*Of COURSE I'll Cry at Wishes!*-Oct 09 PTR

[areno79]

Hello!

This is my first Pre-Trip Report...figured I should start one since we leave in 23 days. :rotfl: Hey, better late than never, right?

My title comes from something I said to my DH last night. We were talking about touring plans and our upcoming trip (well, actually *I* was talking...he was blankly staring out into space! ;) ), and I mentioned which night we were going to see Wishes. After reminding him that Wishes is the MK fireworks show, he says "Oh no, you're not going to cry at Wishes again, are you?" (Last time I was a blubbering mess) I replied with..."Of COURSE I'm going to cry at Wishes!". Because, really, doesn't everybody? :confused3
Anyway, I'll get to it. Here's the nitty-gritty:

Cast:
Me: Amanda, 30- Disney Addict and overall Vacation Commando
DH: Ray, 33- Just along for the ride
Cousin: Davina, 6- Never been to WDW, but LOVES all things Disney

About us and our upcoming trip:
We've been to the World twice. Once by ourselves in 2003, and in 2005 we took my cousins, who were 9 and 11 at the time. I've been itching to go back (I think every other year is reasonable), but in the 4 years since we've gone we've taken lots of other trips and bought a house.

Of course we've been seeing the Free Dining commercials for months now, and my pleading for a Disney trip has gotten more and more annoying. DH finally agreed in August that we could go in November, the week after Thanksgiving. Fast forward to the beginning of September, and I'm starting to freak out because his boss still hasn't approved his vacation time, and the trip is not booked. I pretty much convinced myself it wasn't going to happen this year, and consoled myself with perusing the Disboards reading about other peoples upcoming trips. (Yes, I'm an emotional cutter.)
Two weeks ago (the Thursday after Labor Day), DH calls me at work and asks if I can get a week in October off instead. After some quick checking, we determined that the week of October 17 worked best for us. Now the trip is back on! :cool1:
For the next 24 hours I feverishly got quotes from every source imaginable. In the midst of all of this, DH has the idea to bring my cousin Davina, who's 6 and has never been to Disney. After some hemming and hawing, I called her mother, who said that she could definitely go. Yay! :goodvibes So that Friday night, I called and booked the trip. (Thank you, Disney Visa! ;) )

The Trip Details:

-October 17-24, staying at Port Orleans French Quarter (Our first time in a Moderate!)
-We've got the 7day Park Hopper tickets, with Free Dining :cool1:
-Flying down nonstop from BOS on Jetblue
-Attending MNSSHP on October 20 (also a first!) :woohoo:

Welcome!

[areno79]

Dining Reservations:
ADR's have been the bane of my existence for the past two weeks. I booked the trip 5 weeks out, so of course all the prime places have been taken. After spending copious amounts of time online and on the phone with my good friends at the Disney Dining Line, here's what I've got at this point in time:

Saturday, 10/17 (Epcot-PM)
5:10pm, Akershus Princess Dinner

Sunday, 10/18 (MK day)
5:15pm, Whispering Canyon Cafe

Monday, 10/19 (DHS and Fantasmic)
12:45, Sci-Fi Dine In
5:35, Hollywood & Vine (considering canceling)

Tuesday, 10/20 (MNSSHP)
4:15pm, Crystal Palace

Wednesday, 10/21 (AM-Open, PM-MK for Wishes & Spectro)
5:10pm, Kona Cafe

Thursday, 10/22 (AK)
6:35pm, Chef Mickey's (DH's favorite restaurant)

Friday, 10/23 (Open)
5:00pm, Hoop De Doo Revue

Originally I had the 8pm Spirit of Aloha dinner booked on the 23rd, but after going back and forth, found an opening at HDDR, so I booked that instead. I figured it's better timewise since we'll be leaving early the next morning. :sad1:
We're also excited to be trying some new restaurants this trip. The only restaurants we've been to on our list are Chef Mickey's, Sci-Fi, and H&V. I'm still undecided about H&V, but it's one of my favorites.

