Newbie Here from NE Ohio

[rstez]

Hi all,
What a pletheora of info this Board has been since I have been lurking on it for about a month. We just booked our WDW trip for 9/21-9/29/09 and staying at FW cabins! I haven't been to WDW since 1975 and the DH and kids have NEVER been there (ages 17 and 12). Question about dining reservations: we are more into having our vacation around our meals and not our meals around the vacation so we really don't think we want to reserve dinner reservations. I guess we don't want our itinerary to work around when we have to get to a specific restaurant for our dinner. Is this wise? During Sept, can we "wing" it with hopes of just going to a buffet to feed the teenagers stomachs? Since we are in the cabins at FW, we will have at least one meal, probably breakfast, in the cabin. Any thoughts, suggestions? Thanks.:surfweb:

[Metro West]

http://bestsmileys.com/welcome/7.gif

[pepe of ohio]

Our vacations are not around the meals, we enjoy the freedom of no ADR's amd time consuming TS. We've been around the September time and most anything is doable without ADR's. We normally always stay at WL but frequent FW alot. We enjoy the buffet at Trail's End and like having our "welcome home" pizza and beer at Crockett's Tavern. This is about the best and cheapest buffet on property. We never do Disney dining plans, don't like packages and schedules and pre-booking months out, we never know where we will be and what we want to eat, we fly by the seat of our pants and 42 trips done have no regrets. We find that we eat differently in florida and the hot sun, one of our favorites is the noonish pool lunch made with groceries form our in route stop, along with some adult beverages. We like a variety of things, like a meatball sandwich for the POFQ food court, or a mess of "dogs" from Casey's in the MK, we're munchers not diners.

Hope you have a grand and wonderful stay.

[rstez]

We find that we eat differently in florida and the hot sun

I didn't even think of the hot sun! Thanks for bringing that to my attn! Flying by the seat of my pants is my middle name! :rotfl:

[pepe of ohio]

I didn't even think of the hot sun! Thanks for bringing that to my attn! Flying by the seat of my pants is my middle name! :rotfl:

And we go purposely for the hot Florida sun, arond now we've had enough of this cold winter weather. Where abouts are ya?

[MelanieC]

Welcome to the DIS :) It's the best Disney site around. Glad your with us.

[rstez]

I'm in Ashtabula County, about 1 hr east of Cleveland.

[MarkinNM]

http://bestsmileys.com/welcome/15.gif

to the boards!!!

[lisajl]

WELCOME from another Ohioan!
Have a great time in Sept., we are headed there in Oct.
We always make at least two or three ADR's, but our youngest has a peanut allergy,so we have to.

[mmlover74]

I grew up in NE Ohio too, but in trumbull county.

[DWFan4Life]

Welcome to DISboards. This is a great source of info and I'm sure you'll find answers to all of your questions, also be prepared to become addicted to DIS.:lmao:

Have a nice and safe trip coming. :)

[WDWJosh]

I'm another newbie - long time lurker, first time poster, from NE Ohio. I'm in the Akron area, though.

[Alchia]

Hi there! I am also from Ashtabula County and we'll have our 1st family trip 9/18-24. Too funny!

[Bruner1978]

:cool1: Welcome!!!!! This is a great board!!Hi all,
What a pletheora of info this Board has been since I have been lurking on it for about a month. We just booked our WDW trip for 9/21-9/29/09 and staying at FW cabins! I haven't been to WDW since 1975 and the DH and kids have NEVER been there (ages 17 and 12). Question about dining reservations: we are more into having our vacation around our meals and not our meals around the vacation so we really don't think we want to reserve dinner reservations. I guess we don't want our itinerary to work around when we have to get to a specific restaurant for our dinner. Is this wise? During Sept, can we "wing" it with hopes of just going to a buffet to feed the teenagers stomachs? Since we are in the cabins at FW, we will have at least one meal, probably breakfast, in the cabin. Any thoughts, suggestions? Thanks.:surfweb:

[pepe of ohio]

I grew up in NE Ohio too, but in trumbull county.

