Chubby Girl's Adventures

The Moderate Resorts

anparker2008 — Fri, 24 Feb 2012 17:18:00 +0000

The next “level” of resort hotels at Walt Disney world is considered their Moderate resorts. There are four resorts that are considered to be the moderate resorts. These resorts are The Caribbean Beach resort, the Coronado Springs resort, the Port Orleans French Quarter resort, and the Port Orleans Riverside resort. These hotels come with a slightly high price tag than their Value counterparts, but also with more amenities as well. These resorts have multiple pools of varying décor and size; in addition to counter service restaurants which are a food-court style of eating, they all have at least one table service restaurant where you are seated and waited on; all their rooms come standard with a mini-fridge; and they have larger rooms than the value resorts. These resorts also offer rooms with king size beds, where the values do not.

Some moderate resorts offer themed rooms such as Pirate themed rooms at the Caribbean Beach resort or the new Royal themed rooms at the Port Orleans Rivers resort. The Pirate themed rooms take their inspiration from the Pirates of the Caribbean ride and movies and feature pirate ship beds, and barrel shaped tables. The Royal themed rooms take their inspiration from the movie The Princess and the Frog and feature led lights in the headboards and lush royal inspired bedding and décor.

This level of resort is my person favorite, particularly for my husband and me. While the value resorts are typically full of families with children and a little bit louder; the moderate resorts, while still geared towards family and children, seem to have a milder and more relaxing aura about them. The grounds themselves are more spacious and lend to the quieter air. This makes a nicer retreat on a vacation without children of your own. These resorts sit at the mid-tier price range for Disney resorts which still make them affordable while giving you access to more wonderful amenities.

Next we’ll discuss the Deluxe Resort accomodations.

Where do you want to stay?

anparker2008 — Fri, 17 Feb 2012 23:48:53 +0000

Now that you have an idea on when you want to go to the Walt Disney World resort, the next importation decision to make is where you want to stay.

Your first major decision is if you are going to want to stay on Disney property or do you want to stay off property? There are a lot of selections for both decisions. Off property hotels range from one to four star hotels and are anything from well-known chain hotels to mom and pop owned motels. You can really find any accommodation to fit your needs. If you do stay off of Disney property your main concern is going to be transportation. Some resorts will offer shuttle buses to and from Disney Parks, however the availability can be sketchy, and the bus times may not work with your schedule. You could rent your own vehicle at an additional expense and then have to pay for parking; or you can hire a cab or taxi when you need it, again at your own additional expense.

Resorts on the Disney property really have all the conveniences you could want on your vacation. They offer free transportation to all the parks, with each destination having a bus running to and from all the parks and resorts at around 15 minute intervals. Sometimes it can take longer, especially during Peak Season when buses can fill up quickly, or it could be significantly less time depending on how many buses are running and how popular a park or resort is at that time. Disney resorts all offer several dining options as well as entertainment, pool (s), and concierge services to make or change any dining or show reservations for you, some resorts offer room service, while all offer pizza delivery, and luggage service.

I personally very highly recommend staying on Disney property, although the room prices may be higher than off property, the amenities you have access to are well worth the extra money. Peace of mind on your vacation makes your time spent at Disney so much more relaxing. I have heard many horror stories about staying at an off-site property and although I have no personal experience staying off property; I would never want to subject myself to the worry about my hotel accommodations. You are, after all, trying to take a fun, relaxing vacation, and who wants to add stress?

Now that you’ve made the decision to stay at a Disney resort (and I really hope that you have) you’ll need to decide which resort you want to stay in. We’ll talk about those options next.

Disney Vacation Planning

anparker2008 — Fri, 17 Feb 2012 00:04:21 +0000

So you’ve decided you want to take a vacation to the Walt Disney World resort in Orlando Florida? Congratulations! This is going to be one of the most comprehensive and immersive vacation you will ever likely take! Walt Disney World is the happiest place on earth, and I’m certain that you won’t be disappointed.

That being said, a Walt Disney World vacation has many different aspects you have to take into consideration before you book your vacation. When do you want to go? Where do you want to stay? What do you want to see? Where do you want to eat? Disney offers several different vacation packages that can include nearly any combination of the above questions as you can think of, so let’s start to try to answer some of these questions now.

When do you want to go?

