AASL Conference in Minneapolis

I'm going to be speaking! October 2011.

Updated travel plans

We've decided to change the date of our Disney World trip from November to December so we'll be there for all of the holiday events - Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party at the Magic Kingdom, the Candlelight Processional at Epcot, the Osborne Family's Spectacle of Dancing Lights at the Hollywood Studios - and all the beautiful decorations in the resorts and parks.

So now I have a new countdown ticker for that trip:



We have reservations at our home DVC resort, Saratoga Springs, but at the 7-month mark, when we can make reservations at any of the other DVC resorts, we're going to try and switch to the Boardwalk Villas or the Beach Club.

Upcoming Vacation Plans

For me, planning vacations is almost as much fun as taking them. After looking at the calendar to see what else we have planned for next fall, we decided to take our first trip as DVC members in November. We'll hit the end of the Food & Wine Festival at Epcot and the first showings of some of the Christmas events.



Between now and then, we have an April trip planned to Sanibel Island and the Everglades in Florida. With all the snow we've been having in the northeast this winter, we're really looking forward to both - and counting down the days!

Disney Vacation Club Update

As I mentioned in my last post from our November Disney World trip, Rick and I were considering becoming DVC members. Well - we did it!

After checking out what was available via re-sale (much cheaper than buying direct from Disney), we settled on the Saratoga Springs Resort, where we stayed on that trip. We checked what was available through the Timeshare Store, and found a contract we liked. We made an offer that was accepted, waited 30 days for Disney to exercise their Right of First Refusal (which they waved), and finally closed on our property this week. We are now official DVC members!

We're planning our first trip as owners for next December and I am anxiously waiting for our membership to get into Disney's computers so that I can make our reservations. We'll start out with an 8-day reservation at SSR (since we can reserve at our home resort 11 months out), and at the 7-month mark, when we can make reservations at any of the DVC properties, we'll see if we can change all or part of the reservation to either the Boardwalk or Beach Club Villas, since we like to be near Epcot during the holidays.

DVC membership is something I've been coveting for quite some time and I'm very happy that we've finally taken the plunge!

Back from San Diego

There was just too much to see and do in San Diego to take time to blog, so my photos on Flickr will have to suffice.

Highlights for me were the author interviews and book signings and the city itself. Our location near the marina and bay was just ideal. The weather was great and made it a pleasure to walk through the Gaslamp District, Old Town and the Seaside Village.

I'd be happy to return anytime!

Off On Another Library Advenure!

Next week, my school library bud's and I will be off for the ALA Midwinter Conference in San Diego. We're looking forward to getting away from the cold winter weather and enjoying some warmth and sunshine. I'll be posting reports and photos here and on our MSLA en Mass blog.

Day 6: All Good Things Must Come to an End

This was our last day of vacation and we truly hated to leave. The weather has been so perfect and other than the night of the transportation nightmare from the Magic Kingdom and my clumsy fall, this has been one of our nicest trips to Walt Disney World. We loved staying at Saratoga Springs and our room location was perfect. The Food and Wine Festival was even more fun than we expected and we really enjoyed Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party – especially the Holiday Wishes fireworks.

We had a 7:30 p.m. flight, so at least we were able to spend our last day in a park. We chose Epcot so that we could see Captain Eo (the 3-D film featuring Michael Jackson that we saw on our very first trip in 1992), sample some more of the Festival offerings, and get Rick’s favorite - Harry Ramsden’s fish and chips - for lunch. We ended up sharing a table at lunch with some chaperones and the director of a high school band from Cincinnati. We had a nice visit with them, talking music, before we made a last circuit of the World Showcase to use up what was left on our Festival gift card. We had beers from Canada and Germany and a Crème Brule from France, took a few more photos and reluctantly left to catch the Magical Express back to MCO.

Since we seem to have established a pattern of visiting Walt Disney World at least once a year, we’re considering buying into the Disney Vacation Club, Disney’s version of a time-share. I’m looking into getting a resale at either the Beach Club or the Boardwalk since we like being within walking distance of Epcot and the Studios, but we’d be happy to stay at Saratoga Springs again anytime too. It’s a really lovely resort. Maybe by our next trip, we’ll be DVC owners. Wait and see!

All the photos from this trip are here on Flickr.