We be from the same area, Trumbull county too.

[Disneydonnam]

:welcome:

[rstez]

Wow, get outta town! LOL Where are you staying? Have you planned your drive down yet? We are hoping to do 12-14 hours of driving the first day to get ourselves as close to Savannah, GA as possible, get some sleep in a hotel and then finish the drive with plenty of time to get some groceries for the cabin. Where in Ashtabula County are you? Kids? Sorry, I'm full of questions and excited that someone else from around here is going down to WDW too!

[Alchia]

I know! I was excited to see a post that mentioned Ashtabula County...lol!

I am from Conneaut. You can throw in a smiley or a frown for that...lol.

We have 2 kids (2 & 4) and this will be our fist trip to WDW since my husband & I were children. I'm pumped!

We are flying down and staying at the ASMu.

Where do you live? If you tell me Conneaut then I will start singing "It's a small world...."

[rstez]

I'm in Saybrook but my husband works in Conneaut for the railroad!

We thought briefly about flying down but we love road trips. My kids are 16-1/2 and 12-1/2 and we homeschool.

I am so excited to go to WDW too but there is so much to read and plan. Sometimes I have to take a break from all the stuff to go over otherwise, I'm dreaming it! LOL

[Scot-n-Michelle]

hello and welcome from another ohioian!!! we are from Parma. The drive is not to bad as we did it 2 years in a row but now like flying a lot better!!! Whose had enough of this weather???

[JerJan]

Welcome and Hi from Stow, Ohio!

[chskover]

Hi, another Ohio Disboard Fan. (JerJen, I'm from Stow)
We drive all the time (Don't like to fly). Last year we drove through and made record time (16 hours). Going to Pop in May to celebrate daughter's 21st birthday. We like the dining plan, but we set up our itinerary and then make our reservations around that. Has always worked great for us, then were not left always eating CS.

[1stTimeDisneyer]

Welcome!

[JerJan]

HI CHSKOVER!!!!! Go Bulldogs!

[rstez]

I grew up in Seven Hills! Normandy Invaders!!!

[rstez]

How hard is it to stick with your itinerary? We are trying not to make this so rigid that we won't enjoy ourselves. We'll have about 8-1/2 days to enjoy WDW with park hopper. And can we risk it by not making more than 2 ADR's and just wingin' it?

[chskover]

We have an itnerary, but we go with the flow of the day. This just gives us an idea of what park we want to go to and the hours. We seem to do more and have more fun when we have an itnerary for the day. Thats how we then schedule our reservations for a meal. We only do 1 table service a day that way we are not stuck with a strict schedule.

PS - JerJan (GO Bulldogs!) Is that a cheerleader outfit I see in the picture?

[sony89]

Welcome!:cheer2:

[Alchia]

I'm in Saybrook but my husband works in Conneaut for the railroad!

We thought briefly about flying down but we love road trips. My kids are 16-1/2 and 12-1/2 and we homeschool.

I am so excited to go to WDW too but there is so much to read and plan. Sometimes I have to take a break from all the stuff to go over otherwise, I'm dreaming it! LOL


My husband's cousin works for the railroad. Maybe your hubby knows him? Bill Chiarelli.

I can't even look at the dining stuff without getting a headache. I'm not ready to tackle the park planning yet...lol. I'm just happy that I decided on the hotel. We were originally leaning towards POP, but my MIL was joining us so we booked the family suite at ASMu. She called last night and informed us that she has a board meeting that week and can't go. I guess I get to eat the cost for her plane ticket and I'm hoping my Dad will join us in her place. The drama! :confused3

[scoobndolliesmom]

Welcome! We are from Concord,Ohio!

[NWOhioAngela]

Welcome from another Buckeye!

Please! If you are coming for Free Dining, please please please get your ADRs. The restaurants are packed during free dining. You will enjoy your vacation much more if you don't have to worry about a hungry family having no where to find food.