This is actually a pretty important question. Disney has three separate “seasons” that not only effect park attendance levels, but also room prices. Each of these seasons has their own pros and cons. Of course, you will go when you are actually able to take a vacation, but know what ‘season’ you are attending during will help you to plan accordingly. Major peak season is right around the major holidays, spring break, and summer break. Not only will park attendance be high, increasing ride wait time; but your room prices will be at their peak. However, this is when the vast majority of all rides and attractions are available. There will be few ride refurbishments going on; and of course this is when most people are able to or want to go.

Value season at Disney world is as close to opposite of the peak season as you can get, this season occurs mostly right after New Year’s until spring and then in the fall around hurricane season. Attendance is much lower, and room prices hit their bottom. The tradeoff of is that the majority of refurbishment on attractions is going on, so your favorite ride might be closed for your entire vacation and one or both of the water parks may be closed for the duration of your stay as well. This is also the ‘value’ season for a reason, this time frame is pretty inconvenient for most people. With work and school in session is can be hard to time the time to go, however if you really want to save some money and not have to deal with large crowds; this is a great time to go.

Now everything else not defined as “Peak” or “Value” is the regular season. It’s about the mid-range of both worlds. Most, if not all, of the attractions are available, the crowds typically aren’t ridiculous, and room prices are in their average range. If you can’t make it during Value season, I highly recommend trying to visit during the regular season. You still save some money while not really having to sacrifice any experiences to do so.

Here are Disney’s 2012 seasons:

Disney Value Resorts & Disney Moderate Resorts:

Value Season: Jan 2-4; Jan 8 – Jan 12; Jan 16 – Feb 15; Aug 5 – Sept 27

Marathon Rate: Jan 5 -7

Regular Season: Feb 26 – March 8; April 15 – May 31

Summer Season: June 1 – Aug 4

Fall Season: Sept 28 – Oct 4, Oct 8 – Nov 16 ; Nov 24 – Dec 20

Peak Season: Feb 16; Feb 20 – 25; March 9 – March 31

Holiday Season: Jan 13-15 ; Feb 17-19 ; April 1-14 ; Oct 5-7 ; Nov 17-23 ; Dec 21-31

Disney Deluxe Resorts:

Value Season: Jan 2-4; Jan 8 – Jan 12; Jan 16 – Feb 15; July 15 – Aug 17; Aug 18 – Sept 27

Marathon Rate: Jan 5 -7

Regular Season: Feb 26 – March 8; April 15 – July 14 ; Sept 28 – Oct 4 ; Oct 8 – 19

Summer Season: June 1 – Aug 4

Fall Season: Oct 20 – Nov 18 ; Nov 23 – Dec 20

Peak Season: Feb 16; Feb 20 – 25; March 9 – March 31

Holiday Season: Jan 13-15 ; Feb 17-19 ; April 1-14 ; Oct 5-7 ; Nov 19-22 ; Dec 21-31

Disney Deluxe Villa Resorts:

Value Season: Jan 2 -4 ; Jan 8 – Feb 15 ; July 14 – Aug 17 ; Aug 18 – Sept 26

Marathon Rate: Jan 5 -7

Regular Season: Feb 26 – March 8 ; April 15 – July 13 ; Sept 27 – Oct 19

Fall Season: Oct 20 – Nov 18 ; Nov 23 – Dec 20

Peak Season: Feb 16 – 25 ; March 9 – April 14

Holiday Season: Nov 19 – 22 ; Dec 21 – 31

Disney Campsites for Fort Wilderness:

Value Season: Jan 2 -4 ; Jan 8-12; Jan 16 – Feb 15; Aug 5 – Oct 4;

Marathon Rate: Jan 5 – 7

Regular Season: April 15 – Aug 4

Peak Season: Feb 16; Feb 20 – March 31

Pre-Holiday: Oct 8 – Nov 15 ; Nov 24 – Dec 20

Holiday Season: Jan 13-15 ; Feb 17-19 ; April 1-14 ; Oct 5-7 ; Nov 16-23 ; Dec 21-31

Disney Cabins for Fort Wilderness:

Value Season: Jan 2 -4 ; Jan 8-12; Jan 16 – Feb 15 ;July 15 – Aug 17 ; Aug 18 – Sept 27

Marathon Rate: Jan 5 -7

Regular Season: Feb 26 – March 8 ; April 15 – July 14 ; Sept 28 – Oct 4; Oct 8-19

Fall Season: Oct 20 – Nov 18 ; Nov 23 – Dec 20

Peak Season: Feb 16 ; Feb 20 -25 ; March 9 – 31

Holiday Season: Jan 13-15 ; Feb 17-19 ; April 1-14 ; Oct 5-7 ; Nov 19-22 ; Dec 21-31

So now that we have an idea about when we want to go, next we’ll talk about where you want to stay.

