed the downstairs: kitchen, entryway and living room.We took Christmas down yesterday, so it was a good day to clean up the living room. (I’m a little sad about not having the pretty colored lights in the living room for eleven months. Can’t help it…December birthday…I like sparkly, colorful things.)

I am a sweaty, tired mess. My back is sore, my knees are aching, but I’m still smiling from ear to ear. It feels good to have aches and pains from activity instead of from inactivity. It just feels so satisfying.

I hope this “dirty” post doesn’t gross you out, Dear Readers. My year of slug-like living, post-retirement is over. It feels good to be getting engaged in life again. 🙂

Thank you for reading, and God bless you!

BTW: I worked on my book for three hours on Thursday. It was so fun and frustrating at the same time. More to come next week. And next week I hope to contact Disney Vacation Club (DVC) and ask some questions about using our points to go to Disneyland Paris next year. I get so excited thinking about it that my stomach gets queasy.  🙂

Pilgrimage to better health to meet Mickey. A 14 month Quest.