[JerJan]

We have an itnerary, but we go with the flow of the day. This just gives us an idea of what park we want to go to and the hours. We seem to do more and have more fun when we have an itnerary for the day. Thats how we then schedule our reservations for a meal. We only do 1 table service a day that way we are not stuck with a strict schedule.

PS - JerJan (GO Bulldogs!) Is that a cheerleader outfit I see in the picture?

We usually just have 2 or 3 priority seating dining scheduled and "Wing" most of it.....I like doing what I want, when I want....after all....I"M ON VACATION!

Yes, that's a Stow Youth Football "C" team uniform from homecoming last year, the picture was taken in the high school parking lot right before the parade....good eye!

[rstez]

Yup, my hubby knows Bill. He just saw him yesterday in Buffalo! It's a small, small world! LOL sorry, I couldn't resist!

[rstez]

We just kinda, partially planned the parks today and we just finished our ADR choices...Phew. You're right, it can give you a headache. I have a hard enough time figuring out what I'm gonna do the next day let alone in September ! LOL I just emailed our travel agent with the ADR choices. I'll relax a little once all that's confirmed and then waiting for the park hours and which ones will have the Magic Hours when we are there. I'll need a vacation from the vacation!

Rita

[mousefanclub]

QUOTE=rstez;31181138]Hi all,
What a pletheora of info this Board has been since I have been lurking on it for about a month. We just booked our WDW trip for 9/21-9/29/09 and staying at FW cabins! I haven't been to WDW since 1975 and the DH and kids have NEVER been there (ages 17 and 12). Question about dining reservations: we are more into having our vacation around our meals and not our meals around the vacation so we really don't think we want to reserve dinner reservations. I guess we don't want our itinerary to work around when we have to get to a specific restaurant for our dinner. Is this wise? During Sept, can we "wing" it with hopes of just going to a buffet to feed the teenagers stomachs? Since we are in the cabins at FW, we will have at least one meal, probably breakfast, in the cabin. Any thoughts, suggestions? Thanks.:surfweb:[/QUOTE]

Did you book the package with the Free dining ? If so, you should take advantage of the Disney Dining experience. If you have reservations ahead of time, you can actually save time by not waiting in line or be disappointed when you show up and can't always get into the place where you want to eat. Just a thought...popcorn::

[OhioMom]

Just chiming in with another HELLO from Wadsworth, OH !! :welcome:

Hope you have a wonderful trip and enjoy all the planning, don't let it overwhelm you. You can't do it all in one trip so don't even worry about it.

Hopefully you will all have such a great vacation that the whole family will say "hey, let's do this again next year!!"

[Mickey_Dust]

hello from your lake cty neighbor, (Madison) which is almost Ashtabula but with higher taxes. LOL! We are staying at POP Sept 20 - 26th and driving down unless I can find roundtrip air for 170 or less with taxes. Then we would consider flying.

MAke a few ADR's for what you really want - make them for the AM that way you can do whatever whenever you want for the rest of the day.

(Chef Mickey is always a great vacation kick-off).

[JerJan]

Mickey Dust.... I sent you a PM regarding CHEAP airfare to Orlando from Akron.....

[Alchia]

Yup, my hubby knows Bill. He just saw him yesterday in Buffalo! It's a small, small world! LOL sorry, I couldn't resist!

Too funny! I also know John Baskin. I'm friends with his wife. One of my husband's coworkers from Geneva will be at WDW that week, too. Ashtabula County is representing :goodvibes

[Alchia]

hello from your lake cty neighbor, (Madison) which is almost Ashtabula but with higher taxes. LOL! We are staying at POP Sept 20 - 26th and driving down unless I can find roundtrip air for 170 or less with taxes. Then we would consider flying.

MAke a few ADR's for what you really want - make them for the AM that way you can do whatever whenever you want for the rest of the day.

(Chef Mickey is always a great vacation kick-off).

My husband works in Lake County and we looked at quite a few houses in Madison before we bought in Conneaut (2yrs ago). It's so fun to see all the posts from the area!

[rstez]

I also work in Lake County! LOL How funny.

[KimmyDisneyNerd]

Welcome! I'm in Willoughby.
Your upcoming trip sounds great!