[mchelle77]

Emotional cutter :lmao:

And yes, Disney Visa is AWESOME. I just bought my new bed on it, so I have more money to spend at the F&WF!

I knew you went in 2005 (a cheer competition?) but I didn't know you guys went the year Russ and I got married? When were you there? (And why don't I remember this?!)

I know I'm totally going to cry several times this trip .. any time Talia sees something, I'll cry. Castle? Cry. Cinderella? Cry. Tinkerbell? Cry. Mickey? Yep.

[areno79]

We went in February 2003, when we were engaged. It was a really last minute thing. We were both laid off, hating the winter, and had just gotten our tax returns. I looked online, found a cheap Downtown Disney hotel (I remember it was $59 a night!), and we drove down the next day. It was the first time either of us had ever been, and we had a blast.

We went in 2005 for our 1 year anniversary, since we didn't take a "real" honeymoon. That's when we took my cousins Valerie and Kayla, who had never been. THAT trip was even better than the last. And yup, the first time they saw the castle I started to cry. They were so embarassed :lmao:

In 2007 we went down for 4 days for a cheer competition at Universal, and stayed at a condo offsite. We spent most of the time at Universal, but did manage to hit Planet Hollywood at DTD.

I find every 2 years really helps satisfy the Disney addict in me. Although I'm hoping to get a bounceback offer this time and come back next year. :rolleyes1

[mchelle77]

I'd LOVE to be able to go every year or two years, but Russ made a good point - there are other places we want to go that we haven't been to yet and we should try to go to some of those places before going back. We've been trying to go to Niagara for YEARS and it's so much closer .. yet we haven't, but have been to Disney twice since talking about Niagara :laughing:

[ammeador2]

Hello! My husband has told me no more Disney until the kids are old enough to pay for it themselves! haha..this will be our second year in a row...

[areno79]

:welcome: ammeador!

I think 2 vacations a year would be optimal...Caribbean in the spring, Disney in the fall. Would that be too much to ask for *every* year? :lmao:

[areno79]

I started working on my packing list today. I'm going to try *REALLY* hard not to overpack...although it's always a challenge for me. Of course, it would probably be easier to keep from overpacking if I stopped shopping! :lmao:

I ordered mine and DH's MNSSHP t-shirts today through Zazzle. Tried to order our personalized Pirate shirts, but it was denied due to copyright. Now I have to try to figure out how to get an iron on transfer printed without a printer since ours is broken.

[mchelle77]

You're late on your packing list .. I'm going two weeks after you and I started mine 3 weeks ago :lmao:

[areno79]

Yeah, I know, I'm slacking. But in my defense, I only booked the trip 2 weeks ago! :)

Oh, and I forgot to mention...I scored at Walgreen's last weekend. Got some Halloween Mickey clings, and Mickey light up pumpkins to decorate our window at POFQ. Now I just need to swing by Home Depot and "borrow" some Mickey Heads, and I'll be good to go!:thumbsup2

[mchelle77]

Have you perused the F&WF menus yet????

http://www.sun-sentinel.com/entertainment/restaurants/sfl-epcot-food-and-wine-festival-menu-gallery,0,795576.photogallery?index=orl-epcot-food-and-wine-festival-menu-3

I'm drooling. I'm doing the math on which I should use with snack credits, and which I should pay OOP. For everything *I* want to try would be $65 OOP :laughing:

[areno79]

Ooh, thanks for the link! I'm already drooling :thumbsup2

I was at CVS at the mall today (Michelle, did you know they closed the DQ there?), and they had a Disney Princess belt bag set on clearance. It comes with fake lipstick, "fake" sunglasses (whatever those are), and a fanny pack-type bag. I really bought it for the bag, and the whole thing was only $2. I figure it'll be good for Davina to carry her autograph book in.

[mchelle77]

Michelle, did you know they closed the DQ there?

Noooooooooooooo! THAT sucks.