Preparing the Company Web Site

anparker2008 — Mon, 13 Feb 2012 03:59:49 +0000

I used Word 2010 to design the Web site. Features such as background color, themes, hyperlinks, and bookmarks made the process easy.

FYI

anparker2008 — Mon, 13 Feb 2012 02:55:49 +0000

As a Public Serive Announcement I would like to give all my readers a head’s up. I have to use this blog for BOTH of my classes this semester, so not only have my blogs been quite a bit off-topic from what I used to post, I will also randomly have some pretty short “off-the-wall” posts every now and then that are directly from my textbook for class. So things are going to be weird around here for a while, just for your information!

What’s HOT this Halloween

anparker2008 — Mon, 13 Feb 2012 02:51:11 +0000

Vampires…Transformers…Mummies

All are in demand this year and are great to build a theme party around.

Be sure to view the offerings at the Happing Haunting Home Page.

Blogging

anparker2008 — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 23:59:48 +0000

I honestly don’t understand how there are so many people out there who make a living writing a blog. Coming up with enough material to write about is really very difficult. I would imagine that having a central theme would be a huge help, rather than just randomly coming up with topics on your own each week or twice a week as we are doing right now. It would be even easier if you pick a topic that you are passionate about. The previous life of this particular blog was like that. I was writing frequently and about something I was very passionate about. It made the writing easier than it is now. It wasn’t something I had to sit and think about, it was something I wanted, or needed to write about. I just had to get my thoughts down and out there to share with other people.

The only major downside of my blog was that the subject matter was very specific, and although I had a wonderful group of people following me, it was a fairly small group. Not that my current sporadic topics have gained me any followers at this point, but I’m trying to work some ideas around to make this blog actually be about something that people will actually be interested in reading about.

My first instinct is to write a Disney blog as I’ve been pretty obsessed with Walt Disney World vacations ever since I booked our first vacation last January. However, there are already TONS of Disney blogs out there with a wide array of information. However, I’m thinking that since I already have my blog linked to facebook, I would be able to more directly reach my specific friends. I’ve had several of them come to me for Disney vacation advice in the last year or so, so maybe I could use this blog as a tool to help them out. I’m certainly no expert but I love to share what knowledge I do have about this very large vacation planning. There are so many details and things to consider with a Disney vacation that it can very easily become overwhelming, and when I become overwhelmed I tend to go overboard on research. I’ve read tons of books about Disney vacation planning, watched all the videos I could get my hands on, frequent many different blogs and forums and have some real life experience.

So I’ll be running through a few ideas the next week or so and hopefully I’ll find a direction to put this blog in, so stay tuned!

Shooting Stars

anparker2008 — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 02:47:32 +0000

Last night my husband and I were discussing where we would be if we had pursued our dreams a little harder. This came after my finding a video of a woman that I went through school with performing in a band for Donald Trump. I of course, had to pull out old pictures of her as a girl in school being goofy and hanging out with our old group of friends to show to my husband. I also attended school with a man who after high school went into the army and then had a mini-series on HBO based off of him and his platoon. Another woman I went to school with made an appearance on a show on MTV.

This got me thinking. I honestly never had any “big” dreams. I never wanted to be famous; I had no huge career ambitions. My family has always been the most important thing in my life, and all I ever dreamed of was to have a family of my own. My daydreams always had a very 1950’s feel to them, although with much more women’s liberation. Having a husband, and house, a dog, and 2.5 kids that I stayed home to take care of while my husband worked the nine to five has always sounded like heaven to me. However, I always did well in school and my parents expected me to attend college, so I did. Did I really have a direction? No. I didn’t have a clue as to what I would do after college; I was just in school like my parents wanted. I majored in English Language and Literature since I have a passion for reading and figured that was as close as I could get to being able to read my way through college. However by senior year I still didn’t have a clue where I was headed. I quit school and came home my senior year at Grand Valley State University. I still regret not getting my degree, I was only 19 credit hours away and had already completed my capstone class, however I don’t regret coming home. I wasn’t in a good head-space at the time and needed my family around me.