[Alchia]

I also work in Lake County! LOL How funny.


Maybe you guys work together! Now THAT would be really funny :laughing:

[rstez]

I work for a lawfirm and I think I'm the only one going to WDW this year! :)

Last night, I sent my ADRs to the TA so I'm hoping I'll get an email soon telling me what we got (and possibly didn't get).

Hello to Concord, Willoughby, Madison and the rest of the Buckeye State from Ashtabula County. :cool1:

[Alchia]

Nope, he's not at the law firm :) I think half of his plant is going to WDW this next year. We all need a break after this refueling outage!

I was thinking you have to wait til 90 days for your ADRs. Am I wrong? We didn't use a travel agent, but do have a membership for AAA. Can they get earlier ADRs?

[NWOhioAngela]

I was thinking you have to wait til 90 days for your ADRs. Am I wrong? We didn't use a travel agent, but do have a membership for AAA. Can they get earlier ADRs?

Yes, you have to wait until the 90 day mark to make your ADRs now. You can give your requests to your agent but they can't do anything about it until then.

[rstez]

I just got a reply this afternoon from my TA...She will do it but we have to wait until the 90 day mark, which is June.

[rstez]

[I think half of his plant is going to WDW this next year. We all need a break after this refueling outage!]

Let me guess...PolyChem or Steris?

[Alchia]

Perry Nuke

I was a little stressed about the ADRs. I thought maybe I really dropped the ball on that one :lmao:

[my4bratz]

Hi to everyone!

Living in Toledo area now but born and raised in NE Ohio area.....Poland area. I have also lived in Columbus and Akron......but, "there's no place like home"

Going to Florida in May and June!

[NWOhioAngela]

Hi to everyone!

Living in Toledo area now but born and raised in NE Ohio area.....Poland area. I have also lived in Columbus and Akron......but, "there's no place like home"

Going to Florida in May and June!

Hi! I'm in Delta. We could be neighbors!

[OhioDisneyLover]

Another neighbor here..... We will be there the same time as the OP. :woohoo:

[BlancheNeige]

Hello and welcome! I hope that you enjoy yourtime here! :goodvibes

[my4bratz]

I go through Delta all of the time.....Swanton etc. I have a friend that lives in Delta! trying to convince her to take a Disney Cruise!!:-)

[rstez]

Perry Nuke

I was a little stressed about the ADRs. I thought maybe I really dropped the ball on that one :lmao:



Oh, I know. Everytime I see a post about "make your ADR's", I get nervous! It really is a lot of research but from what I've read from other people, the more prepared you are, the better your vacation will be at WDW.

Perry Nuke was my third guess...then Lincoln! LOL Conneaut to Perry is about 50 min drive? At least it's not Cleveland traffic to deal with!

Rita

[PrincessBetsy]

Hi all,
What a pletheora of info this Board has been since I have been lurking on it for about a month. We just booked our WDW trip for 9/21-9/29/09 and staying at FW cabins! I haven't been to WDW since 1975 and the DH and kids have NEVER been there (ages 17 and 12). Question about dining reservations: we are more into having our vacation around our meals and not our meals around the vacation so we really don't think we want to reserve dinner reservations. I guess we don't want our itinerary to work around when we have to get to a specific restaurant for our dinner. Is this wise? During Sept, can we "wing" it with hopes of just going to a buffet to feed the teenagers stomachs? Since we are in the cabins at FW, we will have at least one meal, probably breakfast, in the cabin. Any thoughts, suggestions? Thanks.:surfweb:

Hello and :welcome: This is a wonderful site and you will probably become addicted to it as everyone does! :rotfl: :disrocks: It's so exciting that you booked a trip - your family will love it at WDW, especially if you are staying at the cabins! I would suggest making at least one reservation for your trip, that way in case everything is booked when you get there you will still be able to go to a table service meal. You can usually just decide where and when you want to eat when you get there though. I would suggest going to Whispering Caynon Cafe at Wilderness Lodge for breakfast or lunch - the food is really good and you can't beat the atmosphere and you usually don't need a reservation. A good buffet with characters is Crystal Palace in the Magic Kingdom - the food is great!! In order to save money, always go to the table service restaurants for lunch, instead of dinner - they usally have similar menus at less cost. If you haven't already I would go to allears.net, they have all the menus for all the restaurants. Have a great trip and feel free to ask any more questions you have!!