On the other hand, I should head to CVS to grab one of those for Talia. Would be nice if I'm not the only one carrying everything this trip. Bad enough when it was just me and Russ, but with a kid, the crap you need just seems to multiply.

[areno79]

I find that on the first day, we always start out with a pretty full backpack, but by the end of the trip we're down to carrying almost nothing :lmao: Ray actually likes carrying the backpack, so who am I to stop him? :confused3

I've decided to place a Garden Grocer order to be delivered to our resort. Last time (when we drove), bringing a case of water was a godsend, and HUGE moneysaver. It's going to be hard to pack a case of water since we're flying this time, and GG has gotten good reviews here on the DIS. I'm also going to order some quick snacks/breakfast type items to have. Might as well put that fridge in the room to good use.

Speaking of resorts, I called CRO today to make a room request. I requested first floor, close to the bus stops. I'm sure the last thing I'll want to do when we get home from the parks is climb some stairs!

[DisneyObsessive]

Love the report so far! Going down 15th-19th so we'll be there a couple of days you are!!! And hey, watching wishes on Youtube makes me cry. in person? forget about it! :)

[areno79]

:welcome:

I see you're staying at POP...we stayed there on our last trip and absolutely loved it. :)

[mchelle77]

Amanda, let me know when you get your Mickey Mail :) I'm wondering when ours will arrive (first time staying onsite and booking a package, so I've never received it before. It's the stupid little things that get me excited right now :laughing: )

[areno79]

Oh, I guess I forgot to mention...I already got my Mickey Mail! Oops! I got the Magical Express luggage tags first (about a week after I booked), then a couple of days later got my mailed confirmation and Disney luggage tags.

My new bedroom furniture is being delivered today. Can't wait! Once that's done, I can start putting aside my summer clothes for packing, and bringing out the fall/winter clothes and put them in my new dressers.

[redsunfish]

Hey there!

Came across your trip report today. My husband and I are also staying at POFQ at a similar time (15th-21st). I was looking into doing into grocery delivery but I'm not sure we really need $40 worth of groceries since we're on the dining plan....it's a tough decision because it would be so convinient!

Anyway, I'll be enjoying your trip report! Have a great trip!

[areno79]

:welcome: I see you're from Western Mass...I'm from Southern NH, so we're practically neighbors. :)

It's difficult to justify spending the money on a grocery delivery, but for us I think it'll work out good because we're not "breakfast" people. I'm fine having a banana on the way to the parks, ya know? I can sort of justify it because of the bottled water. I know we'll drink tons of it, and I wouldn't want to waste snack credits on bottled water. Although, this is our first time on the DDP, so we'll see how it goes. :)

[redsunfish]

We are practically neighbors up here and apparently we'll be practically neighbors in Disney as well at POFQ ha ha :yay:!

Yeah, I'm think I'm justifying my grocery order on bottled water and the ability to have fresh fruit in our room :) I think I'm going to try to get my sunscreen and things like that through there too to pad my total so I don't have a lot of wasted food items :) I'm pretty sure my husband is convinced now that it's a good idea. Personally I think he just wants to have milk on hand to go with our left over dinner desserts from the dining plan :) He can't eat sweets without milk......even at our wedding he had them bring out a glass of milk to go with his cake!

[areno79]

That is too funny...although I'm the same way. I don't really like chocolate, but when I do have something chocolatey, I need a cold glass of milk to wash it down.
DH would be fine if I just ordered chips. I swear the man could live on chips alone! :lmao:

I'm trying to firm up my touring plan, and having a really hard time. I can't make a decision on what to do, and I know having a plan is important to help avoid waits and long lines. I just can't seem to wrap my head around it. I'll post what I have so far here and maybe you all can chime in.

[mchelle77]

Yeah, post up. I wanna see. :laughing:

I have a Disney binder with ALL kinds of crap in it. Loved doing it, wish I had more to plan. ;)

[redsunfish]

Yeah, same here. I'm love to see it!

I'm wondering if we'll be going to the same parks on the same day.