During my time in college I had been given an opportunity that I passed up. I have a relative who works in Washington D.C. for our government and he had offered for me to move out there with him and he would get me a position in his department, if I completed school and if I wanted to go. It was a great opportunity and I really tossed that idea around for quite some time. Had I finished my schooling I believe that I would have gone out there. Who knows where I would be right now.

I very much doubt that I would live in Clare, Michigan; or that I would be married to my husband, own my own house, still have all the friends I do now. I would be hundreds of miles away my mom and rarely get to see her, I wouldn’t have met the people that I know or do the things that I’ve done. I would be living a completely different life. Impressive? Maybe. It wouldn’t be what I have now and I love my life; maybe not all the parts of it, but a vast majority of it, and I wouldn’t trade it if I had to give it all up.

The Rock Star Life

anparker2008 — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 23:36:50 +0000

My husband is in a band. I guess you could say that I’m his groupie or roadie or some other cliché of the music world. I go with him to a majority of his band practices, at his request, and nearly all of his shows, ok well gigs. I feel so completely un-cool using that word. An almost-thirty year old bank teller just doesn’t really fit my idea of some rock-star wife who’s dressed cool and looks cool and acts cool. That’s just not my style anymore. I barely own any clothes that aren’t expressly meant for work in the professional world, and you don’t spend a Friday or Saturday evening, bobbing your head to some darn good rock music wearing dress pants and a sweater set. I’ve only owned one pair of jeans for the last five years and they weren’t going to make anyone’s top ten or even top one hundred list of must-have jeans of the season, but hey at least I owned a pair right. That came to an end after their last show when I discovered a large hole in a rather inconvenient spot and my one and only pair of jeans met their end.
Well that stinks. I already view myself as the rather dumpy, frumpy, chunky, very un-cool wife but I certainly cannot ever show up to one of his shows in dress slacks or long skirt, and NO sweater sets. So there I was, but hey, I had what I thought was at least a month or two to worry about it since they didn’t have anything booked in the future right at that point in time. Well I REALLY should have known oh-so-much better than that. Beginning of the week, I am informed that they are going to be playing this coming weekend in Bay City with several other bands and possibly in front of several record executives.
Definitely NO sweater sets and slacks for that show.
So that leaves me to find time to go shopping. I mean, there might actually be record producers! I need to at least look the part of the oh-so-cool guitar players wife, even if I’m really just the quiet frumpy, bumpy, bank teller inside, right?

Deep Breathing

anparker2008 — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 23:36:23 +0000

Some days, weeks, or even months go by and life is as slow and as dull as you ever imagined it could be. You sit by the phone and it stares back at you defiantly, refusing ring, taunting you. Nobody stops over, and you don’t have anything important or pressing, or well fun to do. All you have is your routine and you’re so comfortable with it that you get everything accomplished quickly and get it out of the way and then you’re left wishing for something, anything to do.
I know how this is. I usually define my life as “Nothing new, same ole same ole, nothing too exciting.”
However, you ever get into this comfortable routine, used to it, expecting it, even actually liking it and then WHAM! Out of the blue, you’ve got too much on your plate, and you don’t know whether or not you’re coming or you’re going.
This is precisely how my week has gone. I honestly can’t believe that it’s Friday, and I definitely have no clue as to where the rest of my week has gone to! I had my nice, boring week going on schedule and all of a sudden Friday is here and I’ve gotten absolutely nothing accomplished like I need and want to. I have been going ninety miles an hour all day and I can’t see the end of my journey.
Its weeks like this one that make me second guess my choice in going back to school. Working full time and taking classes really does take up a lot more of my time than I ever expected and it makes it tough to find any down time to relax and do some of the things I love to do, not to mention all the work I want to be doing on my house. It’s close to impossible to find time for me. What makes it even worse is that I’ve been really sick for around two months now. The doctor thinks it’s just a severe vitamin D deficiency, but it’s really put me down for the count. And it’s really hard to get through an entire day of work, being mostly out of it and then try to get my head into the books. I have a hard time just reading the words in front of me, let alone processing the information. Although it is finally beginning to get better, it’s still a constant struggle to get through the day.
I’m ready for things to settle back into my boring, normal routine.