[clint999]

And we go purposely for the hot Florida sun, arond now we've had enough of this cold winter weather. Where abouts are ya?

[rstez]

Hi PrincessBetsy,

Thanks for the reply. I have a question though. If we are in the DDP, does it matter whether it's lunch or dinner for TS meals? I saw that you said in order to save some money, is that for the tip? We had just finished planning all our ADR's and now I'm wondering if we should change them to lunches instead of dinners?

Tks.

[rstez]

Another neighbor here..... We will be there the same time as the OP. :woohoo:

Where are you staying?:surfweb:

I don't want to wish the summer away, but I can't wait for September!:woohoo::yay::woohoo::yay::woohoo::yay::

[OhioDisneyLover]

Where are you staying?:surfweb:

I don't want to wish the summer away, but I can't wait for September!:woohoo::yay::woohoo::yay::woohoo::yay::

We're staying at CSR in September for the first time. In May, we're staying at Pop for the first time. We've pretty much decided to try as many of the resorts as we can, although for some reason we keep repeating several of them.......AKL, CBR and the Dolphin.

[Alchia]

He timed the drive before we bought the house and it's 35mins give or take. There are definitely days though that I wish we would have just bought out there!

I keep finding myself wishing summer away, too. I think if we would get some warm weather then I'd be a little more content in waiting. Gotta love NE OH! :rolleyes:

[scoobndolliesmom]

Hi PrincessBetsy,

Thanks for the reply. I have a question though. If we are in the DDP, does it matter whether it's lunch or dinner for TS meals? I saw that you said in order to save some money, is that for the tip? We had just finished planning all our ADR's and now I'm wondering if we should change them to lunches instead of dinners?

Tks.

You can use your table service at whatever time of day you would like.(example a character breakfast would count as a table meal) I saw you said that you planned all your ADR's Have you booked them? Are they allowing early booking for Chef Mickey's and Cinderellas Castle? Thanks!

[NWOhioAngela]

You can use your table service at whatever time of day you would like.(example a character breakfast would count as a table meal) I saw you said that you planned all your ADR's Have you booked them? Are they allowing early booking for Chef Mickey's and Cinderellas Castle? Thanks!

They are still 90 days, I believe. Remember, with Cindy's castle meals, you're going to have to give them a credit card number to make a reservation even if you're on the dining plan. The won't charge it unless you don't show up or if you short cancel inside 24 hours.

[rstez]

I can't book them until 90 days out.

[MARY-IN-OH]

hello and welcome from another ohioian!!! we are from Parma. The drive is not to bad as we did it 2 years in a row but now like flying a lot better!!! Whose had enough of this weather???

Hi !!! I'm in Parma too!!! :goodvibes
-mary

[Scot-n-Michelle]

Hi !!! I'm in Parma too!!! :goodvibes
-mary

What a small world!!

[disneyismyname]

I'm also from Ohio! I hail from Coshocton County. Its nice too see other Buckeyes on the board!


OH-!!



IO!!!!

[**Stephanie**]

:goodvibesJust wanted to say HI from another NE Ohioian!! Willoughby/Mentor boarder! :banana::cool1::thumbsup2:goodvibes:banana::cool1: :thumbsup2
We will be there Aug this year but also went in Sept last year for free dining.... I agree that you need some ADR's and good for you for already having them sent on to your TA....I have to admit that I have changed my mind about 12 times and still am not sure.
I am a planner and refuse to park hop...I will wait for the park hours to come out in early MAY and then put park + ADRs together...to me, that is part of the fun...and since the food is free, I would not want to be shut out of a table service experience!

Great to see so many neighbors....Heidi-Ho!!