I had a great time doing my planning but I consider it still changeable at a moments notice if I think of a better plan :rotfl:

[areno79]

Okay, here goes:
Saturday, 10/17 (Arrival day)
-Plane lands at MCO at 11:20, planning on arrival at POFQ at 12:30
-Check-in, if room is ready drop off bags. If not, leave bags at front desk
-Take bus to Epcot
-Have some snacks at F&WF
-ADR at Akershus at 5:10 (arrive at 4:50)
-Take bus back to POFQ after dinner
-Pool then in bed early!

Sunday, 10/18
-Catch bus to MK at 8am for 9am rope drop
-Head to Fantasyland (Ride Dumbo first!)
-Ride other Fantasyland rides (PP, Snow White, Pooh, IASW)
-Ride HM
-Head to Frontierland, get FP for either SM or BTMRR (whichever has the longest line)
-Ride either SM or BTMRR
-Lunch at Pecos Bill's
-Get FP for Jungle Cruise
-Ride POTC
-Ride Aladdin
-Ride Jungle Cruise
-Take train from Frontierland to Toon Town
-Visit Mickey & Minnie's houses
-Ride Goofy's Barnstormer
-Get FP for Buzz Lightyear
-Watch parade
-Ride Buzz Lightyear
-Ride Indy Speedway (if time permits)
-Leave at 4:30 for boat to WL
-5:15 ADR for WCC
-After dinner, boat to MK, bus to POFQ

Monday, 10/19
-Catch DHS bus at 8am for 9am rope drop
-Ride TSM
-Ride Backlot Tour
-Lights Motor Action
-Great Movie Ride
-FP for RnRC
-11:50 ADR for H&V or 12:45 ADR for Sci-Fi (haven't decided yet)
-Beauty & the Beast
-Ride RnRC
-Head back to POFQ, nap
-5:15-Get bus to DHS
-Pick up CS meal at Catalina Eddie's or Rosie's
-Get seat for Fantasmic at 7:30; eat dinner
-After Fantasmic, take boat to Boadwalk, then bus to MK for EMH

Tuesday, 10/20
-Sleep in!
-Breakfast at POFQ
-Pool or DTD
-Get bus to MK at 3:30
-ADR at CP at 4:40 (arrive at 4:25)
-After dinner, Laugh Floor or Stitch
-Get in line for Snow White at 6:45
-MNSSHP!

Continuing in another post...

[areno79]

Wednesday, 10/21
-Arrive at AK in the AM (I'd like to be there for rope drop, but it's probably not feasible because we'll be at MNSSHP the night before)
-Ride Safari
-Kali River Rapids
-EE
-Finding Nemo
-Triceratop Spin
-Lunch at Flame Tree
-ITTBAB
-Bus to DTD
-Shopping
-Bus to Poly
-5:10 ADR at Poly (arrive at 4:50)
-Take monorail to MK, get spot for Spectro, then Wishes

Thursday, 10/22
-Get 8am bus to Epcot for 9am rope drop
-Soarin
-The Seas
-Turtle Talk
-Innoventions (Disney Visa Meet & Greet)
-Test Track
-Bus to POFQ
-Rest/Pool
-5:20 Get bus to MK
-Walk to Contemporary for 6:35 Chef Mickey's ADR
-After dinner, take monorail to Epcot for Illuminations

Friday, 10/23, Our last full day
-MK AM
-5:00 ADR at HDDR (take boat from MK)
-Pool/pack after dinner

Saturday, 10/24
-Leave at 7:30am on ME :sad1:

[mchelle77]

That stinks that you have to leave so early on your last day!

Are you going for any EMH? I realized that Epcot and day 2 of MK have AM hours, and AK on Friday has PM hours. Not sure if that's a good or bad thing (since it can get crowded). I REALLY doubt we'll need them at AK, but it will depend on how crowded it is and how much we can get in during the day.

[areno79]

That stinks that you have to leave so early on your last day!


I know...especially since our flight's not until 10:30! I didn't realize that ME would pick us up 3 hours before our flight. Plus our bags will already be checked at the resort, so pretty much we'll have 3 hours in which to drive to the airport and go through security. Then I guess we'll just sit there and wait. :confused3

We're going to try to catch the evening EMH at MK on Monday that we're there. Our current plan is to catch Fantasmic at 7:30, then go over to MK. For some reason they're also open until 10:00 that night, so with EMH they'll be open until 1AM. Not sure if we'll last that long, but we'll try. :confused3

[areno79]

I have to firm up a way to surprise my cousin with the trip. Her mother said I could tell her a week before we leave (so she doesn't drive her nuts :lmao: ). My current plan is to have her open the Disney backpack I brought her, and pick out all the stuff inside (clothes, Disney watch, sunglasses, etc.) Basically all stuff she's bringing on the trip. Then at the bottom, have some kind of card with a picture of the castle on it that says something like "You're Going to Disney World!"
I'm hoping she'll understand...I mean, I'm pretty sure she knows what Disney is. I remember her looking at pictures of my previous trips and asking if she could go.

[redsunfish]

I'm not as planned as you are. I know what parks I'm going to, I have my ADRs planned to go with what park i'm at, and I know what attractions I want to see. I've read touring plans to get an idea of what to do and when is the best time but I'm not sure I can quite plan out attractions to that detail...plus I think my husband would kill me :)

But, now that I've seen your plan, I can tell you we'll be at MK in the morning on 10/18 the same as you and we'll also probably be on the same bus from POFQ to HS for Fanstasmic since we have pretty much the exact same Fantasmic plan. :laughing:

Just a few more things to do and then packing and i'm ready to go!! :banana::banana::banana:

[areno79]

That's so cool...I'm going to see if I can sneak a LGMH with my username on DH's backpack. :) If you see me, let me know! We'll be the brunette chubby couple with an adorable brunette little girl. You'll know it's us because I'll be the one telling my husband what to do. :rotfl2:

I should put a disclaimer on my touring plan. I usually start out commando style on the first day, but by the second day DH is ready to kill me so I relax a bit. :lmao:

Oh, and I just noticed that they added a bunch of Fantasmic shows for the week we're there. I'm hoping (CROSSING FINGERS), that that means the 1st show won't be as crowded. If it is, we'll deal with it. I am glad about the extra showings though...last time we didn't get to see Fantasmic because of the rain.

[mchelle77]

I'm not as planned as you are. I know what parks I'm going to, I have my ADRs planned to go with what park i'm at, and I know what attractions I want to see. I've read touring plans to get an idea of what to do and when is the best time but I'm not sure I can quite plan out attractions to that detail...plus I think my husband would kill me :)


Exactly the same with me :laughing:

[areno79]

11 days to go!!! :banana::banana::banana::banana:


I've had a productive few days. Here's what I've knocked off my list:

-Booked airport hotel (we're doing the park and fly deal since our flight leaves at 8am and the airport's about an hour away)
-Placed and confirmed order with wegoshop.com
-Made iron-on pirate t-shirts
-Got Halloween t-shirts in the mail
-Made mousekeeping envelopes

I also started assembling clothes in our "packing" room (i.e. guest room). I'll get the suitcases out in the next couple of days and start putting things in it.
Oh, and tomorrow I'll be able to check in online for the resort :thumbsup2

[mchelle77]

I wanna pack now. :snooty:

[areno79]

Last time I started packing a month in advance I ended up with everything but the kitchen sink in my suitcase :lmao: I find 2 weeks or less is optimal :thumbsup2

[mchelle77]

OK, so 12 more days for me. I can deal with that!

[areno79]

How about you start packing when I leave? That's close enough :lmao:

[areno79]

I took some pictures of the t-shirts. DH and I are each wearing the green one for MNSSHP (I made them using zazzle.)
I made the pirate shirts using iron-on transfers.
Front:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v439/areno79/Disney%20Oct%202009/Disney2009001.jpg

Back:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v439/areno79/Disney%20Oct%202009/Disney2009002.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v439/areno79/Disney%20Oct%202009/Disney2009003.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v439/areno79/Disney%20Oct%202009/Disney2009004.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v439/areno79/Disney%20Oct%202009/Disney2009005.jpg

[areno79]

I'm kind of bummed with the way Davina's shirt turned out since you can see the white around the image. With the text there was just no way to cut it without it showing.

[mchelle77]

SO cute, though! That happened when I made a shirt for my friend last Christmas (it was black on black, and you could see the edge because the iron on part was shiny) Still, great job! I wonder if I could get Russ in one .. :confused: (Doubt it!)

[areno79]

You should try! I also saw a DISigner that made Mickey wearing a Pats uniform. Ray's interested in that one too. :)

10 DAYS UNTIL WE LEAVE!!!! :cool1:

I got a couple more things checked off the to-do list last night:
-Buy travel-size shampoo
-Buy Halloween candy (ToT is the day after we get back)

I think the only thing I have left to buy is ponchos. I saw some heavy duty ones from Walmart for like $4 (pink for kids and blue for adults.) Last time we went we bought the dollar store ones, and they were fine for light rain, but during a heavy rain they ripped! :scared1: I'd rather pay a little more and get reusable ones.

[mchelle77]

I mentioned it to him. He shut me right down. :laughing:

I got a bunch of pocket-sized disposable ponchos at Big Lots - I guess I'm taking my chances? I don't know if I feel like carrying around a bunch of ponchos every day in case it rains. But I read someone on here takes one of those shammies to wipe their ponchos down after using it, makes it easier to carry. I think you could cut a little piece and throw it in Ray's backpack?

And thanks for the reminder - I need to bring shampoo for Talia (she still uses baby shampoo .. her hair is so long that I'd rather use that than spend time being tortured by her crying over burning eyeballs.)

[areno79]

I can't believe that I'm leaving in 5 days!!! :banana:

Actually it'll be 4 since we're staying the night before in a hotel by the airport. I've got a busy week ahead. Still need to pack...right now there are just piles everywhere. :lmao: And I keep checking the wait times for rides using the iPhone :rolleyes1

[mchelle77]

What have the wait times been like? I may need you to text me during MY trip and let me know what they're like :lmao:

Speaking of that, be sure to text me updates!!

[areno79]

I will! I'm going to try to figure out how to post pictures to Facebook from my phone too.

I started packing last night. Got most of it done, but now I have to go through and figure out what we don't need. I'm such an overpacker...which isn't a problem if we drive, but IS a problem since we're flying. I'd also like to try to find a bigger purse before we go. I don't want to bring my Coach purse that I normally use since I won't be carrying it all while we're there. I checked Target, but the purses there were either too old-lady looking or too trendy. I need the happy medium :lmao:

[mchelle77]

Try TJMaxx, I always find cute things there. Although, I was at TJM the other day and didn't find any smallish, cutish, affordableish bags myself :laughing: Or Burlington Coat Factory had a few when I was there.

[areno79]

Good idea, I'll have to see if I can stop by tonight on my way home. You'd think with all the gazillions of bags I have I'd have something, but I guess not :lmao:

[mchelle77]

I know, I used to have a small black Liz Claiborne bag and now I can't find it anywhere. That's the bag I wanted to take with me, but I guess THAT'S out now.

OK, screw this "waiting until you get back" bullsh*t, I'm going to start packing :laughing: I can't wait, I want something "Disney" to do!!

[areno79]

I'm leaving for the airport hotel in about 15 minutes! :yay:

I can't believe I'm on vacation!! I don't think it's really hit me yet...mainly because I'm worried about forgetting something! :lmao: I think it'll be "real" when I'm on the plane.

I'll try to update from my iPhone...we'll see how much of a PITA it is.

[mchelle77]

Have a ball! Keep me updated ( *cough*lucky******cough* )